Oak Apple Day

 I read every day - a novel, articles about history, archaeology, folk lore - anything that interests me.  I plan to end each day knowing a little more.  My brain needs stimulation.  For example, today is Oak Apple Day.  It was once celebrated in Southampton by the working men of the town putting a sprig of oak leaves in their cap,or pinned to their clothing and put bigger pieces on the door knockers of the wealthy houses, who took them in to display inside.  After breakfast these men would knock on the doors of the wealthy houses, expecting (demanding!) beer and if this was not forthcoming, they would shout "Shig-shag, penny a rag, Bang his head in Cromwell's bag, All up in a bundle."  Since Cromwell died in 1658, this was a habit of some antiquity.

I have only heard of the Great Wishford Oak Apple Day (Wiltshire), where the villages would wear a sprig of oak leaves and use the expression "Grovely, Grovely, Grovely and all is Grovely."  This dated back to 1603 when the Charter of the Forest Court of Govely permitted villagers to collect dead wood all the year round and on Oak Apple Day, they could cut green branches, and were allowed to pasture their cattle and pannage their pigs in the forest, and gather nuts and acorns (sounds similar to rights in the New Forest in Hampshire.)  In Great Wishford the young people marched through the village, making as much noise as possible, and the villagers went to Grovely to take green boughs as was their right.  There were competitions with prizes for the branches with the greatest number of oak apples and also for the best decorated house.  A huge oak bough was bought back by the stoutest men and decorated with ribbons, then hauled up atop the church to bless marriages that year.  (That sounds like an ancient ritual indeed, stemming from perhaps a pagan practice of walking beneath a decorated bough, before Christianity reached our shores.)  

This morning four women with banners would have gone to Salisbury Cathedral, where they performed two dances by the West Door and the procession led to the high altar by the Dean and Chapter.  They read out the relevent part of the Charter and villagers shouted out Grovely, Grovely, Grovely and all is Grovely.  Everyone then goes back to Great Wishford for a big lunch, tradiationally in a field, but perhaps there is a marquee, just in case the weather's wet.

All this taken, almost verbatum (only just woken up from sleeping for two hours on the sofa) from the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre page.

I have just weeded some planters out front and finally planted the Cosmos (Seashell mixed) I grew from seed in the greenhouse.  They are very well grown and will hopefully survive the slugs.

I hope I have everything I need in the car now - will be far too much to display probably, but you never know, I may have a bonanza day and only bring half of it home.  Mind you, going on what this Fleamarket used to be like (though I was selling different stuff then), I may bring most of it home!