Hello and Welcome Fellow Ramblers: Michaelmas!

St Michael

The year trundles on. We’re now well into September and counting down to winter. The 29^th September is a particularly memorable day for me, it’s my daughter’s birthday, and it is also the feast day of St Michael the Archangel! Hence Michaelmas! Apparently the feast day was instituted in the year 487 a.d. in honour of St Michael and all Angels.

Quarter Days and Rent Days

Michaelmas was one of the ‘quarter days’ or ‘rent days’ in the countryside, when rents were paid to the landlord, usually for farms and small holdings. Together with the ‘rent’ many tenants arrived at their landlord’s door with a fat Michaelmas goose under one arm (whether the goose was still in the land of the living is unclear!) to prevent the ‘lease flying’! In other words, a big, fat, feathery bribe!

Michaelmas Goose

Therefore, goose became the traditional fare at Michaelmas! (For some!) As traditional as the turkey at Christmas. Geese were fattened on the stubble after harvesting the crops of grain, no doubt becoming very fat and succulent! Last Christmas was the first time in my life that I have tasted goose! My family never quite managed to elevate themselves to the rank of either giver or receiver of goose at Michaelmas, probably, more likely having the status of fighting the bird for the ‘gleanings’ in the wheat fields! I must say I was pleasantly surprised just how delicious the bird turned out to be. And, it is said that if you eat goose on Michaelmas day you will have money all the year! Ah!! That’s where I’ve been going wrong!!

The tradition of eating goose at Michaelmas probably goes back as far as the 15^th century. But again, I would imagine only for the rich and opulent!! Us peasants would have taken a piece of our coarse bread and sniffed in the aroma outside the kitchen door, taken a bite of the ‘staff of life’ and been grateful!! *tugs forelock*

Hiring and Firing

Michaelmas was also the time for ‘hiring’ and ‘firing’ fairs, or ‘mop’ fairs. These fairs date from the time of King Edward 3^rd (1312-1377). At Michaelmas the High Constables of the Shire set the rates of pay and conditions of employment for the coming year. Men and women flocked to the local street or square, wherever the fair was taking place, to be ‘hired’ for the next twelve months. They often carried a ‘tool of their trade’ to show prospective employers what their field of expertise was. (Excuse the pun!) On mutual agreement being reached a shilling (equivalent to 5 new penve today!!) was then handed to the new employee to seal the deal. This coin was often called ‘earnest money’, ‘fest’, ‘fasten money’ or ‘God’s penny’.

Goings On!

These gatherings soon attracted fairground type amusements, which in turn encouraged drunkenness and lewd behaviour! (In whose eyes, one has to ask?!) This was probably a good time for the hardworking guys and gals to let off a bit of steam and have a well earned annual romp! More power to their elbows says I! In some places the ‘hiring fairs’ continued well into the 20^th century.

Livestock Sales

Michaelmas also coincided with the end of harvest, when the old farmer could peruse his crop yield and decide how much stock he could afford to feed over the coming winter, so, there were also sales of livestock at this time. So, a time for not only workers to be traded off, but the animals as well!

Dick Whittington!

Michealmas is also the time when the new Lord Mayor of London is elected. Long live Dick Whittington!! But that’s another story!

Thanks for your time!

The Bumpkin Rambler xx

Hello and Welcome Fellow Ramblers: A Right Rocking Weekend!

Autumn Draws In

After the coolest and driest summer for years we are embarking on autumn! It certainly looks like it as I travel the local roads. The leaves on the hawthorn have started to change from their summer green to a dull yellow. The nights are drawing in apace, on a few evenings this past week it was dark by 8.30! And a sure sign that summer has passed, the local children ‘go back’ to school next week after their six weeks holiday.

‘Sunday Evening, Monday Morning’ Syndrome

There will be lots of ‘Sunday evening, Monday morning’ syndrome. I remember it well! Not only from when I was a child, and when my own children were off back to school after even a weekend, but also when I did my stint as a teaching assistant for ten years! My kids got their own back on me by saying on Sunday evening or after a holiday, ‘Don’t start getting grumpy mum just because you’ve got to go back to school’!! They say what goes around comes around!! (Whoever ‘they’ might be!!)

Darkside, of the Moon!

Friday evening was ‘rocking’! A trip to the Theatre Severn was just what was needed to lift the spirits! Darkside (Pink Floyd tribute band) were amazing! Having never actually seen the original Pink Floyd, I’m sure these guys were an excellent indication of what the ‘real’ band sound like live! The rafters of the Walker Theatre (the smaller and more intimate of the two performing areas) were raised high above Shrewsbury as Pink Floyd ‘hits’ were belted out, culminating after two and a half hours of sheer heaven, with Comfortably Numb! My favourite and a track I want played at my funeral!! When I hope to be just that, comfortably numb!! Musicians, pure and simple, although there is nothing simple about the music of Pink Floyd! Well done guys, I was so engrossed I didn’t even find time to eat my jelly babies! A good indicator that the entertainment was ace!! Well worth the ticket money!!

Nuthatch, Hide That Seed!

The birds are streaming in to the bird platform! A pair of nuthatches have been visiting regularly, taking the sunflower seeds and hiding them in nooks and crannies, including amongst the tufts of moss on the roof! Are we going to see sunflowers growing on the rooftop next year? Watch this space as they say! (That mysterious ‘they’ pops up everywhere!!) The nuthatch is an amazing little bird; he appears to do everything upside down, scuttling head first down posts and feeders.

Jethro Tull at The Theatre Severn

Wow! I didn’t think that Friday evening’s trip to the Theatre Severn could be topped, but I was very wrong! My LTA (long term attachment) has always been a fan of Jethro Tull (that’s the band not the man who invented the seed drill or some such!), and so, when I saw that Ian Anderson was coming to Shrewsbury I thought tickets were a must! (I don’t normally ‘go out’ two nights together, but this opportunity couldn’t be missed!)The only thing I could remember about Jethro Tull was a song called Minstrel in the Gallery and Ian Anderson standing on one leg whilst playing the flute!

What an amazing show! The amount of musical talent emanating from the three guys on the stage was unbelievable! How come some people have so much talent while I struggled to play the recorder to accompany the Christmas carols in my few years at ‘big school’? Life is so unfair! John hurried his way through changes from accordion to keyboard to percussion, while the blond haired god of rock, Florian’s performance on an array of guitars was mind-blowing! (Oh to be forty years younger!!) And of course there was Ian himself! His unique voice, his incredible affinity with his flute and that cheeky little thing he does with his leg all contributed to a magical evening!! And he’s a cat lover! My conversion is complete!!

Thanks for your time!

The Bumpkin Rambler xx