from the Chronicle of Celtic Folk Customs by Brian Day.... These customs stem from pagan spring fertility rites. The Roman blessing of the crops at Ambervailia and the beating of the bounds at the May festival Terminalia, in honour of the god of boundaries, Terminus, provide the two themes which have been incorporated into the Church celebration of Rogationtide, starting five weeks after Easter. Rogation means 'beseeching', and the Rogation Days proper are the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension Thursday. CELTIC. On the Rogation Days the clergy and villagers visited fields, ponds, meadows and coastal waters to ask for Divine blessing on all growing things. After these devotions the clergy led a procession round the parish boundaries and beat the boundary markers, a possible survival of the pagan ritual to awaken the sleeping earth. In the past boys were actually beaten with willow wands, or otherwise mistreated, to instill in them where the boundaries were. The blessing of material objects and the use of crosses as boundary markers led the more strident anti-Catholic churches to condemn Rogation processions as perverted and idolatrous. This caused their rapid demise in Scotland and this and the changing use of the countryside, resiting hedges and fences, and the provision of better maps, all conspired to reduce the need for perambulation in Wales, the Isle of Man and Cornwall. Records do not confirm the extent of the custom in Ireland. Using Google found many links, here are a couple: http://www.england-in-particular.info/rogation.html http://www.hwatson.force9.co.uk/magazine/1998/rogation.htm http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bbedingfield/thesis/rtide.html http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/pd49/morris/events/rogation/rogn2000.htm -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com Professional Genealogy Research All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton 2002