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DIARY FOR APRIL 2026
UPCOMING GIGS
Sunday 26th July 2–4.30 p.m. Community Bandstand Meadowbank Park, Dorking Sunday 23rd August 2–4.30 p.m. Leith Hill Place, Surrey (National Trust) Sunday 6th September 2–4.30 p.m. Leith Hill Place, Surrey (National Trust) ——————
Eostre (or Ostara) was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of rebirth and the namesake for the Christian festival of Easter. Her sacred symbol was the egg and her sacred animal, the hare. Hence we have Easter eggs and Easter bunnies. At Easter there is a tradition of Pace-egging (a term derived from ‘pascha’, the Latin for Easter), a custom more associated with northern counties of England rather than more southerly counties. There are a number of Pace-egg customs and these include egg collecting, decorative egg painting and egg rolling. In its basic form, pace-egging resembles numerous other house-visiting customs in which parties of people go from house to house singing a song and asking for money or food. The singing is often followed by the performance of a Pace-egg Play, an Easter version of the Christmas mummers’ play. It signifies Death/Rebirth of the land in the tradition of the medieval mystery plays, with, usually, St. George being killed by Bold Slasher and brought back to life by the Doctor (the Corn God, his fee a pagan sacrifice). Sometimes, in song the hero was the current hero of the day – possibly Lord Nelson and/or Lord Collingwood. I found this traditional song on the album ‘Fire and Frost’ by the Watersons, and did a video of it on YouTube in 2021. Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ontVC-Faegw.
Hocktide is the Monday and Tuesday after Easter and is still observed as a festival in Hungerford in Berkshire. On Hock Tuesday people are called to attend the Hocktide Court by the Town Crier ringing a bell in the street and blowing a hunting horn from the balcony of the town hall. The Court elects officers, including the Constable, Portreeve, Bailiff, Water Bailiffs, Aletasters and four Tithing men. Two of the Tithing men are designated ‘Tutti-men’. The word ‘Tutti’ means a nosegay, posy or bunch of flowers. The Tutti-men wear top hats and morning dress and carry poles decorated with ribbons, a tutti and surmounted by an orange. They are accompanied by the ‘Orange Scrambler’ who carries a bag of oranges. They set out to collect dues from houses. Women have the right to pay with a kiss instead of a coin if they so wish. Each kiss is rewarded with an orange from the tutti-pole. The tutti-pole oranges are replenished from the Orange Scrambler’s sack. After the morning’s round they adjourn to the Three Swans Hotel for a civic luncheon. When the meal is over the Tutti-men and the Orange Scrambler go outside and scatter oranges to be scrambled for a joyful crowd of waiting children. Meanwhile, in the hotel, any newcomers are likely to be seized for the ceremony of ‘Shoeing the Colt’. The ‘Colt’ is grabbed by the Official Blacksmith and assistants, who commence to hammer a nail into his/her shoe, until he/she cries ‘Punch!’ And therefore agrees to pay for more drinks. According to an article in The Independent from 1993: ‘This is the sort of things we English have gone to war to protect,’ said Andrew Sawyer, the local vicar … ’This, and the right to gather watercress from the marsh.’
(My thanks in research to these excellent books: The English Year by the folklorist Steve Roud, A Dictionary of British Folk Customs by Christina Hole, A Treasury of British Folklore by Dee Dee Chainey and Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain by the Reader’s Digest.)—John
All text, images and music samples on this site are copyright © Childe Rolande.
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Poster for Lucy Anna Martin
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