Note 480 — Chapter VI · VILLAGE FESTIVALS
Reading edition
Conc. of Trullo (692), c. 62 (Mansi, xi. 671) ‘Nullus vir deinceps muliebri veste induatur, vel mulier veste viro conveniente’; Conc. of Braga (of doubtful date), c. 80 (Mansi, ix. 844) ‘Si quis ballationes ante ecclesias sanctorum fecerit, seu quis faciem suam transformaverit in habitu muliebri et mulier in habitu viri emendatione pollicita tres annos poeniteat.’ The exchange of head-gear between men and women remains a familiar feature of the modern bank-holiday. Some Greek parallels are collected by Frazer, Pausanias, iii. 197. E. Crawley, The Mystic Rose (1902), viii. 371, suggests another explanation, which would connect the custom with the amorous side of the primitive festivals.