Folklore of Lincolnshire (31 page)

This day in June is known as John Dalderby Day. He was a Lincolnshire man, born in Horncastle; he went on to become the Bishop of Lincoln in 1300. He died in 1320 but a number of miracles were accredited to him, such as curing the people of Rutland who had become unable to speak and were only able to bark. He is remembered in a service every 12 June in Lincoln Cathedral.

The Feast of St Botolph was held on this day. The people of Boston claimed him as their founder and the Boston Stump is dedicated to him. He died in 608 and at one time there used to be a twenty-five day fair held in his memory. He is also now remembered annually in a service in Lincoln Cathedral.

The ‘Lincoln Show’, which began in 1819, is still going strong today and attracts thousands of people from all around the country. It is primarily an agricultural show, usually held towards the end of the third week in June.

The Stow Green Fair was another huge event attended by thousands. It was a horse and wool fair which started in the 1200s and retained its popularity until the 1950s. It is thought that fairs were held here even before that date, as it is also the feast day of Etheldreda, to whom the Stow minster is dedicated, who died 23 June 679.

Late in June the Horncastle to Skegness Walk used to take place, which was a twenty-four-mile fun walk, started in 1903. A band was present and competitions and prizes were on offer, one of which was auctioned off in 2010; a bronze medallion, won by W.S. Williams, who completed the walk in three hours and thirty-four minutes in 1903.

An information board now stands at the site of the Stow Green Fair, showing photographs of the horse fair from 1908. A little tricky to find, it is north of the village of Stow, just off the A52 towards Threekingham. The board is beside the road at the T-junction between Mareham Lane and Stow Lane.

July was very busy for the people of the land, whose time was taken up with crop gathering and hay making and so there was not much time for celebration during this month. But in the 1940s, it became the tradition that during the last week of July and the first week of August, the workers could have an annual holiday, named Trip Weeks. Many of the factories closed altogether during these weeks and even organised bus trips so the people could get away. The seaside, of course, was the most popular destination, Skegness and Mablethorpe being favourites.

In the 1920s and ’30s there was a tradition named the Monkey Walk Parade held on Sunday afternoons in July, involving the youth of Lincoln who would dress in their Sunday best and parade up and down the high street. Men would take one side of the street and ladies the other and they would watch each other as they walked past. It was a gentle form of courtship and many couples would become paired up as a result. The tradition is still remembered now, when people don their best clothes and refer to them as their monkey suit.

This started in 1905 and was held on the first Saturday in July. This day was organised for the children of members of the Gainsborough Co-op and a variety of games were organised for them to enjoy. Rather like children’s sports days today, they were encouraged to join in relay races, sack races, sprint races and egg and spoon. There was dancing, a Punch and Judy show, a beauty queen contest and many other activities for children to enjoy.

Barton Bike Night is a relatively new event, having run for the last fifteen years. The village becomes packed full of stalls, food and drink, as well as hosting a variety of bike-related events. All kinds of motorbikes turn up and there is so much to watch, with all the trailing and ride-outs – certainly not one to miss!

In mid-July there was a nine-day long festival at Stamford, boasting crafts, music, floats, sporting activities, children’s games and a flea market. Today the festival takes the form of a parade, with floats and a procession to join in with.

The So Festival takes place on these days. Started in 2009, this is a relatively new festival but proves to be very popular. There is street theatre, music, comedy, carnivals, dancing and much more.

In 1971, Bardney saw its very own folk festival. The locals were all rather worried about it before the event, thinking it would be a noisy, messy, bad idea with lots of people causing trouble, but the whole thing went off without a hitch. Approximately 60,000 people turned up, some travelling from Australia and it was a peaceful, successful event, but only ever repeated once, in 1999.

The first Monday in August is known in the south of Lincolnshire, Holbeach and the Wash area as Samphire Day. Samphire is a plant which grows well in marshland areas and is also known as the poor man’s asparagus. This day was a day’s holiday for the locals, who would use it to go and pick the plants and pickle them. They made a real occasion out of the day, taking a picnic along, and some people took an oil stove to brew up tea. It is said that it is a favourite taste of Prince Charles and it is still picked and pickled today, then apparently sold to Harrods in London.

Sheep shearing was a very important event in late July/early August, where all the men would work in teams and visit each other’s farms to help one another get all the sheep done. A supper of frumenty, a meal using eggs and wheat and sometimes dried fruit, was enjoyed at the end of the day; a wholesome meal meant to give them energy for the task in hand. The Lincolnshire men had a special way to count sheep:

Thought to be a link to their Celtic origins, a similar system was used by the Welsh and Cornish shepherds.

The annual Brigg Fair was a popular horse fair in its time but like many others began to lose popularity with the increase of motorised vehicles. It is, however, still celebrated today, if not quite in the same way. Many markets take place including livestock, and some people do still bring their horse and carts to parade the grounds.

This was once a huge three-week long affair. Begun in 1229, it is thought to have been the largest of its kind at one time and people from all over the world would travel to it. Brass bands would march the streets and the town would be crammed with people of every class. This fair was last held in 1948.

August and September were the main months for gathering in the harvest and so there were numerous rituals surrounding these months as there were many farming communities in Lincolnshire. One widespread custom was, once the last load was ready the women and children would ride it home and if there were any early apples, the children were each given one as a treat.

Women and children used to go out ‘gleaning’, which was a tradition of collecting the leftover crops from farmers’ fields after the harvest had been collected. The practice could be viewed as an early form of welfare but it was also a social occasion, with the youngsters competing to see who could get the fullest sack load. In many parishes there was a gleaning bell, which was rung to call the gleaners into the fields when the main harvest was completed and then to call them home again in the evening. There were known signs that a field was not ready to be gleaned as yet, such as a sheaf on the gate. The vicar of the villages would collect some corn and wheat from each farmer and these tithe profits were often used for welfare purposes.

Cock Stack was a well-known practice, whereby a large cock was created out of straw and wood when the harvest was finished, and was placed on top of the last stack as an advert to everyone for miles around that the farmer had wheat for sale.

There were many songs to keep people’s spirits up while working and, of course, when the harvest was over there were songs of celebration:

St Bartholomew’s Day Knives was a tradition whereby men would give each other knives on this date and even the headmaster of the school would give some to lads who had been good. St Bartholomew was apparently murdered with a knife and so the knife is his symbol. Sutton also links the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre to the symbol of the knife. The knives given on this day were called lamb’s foot knives as they were often small enough to remove small stones or cut rough edges from a lamb’s foot.

The Lincoln Long-Wool Ram Sale was a sheep farmers’ fair for the buying and selling of all things to do with sheep. Folk in Lincolnshire are still very proud of
their sheep and they can often be seen displayed at agricultural shows and fairs around the country.

September was also the month for the gathering and drying of herbs and the last of the onions, ready for the winter months. Lavender was popular for use in pillows and for easing headaches; onions were used as a cure for chilblains and colds; thyme, sage, rosemary and many others were collected, each having their own uses.

As in all farming communities, most of the corn should have been harvested by September and so large harvest suppers and celebrations took place during this month. Lincolnshire, of course, excelled in this tradition, having so many families and communities linked to farming, and the feasting, dancing and singing involved everyone.

This date saw the ancient tradition of the Grimsby Boar Hunt, whereby the annual sport of boar hunting commenced and landowners presented a boar’s head to the mayor, resulting in a huge final feast. The HMS
Grimsby
uses the emblem of a boar for the ship’s crest, as a remembrance of this ancient right allowing the townsfolk to hunt boar in Bradley Woods, nearby. Whether the tradition will be reignited with the supposed increase of wild boar in Britain, only time will tell.

Once known as Fool’s Fair, this was held in Broadgate, Lincoln. It was an annual fair held for the sale of cattle and apparently granted to the people by King William as he and his wife visited the town and gave the people an offer of a favour of their choosing. He apparently granted their request for a fair with a smile, as he viewed it as a humble request indeed.

This was Michaelmas Day, customarily the date when farm and agricultural workers moved to new employment.

Lincolnshire Day: although only first held officially in 2006, the date marks the anniversary of the Lincolnshire Rising in 1536, when the Catholics revolted against
the establishment of Henry VIII’s Church of England. It is the day when all things Lincolnshire are celebrated; from historical events, traditions, culture, present-day practices and, of course, food. Well known for its sausages, cheese, beer and other delights, this is the perfect day to celebrate them.

The Harvest Festival also took place on this day, where fruit and vegetables were displayed in the churches, people donating what they could, and then the goods were distributed to hospitals, the poor and the needy.

October was the month in which many village fairs, feasts and fêtes were once held, as all the harvest work was finished and people had some money to spend. It was a time for relaxation and fun and also the time when those who had left home for work elsewhere were allowed back for the weekend, for their own village feast. Much traditional fare was on offer along with fairground attractions which included rides, stalls and fortune tellers. Some villages also incorporated ploughing matches into their festivities.

Potato picking was of great importance and up until the 1950s, children were given an annual holiday during the potato harvest. In the 1920s and ’30s many French and Irish labourers came to Lincolnshire looking for work. It was hard, back-breaking work in cold and wet conditions, with poor pay, but even so, women and children would help out for a bit of pocket money, in order to buy clothes for the winter.

The October Lincolnshire Stuff Ball, originating in 1785, was once an annual event, involving any locally produced materials, or ‘stuff’. A feast with local food was on offer and those women who attended dressed in locally-made clothes would gain entrance for free. Every year there was a different colour code for the ball and thus the event was sometimes referred to as the Colour Fancy Dress Ball. It is said that upwards of 300 people attended, attired in garments manufactured from wool of the county.