Army customs-Keys at the Tower-Twelfth Lancers and hymn-tunes-Scotch traditions of the 1st regiment of foot-Royal Welsh Fusiliers and St. David's Day- Inkerman Day - Royal Berks - Scots Greys - 7th Hussars-8th Hussars-Regimental nicknames-14th Hussars-Coldstream Guards-The Buffs-Northum- berland Fusiliers Suffolk Regiment - Lancastrian Fusiliers-Relics of American War-Royal Canadians APPENDIX Old English Customs INTRODUCTION The decay of old customs-Causes of their de- MANY writers have mourned over the The causes of the decline and fall of many old customs are not far to seek. Agri cultural depression has killed many. The deserted farmsteads no longer echo with the sounds of rural revelry; the cheerful logfires no longer glow in the farmer's kitchen; the harvest-home song has died away, and "largess" no longer rewards the mummers and morice dancers. When poverty stands at the door, mirth and merriment are afraid to enter. Moreover, the labourer himself has changed; he has lost his simplicity. His lot is far better than it was fifty years ago, and he no longer takes pleasure in the simple joys that delighted his ancestors in days of yore. Railways and cheap excursions have made him despise the old games and pastimes which once pleased his unenlightened soul. The old labourer has died, and his successor is a very "up-to-date" person, who reads the newspapers and has his ideas upon politics and social questions that would have startled his less cultivated sire. Again, the shriek of the engine has sounded the death-note of many once popular festivals. The railway-trains began to convey large crowds of noisy townsfolk to popular rural gatherings, and converted the simple rustic feasts into pandemoniums of vice and drunken. revelry. Hence the authorities were forced to interfere, and to order the discontinuance of the festivals. Such has been the fate of such popular gatherings as the Langwarthby Rounds, which once delighted the hearts of the Cumberland folk. In consequence of these causes the decay of many old customs was inevitable. Nevertheless they have not all died yet, and it is indeed surprising how many still linger on in the obscure corners of our native land, where railroads and modern culture have not yet penetrated. We will endeavour to record the customs that still remain, the survivals of old-world rural life. We will visit the quaint and quiet streets of rural towns and villages; hear the rude rhymes of the mummers and "souling" children, and mark their fantastic dress and strange uncouth capers. Handed down from remote antiquity, these verses have been passed on from generation to generation and preserve the record of England's history writ in the memories of her children. Norse legends, that came to our shores with the fierce Vikings, Saxon superstitions, Roman customs, Norman manners, Pagan beliefs, pre-Reformation practices, Tudor triumphs, great events in history, the memory of mighty chiefs and infamous conspirators, are all preserved in our existing customs which time has spared. Popular customs contain the germ of history; and however rude and uncouth they may be, if we look beneath the surface we find curious and interesting stores of antiquarian lore which well repay the labour of the explorer. Nor are curious customs confined to the country. The court and the palace, the law courts, the Church, Parliament, military ceremonials, all present interesting features of customs and observances which time has consecrated and not destroyed. We shall notice many strange tenures of property; curious bequests which perpetuate the eccentricity of the benefactors; certain manorial customs which have been termed “jocular; some municipal customs which certainly have their humorous side; and all the odd and fantastic observances which may be witnessed in the streets of our country towns, as well as in the homes of our villagers. In Pagan institutions we must ground many old customs and rites, which, travelling to us through an infinite succession of years, have been sadly distorted and disfigured in their progress. Old Paganism died hard, and fought long and stubbornly in its struggle with Christianity. How often do we find the incorporation of some ancient cult and Pagan custom in many observances sanctioned by years of Christian practice? The hot-cross buns on Good Friday, the bonfires on St. John's Eve-relics of old Baal worship-the hanging of mistletoe, the bringing in of the Yule-log, and countless |