Customs & Traditions

Many of the old customs have now died out and many of them forgotten by most people. During the year, each season seemed to bring its old customs.

Carline Sunday

On Carline Sunday (the Sunday before Palm Sunday) many people had carlines (small grey peas) as a vegetable for dinner. Some public house landladies boiled carlines and served them with dripping or butter, some- times flavoured with rum. These were given free gratis to all the customers in the inn on that evening. It is said that certain men who were noted for being " tight fisted," and who never patronised the inn at any other time, called that evening for a free supper of carlines.

Easter

On Palm Sunday, as described elsewhere, the children nearly all "said the catechism" at church, and for this each child received a Pasch- egg and an orange at the Vicarage on Easter Monday. Easter Monday was a great day in the lives of the children, for on that day they rolled their eggs and oranges. Aunts, godmothers and neighbours presented their particular favourites with hard-boiled eggs and oranges (Eggs were probably about 20 for a shilling and thirty or forty oranges could be bought for that amount). The eggs were prettily dyed, often with onion peelings. After dinner the children trooped off gaily with bags full of eggs and oranges to the chosen sites. Hag End, Edmund Croft and Craker were all favourite fields for the sport. An egg or orange was rolled down the hill until it burst, when it had to be eaten. How many eggs and oranges some children devoured it would be difficult to say, but no-one seemed to take any harm.

At one time the Jolly Boys were a feature of Easter-time. Certain young men used to dress up as Lord Nelson, Old Jolly Jack Tar, Old Toss Pot and Old Liza Brown-Bags. They called at each house in the village, singing outside :

Here's two or three Jolly Boys, all of one mind,

We've come a-pasch-egging and hope you'll prove kind, We hope you'll prove kind with your eggs and strong beer, And we'll come no more near you until the next year. Fol the diddle day, fol the day, Fol the diddle i-dol-i-day.

Then into the house marched Lord Nelson, singing: The first that comes in is Lord Nelson, you'll see, With a bunch of blue ribbon, tied down to his knee, A star on his breast like silver doth shine, And I hope you'll remember it's pasch-egging time. Chorus: Fol the diddle day, etc.

Next marched in old Jolly Jack Tar, singing: The next that comes in is Old Jolly Jack Tar, He fought with Lord Nelson all during last war, He arrived from the sea, Old England to view, And he's come a-pasch-egging with this jolly crew. Chorus Fol the diddle day, etc.

The next entrant was Old Toss Pot, whose verse was The next that comes in is Old Toss Pot, you see, He's a valiant old man from his ancient decree, He's a valiant old man and he wears a pig-tail, And all his delight is in drinking old ale.

Chorus: Fol the diddle day, etc.

The last arrival was Old Liza Brown-Bags, singing The next that comes in is Old Liza Brown-Bags, For the sake of her money she wears her old rags, She's come along with us on purpose to beg, And all her delight is in eating pasch-egg.

Chorus: Fol the diddle day, etc.

Most people looked forward to a visit from the Jolly Boys, gave them eggs or oranges or home-brewed ale, and took the affair in the spirit in which it was meant-just a bit of fun.

Spring 

When the roads dried up in the Spring, out came the marbles, skipping- ropes, iron hoops with crooks (bowlies, they were called, and they were made by the village blacksmith). When the boys played at marbles, they used some weird, long forgotten expressions, such as Bar door, knockles low," and "Brossles, ekes and toys." What these meant and how they originated, no-one seems to know.

Spring always made the girls think of "Spenish Watter" (Spanish Water). Every girl procured a small bottle of some sort, put in some small pieces of hard Spanish or liquorice, filled it almost to the neck with water, and put it into a dark cupboard until next day. After that, it was the girl's constant companion for days. Every girl could be seen shaking her bottle and sucking at the brown froth which formed up the neck of the bottle. No-one thought of drinking the black liquid-it just wasn't done ! Only the froth had to be sucked! Give us a draw," was a frequent request, and it was considered very bad form indeed to drink the liquid. Boys pretended to look down on "Spenish Watter" as being something only fit for girls, but some of them had bottles hidden in inside pockets, and many a "draw was taken on the quiet.

Hiring Fairs

At one time, farm men and girls were all hired by the half-year and paid at the end of that time. Hirings took place at Penrith on Whit Tuesday and Martinmas Tuesday. Farm men, boys and women who were out of a place" went and stood in Sandgate, the men often with a piece of straw in their mouths as a sign that they were for hire. Farmers and their wives requiring men or maids interviewed those needing jobs and hired whom they wanted. After some years it was felt that it was not very nice for women and girls to have to stand in the street waiting to be hired, and St. Andrew's Parish Rooms were used for the purpose. After the hirings, a great time was had in Great Dockray or Sandgate, on the swings, roundabouts, coconut shies, etc. Some of the men spent much of their hard-earned money on beer and got very merry or quarrelsome, according to the amount of drink consumed. Whit Tuesday and Martinmas Tuesday were probably the only two days in the year on which farm workers could get to Penrith, so no doubt they made the most of them.

Little Whit

A fortnight after Whit Tuesday came Little Whit, the children's day. All the schools in and around Penrith were closed on that day, and for weeks beforehand children saved all their pennies for the great day. About 9 a.m. William Sowerby went to the top of the village with his big wagonette, drawn by two horses. He stopped and picked up passengers all the way down the village. Those children at the top end of the village considered themselves very fortunate, for they had the pick of the seats. Of course they all sat in front with William, while parents and other grown-ups sat in the back on two seats facing each other. It did not seem to matter how many children wanted to go to Penrith, William could al- ways make room for them in front. All set off in clean summer dresses or suits and bright, shiny shoes, and equally bright faces, full of excitement at this one outing of the year. On reaching Pea Top, all except one or two old ladies had to get out and walk down the hill, while William dis- mounted and put on the slipper-brake. At the foot of Frenchfield, all had to dismount again (except the old ladies) and walk up the long hill. But who cared about that? Penrith was almost in sight! It was nearly ten o'clock when the horses finally trotted into town, and how excited every- one was to hear the hoofs and wheels rattling on the streets! William stopped at The Old Crown; the horses were "lowsed oot," and the wagonette left in front of the hotel. First of all, some shopping had to be. done much to the disgust of the children, especially the boys! But mothers were adamant, for this was the only day in the year when their children could try on shoes, coats, hats, etc. When this necessary evil was over, everyone made their way to Great Dockray or Sandgate. Here were swings, roundabouts, or "hoppy-horses," as the children called them; also coconut shies, etc. Too soon it was dinner-time and parents collected their offspring and took them for a meal which generally con- sisted of hot pies swimming in gravy, teacakes and creamy cakes such as were never seen at home. After dinner-back to the shows! In no time at all the savings of several weeks were spent, and lucky were the children who met an uncle or aunt who would help out the finances! Nearly all the children managed to save a few pence to spend at Mulligan's sweet shop at the top of Middlegate. Just before wagonette time, they dashed up the street to get a few ounces of "Mulligan's Taffee," which was a lovely, sticky confection and a great favourite with the children. Three o'clock was the time stated for departure, but, of course, there was always some- one to wait for. Someone had forgotten something important and had to dash off at the last minute; or sometimes a child was lost and all had to wait until he was found. At last all were ready and a start was made for home. Most children were " stony broke" and dirty and hot-but thoroughly happy. The walk up The Pea seemed more of a hardship than the walk down in the morning, but very soon all were safely delivered home, and Little Whit was over for another year.

Lammas

An important time for the Methodist children in Culgaith was Lammas, the first week-end in August. On the Saturday the children were given a tea-party. It has been said that at one time some horse races were held in or near Culgaith, and this party was arranged as a counter-attraction for the children of the Wesleyan Sunday School. Lammas Sunday was the Sunday School Anniversary, when a children's service was held, at which each child had to say a "piece " or " task." These were poems or hymns which the children had been practising for weeks, some of them, no doubt, quite unintelligible to the children. As a reward for attending Sunday School each child received a book and a bag of ginger biscuits.

Kern Suppers

Kern Suppers were great events in the days before binders came into use. They were held after the corn had been cut and stooked. That was a big job, for the corn was not tied into sheaves by the machine, but was pushed off in loose bundles. Sometimes three people worked as a team behind the reaper. One made bands with strands of straw; the second gathered the bundle with foot and rake into a neat pile and placed it on the band; and the third tied the band, thus making a sheaf. These three people had to keep up with the reaper, and very hard work it was. By the time all the corn was cut and stooked, it was felt that the biggest job was done, and farmers invited all their helpers to a Kern Supper (which is probably a corruption of Corn Supper). One old man says that when the workers went for their supper they each carried a small bunch of corn in with them.

Taffy Joins

One way in which the young people amused themselves was by having Taffee Joins. The young ladies met at one of their homes, all carrying the necessary ingredients for making toffee. To add to the fun, their men friends were invited to help to eat the toffee, and by all accounts many practical jokes were played, especially by the unfortunate young men who had not been invited to the party. At one house, the pan containing the toffee suddenly disappeared up the chimney, no doubt with a little help from the lady who was stirring the toffee! Sometimes sods were placed on top of the chimney and the toffee was ruined by soot and smoke.

Guy Fawkes' Day

Guy Fawkes' Day was a great day for the children, particularly the boys. For weeks before, they were busy collecting the wherewithal to make a bonfire on Stock Hill. Then on November 5th, as soon as it was dark, a number of boys dressed themselves in ragged clothes, blackened their faces or wore masks, some carried turnip lanterns and went from house to house chanting loudly outside the door of each :

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Plot will never be forgot,

As long as old England stands upon a rock. Guy Fawkes and his companions did contrive To blow old England up alive.

God save the King and Parliament !

Most people gave coppers which were spent on squibs, cannon crackers, bengal matches, kippers for roasting at the bonfire, and treacle toffee. The last named was always made at the village shops and sold on Guy Fawkes' Day. How this originated no-one seems to know. There was not as great a variety of fireworks as there is to-day, and certainly there was not the money available to buy them if they had been on sale. After the boys had made their round of the village, they set the bonfire alight, let off their fireworks, and roasted potatoes and kippers, pretending a great enjoyment of these, even if half raw on one side and scorched on the other!

Christmas

At one time Christmas was not such an important time as it is today, probably because it had not been so much commercialised, and there was not so much money to spend as there is today. Very few cards and pres- ents were sent, but most children hung up their stockings on Christmas Eve. The children in one poor family did this, as all the other children were talking about it, and in the morning they found their stocking filled with kindling sticks and cinders. Most families enjoyed the traditional Christmas dinner, and a few private parties were given, where people played parlour games or cards.

Farm Sale

An event which happened very rarely in Culgaith was a Farm Sale. Most of the farms have been occupied by the same families for a few generations, but now and again a farmer left the village or retired, when his entire stock, crop and implements were sold on the spot by auction. This was generally at Candlemas, when farm leases ended. Farmers came from far and near on horseback, in traps or on foot to see if they could procure any bargains. The farmer having the sale had a busy time before the actual sale day, getting all his animals and implements into good fettle. For the wife and daughters it was a hectic time. Before the turn of the century, a big meal consisting of roast beef, potatoes, pease pudding, etc., was served free to all who attended the sale. Later on, it became the custom to omit potatoes, and a cold lunch, with bread and butter was served. The beef had to be roasted at home, all the bread had to be baked at home, and the butter was also home-made. For the sale day, hosts of friends, neighbours and relations were invited to go and give a hand with serving the meals. This was a day that most women enjoyed. Many hands made light work, and it was very pleasant to meet so many friends and to have a good talk. Then there was always plenty of fun when the men went in for their meals.

A person who was always present at the farm sales was the Candy Man. He went about among the crowd with his square tin box slung over his shoulder, calling Candy! Candy!" This candy was loved by the children. It was in long, thin sticks, home-made, and it was flavoured with peppermint. When fathers and big brothers went home from a farm sale the usual cry from the children was "Have you brought any candy?"

Christenings

Christenings were more frequent events fifty or more years ago than they are today. At one time they were held during Sunday School, the children singing the hymns. After the service, parents took godparents home and there was generally a wonderful tea served, consisting of home- made bread and cakes, and always rum butter. This is a mixture of brown sugar and butter, flavoured with rum. It is still made for Christenings in Cumberland, and is considered a great delicacy.

Weddings

A wedding always caused a good deal of excitement in the village, just as it does to-day. Very few brides wore white, but looked very smart in summer dresses or costumes. As there were no motor-cars, the bride and all the guests walked to church. After the ceremony the church gates were tied, as they are today, and the bridegroom had to pay toll before anyone was allowed out. At intervals along the road, ropes were held across by young folk, and the bridegroom had to pay toll every time. Rice was thrown at the happy pair, confetti being unknown. When out on the road, the men of the party threw out pennies for which the children scrambled, following to the bride's home. At one time pennies were often heated on a shovel over the fire and then thrown out. This amused some of the guests, no doubt, but was not very popular with the children. The wedding breakfast was generally provided at the bride's home, and every- thing had been made at home, even the wedding cake. At the end of last century it was the custom for young men in the village to go after dark to the house where the wedding had been held and fire their rifles over the roof. The last time this happened was when Sarah Hanson was married at Loaning Head Farm, and the offending young men were prosecuted and fined.

Funerals

Many of the old customs relating to deaths and funerals have died out. As soon as a person died, the church bell was tolled to tell everyone that a death had taken place, and dressmakers had to get busy making mourn- ing for all relatives of the deceased. A day or two before the funeral, a bidder "went round the village bidding people to the funeral. She was dressed in black, looked very solemn, and at every house repeated " Mrs. So-and-So's compliments. The funeral will be on Wednesday at 2 o'clock," or whatever the day and time happened to be. At the funeral, every woman wore unrelieved black, and the men dark suits and bowler hats. Many of these clothes were kept only for funerals and were green with age. Even into this century women had their dresses and bonnets trimmed with dull black crêpe, and widows wore "widows' bonnets," which had a long piece of crêpe hanging down the back. Earlier still, many men wore frock coats and silk hats, the latter with a piece of crêpe tied round and hanging down the back. There was no hearse as a rule, but the coffin was carried to church by bearers. If the house was some distance from the church, a hearse (horse-drawn) had to be used. These had black "plumes" standing up all round the coffin. On the route to the church all blinds were drawn and people joined in the slow procession.

Wreaths had not become fashionable, but perhaps bunches of flowers from the gardens were laid on the grave. After the service, relatives and friends were entertained to tea, generally a very generous spread.

Unrelieved black was worn by near relatives for a year, then a little white or mauve was allowed, then grey, and finally, after a couple of years or so, women could wear colours.

The boys played games like Itty-Witty-Way (now called Stag), leap-frog, hatty, peg-sticks, marbles, conkers, and so on. There always seemed to be plenty to occupy their playtimes. The girls were just as busy. They also played Stag, Prisoners' Base, Skipping and Five Stones, and they had many singing games which seem to have been forgotten. Sometimes in order to find out who should be "It" in a game of Stag, the girls went through a long process of elimina- tion, reciting :

Eeny, meeny, miney, mo, Catch a nigger by the toe, If he kicks, let him go, Eeny, meeny, miney, mo.

Another variation was:

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, All good children go to heaven, Where their sins are all forgiven. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, Penny on the water, twopence on the sea, Threepence on the railway, out goes she.

In the Spring, every girl had her own private skipping rope, and always a big girl provided a long, thick rope, generally a cart-rope. Two girls took it in turn to turn the rope, while the rest of the girls jumped in and skipped. While so skipping, the girls often chanted together:

Mr. Knox is a very good man, He tries to learn us all he can, Reading, writing and 'rithmetic, And he never forgets to use the stick,

When he does he makes us dance Out of England into France, Out of France and into Spain, Over the hills and back again.

After that the rope was turned quickly and the girls were given pepper.*

Winter, with frost, was the time most enjoyed by the children, for then the Tarn was frozen over and what good times they all had! Hardly anyone had skates, but everyone wore clogs with iron caulkers. These were almost as good as skates and certainly less trouble to put on, and the bigger children learned to "pick" with the sides of their caulkers and could travel very quickly over the ice. A great game with the boys was Dorrick," a form of ice-hockey. Heaps of coats did for goal-posts, bent sticks out of the hedge for hockey-sticks, and a small square piece of wood from a nearby joiner's shop for a puck.

Another form of entertainment was to make a ship." Two children sat on each other's feet with their arms round each other's shoulders. Another child pushed them along the ice, all calling "Ship ahoy," until the "ship" fell apart. Great was the disappointment when the thaw came. At this period the favourite sport was "setting cappers and making "bendy leather" on the softening ice, until someone went through it. Many a child must have sat all day in school with wet feet, and a few fell through the ice. Fortunately it was not deep enough for anyone to drown.

At one time, a small, flat-bottomed boat provided a deal of pleasure for young men and boys. When not in use in dry weather, this boat used to lie wrong side up on the saw pit near Tarn House. One day, two small children, John Hindson and Hannah Sewell, sat down on this upturned boat. Both children wore petticoats, for boys were not "breeched " until they were about five years old, and they had nothing on underneath their petticoats. It was a hot day and the bottom of the boat was covered with tar to make it watertight. When the children tried to get up they could not do so-they were stuck to the tar! After a great to-do, the bairns were released by their mothers-with the help of lard!