WAKES.
"So blithe and bonny now the lads and lasses are,
That ever as anon the bagpipe up doth blow,
Cast in a gallant round about the hearth they go,
And at each pause they kiss. Was never seen such rule
In any place but here at bonfire or at Yule;
And every village smokes at wakes with lusty cheer.
Then "Hey" (they cry) "for Lun and Lancasheere,"
That one high hill was heard to tell it to his brother,
That instantly agreed to tell it to some other."
It is necessary to distinguish between two ancient anniversaries. Every church at its consecration received the name of some patron saint, whose feast-day or festival became of course the festival of that church, which the people naturally celebrated with peculiar festivity. The day on which the edifice was actually dedicated was also kept as the established feast of the parish. These two feasts were clearly distinguished among the Saxons, and in the laws of Edward the Confessor the Dies dedicationis is discriminated from the Propria festivitatis sancti, that is, the dedication day was distinguished from the saint's festival. These feasts remained till the Reformation; when, in 1536, the dedication day was ordered to be kept, and the festival of the saint to be celebrated no longer. Anciently the dedication day could not have been observed with the same regularity as that of the patron saint, which was denominated "the church's holiday," and still remains in many parishes to the present time; while the dedication day is forgotten in most if not in all. The eve being of old considered a part of the day (Sunday commencing on Saturday at sunset), the services of the church commenced on the evening before the
