Bolster the giant, dumb cakes and St Agnes' Eve

January 20th was traditionally St Agnes Eve, when young women would experiment with ways to predict their future love lives. It being a peculiar, liminal time of the year, this practice involved suitably odd behaviour. One such was the making of a Dumb Cake, the recipe for which included salt, sugar and the urine of several friends. Oh, and soot to taste.

It would NOT get a Paul Hollywood handshake. 

To find out more, visit the brilliant Tradfolk website here. 

However, whenever I hear the name St Agnes. I'm instantly reminded of the Cornish folk tale of Bolster the Giant and how his obsession with St Agnes forced her to take some very unsaintly action. 

The short version is that he followed her around like a lovesick puppy and she could not get rid of him. So, in final desperation, she led him to a clifftop at Chapel Porth and challenged him to prove his love by filling a hole with his blood. Bolster - never the brightest of giants - cut his wrist and let the blood flow, little knowing that the hole St Agnes had selected went right down through the cliff and opened into the sea. Of course, it could never fill and he bled to death. The rocks below are still stained red. St Agnes, meanwhile, went on to become the patron saint of girls, chastity, virgins, victims of sex abuse, and gardeners, among a number of other things. 

The people of the town that bears her name celebrate Bolster Day on the Sunday before the early Spring Bank Holiday every year. As the Bank Holiday falls on May 1st this year, it should be Sunday 30th April - I'll cover it in detail then. 

Suffice to say it involves big puppets, a mumming play, Cornish dance displays and other entertainments. Here's a taster: