Michaelmas: Feasting, Merriment and Devil Spit
Today, 29th September, marks Michaelmas, or the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, marking the end of the harvest and the transition to autumn and the shortening of days.
The feast day is marked with celebrations of feasting and giving thanks for a bountiful harvest. Coinciding with the harvest home celebrations of farmers and their labourers, much merriment and enthusiasm surrounded the day.
Amongst the many traditions held at this time of year was enjoying a roast goose, sometimes known as stubble-goose, fattened on the stubble of the fields, believed to bring good fortune for the upcoming year.
Michaelmas also signalled the end of contracts for farm workers, leading to Mop, or hiring fairs, likely taking place in market towns across the county. These hiring fairs provided an opportunity for labourers to showcase their skills and seek new employment for the year ahead.
As one of the quarter days of the year, it was a day when accounts had to be settled. Tithes and rent should be paid, and tenant farmers often presented goods such as geese, to their landlords as may have been stipulated in their tenancy agreements.
The Devil’s Spit
It is said that after 10th October, blackberries should not be harvested as they are cursed by the devil. According to legend, when St. Michael cast Satan from heaven, he landed in a thorny blackberry bush and in his anger he spat, or even urinated, on the blackberry bush, resulting in the fruit being tainted thereafter.
The specific date likely traces back to when the English calendar was adjusted by eleven days in 1752. In the new, Gregorian calendar, 10th October corresponds to 29th September in the Julian calendar, which is celebrated as Michaelmas Day.
Today is the perfect day to use up the last of the season’s crop of blackberries. Why not try out our simple Michaelmas Blackberry Jam recipe?
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