Clipping the church
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clipping the church is an ancient custom that is traditionally held on Easter Monday or Shrove Tuesday. The word "clipping" is Anglo-Saxon in origin, and is derived from the word "clyp-pan", meaning "embrace" or "clasp".[1] Clipping the church involves either the congregation of the church, or local children forming a ring around the church, and holding hands with their backs to it. Once the circle is completed, onlookers will often cheer, and sometimes hymns are sung. Often, there is dancing. Following the ceremony, a sermon is heard in the church, and there are sometimes refreshments.[2] Currently, there are only a few churches left in England that hold this ceremony.[3]
[edit] History
Little is known about the history of clipping, though it is said to have originated as a Pagan custom. It is thought to have been revived in the 18th century, when the earliest known mention of it was described in The Every-day Book (Hone, 1825); "L.S." describes the ceremony as a memory of his childhood.[4] It was a custom in several parishes in the Midlands, having died out in various places in the 19th century, but was performed widespread across the country, from Yorkshire to Wiltshire and Derbyshire, as well as Birmingham, Somerset and Shropshire.[5][6] It was revived at St. Peter's Church, Edgmond in 1867, and continues there to the present day.[7] St. Mary's Church in Painswick is one of only a few other churches that perform this custom, on a Shrove Tuesday, and today it is performed by children.[3] Other churches that hold similar ceremonies include Burbage Parish Church, St. Mary's Church in Wirksworth, and Guiseley Parish Church.[8][9]
[edit] References
- ^ Goddard, E. H. (1859). The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 244.
- ^ (1846) Journal. Colorado Education Association, 149–150.
- ^ a b Sullivan, Danny (2005). Ley Lines: The Greatest Landscape Mystery. Green Magic, 166. ISBN 0954296346.
- ^ Hone, William (1825). The Every-day Book. T. Tegg, 431.
- ^ Tyack, George S. (2004). Lore and Legend of the English Church 1899. Kessinger Publishing, 71. ISBN 1417977078.
- ^ Allcroft, A. Hadrian (2003). Circle and the Cross. Kessinger Publishing, 340. ISBN 0766176207.
- ^ Raven, Michael (2005). A guide to shropshire. Michael Raven, 76. ISBN 0906114349.
- ^ "Church Clipping, Wirksworth Church Clipping, Peak District Church Clipping, Wirksworth Customs, Peak District Customs". peakdistrictonline. Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
- ^ "Church Information". Guiseley Parish. Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
