Chimney sweep customs

Where I live in Sussex, some people have either wood or coal fires - and a chimney sweep offers his services in the Local Rag (it really is called that). He also offers 'wedding attendance'. If you're not from the British Isles - or not familiar with our more obscure customs, this might be a puzzle.

"The chimney sweep, by virtue of his blackened face and his connexion with fire and the hearth, is a very lucky person to meet by chance"

Encyclopaedia of Superstition 1948  E & M Radford, revised 1961 Christina Hole 

It was customary to bow or greet a chimney sweep 'in his blacks' - that is to say, when still grimy after his work. In some places, people would spit and make a wish. Apparently, chimney sweeps in Poland and Croatia wear all black and are thought lucky too. You touch a button to attract the magic.

Sweeps are used as New Year good luck charms in Germany

But the luck only worked if he was coming towards you.

This especially applied if a chimney sweep in his blacks should meet a bridal procession. Ideally he should turn and walk along beside the bride to bring her extra good fortune. If he had his back turned, that was a very ill omen.

So nowadays people sometimes hire sweeps to come to a wedding, bringing their good luck with them.

Black face morris men at Rochester Sweeps  Festival  c/o Jill Catley

I wonder if 'the virtue of the blackened face' is another reason for black-face morris men?  It is usually explained as a disguise - and most certainly is not racist unlike the Black and White Minstrels - but perhaps there is an element of black as a colour associated with fire and hearth magic.

After all, the hearth was where domestic rituals took place - and soot would be a product of such magical processes as making bread or smelting metal. Soot collected from your hearth could be used in spells against you, it was once believed. Soot could be made into a form of ink to create sigils and other magical writing -even tattoos.

So inviting a sweep to your wedding would seem like a good idea. If nothing else, it makes a good photo opportunity.

Old Ways about Weddings

As part of my research for The Wedding Ghost, I wanted to know about the traditions and superstitions around marriage in Sussex. At modern weddings we throw confetti, and in some places rice - but in Sussex it was wheat.

Ear of Wheat by Michael J. Connors
Morguefile

I've noticed Sussex churches often have lychgates - and so I 'borrowed' a custom  that's found in other counties. Local children, or members of the family, tie up the gates out of the churchyard, and won't let the Bride and Groom out until they pay a ransom.

Bolney Lychgate via John Gasson
Creative Commons
{The block in the middle is where they rested coffins}

Traditionally, there were many ways for a young woman to find out who her husband would be. One of the best nights for such divination was the Eve of St. Agnes (20th January) John Keats wrote a marvellous, rather Gothic and sensual poem about this.

    They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve, 

     Young virgins might have visions of delight, 

     And soft adorings from their loves receive 

     Upon the honey'd middle of the night, 

     If ceremonies due they did aright; 

     As, supperless to bed they must retire, 

     And couch supine their beauties, lily white; 

     Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require 

  Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire. 

'Madeline' by Millais 1850
courtesy of Martin Beek
Creative Commons

Halloween, of course, was another time. In Sussex, a young woman  would place an apple pip on the fire grate, representing the man she might marry. If the pip burned silently - that courtship would go smoothly with a happy ending; if the pip burst, they would break up.

Apple Pip by Mary K. Baird
Morguefile

I think you would have to be quite brave to try this last one. You waited until the first full moon was predicted after New Year's Day, then sit across a stile all alone in the dark. Of course, you had to keep still and silent - and probably go fasting according to most traditions - for the spell to work. When the moon rose you said this rhyme:

All hail to thee, Moon, all hail to thee,

I pray thee good Moon, reveal to me

This night who my husband must be.

Moonlight by Paul Anderson
Morguefile

Then you waited to see his 'glim' or spirit appear.
Would you dare?

Information from Superstitions of Love & Marriage by E. & M. A. Radford, ed. C. Hole, and  A Sussex Garland, T. Wales

Where am I?

The first draft of The Wedding Ghost has been completed - and the opening chapter is with Greg Mosse. I feel rather in limbo waiting for for feedback so that I can move on.


It is like being surrounded with mist and listening for sounds. I'm a bit shivery and uncertain where to put my feet.  I hope the voice will lead me in the right direction but I am wary of trusting too much to someone else. Perhaps I may mistake which way to go, perhaps I am deluded. 


It's a scary business, this writing.

Starting off...

Inspirational reading

My current work in progress 'The Wedding Ghost' is taking shape. I am happy to admit that I owe a lot to Susan Hill's 'The Woman in Black' which I have loved since it came out in 1983. My story is quite distinct but informed by her structure - the way the mood shifts from beautiful description to eerie scenes and then on to deep fear - and yet there is a surprising amount of happiness too. The reader becomes aware of how much is threatened.

         I love ghost stories and I expect I will discuss a good few more as this blog develops. This first post is to acknowledge the debt that I owe one of my most-read writers. Few others convey that intensity of feeling with precision of observation in my view. It can feel a bit claustrophobic - but that is no bad thing in a supernatural tale, I believe. This strength of emotion is essential to a well-told ghost story - and my intention is to convey a similar psychological state. Prepare to be chilled.