St Mark’s Eve is the day before the feast day of St Mark the Evangelist. In liturgical Christian churches, the feast of St Mark is observed on 25 April, thus St Mark’s Eve is 24 April.[1]
It was the custom in villages
Small rural collection of buildings with a church. in England from the 17th to the late 19th century, for parishioners to sit in the church porch
Vestibule before the main entrance to a Christian church, less sacred than the church proper. on St Mark’s Eve. Those sitting had to keep silent between the bell tolling at 11:00 pm until it struck again at 1:00 am. It was said that the wraithsSpectral appearance of someone still alive, usually considered to be a sign of that person's imminent death. of those destined to die during the year would be seen passing into the church.[2] The first record of the custom appears in 1608, when a woman in Walesbie, Nottinghamshire, was charged before a church court “for watching upon Saint Markes even at Nighte laste in the Church porche to presage by divelishe demonstraction the deathe of somme neighbours within this yeere”.[3]
Some accounts state that the watchers must be fasting, or must circle the church before taking up position. The wraiths of those who were soon to die would be the first to be observed, while those who would almost see out the year would not appear until almost 1:00 am Other variations of the superstition say that the watchers would see headless or rotting corpses, or coffins approaching. “If the person is to be drowned, his representative will come as if struggling and splashing in water, and so on for other cases of premature death.” There are several accounts of watchers who saw their own wraith, and died shortly afterwards.[3]
Another tradition held that a young woman could see the face of her future husband appear on her smock by holding it before the fire on St Mark’s Eve.[2]
