Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Mar 17, 2010
Tagged in:
tradition ,
spring ,
pagan ,
new lif ,
goddess ,
gift ,
feast ,
Eoste ,
eggs ,
Easter ,
countryside
Easter was the feast of the pagan goddess of spring, Eoste. It was a tradition to give a gift of coloured eggs which represented the new life of the countryside.
Hot cross buns were baked on Good Friday and were ‘carefully hung up in the inglenook, and kept for medicinal purposes’! A small piece of the dried bun was grated and mixed with water – it was drunk as a cure for diarrhoea, but to work it must be hand baked on a Good Friday! The provision of hot cross buns on Good Friday is thought to be one of the strongest surviving symbols of pre-reformation England.
Wiltshire Times, March 26th, 1910; front and second page
It has been said that to wash clothes on Good Friday was considered an 'awful sin'. A story is told ‘A young woman went a –washing on Good Friday. As she were about it, up comes a gentleman, and he asks the way somewhers, most pleasant like’. While he stands talking, the woman chances to look at his feet, and discovers he has a cloven foot; so she answers him very shortly, and refuses the money he offers her. ‘Whereupon the gentleman, who, of course, is the Devil, walks away, and the woman, in a fright, puts aside her washing’. You should always wear something new on Easter Sunday, ‘for good fortune’. A new pair of gloves was the luckiest item, and these were often given as an Easter present. Told by A. Clark in 1893. To find out about the 16th century Cuckowe King and the 'ales', please 'read more'...
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Nov 17, 2009
Tagged in:
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre ,
tradition ,
tour ,
staging events ,
spring ,
rock bands ,
History Centre ,
historians ,
Community Areas Tour ,
autumn ,
2010
Following the tradition of rock bands everywhere historians from Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre are still touring. In their latest Community Areas Tour they are staging events in the 18 Community Areas of Wiltshire this autumn and in spring 2010. In the next few weeks you can catch;
Find Out Who You Are, steps in the early stages of family history research with Claire Skinner and Michael Marshman at Salisbury Library on Wednesday 25th November. A morning course from 9.30 to 1.00 p.m. with tickets at £10.00 available at Salisbury Library.
Poor Law Records, 1600 – 1833, a talk by Terry Bracher on the old Poor Law and its treatment of ordinary people at Corsham Library on Wednesday 25th November. Starting at 2.30 p.m. tickets are available from Corsham Library at £3.50 (£2.50 concessions).Please 'read more' to find out more about our other events occuring throughout Wiltshire....
