(36) Country Ways
Upton may not be a very old village but we have come across a few traditional sayings and customs, most of them now discarded, that are of interest to us to-day.
Souling. In many parts of Cheshire it was a custom, for several centuries, for young folk to perform a traditional Soul-Caking Play on Souls' Eve (31st October) and for three or four days before and after this date. These plays were all handed down by word of mouth, and so we find varying versions of the same theme. The good souls fight the evil spirits, in the form of St. George fighting and slaying the Black Prince; and many local characters are introduced that the villagers may enjoy - the old woman weeping for her son, the quack doctor who cures him with his magic bottle of medicine, Beelzebub, the devil, who drinks the bottle dry. Dairy Dout, the simpleton, two drivers and the poor old horse's head. When the play is done, all beg for cake and wine to feed their souls until "this time next year."
Many of the older inhabitants of Upton Heath
remember going "souling" on All Souls' Eve. We have been told that in
the mid nineteenth century they performed one of these Souling Plays at the
Wheatsheaf Inn. Several of them
remember dressing up in cloaks and going round with a horse's head on a stick.
The songs they sang varied:-
Soul, a soul, a souling cake,
Please, good. Missus, a
souling-cake.
Apple, a pear,a plum or a cherry,
Any good thing to make us all
merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul.
Three for Him that made us all.
Up in the kitchen and. down in the
Hall.
My face is very dirty, my shoes
are very thin,
I've got a little pocket to put a
penny in.
If you haven't got a penny, a
half-penny will do,
If you haven't got a half-penny.
God bless you.
Souling night has come at last,
And we are souling here.
Please put a penny in the old man's hat,
If you
haven't got a penny, a half-penny will do,
If you haven't got a half-penny, God bless you.
There is another version from a lady whose
mother lived in this village during the
1860s:-
Souling night has come at last,
And we are souling here,
And all that we are souling for
Is a cup of your good beer.
As it was often at farmhouses that they called, they would be served with good home-brewed beer. In the following Souling Song the singers had their faces "blacked" we are told:- (37)
(38) There are also, in this old book, some typically country recipes using coltsfoot to make wine and syrup, and we are told that "when dried, coltsfoot can be smoked in the same way as ordinary tobacco, and gives marked relief in cases of difficult breathing in asthma."
Old Customs
It was the custom among farmers in these parts to leave a
sheaf out in the field
"for the birds" when the harvest was all safely in.
We hear too of the old method of thrashing used
on farms within living memory; the corn was thrashed with a flail, a long pole
with a loose piece of wood one the end of it. This was used on Mr. Ithell’s old
farm.
Old Sayings
Although there are
no special Upton saylngs, there are many Cheshire proverbs which are as well
known and used in this part of the county as any other, as
"Better wed over the mixen than over the moor."
In two old Cheshire proverbs, there is reference made to
family names well known in Upton:-
"Egertons and Leighs
As thick as fleas."
"As many Leighs as Fleas,
Massies as asses,
Crewes as crows
And Davenports as dogs' tails."
Many old words, peculiar to these parts, are still used by
the older members of our village. "Dunnage" is used to mean the top
or outside of a stack. "Adlant" is a word used by old local farmers
to mean the amount of land allowed from the hedge in a field for turning the
plough. A "spence" means a buttery or larder, and one of these can be
seen in Upton Farm. The term "Rit" is commonly used in these parts to
mean the smallest pig of a litter.
Village Pastimes
It is always a
matter of Interest to us to hear how our predecessors spent their leisure time,
and it is only by word of mouth that we can learn such details.
Effigy-burning or Riding
the Stang. This is another old-time custom that has died out with the
years. If the villagers particularly wished to show disapproval of the morals
of some person, or persons, effigies were made of them which were then carried round
the village, to be burnt near the house of the wrong-doer. Generally the crowd
of disapproving villagers dressed up, sang or shouted rhymes, and made a lot of
noise.
Country Cures.
Most villages are proud of their own particular
recipes and cures. Upton Heath can even boast of having had a wart-charmer. One
of our inhabitants tells how, as a girl of twelve, she was sent to the old man,
hoping he could remove the warts from the back of her hand. He made several
passes over her hand with his own, repeating some rhyme as he did so; and,
shortly afterwards, the warts disappeared. One of our oldest inhabitants can
also remember snails being used in the cure of warts, though we are not told
how.
Here is an old cure recorded in Mr. R. Ithell's scrapbook: "For
Weak Chests. Place two newly-laid unbroken eggs in a jar or small basin and
cover with pure lemon juice; set aside, turning occasionally until nothing
remains of the shells but foam. Then remove the skins from the eggs and beat up
the whites, yolks and the foam together, with enough good honey to sweeten nicely.
Add one pint of creamy new milk, gradually beating all well together. Strain
through a muslin bag, and beat in half a pint of good Jamaica rum. It will form
a delicious emulsion which should be bottled, and a wine-glassful taken each
morning, fasting. It is like "Elixir of Life" to some poor sufferers,
but care must be taken in its preparation."
The oldest pastime we hear of is Cockfighting,
carried on at Upton Cross. We read that cockfighting often took place on Shrove
Tuesday; and that during Race Week great (59) cocking-mains were fought in
Chester and district at the beginning of the nineteenth century. A favourite
breed was "the white pile" and "Cheshire piles."
Good Hunting, too, was enjoyed In the neighbourhood,
for such announcements as this are frequently found in old numbers of the
"Chester Courant":-
Tuesday, Jan 13th 1829.
Sir Thomas Stanley's Hounds
will meet on Tuesday (this day) at Upton; at ten.
Old inhabitants can remember the men of the village playing
"Skittles" . Quoits too was a favourite game among the
villagers. It is interesting to note that, in fields where the men gathered to
play these games, many old clay pipes have been dug up in recent years, a
reminder that the clay pipe industry flourished in Chester in the last
century.
Children's games remain substantially the same the country
over, and throughout the centuries, but their names sometimes vary. One village
game which we are told was played by girls and youths in the village was Duckstones
- several small stones were placed on top of a larger egg-shaped stone. The
player then walked some distance away, and knocked off the little stones by
throwing another one. Another more unusual game was Peggy, played with a
piece of pointed wood four or five inches long; it may still be played to-day
under a different name.
Other pastimes are dealt with under the
Recreation section. (40)