effigies

   These appear in a number of English customs, rarely being treated with respect, and nearly always ending up being burnt. The best known in modern times are concerned with *November the Fifth, ranging from the home-made domestic guy to the spectacular processional constructions satirizing public figures displayed at *Lewes (Sussex). Other regular effigies include *Burning Bartle at West Witton (Yorkshire) and, in previous times, Burning *Judas in Liverpool. The parading of an effigy could also be a relatively spontaneous customary way of showing group displeasure at local or national events. Caricatures of the offending parties were common in *rough music ceremonies, and, for example, at Sherborne (Dorset) on the news of the proclamation of Charles II in May 1660, effigies of Cromwell and Bradshaw were subjected to a mock trial, dragged through the streets, hacked to pieces, and thrown on a bonfire along with the arms of the Commonwealth (Underdown, 1985: 271). In much earlier times, some effigies had a much more respectable role in *civic events such as the Lord Mayor's Show and *midsummer watch processions, where *giants and *dragons were particularly popular characters, and before the Reformation statues of saints would also have been paraded around the parish on pat-ronal feast days and other special occasions, as on the Continent.

   See also *Judas; *Jack o' Lent; *Queen Elizabeth I's anniversary; *St David's Day; *Salisbury Giant.