Forty Shilling Day
Wotton, near Dorking, Surrey
2 February, though subject to alteration
Five clever and intrepid boys under the age of sixteen who are willing to brave the weather of a cold churchyard at Wotton in February, and who have retentive memories, can earn themselves 40 shillings each under the terms of William Glanville's will. To do so, they have to stand with both hands on his tombstone, recite the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed and the Ten Commandments. Next, they have to read aloud the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians, and follow this by writing two verses of the Epistle in a clear and legible hand.
In 1717, when William Glanville made his will, 40 shillings was a considerable sum of money, but by choosing to die on 2 February (the date of his death being the day on which the commemorative service was to take place), he made it more difficult for the bequest to be honoured than if he had died in a milder month. The weather has not always been conducive to such an outdoor ceremony: on some occasions it has been postponed and on others a makeshift tent has been erected over the grave. If five boys can't be found from Wotton, neighbouring parishes are entitled to make up the numbers.
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