Whitsun

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Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Redirect hatnote". Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain,[1] and among Anglicans and Methodists in other countries,[2] for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' disciples (as described in Acts 2). Whitsuntide, the week following Whitsunday, was one of three holiday weeks for the medieval villein;[3] on most manors he was free from service on the lord's demesne this week, which marked a pause in the agricultural year.[4] Whit Monday, the day after Whitsun, remained a holiday in Britain until 1972,[5] when it was replaced by a Spring Bank Holiday on the last Monday in May.

Whitsun had been the occasion for many forms of celebration, and was of significant cultural importance. It was a custom for children to receive a new set of clothes, even among the poorest families, a tradition which continued well into the 20th century.[6][7] In the North West of England, church and chapel parades called Whit walks still take place at this time (sometimes on Whit Friday, the Friday after Whitsun).[8] Typically, the parades include brass bands and choirs; girls attending are dressed in white. Traditionally, Whit fairs (sometimes called Whitsun ales[9]) took place. Other customs, such as morris dancing, were associated with Whitsun, although in most cases they have been transferred to the Spring bank holiday. Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, has its own Whitsun tradition of singing a unique song around the village before and on Whit Sunday itself.[10]

Etymology

The name Whitsun is a contraction of White Sunday, which is attested from the Old English period (as Script error: No such module "Lang".). It apparently has reference to the white robes historically worn by newly baptised Christians, Whitsun having been a favourite time for baptisms in the early medieval church.[11] The first element was however confused by some with wit, a confusion evident in the writings of the Augustinian canon John Mirk (c. 1382–1414):

Goode men and woymen, as ȝe knowen wele all, þys day ys called Whitsonday, for bycause þat þe Holy Gost as þys day broȝt wyt and wysdome ynto all Cristes dyscyples. ["Good men and women, as you all well know, this day is called Whitsunday because the Holy Ghost on this day brought wit and wisdom to all Christ's disciples."][12]

History

As the first holiday of the summer, Whitsun was one of the favourite times in the traditional calendar, and Whit Sunday, or the following week, was a time for celebration. This took the form of fêtes, fairs, pageants and parades, with Whitsun ales and Morris dancing in the south of England and Whit walks, Club Days and wakes in the north.[13] A poster advertising the Whitsun festivities at Sunbury, Middlesex in 1778 listed the following attractions:

On Whit Monday, in the morning, will be a punting matchScript error: No such module "String".... The first boat that comes in to receive a guineaScript error: No such module "String".... In the afternoon a gold-laced hat, worth 30s. to be cudgell'd forScript error: No such module "String".... On Whit Tuesday, in the morning, a fine Holland smock and ribbons, to be run for by girls and young women. And in the afternoon six pairs of buckskin gloves to be wrestled for.[13]

In Manchester during the 17th century, the nearby Kersal Moor Whit races were the great event of the year. Large numbers of people turned the area into a giant fairground for several days.[14] With the coming of industrialisation, it became convenient to close down whole towns for a week in order to clean and maintain the machinery in the mills and factories. The week of closure, or wakes week, was often held at Whitsuntide. A report in John Harlan and T.T. Wilkinson's Lancashire Folk lore (1882) reads:

It is customary for the cotton mills etc., to close for Whitsuntide week to give the hands a holiday; the men going to the races etc. and the women visiting Manchester on Whit-Saturday, thronging the markets, the Royal Exchange and the Infirmary Esplanade, and other public places: And gazing in at the shop windows, whence this day is usually called 'Gaping Sunday'.[13]

Whit Monday was officially recognised as a bank holiday in the UK in 1871 and observed for 100 years, but lost this status in 1972 when the fixed Spring Bank Holiday was created.[5]

In literature

In film

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ The others being Yuletide, the week following Christmas, and Easter Week, the week following Easter that ended at Hocktide (Homans 1991).
  4. ↑ George C. Homans, English Villagers of the Thirteenth Century, 2nd ed. 1991:369.
  5. ↑ a b Banking and Financial Dealings Act, 1971, Schedule 1, para 1.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "template wrapper". Template:OEDsub
  12. ↑ Theodore Erbe (editor) (1905). Mirk's Festial: a Collection of Homilies, Kegan Paul et al., for the Early English Text Society, p.159 accessed 15 December 2014 at Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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