Barring the Way and other customs (General)

by Jefff @, West London, Middlesex, Monday, October 28, 2013, 14:59 (3805 days ago) @ slowhands

Cheers S, some interesting stuff there. I knew of the old knot-tying tradition but besom jumping is a new one to me, very Halloween-esque. I was surprised one of those sites (American?) refers to "the ever-popular car horn honking" as I've never experienced that in the UK although I know it is VERY popular indeed in France and no doubt elsewhere, it's good to now know why (to ward off evil spirits). The French also decorate their cars with paper flowers, dozens of them, far more attractive than the swathes of toilet paper we used as 70s boys. I also recall using the old dap(plimsoll) shoe whitener "sticks" to write Good Luck messages on the honeymoon cars, until we found it can stain car paintwork !

One old tradition these sites seem to have ommitted is the "lucky" chimney sweep which we had in 1991 Banbury, does this still happen in the Forest ?.

"Tradition has it that 200 years ago, a chimney Sweep saved the life of King George II by stopping his runaway horse and carriage. The King issued a Royal Decree that Chimney Sweeps are bringers of luck and should be treated with the greatest of respect. So started the tradition and because sweeps are lucky, couples would arrange to meet the sweep at their Wedding."

I see these modern times have also created an online niche business, and Wye knot ?
http://www.luckychimneysweeps.co.uk/


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