  Nov. 25.] ST. CATHERINE’S DAY. Buckinghamshire.On Cattern Day the lace makers hold merry-makings, and eat a sort of cakes called “wigs” [85] Cakes called “wigs” were very commonly sold in the Midland counties some years ago, and they are even mentioned as allowable at the collation in Lent by a Catholic writer nearly two centuries ago. They were light and spongy, and something like very light gingerbread. As to the derivation of the name “wig” as applied to them, a correspondent of Notes and Queries says he never dreamed of seeing it any where but in the shape of these cakes, which greatly resembled a wig; being round, and having a thick rim round them, which turned up like the curls of a wig of the olden times.—See N. & Q. 3rd. S. vol. i. p. 436. Cambridgeshire.A paragraph in the Cambridge Chronicle (December 8th, 1860) alludes to the custom of the carpenters of Chatteris, in the Isle of Ely, observing the feast of their patron Saint, St. Catherine, by dining together, &c. Kent.The following extract is taken from N. & Q. (2nd S. vol. v. p. 47):—On Wednesday (the 25th) night last the towns of Chatham, Rochester, and Brompton exhibited considerable excitement in consequence of a torchlight procession appearing in the streets, headed by a band of fifes and drums. Notwithstanding the late hour (eleven o’clock) a large number of persons of both sexes, accompanied the party. The demonstration was got up by the rope-makers of the dockyard, to celebrate the anniversary of the founder of the ropery (Queen Catherine). The female representing her Majesty (who was borne in a chair of state by six rope-makers) was dressed in white muslin, wore a gilt crown, and carried in her hand a Roman banner. Northamptonshire.At one time it was customary, at Peterborough, till the introduction of the new poor laws, for the female children belonging to the workhouse, attended by the master, to go in procession round the city on St. Catherine’s Day. They were all attired in white, and decorated with various coloured ribbons, principally scarlet; the tallest girl was selected to represent the Queen, and was adorned with a crown and sceptre. The procession stopped at the houses of the principal inhabitants, and they sang the following rude ballad, begging for money at every house as they passed along: “Here comes Queen Catherine, as fine as any queen, With a coach and six horses a coming to be seen. And a spinning we will go, will go, will go, And a spinning we will go. Some say she is alive, and some say she is dead, And now she does appear with a crown upon her head. And a spinning we will go, &c. Old Madam Marshall she takes up her pen, And then she sits and calls for all her royal men. And a spinning we will go, &c. All you that want employment, though spinning is but small, Come list, and don’t stand still, but go and work for all. And a spinning we will go, &c. If we set a spinning, we will either work or play, But if we set a spinning we can earn a crown a day. And a spinning we will go, &c. And if there be some young men, as I suppose there’s some, We’ll hardly let them stand alone upon the cold stone. And a spinning we will go, &c.” St. Catherine being the patron of the spinners, as well as of spinsters, and spinning being formerly the employment of the females at the workhouse, it naturally followed that they should be selected to commemorate the anniversary of this Saint; and that this commemoration is of great antiquity appears from the early entries in the Dean and Chapter’s accounts of payments on St. Catherine’s Day for wheels and reels for the children of the workhouse.—Baker, Glossary of Northamptonshire Words and Phrases, 1854, vol. ii. p. 436. A correspondent of N. & Q. (4th S. vol. ii. p. 332), alluding to the above custom, says that it was not confined to Peterborough, but was observed throughout the whole of the Northamptonshire lace-making districts, as well as in those of Bedfordshire. According to popular tradition the custom is derived from one of the Queens Catherine in the time of Henry VIII.—probably from Catherine Parr, who was a Northamptonshire woman. By some this day is called “Candle Day,” from its forming the commencement of the season for working at lace-making by candle-light. Isle of Thanet.On St. Catherine’s Day in the Isle of Thanet, the carters place a small figure on a wheel on the front of their cart sheds.—N. & Q. 2nd S. vol. v. p. 235. Worcestershire.In this county the children go round to the farmhouses collecting apples and beer for a festival, and sing the following lines: “Catherine and Clement, be here, be here, Some of your apples, and some of your beer; Some for Peter, and some for Paul, And some for Him that made us all. Clement was a good man, For his sake give us some, Not of the worse, but some of the best, And God will send your soul to rest.” The Chapter of Worcester have a practice of preparing a rich bowl of wine and spices, called the “Cathern bowl,” for the inhabitants of the college upon this day.—Halliwell’s Popular Rhymes, 1849, p. 238; see N. & Q. 2nd S. vol. iv. pp. 495, 496. Ornamental line
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