Show I BIDDENDEN CAKES I A Curious Easter Custom In KentOn Kent-On Easter Sunday there is always a great influx of visitors in the Kentish village of Blddendea The people of the country from far and near gathsr in the quaint old church to witness a distribution distribu-tion of cakes known a the Blddenden ton Maids Benefaction The dole had its origin about SOO years I ago when there lived and died in this town two sistsrs called the Blddenden maids who were born like the Siamese 1 twins joined together by the hips and i shoulders They were named Eliza and Mary I Chulkhurst and lived to be 3 years of age Tradition states that Mary died I first and that Eliza lived 24 hours in sjparably joined to the body of her dead sister N I i I By their will they bequeathed or the 1 I ch wardens of the parish of Bid denden and their Successors 2 acres of I I land in five parcels which are commonly I I called Bread and Cheese Lands The i rental P these lands 40 guineas a t I i is spent in buying cakes and bread the I former to be distributed to all who attend I at-tend service on Easter Sunday The I bread 270 loaves Is given to parishioners parishion-ers I These gingerbread cakes are impressed with the figures of the two sisters side by side Over the figures are their names on the body of one A 34 Y aged 34 years on the body of the other In 1100 meaning that they were born in 1100 at Biddenden In oiden times the cakes were distributed I dis-tributed by the rector from the roof of the church whereupon there ensued such a scratching and scrambling that life and limb wero In danger Rev W I e oUr e present rector has arranged I ar-ranged to make time distribution of the cakes from the church at the doss of the service Frequently there is a special service conducted for this purpose and the mementoes of this unique charity are carefully handed to the audience Six hundred cakes are usually made for this purpose hut many a time they have fallen short and many a disappointed falen visitor has gone away empty handed Another quaint rite and oldfashioned ceremony said to be the oldest Good Friday custom extant 13 1 one which FrldaJ takes place In the ancient parish of St I Bartholomew the Great I Is a picturesque I pictur-esque function ones seen to be Ions remembered re-membered Upon a tombstone in the churchyard are set out 00 new sixpenny pieces and by the side of each a bag of hot cross buns and an Easter card At the propjr moment there march in goodly procession proces-sion from the church 20 venerable widowed wid-owed women of godly lives who as they pass the tombstone take each of them one of the sixpences one of the buns andO and-O of the cards sftt tt It is to be noted in this connection that no bequest originally instituted the usage Indeed its origin is now buried in the mists of the dim dark ages Neverthe Isss it Is to a bequest it owes itspresent resuscitation and vitality A few years ago Mr J W Butter worth F S A celebrated antiquary and student of folk lure invested a sum sufficient to perpetuate he Good Friday dole at St Bartholomew thi Great for all time Twenty deserving widows of that parish arc therefore to enjoy sixpences six-pences and buns at least once a year so long as the world moves LAURA B STARR |