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April has long been a month favoured by pranksters for it’s April Fool’s or All Fool’s Day. The origins of this day are unknown but the customs and rhymes are similar all over Britian. In Scotland it is called Huntingowk Day a derivation of hunting the gowk (cuckoo). In parts of the Midlands April Fool afternoon is “Tripping up Time” which speaks for itself. There are no traditional foods connected with April Fool’s Day but perhaps a dessert of fruit fool would be appropriate. April 23rd is, of course, St George’s Day, the patron Saint of England. St George became England’s Saint only in the 13th Century after he was made patron of the Order of the Garter. Saint George was a Roman Christian from Cappadocia and is famous for his defeat of a fierce dragon which was terrorising the inhabitants of a town in Libya. The king’s daughter had been sacrificed to the dragon but St George subdued it and saved her life. Traditionally St George’s Day was celebrated with feasting and jousting. This day is also the birthday of William Shakespeare. Saint Mark’s Day is celebrated on April 25th. One of the superstitions connected with this day is that young girls who wanted to see an image of their future sweetheart would bake a Dumb Cake the evening before. In complete silence, they would mix an eggshell full of salt, an eggshell full of flour and an eggshell full of barley meal to a dough with a little water. They had to be alone and bake it before the fire just before midnight when their future sweetheart would come and turn the cake! In April people eagerly awaited the coming of the cuckoo which heralded the start of spring. With the daffodils and other flowers in bloom April is a surely a welcome month after the long dark winter.
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FOXLEY SOCIAL
CLUB
On Friday the 14th February a party of Social Club members made their way to Little Walsingham for the Snowdrop Walk in the Old Monastery grounds. At this time of the year, this is a ‘must do’ event. Under a cloudless sky, the snowdrops showed up in all their impressive pomp, covering vast tracts of ground on both sides of the paths. Counterpointing the display about our feet, of course, were the awesome monastery ruins, which are worth going to see at any time of the year. It was an afternoon well spent. The afternoon of Wednesday 19th February brought resident John Fletcher to the Village Hall to give us a talk on his “Life as a Civil Engineer”. Although, like all careers, there is obviously a serious side to the profession of engineer, John gave us a collection of the lighter, humorous events that he has experienced over the years. An entertaining afternoon with a gifted raconteur. On Wednesday 5th March, Mr. Phillip Walker of Fakenham gave us a talk, illustrated with slides, on the craft of Beekeeping. To most of us audience the sole total of our knowledge about bees was that they made honey and they sting. Mr. Walker showed us a fascinating and amazing world of intelligent and socially dynamic creatures that are an essential and intrinsic part of our agricultural and horticultural well-being. We all went home afterwards, clutching our pots of honey and balms, feeling how pleasant it was to have learnt something new. Coming Events for April.
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