Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/198

 HISTOEY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. 171 contributions of the passers by. She was usually attended by a matron or two, who were a little more bold than the young one, and who acted as scouts in bringing in contributors. Each street had its separate stand, and the maidens vied with each other in having the grandest cushion. In the after-part of the day the money was spent in procuring the necessaiy ingredients for making a sweet cake, known as a "Tansey Cake." This was served up with tea at some rendezvous (frequently the Bay Horse Inn, in Fore Bondgate), after which dancing commenced, and the festivities were often kept up to the " wee short hours ayont the twal'." We have no trace as to how this rather beautiful custom had its origin ; but there can be no doubt of its being a very ancient one — ^perhaps dating back to Pagan or Roman times ; and the Midsummer Cushion may have originally been an altar, raised in honour of Flora, the goddess of flowers. Shakespeare says. There's flowers for you ; Hot lavender, mints, savoury marjoram ; The marigold that goes to bed with the sun And with him rises weeping ; these are flowers Of middle summer, and I think they are given To men of middle age. The custom of gentlemen taking off the ladies' shoes on Easter Sunday afternoon and the forenoon of Easter Monday, and the ladies in return taking off the hats of the gentlemen on the afternoon of that day and the forenoon of the following day, was prosecuted with great vigour in Bishop Auckland during the early part of the present century. The custom was made the pre- text for extorting a small sum of money, by way of a fine, from the captured party of either sex, and bold was the man who possessed sufficient courage to venture up the Bondgates during the Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. This custom, which was in some degree peculiar to Auckland, has the appearance of being an offshoot of a very old custom which prevailed amongst all ranks and conditions of society throughout the whole kingdom, and from which even royalty itself was not exempt In 1805, Lysons communicated to the Society of Antiquaries an extract from a record in the Tower, in which it would appear that Edward L was taken in his bed by a party of ladies of the bedchamber and maids of honour on Easter Monday, May 15th, in the seventh year of his Majesty's reign, and was " lifted" by them. " This old custom," says Brand, " however strange it may appear, was intended no less than to represent our Saviour's resurrection." A Warwickshire correspondent in " Brand's Antiquities" says: — Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday were known by the name of heaving days, because on the former day it was customary for the men to heave and kiss the women, and on the latter for the women to retaliate upon the men. The women's heaving day was the most amusing. Many a.time have I passed along the streets inhabited by the lower orders of people, and seen parties of jolly matrons assembled round tables on which stood a foaming tankard of ale. There they sat in all the pride of absolute sovereignty, and woe to the luckless man that dared to invade their prerogatives ! as sure as he was seen, he was pursued — as sure as he was pursued, he was taken, and as sure as he was taken he was heaved and kissed, and compelled to pay sixpence for *' leave and licence" to depart This description in some degree resembles the scenes witnessed in Auckland in former days in connection with the taking off of shoes and hats, and the money obtained was spent in a similar manner to that acquired by the Midsummer Cushion. Bishop Auckland had in former times some old and pleasing christening customs, which are now laid aside. On these occasions it was customary for the matron who carried the child to church to walk in front of a procession consisting of the godfathers, godmothers, and parent& The matron, who, we may say, was usually the midwife, carried in her hand a large slice of the christening cake, and a corresponding piece of cheese, wrapped in a clean sheet of paper, and these were presented to the first individual met by the christening party as it left the dwelling of the child's parents. This gift proved a rare godsend to many, ee^)ecially when it fell into Digitized by Google