. Rush-bearing: an account of the old custom of strewing rushes; carrying rushes to church; the rush-cart; garlands in churches; morris-dancers; the wakes; the rush. f the saint to whom thechurch was dedicated. The festival of the dedicationhas long since been entirely discontinued, whilst the-saints day festival still subsists in some of the ruraldistricts of England, in the altered form of a country wake, In proportion as these festivals deviated from theoriginal design of their institution, they became morepopular, the conviviality was extended, and not onlythe inhabitants of the parish to
. Rush-bearing: an account of the old custom of strewing rushes; carrying rushes to church; the rush-cart; garlands in churches; morris-dancers; the wakes; the rush. f the saint to whom thechurch was dedicated. The festival of the dedicationhas long since been entirely discontinued, whilst the-saints day festival still subsists in some of the ruraldistricts of England, in the altered form of a country wake, In proportion as these festivals deviated from theoriginal design of their institution, they became morepopular, the conviviality was extended, and not onlythe inhabitants of the parish to which the church be- * Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, 1785, gives a similar origin. i5° RUSH-BEARING. longed were present at them, but they were joined byothers from the neighbouring towns and parishes, whoflocked together on these occasions, and the greaterthe reputation of the tutelar saint, the greater, generally,was the promiscuous assembly. The pedlars andhawkers attended to sell their wares, and so, bydegrees, the religious wake was converted into asecular fair. Booths were erected, often in the church-yard, though this use of the churchyards had been. A COUNTRY WAKE (WELFORD, WARWICKSHIRE). frequently forbidden by Church councils, beginningfrom the time of Edward I. # The riot and debaucheries which eventually tookplace at these nocturnal meetings, became so offensiveto religious persons that they were suppressed, andregular fairs established to be held on the saints day,or upon some other day near to it, as might be mostconvenient (Strutt). The Abbot of Ely, in King * Bourne Antiq. Vulg., 1777. THE WAKES. 151 Johns reign, inveighed heavily against the practice ofholding these fairs on the Sunday, but it was notentirely abolished until the reign of Henry VI. At first the feast was regularly kept on the day inevery week on which the church was dedicated. Manyof the churches being dedicated to the Holy Trinity,Trinity Sunday was the principal day throughout thecountry fo
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