Clipping the Church

Cheryl did go to the Clipping the Church ceremony, although Maia didn't hold the candle.  Someone at the church had told Cheryl it was an ancient ceremony, pagan in origin.  "I think you'll find that is bollocks" I was too polite to say.  I did say "Oh, they do that at Burbage (Christ Church, Burbage is about halfway between Cheryl's house and mine), "but that ceremony can't be that old as the church was built in 1851." 
When I got home I looked it up in Crichton Porteous:

A Small Booklet

Well, well.  He has two entries for Clipping the Church.  this is Wirksworth's:

"It is spoken of as a revival out of the far past.  The revival was made by Provost Ham in 1921, but the most I have been able to learn about the previous keeping of the custom is that the sequence "may have been broken for 100 years" before 1921.  Also I have failed to find any mention of The Clipping in old books, but that does not imply that Provost Ham had not found references." Very diplomatic, Mr Porteous.

This is the entry for Burbage:

"The custom probably began when the church was dedicated in 1851, though nobody is quite sure.  Certainly it may not have been started until a year or so later, but the oldest inhabitant I could find - born in Burbage in 1873 - had The Clypping among earliest childhood memories."

So Wirkworth's ceremony is as ancient as 1921.  Even if Burbage only dates back to 1875, it's got them beat by nearly 50 years.  I have a very healthy scepticism for what I'm told in Wirksworth Church.  Once someone told me with pride their church was ancient, dating to the 16th century.  My lip curling, I said in my best being-snotty-to-Southerners voice "Really, I'm from Northumberland and we wouldn't call anything later than 7th century a really old church."  It's fun being rude sometimes.

As for "clipping", which even Crichton Porteous was puzzled about, it's only an old-timey word for hugging, of the same vintage as "bussing" for kissing.  Mary Webb uses clipping as an ordinary word, as it should be used.  Alison Uttley uses bussing.

I suppose the word clipping is related to "clapped", "clasped" or "clept"; being of the same kind of meaning.  "Clept" brings me to a real rip-snorter of a story which was told to me in a church in Wigton, Dumfries and Galloway by a very enthusiastic American lady.  Aimo was trying to sidle out of the door, but I was quite interested in the story of the "Cleppy Bells" ... but I suppose that's a tale for another day.  I suppose this blog's a bit like Jackanory, but with swearing, sarcasm and hedgehog poo.