It’s All Hallows Day / All Souls Day / All Saints Day – take your pick! The devils had their chance yesterday, now today the good spirits are out in force.
In the old days, you’d pray on this day for the spirits gone before, and you might even give some cake (‘soul cake’) to those you could persuade to pray for your dead relatives. In St Mary's at Enville, this formidable couple - Thomas Grey & wife, from the 16th Century - lie now, but they look too stern to thank one for praying for them…
Incidentally, here is an old souling song. It was traced to Staffordshire by Frederick Grice in his book Folk Tales From The West Midlands:
Soul Day, soul day; we have all been praying
For the soul departed, so pray good people and give us a cake
For we are all poor people well-known to you before
So give us a cake for charity’s sake, and our blessing we’ll leave at your door.
By the way, St Mary’s is a lovely old church, if you enjoy visiting churches, and has some really ancient monuments.
Link:
St Mary, Enville
