ABSTRACT

Cambridgeshire, though less rich than many other counties in the number and variety of customs observed on fixed dates throughout the year, nevertheless has or had its traditional calendar observances. The custom of drawing a plough through Cambridgeshire villages with the threat of ploughing up the doorstep of anyone refusing to give money to the ploughmen and boys was continued in many places until early in this century. Members of Barton Women's Institute recalled in 1958 that a united service was held, earlier in the century, in the village on one of the Rogation Days. The observance of Hallowe'en in Cambridgeshire seems to have been confined to the remoter parts of the Fens, where belief in and fear of witchcraft remained firmly established until well into the present century. Witches were traditionally believed to hold their meetings on this night, so Fen dwellers stayed indoors and took precautions.