In addition, travelers through town are waylaid. tied up, and forced to pay in order to be set free to continue their journey. Proceeds go to the church. Today, Hocktide is primarily celebrated in Hungerford.
Various theories exist as to Hocktide’s origin, but the most interesting one to me involves a correlation to the November 13, 1002 A.D. St. Brice’s Day Massacre.
After 200 years of invasions and subsequent settlements by Danish Vikings, King Ethelred the Unready ordered the slaughter of the Danes in England. In Oxford, the Danes sought refuge in a church, which was then encircled and burned down by the townspeople. It’s unknown how many Vikings and Viking descendants were slain on that day, but the killing is thought to center around frontier towns. It’s a horrible event and hardly noble, but at that time in history great contention thrived between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes. Legend has it that certain townswomen accepted the charge of waylaying the Vikings, thereby leading them to their death.
If the Vikings were depicted as bloodthirsty marauders, then the legend could make for a good historical romance.
The Anglo-Saxon victory was short-lived, and soon a Danish Viking sat on the throne formerly occupied by Ethelred. Everyone eventually gets their comeuppance.
Cheers & happy reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Romance
Fascinating post!
Thank you, Harliqueen! I appreciate that.
Hocktide sounds like a lot of frivolous, whimsical fun! On the other hand, Brice’s Day Massacre sounds like a horrific dark spot in history. Very cool post!
I wonder if “kissing booths” descend from such zany fun as the Hocktide celebrations. Thanks for stopping by, Mae!
I know of a similar kind of thing based outside Coventry. The women took the upper hand, got all the Danish invaders drunk and then finished them off. A brutal era. Thanks for posting this I enjoyed it.
Oh, how interesting, Daisy! I wonder if the women used ale to get the Danes drunk.