Blanford Forum - Sunday Revels

Nelsons Ale House, Blandford Forum - image by Trish Steel [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"It appears from a Sermon made at Blanford Forum, in the Countie of Dorset, on Wensday the 17th of January 157O, by William Kethe, 8vo, that it was the custom at that time for the Church Ales to be kept upon the sabbath-day ; which holy day, says our author, "the multitude call their revelyng day, which day is spent in bulbeatings, bearebeatings, bowlings, dicyng, cardyng, daunsynges, drunkennes, and whoredome," " in so much, as men could not keepe their servauntes from, lyinge out of theyr owne houses the same sabbath-day at night.""

Brand 1813

 

Map - Blandford Forum

The Hurlers

The Hurlers stone circle - By Olaf Tausch (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The three circles, which are seen on the moors not far from the Cheesewring, in the parish of St Cleer, are also notable examples of the punishment of Sabbath-breaking. These are called the Hurlers," and they preserve the position in which the several parties stood in the full excitement of the game of hurling, when, for the crime of profaning the Sabbath, they were changed into stone...

... "With respect to the stones called the 'Hurlers' being once men, I will say with Hals, 'Did but the ball which these Hurlers used when flesh and blood appear directly over them, immovably pendant in the air, one might he apt to credit some little of the tale;' but as this is not the case, I must add icy belief of their being erected by the Druids for some purpose or other -- probably a court of justice; bog subsequent to which erection, however, they may have served as a goal for hurl-players."--Topographical and Historical Sketches of the Boroughs of East and West Love, by Thomas Bond.

May we not address Mr Bond, "O ye of little faith!" A very small amount of which would have found the ball, fixed as a boulder of granite, not as it passed through the air, but as it rolled along the ground.

That an ancient priesthood, endeavouring to reach the minds of an ignorant people through their sensations, should endeavour to persuade the old Celtic population that God's vengeance had fallen on the Sabbath-breaker, is not to be wondered at. Up to a very recent period, hurling matches usually came off on the Sunday--See "Hurling," in the chapter on Cornish Customs."

Hunt 1903

Map - The Hurlers

Three Cornish Stone Circles and their myths

Boscawen Un Stone Circle - Alan Simkins [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The celebrated circle of nineteen stones,--which is seen on the road to the Land's End,--known as the "Boscawen un Circle," is another example." [of people turned to stone for dancing] "The "Nine Maids," or the "Virgin Sisters," in Stithians, and other "Nine Maids," or, as called in Cornish, Naw-whoors, in St Colomb-Major parish, should also be seen, in the hope of impressing the moral lesson they convey yet more strongly on the mind...

...The following quotations are front Davies Gilbert. It must not be forgotten that this gentleman was President of the Royal Society, and therefore a sceptic in local tradutionary story:-- -

"On the south-west part of the parish of Stithians, towards Gwendron, are still to be seen nine Stones set perpendicularly erect in the earth, in a direct manner, about ten feet apart, called the Nine Maids, probably set up there in memory of nine religious sisters or nuns in that place before the fifth century; not women turned into stone, as the English name implies, and as the country people thereabout will tell you"

"The Nine Maids--in Cornish, Naw-voz, alias the nine sisters--in Cornish, Nawwhoors--which very name informs us that they were sepulchral stones, erected in memory either of suns natural or spiritual Sisters of some religious house, and not so many maids turned into stones for dancing on the Sabbath-day, as the country people will tell you. Those stones are set in order by a line, as is such another monument, also called the Nine Maids, in Gwendron, by the highway, about twenty-five feet distance Irons each other.""

Hunt 1903

Map - Boscawen un Circle

Map - Nine Maids of Stithians parish

Map - Naw-whoors Stone Row of St Colomb-Major

The Merry Maidens, or Dawns Myin, and the pipers of Burian

The Merry Maidens, or Dance-Maine, 1804 - By W & G Cooke [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"In the parish of Burian are the "Dawns Myin" or Mên--the dancing stones--commonly called "The Merry Maidens;" and near them are two granite pillars, named the "Pipers." One Sabbath evening some of the thought. less maidens of the neighbouring village, instead of attending vespers, strayed into the fields, and two evil spirits, assuming the guise of pipers, began to play some dance tunes. The young people yielded to the temptation; and, forgetting the holy day, commenced dancing. The excitement increased with the exercise, and soon the music and the dance became extremely wild; when, lo a flash of lightning from the clear sky transfixed them all, the tempters and the tempted, and there in stone they stand."

Hunt 1903

Map - The Merry Maidens

A non-traditional weather rhyme about Devon rain.

Mist over Padley Common, Chagford, Devon - if you wish to use my pictures please attribute this blog.

"A gentleman who once visited the west country thinks the following fairly represents the chronic conditions of Devonshire weather :

One unlucky Friday, with sorrow and pain
I proceed to record it, it came on to rain,
It rained on the Saturday, rained on the Sunday,
It rained every hour of the day on the Monday.
On Tuesday it rained cats and dogs as they say,
And Wednesday was also a very wet day,
On Thursday and Friday, especially the latter day,
It rained very hard, but my gracious on Saturday
The rain was most dreadful, a great deal more bad
Than that of any other day we had had.

Anti-Pluvius, Western Morning News, Feb. l7th, 1899."

Hewett 1900

General Devon / Westcountry weather lore

Hard weather on Dartmoor - snow at Chagford - if you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog

"The worse weather for the rider, is the better for the bider.

If it rain on a Sunday before the mass, it will rain all the week more or less.

Leap year never brings a good sheep year.

Hail brings frost on its tail.

No one so surely pays his debt

As wet to dry, and dry to wet."

Hewett 1900

Mothering Sunday in Devon (part 2)

[cont] "...The custom arose from the practice of our Roman Catholic ancestors going in procession on Mid-lent Sunday, from the most distant parts of their parishes, to visit the Mother Church ; and, according to the custom of the times, much of the day, though nominally set apart for a religious service, was devoted to festivity and mirth. Instances of such perverted institutions are to be met with in the saints' festivals, the wakes, the revels, the church-ales, and fairs, many of which are still kept up in country villages, to say nothing of the more riotous festivities of Lent, Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas.

I'll to thee a simnel bring,
Gainst thou go a-mothering ;
So that when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give me.

Hewett 1900

Mothering Sunday in Devon (part 1)

Seakale - David Baird [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 "In many parts of Devonshire and other western counties, the fourth Sunday in Lent is observed as a holiday, under the title of Mothering Sunday. Servants, apprentices, and young working-folks in general visit their parents, and between them make up very happy home parties. The previous Saturday is a busy day, for the mother is looking forward with great pleasure to the morrow's meetings and festivities. She busies herself in preparing the materials for a good dinner for the joyous youngsters, and gives them the very best she can afford. Of course the mothering-cake is her chief care. It is big and rich, and must be well baked, sugared, and ornamented with fanciful designs. The dinner on Sunday consists of a hind quarter of lamb with mint sauce, a well-boiled suet pudding, seakale, and cauliflower, wheat furmity, with home-made wines. The day is one of mirthful enjoyment, mutual congratulations, and benevolence. The remains of the feast are usually distributed amongst needy neighbours who are unable to purchase these delicacies for themselves..." [cont.]

Hewett 1900

Unlucky in Devon - 14 & 15 - (Sunday)

Hillerton Cross, Devon - Martin Bodman [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Common

It is unlucky

"To turn a feather-bed on Sunday.

To cut one's nails on Sunday."

Hewett 1900

Lucky in Devon - 21

Dragon from my other blog - http://abasketofleaves.blogspot.com/  If you want to use my picture please attribute one of my blogs.

It is lucky -

"To be born on a Sunday; because you can see spirits, and tame the dragon who watches over hidden treasure."

Hewett 1900

Sunday rules (in Devon?)

"Some persons object to cut their nails, or turn a feather bed on Sunday."

Hewett 1900

Rooks on a Sunday

Rook - Some rights reserved by foxypar4 http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/567889080/sizes/l/in/photostream/

"It has also been remarked that rooks never attempt to build their nests on Sunday, even though there are but a few twigs necessary to complete them."

Hewett 1900

Why to get naked on Sunday

Skinny Dipping in 1894 by Schutzenberger - Diane au bain

"IN the West of England, Sunday is reckoned to be the day for leaving off any article of clothing, as then those who so divest themselves will have the prayers of every congregation in their behalf, and are sure not to catch cold."

Hewett 1900

Devon marriage days of the week

We were married on Sunday - Hooray! This was our 'proper' wedding - our legal one was on a Thursday - not so good...If you want to use my photographs please attribute this website

 

"The days of the week, too, on which the ceremony is performed, influence their future, as the following lines testify :

Monday for wealth,
Tuesday for health,
Wednesday is the best day of all,
Thursday for crosses,
Friday for losses,
Saturday no luck at all.

Sunday is an exceptionally fortunate day upon which to enter the holy state."

Hewett 1900

Saint Levan's Curse

Saint Levan's Church - By Jim Champion (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Pursuing the same course as the phantom ship, and finally ascending some stone steps, we reach the church of St. Levan, at the head of the green valley, standing on the same spot as that where the saint had his cell. By his power the dreary valley became, during his lifetime, a garden; for where his footsteps fell, grass and flowers sprang up. He used to go fishing daily at the headland of Pedn-men-an-mere, to which a footpath through the fields leads from the church. There is a legend that one Sunday morning St. Levan was passing over the stile to get some fish for dinner, when a woman named Johana, who was in her garden by the pathway gathering potherbs, reproached him for fishing on Sunday. The saint replied that mass was said, and that there was no more harm in his getting his dinner from the sea than there was in her gathering potherbs for her own. In fact, the saint never caught more than one fish, which sufficed for his frugal meal.

He called her "foolish Johana," and said that if another of her name were ever baptized in his well, she should be still more silly than Johana. On this account no child of that name was ever christened at St. Levan's, but those who wished to thus name their daughters took them to Sennen for baptism."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Saint Levan Church

Map - Pedn-men-am-mere

Map - Sennan

Castle Rock and the Black Monk - Part 2

Castle Rock - © Copyright Paul Jennings and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

"...The baron's cries summoned the affrighted servants, but when they reached his room they found their lord lying on the floor a blackened corpse. His only son, solemnly impressed by his father's fate, went on the Crusades and did many acts of valour against the infidels. But even to the Holy Land the black monk followed him, and never left him day or night. The unhappy man, driven nearly mad, sought to bury his trouble in drink. He grew a wild, dissolute gallant, and the mother and sister that he had left in the castle on the rock wept bitter tears over his fall, and were glad when death summoned them to the land where "the wicked cease from troubling."

Years afterwards the knight returned to his Devonshire home, and one Sunday morning, as he rode through the valley, he heard the church bells calling men to prayer. They reminded him of the days of his innocent childhood; of his mother's teachings, and lured him towards the house of prayer. The black monk sought to draw him back, with the whisper of false pleasures awaiting him; but as the sinner hesitated, scarcely able to wrest himself away from his evil associate, he saw in the church porch the forms of his mother and sister, clad in garments of light, and beckoning to him with their spirit hands. He tore himself from the grasp of the monk, rushed to the porch, and darting into the church, threw himself before the altar.

The black monk developed into a fiend, and stamping his foot there was an earthquake; the castle on the rock shook to its foundations and fell crashing into the valley; the rocks rolled over, the Ring was formed, and where a smiling vale had been there remained the Valley of Rocks. Was this an allegory? Did the black monk personify an evil habit, so difficult to break?"

Valentine (undated)

Map - Castle Rock

The North Walk and Ragged-Jack

18th-century engraving reproducing a bas-relief found at Autun, France, depicting "two druids" J.R. Planché, "History of British costume" (1836) [1]
reprinted in Knight, Charles: "Old England: A Pictorial Museum" (1845)
immediate source: Liam's Pictures from Old Books - originally uploaded on Wikimedia Commons by Chris 73; reuploaded by Nyo

"The North Walk - the more picturesque of the two roads that lead to the famous Valley of Rocks - is one of the finest cliff walks in England. It was made by a Mr. Sanford in 1817. After walking along it for the distance of about half a mile, a great, rugged, and fantastically jagged tor appears on the left. It is the celebrated Ragged Jack with his companions. There is a legend attached to these tors. It is said that some Druids were dancing here on a Sunday, and making impious revelry, when Satan suddenly appeared in the midst of them and turned them into stone. We must suppose that Ragged Jack was an Archdruid - but what had Druids to do with Sunday?"

Valentine (undated)

Map - Ragged Rack

Ashill: St. Nipperham's

Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/snapr/484776493/sizes/z/in/photostream/ Under Creative Commons license

Attribution 2.0 Generic

"At Ashill, near Ilminster, is a well which on the first Sunday in May is agitated by bubbles, and the sick and lame used to be brought to bathe there. St. Nipperham is believed to be a corruption of St. Cyprian."

Hope 1893

Map - Ashill

Our Lady of Nantswell, Saint Colan

A floating Palm Cross in Nantswell (the forms are imagined!) - Please credit this website if you wish to use my drawing

"In former days "Our Lady of Nantswell," in St. Colan's parish, near St. Columb Major, was resorted to by men, women, and children, to foreknow of the Lady of the Well, on Palm Sunday, what should befall them that year. These pilgrims bore a palm cross in one hand and an offering in the other. The offering fell to the priest's share: the cross was thrown into the well, and if it swam was regarded as an omen that the person who threw it would outlive the year; if, however, it sank, a shortly ensuing death was foreboded."

Hope 1893

Map -Saint Colan

Poundsgate and the Evil One

"It was here [Poundsgate] that the Evil One first came on the Sunday of that Widecombe storm, an occurrence altogether so unusual that perhaps the importance of Poundsgate dates from that hour."

Cresswell 1921

Map - Poundsgate