London (England) -- History; London (England) -- Social life and customs
fifes, standard and ensign-bearers, sword-players, trumpeters on
horseback, demilances on great horses, gunners with hand guns, or
half hakes, archers in coats of white fustian, signed on the breast
and back with the arms of the city, their bows bent in their hands,
with sheaves of arrows by their sides, pikemen in bright corslets,
burganets, &c., halberds, the like billmen in almaine rivets, and
aprons of mail in great number; there were also divers pageants,
morris dancers, constables, the one-half, which was one hundred and
twenty, on St. John's Eve, the other half on St. Peter's Eve, in
bright harness, some overgilt, and every one a jornet of scarlet
thereupon, and a chain of gold, his henchman following him, his
minstrels before him, and his cresset light passing by him, the
waits of the city, the mayor's officers for his guard before him,
all in a livery of worsted or say jackets party-coloured, the mayor
himself well-mounted on horseback, the sword-bearer before him in
fair armour well mounted also, the mayor's footmen, and the like
torch-bearers about him, henchmen twain upon great stirring horses,
following him. The sheriff's watches came one after the other in
like order, but not so large in number as the mayor's; for where the
mayor had besides his giant three pageants, each of the sheriffs had
besides their giants but two pageants, each their morris dance, and
one henchman, their officers in jackets of worstead or say
party-coloured, differing from the mayor's, and each from other, but
having harnessed men a great many, &c.
On the Feast of St. Bartholomew there were wrestlings, foot-races, and
shooting with the bow for prizes. On Holyrood Day (September 14th) the
young men and the maidens went nutting in the woods. At Martinmas
(November 1st) there was feasting to welcome the beginning of winter.
Lastly, the old year ended and the new year began with the mixture and
succession of religious services, pageants, shows, feasting, drinking,
and dancing, which the London citizen of every degree loved so much.
Then there were the City holidays. St. Lubbock had predecessors. There
were Christmas Day, Twelfth Day, Easter, the day of St. John the
Baptist, on June 24th, and of St. Peter and St. Paul, on June 29th. On
the last two days, to discourage the people from keeping it up all
night, the vintners had to close their doors at ten.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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