APRIL.

Next came fresh April, full of lustyhed,And wanton as a kid whose horne new buds;Upon a bull he rode, the same which ledEuropa floting through th’ Argolick fluds:His horns were gilden all with golden studs,And garnished with garlands goodly dightOf all the fairest flowers and freshest budsWhich th’ earth brings forth; and wet he seem’d in sightWith waves, through which he waded for his love’s delight.Spenser.

Spenser.

This is the fourth month of the year. Its Latin name isAprilis, fromaperio, to open or set forth. The Saxons called it,OsterorEastermonath, in which month, the feast of the Saxon goddess,Eastre,Easter, orEosteris said to have been celebrated.[54]April, with us, is sometimes represented as a girl clothed in green, with a garland of myrtle and hawthorn buds; holding in one hand primroses and violets, and in the other the zodiacal sign, Taurus, or the bull, into which constellation the sun enters during this month. The Romans consecrated the first of April to Venus, the goddess of beauty, the mother of love, the queen of laughter, the mistress of the graces; and the Roman widows and virgins assembled in the temple of Virile Fortune, and disclosing their personal deformities, prayed the goddess to conceal them from their husbands.[55]

In this month the business of creation seems resumed. The vital spark rekindles in dormant existences; and all things “live, and move, and have their being.” The earth puts on her livery to await the call of her lord; the air breathes gently on his cheek, and conducts to his ear the warblings of the birds, and the odours of new-born herbs and flowers; the great eye of the world “sees and shines” with bright and gladdening glances; the waters teem with life, man himself feels the revivifying and all-pervading influence; and his

—— spirit holds communion sweetWith the brighter spirits of the sky.

[54]Sayer’s Disquisitions.[55]Lempriere.

[54]Sayer’s Disquisitions.

[55]Lempriere.

St. Hugh, Bp.A. D.1132.St. Melito, Bp.A. D.175.St. Gilbert, Bp. of Cathness,A. D.1240.

On the first of April, 1712, Lord Bolingbroke stated, that in the wars, called the “glorious wars of queen Anne,” the duke of Marlborough had not lost a single battle—and yet, that the French had carried their point, the succession to the Spanish monarchy, the pretended cause of these wars. Dean Swift called this statement “a due donation for ‘All Fools’ Day!’”

On the first of April, 1810, Napoleon married Maria Louisa, archduchess of Austria, on which occasion some of the waggish Parisians called him “un poisson d’Avril,” a term which answers to ourApril fool. On the occasion of his nuptials, Napoleon struck a medal, with Love bearing a thunderbolt for its device.

It is customary on this day for boys to practise jocular deceptions. When they succeed, they laugh at the person whom they think they have rendered ridiculous, and exclaim, “Ah! you April fool!”

AH! YOU APRIL FOOL!

Thirtyyears ago, when buckles were worn in shoes, a boy would meet a person in the street with—“Sir, if you please, your shoe’sunbuckled,” and the moment the accosted individual looked towards his feet, the informant would cry—“Ah! you April fool!”Twentyyears ago, when buckles were wholly disused, the urchin-cry was—“Sir, your shoe’suntied;” and if the shoe-wearer lowered his eyes, he was hailed, as his buckled predecessor had been, with the said—“Ah! you April fool!” Now, when neither buckles nor strings are worn, because in the year 1825 no decent man “has ashoeto his foot,” the waggery of the day is—“Sir, there’s somethingoutof your pocket.” “Where?” “There!” “What?” “Yourhand, sir—Ah! you April fool!”Or else some lady is humbly bowed to, and gravely addressed with “Ma’am, I beg your pardon, but you’vesomething on your face!” “Indeed, my man! what is it?” “Yournose, ma’am—Ah! you April fool!”

The tricks that youngsters play off on thefirst of Aprilare various as their fancies. One, who has yet to know the humours of the day, they send to a cobbler’s for a pennyworth of the best “stirrup oil;” the cobbler receives the money, and the novice receives a hearty cut or two from the cobbler’s strap: if he does not, at the same time, obtain the information that he is “an April fool,” he is sure to be acquainted with it on returning to his companions. The like knowledge is also gained by an errand to some shop for half a pint of “pigeon’s milk,” or an inquiry at a bookseller’s for the “Life and Adventures of Eve’s Mother.”

Then, in-door young ones club their wicked wits,And almost frighten servants into fits—“Oh, John! James! John!—oh, quick! oh! Molly, ohOh, the trap-door! oh, Molly! down below!”“What, what’s the matter!” scream, with wild surpriseJohn, James, and Molly, while the young ones’ criesRedouble till they come; then all the boysShout “Ah! you April fools!” with clamorous noise;And little girls enticed down stairs to see,Stand peeping, clap their hands, and cry “te-hee!”Each gibing boy escapes a different way,And meet again some trick, “as good as that,” to play.*

Much is written concerning the custom of fool-making on the first of April, but with this result only, that it is very ancient and very general.[56]As a better opportunity will occur hereafter, nothing will be said here respecting “fools” by profession.

The practice of making fools on this day in North Britain, is usually exercised by sending a person from place to place by means of a letter, in which is written

“On the first day of AprilHunt thegowkanother mile.”

This is called “hunting thegowk;” and the bearer of the “fools’ errand” is called an “Aprilgowk.” Brand says, thatgowkis properly acuckoo, and is used heremetaphoricallyfor a fool; this appears correct; for from the Saxon “geac, a cuckoo,” is derivedgeck,[57]which means “one easily imposed on.” Malvolio, who had been “made afool” by a letter, purporting to have been written by Olivia, inquires of her

“Why have you suffered me to be——Made the most notoriousgeckandgullThat e’er invention play’d on?”

Olivia affirms, that the letter was not written by her, and exclaims to Malvolio

“Alas, poorfool! how have they baffled thee!”

Geckis likewise derivable “from the Teutonicgeck,jocus.”[58]

The “April fool” is among the Swedes. Toreen, one of their travellers, says, “We set sail on the first of April, and the wind madeApril foolsof us, for we were forced to return before Shagen.” On the Sunday and Monday preceding Lent, people are privileged at Lisbon to play thefool: it is thought very jocose to pour water on any person who passes, or throw powder in his face; but to do both is the perfection of wit.[59]The Hindoos also at their Huli festival keep a general holiday on the 31st of March, and one subject of diversion is to send people on errands and expeditions that are to end in disappointment, and raise a laugh at the expense of the persons sent. Colonel Pearce says, that “high and low join in it; and,” he adds, “the late Suraja Doulah, I am told, was very fond of making Huli fools, though he was a mussulman of the highest rank. They carry the joke here (in India) so far, as to send letters making appointments, in the name of persons, who, it is known, must be absent from their house at the time fixed upon; and the laugh is always in proportion to the trouble given.”[60]

TheApril foolamong the French is called “un poisson d’Avril.” Their transformationof the term is not well accounted for, but their customs on the day are similar to ours. In one instance a “joke” was carried too far. At Paris, on the 1st of April, 1817, a young lady pocketed a watch in the house of a friend. She was arrested the same day, and taken before the correctional police, when being charged with the fact, she said it was an April trick (un poisson d’Avril.) She was asked whether the watch was in her custody? She denied it; but a messenger was sent to her apartment, and it was found on the chimney-place. Upon which the young lady said, she had made the messengerun poisson d’Avril, “an April fool.” The pleasantry, however, did not end so happily, for the young lady was jocularly recommended to remain in the house of correction till the 1st of April, 1818, and then to be discharged asun poisson d’Avril.[61]

It must not be forgotten, that the practice of “making April fool” in England, is often indulged by persons of maturer years, and in a more agreeable way. There are some verses that pleasantly exemplify this:[62]

To aLady,who threatened to maketheAuthoranApril Fool.Why strive, dear girl, to make a foolOf one not wise before,Yet, having ’scaped from folly’s school,Would fain go there no more?Ah! if I must to school again,Wilt thou my teacher be?I’m sure no lesson will be vainWhich thou canst give to me.One of thy kind and gentle looks,Thy smiles devoid of art,Avail, beyond all crabbed books,To regulate my heart.Thou need’st not call some fairy elf,On any April-day,To make thy bard forget himself,Or wander from his way.One thing he never can forget,Whatever change may be,The sacred hour when first he metAnd fondly gazed on thee.A seed then fell into his breast;Thy spirit placed it there:Need I, my Julia, tell the rest?Thou seest the blossoms here.

To aLady,who threatened to maketheAuthoranApril Fool.

Why strive, dear girl, to make a foolOf one not wise before,Yet, having ’scaped from folly’s school,Would fain go there no more?Ah! if I must to school again,Wilt thou my teacher be?I’m sure no lesson will be vainWhich thou canst give to me.One of thy kind and gentle looks,Thy smiles devoid of art,Avail, beyond all crabbed books,To regulate my heart.Thou need’st not call some fairy elf,On any April-day,To make thy bard forget himself,Or wander from his way.One thing he never can forget,Whatever change may be,The sacred hour when first he metAnd fondly gazed on thee.A seed then fell into his breast;Thy spirit placed it there:Need I, my Julia, tell the rest?Thou seest the blossoms here.

Why strive, dear girl, to make a foolOf one not wise before,Yet, having ’scaped from folly’s school,Would fain go there no more?

Ah! if I must to school again,Wilt thou my teacher be?I’m sure no lesson will be vainWhich thou canst give to me.

One of thy kind and gentle looks,Thy smiles devoid of art,Avail, beyond all crabbed books,To regulate my heart.

Thou need’st not call some fairy elf,On any April-day,To make thy bard forget himself,Or wander from his way.

One thing he never can forget,Whatever change may be,The sacred hour when first he metAnd fondly gazed on thee.

A seed then fell into his breast;Thy spirit placed it there:Need I, my Julia, tell the rest?Thou seest the blossoms here.

Annual Mercury.Mercurialis annua.Dedicated toSt. Hugh.

[56]Brand.[57]Ash.[58]Jamieson, in Nare’s Glossary.[59]Southey, quoted in Brand, as also Toreen.[60]Asiat. Res. in Brand, from Maurice.[61]Morn. Chron. June 17, 1817.[62]Cited by Brand from Julia, or Last Follies, 1798, 4to.

[56]Brand.

[57]Ash.

[58]Jamieson, in Nare’s Glossary.

[59]Southey, quoted in Brand, as also Toreen.

[60]Asiat. Res. in Brand, from Maurice.

[61]Morn. Chron. June 17, 1817.

[62]Cited by Brand from Julia, or Last Follies, 1798, 4to.

St. Francisof Paula.St. Apian,A. D.306.St. Theodosia,A. D.308.St. Nicetius, Abp. of Lyons,A. D.577.St. Ebba, Abbess, and her companions,A. D.870, or 874.B. ConstantineII. king of Scotland,A. D.874.St. Bronacha, orBronanna, Abbess.

Was a Calabrian, and at fifteen years old shut himself up in a cave, in a rock on the coast. Before twenty he was joined by two others, and the people built them three cells; the number increased, and so arose the order of friar Minims, which means the least of the friars. Constant abstinence from flesh, and all food made of milk or eggs, was one of their rules. In 1479, being invited to Sicily, “he was received there as an angel from heaven, wrought miracles, and built several monasteries.” He prophesied, held burning coals in his hand without being burnt, restored his nephew to life, cured people of the plague, received the host with a cord about his neck on Maundy Thursday, died on the 2d of April, 1508, aged ninety-one, and was buried till 1562 when the hugonots burnt his bones with the wood of a crucifix.[63]

Besides this, it is related, that the elements lost their force against him; that he walked upon fire; entered into a burning oven without harm; and made a sea voyage on his own cloak instead of a ship, and had a companion on board with him.[64]

According to another account he was much worried by the devil. Once while he was at prayers the devil called him three times by his own name. Another time he was so possessed by the fiend, that he had no other way to get rid of him, than by stripping and beating himself with a hard cord, crying while he did it, “thus brother ass thou must be beaten;” after which he ran into the snow and made seven snowballs, intending to swallow them if the devil had not taken his leave. Then a whole parcel of devils came one night, and gave him a grievousbeating; this was because he lodged in a cardinal’s palace, and it occasioned him to shift his lodging. Afterwards, when at prayers, he saw upon the roof of the house whole companies of these infernals. He was a bird-fancier. A bird sat singing on a fig-tree by the side of his cell, he called it to him; the bird came upon his hand, and he said to it—“Sing, my sister, and praise the Lord,” and the bird sat singing till he gave it liberty to go away. Going to Venice with his companions, and hearing birds singing in a wood, he proposed to sing the canonical hours, but the monks could not hear themselves for the chanters of the grove, wherefore, he entreated the feathered choir to be silent, and they remained so till he gave them liberty to proceed. At another place when he was preaching, he could not be heard for the swallows, which were making their nests; he said to them—“Sister swallows, it is time for me to speak; as you’ve said enough, be quiet,” and so they were. It was customary with him when one of his friars had committed a fault to take off the friar’s hood, and throw it into the fire, from whence after staying there a proper time, he commanded it to be restored to the friar, and the hood was then taken out of the fire without having sustained injury. More to the like effect, and of equal credibility, is related of this saint in theGolden Legend.

1801. Lord Nelson’s victory at Copenhagen, when eighteen sail of the line were either captured or destroyed.

White Violet.Viola alba.Dedicated toSt. Francisof Paula.

[63]Butler.[64]Ribadeneira.

[63]Butler.

[64]Ribadeneira.

***An errorunder the above title having crept into theEvery-Day Book,atp. 190, and also extended to thelistof “Moveable feasts,” the reader will please to correct that list, &c. by the following statement.

Shrove Sundayis the Sunday next before Shrove Tuesday. It is also calledQuinquagesimaSunday.

Shrove Tuesdayis always the seventh Tuesday beforeEaster-day.

Care, or Carle Sundayis the fifth Sunday in Lent, and the second Sunday beforeEaster-day.

Maundy Thursday, also calledChareorShereThursday, is the day beforeGood Friday.

Good Fridayis the Friday in Passion-week, and consequently the Friday next beforeEaster-day.

Easter-dayis always the first Sunday after the firstfullmoon, which happens on or next after the 21st of March; but if thefullmoon happens upon a Sunday,Easter-dayis the Sunday following.

The OctaveorUtasof each feast is always the eighth day after it occurs; for example, the feast of St. Hillary is the 13th of January, hence theoctaveof St. Hillary is the 22d of January.

†⸸†These Correctionswould have been made in the sheet itself, but a great number of copies having been printed, before the error was discovered, it became necessary to postpone the rectification.SeeNotebelow.[65]

[65]Mr.Nicolasobligingly informs me, that since his “Notitia Historica” was printed, he has ascertained that the rule laid down forShrove Tuesday, in that work, was not correct, and that having made some alterations in the event of a second edition being demanded, and finding I had cited the part containing the error, he thought it right to send me a copy of his corrections, from whence the preceding list is formed. There can scarcely be a doubt that a second edition of Mr. Nicolas’s “Notitia Historica” will be required speedily, because the series of Tables, Calendars, and miscellaneous information which it contains must be eminently useful, not only to the legal profession, antiquaries, and every historical and topographical inquirer, but to general readers, many of whom daily suffer inconvenience without such a source of reference.W. H.

Easter-dayis distinguished by its peculiar name, through our Saxon ancestors, who at this season of the year held a great festival, in honour of the goddess Eastor, probably the Astarte of the eastern nations. The French call this festivalPaques, derived from the Greekpascha, which is also derived from the Hebrewpesech, meaning passover; and whence we have the English wordpaschal, applied to the lamb, which formed part of the evening meal, the last of which our saviour partook, before his death, with his twelve missionaries. In Cambridgeshire the word pasch is still in use, and applied to a flower which appears at this time on the Gogmagog hills and its environs. The day is of importance in a civil, as well as in a religious, light; for on this day depend the openings of our courts of law, which take place after it, and the festivals of the church are arranged in conformity to it. By the act of parliament on this subject, and the rule given in conformityto it in the “Common Prayer-Book,” which of course every body has an opportunity of seeing, “Easter-dayis always the firstSundayafter theFull Moon,which happens upon, or next after, the twenty-first day ofMarch;and if the Full Moon happen upon a Sunday, Easter-dayis the Sunday after.”

One would think, that when such precise directions had been given, and the state of the moon on any day is so clearly and easily ascertained, that there would be no difficulty in following them; but experience has proved that contrary deviations from the act of parliament have been numerous. These have been pointed out at various times, but without any effect on the public. In the year 1735, Henry Wilson, of Tower-hill, styling himself mathematician, denounced the errors on this subject in a very ingenious work, entitled “The regulation of Easter, or the cause of the errours and differences contracted in the calculation of it, discovered and duly considered, showing—The frequency and consequence of that errour, with the cause from whence it proceeds, and a method proposed for rectifying it, and reconciling the differences about it, and for restoring the time of celebrating that great solemnity in its primitive certainty and exactness, and that without the difficulty and confusion which some have objected would attend such a regulation.” 8vo.

Within these few years an error in the observance of Easter took place, and on all the almanacs fixing an improper day for its observance, a memorial was presented to the lords in council and to the prince regent, humbly soliciting their interference on this subject. It was noticed also by Mr. Frend, in his “Evening Amusements;” and a clergyman of Oxford published a pamphlet on the occasion. There was also, we believe, one clergyman, who, disregarding the almanac, obeyed the rubric, and read the services for Easter-day, and the Sundays depending on it, on very different days from those adopted in other churches. It was remarkable also, that in that very year, judge Garrow arrived at Gloucester a short time after twelve o’clock at night, of the day on which the assizes were to commence, and the high-sheriff very properly representing his scruples, on the legality of then commencing the assizes, they were delayed till the opinion of the judges could be taken, and the consequence was, the issuing of a new writ. Thus the difference of a few minutes was considered fatal to the opening of a country court, though the courts of law at Westminster had been opened a few months before, when a much greater error had taken place with respect to Easter-day, on which, as before observed, the opening of those courts depends.

To understand this subject we must refer back to the origin of this festival, instituted in honour of the resurrection of our saviour, which took place on the third day after his execution as a malefactor. Friday had been fixed upon as the day of commemorating his death, and as that took place on the day of full moon, the first full moon after the twenty-first of March was fixed upon as the regulator of the festival. The great point had in view was to prevent the festival of Easter-day from being observed on the day of a full moon, but as near to it as circumstances would admit, and in consequence there is a great difference in the times of observing this festival; it being specially provided, however, that it should happenaftera full moon. The Jews observe their passover by juster rules; the day for the celebration of it taking place on different days of the week: but the Christians having fixed on Friday for the celebration of the fast on the death of our saviour, the Easter-day, on the following Sunday, was accommodated to it, and both were so fixed, that there could not be a full moon on the Easter-day, nor for some weeks after it.

In this year, 1825, the full moon occurs at twenty-three minutes past six in the morning of thethirdof April; consequently, according to the act of parliament, and the rubric of the church, Easter-day ought to be celebrated on thetenth, and the courts of law ought to open, or Easter term begin, on the twenty-seventh; but our almanac-makers thought good to fix Easter-day on thethird, and consequently Easter term is placed by them on thetwentieth, on which day it is presumed that judicial proceedings will commence.

Easter-day is observed all over Christendom with peculiar rites. In the catholic church high mass is celebrated, the host is adored with the greatest reverence, and both Catholics and Protestants might be led from it, to a more particular attention to the circumstances attending its form and substance. Thehost, derivedfrom the Latin wordhostia, meaning a victim, is a consecrated wafer, of a circular form, composed of flour and water. Both substance and form are regulated by custom of very ancient date. On the night before his execution, our saviour took bread, and blessing it, divided it among his missionaries; but the bread he took was not ordinary bread, but unleavened bread, such as is used by the Jews during the passover week in the present days. This bread is composed of merely flour and water, no leaven during the festival of their passover being permitted to enter the house of a Jew. It is a kind of biscuit of a circular form, and thehostthus, by its form and substance, brings us back to the recollection of the Catholics, and the rite celebrated by our saviour. It is the representation of the Jewish cake, or unleavened bread, which is to this day eaten by that nation during the passover week.

The Protestants have deviated from this custom, and in their churches use leavened bread, without any regard to form, and they cut it with a knife into small pieces, forgetting that our saviour broke the bread; but some use leavened bread, and, as they cannot break it, they attempt to imitate our saviour’s action by tearing it in pieces.

For those who wish to have a more comprehensive view of this subject, the following works are recommended: Cardinal Bona on the mass; Dean Comber on the liturgy; and above all, the Hebrew ritual, which is translated into English, and to which both Catholics and Protestants are indebted for greater part of their services.[66]

[66]This article on “Easter” iscommunicatedby the gentleman who favoured the editor with the account of the “Vernal Equinox,” atp. 375.

1825.Easter Sunday.The Resurrection.

Sts. Agape,Chionia, andIrene, Sisters, and their Companions,A. D.304;St. Richard.St. Ulpian.St. Nicetas, Abbot,A. D.824.

Was born at Wiche, near Worcester; studied at Oxford, Paris, and Bologna; became chancellor to the diocese of Canterbury; and was consecrated bishop of Chichester in 1245, against the desire of Henry III who seized his temporalities. These he regained by replevin, and pleading his cause against the king’s deputies before Innocent IV at Rome, a papal decree confirmed his election. Among his clergy he was a strict disciplinarian, and a friend and comforter to the poor. Preaching a crusade, according to the fashion of those times, against the Saracens, he fell sick, and died in the hospital at Dover, called God’s-house, in 1253, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and in the ninth of his episcopal functions. This is a brief character of an exemplary prelate, but the credulous Butler chooses to affirm, that three dead persons were restored to life, and other miraculous cures were worked at his tomb. Father Porter gossips a story of a miraculous flow of unction at his consecration; of a dead-born child having been brought to life by his dead merits; and of the touch of his old clothes having cured the diseased, with other performances, “which moved pope Boniface IV. to enrol him into the number of the canonized saincts.” Such wonders have never been performed in our days, and hence late popes have not been able to make saints. If bibles could be suppressed, and the printing-press destroyed, miracles and canonizations would “come in” again.

For particulars respectingEaster-dayandEaster Monday, seeEaster Tuesday, 5th ofApril.

Evergreen Alkanet.Anchusa sempervirus.Dedicated toSt. Agape.

St. Isidore, Bishop of Seville,A. D.636St. Plato, Abbot,A. D.813.

Easter Monday

Holiday at the Public Offices; except Excise, Custom, and Stamp.

1774. Oliver Goldsmith died: he was born in Ireland, November 29th, 1728.

1802. Lloyd, lord Kenyon, lord chief-justice of England, died, aged 69.

Red Crown Imperial.Fritillaria Imperialis.Dedicated toSt Isidore.

St. Vincent Ferrer,A. D.1419.St. Gerald, Abbot,A. D.1095.St. Tigernach, Bishop in Ireland,A. D.550.St. Becan, Abbot.

Easter Tuesday.

Holidays at the Public Offices; except Excise, Stamp, and Custom.

1605. John Stow, the antiquary, died, aged 80. He was a tailor.

1800. The rev. William Mason died. He was born at Hull, in Yorkshire, in 1725.

1804. The rev. William Gilpin, author of “Picturesque Tours,” “Remarks on Forest Scenery,” an “Essay on Prints,” &c. died aged 80.

1811. Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, died, aged 76. He was the originator of sunday-schools, and spent his life in acts of kindness and compassion; promoting education as a source of happiness to his fellow beings, and bestowing his exertions and bounty to benefit the helpless.

Yellow Crown Imperial.Fritillaria Imperialis Lutea.Dedicated toSt. Vincent Ferrer.

The day before Easter-day is in some parts called “Holy Saturday.” On the evening of this day, in the middle districts of Ireland, great preparations are made for the finishing of Lent. Many a fat hen and dainty piece of bacon is put in the pot by the cotter’s wife about eight or nine o’clock, and woe be to the person who should taste it before the cock crows. At twelve is heard the clapping of hands, and the joyous laugh, mixed with “Shidth or mogh or corries,” i. e.out with the Lent: all is merriment for a few hours, when they retire, and rise about four o’clockto see the sun dancein honour of the resurrection. This ignorant custom is not confined to the humble labourer and his family, but is scrupulously observed by many highly respectable and wealthy families, different members of whom I have heard assert positively that they had seen the sun dance on Easter morning.[67]

It is inquired in Dunton’s “Athenian Oracle,” “Why does the sun at his rising play more on Easter-day than Whit-Sunday?” The question is answered thus:—“The matter of fact is an old, weak, superstitious error, and the sun neither plays nor works on Easter-day more than any other. It is true, it may sometimes happen to shine brighter that morning than any other; but, if it does, it is purely accidental. In some parts of England they call it the lamb-playing, which they look for, as soon as the sun rises, in some clear or spring water, and is nothing but the pretty reflection it makes from the water, which they may find at any time, if the sun rises clear, and they themselves early, and unprejudiced with fancy.” The folly is kept up by the fact, that no one can view the sun steadily at any hour, and those who choose to look at it, or at its reflection in water, see it apparently move, as they would on any other day. Brand points out an allusion to this vulgar notion in an old ballad:—

But, Dick, shedancessuch away!Nosunupon anEaster dayIs half so fine a sight.

Again, from the “British Apollo,” a presumed question to the sun himself upon the subject, elicits a suitable answer:

Q.Old wives, Phœbus, sayThat on Easter-dayTo the music o’ th’ spheres you do caper;If the fact, sir, be true,Pray let’s the cause know,When you have any room in your paper.A. The old wives get merryWith spic’d ale or sherry,On Easter, which makes them romance;And whilst in a routTheir brains whirl about,They fancy we caper and dance.

Q.Old wives, Phœbus, sayThat on Easter-dayTo the music o’ th’ spheres you do caper;If the fact, sir, be true,Pray let’s the cause know,When you have any room in your paper.

A. The old wives get merryWith spic’d ale or sherry,On Easter, which makes them romance;And whilst in a routTheir brains whirl about,They fancy we caper and dance.

A bit of smoked glass, such as boys use to view an eclipse with, would put this matter steady to every eye but that of wilful self-deception, which, after all, superstition always chooses to see through.

Mr. Ellis inserts, in his edition of Mr. Brand’s “Popular Antiquities,” a letter from Mr. Thomas Loggan of Basinghall-street, from whence the following extract is made: Mr. Loggan says, “I was sitting alone last Easter Tuesday, at breakfast, at the Talbot in Shrewsbury, when I was surprised by the entrance of all the female servants of the house handing in an arm-chair,lined with white, and decorated with ribbons and favours of different colours. I asked them what they wanted, their answer was, they came toheaveme; it was the custom of the place on that morning, and they hoped I would take a seat in their chair. It was impossible not to comply with a request very modestly made, and to a set of nymphs in their best apparel, and several of them under twenty. I wished to see all the ceremony, and seated myself accordingly. The group then lifted me from the ground, turned the chair about, and I had the felicity of a salute from each. I told them, I supposed there was a fee due upon the occasion, and was answered in the affirmative; and, having satisfied the damsels in this respect, they withdrew to heave others. At this time I had never heard of such a custom; but, on inquiry, I found that on Easter Monday, between nine and twelve, the men heave the women in the same manner as on the Tuesday, between the same hours, the women heave the men.”

Lifting—an Easter Custom.

In Lancashire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and some other parts of England there prevails this custom ofheavingorliftingat Easter-tide. This is performed mostly in the open street, though sometimes it is insisted on and submitted to within the house. People form into parties of eight or a dozen or even more for the purpose, and from every oneliftedorheavedthey extort a contribution. The late Mr. Lysons read to the Society of Antiquaries an extract from a roll in his custody, as keeper of the records in the tower of London, which contains a payment to certain ladies and maids of honour for taking king Edward I. in his bed at Easter; from whence it has been presumed that he wasliftedon the authority of that custom, which is said to have prevailed among all ranks throughoutthe kingdom. The usage is a vulgar commemoration of the resurrection which the festival of Easter celebrates.

Liftingorheavingdiffers a little in different places. In some parts the person is laid horizontally, in others placed in a sitting position on the bearers’ hands. Usually, when theliftingorheavingis within doors, a chair is produced, but in all cases the ceremony is incomplete without three distinct elevations.

A Warwickshire correspondent, L. S., says, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday were known by the name ofheaving-day, because on the former day it was customary for the men to heave and kiss the women, and on the latter for the women to retaliate upon the men. The women’sheaving-daywas the most amusing. Many a time have I passed along the streets inhabited by the lower orders of people, and seen parties of jolly matrons assembled round tables on which stood a foaming tankard of ale. There they sat in all the pride of absolute sovereignty, and woe to the luckless man that dared to invade their prerogatives!—as sure as he was seen he was pursued—as sure as he was pursued he was taken—and as sure as he was taken he was heaved and kissed, and compelled to pay sixpence for “leave and license” to depart.

Conducted asliftingappears to have been by the blooming lasses of Shrewsbury, and acquitted as all who are actors in the usage any where must be, of even the slightest knowledge that this practice is an absurd performance of the resurrection, still it must strike the reflective mind as at least an absurd custom, “more honored i’ the breach than the observance.” It has been handed down to us from the bewildering ceremonies of the Romish church, and may easily be discountenanced into disuse by opportune and mild persuasion. If the children of ignorant persons be properly taught, they will perceive in adult years the gross follies of their parentage, and so instruct their own offspring, that not a hand or voice shall be lifted or heard from the sons of labour, in support of a superstition that darkened and dismayed man, until the printing-press and the reformation ensured his final enlightenment and emancipation.

Another relic of the ancient times, are the eggs which pass about at Easter week under the name ofpask,paste, orpaceeggs. A communication introduces the subject at once.

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Sir,

19th March, 1825.

A perusal of theEvery-Day Bookinduces me to communicate the particulars of a custom still prevalent in some parts of Cumberland, although not as generally attended to as it was twenty or thirty years ago. I allude to the practice of sending reciprocal presents of eggs, at Easter, to the children of families respectively, betwixt whom any intimacy subsists. For some weeks preceding Good Friday the price of eggs advances considerably, from the great demand occasioned by the custom referred to.

The modes adopted to prepare the eggs for presentation are the following: there may be others which have escaped my recollection.

The eggs being immersed in hot water for a few moments, the end of a common tallow-candle is made use of to inscribe the names of individuals, dates of particular events, &c. The warmth of the egg renders this a very easy process. Thus inscribed, the egg is placed in a pan of hot water, saturated with cochineal, or other dye-woods; the part over which the tallow has been passed is impervious to the operation of the dye; and consequently when the egg is removed from the pan, there appears no discolouration of the egg where the inscription has been traced, but the egg presents a white inscription on a coloured ground. The colour of course depends upon the taste of the person who prepared the egg; but usually much variety of colour is made use of.

Another method of ornamenting “pace eggs” is, however, much neater, although more laborious, than that with the tallow-candle. The egg being dyed, it may be decorated in a very pretty manner, by means of a penknife, with which the dye may be scraped off, leaving the design white, on a coloured ground. An egg is frequently divided into compartments, which are filled up according to the taste and skill of the designer. Generally one compartment contains the name and (being young and unsophisticated) also the age of the party for whom the egg is intended. In another is, perhaps, a landscape; and sometimes a cupid is found lurking in a third: so that these “paceeggs” become very useful auxiliaries to the missives of St. Valentine. Nothing was more common in the childhood of the writer, than to see a number of these eggs preserved very carefully in the corner-cupboard; each egg being the occupant of a deep, long-stemmed ale-glass, through which the inscription could be read without removing it. Probably many of these eggs now remain in Cumberland, which would afford as good evidence of dates in a court of justice, as a tombstone or a family-bible.

It will be readily supposed that the majority of pace eggs are simply dyed; or dotted with tallow to present a piebald or bird’s-eye appearance. These are designed for the junior boys who have not begun to participate in the pleasures of “a bended bow and quiver full of arrows;”—a flaming torch, or a heart and a true-lover’s knot. These plainer specimens are seldom promoted to the dignity of the ale-glass or the corner-cupboard. Instead of being handed down to posterity they are hurled to swift destruction. In the process of dying they are boiled pretty hard—so as to prevent inconvenience if crushed in the hand or the pocket. But the strength of the shell constitutes the chief glory of a pace egg, whose owner aspires only to the conquest of a rival youth. Holding his egg in his hand he challenges a companion to give blow for blow. One of the eggs is sure to be broken, and its shattered remains are the spoil of the conqueror: who is instantly invested with the title of “a cock of one, two, three,” &c. in proportion as it may have fractured his antagonist’s eggs in the conflict. A successful egg, in a contest with one which had previously gained honours, adds to its number the reckoning of its vanquished foe. An egg which is a “cock” of ten or a dozen, is frequently challenged. A modern pugilist would call this a set-to for the championship. Such on the borders of the Solway Frith were the youthful amusements of Easter Monday.

Your very proper precaution, which requires the names of correspondents who transmit notices of local customs, is complied with by the addition of my name and address below. In publication I prefer to appear only as your constant reader.

J. B.

Anoticebelow, the editor hopes will be read and taken by the reader, for whose advantage it is introduced, in good part.[68]

Pasch eggsare to be found at Easter in different parts of the kingdom. A Liverpool gentleman informs the editor, that in that town and neighbourhood they are still common, and calledpasteeggs. One of his children brought to him apasteegg at Easter, 1824, beautifully mottled with brown. It had been purposely prepared for the child by the servant, by being boiled hard within the coat of an onion, which imparted to the shell the admired colour. Hard boiling is a chief requisite in preparing thepaschegg. In some parts they are variously coloured with the juices of different herbs, and played with by boys, who roll them on the grass, or toss them up for balls. Their more elegant preparation is already described by our obliging correspondent, J. B.

The termspace,paste, orpasch, are derived frompaschal, which is a name given to Easter from its being thepaschalseason. Four hundred eggs were bought for eighteen-pence in the time of Edward I., as appears by a royal roll in the tower; from whence it also appears they were purchased for the purpose of being boiled and stained, or covered with leaf gold, and afterwards distributed to the royal household at Easter. They were formerly consecrated, and the ritual of pope Paul V. for the use of England, Scotland, and Ireland, contains the form of consecration.[69]On Easter eve and Easter day, the heads of families sent to the church large chargers, filled with the hard boiled eggs, and there the “creature of eggs” became sacred by virtue of holy water, crossing, and so on.

Eating oftansy puddingis another custom at Easter derived from the Romish church. Tansy symbolized the bitter herbs used by the Jews at their paschal; but that the people might show a proper abhorrence of Jews, they ate from a gammon of bacon at Easter, as many still do in several country places, at this season, without knowing from whence this practice is derived. Then we have Easterball-play, another ecclesiastical device, the meaning of which cannot be quite so clearly traced; but it is certain that the Romish clergy abroad played at ball in the church, as part of the service; and we find an archbishop joining in the sport. “A ball, not of size to be grasped by one hand only, being given out at Easter, the dean and his representatives began an antiphone, suited to Easter-day; then taking the ball in his left hand, he commenced a dance to the tune of the antiphone, the others dancing round hand in hand. At intervals, the ball was bandied or passed to each of the choristers. The organ played according to the dance and sport. The dancing and antiphone being concluded, the choir went to take refreshment. It was the privilege of the lord, or hislocum tenens, to throw the ball; even the archbishop did it.”[70]Whether the dignified clergy had this amusement in the English churches is not authenticated; but it seems that “boys used to claim hardeggs, or small money, at Easter, in exchange for the ball-play before mentioned.”[71]Brand cites the mention of a lay amusement at this season, wherein both tansy and ball-play is referred to.

Back to Index Next