Hocktide

Hocktide or Hock tide was an English mediaeval festival celebrated on the second Tuesday after Easter Sunday; it and the preceding Monday were the Hock-days. Together with Whitsuntide and the twelve days of Yuletide the week following Easter marked the only vacations of the husbandman's year, during slack times in the cycle of the year when the villein ceased work on his lord's demesne, and most likely on his own land as well. Early folk celebrations of Hocktide are undocumented, though as a term day, it appears often in documents. By the 19th century the festivities consisted of the men of the parish binding the women on the Monday and demanding a kiss for their release. On the Tuesday, the actual Hock-day, the women would tie up the men and demand a payment before setting them free. The monies collected would then be donated to the parish funds. The origins of the name Hocktide are unknown.