The following curious custom once existed at Eastbourne. On the three first Sundays in August a public breakfast, says Royer (_History of Eastbourne_, 1787, p. 126), is given at the parsonage-house by the tenants of the great tythes to the farmers and their servants, each farmer being entitled to send two servants for every waggon that he keeps. So that if a farmer have five waggons to do his necessary business he may send ten servants, and so on in proportion for a less or greater number. The farmers are entertained in the parlour with a sirloin of hot roast beef, cold ham, Sussex cheese, strong ale, and Geneva; the men are entertained in the barn with everything the same as their masters except the beef. It is presumed that this custom had its origin from the time the tythes were first taken in kind in this parish, in order to keep all parties in good humour. A petition to Parliament for the abolition of this custom was presented as far back as 1640, and, in 1649, an ordinance was enacted that 20_l._ per annum should be paid for the relief of the poor in lieu of the feast. In 1687 the custom was revived; more recently an annual payment of 20_l._ for the education of poor children was substituted, and this amount now figures year by year in the accounts of St. Mary’s schools as paid by the Duke of Devonshire.--Chambers’ _Handbook of Eastbourne_, 1872, p. 35. ST. WILFRID’S FEAST. YORKSHIRE. Hutton in his _Trip to Coatham_ (1810, p. 63), says the great annual feast at Coatham in his time was celebrated on the first Sunday after Lammas Day, old style, and called St. Wilfrid’s Feast, kept in commemoration of the prelate’s return from exile. On the evening before the feast commenced, the effigy of this favourite of the people, having been previously conveyed some miles out of the town, made his public entry as returning after a long absence, being met by crowds of people, who, with shouts and acclamations, welcomed the return of the prelate and patron. The same custom seems also to have been observed at Ripon.--See _Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 1059. SCOTLAND. What appears as a relic of the ancient Pagan festival of the Gule of August, was practised in Lothian till about the middle of the eighteenth century. The herdsmen within a certain district, towards the beginning of summer, associated themselves into bands, sometimes to the number of a hundred or more. Each of these communities agreed to build a tower in some conspicuous place, near the centre of their district, which was to serve as the place of their rendezvous on Lammas Day. This tower was usually built of sods, for the most part square, about four feet in diameter at the bottom and tapering to a point at the top, which was seldom above seven or eight feet from the ground. In building it, a hole was left in the centre for a flagstaff, on which to display their colours.