The festival of Hocktide falls on the second Monday and Tuesday after Easter Sunday. The name is thought to be derived either from the medieval meaning “high day” or the meaning “to bind.”
Both are fitting, since Hocktide celebrates an auspicious occasion for the Saxons in 1002 A.C.E.– the day King Ethelred the Unready seized and devastated the Danes. Of course the marauding Danes soon gained the upper hand again, but for a short time the Saxons were triumphant.
As time passed, the festival also came to mark the end of the medieval fiscal year, when rent came due and accounts were brought to balance. With the festival of Michelmas, Hocktide divided the rural year into winter and summer.
Hocktide has been celebrated in England for a over a thousand years. With ropes and ceremonial fun, villagers pulled travelers from the road and elicited money from them. Eventually the celebration morphed into a battle of the sexes, Monday for men and Tuesday for women, where they sneaked shoes and hats from each other. http://feastsandfestivals.blogspot.com/
In other places, the men tied up the women and demanded kisses on Monday, and on Tuesday the women turned the tables on the men. Entire towns partook of
Hocktide revelry. The festival is still celebrated today at Hungerford, Bershire, the village under the patronage of John ‘O Gaunt. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/osc/osc18.htm
In a video from the 1922 celebration of Hocktide, the men of Hungerford extract kisses, instead of coins, from the women of the town. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/hungerford-hock-tide-aka-as-in-saxon-days
In some remembrances of the event, the Saxon women were the ones who waylaid the invaders, and the festival celebrates the strength and fortitude of strong women. I’m excited to say that this version is finding its way into one of my novels in progress.
Wow, what fascinating traditions, thanks for sharing Flossie! They certainly didn’t teach us that in my English school!
Thanks, Catherine. I love to read about old festivals and folk traditions.