Lammas

Today is  Lammas, the 1st of August, roughly halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. This is another celebration that had faded from memory. As a genealogist and family historian, I find these traditions fascinating and they often give us a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors.

The word Lammas is derived from the Old English 'hlafmaesse' (loaf-mass), it is also linked to 'hlaf-dige' and 'hlaf-weard' - Anglo Saxon terms for which the literal translation is 'loaf-kneader' and 'loaf-guardian'. It is clear from Anglo-Saxon records of the ninth century onwards, that it was celebrated in the church as a festival of 'first fruits', with bread and wheat, to celebrate the corn harvest.

Because a ritual loaf was made from the first new wheat. It was brought into many parish churches and offered on the altar as a thanksgiving for the first-fruits of the harvest. Thus, it was the feast-day on which the bread of the Sacrament could first be made from the year's newly-ripened corn.

In our modern world, it is difficult for us to imagine the trials and tribulations our ancestors faced when growing food. For us, we just order on-line or drive to our local supermarket. Hundreds and even thousands of years ago, the harvesting and processing of grain were crucial. If crops were left in the fields too long, or the bread not baked in time, families could starve. Taking care of one's crops meant the difference between life and death.

Before the coming of Christianity, it was the great feast of Lugh, or Lug, the great Celtic Sun King and God of Light. August was his sacred month when he initiated great festivities in honour of his mother, Tailtiu.  Harvest suppers, market fairs, games and bonfire celebrations were the order of the day. Circle dancing, reflecting the movement of the sun in sympathetic magic, was popular, as were all community gatherings - a reaffirmation of neighbourly feeling. 

So, Lammas marked a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings. In Wessex, during the Anglo Saxon period, bread made from the new crop would be brought to the church and blessed and then the Lammas loaf was broken into four pieces and placed in the corners of a barn where it served as a symbol of protection over the garnered grain. Lammas was a ritual that recognised a community's dependency on what Thomas Hardy once called 'the ancient pulse of germ and birth.'

It was also a traditional time of year for craft festivals, and for skilled artisans to peddle their wares. In medieval Europe, guilds would arrange for their members to set up booths around a village green, festooned with bright colourful ribbons. Harvest customs included the crowning of girls as harvest queens by sets of reapers, the bringing home of the last load of corn covered in garlands, with loud acclamations, and the weaving of images from grain stalks.

A corn dolly

The Lammas practice of making corn dollies dates back to ancient times when the Romans first introduced cultivation to the tribes of northern Europe. Made from the last sheaf of grain, the dolly was paraded through the village and treated with reverence or derision, depending on the tribe. Eventually, the corn dolly became the good luck talisman for every farm. Different regions wove their own beautifully complex designs, often decorated with bright ribbons or wool. Traditionally, the corn dollies woven at Lammas (or their ashes) were ploughed back into the land at Imbolc, thus symbolising the return of the Corn Spirit to the earth, in an attempt to ensure a good crop the next year.

Lammas is also the time of year when sweethearts exchanged favours – these were simple knots woven from corn and sometimes tied with a ribbon.  If a girl accepted a boy’s favour, she’d pin it to her clothing to show the community she was ‘walking out’ with a lad, and he’d pin her favour to his hat to do the same.

These glimpses of folk tradition unlock a past that many of us are unaware of. They take us to a time when our ancestors relied on nature, but also supplemented it with a strong mixture of ancient customs and superstition.

Let me discover more about your family history. Contact me at tonywait@hotmail.com.