excerpt from 'An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Peasantry of Cumberland; and Observations on the Style and Genius of the [poet Robert Anderson]' pp. lviii–lix (186 words)
excerpt from 'An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Peasantry of Cumberland; and Observations on the Style and Genius of the [poet Robert Anderson]' pp. lviii–lix (186 words)
| part of | |
|---|---|
| original language | |
| in pages | lviii–lix |
| type | |
| encoded value |
In some parts of Cumberland, a number of boys and girls, on the eve of New Year Day, go about from house to house singing a sort of a carol, of which the following lines are the first couplet: Hagm[…]a,[*] Trolola, When they receive their present of pie, they depart peaceably, wishing the donor a happy New Year. In Northumberland, the first word of the couplet is Hagmena, which some derive from the two Greek words, agia mene, signifying the holy month. The custom is not unknown in Scotland. Some years ago, one of her ministers endeavoured to abolish it by censuring it from the pulpit: “Sirs” (said he to his audience) “do you know what Hogmane signifies? It is, the Devil be in the house!―that is the meaning of its Hebrew original.” Our little strolling Cumbrian boys and girls will not, I think, be easily persuaded that any part of their begging-song conveys an imprecation on the houses which they visit. [*Part of this word is indecipherable in the digitised version of the text] |
| appears in search results as | excerpt from 'An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Peasantry of Cumberland; and Observations on the Style and Genius of the [poet Robert Anderson]' pp. lviii–lix (186 words) |
| reported in source | |
|---|---|
| documented in |