Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 4, 1893.djvu/529

 Rh tyme xijd." Hock Monday was the second Monday after Easter, and certain dues were then paid to the church-wardens, as appears by the Accounts of St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, printed in Archæologia Cantiana; but whether the torch was for use in church, or at some revel, is not certain.

Richard Longeman of Halstow, in his will, dated 1493 [Book V, fo. 224a], mentions Shere Thursday. The will is curious as showing the custom of proclaiming, or posting up, secular matters in church:

Into the religious side of all the above (and they all had a religious significance in the minds of the testators) I do not wish to enter, but I should like to direct the attention of members to the field that is open to them, especially in the District Probate Registries, which contain for the most part the wills of yeomen, small farmers, and persons of the labouring classes, and therefore all the more likely to refer to such matters as I have brought before you.

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