ke a "wassail-bowl" of "lambswool," hot
spiced ale with roast apples in it.{17} Here is a curious rhyme which
they sang in Shropshire as they went round to their neighbours,
collecting contributions:--

"Soul! soul! for a soul-cake!
I pray, good missis, a soul-cake!
An apple or pear, a plum or a cherry,
Any good thing to make us merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for Him who made us all.
Up with the kettle, and down with the pan,
Give us good alms, and we'll be gone."{18}

Shropshire is a county peculiarly rich in "souling" traditions, and one
old lady had cakes made to give away to the souling-children up to the
time of her death in 1884. At that period the custom of "souling" had
greatly declined in the county, and where it still existed the rewards
were usually apples or money. Grown men, as well as children, sometimes
went round, and the ditties sung often contained verses of good-wishes
for the household practically identical with those sung by wassailers at
Christmas.{19}

The name "soul-cake" of course suggests that the cakes were in some way
associated with the departed, whether given as a reward for prayers for
souls in Purgatory, or as a charity for the benefit of the "poor souls,"
or baked that the dead might feast upon them.[87] It seems most probable
that they were relics of a feast once laid out for the souls. On the
other hand it is just possible that they were originally a sacrament of
the corn-spirit. |194| A North Welsh tradition recorded by Pennant may
conceivably have preserved a vague memory of some agricultural
connection: he tells us that on receiving soul-cakes the poor people used
to pray to God to bless the next crop of wheat.{20}

Not in Great Britain alone are soul-cakes found; they are met with in
Belgium, southern Germany, and Austria. In western Flanders children set
up on All Souls' Eve little street altars, putting a crucifix or Madonna
with candles on a chair or stool, and begging passers-by for money "for
cakes for the souls in Purgatory." On All Souls' morning it is customary,
all over the Flemish part of Belgium, to bake little cakes of finest
white flour, called "soul-bread." They are eaten hot, and a prayer is
said at the same time for the souls in Purgatory. It is believed that a
soul is delivered for every cake eaten. At Antwerp the cakes are coloured
yellow with saffron to suggest the Purgatorial flames. In southern
Germany and Austri