The Marches culture and customs

Traditions

Traditions are important in the Marches. The Empire has brought new ways and new wealth but the Marcher Folk do not forget themselves, or the old ways that made them strong. Tried and trusted traditions bind the folk together and give a context to their lives. Traditions such as “hue and cry”, "rough music", “shunning” and "beating the bounds" are all artefacts of a system that has worked to make the Marches strong for centuries. Newer religious traditions such as "shriving" have been grafted on to these Marcher roots.

Hue and Cry

Their attitude of taking matters in hand is the basis of the hue and cry, the old tradition of law enforcement in the Marches that still endures. Any Marcher who witnesses a crime can raise a hue and cry. All able-bodied men and women, upon hearing the shouts, are expected to assist in the pursuit until the felon is apprehended. In the pre-Imperial past, the hue and cry would often result in summary justice for a criminal, which occasionally lead to innocent people receiving harsh punishments. Today, suspects are turned over to Imperial magistrates to judge. The readiness of the Marchers to defend the common good derives from their belief in doing the right thing and their pride that they are up to the task of getting it done.

Rough Music

Those who break Marcher traditions are often publicly shamed. At its simplest, it's just a group of Marchers making a lot of noise outside the house of the person they're punishing. Rough music is a peculiarly egalitarian punishment. The more Marchers agree with the punishment, the louder it is, the more serious some find it, the more effort is made in preparation. The more outraged the people are by the behaviour of the target, the longer the music will go on. Some particularly egregious offences see the perpetrator forced out by the din, forced to leave their home behind and hope to start a new life somewhere nobody has heard of their transgression. Sometimes the rough music follows them.

It may start with a procession, it may simply be a gathering. Like a lynch mob, it rarely has any sort of formality to it. The precise nature of the "music" varies across the Marches, but it is always noisy. The noise may just be chanting, or it may involve drumming, rattles, bells, hooting, and improvised instruments such as pots and pans. Sometimes, the victim is presented in effigy, and at its most sophisticated they target is shamed by theatrical performance or puppetry. The only rule is that nobody lays a hand on the target unless they start a fight, and nobody actually enters their home.

Shunning

Those who persist in ignoring Marcher traditions may end up subject to Shunning. Individuals who are shunned are effectively cast out of society. They are turned out of their Household or town and find every door closed in their face. Helping or in some cases even acknowledging someone who has been shunned can result in the offender being shunned in turn. Shunning may last for a week, a season, a year or even indefinitely. The extent of the punishment depends on who is enacting it – one family may shun another and anyone who helps them, or an entire Houshold or town might shun someone and encourage all their allies to do the same.

Traditionally shunning is about survival - when times are hard, people who act against the interests of their neighbours endanger the entire community. Most individuals who are shunned are forced to leave the area, unable to buy food or secure lodging. It is a serious matter for Marchers who hold hearth and home so dear.

The Beating of the Bounds

Another ancient tradition is the beating of the bounds. The Beaters embody Marcher Loyalty: in a very real way they mark out what is Marcher and what is not, and they help the Civil Service with the recording of who is loyal to whom. The Beating of the Bounds usually takes place at the festival of Summer’s-End, after the harvest is in. At this festival every Marcher Household marks its land, by walking around the boundary led by the Beaters. Certain stones, trees or other marker points around the boundary are beaten literally, ceremonially striking them with sticks or willow wands. The ceremony is designed to remind all of the size of the holding, but it also works to remind everyone of who is part of the community and who is outside it.

On a practical level, the beating of the bounds is often preceded by the Beaters ensuring that the boundary areas are "safe" for the upcoming ceremony, and followed by a period of maintaining and replacing whatever physical markers delineate the bounds - it is a time for repairing fences, planting hedges and the like.

Straw Poppets

Every home in the Marches has at least one straw dolly or poppet, made at the time of harvest to bring good luck to the house and ward off evil omens. These intricately twisted and knotted effigies of straw, corn, oats, rye, grass or rushes traditionally bind the vitality of the field and bring their strength into the home. Some folk use poppets as elements for focusing medicine or magical effects.

Marcher folk place great store by their poppets. Every child is given a straw dolly of their own; stories abound of children separated from their poppets prematurely who suffer a terrible fate. A poppet protects a child before they are old enough to look after themselves. In particular, an expectant mother will carry a poppet to ensure the health of the child. When the season turns again to sowing the seeds for the new crop these poppets are laid on the fields and ploughed back into the earth, or occasionally cast into a bonfire, ensuring a bountiful harvest for the following year.

The Wicker Man

The sinister wicker man is another old Marcher tradition, and can be seen as a poppet on a much larger scale. A giant figure constructed of wicker and wood that is set alight, it is often used to burn sacrifices. Ideal sacrifices are things that belong to the land already such as crops and domestic animals. These sacrifices acknowledge the relationship between the land and the people and it is believed that the fires safeguard the fertility of the land for future generations.

Occasionally things that have damaged or offended the land or the folk are burnt inside. Individuals who have failed badly in their duty are sometimes led to the wicker man so that they can redeem themselves and avoid being shunned; there is a folk belief that burning in a wicker man cleanses the soul and avoids a terrible reincarnation. On rare occasions an Imperial magistrate born in the Marches will order the punishment for those whose crimes warrant execution, especially traitors.

Funerals

Marcher dead are buried in good fertile soil, often with an apple seed or small apple sapling planted above the body.

Iron

Iron is another traditional symbol of power in the Marches. Iron tools are used to work the land, steel weapons and armour are used to defend it. Iron is the symbol of a yeoman's mastery of the land he owns and it holds a power as old as the land it comes from. Marcher folk will often “touch iron” for good fortune or to ensure their hopes for the future come true. Some Marchers carry a lodestone of good iron around their neck to have it to hand, or else keep a piece at the centre of their table.

Mottos and Sayings

Marcher folk are keen on mottos, aphorisms, and sayings. Favourites can have double meanings often unnoticed to the outsider. Individuals generally pick one or two that they like or find particularly wise, but some collect dozens of sayings and employ them at every opportunity. Widespread sayings include: “Pride in small things, loyalty to great ones”; "heart and hearth"; “sword and shears alike”; "know a body by their March; judge'em by their company"; “every wife has two husbands, every husband two wives”; "The best soil is thirsty soil, watered with tears, sweat and blood"; “Without the League the Empire's table might lack spice; without the Marches, it would lack bread"; "Sow, tend and reap; fight, toil and weep"; "One boy’s a boy, two boys is half a boy and three boys is no boy at all.", and "The answer lies in the soil."

Sports and Games

At their best, Marcher folk relish competition. Sports and games are taken very seriously, particularly the national sport of shinty. Competitions are sometimes used to decide serious matters or settle disputes. In some cases participation may even be part of ancient treaties between Households.

Beaters Annals for the Household of Barrowfield, Summer’s End Festival, Year of the Empire 394

I hereby bear witness to the annual match between the allied lesser Households of Elderhowe and Youngerhowe to determine cultivation of the Old Howe orchard, as is the custom since the division of Old Howe farm between the Sons. Rules were agreed as follows: Teams of five. First to three scores wins. Elderhowe running from Mill Lane End, scoring at the oak by Blacksmith’s gate, John the Blacksmith counting at the oak. Youngerhowe running from Blacksmith’s Gate, scoring at the red beech at Mill Lane End, Grey Allan counting at the red beech.

Let it be recorded that Elderhowe won by three scores to two, retaining the orchard for a fourth year. Bond of three baskets of apples, three of pears was promised to Youngerhowe for six pairs of strong hands at picking time.”