The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-04-21 00:00:00

GOOD FRIDAY.

This annual commemoration. is the only one observed
ins' ngland, the, exception ofr.Chrietrues;l:ty... the
suspension of. all,kusiness,. the closing of. shops, AO the
opening of all churches. ,The Hot cross buoA":
partially comineneed yesterday,
.evening, but *with little'
success. Some thirty or forty years agopast rycooke and
bakers•mied with each otherior:excellenceirrtnaking hot
cross buns; the demand has decreased and.,so has the
quality of ..the buns. , 'Eke great: place of attraction, for
bun-eaters et that time waS Chelsea, for there,were two
" Royal bun-houses:l' Before and along the - whole
length of the front of -each stood-a fiat-roofed-neat wooct..
en portico or piazza of the width of the; foot path, beneath,
which shelter crowds of persons assembled to scramble.
for a chance 'of purchasing " Royal hot cross Chelsea
buns," and several hundreds of •squnre black.tins, with
dozens of hot buns on each- tin, were 'disposed of in
everybour from a little.aftersix in.the morning., till' after
the same period in theoveping of .Good, Friday.. Those_
who knew what was good gave the preference to ". the
old original royal bun-house, at which the king himself
once stopped" and "who could say as much for the
other?" This was the conclusive tale at. the door and
from within the doors of. the , "old original.,bun.houee."
The fame, however, of Chelsea butts has departed, , and
the royal. houses . are little more distinguished than the
bumble graves wherein those who once contributed 'to
their renown now Test. • The' bun-venders who eclipsed
the rest in voice and activity were barrow women, a cou-
ple of whom perambulated the metropOlis at an early.
hour in the morning, carrying a wicker
.clothes-basket
between them, in which the "ot Cross buns" were co-
vered, first by a clean flannel:or green baize, and 'out,
wardly by as clean. white cloth; 'which 'coverings., were.
slowly and partially removed, ler fear of letting,thebuns
cool, when a,cuStomer stopped to buy, or called:diem to
the dbor, and thercontinuedtheir lengthened cry With .a
volume of 'concerted sound, unequalled by other rivals.
The standing dish for this .dayis salt' fish.•• 'Good: Friday
was formerly called "Holy Friday." The learned John
Evelyn in ,his. diary thus described the religious ceremo-
nies at nome on that day :—" At St. Peter's, .the hand-
kerchief, -lance, in crass were all exposed and *m44l-*
Pecl, together. r :Allt.:the. seats of ,confession',•vrere Milled
With peaple;and at night wasapron?s4on olseveral
had whipped_themselves till the blood had stained their
clothes: at everythree orfour Steps they chilled the klioG
ted whipcord over their shoulders with all'their -force;
whilst-some sung in a dismal tone; thus makitiga'• hea,
[heals]) and.horrible pomp." ,• In London it was formerly
the eastern on Good Friday to erect abuilding.to,repre,
sent- our Saviques,sepulclire. In this used to be placed
thiliest,..and 'persons were placed to watch-it beth that
night and the next. In the old church books of Bt. Mary-
at-Hill, " xiiii pense" iestated to. have been paid for, two
men,to,do this duty, and for the,ir.l4t ERl.drink„ ~This
ceremony of watching was to ,commemorate the saldie4
watching the holy sepulchre. -• •
IRISTI CUSTOM ON' GOOD FRITSAY..-,--Itli the-midland dis-
tricts of Ireland, namely,' theprovinee of.Connaught, on
this day, it is a complon.practice with: the lower orders
;of Irish; Catholics to prevent their young fraipitaving any
sustenance from twelve On the previous night, and tlio
fathers and mothers will -only take-a small pieee'ddi.y
bread and a draught of Avaterduritig the day.
.It is a
common sight to see along the roads between the 'differ-
ent market towns ntimbers of wornen,with their liair,dl:-
sbevelleA barefooted, and.in,their worst gartneuts. All
this, it is said, is in itnitation_of.Christ's passion.