Souling is a Christian practice carried out during Allhallowtide and Christmastide, with origins in the medieval era.
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11 Facts About Souling
2.
Rogers believes Souling was traditionally practised in the North and West of England, in the counties of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, the Peak District area of Derbyshire, Somerset and Herefordshire.
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3.
Custom of Souling ceased relatively early in Warwickshire but the dole instituted by John Collet in Solihull in 1565 was still being distributed in 1826 on All Souls day.
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4.
The prevalence of Souling was so localised in some parts of Staffordshire that it was observed in Penn but not in Bilston, both localities now in modern Wolverhampton.
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5.
Traditions associated with Souling included Soulers visiting houses with "hollowed-out turnip lanterns" with a candle inside which represented a soul trapped in purgatory.
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6.
In some parts of Cheshire, during the 19th century, adults and children went Souling performing plays and carrying an Old Hob which consisted of a horse's head enveloped in a sheet.
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7.
Educational reforms of 1870 meant that children, other than very small children, went to school which was when Souling would be carried by children and this affected the extent of the practice.
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8.
Souling plays still take place in Cheshire where groups such as the Jones' Ale Soul Cakers perform annually.
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9.
Rogers believes Souling took place in Monmouth and Caenarvonshire in Wales.
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10.
Souling was known as hel solod and hel bwyd cennady meirw, "collecting the food of the messenger of the dead".
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11.
English "Souling Song" is categorised as number 304 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
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