THE ORIGIN OF WAITS
I .Christmas waits are a very old institution. -The word "wait" meant originally a musician, or one who played on wind | instruments. Waits were attached 'in the I olden times to the King's Court, and sounded the watch every night, and in : tho winter paraded tho streets to prevent lawlessness and theft. A regular company of waits or watchers was established at Exeter in 1400. Some think (says a London paper) that tho word "waits" camo from the Scottish word "waith," which means wandering or roving. A reminder of tho custom still exists, for Scottish magistrates annually grant a certificate to a .few musicians, generally blind men, who perambulate streets at night during December playing old Scottish melodies on their violins.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19211223.2.192
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 151, 23 December 1921, Page 15
Word Count
125THE ORIGIN OF WAITS Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 151, 23 December 1921, Page 15
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