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BOUNDS, BEATING THE

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 324 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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BOUNDS, BEATING THE

BOUNDS, BEATING THE , an See also:

ancient See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom still observed in many See also:

ENGLISH

English parishes. In former times when maps were rare it was usual to make a formal perambulation of the See also:

PARISH (Gr. irapouda, district, neighbourhood; 7r&poucos, one dwelling near or beside, from crap&, OtKOS, house; Lat. paroecur, Late Lat. parochia; cf. Fr. paroisse)

parish boundaries on See also:

Ascension See also:

day or during Rogation See also:

WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week. The latter is in the See also:

north of See also:

England still called " Gang Week "or " Ganging Days " from this " ganging " or procession. The See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest. of the parish with the churchwardens and the parochial officials headed a See also:

CROWD, CROUTH, CROWTH

crowd of boys who, armed with See also:

green boughs, See also:

BEAT (a word common in various forms to the Teutonic languages; it is connected with the similar Romanic words derived from the Late Lat. battere)

beat with them the parish border-stones. Sometimes the boys were themselves whipped or even violently bumped on the boundary-stones to make them remember. The See also:

OBJECT

object of taking boys was obviously to ensure that witnesses to the boundaries should survive as See also:

long as possible. In England the custom is as old as Anglo-Saxon days, as it is mentioned in See also:

LAWS

laws of See also:

ALFRED

Alfred and EEthelstan. It is thought that it may have been derived from the See also:

ROMAN

Roman Terminalia, a festival celebrated on the 22nd of See also:

FEBRUARY

February in See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of See also:

TERMINUS

Terminus, the See also:

god of landmarks, to whom cakes and See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine were offered, See also:

sports and dancing taking See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place at the boundaries. In England a parish-See also:

ale or feast was always held of ter the perambulation, which assured its popularity, and in See also:

Henry VIII.'s reign the occasion had become an excuse for so much revelry that it attracted the condemnation of a preacher who declared " these solemne and accustomable processions and supplications be nowe growen into a right foule and detestable abuse." Beating the bounds had a religious See also:

side in the practice which originated the See also:

TERM

term Rogation, the accompanying See also:

clergy being supposed to beseech (rogare) the divine blessing upon the parish lands for the ensuing See also:

HARVEST (A.S. hcerfest " autumn," O.H. Ger. herbist, possibly through an old Teutonic root representing Lat. car pere, " to pluck ")

harvest. This feature originated in the 5th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, when Mamercus, See also:

bishop of See also:

Vienne, instituted See also:

SPECIAL

special prayers and See also:

FASTING (from " fast," derived from old Teutonic fastejan; synonyms being the Gr. vnorebety, late Lat. jejunare)

fasting and processions on these days. This clerical side of the parish bounds-beating was one of the religious functions prohibited by the Injunctions of See also:

Queen See also:

Elizabeth; but it was then ordered that the perambulation should continue to be performed as a quasi-See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular See also:

FUNCTION

function, so that See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence of the boundaries of parishes, &c. might be preserved (See also:

Gibson, Codex See also:

JURIS

juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani (1761) pp. 213-214).

Bequests were sometimes made in connexion with bounds-beating. Thus at See also:

Leighton See also:

BUZZARD

Buzzard on Rogation See also:

MONDAY (in O.E. Monandaeg, the moon's day, a translation of the Late Lat. Lunae dies, from which the French lundi is taken)

Monday, in accordance with the will of one See also:

EDWARD

Edward Wilkes, a See also:

LONDON

London See also:

MERCHANT (O. Fr. marcheant, modern marchand; from Lat. mercari, to trade, merx, goods, merchandise)

merchant who died in 1646, the trustees of his almshouses accompanied the boys. The will was read and See also:

BEER

beer and See also:

PLUM

plum rolls distributed. A remarkable feature of the See also:

BEQUEST (from 0. Eng. becwethan, to declare or express in words; cf. " quoth ")

bequest was that while the will is read one of the boys has to stand on his See also:

head.

End of Article: BOUNDS, BEATING THE

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