Restoration Day
| Oak Apple Day | |
|---|---|
An oak apple
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| Also called |
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| Type | Historical |
| Observances | Wearing of sprigs of oak leaves and/or oak apples |
| Date | 29 May |
| Next time | 29 May 2019 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| First time | 1661 |
| Related to | May Day |
Restoration Day, more commonly known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, was an English public holiday, observed annually on 29 May, to commemorate the restoration of the English monarchy in May 1660. In some parts of the country the day is still celebrated. It has also been known as Shick Shack Day, or Oak and Nettle Day.
In 1660, Parliament passed into law "An Act for a Perpetual Anniversary Thanksgiving on the Nine and Twentieth Day of May", declaring 29 May a public holiday "for keeping of a perpetual Anniversary, for a Day of Thanksgiving to God, for the great Blessing and Mercy he hath been graciously pleased to vouchsafe to the People of these Kingdoms, after their manifold and grievous Sufferings, in the Restoration of his Majesty..."
The public holiday was formally abolished in the Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859, but the date retains some significance in local or institutional customs. It is, for example, still observed as Founder's Day by the Royal Hospital Chelsea, which was founded by Charles II in 1681.
Traditional celebrations to commemorate the event often entailed the wearing of oak apples (a type of plant gall, possibly known in some parts of the country as a "shick-shack") or sprigs of oak leaves, in reference to the occasion after the Battle of Worcester in September 1651, when Charles II escaped the Roundhead army by hiding in an oak tree near Boscobel House. Anyone who failed to wear a sprig of oak risked being pelted with bird's eggs or thrashed with nettles. In Sussex, those not wearing oak were liable to be pinched, giving rise to the unofficial name of "Pinch- Day"; similarly it was known as "Bumping Day" in Essex.
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Wikipedia