The English Reformation and The Evidence of Folklore

The Past and Present Society
The English Reformation and the Evidence of Folklore

Author(s): Ronald Hutton
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Past & Present, No. 148 (Aug., 1995), pp. 89-116
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society
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THE ENGLISHREFORMATIONAND THE

EVIDENCEOF FOLKLORE
Duringthepast tenyearstheEnglishReformation
has become
the subjectof an exciting,informative
and somewhatartificial
debate.Its outlineis familiarto anybodywitheven a cursory
knowledgeof theperiod.On theone handare thosewho have
portrayed
the relationship
betweenProtestantism
and the mass
as a
of thepeopleas essentially
adversarial,
and theReformation
processimposedfromabove,veryslowly,upona populacewhich
had on thewholebeen contentwiththeold churchand reacted
and
to thenewone witha mixtureof confusion,
demoralization
hostility.
These writerstendto arguethatthelong-term
legacy
of thechangeswas a muchgreateralienation
of commonpeople
fromthe establishedreligion.lOn the otherare a numberof
scholarsless well definedas a groupand sometimes
less overtly
polemicalin theirstyle,who have stressedthe earlyappeal of
Protestantism
to sectionsof the populaceand the mannerin
which,fromthe reignof Elizabethonwards,the new religion
madea profound
impactuponpopularculture.2
To describethedivisionas artificial
is notto belittleanyofthe
l Christopher
Haigh, "PuritanEvangelismin theReignof ElizabethI", Eng.Hist.
Re?v.,
xcii (1977), pp. 30-58; C. Haigh, "The Churchof England,Catholicsand the
People", in C. Haigh (ed.), TheReignofElizabeth
I (London,1984), pp. 195-220;
J. J. Scarisbrick,TheReformation
andtheEnglish
People(Oxford, 1984); C. Haigh
(ed.), TheEnglish
Reformation
Reuised
(Cambridge,1987); EamonDuffy,TheStripping
oftheAltars(New Haven, 1992); C. Haigh,English
Reformations
(Oxford,1992). Into
thiscategoryratherthanthe otherI would put RobertWhiting,TheBlindDevotion
ofthePeople(Cambridge,1989), because althoughit postulatesa far more rapid
impactof the reformsupon popularbeliefthanthe workslistedabove, it portrays

thisimpactas essentiallya negativeone.
2 G. R. Dickens, "The Early Expansionof Protestantism
in England, 1520-58",
Archiv
furReformationsgeschichte,
lxxviii(1987), pp. 187-221;PatrickCollinson,The
Birthpangs
ofProtestant
England
(London, 1988); Diarmaid MacCulloch, TheLater
Reformation
inEngland,
1547-1603
(London, 1990); D. MacCulloch,Building
a Godly
Realm(London, 1992); Peter Lake, "Deeds againstNature: Cheap Print,Protestantismand Murderin EarlySeventeenth
CenturyEngland",in Kevin Sharpeand P.
Lake (eds.), Culture
andPolitics
inEarlyStuartEngland
(London, 1994), pp. 257-83.
The historianslistedhere and in n. 1 above have, of course,reviewedeach other's
books and it has oftenbeen in thesereviews,ratherthanin the worksthemselves,
thatsomeof thesharpestexchangeshave been madeand thedifferences
of viewmost
plainlybroughtout.
9o
AND PRESENT
PAST
148
NUMBER
arises
thecharacterization
it:rather,
whohavepromoted
scholars
individual
of
result
the
largely
a sensethatthedisputesare
from
the
aspectsofwhatis fundamentally
upondifferent
concentration
Reformation
English
the
of
theportrait
picture.Bycontrast,
same
untilthe
was presentedin mostschoolsand universities
which
thelight
in
then,
by
revision
of
was in suchobviousneed
1970s
vigorous
a
that
archives,
parochial
recentworkin diocesanand
of
This revisionist
attackon it was whollyappropriate.
polemical
toneofcontroequivalent
an
forth
called
hasapparently
polemic
most
explicitly,
or
implicitly
accept,
fromcolleagueswho
versy
seem
who
and
historiography
traditional
of the
ofits criticisms
and
to be engagedin a processofaddingdepth,sensitivity
more
to the new picturewhichhas emergedas a result.
complexity
fromdifferences
at presentseemto ariseessentially
Arguments
diSeringsource
of
use
the
of
consequence
a
ofemphasis,in part
of theold
thus,thosewhohavestressedthepopularity
material:
havetendedto make
to reform
and widespreadhostility
church
courtbooks
accounts,ecclesiastical
use of churchwardens'
more
more
andvisitationreturns,while theircriticshave attached
to willsand printedworks.
importance
seemsto be
In thiscontext,Tessa Watt'srecentmonograph
negrelatively
It drawsupona hitherto
significant.3
particularly
cheap
other
and
lectedbodyof evidence-ballads) broadsides
both and
printedmaterial and suggeststhatthissupports
popular
These
above.
of thetwopositionscharacterized
neither
and a
Protestantism
both a Bible-centred
waresincorporated
of
sense
a
repressed
visualpietyin a fashionwhich
traditional
instead
emphasized
and
betweennewandoldforms
confrontation
interestin death,salvation,miracles,prodigies,
continuing
a
religious
heroicactionand moralbehaviourwhichtranscended
partial
the
as
such
occur,
of emphasisdid
reform.Alterations
biblical
or
historical
by
of saintsas protagonists
replacement
withthepast
but in generaltheelementsof continuity
figures,
into
painlessly
incorporated
were
and thechanges
werestronger,
the
divided
obviously
most
which
issues
forms.Those
traditional
usually
were
Protestant,
of
varieties
and different
rivalchurches,
insteaduponbroadly
concentrated
ignored.The worksconcerned
rules and
consensualvalues, based upon simple behavioural
entertain.
to
expressedin a formwhichwas intendedabove all
1991).
3TessaWatt,CheapPrintand PopularPiety(Cambridge)
FOLK1ORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION
91
whichwasat oncedeeplypera popularculture

Theyserviced
andabletoabsorbit.4
change
meabletoreligious
studyis to beartheseissuesin
The purposeof thepresent
which
ofsourcematerial
use ofa category
mindwhilemaking
oftheEnglish
byhistorians
unexploited
hasbeenalmostwholly
andnineoftheeighteenth
collections
thefolklore
Reformation:
history
oftheseforearlymodern
Employment
centuries.
teenth
likesomuchelse,byKeithThomasbackin1971,
waspioneered,
inhisReligionand theDeclineofMagic;inthiscasehisleadwas
withpopularculturehave
up. Issuesconcerned
notfollowed
oftheEnglish
ofscholars
cometotheinterest
indeedincreasingly
in thoseof its
and are muchmoreprominent
Reformation,
upon
writing
ofwhomthemostinfluential
equivalent,
German
and
R. W. Scribner
havebeenGeraldStrauss,
themin English
havenotutilizedthe
Parker.Even these,however,
Geoffrey
madein thelast
folklore
of Germanic
equallyrichcollections
an
ofearlierVolkskunde;
theworkings
toillumine
threecenturies
ofthedepthoftheartificial
in bothcases,perhaps,
illustration
history.
Evidence
andmodern
earlymodern
between
distinction
hardly
is,indeed,
bytheselatercollections
ofthesortrepresented
because
records,
andseventeenth-century
insixteenthavailable
observers
it wasnotuntilthereignofGeorgeIII thateducated
and
from
theworldofthepopulace,
estranged
feltso completely
thattheybeganto record
thatoftheruralpopulace,
especially
as theywouldthatof a
andbeliefssystematically,
itscustoms
wastakenearlinterest
inthesubject
Occasional
culture.
foreign
though
collected,
butthematerial
byJohnAubrey,
ier,notably
in
and erratic
was smallin quantity
to a historian,
invaluable
ofdata,someretroamount
an enormous
quality.By contrast,
andboththesize
the1770sonwards,
from
wasamassed
spective,
toitwasdramatically
attached
ofthesampleandtheimportance
of survivals
yearslaterwhenthetheory
a hundred
increased
byscholars
As formulated
studies.
in folklore
becamedominant
Frazer,thispostulated
suchas SirEdwardTylorandSirJames
reliofpre-Christian
wereremnants
thatmanypopularrituals
bya
reconstructed
whichmightbe successfully
giouspractice,
themostpowerstudy
ofthem.Thisprovided
closecomparative
though
4 These seem to be the conclusionsand emphasesmade by Watt herself,
therehave been attemptsto conscripther workintothe debateoutlinedabove. See
Lake, "Deeds againstNature",p. 262 n. 1, whotreatsverysimilarsource
particularly
manner.
materialin a different
92
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
ful inspiration
forEnglishfolklorists
untilthe 1980s,whenit
collapsedundera welterof well-directed
criticism
fromscholars
of folkloredetermined
to put theirsubjectuponfirmer
foundations.SIt couldonlyhave enduredso longbecauseof an almost
completedivorcebetweenthatsubjectand theacademicstudyof
history.
The theoryofsurvivals
was in itselfessentially
ahistoric,
depending
as itdidupontheassumption
thattheworldofEnglish
commoners
was bothsealedandstatic,andthatcustomsrecorded
underVictoriacould have alteredlittle,if at all, over several
centuries.
No effort
was made,therefore,
to studytheirrecorded
historysystematically
untilthe 1970s;and it was thebeginning
ofthateSortwhichprovidedthedeathblow
to thefaithin pagan
origins,
byrevealing
thatsomeofthetraditions
whichhadseemed
mostarchaicwerein factof relatively
recentinceptionand had
mutatedconsiderably
duringtheirperiodofexistence.6
Ironically,
one resultof thisrevisionhas actuallybeento perpetuatethe gulfbetweenfolkloreand history,
as manyof the
bestpractitioners
oftheformer
havelostinterest
in thequestion
oforiginsaltogether
and haveturnedinsteadwhollyto studying
the socialfunction
of customsin the periodin whichtheyare
best recorded:the last two hundredyears. Nevertheless,
an
attempt
totracetheprogress
ofritualsacrossearlierperiodsneed
notbe entirely
fruitless.
A rather
superficial
onehasalreadyfound
good evidence that some - New Year's gifts (otherwise
Christmas
presents),
thedeckingofhomesandreligious
buildings
withgreenery
at festivals
and thelighting
ofsacredfireson May
Day and at midsummer
- can indeedplausiblybe tracedback
to pagan origins.7Many more can be documentedfromthe
MiddleAgesandthrough
theearlymodernperiod,oftenadapting
5 GeorginaBoyes,"CulturalSurvivals
Theoryand TraditionalCustoms",FolkLife,
xxvi (1987-8), pp. 5-9; GeorginaSmith,"Social Bases of Tradition:The Limitations
and Implications
of 'The SearchforOrigins"',in A. E. GreenandJ.D. A. Widdowson
(eds.), Language,Cultureand Tradition(CECTAL, conferencepapersser., ii, Leeds
and Sheffield,
1981),pp. 77-87; Traditional
Dance,i (1982),passim;TheresaBuckland
and Juliette
Wood (eds.), AspectsofBritishCalendarCustoms
(FolkloreSoc., mistletoe
ser., xxii, Sheffield,1993). The fundingforfolklorestudiesis so minusculethatit
createseIlormouspublicationlags: the last-namedvolumecontainedthe paperspresentedat a conferencewhichhad takenplace nineyearsbefore.
6 For an earlytriumph
of thismethod,see Roy Judge,Theffack-in-the-Green:
A
May Day Custom(FoLkloreSoc., mistletoeser., x, Cambridge,1978).
7 Ronald Hutton,TheRise and Fall ofMerryEngland:TheRitual Year,1400-1700
(Oxford,1994).
FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION
93
theirformovertime.8Theredoes,afterall,seemtobe a considerwiththe
of folklorists
theinterests
able potentialforcombining
represents
essay
This
historians.
of
preoccupations
and
methods
one attemptto makeuse ofsucha combination.
of thetheoryof surreapplication
This paperis a full-blooded
fromthepast:thatthe
vivals,thoughwithone majordifference
is nota putativeoneconcealed
religionwithwhichitis concerned
onewhichcame
buta well-documented
in theshadesofantiquity
ago. Byaskingwhether
to an endbetweenfourandfivecenturies
tracesof the practicesand beliefsof the late medievalchurch
may be foundin more recentpopularculture,some further
evidenceof thequalitativenatureof theprocessof reformation
mayperhapsbe recovered.In factsuchan attempthas already
Theo Brown,in a book published
been made by a folklorist,
ignoredby
almosttwentyyearsago which,thoughcompletely
of Tessa
presagedsomeof the conclusions
strikingly
historians,
an analysisof West CountryghostWatt.9It was essentially
stories,designedto revealpopularattitudesto deathand the
Some certainlyproved to displaya thoroughgoing
after-life.
suchas thoseassociatedwithruinedmonasteries,
Protestantism,
ofwhichwereoftenassumedto havebeen
inhabitants
theformer
On the otherhand,
vice and hypocrisy.
modelsof corruption,
some talesaboutthe religiousalso expressa senseof guiltand
of the stories,moreover,is veryhardto
loss. The eschatology
faith.It is truethattheycontainedonly
relateto thereformed
ofprayers
or in theefficacy
in
slighttracesofa belief Purgatory,
water
holy
over
valued
was
word
spoken
the
forthe dead, and
as a meansof exorcism.None theless,theydo containa strong
works,and a recurrent
ofsalvationthrough
senseof theefficacy
actionsare
motifis the way in whicha seriesof penitential
themeof
spirit.The mostpowerful
to an earthbound
prescribed
bya clergyman,
ofan evilphantom
andbanishing
allis therouting
oninthisfieldis the
whichis stillbeingcarried
research
ofexcellent
8 AI1 example
andMichaelHeaney.Theyaredueto
EarlyMorrisProjectsetup byJohnForrest
surveyhas alreadyappeared:
in fullsoon,buta preliminary
publishtheirfindings
EarlyMorris",Folk Music 3'1,vi (1990-2),
J. Porrestand M. Heaney,"Charting
pp. 169-86.
ser.,xi,Cambridge,
Soc.,mistletoe
9TheoBrown,The Fate oftheDead (FoLklore
1979).
94
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
andthoughthelatter'sarmoury
maybe verbal,itusuallyconsists
not so much of an appeal to God as of the
recitationof set
formulas,
oftenin an exoticor ancientlanguage.The vanquished
spiritis almostneversentto heavenor hell,butinto
thesea, the
ground,or a pool, or the shape of an animal.The
parsonis
visualizednotso muchas minister
butas conjuror.
Indeed,exorcismwas also one of thestandardservicesoffered
bylocalmagicians and cunningfolk.While holy wateror
incenseare not
amongthe exorcist'sweapons,handfulsof graveyard
earthliterally,consecratedground
featuredcommonly,being
regardedas particularly
effective.
Brownsummedall thisup as
"a mixture
ofancientpaganbelief,half-remembered
old Catholic
teaching
and laterPuritandoctrinepossiblydistorted
as a result
ofmisleading
sermons''.l?It seemsverylikelythatwe havehere
an insightintothatsortof popularreligionwhich
drovesome
evangelical
Protestants
in Elizabethanand JacobeanEnglandto
despairand rage. Two further
pointsneed to be made about
Brown'smaterial.The firstis thatthe Catholicand
Protestant
elements
in the mixtureseem to coexistwithoutany
tension,
beingabsorbedintoa constantpopulartradition
of how ghosts
behaveand how to deal withthem.The secondis
thatthese
beliefs
nevertroubledtheleadersofchurchand state,and so
do
notfeature
intheirlegalrecords.Duringtheearlymodern
period
theyoccasionallyprovokedderisionor irritation
in individual
writers,ll
but theywere essentially
not a concernto thosein
charge
of theprocessofreform.
It is easyenoughto comeacrossstraycasesofthe
comfortable
survival
ofrelicsoftheold religion
in latercenturies
whileleafing
through
local folklorecollections.BurrellGreen,a farmin
the
parish
ofGreatSalkeldin theCumberland
Fells,preserves
a brass
dish
engravedaroundtheboss withthewords,in late
medieval
lettering,
"Mary, Motherof Jesus,Saviourof Men". It was
clearly
in its originsa Catholicdevotionalobject,and was
kept
asthechieftreasure
ofthehouse;indeed,thebeliefgrewup that
misfortune
wouldstrikethefarmif it wereremoved.This was
expressed
inmoremodernlettering
aroundthesameboss,
"Ifthis dish be sold or gi'en, Farewellthe Luck reading
of Burrell
Green".
The secondinscription
wasmadeover,andpartlyobliterated,
thereligiousone,and expressedthealtering
statusofthe
0Ibid.,p. 83.
Someofwhomarequotedibid.,pp. 83-7.
9s
(one
butitspowerwas nowintrinsic
bowl.It was stillnuminous,
insteadofbeingattachedtoa system
mightsay,"superstitious"),
sortofexample,at Nun Monkton
ofreligion.
12 To use a different
intheValeofYork,theparish'spatronalfeastwasstillcelebrated
of the saintconcenturyupon the feast-day
in the eighteenth
cerned(Peter)and presidedoverby his image.For therestof
carvedof wood,was buriednearthevillage
theyeartheeffigy,
maypole.
13
of the waysin whicha
Examplesof thissortare instructive
one;
Catholicsocietymightmakethe passageintoa Protestant
They mighthave achieveda
but theyare not veryimportant.
had theybeencommonacrossthenation,or
greatersignificance
evena region,butas it is theycan be regardedas eccentricities.
evidence
is requiredof thefolkloric
Something
moresubstantial
and that
oftheReformation,
ifit is to be ofserviceto historians
upon belief,
will now be sought.WhereasBrownconcentrated
thepresentstudywillbe concernedwithseasonalritual.One of
ofthelatemedievalchurchin England
themostobviousfeatures
whichmarkedits major
was the colourfulseriesof ceremonies
festivals,
and whichwereabrogatedby boththeEdwardianand
hasalreadybeendrawn
Attention
theElizabethanReformations.
elsewhereto the relativespeed withwhichthe reformswere
thattheroyal
withthesuggestion
imposeduponparishchurches,
that
was so effective
machinery
of visitation
and ecclesiastical
thereforming
mostdistricts
did nothavetheoptionof ignoring
injunctions,
actsor articlesforlong.l4The evidencefora "rapid
that
is so powerful
reformation
fromabove" in externalmatters
difficulty
to the problemof how muchof this
it adds further
and howmuch
compliance
was producedbypositiveenthusiasm
Mostwhoare concerned
by respectand fearofthegovernment.
withit seem to agree thatthe answervariedfromregionto
region, with a considerablylarger amount of poplllar
ofEnglandandtheThamesvalley
Protestantism
inthesouth-east
None theless,thewaysin whichpeopleadapted
thanelsewhere.
the loss of so manyseasonalritesremainin
to or internalized
thoughone whichmayperhapsbe susceptlargeparta mystery,
TheFolkloreoftheLake District(London,1976),p. 90.
Marjorie
Rowling,
C R., "RisingPeter",Notesand Queries,4thser.,i (1868),pp.361-2.
inChristopher
"The LocalImpactoftheTudorReformations",
14 Ronald
Hutton,
1987),pp. 114-38;Hutton,
Revised(Cambridge,
Haigh(ed.), TheEnglishReformation
Rise and Fall ofMerryEngland,ch.3.
12
13 C.
96
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
ible to a systematic
inspection
of laterfolkpracticessuchas that
attempted
here. The sampleof evidenceused forthiswill be
national,
andemployed
to determine
thefatesoffourofthemost
famousand most popularceremoniesof the old church:the
hallowingof candlesat Candlemasand of foliageand wooden
crosseson Palm Sunday,the closure,watchingand openingof
Eastersepulchres,
and prayingforthe dead at the feastof All
Saints.
II
The hallowingof candlesand tapersat Candlemas,thepopular
name forthe feastof the Purification
of the VirginMary on
2 February,
seemstohavebeenuniversal.
Scriptural
warrant
was
givento thecustombythewordsattributed
to Simeonuponthat
occasionand reportedin Luke 2:32, in whichhe recognized
the
youngJesusas "a lightto lightentheGentiles".The kindling
of
thecandlescouldthusbe takenas a commemoration
andrecognitionof Christ'smission,makingthefeastone in his honouras
wellas thatofhismother.It was also a powerful
symbolic
action
at thisdate,thetraditional
openingofspring,whenthedarkness
was in full retreatbeforethe lengthening
daylightand the
reappearance
of the firstflowersand buds was imminent.
The
wordsoftheritualas providedin theUse ofSarum,theliturgical
formmostcommonly
usedin latemedievalEngland,madegreat
playwiththeimagery
oftheshrinking
ofthedark.Nevertheless,
the candleswere not merelyof symbolicvalue to manyearly
Tudorparishioners,
butwereprizedin themselves.
Worshippers
carriedtheminprocession
andthenoffered
themtoa priest,who
sprinkled
themwithholywaterandperfumed
themwithincense
beforethealtar.Thusconsecrated,
theyseemtohavebeenburned
in thechurchas offerings,
in thenamesofthedonors,effectively
becomingvotive objects. As such, of course, they became
"abused" in theeyesof Protestants,
and wereoutlawedby the
regimeof thedukeof Somersetin 1548and thendroppedfrom
theElizabethan
liturgy
aftera briefrestoration
underMary.Both
prohibitions
seemto have beeninstantly
effective,
withperhaps
twoexceptions
in theearlyyearsofElizabeth'sreign,at Crediton
in centralDevon,wherewax was boughtforCandlemasin 1560,
and at Ludlowin theWelshMarches,wherea poundofcandles
was obtainedforthefeastin 1562.In bothcasesit seemslikely,
97
thoughnotcertain,thatit was intendedto carryout theriteof

blessing.
15After
thatnothing
moreis heardoftheritein England
or Wales.Did it reallyvanishso easily?
The evidenceofthefolklore
collections
fortheformer
country
is slightbutsuggestive;
thatforthelatteris unequivocal.It might
havepassedwithout
noticehad it notbeenlinkedto an artform,
theCandlemascarols.A numberofthesesurvive,all fromnorth
Walesand all eighteenth-century
in date.Theyare in honourof
theVirginMary,and weredesignedto be sungby groupsgoing
fromhouseto houseofa community
on theeveningofthefeast
(knownin Welshas GzvylFairy Canhzvyllau).
A description
survivesfromCarnarvonshire
oftheritewhichaccompanied
this.
When the singersperformed
outsidea home theywould be
answered,throughthecloseddoor,witha successionof riddles
whichtheywereexpectedto answer.Uponpassingthistestthey
wereadmitted,
to finda roomlit up withcandlesand (ideally)
witha maidenseatedin a chair,witha babyboy in herarms,
personifying
theVirginand Child.Theythensangto heragain
in her praiseand pledgedher in the drinkoffered
to themby
way of reward.The popularity
of the carolssuggeststhatthe
customwas widespread,
butit had diedout by 1800.16In south
Walesthereis no mentionof thesongsor of therepresentation
of theVirgin,but it was consideredessentialto lightcandlesin
the homeon GzvylFairy CanAwyllau,
and sometimes
to place
themin windows.The arcaneassociationsof the taperswere
emphasizedby thefactthattheywereemployedfordivination.
In everycase, mentionof thesepracticesoccursonlyafterthey
had becomeobsolete,butunlikethecarolling
theysurvivedinto
thenineteenth
century.
17AttheReformation
in Wales,therefore,
theessentialsof theceremony
of thepurification
werein many
placessimplytransferred
fromthe churchto the home.Three
aspectsofthisprocessneedto be stressed.The first
is thatWales
was nota stronghold
ofresidualCatholicism;
indeed,it provided
a notableexampleof the successof the reformed
faith.l8The
15 Duffy,
Stripping
oftheAltars,
pp. 19-20;Hutton,
RiseandFallofMerry
England,
pp. 17-18,77,80,83,97, 106.
16 Trefor
M. Owen,"The Celebration
of Candlemas
in Wales",Folklore,
lxxxiv
(1973),pp.238-51.
17 Trefor
M. Owen,WelshFolkCustoms,
3rdedn (Cardiff,
1974),p. 70; Marie
Trevelyan,
Folk-Lore
andFolk-Stories
ofWales(London,1909),p. 244.
18 A point
recently
emphasized
oncemore:StevenG. Ellis,"EconomicProblems
oftheChurch:
WhytheReformation
Failedin Ireland",ylEccles.Hist.,xli(1990),
pp.239-65.
98
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER 148
secondis thatthereappearsto be no instanceof disapproval

shownby a Protestant
churchman
of theuse of candlesor the
personification
of Maryby parishioners
upontheold feast.The
thirdis thatthefolklore
recordsforWalesare so sparsebefore
thelatenineteenth
century
thatineverycasethesepractices
were
recordedonlyfrommemory,aftertheyhad becomeobsolete:
theyalmostslippedout ofhistory.
Englishparallelsare slightbutsuggestive.
In Dorsetuntilthe
late eighteenth
centurycandleswereexchangedas privategifts
at Candlemas,and at Lyme Regis it was the customforeach
householdto burnone and to standand drinkaboutit.l9In 1853
it was remembered
as havingbeen customary
"to lightup a
numberofcandlesin theevening"in thevillagesalongtheTrent
in Nottinghamshire.20
Bothrecordsare againretrospective,
and
indeeduntilthenineteenth
century
noticesof domesticcustoms
in regionsoutsidethesouth-east
of thecountry
are veryrare It
can be said, therefore,
thatin two verywidelyseparatedareas
thereis evidenceof a "privatization"
of the Candlemasritual
equivalentto thatin Wales. Whetherthiswas formerly
more
widespread
is a questionwhichcannotbe resolved.
There is no such difficulty
in the case of the Palm Sunday
consecrations.
These had been partof one of the longestand
mostelaboratepassagesof ceremonyin the medievalreligious
calendar.2l
It had includedtheblessingbythepriestofbranches
of whatwas supposedto be palm,almostcertainly
gatheredand
presented
by parishioners
in memory
of thosesaid to havebeen
strewnbeforeJesusduringhisentryintoJerusalem.
In England
willowor sallow in bud or freshleaf,or box, yew or other
evergreens,
were usuallyemployedinstead.The congregation
thencarriedthe branchesin processionabout the churchyard,
and,as partof theensuingserviceinsidethechurch,eitherthe
priestor the laitymadesmallwoodencrosses,almostcertainly
fromthefoliage,
andtheformer
blessedtheseinturnwithincense
and holywater.Theyweresubsequently
returned
to theparishioners,whotreasured
themfortheirpresumed
protective
powers,
19T. F. Thiselton
Dyer,British
PopularCustoms
(London,1876),p. 55.
20Llewellynn
Jewitt,"On AncientCustomsand Sportsof the Countyof
Nottingham",
ylBrit.Archaeol.
Assoc.,1stser.,viii(1853),p. 231.
21 Described
byHenry
John
Feasey,
Ancient
English
HolyWeekCeremonial
(London,
1897),pp.53-83;Duffy,
Stripping
oftheAltars,
p. 23; Hutton,
RiseandFallofMerry
England,
pp.20-1.
99
fixing
themoverdoorways,
or carrying
theminpurses,"to chase
awaytheDevi1".22
They wereeverybit as mucha naturaltargetforProtestants
as theCandlemastapers,the"palmcrosses"beingbannedin the
royalinjunctions
of 1547and thehallowing
offrondsprohibited
in ordersissuedthefollowing
year.Aftera Marianrestoration,
bothwereproscribed
afreshin 1559,and neitheris recordedin
anychurchafterthatyear.23
Both,however,
arefoundcommonly
outsideitin thesubsequent
collections
ofpopularcustoms.When
the lattereffectively
commence,in thelate eighteenth
century,
theyare fullof accountsof how peoplestillwentout on Palm
Sundaytogatherwillowor sallow,an activity
knowninthesouth
as "goinga-palming"andinthenorthas "goinga-palmsoning".24
In mostcases the brancheswere carriedback to homes,but
hilltopsweresometimes
used as communalgathering-points
to
replacethe churches;in northWiltshirethe huge prehistoric
moundof Silburywas a notablefocalpoint.25
The southWelsh
hadevolvedinsteadan elaborateritualwhichretained
thecentralityof the church,forin some (unnamed)places,parishioners
wheeleda humaneffigy,
mountedon a stuffed
donkey,to the
porch.The figure,
of course,represented
Christ,and steedand
riderwere placed upon a wheeledplatform
hungwithspring
flowers
and foliage,and evergreens.
The members
oftheprocessionweredecoratedin similarfashion.The priestblessedthem
outsidethechurchdoor,andtheflowers
andgreenery
whichthey
wore were regardedas havinggainedspecialpowerfromthe
benediction
and werekeptas charms.26
The customof "palming"diedoutin thesouthofEnglandin
theearlynineteenth
century.27
In thesecondhalfofthecentury,
22 The words
ofan Elizabethan
tractcitedin William
Kelly,Notices
Illustrative
of
theDrama,andOtherPopularAmusements,
Chiefly
in theSixteenth
andSeventeenth
Centuries,
Incidentally
Illustrating
Shakespeare
andhisContemporaries
(London,1865),
pp.25-6.
23 Hutton,
RiseandFall ofMerry
England,
pp.77,80, 106.
24 John
Brand,Observations
onthePopular
Antiquities
ofGreatBritain,
ed. SirHenry
Ellis,3 vols.(London,1848-9),i, p. 127.
25 BobBushaway,
ByRite(London,1982),pp. 150-1;P. H. Ditchfield,
OldEnglish
Customs
Extantat thePresent
Time(London,1896),p. 70.
26 Trevelyan,
Folk-Lore
andFolk-Stories
ofWales,pp.245-6.
27 A. R. Wright,
British
Calendar
Customs:
England,
ed. T. E. Lones,3 vols.(FoLkLore Soc., xcvii,cii,cvi,London,1936-40),i, pp.54-5;Jacqueline
Simpson,The
Folklore
ofSussex(London,1973),pp. 109-10.
100
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
andall over
in partsofthemidlands,28
however,itstillflourished
downto theEast Riding
fromNorthumberland
thenorth-east,
aspect,as
Thereit stillretainedits processional
of Yorkshire.29
forthehome,and
wellas beinga meansto provideadornments
region
in the 1850sit was a commonproverbin thisnorthern
that"he thathathnota palmin hishandon PalmSundaymust
have his hand cut off".30Only by the end of the nineteenth
for
littlemorethanadornments
werethetwigsbecoming
century
and notuntiltheearlypart
hatsor mantelpieces,3l
buttonholes,
did thecustomdeclineintoone observedonly
of the twentieth
altogether.
disappearing
before(apparently)
by children,32
The littlewoodencrossesmadeon Palm Sundayweremuch
folklorecollectionbegan,and
rarerby thetimethatsystematic
perhapshad neverbeen widelymade since the Reformation.
in theevidence,so thatsuch
theyare represented
Nevertheless
in the early
a conclusionmay be erroneous.Their stronghold
centurywas thenorthof England,and especiallyin
nineteenth
wherethebrancheswerestillbeingfetchedwith
thenorth-east
suchvigour.TheyweremadeinCountyDurhamuntilthe1840s,
of sallowor willowtiedwithblue or pinkribbeingfashioned
bons.33Later in the centurytheywerestillhungin Yorkshire
eastwardto Whitby,and stillcredited
homesfromWensleydale
exactlyas theyhad beenin theearly
withpowersof protection
A writerin 1879describedthemas havingbeen
Tudorperiod.34
foundacrossthenorthin general,by his timemade mostlyby
children,but even thenhungon wallsinsidehouses,fromone
and
as commonin thevillageson theborderof Oxfordshire
28 It is portrayed
Lark Rise to Candleford
duringthe 1880s:Flora Thompson,
Northamptonshire
1939).
(Oxford,
(London,1890),p. 12; CountyFolkFolkLoreofEast Yorkshire
Nicholson,
29 John
York
theNorthRidingof Yorkshire,
Lore,ii, ExamplesofPrintedFolk-Loreconcerning
Soc.,xlv,London,1901),pp.241-3;
and theAinsty,ed. MrsElizaGutch(Folk-Lore
W.
ed. Northcote
Northumberland,
ibid.,iv, ExamplesofPrintedFolk-Loreconcerning
Noteson the
Henderson,
Soc.,liii,London,1904),p. 69; William
Thomas(FoLk-Lore
CountiesofEnglandand theBorders,newedn(FoLk-Lore
Folk Lore of theNorthern
Wit,Character,Folkloreand
Soc.,ii, London,1879),p. 80; RichardBlakeborough,
(London,1898),p. 76.
oftheNorthRidingof Yorkshire
Customs
Counties,
p. 80.
Noteson theFolk Lore oftheNorthern
30 Henderson,
p. 76.
Folkloreand Customs,
Wit,Character,
31 Blakeborough,
X: Derbyshire
FoLklore,
"ScrapsofEnglish
A. M. Protheroe,
32 As inDerbyshire:
(Repton)",Folk-Lore,xxxvi(1925),p. 82.
oftheCountyofDurham(Sunderland,
Legendsand Superstitions
Brockie,
33 William
1886),p. 93.
pp.241-3.
ed. Gutch,
Folk-Lore,ii, NorthRidingof Yorkshire,
34 County
101
Palm Sundayto another,once made.35They seemto have vanishedby theend of thecentury.

III
The fateof the riteof the Eastersepulchreand of prayersfor
thedead at All Saintsmakesa less straightforward
story:in the
firstcase the riteseemsto have been dramatically
transmuted,
andin thesecondittooknotonebuta numberofdifferent
forms
in folkpractices.On theeve of the Reformation
the sepulchre
seemsto havefeatured
in all urban,and mostrural,churches.It
could be a recessin the wall of the choiror chancel,a richly
carved,free-standing
stonestructure,
a smallmasonrychest,or
a chamberbuiltdeliberately
intothetombofa piousandwealthy
individual.Mostoftenit was a box of wood and paper,remade
in mostyearsand fastenedtogetherby pins,nailsor wires.It
was essentially
a representation
of thetombin whichthebody
ofChristwas saidto havelainbetweencrucifixion
and resurrection.On Good Friday,a consecrated
waferenclosedin a casket
was lodgedwithinit togetherwitha crucifixwhichhad been
ceremonially
adoredand thenwashedwithwaterand wine.The
sepulchrewas thenclosedup, coveredor hiddenby a special
cloth,illuminated
by candlesor a singlelargelightand (usually)
watchedbyvolunteers
untilthemorning
ofEasterDay. Then it
was openedand thehostand thecrucifix
werecarriedtriumphantlyroundthechurchto thesingingof theanthem"Christis
Risen" 36
To Protestants,
the ceremonyconstituted
an act of idolatry,
and Cranmer
forbadeitin articlesissuedin timeforEaster1548.
Whilenothavingthesameforceas a royaldecree,thisprohibition
was none the less effective
acrossmostof the country.It was,
indeed,definitely
ignoredonlyin a fewparishes,scattered
from
Ludlow to Canterbury,
and moresignificantly,
in at least two
cathedrals,Worcesterand Winchester.
The appearanceof the
maintenance
of the sepulchreamonga stringof chargessubHenderson,
Noteson theFolk LoreoftheNorthern
Counties,
p. 80.
For variousdescriptions,
see A. Heales,"EasterSepulchres",
Archaeologia,
xli
(1867),pp.263-303;E. K. Chambers,
The Mediafflval
Stage,2 vols.(Oxford,
1903),
ii,pp.20-1,312-15;Feasey,AncientEnglishHoly WeekCeremonial,
pp. 129-78;Karl
Young,The Drama of theMedieval Church,2 vols.(Oxford,1933),ii, pp.511-38;
Duffy,Strippingof theAltars,pp.29-33;Hutton,Rise and Fall ofMerryEngland,
pp.23-5.
35
36
102
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER 148
sequentlyalleged by the privycouncilagainstthe bishopof

Winchester
leftno further
doubtas to the government's
position.37AfterthatEasterthereis no further
traceof the ritual
duringthereignofEdward,and thoughit underwent
a fulland
successful
revivalunderMaryitvanishedagainwiththeenforcementof Elizabeth'sinjunctions
and liturgy
in 1559.38
The onlyfull-blown
"fabrication"
oftheceremony
to feature
in thefolklorecollections
was carriedon in the "Englishry"of
Pembrokeshire
untiltheearlynineteenth
century.
Therepeople
wouldmake"Christ'sbed" on GoodFridaybyweavinga human
figureof reedsand layingit solemnlytogetherwitha wooden
crossin a concealedplace in a fieldor garden.39
In the main,
however,it seemsthatthe ritewas brokenintoits component
parts.The joyousopeningof the sepulchreand the singingof
"Christis Risen"hadprovideda moment
ofreleaseand celebrationto markthe end of Lent and the openingof a seasonof
feasting
andself-indulgence.
Now thatwasfurnished
bythebelief
thatthesundancedwithjoywhenit roseuponEasterDay, and
thatgood fortunecouldbe obtainedby gettingup to watchit,
preferably
froma hill.This tenetis firstmentioned
in Nicholas
Breton'sFantasticks,
publishedin 1626,4?and duringtheeighteenthand nineteenth
centuries
it was one ofthemostubiquitous
ofall popular''superstitions''.4l
Another,equally common,seems to have derivedfroma
different
aspectof thesamerituaLThe sepulchre,
afterall, was
notan objectof adorationin itsownright,buta contairler
fora
consecrated
waferwhichwas theembodiment
of Christ.During
theeighteenth
andnineteenth
centuries,
in everypartofEngland
excepttheLondonarea,peoplewerebakingflatpiecesof bread
or biscuitmarkedwitha cross(likean old-style
host)uponGood
Friday.In all casesthesewereregardedas investedwithmagical
powers.Invariablytheywerebelievedneverto go mouldyand
werepreservedfortheforthcoming
year,usuallyin a bag hung
froma ceiling.Verycommonly
theywere consideredto have
medicinalvalue, especiallyto cure entericdisorders,if mixed
37 Hutton,
RiseandFall ofMerry
England,
pp.81-4.
38 Ibid-)
pp.97, 104-639 Richard
Mason,TalesandTraditions
ofTenby
(London,1858),p. 19.
40 Nicholas
Breton,
Fantasticks
(London,1626,S.T.C. 3650),p. 56.
41 For a rangeof references,
see Brand,Observations
onthePopular
Antiqlities
of
GreatBritain,
i, pp. 161-3;Wright,
British
Calendar
Customs:
England,
ed. Lones,
i, pp.96-8.
103
and in Sussex
Sailorsat Sunderland
withwaterand swallowed.42
AtHullandinLincolnshire
tookthemtosea toavertshipwreck.43
while in
theywere believedto protecta house fromfire,44
Worcestershire
theywerehungoverdoorsto wardoffall manner
Faithin
usedthemto treatsickcattle.46
ofevil.45Dorsetfarmers
numberofdenomthepowersofthebreadspanneda surprising
inations:in theNorfolkfenlandvillageofBrandonCreek,a lady
Methodistalwaysmarkeda crosson
who was a strictPrimitive
theloafwhichshe bakedon Good Friday.It was thenkeptin a
tinto bringluckto herfamilyduringthenextyear.Afterthat
andrebakedon EasterDay, andtheneaten
yearitwasmoistened
bythehousehold.The personwhogotthepiecebearingthecross
was consideredto be especiallylucky,and the endsof theloaf
from
werethrownintothelocalriverto protectthecommunity
floods.47
In the capital,its regionand largeprovincialtowns,
had died out, but the bread persistedln the
thesetraditions
formofbunssoldbystreetvendorsor in confeccommercialized
tioneryshops.Theyhad becomesweetand spiced,butretained
thedistinctive
crossuponthetop.48As beliefin themagicofthe
and twentihome-baked
breadslowlyvanishedin thenineteenth
by theseprofessional
eth centuries)
it was replacedeverywhere
ratherthanforspiritual
products,
nowdesignedforgastronomic
associatedwiththeseason.In thehot
needsbutstillinextricably
42 Wright,
BritishCalendarCustoms:England,ed. Lones,i, pp.71-3(forexamples
ed. Gutch,
fromtwelvecounties);CountyFolk-Lore,ii, NorthRidingof Yorkshire,
p. 243; Mason,Tales and Traditionsof 7knby,p. 19; Ella MaryLeather,The Folkand
"On Ancient
Customs
(Hereford,
1912),pp.78-9;Jewitt,
Lore ofHerefordshire
TheFolkloreofDevon
ofNottingham",
p. 233;RalphWhitlock,
SportsoftheCounty
NotesfromStBrivael's",
Folk-Lore,
(London,1977),p. 142;L. M. Eyre,"Folklore
Valley",ibid.,p. 423;Charlotte
"Folklore
intheKennet
xiii(1902),p. 173;L. Salmon,
Folk-Lore(London,1883),p. 333;JohnNoake,Notesand
SophiaBurne,Shropshire
FolkloreofSussex,p. 112.
(London,1856),p. 178;Simpson,
QueriesforWorcestershire
Counties,
pp.82-3.
43 Henderson,
Noteson theFolk Lore oftheNorthern
theEast Ridingof
44 County
Folk-Lore,vi, ExamplesofPrintedFolk-Loreconcerning
Yorkshire,
ed. MrsEliza Gutch(Folk-LoreSoc.,lxix,London,1912),p. 95; James
Obelkevich,
Religionand Rural Society:SouthLindsey,1825-1875(Oxford,1976),
p. 267.
Folklore",
J. B. Partridge
and F. S. Potter,"Worcestershire
45 M. L. Stanton,
Folk-Lore,xxvi (1915),p. 95.
1922),pp. 30-2.
Folk-Lore(Hertford,
46JohnSymonds
Udal,Dorsetshire
Customs
and Folklore(London,1969),p. 108.
47 EnidPorter,
Cambridgeshire
of Great Britain,i, pp. 154-7;
on the PopularAntiquities
48Brand,Observations
William
Hone,TheEvery-DayBookand TableBook,3 vols.(London,1832),i, cols.
of the Countyof Durham,p. 105;Porter,
402-4;Brockie,Legendsand Superstitions
The Folkloreof
Cambridgeshire
Customsand Folklore,p. 108; Doris Jones-Baker,
Hertfordshire
(London,1977),p. 132.
104
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
crossbun,modernEnglandseemsto preservethelastrelicofthe
ritualoftheEastersepulchre.
The feastof All Saints,on 1 November,was dedicatedto the
memory
ofthedead,and theseheavenlyintercessors
werecalled
upontoassistthosesouls(presumedto be themajority)
suffering
thepainsofpurgatory.
Eveningserviceswereheldforbenefit
of
the latter,the mostfamousfeatureof whichwas the ringing
of bells,apparently
fromtheend of theserviceuntilmidnight,
tobringcomfort
to thoseenduring
suchtorments.
In someplaces
theseriteswererepeatedupon thefollowing
evening,thefeast
of All Souls. As Protestantism
rejectedthe whole conceptof
purgatory,
andtherefore
thatofprayers
forthedead,itsadherents
condemnedtheringingas "superstitious"
and it was forbidden
by both the Edwardianand the ElizabethanReformations.
In
striking
contrast
totheotherceremonies
discussed
above,itdisappearedonlyaftera fierceand prolongedstruggle.Throughout
the1560s,peoplewerebeingcitedbeforeecclesiastical
courtsfor
continuing
the ringing,in both villagesand townsand in all
regionsof thecountry.
The customcontinued
to be condemned
in visitation
articlesissuedin the 1580sby bishopsof Lincoln,
Chesterand Hereford;and indeedthecourtrecordsof theYork
diocese,and thatofOxford,containprosecutions
fortheoffence
in thatdecade.Mostdramatic
wasthatofcertainmenat Hickling
intheValeofBelvoiron AllSaints'Day 1587who"usedviolence
againsttheparsonat thattimeto maintaintheirringing'.This
also seemsto be thelatestsuchcase on record,butmoremaybe
uncoveredin the 1590s as other ecclesiasticalarchivesare
explored.49
The remarkable
tenacity
withwhichtheritewaskept
up mayhavederivedfroma continuing
beliefin purgatory
and
concernforthefamilydead,butit was also distinctive
in thatit
couldbe enactedwithouttheuse of (now illegal)ornaments
or
the participation
of a priest.Furthermore,
it was traditionally
carriedoutafterdark.
Once theritualwas finally
drivenfromthe churches,
people
evolveddifferent
strategiesto continueprayersfor the dead
withinsomekindof ritualframework.
In theLancashireparish
ofWhalley,wheretheRibbleflowsoutofthePennines,Catholic
familiesassembledat themidnight
beforeAll Saints'Day. Each
did so on a hillnearits homestead,
one personholdinga large
49Hutton,Rise and Fall ofMerryEngland,pp. 45, 78, 80384-5, 102, 106.
105
bunchofburningstrawon theend ofa fork.The restkneltin a

circlearoundand prayedforthe souls of relativesand friends
untiltheflames
burnedout.The authorwhorecordedthiscustom
added thatit graduallydied out in the late nineteenth
century,
but thatin the earlierpartit had been verycommon,and at
nearbyWhittingham
such firescould be seen all aroundthe
horizonon Hallowe'en. He went on to say that the name
"Purgatory
Field",foundallacrossnorthern
Lancashire,
testified
to an evenwiderdistribution,
and thattheriteitselfwas called
"teen-lay".50
The wordis somewhat
puzzlingin derivation,
as it
couldbe relatedeitherto theOld Englishtendan,
tokindle(hence
dialectwordsfora bonfire,
teanleor tend,and firewood,
tennle),
or to theOld Irishtenlach,
a hearth.5l
Anotherobserverrecalled
howin thefirsthalfofthesamecentury
he had journeyed
along
the Ribbleat Hallowe'enand "underthenameof Teanla fires
[had] seen the hills throughout
the countryilluminated
with
sacredflames".He addedthattheywere"connectedwithsuperstitiousnotionsrespecting
purgatory".52
Northern
Lancashirewas themostnotablestronghold
ofpopular Catholicism
in post-Reformation
England,and it is quite
possiblethatall who practisedthe "teen-lay"therewereof the
old faith.The villagesaroundDerby,however,werenotan area
of Catholicsurvival,and yetin November1768a contributor
to
theGentleman's
Magazinecouldnotethateveryyearpeoplewould
go out to commonland on All Saints'Day to lightsmallfires
whichtheycalled"tindles".He addedthatit was something
to
do withpurgatory
and thedead, goingon to say thatenclosure
wouldsoon put a stopto thepractice.53
So it mighthave done
there, but "tindles" were still being made elsewherein
Derbyshire
on thenightofAll Souls' Day 1868.54It is moreofa
surpriseto discoverthat the name of "PurgatoryField" at
Gosmore,in the chalkhillsat the northend of Hertfordshire,
was saidto derivefromformer
midnight
assemblies
ofmenthere
50J.Weld,A Historyof Leagram(ChethamSoc., new ser.,lxxii,Manchester,
1913),pp. 132-3.
51 W. Holden,
"Tindles",Derbyshire
Archaeol.andNaturalHist. Soc. 3'1,lxv (1944),
pp.86-8; Sanas Chormaic:Cormac's Glossary,ed. WhitleyStokes,trans.John
O'Donovan(Calcutta,
1868),p. 157.
52 Charles
Hardwick,
Traditions,Superstitions
and Folk-Lore(Manchester,
1872),
pp. 31-4.
53 Quoted
inBrand,Observations
onthePopularAntiquities
ofGreatBritain,i, p. 391.
54 Holden,
"Tindles",pp.86-7.
106
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
at Hallowe'en
toprayforthesoulsofthedeparted
whilea fire
burnedout.55
Finally,
a possiblereference
to thecustom
in an
areabetween
theseoccurs
ina notemadeattheendofanalmanac
in1658bytheantiquary
SirWilliam
Dugdale,thatatHallowe'en
themaster
ofa family
"usedto" carry
a burning
bunchofstraw
arounda field,saying"Fireandredlow/ Lighton myteenlow".56Thelocation
ofthisritualwasmostprobably
Dugdale's
own countyof Warwickshire,
to whichhis writings
usually
referred,
andit seemsto be thesameas thosedescribed
above;
butneither
suggestion
is provable.
The"teen-lay"
ritewas,therefore,
oneresponse
totheendof
official
ceremonies
tocareforthedead.Another
adapted
a separatetradition
which
wasitself
oldbythetimeoftheReformation,
and mentioned
in thetractFestyvall3
published
in 1511:"We
readin oldtimegoodpeoplewouldon AllHallowen
Day bake
breadand dealit forall Christian
It did notexplain
how, or to whom,it was "dealt", but ThomasBlount's
Glossographia,
published
in 1674)hasthefollowing
entry:
souls''.S7
AllSoulsDay, November
2d: thecustomofSoulMasscakes,whichare
a kindofoatcakes,thatsomeofthericher
sortsofpersons
inLancashire
and Herefordshire
(amongthePapiststhere)use stillto givethepoor
uponthisday;andthey,in retribution
oftheircharity,
holdthemselves
obligedto saythisold couplet:
Godhaveyoursoul,
Bonesandall.58
Neartheendofthesamecentury,
JohnAubrey
notedthatit
wasa custom
in Shropshire
andneighbouring
counties,
andnot
justamong"Papists",fora "highheapofsoulcakes"tobe set
on a household
tableuponAll Souls'Day. All visitors
were
expected
to takeone,and theactionwas associated
withthe
rhyme
"A Soule-cake,
a Soule-cake,
Havemercy
onall Christen
soulesfora Soule-cake".59
Theseearlyreferences
leaveunclear
thequestion
ofwhether
thesoulsofthedeador ofthelivingwerebeingprayedforin
thetransaction,
thoughneither
wouldrecommend
itselfto a
Protestant.
Theissueis resolved
bythemuchgreater
quantity
of
55 Jones-Baker,
FolkloreofHertfordshire,
pp.165-6.
Citedin Brand,Observations
on thePopularAntiquities
Cited ibid.,p. 392.
58 Cited ibid.
59 JohnAubrey,Remaines
ofGentilisme
and3fudaisme,
ed. JamesBritten(Folk-Lore
Soc.,iv, London, 1881), p. 23.
56
57
107
evidence
from
thenineteenth
century,
bywhichtimethecustom
of"souling"or"soul-caking"
wascarried
onbygroups
ofpoor
people,usually
children,
goingfromdoortodooron AllSaints'
or All Souls'Day. Its epicentre
was stillin thecounties
from
Lancashire
southward
to Monmouthshire,
butit extended
into
WalesupononesideandDerbyshire,
Staffordshire
andYorkshire
ontheother,
andwasalsofoundinSomerset
andHertfordshire.
In otherpartsofYorkshire,
andinWarwickshire,
thecakeswere
stillmadeeventhough
visitors
didnotcallforthem.60
Therewas
hardly
anyconnection
withactualsurviving
Catholicism.
Inmany
casesthedescentfroma meansof praying
forthedead was
absolutely
plain.Onenameforthecustom
inWaleswashelbwyd
cennad
y meirw,
"collecting
thefoodof themessenger
of the
dead''.6lIn Lancashire
it was,likethe"teen-lay",
"connected
withsuperstitious
notions
respecting
purgatory".62
The "lower
classes"ofMonmouthshire
wererecorded
as "begging
breadfor
thesoulsofthedead".63A Staffordshire
soulers'songcontains
thelines"Peterstands
atyonder
gate/Waiting
fora soul-cake",64
andmostsuchsongsmention
saints,
as recipients
orobservers
of
thefavours
asked.To theauthor
ofthesinglestudydevoted
to
thesongs,thefundamental
derivation
froma meansofpraying
forthedeparted
seemedobvious,
andhe further
obserared
that
themostcommon
tuneborea resemblance
to sixteenth-century
church
music.65
Qn theotherhand,it wasalsoclearthatafter
60 Charlotte
S. Burne,"Souling,Clementing
and Catterning",
Folk-Lore,
xxv
(1914),pp.285-99;Bushaway,
By Rite,p. 184;Brand,Observations
on thePopular
Antiquities
ofGreatBritain,
i, pp.391-3;J.Bridge,
"SoulingSongs",ZIArchitectural,
Archaeol.
andHistoric
Soc. ofChester
andNorthWales,vi (1897),pp.74-6;County
Folk-Lore,
viii,Somerset
Folklore,
ed. R. L. TongueandK. M. Briggs(Folk-Lore
Soc.,cxiv,London,1965),p. 170;Hardwick,
Traditions,
Superstitions
andFolk-Lore,
p. 31; PeterWright
andPeterF. M. McDonald,"The Cheshire
Soul-Cakers'
Play",
LoreandLang.,i, pt3 (1970),pp.9-11;E. Beck,"Children's
Halloween
Customs
in
Sheffield",
ibid.,iii,pt9 (1983),pp.70-88;Frederick
William
Hackwood,
StaJjrordshire
Customs,
Superstitions
andFolklore
(Lichfield,
1924),pp.45-6;Dyer,British
Popular
Customs,
pp.406-7;Leather,Folk-Lore
ofHerefordshire,
p. 107; Owen,Welsh
Folk
Customs,
pp. 136-40;JohnHarlandand T. T. Wilkinson,
Lancashire
Folk-Lore
(London,1867),p. 251; Burne,Shropshire
Folk-Lore,
pp.382-8;Wright,
British
Calendar
Customs:
England,
ed. Lones,iii,pp. 121-43;RobertHolland,
A Glossary
of
WordsUsedin theCounty
of Chester
(EnglishDialectSoc., xvi,London,1886),
pp.506-13;Jones-Baker,
Folklore
ofHertfordshire,
p. 166;Jacqueline
Simpson,The
Folklore
oftheWelsh
Border
(London,1976),pp. 168-70.
61 Owen,Welsh
FolkCustoms,
p. 136.
62 Hardwick,
Traditions,
Superstitions
andFolk-Lore,
p. 31.
63 Dyer,British
PopularCustoms,
p. 407.
64 Hackwood,
Staffiordshire
Customs,
Superstitions
andFolklore,
pp.45-6.
65 Bridge,
"SoulingSongs",pp.74-6.
108
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
threehundred
yearsthispurposetothecustomhadlargelydisappeared,and oftenbeenforgotten
altogether,
makingit simplya
formof beggingat theopeningof winter.66
As suchit certainly
survivedamongchildrenin thenorth-west
midlandsduringthe
1950s,67and may do so yet. At its inception,however,it was
fairly
clearlya meansofobtaining
prayers
forthedeadbyproxy,
as the"teen-lay"was one of doingso directly,
whentheywere
forbidden
withinthechurch.
IV
Such examplesof the reproduction
of proscribedritescan be
multipliedfromlessercases. Untilthe Reformation,
on Good
Fridaymonarchsblessed"cramp-rings",
circularpiecesof iron
apparently
fashioned
in commemoration
of thenailsused at the
crucifixion.
Whengiventheroyaltouch,theyweresupposedto
be eflicacious
in wardingoffepilepticfits.MaryTudor was the
lastEnglishsovereign
to do so, becausethenotionthatsanctity
could be conveyedinto materialobjectswas unacceptableto
Protestant
rulers.68
"Cramp-rings"
arestillrecorded
inthe1790s,
however,
withdifferent
strategies
employed
toreplacethenuminous forceof majesty.Devon people had turnedto thatof the
dead, makingthe ringsout of the nails of old coffins,
while
Berkshire
peopleutilizedthatof the church,by creatingthem
outof silvercoinsstolenfromthecommunion
tray.69
Another,
muchmorewidespreadand spectacular,
Good Fridayritualhad
beenthe barefootadorationby priestand congregation
of the
crucifix
to be placedin the Eastersepulchre.Popularlyknown
as "creepingto thecross",it was notrecordedin anyEnglishor
Welshchurchafterits finalexpulsionfromthepermitted
ceremoniesby Elizabeth'sReformation
in 1559.7?None theless,in
the1560sEdmundGrindalwas angeredby reportsthatparishionerswere still going "bareleggedto the church"on Good
Fridayas if theyweregoingto maketheritualcrawlto adore
Thisis madeplaininthesourcescitedinn. 60 above.
IonaandPeterOpie, The Lore and Languageof Schoolchildren
(Oxford,1959),
pp.275-6.
68 Brand,
Observations
ofGreatBritain,i, pp. 150-1.
69 B. b., Gentleman's
Mag., 1stser.,lxiv(1794),p. 433; "A Constant
Reader",
ibid.,
p. 889.
70Feasey,
AncientEnglishHoly WeekCeremonial,
pp. 114-20;Duffy,
Stripping
of
the
Altars,p. 29;Hutton,
RiseandFall ofMerryEngland,pp.22-3,52,77,80,97,106.
66
67
109
the cross,as a signof sympathy

forthe vanishedceremony.7l
Theywerestilldoingso inPembrokeshire
morethantwohundred
yearslater.72
In northern
and centralWalesthepre-dawnservice
prescribedby the Use of Sarumfor Christmasmorningwas
turnedintoan unofficial
one of tremendous
popularity,
theplygain, whichsurvives
in theTanatvalleyto thepresentday.73
A significant
parallelto thefateoftheseecclesiastical
ceremonies lies in thatof a semi-secular
one,thatoflighting
bonfires
on
Midsummer
Eve and St Peter'sEve. This is wellattestedin late
medievalandearlyTudorEngland,inurbanandruralcommunities in each partof the nation.74
It seemseverywhere
to have
serveda dual purpose,characterized
by the Londonantiquary
JohnStowas a socialone, "good amity",and a magicalone, "to
purgetheinfection
of theair".75As suchit shouldnot,strictly
speaking,
haveincurred
thehostility
ofProtestantism,
andindeed
no statute,proclamation,
injunction,
or set of visitation
articles
ever condemnedit. Nevertheless,it still offendedzealous
reformers.
The fireswere associatedwiththe feastsof saints
(JohntheBaptist,PeterandPaul), eventhoughtheywerescripturalfigures.Furthermore,
the notionthatmagicalproperties
werepossessedby theflameswas offensive
to thosedetermined
todestroy
thebeliefinholywater,orpalmcrosses,orconsecrated
candles.Thus Protestant
preachersand writers
couldrankthem
withthereligiousceremonies
oftheold churchas abusesworthy
of abolition.76
It is significant,
therefore,
thatHenryVIII withdrewroyal
supportforthecustomin 1541,by cancellingin perpetuity
the
customary
midsummer
bonfiremade in his greathall.77After
thenthereis no further
mentionof any such firein London.
They do not seem to have been an issue in the Edwardian
Reformation,
but in the firstdecade of thatof Elizabeththere
was an outburst
ofProtestant
hostility
to themin thediocesesof
Canterbury
and Winchester,
resulting
in a setof citations
before
71Brand,Observations
72Mason,Talesand Traditions
of Tenby,p. 19.
73Hutton,
RiseandFall ofMerryEngland,pp.107,
248,
andthesources
giventhere.
Ibid.,pp.24-6.
75John
Stow,A Surveyof London,ed. CharlesLethbridge
Kingsford,
3 vols.
(Oxford,
1908),
i,p.lol.
76See,forexample,
William
Kethe,A SermonMade at BlandfordForum(London,
1571,
S.T.C. 14943),fos.18-lg;
ThomasKirchmeyer,
The PopishKingdome,
trans.
Barnaby
Googe(London,1570,S.T.C. 15011),p. 55.
77London,British
Library
(hereafter
Brit.Lib.),Arundel
MS. 97,fos.20V)76r.
110
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER 148
churchcourts.78
A typicalcasewas thatofa priestat Birchington
in the Isle of Thanet,who was reportedforlighting
a fireon
St Peter'sEve 1568.79Mostspectacular
was theconfrontation
at
Canterbury
itselfin 1561,betweenthecorporation
and citizens
on one handand thenewlyinstalledProtestant
cathedralclergy
on theother.The latterheldthebonfires
to be "in contempt
of
theChristian
religion,
andforupholding
theold frantic
superstitionsof papistry".They wereansweredwiththe kindlingof a
largernumberthanusual, culminating
in an outsizespecimen
madeon theeveningofStPeter'sDay withthehelpofthesheriff
and a constable.A character
called"RailingDick" led a processionofboysaroundit,carrying
birch-branches
andsinging
bawdy
songs.80
Official
complaints
followed,
however,
andthereafter
the
clergyseemto havegottheirway.Indeed,after1570thereis no
further
traceof the midsummer
blazes in East Anglia,southeasternEnglandor thewholecorridorof theThamesvalleyup
to and includingGloucestershire:
an area corresponding
very
closelytothatwhichGeofErey
Dickenshasidentified
as theheartlandof earlyEnglishProtestantism.8l
Duringthe restof the reignof Elizabeth,the firesreceded
fromthe townsof the midlands:theywere still popularat
Warwickin 1571,82butare notheardof in anyurbancentreof
theregionby 1600.At timestheprocessis documented,
suchas
at Shrewsbury
in 1591,whentheyformedone itemin a listof
customsbannedby the bailifEs
aftera long campaignby John
Tomkyns,
minister
of St Mary's.83
Duringtheseventeenth
centurytheyvanishedfromthesouthofEnglandwestwardto,and
including,
Somersetand Dorset,and fromthe WelshMarches.
AtLymeRegis,forexample,theywerestillkindledin the1630s
"forthechristening
ofapples",thatis theprotection
ofthetrees,
butthisis notmentioned
thereafterthisdecade.84
The Wiltshire
78 A. Hussey,
"Archbishop
Parker'sVisitation",
Home CountiesMag., v ( 1903),
p.208;RalphHoulbrooke,
ChurchCourtsand thePeopleduring
theEnglishReformation
(Oxford,
1979),
p.249.
79 Canterbury
Cathedral
Library,
MS. X1816,
fo.37v.
80E. J. Baskerville,
"A Religious
Disturbance
in Canterbury,
June1561",Bull.
Inst.Hist. Research,clviii(1992),pp.340-8.
81 Dickens,
"EarlyExpansion
ofProtestantism
inEngland".
82 Hone,Every-DayBook,ii, cols.869-70.
83 Burne,
Shropshire
Folk-Lore,pp.358-9.
84 Peter
Robson,"Calendar
Customs
inNineteenth
andTwentieth
Century
Dorset:
Form,
Functions
andPatterns
ofChange"(Univ.ofSheffield
M.PhiI.thesis,1988),
p.86.
FOLKLOREAND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION
lll
uponhowmuchrarertheyhad
remarked
Aubrey
John
antiquary
theCivilWar.85
after
become
haltedfor
ofthecustom
theattrition
Atthatpoint,however,
and
century
theeighteenth
years.All through
overa hundred
which
in
regions
inthe
flourished
thebonfires
intothenineteenth,
in thesouththeimpactoftheReformation:
theyhadsurvived
down
north-east
the
throughout
inCumbria,
peninsula,
western
upland
in
and
andNottinghamshire,
Derbyshire
toandincluding
ChaseandtheDunstable
suchas Cannock
areasofthemidlands
tobring
ability
thisrange,theirapparent
Throughout
Downs.86
livehumans,
to
disease)
(especially
misfortune
against
protection
fires
public
the
Where
veryimportant.
stockandcrops,remained
found
were
power
traditional
lit,echoesoftheir
wereno longer
at
observed
suchas thatof theold farmer
practice,
in private
Midsummer
Each
1900.
in
Hills,
Quantock
inSomerset's
Holford,
overandunderallhiscattle
branch
Evehewouldpassa burning
Protestant
survived,
flames
summer
the
Wherever
andhorses.87
to
clergymen
few
the
of
one
ceased;
now
had
them
to
opposition
in
Bourne,
Henry
was
1700
after
them
commentupon
were
they
that
conceded
who
1720s,
the
in
Northumberland
"peaceandgoodneighbutaddedthattheypromoted
"heathen",
rangeinthecourseof
their
over
all
out
died
They
bourhood".88
ed. Britten,p. 26.
and3tudaisme,
Aubrey,RemainesofGentilisme
86R. T. Hampson, Medii avi kalendarium(London, 1841), i, p. 311- Brand
ofGreatBritain,i, p. 318; R. L. Bowley,The
Observations
Superstitions
Islands,7thedn (London, 1980),p. 102; Hardwick,Traditions,
Fortunate
p. 14; Brockie,Legends
and Folklore,p. 33; Nicholson,Folk Lore ofEast Yorkshire,
of the Countyof Durham,p. 106; WilliamBottrell,Traditionsand
and Superstitions
HearthsideStoriesof WestCornwal!(Penzance, 1870), pp. 8, 54-9; Ditchfield,Old
Extantat thePresentTime,p. 143; CountyFolk-Lore,ii, NorthRiding
EnglishCustoms
ed. Thomas,pp. 75-6; ibid.,
ed. Gutch,p. 253; ibid.,iv, Northumberland,
ofYorkshire,
Historical
ed. Gutch,p. 102; WilliamBorlase,Antiquities,
vi, East Ridingof Yorkshire,
of the Countyof Cornwall(London, 1769), pp. 135-6; Hackwood,
and Monumental,
and Folklore,p. 45; Jewitt,"On AncientCustoms
Customs,Superstitions
Staffiordshire
and Sportsof the Countyof Nottingham",p. 235; M. A. Courtney,CornishFeasts
Smith,Dunstable:Its History
and Folklore(London, 1890), pp. 39-43; Worthington
(London, 1904), p. 167; Rowling,Folkloreof the Lake District,
and Surroundings
2 vols. (Newcastle,1778), ii,
p. 122; WilliamHutchinson,A ViewofNorthumberland,
app., p. 15; Brit. Lib., AdditionalMS. 24544, p. 241; Wright,BritishCalendar
vulgares
Customs:England,ed. Lones, iii, pp. 10-25; Henry Bourne, Antiquitates
(Newcastle-upon-Tyne,1725), pp. 210-15; Theo Brown,"Fifty-SecondReporton
Assoc.,Axxvii(1955), p. 356; T. Brown,C'72ndReport
FoLklore",Trans.Devonshire
on FoLklore",ibid.,cvii (1975), p. 188.
ed. Tongue and Briggs,p. 166.
Folk-Lore,viii, Somerset,
87 County
p. 216.
vulgares,
88 Bourne,Antiquitates
85
112
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER 148
the nineteenth
century,not becauseof religioushostility,
but
becausepeoplefinally
lostfaithin theirbeneficial
properties.
V
The preoccupations
of this study may have resultedin it
appearing
toembodytwocompletely
unwarrantable
assumptions.
One is thatpopularseasonalritualsduringthe eighteenth
and
nineteenth
centuriesconsistedof a set of old practicesmoreor
less continuously
in decline This is veryfarfromthetruth,for
the same periodsaw the development
or proliferation
of many
othercalendarcustomswhichachievedconsiderable
importance.
Mummers'plays,Plough Mondayplays,May garlandingby
younggirls,local varietiesof morrisand sworddance,harvest
festivals,
andclubwalks,wouldall comeintothiscategory.89
The
otherunfounded
assumption
is thatearlymodernEnglishpopular
culturewas a hermetically
sealedentity.Severalexcellentrecent
studieshaveillustrated
in detailthelessonwhichevena cursory
examination
ofthedatacanreveal:ofhowcloseandcomplexthe
relationships
werebetweenprintedand oral media,urbanand
ruralcommunities,
and diSerentlevelsof thelocaland national
socialhierarchy.90
To someextentthewholeconceptof"popular
culture" depends upon an artificialboundarydrawn up by
scholarsto facilitate
researchand argument.
It is not,however,
an artefact
ofmodernacademe,buthas beenaroundforat least
twohundredyears,and itsevolutionin largepartitselfreflected
a genuinelooseningof manyof the relationships
characterized
above.The approachusedherecanalso be faultedin thatit does
nottakeaccounteitherofthepersistence
ofa "magical"culture
atall levelsofsocietyformostoftheearlymodernperiod,or of
theappearanceof a distinctively
Protestant
folklore.The latter
couldeasily,indeed,makea subjectin its own right,drawing
89
Thisthemewillbe articulated
anddocumented
fullyin thesequelto Hutton,
RiseandFall ofMerryEngland,entitled
TheStationsoftheSun (Oxford,
forthcoming).
90 Suchas Watt,
Cheap Printand PopularPiety;Margaret
Spufford,
Small Books
andPleasantHistories(London,1981);Margaret
Spufford,
The GreatReclothing
of
RuralEngland(London,1984);Margaret
Spufford,
"The Pedlar,theHistorian
and
theFolklorist",
Folklore,cv (1994),pp. 13-24;R. S. Thomson,
"The Development
oftheBroadside
BalladTradeanditsInfluence
ontheTransmission
ofEnglish
FolkSongs"
(Univ.ofCambridge
Ph.D. thesis,
1974);A. P. Fox,"Aspects
ofOralCulture
inEarlyModernEngland"(Univ.ofCambridge
Ph.D. thesis,1993);D. R. Woolf,
"The 'CommonVoice': History,
Folkloreand Oral Tradition
in EarlyModern
England",
Past and Present,no. 120(Aug.1988),pp.26-52.
113
talesofevilmonksand conjurauponthesamelatercollections;
tionsusingtheBiblein English,forexample,are verycommon
in the latter.These, however,are majorthemeswhichshould
of the exerciseundernot be addressedwithinthe limitations
takenhere.
subjectto certainlimitations,
The sourcesusedare themselves
ofa sortwhicharenoteasilyremedied.Theydo not,forexample,
providemuch indicationof the spiritin whichthe activities
as ritualspossessedofpowerful
studiedwerecarriedon,whether
Logically,theyoughtto have
meaningor as emptyformalities.
movedfromone to theother,and in mostcasesthereis a strong
sensethatfora longtimetheyactuallywereperceivedas importThey
proceduresforblessingand protection.
ant and effective
died out in popularculturepreciselybecause this perception
waned.The recordsmade,however,are so muchthe
eventually
thata definitrepresented,
flatly
observation,
productofexternal
ive answerto thisquestionis boundto be elusive.Again,there
theaccuracyoftheaccountsthemis no clearmeansofchecking
selves,exceptagainsteach other.It is onlypossibleto say that
agree,and
whenthiscrudeprocessis appliedthentheygenerally
thatthereseemsto be no reasonfortheauthorsto haveinvented
compilathedatawhichtheysetdown.The folklore
or distorted
a featureof a particular
a culturalartefact,
tionsare themselves
thepointat issue.
time,butthisdoes notseemto affect
to haveproveditspoint:
seems
study
At anyratethepresent
ofthelatemedieval
rituals
well-loved
and
thatthemostimportant
in folkcustom
reproduced
were
Wales
and
in
England
church
after they had been driven out of formalreligionat the
In somecases,suchas "palming"andGoodFriday
Reformation.
In othersitwas
nationwide.
wasvirtually
bread,thereproduction
regions,usuallythosewhichmodernhistorto specific
restricted
ians termthe "highlandzone" and whichin sixteenth-century
in relias "conservative"
termscould crudelybe characterized
gion,thoughin onlya fewcases did thisamountto an actual
that
It is possible,furthermore,
Catholicism.
post-Reformation
oftheseregionalcustomsmighthavebeengreater
thedistribution
beforethetimeat whichtheywererecorded.Whatalsoemerges,
of
it maybe suggested,is thatthereis some value in thinking
not merelyin acceptance(on a scale
degreesof Reformation,
Catholic
to committed
Protestantism
rangingfromenthusiastic
In one obvioussense,of course,
recusancy)butin enforcement.
114
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER148
thiswas a matterof individualand regionalchoiceamongthe

clericaland lay elite.In another,however,therewas a national
gradation.The bottomline was the physicalconversionof
churches
fromCatholicto Protestant
worshipand theimposition
ofa newliturgy,
a matterwhichitselfallowedofsomevariation.
Beyondthatlayboththefurther
reformation
ofreligionand the
so-calledreformation
of manners,
whichincludedbotha greater
restriction
ofSundayentertainments
anda wholesaleproscription
of specifictraditions
suchas church-ales.
The firstof thesewas
agitatedfrom1560andcarriedoutin the1640s,whilethesecond
was implemented
progressively
at bothnationaland local level
over the same period,untilit also was made into a coherent
programme
bytheLongParliament.
The caseofthemidsummer
firesis an interesting
one, in thatit belongsonlypartiallyto
eitherofthesetwomajorlevelsofactivity.
It wasnotpartofthe
officialTudor reformation
of religion(thoughlocal reformers
treatedit as if it was), whileit occupieda minorplace in the
reformation
of manners.These pressureswere none the less
sufficient
to turnwhathad beena trulynationalseasonalcustom
into a regionalone confinedmainlyto outlyingpartsof the
country.
Moreinteresting
still,perhaps,is theapparentfactthat
thecounterfeiting
of Catholicritualin popularpastimedoes not
seemto haveattracted
animosity
at anylevelofreform.
Whatwe seemto havehereis one ofthesignificant
silencesof
history:an apparentlyinstinctive
assumptionon the part of
Protestants
thatthefolkpracticeswereessentially
harmless.At
timesin otherculturestheseassumptions
werearticulated,
and
one of themostfluentof thosewho did so was Diego Duran,a
Dominicanfriarworkingamongthe nativesof late sixteenthcenturyMexico. He wroteof the importance
of a distinction
betweengenuinesurvivalsof the pre-Christian
religion,which
had to be extirpated,and practicesfromit whichhad been
transmuted
into games,entertainments
and social habits,and
couldbe tolerated.9l
FernandoCervantes
hasrecently
considered
manysimilarstrategies
in thissame region,amountingto "a
gradualabsorption
of a corporate
and liturgical
religiosity
which
wouldsucceedin creating
a culturethatwas genuinely
Christian
withoutdoing violenceto local customsand traditions".92
A
91DiegoDuran,The Book oftheGodsand Rites,trans.anded. F. Horcasitas
and
D. Heyden(Norman,
1971),pp. 169-77,251-97.
92 Fernando
Cervantes,
TheDevil in theNew World(NewHaven,1994),p. 73.
AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE
115
processhasbeenexploredbyR. A. Markusin hisconsidparallel

He
oftheRomanworldto Christianity.
oftheconversion
eration
and
hasstressedthe sheer vitalityof the secularinstitutions
froma paganpastand their
inherited
whichChristians
traditions
documented,
to resistchange.In hisview,convincingly
capacity
shared
completely
so
antiquity
late
of
Christians
pagansand
the
betweenthem
culture,thattheboundaries
acommon,traditional
or now.
wereimpossibleto delineate with clarity,then
empirewhich
intheChristianized
manyphenomena
Accordingly,
as "pagan survivals"were simply
may characterize
historians
forgrantedas partof the fabricof existence.Christians
taken
theseto be
wereconsciousof theiroriginsbut did notconsider
significant.93
very
be
The data employedforthisessaycouldquitelegitimately
the
of
nature
the
pressedinto the serviceof the debateover
If people
whichprovideditsstarting-point.
Reformation
English
church
old
the
of
ceremonies
fortheprohibited
so strongly
felt
new
the
outside
them
thattheyfoundit necessaryto imitate
for
that
impression
the
thenthisreinforces
structure,
religious
is
It
unwelcome.
and
manyof themthe reformswere alien
may
conclusion
of
sort
here,however,thata different
proposed
of theprocessof
perhapsbe morehelpfulto an understanding
provided
clearly,
had,
church
reform.The pre-Reformation
obtainable
not
experiences
withcertainservicesand
parishioners
popwidespread,
successor.One, apparently
fromitsProtestant
them
providing
about
set
to
was
ularreactionto thisdifficulty
themediumofwhatwas laterto be dubbed
foroneself,through
appearto haveacceptedthis
folkritual.In generalthereformers
allowedit to occurwithout
so
and
as unimportant,
transposition
an episodein thehistory
much
so
not
The resultwas
molestation.
part of the processof
a
as
of resistanceto the Reformation
of a Catholicto a
acceptanceof it, easingthe transformation
to sectionsofthelaity,these
society.Oncetransferred
Protestant
demise,not as partof an
final
their
until
ritesremainedthere
phenomenon
butas a portionofthegreater
ofreligion,
alteration
be summed
perhaps
may
matter
The
magic".
of "the declineof
HenryBourne,whocommented
up by theNewcastleclergyman
were"theproduceofheathenism"
thatsome"vulgarantiquities"
monks",butthatall ought
ofindolent
andothers"theinventions
93
1990),pp. 1-38.
(Cambridge,
R. A. Markus,TheEnd ofAncientChristianity
116
PASTAND PRESENT
NUMBER 148
to be judgedby thesinglecriterion
of whether
or nottheywere
"sinfuland wicked" in practice.94
If earliergenerationsof
Protestant
ministers
had sharedhisview,thenperhapswe have
recoveredanotherpartof the complexexperienceof religious
alteration
in earlymodernEnglandand Wales. If so, it is one
whichreflects
well,bothon popularcultureforitstoughness
and
adaptability,
and on reformers
whoare easyto characterize
from
the presentday as zealots,for displayinga cannysense of
prlorltles.
.
University
ofBristol
94
Bourne,
Antiquitates
vulgares,
pp.
RonaldHutton
ix-xi.

The English Reformation and The Evidence of Folklore

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The Past and Present Society

The English Reformation and the Evidence of Folklore

THE ENGLISHREFORMATIONAND THE

impactof the reformsupon popularbeliefthanthe workslistedabove, it portrays

FOLK1ORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

whichwasat oncedeeplypera popularculture

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

thoughnotcertain,thatit was intendedto carryout theriteof

secondis thatthereappearsto be no instanceof disapproval

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

Palm Sundayto another,once made.35They seemto have vanishedby theend of thecentury.

sequentlyalleged by the privycouncilagainstthe bishopof

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

bunchofburningstrawon theend ofa fork.The restkneltin a

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

the cross,as a signof sympathy

FOLKLOREAND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

FOLKLORE AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

thiswas a matterof individualand regionalchoiceamongthe

AND THE ENGLISHREFORMATION

processhasbeenexploredbyR. A. Markusin hisconsidparallel

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