Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-04-18


Times.
AT Eastertide. when lilies blow
For font and altar, virgin things;
When spikes of maple scarlet show.
And thin clouds white as angels
wings,
While some fresh voice the message
filings,
The Lord is risen"
Helen Gray Cone.
Perhaps OF all the ceremonies with
Which Easter has been observed In
past times none was more beautiful
or more fitting than the old English
one of christening the children. or
allowing" This was held an
the evening before Easter and served
To furnish an additional cause for re-
;oicing on the morrow. An old writer
tells us that for many years all the
children 'wercn kept to he chlystencd
on thys even at the font-hallowyns."
The fear that some might die in the
interval led to modification of this
rule of the church, however. so that
children might be christcned at any
convenient time. save eyght daycs
before thys even the chylde shallc
clyde till the font hallowing, if it may
safely from PERIL of death and ellis
not
Bread and Cheese Lands.
Like most other old customs mark
ing the celebration of holidays or feS-
tiyalS. those of Easter survived long
est in their original form in the cen
trail and northern parts of England
and Ireland. There in hamlets. re-
mote from the great, busy world. they
found in the unqueStionng mind of
the peasant no interruption to Il con
tinued existence. AS outside commu-
nication became more frequent and
general the held which these customs
had upon the people was gradually
loosened, as the innumerable tendriis
of vine anciently wound about the
trunk of some sturdy oak.
A pleasant custom. and one alto
gether Ineligible las not all Easter
customs are at this "ag-end of time'l,
was that of the sheriffs of London,
who. attended by the lord mayor,
went about the streets on Easter Eve
asking charity for those confined in
the city prisons. In the early part of
this century the dread and cheese
lands" of Kent still existed. furnish
ing an endowment of old but unknown
date for making cheeses among the
poor at Easter evensong. The lands
consisted of about twenty acres. and
We're supposed to have been set aside
in this peculiar way by two maiden
sisters, whose figures were impressed.
side by side. upon the leaves. In an
old stone church in Kent Il pillar
marks the last resting place of the two
sisters. about whom these lines have
been written:
The moon on the east oriel shone
Through slender shafts of stately
stone.
The silver light so pale and faint.
Showed the twin sisters and many a
Whose images on the glass were
dyed
Mysterious maideds side by side.
The moonbeam kissed the holy pane.
And threw on the pavement mystic
stain.
Among other many beneicent Gus
toms was that spoken of by writer
in 1895. who says that within the
memory of man." loaves of bread were
thrown from the church steeple on
Easter eve, to be scrambled for. 1t
was an old custom for the BARRIERS to
churchyard on Easter before mathis.
Presents of gloves We're often cx-
changed at this time.
suRar-CuppinE.
AS result Of an ancient dispute
about land boundary, two Yorkshire
farms every year changed their par
ish. For one year Easter day noon
they lie in the parish Of Mexbrough.
Then till Easter day noon following
they belong to the parish of Wath-
upon-Dearne, and so alternately. A
Derbyshire custom of Easter Sunday
was that of sugar-cupping. The young
people of the village, each with cup
containing small quantity of sugar
or honey. assembled at spring. and.
having obtained the required amount
of water, mixed 1t with the sugar and
drank it, repeating the words Of an
old song. In some parts of Ireland
cake, with a garland of meadow flow
ers, is on Easter eve elevated upon n
pole, round which the young men and
women dance, the one that holds out
longest winning the cake as a prize.
Brand relates in his Popular An
Equities" that in the middle parts of
Ireland on the evening of Holy Satur-
day, great preparations were formerly
made for the finishing Of Lent. A
generous supper was prepared by the
cotters wife about s or 8 o'clock, and
'woe be to the person who should
taste it before the cock crows" At
II was heard the clappins of the
hands and joyous laughter, mingled
with the Irish phrase signifying tout
with the Lent" After several mer,x.
hours all retired to rise at o'clock
that they might "see the sun dance"
as they thought it would in honor of
the resurrection. This custom, says
Brand, was not confined to the humble
laborer and his family, but was scr,i-
pulously observed by many highly re-
spectacle and wealthy families.
That the desire for new clothing to
wear on Easter Sunday is not of re-