Since time immemorial, Sussex folklore and traditions have been woven quietly into the lives of local communities. Folklore’s influence is often greater than many of us realise, as it feeds childhood habits, sayings and beliefs. And now, more than ever before, these ancient traditions seem to be enjoying a revival in popularity and importance. Even five years ago, you might have been hard pushed to find a local wassail event or a mummers’ play. But today, crowds gather and cheer in increasing numbers on cold, dark January nights as the county’s orchards are blessed, and the Hastings Jack in the Green event seems to get bigger and better each year. So, what are some of the main Sussex folklore events and traditions?
The Sussex folklore calendar
The Sussex calendar was always full of colourful and interesting events.
January wassailing
Wassailing is a midwinter tradition which you’ll now find celebrated across the county. The word comes from the old English waes hael, meaning “be in good health”. Based around Twelfth Night (twelve nights after Christmas), wassailing involves gathering in apple orchards to sing to the trees, toast them with cider, and encourage a good harvest for the year ahead. Often, revellers will hang toast in the branches for the robins (guardians of the orchard), bang pots and pans to scare away evil spirits, and pour mulled cider around the roots as an offering. You will often find wassailers accompanied by Morris dancers who share a variety of songs and dances.
Candlemas and Shrovetide
Woven inextricably with Christian traditions, February welcomes the first hint of spring with a number of celebrations. Candlemas, marked on 2 February, falls forty days after Christmas and traditionally celebrates the presentation of Christ in the Temple; churches would bless candles for the year ahead, their light symbolising hope returning as the days lengthen. Meanwhile, Imbolc, celebrated on 1 February marks the beginning of spring, the return of light, and is the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. Soon after comes Shrovetide, the days before Lent, when communities once prepared for forty days of fasting by using up rich ingredients such as eggs, butter and milk (hence Pancake Day).
Across Sussex, Shrove Tuesday had its own lively character: church bells would ring the “pancake bell”, places like Bodiam would hold pancake races and fishermen along the coast would enjoy skipping on Pancake Day afternoon. It was a day of feasting and fun, and in some places, street football too. Together, these traditions mark a turning point in the winter, as the days get lighter, the time to start farming and sowing grows nearer and spring warmth feels within reach at last.
Easter, Hocktide and May Day
Easter and May Day bring with them lots of curious traditions. On Good Friday, hot-cross buns were baked. They were seen as a positive symbol, sometimes with a family hanging one in the house and keeping it for a full year to bless and protect the house. Fishermen also carried them as protection against drowning. Marbles were played on Good Friday too, notably in churchyards, and Sussex still hosts the World Marbles Championship at Tinsley Green near Crawley. The Sussex marbles season lasted from Ash Wednesday to 12 noon on Good Friday, and Good Friday was sometimes known as ‘Marbles Day’. Meanwhile, in Heathfield, spring started with the Heffle Cuckoo Fair on 14 April, when an old woman released a cuckoo at the start of the fair.
Fishermen did not put to sea on Good Friday, but once again, would get out their long skipping ropes, a tradition that came to an end in Brighton after WWII but carried on at Alciston in East Sussex, for some years thereafter. Another Sussex Easter favourite was “Kiss-in-the-Ring”, a game in which a girl known as “Sally” chose a sweetheart from a singing circle before the couple kissed and the game began anew.
May Day traditions (1 May) are a celebration of spring and fertility, and you could expect Maypole dancing, a tradition believed to have started in Roman times. Other activities would have included processions, crowning a May Queen and gathering flower garlands. In Hastings, their Jack in the Green celebrations are the largest of the kind in the country. The Jack is completely covered in foliage with a floral crown. He parades through the town (along with lots of other green men and Morris dancers) and the town is bedecked in ribbons and fine foliage. On the final day, Jack is stripped of his leaves to release the spirit of summer.
Hocktide (or Hock Monday) is the Monday and Tuesday in the second week after Easter. Possibly a celebration of the defeat of the Danes (Vikings) by King Etheldrd. For this, Sussex women would catch men, tie them up and demand money for the church as ransom. The next day, roles were reversed but the men demanded kisses instead.
Rogantide
Rogantide (or Rogationtide) is the three days immediately preceding Ascension Thursday (40 days after Easter). It is associated with the custom of “beating the bounds,” where villagers would walk parish boundaries to mark and remember them. Meanwhile, Oak Apple Day at the end of May celebrated the restoration of the monarchy (Charles II) in 1660. You wore oak leaves or an oak apple and if you didn’t, you risked having your legs beaten with nettles.
Midsummer in Sussex
There is definitely a revival of midsummer traditions in Sussex, and you will find local Morris sides like the Sompting Morris up on the hill at Highdown near Worthing for the Summer Solstice. You’ll find other Morris sides at places like Chanctonbury Ring on the Downs.
In July, near Petworth, the Horn Fair at Ebernoe involved the roasting of a whole sheep every St James’ Day (25th July) with the horns presented after a game of cricket to the player with the highest score. A special Horn Fair song was sung and the event is still held today. Horn Fairs sometimes involved dressing up in the opposite sex’s clothes.
Harvest
The autumn equinox and harvest preceed Sussex’s many bonfire traditions centred around 5 November. Harvest traditions would involve making a corn dolly to symbolise the corn and enjoying a Harvest Supper. There might also have been a procession with the streets decorated with the last of the year’s greenery. Bonfire traditions were inspired by the Gunpowder Plot but also by religious persecution and intolerance suffered in the county, such as the burning at the stake of the Protestant Martyrs in Lewes. Today, from Rye to Lewes and Lindfield, come November, you’ll see incredible processions, costumes, theatrical displays, dancing, fireworks and fires which bring towns to a stand still as we brace for the winter months ahead.
Winter, Christmas and mummers
Christmas events began on 6 December (St. Nicholas Day) and continued until Twelve Night (5 January). Houses would be decorated by bringing in greenery and berries with decorations put up on Christmas Eve but taken down by Twelfth Night to prevent bad luck. Yule logs would be burnt in the hearth to symbolise the sun rising and banishing winter.
Mummers (or Tiptreers as they’re known locally) are small bands of folk players who travel from pub to pub putting on a traditional Christmas play. Each play follows broadly the same traditional storyline, with good and bad, a death and a resurrection. They are often bawdy, colourful and packed with humour. Alternatively, you might want to head to Brighton for their Burning the Clocks winter solstice event.
Gooding Day was observed on 21 December, which is also St. Thomas’s Day. On this day, it was customary for poorer parishioners to visit wealthier neighbours to receive gifts or ‘doles’ of food or money. In return, they might offer sprigs of holly or mistletoe as a gesture of thanks.
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