I
haven’t written anything here for far too long, and that is
something that I hope to remedy in the weeks ahead. However, as
sharing more about our idiosyncratic seasonal festivals and
observances, and therefore perhaps
offering an invitation to more deeply ground in our land and who we are,
is one of the things that I very much hope to do, I didn’t feel
that I could miss the opportunity to write about Hocktide.
Hocktide was an English medieval festival, part of the marking and turning of our agricultural year. These Hock-days fall on the Monday and
Tuesday after Easter week and, together with Whitsuntide in May or
June and Yuletide in December, mark a pause in the farming year. During this period ‘villeins’ or tenant farmers, who were tied to the
land as part of the feudal system, were freed from working on the
lord of the manor’s land and also on their own. These ‘bonded
tenants’ had more rights than they would have done under slavery
but were ‘bound to the soil’ and unable to leave the land without
the landowner’s consent. In return for a small rented home, with or
without land, they were required to work on their lord’s farmland, often in addition to paying a rent of money or goods. They were also
subject to a range of legal restrictions and responsibilities, which
might be a heavy burden indeed. For instance, they might have to pay
a fine if their daughters married outside the manor or if their sons
inherited land elsewhere. The term ‘villein’ comes from the Latin
‘villanus’, meaning a man
working
at a large agricultural Roman villa estate, a
‘forced
employment’ which
originated in a decree issued by the Emperor Diocletian to prevent
peasants fleeing the land and so causing a decrease in food
production. The decree meant
that peasants had to be recorded on a local register and could only
leave their village to deliver a message or go to war with their
master. And so the land
became a prison,
rather than a home and source
of freedom. Despite this
villeinage ensured access to land and land meant survival. It was
certainly a preferable arrangement to that of the landless labourer,
whose position was much more precarious. Nevertheless,
villeins were considered ‘lesser’ and so the word became the
source of our derogatory
term, ‘villain’, which is
certainly not a label that many of us would hope to attract.
As
for Hocktide,
its origins are unclear but
there is an enduring
tradition that it
commemorates
the driving out of the Danes on St Brice’s Day, 1002 following
Danish raids on England every year from 997 to 1001.
In response King Aethelred
“ordered slain every Danish man that was in England.” Although
this action led to swift revenge, the inhuman behaviour of the Danish
invaders meant that any victory against them was worth marking. It
is sensible when considering the origin of the festival to note
though that St Brice’s Day is in November and that Hocktide is
firmly tied to Easter festivities! That
it is thought to be related to the pushing back of the Danish
invasion may be due to a Hock Tuesday play once put on in Coventry
during the sixteenth century which told
the story of a group of feisty Anglo-Saxon women who had turned back
the Danes after their menfolk had been defeated. These
plays were frowned upon by Protestant reformers and so were stopped,
although, in 1575,
supporters did succeed in putting on the play before Elizabeth I, who
is said to have thoroughly approved.
 |
| Anglo-Saxon dress, http://world4.eu/anglo-saxon/ |
The
name Hocktide may
originate in the German, ‘hocken’,
which means, to ‘attack’, to ‘seize’, or to ‘bind’, and
certainly the principal day of the festival was known as ‘Binding
Tuesday’. Whereas, Hock Monday was for the men, Hock Tuesday was
for the women (echoing the winter festivities of St Martin’s Day,
or Martinmas, for men, and St Catherine’s Day for women in
November). Reversing
the activities of Monday, Hock
Tuesday’s
shenanigans
principally involved women, with much merrymaking, ambushing men via
the method of stretching ropes across the public highway, and holding
them to ransom until a
small
fee was paid to
be
put to ‘pious uses’ (or
more often perhaps to buying food and drink for the revellers).
In
1497, 13s 4d was gathered by women on ‘Hob Monday’ in the parish
of St Mary-le-Hill, London, and, in 1607, women went ‘a-hocking’
in Chelsea and raised 45/-. The
Lambeth Book, amongst other references to Hocktide payments, records
that
in,
“1556-1557. Item of Godman Rundell's wife, Godman Jackson's wife,
and Godwife Tegg, for Hoxce money by them received to the use of the
Church." Indeed
at one time records from Lambeth reveal hock money as being the
single largest source of Parish income. It is also worth noting that the women collected a lot more money than the men!
"1499. It. rec. of hok money gadereyd of women 20s
It. rec. of hok money gadereyd of men 4s
(St Leonard's church, Reading)
~ Dictionary of English Folklore
Eleanor Parker, in her book, ‘Dragon Lords: the History and Legends of Viking England’, describes Hocktide as a sort of ‘post-Easter festival of misrule’, or the World Turned Upside Down, which is a thread running through many of our folk traditions. Certainly it allowed the people of the land to have a day or so away from their serfdom if nothing else. She goes on to say that it was first recorded in London in 1406 and grew in popularity over two centuries, before almost entirely dying out by the end of the seventeenth century. The Bishop of Worcester had banned Hocktide revelries in 1450 so it is clear that it took the common people some time to submit to his instructions. Many of the historical references remaining in relation to Hocktide consist of complaints relating to disorderly conduct and this may explain both why the tradition was frowned upon, and why it was so popular!
"1499. It. rec. of hok money gadereyd of women 20s
It. rec. of hok money gadereyd of men 4s
(St Leonard's church, Reading)
~ Dictionary of English Folklore
Eleanor Parker, in her book, ‘Dragon Lords: the History and Legends of Viking England’, describes Hocktide as a sort of ‘post-Easter festival of misrule’, or the World Turned Upside Down, which is a thread running through many of our folk traditions. Certainly it allowed the people of the land to have a day or so away from their serfdom if nothing else. She goes on to say that it was first recorded in London in 1406 and grew in popularity over two centuries, before almost entirely dying out by the end of the seventeenth century. The Bishop of Worcester had banned Hocktide revelries in 1450 so it is clear that it took the common people some time to submit to his instructions. Many of the historical references remaining in relation to Hocktide consist of complaints relating to disorderly conduct and this may explain both why the tradition was frowned upon, and why it was so popular!
 |
| (anothermag.com) |
I have also come across references to Hocktide being more directly related to Easter traditions through the custom of 'heaving', during which one report claims that local people lift one another off the ground whilst singing, "Jesus Christ is risen again!" Whether this is true I don't know but tradition is a wild being and will change and adapt to the times. That Hocktide may come from the feistiness of Anglo-Saxon women fighting off the Danes, or from the period of the agricultural year given to the collection of rents and making of contracts, or from Christians lifting one another off the ground to celebrate the Resurrection, is part of the glorious nature of our traditions, and it may be one, none, or all of these. We must perhaps listen to the earth beneath our feet to work that out.
Although
Hocktide revelleries have dwindled in most places, it remains very
much alive in Hungerford on
the Berkshire/Wiltshire border,
where it is celebrated as ‘Tutti-day’ and confined to the Tuesday
of the week after Easter. Early on Tutti-day, following
a ‘watercress supper’ the previous evening, the Bell Man, or town crier, goes about the village
gathering all commoners to a ‘court', which they will be fined a
penny for not attending. If
they were to refuse they might also run the risk of losing important
privileges granted for free grazing, watercress collection, and
salmon fishing on the River Kennet. These
privileges relate to land granted to those living in certain houses
and dating back to the late 1300s. These are the ‘commoners’ and
at hocktide the court and jury elect from amongst them Hocktide
officers for the year ahead. It
is interesting to note that one
of the most important dates of the
agricultural year was Lady Day on
March 25th.
From
1155 until
1752 Lady Day was the English agricultural
New Year and it was when rents were due and new contracts were made
for the year ahead.
A vestige of this remains in the UK’s tax year, which begins on
April 6th
(Lady Day but adjusted for the 10 day difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars).
Returning
to Hungerford, just
before the court sessions, the Tutti, or ‘Tithing’, Men (who
might also be women)
set
out around the village wearing
top hats and tails and with long poles decorated with spring flowers,
blue ribbons, and with an orange on top (said to relate to William of Orange discovering that he was to be king whilst staying in Hungerford). Over the following twelve
hours, they endeavour to visit every common rights household and
exact yearly tithes. These dues
are most usually paid by a penny
from the men and a
kiss from every woman in the household, who are
then gifted with an orange. These
are carried by the ‘Orange
Scrambler’ who accompanies the Tutti Men with a sack of oranges and
pheasant feathers in his hat! They
might then be offered a drink before going on their way. In
Yorkshire, children were still celebrating ‘Kissing Day’ into the
1950s and this is thought to have perhaps been a remnant of older
Hocktide traditions. Certainly the Hungerford Hocktide revelries are accompanied by excited children hoping for sweets.
At
lunchtime in
Hungerford
everyone gathers at the Town Hall for speeches and reports, following
which 'the Blacksmith' appears for a ceremony known as the ‘Shoeing
of the Colts’.
These
‘colts’ are newcomers to the town or to the lunch who are grabbed so that the
Blacksmith can hammer a nail into one of their shoes! Traditionally,
he will continue hammering until the colt yells “Punch!” and
agrees to buy a round of drinks for those present, although
it is now considered sufficient to pay only a small token to avoid
sending anyone into poverty.
One witness reports that he, having attempted to leave the lunch and thus
being suspected of trying to avoid being shoed, had been set upon; “I
was grabbed on one side by the vicar and struggled for all my worth
kicking and was turned upside down with my feet flailing in the air
at which point the vicar jumped on my chest and I was laying on the
floor…with the sound of the horse shoe into my foot I shouted punch
although it was difficult to remember to say this as I was laughing
so much.” Following this sombre and ancient ceremony the
company then adjourn to a nearby hotel for anchovies on toast!
Researching
these traditions, I must say that it is easy to draw the conclusion that Monty
Python could only really ever have come out of England.
 |
| (BBC) |
Hocktide
it seems is a tradition that is only just hanging on, and yet where
it remains it is thriving as a celebration of commoners rights,
community, and connection to place. In its more ancient form, it can
be included in the myriad folk traditions of this land in
which power relations are subverted
or turned on their heads, not least because it gave those who were tied to the land by a contract with their lord a few days of relative freedom, a hint of the breaking of chains. That Hocktide's possible roots in the tale of
a group of Anglo-Saxon women taking on Danish invaders and winning
has been discredited should not necessarily dissuade us from
acknowledging Hocktide as a time when gender relations are ‘turned
upside down’, with women gaining
the upper hand on Hock
Tuesday. That this comes at a time when female brown hares are to be
seen in our fields ‘boxing’ in order to test the merits of would be suitors is pleasing.
Here is just one response to Hocktide that I will embrace, no matter how 'historical', or not, it may be...
On this day we honor
The Saxon women who turned away
The attacking Norsemen from the sea
When their menfolk had failed
Or been slaughtered, their bones lying
In graves still fresh and bare.
For when the need arises,
Anyone can find the courage
To face what must be faced
To dare what must be dared
To fly in the eye of the storm
Heedless of life or death.
We honor the spirit in women,
For millennia put down and buried,
But that rises when in need,
And shows its brave spirit...
(https://witchesofthecraft.com/tag/hocktide/)
May the common ground we share give us strength for the journey, aid us in breaking the ties that bind, and may the Hocktide hare-spirit rise in us all.
Here is just one response to Hocktide that I will embrace, no matter how 'historical', or not, it may be...
On this day we honor
The Saxon women who turned away
The attacking Norsemen from the sea
When their menfolk had failed
Or been slaughtered, their bones lying
In graves still fresh and bare.
For when the need arises,
Anyone can find the courage
To face what must be faced
To dare what must be dared
To fly in the eye of the storm
Heedless of life or death.
We honor the spirit in women,
For millennia put down and buried,
But that rises when in need,
And shows its brave spirit...
(https://witchesofthecraft.com/tag/hocktide/)
May the common ground we share give us strength for the journey, aid us in breaking the ties that bind, and may the Hocktide hare-spirit rise in us all.
 |
| (European Brown Hare, www.geograph.co.uk, Wkik Commons) |
References ~
Films of Hocktide and Tutti Day in Hungerford:
Other references:
'Dragon Lords: the History & Legends of Viking England', Eleanor Parker https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Dragon-Lords-by-Eleanor-Parker/9781784537869
'Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore'
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iTcdvd1iRXsC&lpg=PP1&dq=dictionary%20of%20english%20folklore&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
'Dragon Lords: the History & Legends of Viking England', Eleanor Parker https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Dragon-Lords-by-Eleanor-Parker/9781784537869
'Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore'
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iTcdvd1iRXsC&lpg=PP1&dq=dictionary%20of%20english%20folklore&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
