Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns
Good Friday, the day of Christ’s Crucifixion, is perhaps the most solemn day in the Christian calendar and has always been seen as a day for charity. As Lent is coming to an end, Good Friday also means.... Hot Cross Buns!
Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
(London Street Cry)
Although the cross on the top of these buns is commonly believed to represent the cross on which Christ was crucified, it is known from petrified cakes excavated on a number of sites in Britain that the Anglo Saxons ate similar cakes, probably at their Spring festivals, and the Greeks and Romans had wheaten varieties which were consumed at the festival of Diana at the Vernal equinox. These were circular, just like the modem ones, and thought to represent the moon, the cross on top creating the four lunar quarters. Whatever the origin of our current buns (sorry!), there is evidence of their existence in the 14th century and a vast growth in popularity since the 18th century. Needless to say, there was much regional variety in ingredients, size and even shape. Imagine a spiced, triangular bun without even a cross, because some are known to have been just like that!
There was a widespread belief that bread baked on Good Friday would never go mouldy and had great curative powers, particularly for whooping cough and diarrhoea. These powers were gradually attached to the Hot Cross Bun, which was also said to protect horses and cattle from being bewitched, households against rats and fire, and generally bring prosperity. Not bad for a simple bun.
However, although it is also supposed to bring good luck to those at sea, at least one poor old widow might beg to differ. This is the lady who lived in Devons Road, East London, whose son went to sea during the Napoleonic Wars. Knowing how fond he was of his Hot Cross Buns, she naturally put some aside for him on Good Friday to enjoy on his safe return. When he didn’t show up in the first year she simply baked more the following year and added them to the pile. Either in hope or in mourning, this went on until she died and dozens of uneaten buns were discovered in her house, the site of which was later used for a public house called - yes, you’ve guessed it - The Widow’s Son.
It is here at lunch time each Good Friday that The Widow’s Bun Ceremony takes place, which is basically the adding of a specially baked Hot Cross Bun to the existing collection of mouldering buns already hanging from the ceiling in the bar. This task falls upon a serving British sailor, although occasionally this stipulation has been difficult to fulfil. For example, during the Falklands war there simply wasn’t one available for the job, so an American sailor was press-ganged into doing it. In recent years, even the Wrens have been allowed in on the act. Hip - Hip - Hooray!
But if Hot Cross Buns are lucky, then the children of Sidmouth in Devon are the luckiest of the lot. Since 1898, when the local bakers went on strike and supplies were rushed in from a neighbouring village to avert bad luck, they have been given them free of charge on Good Friday morning.
This page is part of our Beginners’ Guide: British Folk Customs From Plough Monday to Hocktide.
