10 December
In 1573 the borough of Boston was granted the right to hold an annual eight-day beast mart; the Boston Beast Market and Proclamation. Even though it is no longer held, it is still ‘proclaimed’ every year on 10 December in the yard of the Boston Grammar School, the Beast Yard, where the event once took place. The mayor visits and performs the short ceremony with the town clerk and the boys have the afternoon off school. The proclamation stipulates good behaviour by all throughout the duration of the mart. On a visit to the school, the staff were kind enough to give me a copy of the proclamation, which runs as follows:
The Boston Grammar School Beast Yard, where the Beast Mart was once held. The building is now the school library and the yard a playground. The library houses stained-glass windows depicting the Beast Mart Proclamation.
Oh Yes! Oh Yes! Oh Yes! The Right Worshipful the Mayor and Burgesses of this Borough of Boston do strictly charge and command all manner of Persons resorting to the Mart which will begin tomorrow and continue the Eight following days, to keep the peace, and that no manner of person or persons make any quarrels or draw any weapon to that intent upon pain of imprisonment; and that no manner of person or persons walk abroad in the night during the time of the said Mart without lawful cause, but resort to their honest Booths, Houses or Lodgings upon pain of imprisonment; and that no manner of person use any unlawful games during the time of the said Mart; and that they be of good honest behaviour as becometh them, as they will answer to the contrary; also that all persons resorting to the said Mart shall, when the same is ended, depart with all their wares, as he or they offending will answer to the contrary at their perils. God Save the Queen.
One of the stained-glass windows in the library of the Boston Grammar School, encompassing the Boston Stump in the background and a scene from the Beast Mart in the foreground.
I was also treated to a tour of the yard and old library building, which houses a stained-glass window depicting the ceremony, installed in 1955 when the school celebrated its quarter centenary. The building is beautiful and the staff very welcoming. It is wonderful that they keep such a tradition alive and the boys are apparently very pleased, especially as they have half a day off school.
Around mid-December there used to be an annual Lincoln Christmas Fat Stock Show for the selling of livestock, but this fair ceased in 1939. In 1982 a new mid-December Lincoln Christmas Market began, a three day event which has proved to be a very popular event indeed! Unfortunately it had to be cancelled in 2010, for the first time in twenty-eight years, due to adverse weather conditions. The snowfall was too heavy and the expected 150,000 visitors had to be told to cancel their plans.
21 December
Mumping St Thomas Day, although not practised anymore, was a worthwhile event that helped the poorer members of society, without seeming like charity. Women and children would visit all the houses round about to collect goods and it was known as ‘mumping’ or in certain areas ‘Thomassin’. There was no pension given in those days and people were very proud and did not want to be seen begging, so this practice was an acceptable way of helping those less fortunate. Goods collected would include coppers, small change, potatoes, cake, spare fruit, wheat, bread, tea, old clothes, candles and blankets. The rule was that only one member per household could go and so if the mother was unable, she would send one of her children round to represent her.
This was also another day for girls to try and divine who their future partner may be, by sleeping with a peeled onion under their pillow and dreaming of their husband.
Good Saint Thomas see me right
Let me see my love tonight.
In his clothes and his array
That he wears most every day.
A popular day, 21 December is also the day of the Candle Auction at Bolingbroke. Poor Folk’s Close is a piece of land, the rent from which is given to charity. Rent of the land is auctioned off every year through the custom of the auctioneer sticking a pin into a candle. The candle is lit and the bidding begins. When the flame reaches the pin, it drops out and the person who made the final bid rents the land for the next twelve months. Conditions set from the benefactors, John and Eleanor Ramsden, were that no poultry was to be kept on the land and that local Girl Guides should be allowed to camp there at Whitsun. It is an old custom that is happily kept alive.
As in all counties, there are many similarities between certain festivities, Christmas of course being one of these. Mince pies were always popular, sometimes called coffin pies because they are covered with a lid. It was thought to be lucky to eat at least twelve mince pies before Christmas Day, as then you would have a happy following twelve months, but to eat fewer meant you would only have as many months’ luck as the number of pies you ate. Sounds like a good excuse to me! They also participated in a tradition of Church Sticking in December, which was an old way of decorating the church. Each family had a certain pew that they used every visit and there was a hole or loop cut into the wood at the end, where they usually hung their umbrellas or walking sticks. At Christmas time the families would decorate this area of their pew with seasonal evergreens, holly and ivy and it became quite a competitive custom which made the churches look lovely.
24 December
Grimsby Christmas Eve Market takes place every year. There was an old superstition in Lincolnshire that on Christmas Eve, all the animals in the stables would go down on their knees at midnight to worship the baby Jesus and show reverence for him. There seem to be many accounts of people saying this, but not as many accounts of eye witnesses.
Christmas Day
If the sun doth shine at 12 o’clock on Christmas Day, it will be a good year for apples.
Christmas Day, a day of feasting and presents the country over, and pork pies were a favourite amongst the food in Lincolnshire as was plum cake, served in strips and dipped in beer! A Yule log, or Yule clog, was traditionally burnt on the grate throughout the festive season and if it did not burn completely over Christmas, the remains were saved and used to start the fire on the following Yule period. This was thought to guarantee continuity of good fortune for the household.
There was an annual Christmas Day swim at Cleethorpes and Grimsby Docks before dinner and in some places this still occurs, although the date can differ. It was a popular event to swim in the sea on Boxing Day, and many people still indulge in this tradition.
New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve was apparently the day Judas was born and thus it was seen as very bad luck to start any new business on this day. Silver, wood and coal were placed outside houses ready for the first guest after midnight to bring in the New Year, and it was traditional to leave the front door open for the New Year to come in and open the back door to let the old one out. Festivities and drinking were customary, just as they are today.
Of course, Lincolnshire folk celebrate many more festivals other than those listed here, both past and present, and Maureen Sutton’s A Lincolnshire Calendar is an excellent place for more detailed information. There are some that have been passed over here, as they are celebrated all over the country and are not particularly specific to Lincolnshire, but are still, or were, celebrated in the county none-the-less: 6 January, Twelfth Night; 20 January, St Agnes Eve; 17 March, St Patrick’s Day; Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter Equinox/Solstice; 25 March Lady Day; Lent; Palm Sunday; Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; Easter Day and Easter Monday; 19 April, Primrose Day; 23 April, St George’s Day; 24 May, Empire Day; 29 May, Royal Oak Day; Ascension Day and Well Dressing; Whitsunday; Corpus Christi Eve; Father’s Day; 24 June, Mid-Summer’s Day; 15 July, St Swithun’s Day; 1 August, Lammas Day; Chestnut Sunday in September; 20 October, Trafalgar Day; 11 November, Remembrance Sunday; 30 November, St Andrew’s Day; Advent; 26 December, St Stephen’s Day.
Life in the past was hard and it is pleasing to know that during each month the common folk had some pleasurable occasion to look forward to. Today we still need our breaks from a hectic work schedule or busy
home life. We often choose much more sophisticated pastimes, but it is strangely comforting to know that some of the old traditions and festivals are still celebrated today with vigour and enthusiasm equal to that of our forbears.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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NOTES
Introduction
1 ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’, traditional folk song, as cited in Judith Spelman’s collection of prose and poetry, Lincolnshire Bedside Book, p.112.
2 Taken from John Betjeman’s speech to the inaugural meeting of the Lincolnshire Association (1963) – quoted in John Ayto and Ian Crofton’s Brewer’s Britain and Ireland, p.668.
3 Quote from John Ayto and Ian Crofton’s Brewer’s Britain and Ireland, p.668.
4 Lincolnshire Life, June 1998, p.44.
5 Katharine M. Briggs, British Folk Tales and Legends, A Sampler, p.17.
6 Max & Mabel Peacock, The Peacock Lincolnshire Word Books 1884–1920, p.57.
7 Lincolnshire Life, dialect story, August 1998, p.41.
8 Alfred Lord Tennyson, A Critical Edition of the Major Works, p.376, 377.
9 The Lincolnshire Poacher, autumn 2002, p.49.
10 Marc Alexander, British Folklore Myths and Legends, p.179.
11 Lincolnshire Magazine, July/August 1935, p.165.
12 Lincolnshire Magazine, May/June 1937, p.151.
13 Mrs Gutch and Mabel Peacock, Examples of Printed Folk-Lore Concerning Lincolnshire, p.424.
14 John Ayto and Ian Crofton’s Brewer’s Britain and Ireland, p.668.
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