Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/152

 men," and were all dressed in "Lincoln green." In Garrick's collection of old plays is one entitled, "A New Play of Robin Hood, for to be played in the May-games: very pleasant and full of pastime." These May-games seem to have been acted, before the Reformation, within the walls of the old parish and Collegiate Church of Manchester; for Hollinworth says that John Bradford, the martyr, "preaching in Manchester in King Edward [the VI.'s] days, told the people, as it were by a prophetical spirit, that because they did not readily embrace the Word of God, mass should be said again in that church, and the play of Robin Hood acted there; which accordingly came to pass in Queen Mary's reign."

RUSH-BEARINGS. ancient custom of strewing church-floors with rushes, which were renewed every year on the day of the dedication of the church, seems to have been practised in times before the floors were flagged, to cover the soil or mud of the floors, and to give warmth in winter, and a sort of cleanliness in summer. In the parish register of Kirkham are entries to this effect:—"1604. Rushes to strew the church cost this year 9s. 6d." "1631. Paid for carrying the rushes out of the church in the sickness time, 5s." In Thomas Newton's "Herbal to the Bible," 1587, it is stated that "with sedge and rushes many in the country do use in summer-time to strew their parlours and churches, as well for coolness as for pleasant smell." Brand adds—"As our ancestors rarely washed their floors, disguises of uncleanliness became very necessary." It may be noted that disbursements for