Hocktide

Hocktide

Between April 5 and May 9; second Monday and Tuesday after Easter

Also known as Hock Days, the second Monday and Tuesday after Easter in England was in medieval times—and in Hungerford, Berkshire, till the present day—associated with collecting dues or rents and money for the church, particularly in rural areas.
There were a number of traditional methods for demanding money, most of them light-hearted rather than threatening. For example, people were often tied up with ropes and had to pay for their release, giving rise to the name Binding Tuesday . Or rope might be stretched across the road to stop passersby, who would then have to pay before they were allowed to continue.
In parts of Berkshire, two "Tutti men" in top hats and morning coats—a "tutti" being a small bouquet of flowers—would go from house to house carrying a "tutti pole" decorated with flowers and ribbons. There was also an orange scatterer who threw oranges to the men, old women, and children to keep them busy while the Tutti men went from house to house demanding both money and a kiss from the lady of the house.
In Yorkshire, children were still celebrating Kissing Day as recently as the 1950s—widely believed to have derived from hocktide customs.
Hocktide was also one of the Quarter Days.

CONTACTS:
Hungerford Chamber of Commerce
Church St.
Hungerford, RG17 0JG United kingdom
44-77-6761-0721
www.hungerford.org.uk

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, pp. 16, 57
DictDays-1988, pp. 11, 55, 56, 122
EncyEaster-2002, p. 271
FestSaintDays-1915, p. 91
FolkWrldHol-1992, p. 208
OxYear-1999, p. 625