I am jealous - a town of Books sounds just right for me too <G> Especially since I have a guilty pleasure <G> now don't tell anyone but I love the pot boilers of Dennis Wheatly LOL Eliz On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 6:47 PM, Josephine Jeremiah <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> wrote: > On Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:38:23 -0000, Eliz Hanebury <elizhgene@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Whitsunday's Child: A Country Life in Pictures (Paperback) >> by Vera Punter (Author), et al. > >> All about Malmesbury, it seems she was a photo fan from an early age >> and documented her life in a Cotswolds town <G> > > That's an interesting title, Eliz. Of course, I had to go and have a look > for this one:-) > > I see that there's a copy in Hay-on-Wye. I was in Hay, 'The Town of Books' > one October afternoon, this year, trying to get around as many bookshops > as I could before they closed. I could spend a week in the antiquarian and > second-hand bookshops there and never tire of looking at books. > > Josephine > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah > www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Yes, I saw those yesterday but didn't think I should mention a commercial site on the list. I think Amazon is where I got my copy from a few years ago. I had known of the book for years but had not been able to find a copy for a long time, until the advent of Amazon and it's market place sellers. Regards Jenny DeAngelis Spain. <<There are 39 copies at Amazon.uk ranging from one penny to 17 pounds <G> Eliz <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 12:26 PM, Jenny De Angelis <jennyda2@gmail.com> wrote: > I make English styles of Bobbin Lace as a hobby and have a book called > "A Calendar of Feasts Cattern Cakes & Lace", which I believe is now out of > print. This book is full of old customs for lace makers in the past and > is > set out month by month. Lace makers would make Cattern Cakes on St. > Catherine's day and other foods on other feast days etc. St Catherine > was, > and still is, the patron saint of lacemakers.>>

I have saved here "Round About the Little Steeple" the story of a Wiltshire Parson 1573 -1623 which maybe my holiday reading I also have a book written by a cousin Whitsunday's Child: A Country Life in Pictures (Paperback) by Vera Punter (Author), et al. All about Malmesbury, it seems she was a photo fan from an early age and documented her life in a Cotswolds town <G> Eliz On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 5:33 PM, Josephine Jeremiah <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> wrote: > > On Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:01:42 -0000, Eliz Hanebury <elizhgene@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > I just downloaded it from googlebooks <G> and I found Wood Magic at > > archive.org from a link at U. Penn > > > Again thanks for the leads <G> > > Hope you enjoy dipping into Bevis and Wood Magic, Eliz. > > I like books about the countryside in past times. > > I have A Country Child by Alison Uttley, which was first published in 1931. > > This novel is about a young girl, in Victorian times, growing up on a farm > in the countryside. Although set in Derbyshire, much of what is so vividly > described would have been familiar to our local ancestors of the time. > > The story includes a description of Christmas celebrations in a farmhouse > kitchen. > > The author drew on memories of her own childhood and they've made a lasting > impression on me as I have read the story again and again over the years > since I acquired the book in my own youth. > > The novel is by my side as I write as I am going to read Chapter 12 > December and Chapter 12 Christmas Day to get into the mood for Christmas. > > Josephine > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah > www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I just downloaded it from googlebooks <G> and I found Wood Magic at archive.org from a link at U. Penn http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp42692 I downloaded in Kindle but they have several types of download Again thanks for the leads <G> Eliz On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 4:19 PM, Josephine Jeremiah <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> wrote: > On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:11:34 -0000, Eliz Hanebury <elizhgene@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Josephine, if you drop off the list, I will have to come over the >> water and pull you back <VBG>, this is a great site! > > Hi Eliz and Listers, > > I'll be taking a reading break in the New Year as I have so many books, > which I want to read, including the Wiltshire ones I've discovered > recently since joining the Eng-Wiltshire list. > > For instance, I have been dipping into 'Bevis: the story of a boy' (1882), > which was written by Richard Jefferies. The background of the novel is > said to resemble a farm by Coate Water, Swindon, where the author lived as > a child. > > This book is a sequel to 'Wood Magic' (1881). > > Josephine > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah > www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:26:34 -0000, Jenny De Angelis <jennyda2@gmail.com> wrote: > Lace makers would make Cattern Cakes on St.Catherine's day and other > foods on other feast days etc. St Catherine was, and still is, the > patron saint of lacemakers. Cattern Cakes and St. Catherine's Day on 25th. November are mentioned on the following interesting web page: A CALENDER OF LACEMAKERS CELEBRATIONS http://bobbins.lacefairy.com/Bobbins/BobbinMuseum/calender.htm There is a reference to Cattern Cakes in an extract from Rev. W.H. Jones`s History of Bradford on Avon, which is on this web page about St. Catherine's Almshouses: http://www.freshford.com/st.katherines -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:26:34 -0000, Jenny De Angelis <jennyda2@gmail.com> wrote: > I make English styles of Bobbin Lace as a hobby and have a book called > "A Calendar of Feasts Cattern Cakes & Lace", which I believe is now out > of print. This book is full of old customs for lace makers in the past > and is set out month by month. Hi Jenny, Thank you for the information about St. Thomas's Day being called Doleing. I didn't know that before. I put "Doleing Day" into Google and have had a number of hits. Another term is Mumping Day, which is used in Gloucestershire. I've just put "Mumping Day" into Google and there are references to that on St. Thomas's Day, too. In looking around these sites I've discovered that in Warwickshire children would say they were 'going a corning'. In some places the people doleing out the gifts were given sprigs of holly or mistletoe by those going 'a-thomasing', a-gooding' or 'a-mumping'. You mentioned the sprigs of evergreen being put under the pillows of unmarried girls on 20th. December, the Eve of St. Thomas. I hadn't heard of that custom. Learning about these old British traditions makes this time of year more interesting and takes one's mind off snow:-) Josephine -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

I make English styles of Bobbin Lace as a hobby and have a book called "A Calendar of Feasts Cattern Cakes & Lace", which I believe is now out of print. This book is full of old customs for lace makers in the past and is set out month by month. Lace makers would make Cattern Cakes on St. Catherine's day and other foods on other feast days etc. St Catherine was, and still is, the patron saint of lacemakers. The book is not only for those interested in the history of lace makers as it covers a few other handicrafts and the customs that went with them in Britain, though mainly it is concerned with lace and lacemakers of the past. It contains recipes for many of the foods mentioned in the book. The book is by Julia Jones & Barbara Deer and the ISBN is 0-86318-252-6 if anyone is interested in finding a copy on line, probably second hand. For December 21st. it mentions Gooding and that it "was an excuse for begging Christmas food in return for little presents, often of evergreen. "This day was also called Doleing and St. Thomas Dole consisted of some flour to make bread for Christmas. Often a wealthy farmer would donate a bag of grain, which the local miller would grind for no charge and distribute to the poor." The page goes on:- "For some St. Thomas' Eve, the 20th, was considered to be very holy, and no work was done at all. Young unmarried girls in many areas used to place a sprig of evergreen under their pillows when they went to bed on this night, in the expectations of dreaming of their future husbands. Evergreens were extremely significant in pagan times, symbolising the perennial fertility of Nature, they were often used for divination at the time of the solstice." On the same page is:- "A quaint gardening tradition is still continued in many areas, in which broad beans are always planted on St. Thomas' Day. In the South West of England this is done instead on Guy Fawkes night, Nov. 5th, Beans were considered to have a supernatural significance, and linked sometimes with doom, if one bean in the row came up white, a death in the family would be feared." There is also a traditional rhyme given on the same page. "St. Thomas gray, St. Thomas gray Longest night and shortest day." A type of Bobbin lace was made at Downton Wiltshire where the lace makers had their own style of lace bobbin. This page below is from the Salisbury & South Wilts Museum and shows a couple of examples of Downton lace. http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk/collections/costume/downton-lace.html Regards Jenny DeAngelis Spain.

There are 39 copies at Amazon.uk ranging from one penny to 17 pounds <G> Eliz On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 12:26 PM, Jenny De Angelis <jennyda2@gmail.com> wrote: > I make English styles of Bobbin Lace as a hobby and have a book called > "A Calendar of Feasts Cattern Cakes & Lace", which I believe is now out of > print.  This book is full of old customs for lace makers in the past and is > set out month by month. Lace makers would make Cattern Cakes on St. > Catherine's day and other foods on other feast days etc.  St Catherine was, > and still is, the patron saint of lacemakers. > > The book is not only for those interested in the history of lace makers as > it covers a few other handicrafts and the customs that went with them in > Britain, though mainly it is concerned with lace and lacemakers of the past. > It contains recipes for many of the foods mentioned in the book. > > The book is by Julia Jones & Barbara Deer and the ISBN is > 0-86318-252-6 if anyone is interested in finding a copy on line, probably > second hand. > > For December 21st. it mentions Gooding and that it "was an excuse for > begging Christmas food in return for little presents, often of evergreen. > "This day was also called Doleing and St. Thomas Dole consisted of some > flour to make bread for Christmas.  Often a wealthy farmer would donate a > bag of grain, which the local miller would grind for no charge and > distribute to the poor." > > The page goes on:- > "For some St. Thomas' Eve, the 20th, was considered to be very holy, and no > work was done at all.  Young unmarried girls in many areas used to place a > sprig of evergreen under their pillows when they went to bed on this night, > in the expectations of dreaming of their future husbands.  Evergreens were > extremely significant in pagan times, symbolising the perennial fertility of > Nature, they were often used for divination at the time of the solstice." > > On the same page is:- > "A quaint gardening tradition is still continued in many areas, in which > broad beans are always planted on St. Thomas' Day.  In the South West of > England this is done instead on Guy Fawkes night, Nov. 5th, Beans were > considered to have a supernatural significance, and linked sometimes with > doom, if one bean in the row came up white, a death in the family would be > feared." > > There is also a traditional rhyme given on the same page. > "St. Thomas gray, St. Thomas gray > Longest night and shortest day." > > A type of Bobbin lace was made at Downton Wiltshire where the lace makers > had their own style of lace bobbin.  This page below is from the Salisbury & > South Wilts Museum and shows a couple of examples of Downton lace. > http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk/collections/costume/downton-lace.html > > Regards > Jenny DeAngelis > Spain. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Josephine, if you drop off the list, I will have to come over the water and pull you back <VBG>, this is a great site! Eliz On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 9:07 AM, Josephine Jeremiah <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> wrote: > On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:12:52 -0000, Michael J McCormick > <michael@medeschole1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > >> Michael > >> OPC Cricklade St Sampson & Baldhu > > Hi Michael, > > Cricklade St Sampson caught my eye and I immediately thought 'cat'. This > was because a few years ago my husband and I visited St Sampson's Church > in Cricklade and saw the cat who lived in the church. > > I put "Cricklade""Church cat" into Google and came up with some references > including the following illustrated page, which features a stone carving > of a green man of the cat-head type and also mentions the church cat, an > ex-stray cat: > > http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/greenman/Bank/Cricklade.htm > > Josephine > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah > www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:12:52 -0000, Michael J McCormick <michael@medeschole1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > When I was a boy, a long time ago, we used to swim there in the summer. > Favourite sport was to jump off the bridge as a boat went underneath. Hi Michael, I've just found a variety of old pictures of the Round House and Inglesham Lock, which may be of interest to you and to other list members interested in the area or in Wiltshire waterways: http://thames.me.uk/s02290.htm There's even one of the bridge across the Thames, near the Round House, which you may recognize. Josephine -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

May Day is the festival of the Green Man, a symbol of Nature's fertility, Medieval churches often had a carvings of the Green Man. Looking for the church cat at St. Sampson's Church, today, led me to a web site about the Wiltshire Green Men: http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/greenman/index.htm There is a Wiltshire Green Man Image Bank at: http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/greenman/greenman.htm It's well worth a look. -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:12:52 -0000, Michael J McCormick <michael@medeschole1.demon.co.uk> wrote: > Michael > OPC Cricklade St Sampson & Baldhu Hi Michael, Cricklade St Sampson caught my eye and I immediately thought 'cat'. This was because a few years ago my husband and I visited St Sampson's Church in Cricklade and saw the cat who lived in the church. I put "Cricklade""Church cat" into Google and came up with some references including the following illustrated page, which features a stone carving of a green man of the cat-head type and also mentions the church cat, an ex-stray cat: http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/greenman/Bank/Cricklade.htm Josephine -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

On 22 Dec 2010, at 08:01, eng-wiltshire-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > From: "Josephine Jeremiah" <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> > Subject: [ENG-WILTSHIRE] The Round House, Inglesham Lock, Thames & > Severn Canal > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed; delsp=yes > > Earlier this month I mentioned the ancient Inglesham Church. A short > distance downstream from Inglesham Church is the junction of the disused > Thames & Severn Canal with the River Thames. Inglesham Lock was at the > entrance to the canal and the picturesque Round House was once the lock > house. The canal was constructed between 1783 and 1789 and the first boat > passed from the Thames & Severn Canal into the Thames at Lechlade, on > 19th. November 1789, with great festivity. > > The distinctive Round House at Inglesham Lock is the one of five similar > buildings along the Thames & Severn Canal. They were used as living > accommodation for lengthsmen or maintenance men. > > I have an old postcard of Inglesham Lock, which was postally used in 1916. > The sender, staying at the New Inn, Lechlade, wrote, ?All I can say is you > must come ? everything perfect.? > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah When I was a boy, a long time ago, we used to swim there in the summer. Favourite sport was to jump off the bridge as a boat went underneath. Or try to surprise a swan! We also used to jump off the Halfpenny bridge in Lechlade. Favourite trick there was to wait for a car to get to the middle of the bridge and then shriek and fall backwards. Rgds Michael OPC Cricklade St Sampson & Baldhu

Looking at the The Wiltshire Family History Society page on Wiltshire Words: http://www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk/databases-wiltshirewords.html I saw reference to Blind-house, which was a local lock up with no windows. This reminded of the one in Bradford-on-Avon. The nine-arched Town Bridge in the centre of Bradford-on-Avon is distinguished by the small domed building on its upriver side. This is sometimes called a chapel, but there is little evidence for its having a religious connection. It was the 17th-century writer, John Aubrey, who noted, perhaps incorrectly, that there was a 'little chapell' on the bridge. The Blind House, as it is known, has been used as a lock-up for unruly townsfolk and as a toll house when animals were being taken to market. -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

I have been taking a good look at The Wiltshire Family History Society page on Wiltshire Words: http://www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk/databases-wiltshirewords.html There are similar words in the list to those used when I was growing up in nearby South Gloucestershire, but which may be unfamiliar to people living in other parts of the U.K. or across the world. For instance, 'daps', meaning plimsolls, was a common name for gym shoes in both South Gloucestershire and Bristol. It probably still is. The Wiltshire word 'spreeved', meaning sore skin on hands and legs, which is caused by cold weather is very similar to the South Gloucestershire and Bristol word 'spreathed' for sore and chapped skin. -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

I am finding these messages fascinating. My husband's paternal family is all from Wiltshire as is my paternal great, great grandmother's. I have been able to trace her lines back to the mid 1700s, my husbands back, in some instances that far, but I have no knowledge of life in those days, except for a picture of my great grandmother sitting by her fireplace and a picture of the cottage that they "supposedly" lived in Dorset. So the messages you have been posting have gone a long ways in understanding life there. Thanks so very much. Lenore ----- Original Message ----- From: "Josephine Jeremiah" <jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com> To: <eng-wiltshire@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 8:05 AM Subject: [ENG-WILTSHIRE] Gooding Day in Wiltshire, St. Thomas's Day,21st. December In past times, 21st. December was celebrated as St. Thomas's Day. It was the day when poor women and children went 'a-Thomasing' or 'gooding'. This was the old custom of begging for gifts of food or money from better-off neighbours on St. Thomas's Day. At Southwick Church School, children were sometimes given a day's holiday for 'Gooding Day', but at other times they absented themselselves from their lessons so that they could go round the houses collecting. http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getschool.php?id=900 Gooding Day is noted on the following web page about Wiltshire Words http://www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk/databases-wiltshirewords.html At Lydiard Tregoze the custom on 21st. December was called Thomasing: history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getfolkcal.php?id=93 -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

In past times, 21st. December was celebrated as St. Thomas's Day. It was the day when poor women and children went 'a-Thomasing' or 'gooding'. This was the old custom of begging for gifts of food or money from better-off neighbours on St. Thomas's Day. At Southwick Church School, children were sometimes given a day's holiday for 'Gooding Day', but at other times they absented themselselves from their lessons so that they could go round the houses collecting. http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getschool.php?id=900 Gooding Day is noted on the following web page about Wiltshire Words http://www.wiltshirefhs.co.uk/databases-wiltshirewords.html At Lydiard Tregoze the custom on 21st. December was called Thomasing: history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getfolkcal.php?id=93 -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

Earlier this month I mentioned the ancient Inglesham Church. A short distance downstream from Inglesham Church is the junction of the disused Thames & Severn Canal with the River Thames. Inglesham Lock was at the entrance to the canal and the picturesque Round House was once the lock house. The canal was constructed between 1783 and 1789 and the first boat passed from the Thames & Severn Canal into the Thames at Lechlade, on 19th. November 1789, with great festivity. The distinctive Round House at Inglesham Lock is the one of five similar buildings along the Thames & Severn Canal. They were used as living accommodation for lengthsmen or maintenance men. I have an old postcard of Inglesham Lock, which was postally used in 1916. The sender, staying at the New Inn, Lechlade, wrote, ‘All I can say is you must come – everything perfect.’ -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:47:17 -0000, Joy Beaton <joy_beaton@hotmail.com> wrote: > Just a question - was Reginald ARKELL connected to John ARKELL and > Thomas ARKELL, who came to Canada. I am going to try and track down a > copy of this book. Hi Joy, There is a Wikipedia page on Reginald ARKELL, which gives the year of the author's birth as 1882 and his birthplace as Lechlade, Gloucestershire, which is near this county's border with Wiltshire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Arkell You should be able to find his family in the censuses. The Wikipedia page also gives a long list of his works. I had one of the three books of his poems with Green Fingers in the title, when I was young. If you put "Reginald Arkell" into Google, there are lots of hits on his name. Josephine -- Josephine Jeremiah www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com

Thank you - my local library has one of his books available 'Old Herbaceous' (sp?) - which I will definitely be reading, as well as the info. on Google. Thanks again. - Joy > To: eng-wiltshire@rootsweb.com > Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:03:24 +0000 > From: jojeremiah@dsl.pipex.com > Subject: [ENG-WILTSHIRE] Information about Reginald ARKELL and his works (was The Round House (1958) ...) > > On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:47:17 -0000, Joy Beaton <joy_beaton@hotmail.com> > wrote: > > > Just a question - was Reginald ARKELL connected to John ARKELL and > > Thomas ARKELL, who came to Canada. I am going to try and track down a > > copy of this book. > > Hi Joy, > > There is a Wikipedia page on Reginald ARKELL, which gives the year of the > author's birth as 1882 and his birthplace as Lechlade, Gloucestershire, > which is near this county's border with Wiltshire. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Arkell > > You should be able to find his family in the censuses. > > The Wikipedia page also gives a long list of his works. I had one of the > three books of his poems with Green Fingers in the title, when I was young. > > If you put "Reginald Arkell" into Google, there are lots of hits on his > name. > > Josephine > > -- > Josephine Jeremiah > www.ianandjo.dsl.pipex.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-WILTSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message