November 15.

“‘A ragged troop of boys and girls,Do pellow him with stones,With clubs, with whips, and many nips,They part his skin from bones.’

“And (which is the greater shame) I have seen bothSenatores majorum gentium et matrone de euodem gradu, following this bulling business.

“I can say no more of it, but only to set forth the antiquity thereof, (as the tradition goes,) William, earl of Warren, in the time of king John, standing upon his castle-wall under the same, saw two bulls fighting for one cow. A butcher of the town, the owner of one of the bulls, with a great mastiff dog, accidentally coming by set his dog upon his own bull, who forced the same bull up into the town, which no sooner was come within the same, but all the butcher’s dogs, great and small, followed in pursuit of the bull, which by this time made stark mad with the noise of the people, and the fierceness of the dogs, ran over man, woman, and child, that stood in his way. This caused all the butchers and others in the town to rise up as it were in a tumult, making such a hideous noise that the sound thereof came into the castle into the ears of earl Warren, who presently mounted on horseback, and rid into the town to see the business; which then appearing (to his humour) very delightful, he gave all the meadows in which the bulls were at first found fighting, (which we now call the castle meadows,) perpetually as a common to the butchers of the town, to keep their cattle in till the time of slaughter, upon this condition, that upon the day on which this sport first began, the butchers of the town should from time to time yearly for ever, find a mad bull for the continuance of that sport.”

Mr. Lowe speaks more favourably of the “bull-running” than Butcher. He calls it “a good old custom,” and says, “there is nothing similar to it in his majesty’s dominions, nor I believe in the dominions of any other potentate on the globe: no, it stands without a rival.” “If,” says Lowe, “the doctrine of transmigration be true, nothing can be more certain than that the soul of earl Warren animated the body of Mr. Robert Ridlington, once a tanner, alderman, and mayor, of this corporation, who to perpetuate this gallant diversion as much as in him lay, left half-a-crown to be paid annually to each of the five parishes (of Stamford,) for the trouble of stopping the gates and avenues of the town, which is received on St. Thomas’s-day. I therefore hold it incumbent on me to record this spirited bequest, and to let thispar nobile fratrumgo hand in hand to posterity, for which legacy every bullard in gratitude ought to drink on that day to the joint memory of both. Since this account may chance to fall into the hands of some who are strangers to the town, I would have such know that when this gala-day falls either on a market-day or on a Sunday, that neither the market nor even the sabbath is put off on its account; but, on the contrary, it is itself postponed till the morrow, which must be acknowledged to be an instance of great forbearance!”

So much for the accounts of Butcher and Lowe. I shall now proceed to state the manner in which the sport is conducted in the present day.

The bull being duly procured, is shut up the night previous to the appointed morn, in a place provided for the purpose, and, long ere dawn of day, no peaceable person lying on his bed, can enjoy the pleasing and renovating stupor which, if unmolested by the cry of “bull for ever,” the leaden key of Somnus would afford him. At eleven o’clock, Taurus is loosed from his prison-house generally into a street stopped at each end, which he parades in majesty sublime. At this dangerous juncture every post, pump, and the like is in requisition, and those who are fortunate enough to get sheltered behind one sit in conscious security,

“grinning with a ghastly smile”

at those who less fortunate than themselves must, for protection, have recourse to flight. The carts and waggons which form the stoppage at the ends of the street, are crowded with individuals, aswell as the roofs of houses; in short, every place tenable is occupied. Some years back it was customary to irritate the bull by goading him with pointed sticks, but this is now wholly done away with, it being declared unnecessarily cruel, and different means are resorted to to enrage him. Frequently, a hogshead with both ends knocked out is brought, wherein a man places himself, and by rolling it to the bull, provokes him to toss it. He tosses, but tosses in vain; its inmate is trained too well to the sport to be easily dislodged; so that by this and other means equally harmless and teazing, he is rendered sufficiently infuriated to afford “prime sport.” The street is then unstopped, when, all agog, men, boys, and bull, tumble one over the other to get free.

Bridging the bullis next thought of; this, if he be much enraged, is the most dangerous part of the ceremony; it consists in driving him upon the bridge, which is a great height from the water, and crowds of people press to him on three sides.

“Shouts rend the air and onward goes the throng,Arms locked in arms, and man drives man along,”

Regardless of the danger to which the van is exposed, they press closer and closer; at length, in spite of his amazing powers he yields to the combined strength of his numerous opponents, and is tumbled into the water. On again rising to the surface, his first care generally is to land, which, in most cases, he effects in the meadows; these are very swampy, full of rivers, and spacious. November being a month invariably attended with rain, the stay-laced sportful dandy, alas! too frequently finds that the slippery ground is no respecter of persons, and in spite of all his efforts to maintain his equilibrium, in submissive, prostrate attitude, he embraces his mother earth.

The sport is attended regularly by a patroness,—

“A bold virago stout and tall,Like Joan of France, or English Mall,”

clad in blue, with a rare display of ribbons, and other insignia of her high office, who by close of day generally imbibes so much of the inspiring spirit of sir John Barleycorn, as to make her fully verify the words of Hamlet, viz.—

“Frailty, thy name is woman.”

Thus the amusement continues, until night puts a stop to the proceedings; the baited animal is then slaughtered, and his carcass sold at a reduced price to the lower classes, who to “top the day,” regale themselves with a supper of bull beef.

So ends this jovial sport, which, as Mr. Lowe says, “stands without a rival.” In conclusion, it only remains for me to state, that I have been more than once present at this “bull-running,” and am far from forming the idea that it is so cruel as some represent it to be; fatigue is the greatest pain the bull is subjected to; and, on the other hand, the men who so courageously cope with him are in imminent danger of loss of life, or broken limbs, whilst they possess not the most distant idea of doing any thing more injurious to the animal than irritating him.

I am, Sir, &c.Joseph Jibb.

Sleaford,October17, 1825.

Portugal Laurel.Cerasus Lusitanica.Dedicated toSt. Lawrence.

St. Gertrude, Abbess,A. D.1292.St. Leopold, Marquis of Austria,A. D.1136.St. Eugenius,A. D.275.St. Malo, orMaclou,A. D.565.

This saint is in the church of England calendar and almanacs. He is the “St. Malo, or Maclou,” of Alban Butler; according to whom he was born in England, and sent to Ireland for his education, where he was offered a bishopric but declined it. Going to Brittany he became disciple to a recluse named Aron, near Aleth, of which city he was the first bishop, and died November 15, 565. St. Malo derives its name from him. The ground whereon he stands in the church of England calendar is unknown.

Sweet Coltsfoot.Tussilago fragrans.Dedicated toSt. Gertrude.

St. Edmund, Abp. of Canterbury,A. D.1242.St. Eucherius, Bp. of Lyons,A. D.460.

A correspondent in the subjoined note mentions a singular character, which should be taken into the particulars concerning this fairrelatedatpage 1300.

(For the Every-Day Book.)

Mr. Editor,

In addition to your account of Stourbridge fair I send you the following, related to me by an individual of great veracity, who attended the fairs in 1766 and 1767.

Exclusive of the servants in red coats there was also another person dressed in similar clothing, with a string over his shoulders, from whence were suspended quantities of spigots and fossetts, and also round each arm many more were fastened. He was called “Lord of the Tap,” and his duty consisted in visiting all the booths in which ale was sold, to determine whether it was fit and proper beverage, for the persons attending the fairs.

In the account published at Cambridge in 1806, as given in your excellent miscellany, no notice is taken of this personage, and it may therefore be presumed the office had been discontinued.

J. N.

November16, 1825.

African Hemp.Sansciviera Guineam.Dedicated toSt. Edmund.

St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bp.A. D.270.St. Dionysius, Abp. of Alexandria,A. D.265.St. Gregory, Bp. of Tours,A. D.596.St. Hugh, Bp. of Lincoln,A. D.1200.St. Anian, orAgnan, Bp. A. D. 453.

This day was formerly noted in the almanacs as the anniversary of queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne, in the year 1558. In 1679, while the bill for excluding the duke of York, afterwards James II., from the throne of England, was in agitation, there was a remarkable cavalcade in London on this day. The following account of it was drawn up at the time:—

“The bells generally about the town began to ring at three o’clock in the morning. At the approach of evening, all things being in readiness, the solemn procession began, setting forth from Moor-gate, and so passed first to Aldgate, and from thence through Leadenhall-street, by the Royal Exchange, through Cheapside, and so to Temple-bar, in the ensuing order, viz.

“1. Six whifflers, to clear the way, in pioneers’ caps, and red waistcoats.

“2. A bellman ringing, and with a loud but dolesome voice, crying out all the way, ‘remember justice Godfrey.’

“3. A dead body, representing justice Godfrey, in a decent black habit, carried before a jesuit in black, on horseback, in like manner as he was carried by the assassins to Primrose-hill.

“4. A priest, in a surplice, with a cope embroidered with dead bones, skeletons, sculls, and the like, giving pardons very plentifully to all those that should murder protestants, and proclaiming it meritorious.

“5. A priest in black, alone, with a great silver cross.

“6. Four carmelites, in white and black habits.

“7. Four grey-fryars, in the proper habits of their order.

“8. Six jesuits, with bloody daggers.

“9. A concert of wind music.

“10. Four bishops, in purple, and lawn sleeves, with a golden cross on their breast, and crosier staves in their hands.

“11. Four other bishops, in pontificalibus, with surplices and rich embroidered copes, and golden mitres on their heads.

“12. Six cardinals, in scarlet robes and caps.

“13. The pope’s doctor, (sir George Wakeman, the queen’s physician,) with jesuit’s powder in one hand, and an urinal in the other.

“14. Two priests in surplices, with two golden crosses.

“Lastly, the pope, in a lofty glorious pageant, representing a chair of state, covered with scarlet, richly embroidered and fringed, and bedecked with golden balls and crosses. At his feet a cushion of slate, and two boys in surplices, with white silk banners, and bloody crucifixesand daggers, with an incense pot before them, censing his holiness, who was arrayed in a splendid scarlet gown, lined through with ermine, and richly daubed with gold and silver lace; on his head a triple crown of gold, and a glorious collar of gold and precious stones, St. Peter’s keys, a number of beads,agnus deis, and other catholic trumpery. At his back, his holiness’s privy councillor, (the degraded seraphim,anglice, the devil,) frequently caressing, hugging, and whispering him, and ofttimes instructing him aloud, ‘to destroy his majesty, to forge a protestant plot, and to fire the city again;’ to which purpose he held an infernal torch in his hand.

“The whole procession was attended with 150 flambeaux and lights, by order; but so many more came in voluntarily that there was some thousands.

“Never were the balconies, windows, and houses more numerously lined, or the streets closer thronged with multitudes of people, all expressing their abhorrence of popery, with continual shouts and exclamations, so that it is modestly computed that, in the whole progress, there could not be fewer than 200,000 spectators.

“Thus, with a slow and solemn state they proceeded to Temple-bar; where, with innumerable swarms, the houses seemed to be converted into heaps of men, and women, and children; for whose diversion there were provided great variety of excellent fireworks.

“Temple-bar being, since its rebuilding, adorned with four stately statues, viz. those of queen Elizabeth and king James on the inward, or eastern side, fronting the city, and those of king Charles I. and king Charles II. on the outside, facing towards Westminster; and the statue of queen Elizabeth, in regard to the day, having on a crown of gilded laurel, and in her hand a golden shield, with this motto inscribed,—‘The Protestant Religion and Magna Charta,’ and flambeauxs placed before it; the pope being brought up near thereunto, the following song (alluding to the posture of those statues) was sung in parts, between one representing the English cardinal, (Howard,) and others acting the people.

Cardinal.“From York to London town we came,To talk of popish ire,To reconcile you all to Rome,And prevent Smithfield firePeople.“Cease, cease, thou Norfolk cardinal,See yonder stands queen Bess,Who sav’d our souls from popish thrall,O! queen Bess, queen Bess, queen Bess.“Your popish plot and Smithfield threatWe do not fear at all;For lo! beneath queen Bess’s feetYou fall, you fall, you fall!“’Tis true, our king’s on t’other side,Looking tow’rds Whitehall,But could we bring him round about,He’d counterplot you all.“Then down with James and set up CharlesOn good queen Bess’s side,That all true commons, lords, and earls,May wish him a fruitful bride.“Now God preserve great Charles our kingAnd eke all honest men;And traitors all to justice bring,Amen, amen, amen.

Cardinal.

“From York to London town we came,To talk of popish ire,To reconcile you all to Rome,And prevent Smithfield fire

People.

“Cease, cease, thou Norfolk cardinal,See yonder stands queen Bess,Who sav’d our souls from popish thrall,O! queen Bess, queen Bess, queen Bess.

“Your popish plot and Smithfield threatWe do not fear at all;For lo! beneath queen Bess’s feetYou fall, you fall, you fall!

“’Tis true, our king’s on t’other side,Looking tow’rds Whitehall,But could we bring him round about,He’d counterplot you all.

“Then down with James and set up CharlesOn good queen Bess’s side,That all true commons, lords, and earls,May wish him a fruitful bride.

“Now God preserve great Charles our kingAnd eke all honest men;And traitors all to justice bring,Amen, amen, amen.

“Then having entertained the thronging spectators for some time with the ingenious fireworks, a vast bonfire being prepared just over against the Inner Temple Gate, his holiness, after some compliments and reluctances, was decently toppled from all his grandeur into the impartial flames; the crafty devil leaving his infallibilityship in the lurch, and laughing as heartily at his deserved ignominious end as subtle jesuits do at the ruin of bigotted lay-catholics whom themselves have drawn in; or as credulous Coleman’s abettors did, when, with pretences of a reprieve at the last gasp, they made him vomit up his soul with a lie, and sealed up his dangerous chops with a flatter. This justice was attended with a prodigious shout, that might be heard far beyond Somerset-house, (where the queen resided,) and it was believed the echo, by continual reverberations, before it ceased, reached Scotland, [the duke was then there,] France, and even Rome itself, damping them withal with a dreadful astonishment.”

These particulars, from a tract in lord Somers’s collection, are related in the “Gentleman’s Magazine” for 1740; and the writer adds, that “the place of prompter-general, Mr. North insinuates, was filled by lord Shaftesbury.”

Tree Stramony.Datura arborea.Dedicated toSt. Gregory.

The Dedication of the Churches of Sts. Peter, andPaul, at Rome.Sts. Alphæus, andZachæus; alsoRomanus, andBarulas.St. Odo, Abbot of Cluni,A. D.942.St. Hilda, orHild, Abbess,A. D.680.

The “Mirror of the Months,” a pleasing volume published in the autumn of 1825, and devoted to the service of the year, points to the appearance of nature at this time:—“The last storm of autumn, or the first of winter, (call it which you will) has strewed the bosom of the all-receiving earth with the few leaves that were still clinging, though dead, to the already sapless branches; and now all stand bare once more, spreading out their innumerable ramifications against the cold grey sky, as if sketched there for a study by the pencil of your only successful drawing-mistress—nature.

“Of all the numerous changes that are perpetually taking place in the general appearance of rural scenery during the year, there is none so striking as this which is attendant on the falling of the leaves; and there is none in which the unpleasing effects so greatly predominate over the pleasing ones. To say truth, a grove denuded of its late gorgeous attire, and instead of bowing majestically before the winds, standing erect and motionless while they are blowing through it, is ‘a sorry sight,’ and one upon which we will not dwell. But even this sad consequence of the coming on of winter (sad in most of its mere visible effects,) is not entirely without redeeming accompaniments; for in most cases it lays open to our view objects that we are glad to see again, if it be but in virtue of their association with past years; and in many cases it opens vistas into sweet distances that we had almost forgotten, and brings into view objects that we may have been sighing for the sight of all the summer long. Suppose, for example, that the summer view from the windows of a favourite sleeping-room is bounded by a screen of shrubs, shelving upwards from the turf, and terminating in a little copse of limes, beeches, and sycamores; the prettiest boundary that can greet the morning glance when the shutters are opened, and the sun slants gaily in at them, as if glad to be again admitted. How pleasant is it, when (as now) the winds of winter have stripped the branches that thus bound our view in, to spy beyond them, as if through network, the sky-pointing spire of the distant village church, rising from behind the old yew-tree that darkens its portal; and the trim parsonage beside it, its ivy-grown windows glittering perhaps in the early sun! Oh, none but those whowillsee the good that is in every thing, know how very few evils there are without some of it attendant on them, and yet how much of good there is unmixed with any evil.

“But though the least pleasant sight connected with the coming on of winter in this month is to see the leaves that have so gladdened the groves all the summer long, falling every where around us, withered and dead,—that sight is accompanied by another which is too often overlooked. Though most of the leaves fall in winter, and the stems and branches which they beautified stand bare, many of them remain all the year round, and look brighter and fresher now than they did in spring, in virtue of the contrasts that are every where about them. Indeed the cultivation of evergreens has become so general with us of late years, that the home enclosures about our country dwellings, from the proudest down to even the poorest, are seldom to be seen without a plentiful supply, which we now, in this month, first begin to observe, and acknowledge the value of. It must be a poor plot of garden-ground indeed that does not now boast its clumps of winter-blowing laurestinus; its trim holly bushes, bright with their scarlet berries; or its tall spruce firs, shooting up their pyramid of feathery branches beside the low ivy-grown porch. Of this last-named profuse ornamentor of whatever is permitted to afford it support, (the ivy) we now too every where perceive the beautifully picturesque effects: though there is one effect of it also perceived about this time, which I cannot persuade myself to be reconciled to: I mean where the trunk of a tall tree is bound about with ivy almost to its top, which during the summer has scarcely been distinguished as a separate growth, but which now, when the other leaves are fallen, and the outspread branches stand bare, offers to the eye, not a contrast, but a contradiction. But let us not dwell on any thing in disfavour of ivy, which is one of the prime boasts of the village scenery of our island, and which even at this season of the year offers picturesto the eye that cannot be paralleled elsewhere. Perhaps as a single object of sight, there is nothing which gives so much innocent pleasure to so many persons as an English village church, when the ivy has held undisputed possession of it for many years, and has hung its fantastic banners all around it. There is a charm about an object of this kind, which it is as difficult to resist as to explain.”

Curly Passion-flower.Passiflora serrata.Dedicated tothe Churches of Sts. Peter and Paul.

St. Elizabeth, of Hungary,A. D.1231.St. Pontian, Pope,A. D.230.St. Barlaam.

Apple-fruited Passion-flower.Passiflora maliformis.Dedicated toSt. Elizabeth.

St. Edmund, King and Martyr,A. D.870.St. Humbert, Bp. of the East Angles,A. D.855.St. Felix, of Valois,A. D.1212.St. Bernward, Bp.,A. D.1021.St. Masentia, 7th Cent.

This English king and saint is in the church of England calendar and almanacs. St. Edmund was king of East Anglia, which took its name from a people called the Angles, who landed on the eastern coast of Britain, under twelve chiefs, the survivor of whom, Uffa, assumed the title of king of the East Angles. This kingdom contained Norfolk and Suffolk, with part of Cambridgeshire. The chief towns were Norwich, Thetford, Ely, and Cambridge. In 867, the Danes landed in East Anglia, and after ravaging different parts of the island, and continuing some time in Northumberland, returned into East Anglia, committing, in their route, the most horrid barbarities. Edmund the king opposed them; but his army was defeated at Thetford, and the king being taken prisoner, fell a miserable victim to their barbarity, for they tied him to a tree, as a butt, or mark, and then shot him to death with arrows. The place where Edmund was interred had the name of St. Edmund’s Bury, but is now generally called Bury. Canute the Great built a stately church over his grave, and greatly enlarged the town.

Red Stapelia.Stapelia rufa.Dedicated toSt. Edmund, King.

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.St. Columban, Abbot,A. D.615.St. Gelasius, Pope,A. D.496.

A lady assured the editor of the “Perennial Calendar,” of the truth of the following story. She had ordered an armed chair which stood in her room to be sent to a sick friend, and thought it had been sent conformably to her orders. Waking, however, in the night, and looking by the light of the night-lamp at the furniture in her room, she cast her eyes on the place where the said chair used to stand, and saw it, as she thought, in its place. She at first expressed herself to her husband as being vexed that the chair had not been sent; but, as he protested that it was actually gone, she got out of bed to convince herself, and distinctly saw the chair, even on a nearer approach to it. What now became very remarkable was, that the spotted chair-cover which was over it, assumed an unusual clearness, and the pattern assumed the appearance of being studded with bright stars. She got close to it, and putting her hand out to touch it, found her fingers go through the spectrum unresisted. Astonished, she now viewed it as an illusion, and presently saw it vanish, by becoming fainter till it disappeared. Dr. Forster considers this apparition as affording a clue to one mode by which spectra are introduced, namely, by local association. The lady had anticipated seeing the chair in its place, from its always being associated with the rest of the furniture; and this anticipation of an image of perception was the basis of a corresponding image of spectral illusion.

Largeflowered Wood Sorrel.Oxalis grandiflora.Dedicated tothe Presentation of the V. Mary.

St. Cecilia.

———Divine Cecilia came,Inventress of the vocal frame;The sweet enthusiast, from her sacred store,Enlarg’d the former narrow bounds,And added length to solemn sounds,With nature’s mother-wit, and arts unknown before.Let old Timotheus yield the prize,Or both divide the crown;He rais’d a mortal to the skies,She drew an angel down.Dryden.

Dryden.

St. Cecily,A. D.230.St. Theodorus,A. D.821.Sts. Philemon, andAppia.

This saint is in the church of England Calendar, and in the almanacs. Her having existed has been doubted, but she is a saint of the Romish church, and Butler gives her life, wherein he calls her “the patroness of church music.” He says, that she was married to a nobleman named Valerian, whom, with her brother Tibertius, she converted, and with them she was martyred. Various legends, and many pictures and prints, represent her as engaged in music, or listening to it from celestial performers. Hence the ode for St. Cecilia’s day by Dryden, who was a catholic, concludes by saying,

“She drew an angel down.”

Formerly, concerts on her festival-day were fashionable, and Pope honoured her in numbers, though “the numbers came” not to him, as to Dryden. The preceding engraving is from a design by M. de Vos, engraved by J. Sadler. Her husband is represented, allured by the harmony, entering a room, wherein she sits. According to catholic story, he found a young man playing on the organ, Cecilia describedhim to Valerian as an angel, and from that time she received “angels’ visits.”

Trumpet-flowered Wood Sorrel.Oxalis ubiflora.Dedicated toSt. Cecilia.

St. Clement, Pope,A. D.100.St. Amphilochius, Bp. of Iconium,A. D.394.St. Tron,A. D.693.St. Daniel, Bp.A. D.545.

This saint is in the church of England calendar and the almanacs.

Clement was a follower and coadjutor of the apostle Paul, who, writing to thePhilippians, (iv. 3.) requires them to be mindful of the flock and their teachers, and distinguishes Clement by name—“help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, and with Clement also, and with other my fellow-labourers.” The Romish writers contend for the direct papal succession from the apostles, and call Clement a pope; but in the uninterrupted succession they claim for the pontiffs of their hierarchy, they fail in establishing as indisputable whether he was the first, second, or third pope; the name itself was not devised until centuries afterwards. Some of them say he was martyred, others contend that he died a natural death. The advocates for his martyrdom assign him an anchor as a symbol of distinction, because they allege that he was thrown into the sea with an anchor about his neck. It is further alleged that two of his disciples desirous of recovering his remains, assembled a multitude and prayed for the discovery, and, as usual, there was a miracle. “Immediately the sea retired for the space of three miles, or a league, in such sort that they could go into it for all that space as upon the dry land; and they found in it a chapel, or little church, made by the hands of angels; and within the church a chest of stone, in which was the body of St. Clement, and by it the anchor with which he had been cast into the sea. This miracle did not happen only that year in which the holy pope died, but it happened also every year, and the sea retired itself three miles, as was said, leaving the way dry for seven days, namely, the day of his martyrdom, and the other six following days.”[389]Though “travellers see strange sights,” no modern tourist has related this annual miracle, which is still performed by the sea in the neighbourhood of Rome, on the days aforesaid, as duly and truly as the annual liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius at Naples—“or, if not, why not?”

Protestants, in London, are reminded of St. Clement’s apocryphal death by his anchor being the weathercock that “turns and turns,” to every wind, on the steeple of the parish church of St. Clement Danes in the Strand. It denotes the efflux of time as a minute-hand upon the clock; it denotes the limits of the parish as a mark upon the boundary stones; it graces the beadles’ staves; and on the breasts of the charity children is, in the eyes of the parishioners, “a badge of honour.”

It appears from a state proclamation, dated July 22, 1540, that children were accustomed to be decked, and go about on St. Clement’s day in procession. From an ancient custom of going about on the night of this festival to beg drink to make merry with, a pot was formerly marked against the 23d of November upon the old clog-almanacs.[390]

St. Clement is the patron ofblacksmiths. His quality in this respect is not noticed by Brand, or other observers of our ancient customs, nor do they mention any observances by that trade in commemoration of his festival. But the following communications will show the estimation wherein he is held among the “cunning workmen in iron.”

To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.

Chancery-lane, Nov. 19, 1825.

Sir,

As secretary of the “Benevolent Institution of Smiths,” I take the liberty of jogging your memory. I hope you will not forget ourSt. Clement, (Nov. 23,) in your interestingEvery-Day Book. When I was a child, an old man went about in the trade, reciting the following ode on smithery, which, I believe, is very old. If you think it worthy a place in your work, it will much oblige me and our trade; for it is now quite forgot, with many good customs of hospitality of theolden days which are no more. I hope you will cull your flowers of antiquity, and collect all you can for our trade; there is a story of St. Dunstan, the smith, with his tongs, pinching the devil by the nose, &c.

An Ode on Smithery, 1610.“By reading of old authors we do findThe smiths have been a trade time out of mind;And it’s believed they may be bold to say,There’s not the like to them now at this day.For was it not for smiths what could we do,We soon should loose our lives and money too;The miser would be stript of all his store,And lose the golden god he doth adore:No tradesman could be safe, or take his restBut thieves and rogues would nightly him molest;It’s by our cunning art, and ancient skill,That we are saved from those who would work ill.The smith at night, and soon as he doth rise,Doth always cleanse and wash his face and eyes;Kindles his fire, and the bellows blows,Tucks up his shirt sleeves, and to work he goes:Then makes the hammer and the anvil ring,And thus he lives as merry as a king.A working smith all other trades excels,In useful labour wheresoe’er he dwells;Toss up your caps ye sons of Vulcan then,For there are none of all the sons of men,That can with the brave working smiths compare,Their work is hard, and jolly lads they are.What though a smith looks sometimes very black,And sometimes gets but one shirt to his backAnd that is out at elbows, and so thinThat you through twenty holes may see his skin;Yet when he’s drest and clean, you all will say,That smiths are men not made of common clay.They serve the living, and they serve the dead,They serve the mitre, and the crowned head;They all are men of honour and renown,Honest, and just, and loyal to the crown.The many worthy deeds that they have done,Have spread their fame beyond the rising sunSo if we have offended rich or poor,We will be good boys, and do so no more.”

An Ode on Smithery, 1610.

“By reading of old authors we do findThe smiths have been a trade time out of mind;And it’s believed they may be bold to say,There’s not the like to them now at this day.For was it not for smiths what could we do,We soon should loose our lives and money too;The miser would be stript of all his store,And lose the golden god he doth adore:No tradesman could be safe, or take his restBut thieves and rogues would nightly him molest;It’s by our cunning art, and ancient skill,That we are saved from those who would work ill.The smith at night, and soon as he doth rise,Doth always cleanse and wash his face and eyes;Kindles his fire, and the bellows blows,Tucks up his shirt sleeves, and to work he goes:Then makes the hammer and the anvil ring,And thus he lives as merry as a king.A working smith all other trades excels,In useful labour wheresoe’er he dwells;Toss up your caps ye sons of Vulcan then,For there are none of all the sons of men,That can with the brave working smiths compare,Their work is hard, and jolly lads they are.What though a smith looks sometimes very black,And sometimes gets but one shirt to his backAnd that is out at elbows, and so thinThat you through twenty holes may see his skin;Yet when he’s drest and clean, you all will say,That smiths are men not made of common clay.They serve the living, and they serve the dead,They serve the mitre, and the crowned head;They all are men of honour and renown,Honest, and just, and loyal to the crown.The many worthy deeds that they have done,Have spread their fame beyond the rising sunSo if we have offended rich or poor,We will be good boys, and do so no more.”

I hope you will polish up for insertion. I will call for the old copy at your office: I should have sent it sooner, but could not find it, and the trouble it has cost me has made it valuable.

I remain, &c.

J. Johnson.

7, Hill-street,Southwark.

The editor has given the “ode” without Mr. Johnson’s alterations and additions, because its original state is better suited to convey a notion of his predecessors’ manners; for the same reason, his suggestion to “polish up” has been declined. The homeliness of those who preceded him is not discreditable to him, or any of the brethren of his trade. They are daily increasing in respectability, and ought to be a thriving branch. Compared with those who lived before them, they have extraordinary means of becoming acquainted with theprinciplesof their varied manufacture, by becoming members of theMechanics’ Institution. Many blacksmiths have already joined that society. A diligent and good hand who knowsmore than his fellows, will be the best workman, and get the most money; and frugality abroad, and economy at home, will secure his independence. Attendance at theMechanics’ Institutionwill teach these things: and St. Clement cannot be better honoured than by observing them.

R. R. obligingly communicates with his name, the following account of an annual ceremony on the evening of St. Clement’s day, by the blacksmiths’ apprentices of the dockyard there.

(For the Every-Day Book.)

One of the senior apprentices being chosen to serve asold Clem, (so called by them,) is attired in a great coat, having his head covered with an oakham wig, face masked, and a long white beard flowing therefrom; thus attired, he seats himself in alarge wooden chair, chiefly covered with a sort of stuff called buntin, with a crown and anchor, made of wood, on the top, and around it, four transparencies, representing “the blacksmiths’ arms,” “anchor smiths at work,” “Britannia with her anchor,” and “Mount Etna.” He has before him a wooden anvil, and in his hands a pair of tongs and wooden hammer which, in general, he makes good use of whilst reciting his speech. A mate, also masked, attends him with a wooden sledge-hammer; he is also surrounded by a number of other attendants, some of whom carry torches, banners, flags, &c.; others battle-axes, tomahawkes, and other accoutrements of war. This procession, headed by a drum and fife, and six men with old Clem mounted on their shoulders, proceed round the town, stopping and refreshing at nearly every public house, (which, by the by, are pretty numerous,) not forgetting to call on the blacksmiths and officers of the dockyard: there the money-box is pretty freely handed, after old Clem and his mate have recited their speeches, which commence by the mate calling for order, with

“Gentlemen all, attention give,And wish St. Clem, long, long to live.”

Old Clem then recites the following speech:—

“I am the real St. Clement, the first founder of brass, iron, and steel, from the ore. I have been to Mount Etna, where the god Vulcan first built his forge, and forged the armour and thunderbolts for the god Jupiter. I have been through the deserts of Arabia; through Asia, Africa, and America; through the city of Pongrove; through the town of Tipmingo; and all the northern parts of Scotland. I arrived in London on the twenty-third of November, and came down to his majesty’s dockyard, at Woolwich, to see how all the gentlemen Vulcans came on there. I found them all hard at work, and wish to leave them well on the twenty-fourth.”

The mate then subjoins:—

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