“Souling Song”
Description
"A soul, a soul, a soul-cake, Please good mistress a soul-cake, One for Peter and one for Paul And one for the Lord that made us all. An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry, Any good thing to make us merry." Once a year, singers beg for food, clothes, money
Notes
A song for All Souls Eve and Day (November 2 and the night preceding), when it was customary to give out food and alms on behalf of the dead.
According to Simpson and Roud, _A Dictionary of English Folklore_, entry on All Souls Day, Abbot Odilo of Cluny created the festival in the eleventh century to pray for the souls of those who had died. (Hence the Souling custom: In Catholic belief, prayer would get you out of purgatory, so travellers would pray in return for food -- almost a return to the professional mourners of Roman times). The original date was in February, but it was moved to November to align with All Saints Day.
The 1686 reference is to Aubrey's account of customs in Shropshire, when it was still customary to put out cakes for all passers-by on this day. These were called "soul cakes" or, according to W. C. Hazlitt's _Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore_, "soul-mass cakes."
I haven't seen anyone comment on the mentions of Peter and Paul in this song, but it may (or may not) be significant that Peter was the chief apostle to Jews, Paul to Gentiles (Galatians 2:8, etc.) - RBW
References
- Baring-Gould-MotherGoose #408, p. 194, "(A soul-cake, a soul-cake)"
- DT, SOULCAKE* SOULCAK2*
- Roud #304
- BI, BGMG408