Out & About Spring 2019

Oyez! Oyez! All ye Commoners of the Town and Manor of Hungerford and Liberty of Sanden Fee, are requested to attend your Court House at 9 o’clock this morning on pain of being fined. God Save The Queen, Duke of Lancaster!

S hould you find yourself walking through Hungerford on Tuesday, April 30, you might be forgiven for thinking you are hallucinating. You will have landed in the town during Hocktide and more specifically on Tutti Day. Hocktide is always the Monday and Tuesday in the week following Easter Monday. Hocktide probably arises from ‘tourns’ or sheriff’s (shire- reave’s) courts in medieval times, when the sheriff would visit the town regularly, holding court to manage finance, property and misdemeanours. In Hungerford, the Hocktide Court sits in the spring, perhaps because the Commoners of Hungerford have rights linked specifically to spring-related activities, such as grazing and fishing. The Hocktide tradition dates back to the 14th century, when John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who owned much of the land around Hungerford, gave certain fishing rights to the townsfolk, which continue to this day. This was in addition to privileges already bestowed on the town by his father, Edward III, and grandfather Edward I, who granted the rights to hold charter markets and fairs. Hungerford’s first Constable was John Tukill, appointed in 1458. The Constable is supported by a team of Officers of the Court and Trustees. Trustees have administered the town and manor estate since 1617, which today covers 400 acres of land, 5.3 miles of trout streams and 3.2 miles of canal fishing. On Hocktide Day, the festivities begin at 8am with the appearance of the Bellman on the Town Hall balcony, summoning the Commoners to Court with the help of the Bellman’s Horn, then perambulating the town. The special court is held upstairs at the Town Hall in the morning chaired by the Constable, while two nattily dressed Tuttimen call at the commoners’ houses around the town accompanied by the Orangeman and Tutti Wenches, giving out oranges and asking for donations or kisses en route throughout the day. The Tuttimen carry Tutti Poles, long staves that are decorated with spring flowers and ribbons. Originally, Tutti Poles were a kind of medieval air freshener as some of the houses had rather a pungent aroma. On top of each pole is an orange, representative of the town’s loyalty to William of Orange who, with his wife Queen Mary, introduced the first democratic monarchy to oversee the English parliament.

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