Ickenham Church News

ST GEORGE’S DAY 23^RD APRIL

circa 300 AD

The Saint of an English Army before he was Patron Saint of England, St George may have been a soldier, but he was no Englishman. He was an officer in the Roman army under Diocletian, who refused to abandon his faith during the Terror, and was martyred at Lydda in Palestine about the year 300 AD - supposedly 23 April. Over the years St George became the example of a Christian fighting-man, a powerful helper against evil powers affecting individual lives. He was the soldier-hero of the Middle Ages, of whom remarkable deeds were reported.

In the Golden Legend of the 13th century, Jacobus de Voragine gave St George a handsome write-up. The story runs thus:

One day, St George rode up to the heathen city of Sylene in Lybia, where he found the citizens in great distress. A neighbouring dragon had forced them to surrender two sheep each day for its dinner, and when the sheep gave out, two of their children; and now they were about to sacrifice the King’s daughter, dressed as if for her wedding. St George encountered the little party by a stagnant lake, where the dragon lived, and persuaded the sobbing Princess to tell him why she was so miserable. At that moment the dragon appeared, looking inexpressibly revolting. The Saint charged, and drove his spear into the gaping mouth. To everyone’s amazement, he tumbled the monster over and over.

Then St George borrowed the Princess’ girdle, tied it round the dragon’s neck, and persuaded her to lead it back to Sylene herself. The sight of her approaching with the befuddled dragon on its makeshift lead emptied the town. When the inhabitants timidly crept back, St George promised to behead the dragon if they would all believe in Jesus Christ and be baptised.

It was a most effective form of evangelism, for everybody said ‘yes’ at once. So 15,000 people were baptised, and four carts were commissioned to remove the dragon’s body.

St George thus became a symbol of the war against evil, and is usually portrayed trampling the dragon of sin under his horse’s hoofs. Soldiers had a vision of him helping them against the Saracens at Antioch, and so brought the story of St George back with them from Palestine. Presently England put herself under the protection of the Saint. His day was a declared a holiday in 1222. A red cross on a white field is the flag of St George.

SWAKELEYS HOUSE OPENING 1^ST APRIL

ALL FOOL’S DAY

In years gone by, the rules surrounding April Fool were this: between midnight and noon on 1^st April, everyone is ‘fair game’ to be made a fool of. It is the morning of the practical joke. But the aim is not just to discomfort the victim: he must be tricked into taking action himself, sent on a ‘fool’s errand’.

And so children would be sent to the dairy for a pint of dove’s milk, or to the bookseller for The Life of Eve’s Mother. Practical jokes on a bigger scale were played: in 1860 a vast number of people received an official looking invitation to the Tower of London that read: ‘Admit the Bearer and Friends to view the Annual Ceremony of Washing the White Lions.’ Precisely the same trick had been played in 1698.

Then, on the stroke of noon, tradition decrees, April Fools is finished. If anyone attempts devilry thereafter, even while the clock is still striking, it recoils on his own head. A child would then race through the sing-song formula : ‘April-Fool-Day’s-past-and-gone-you’re-the-fool-and-I-am-none!’