Oak Apple Day

Oak Apple Day
An oak apple in Worcestershire, England
Also called	Royal Oak Day Shick Shack Day Oak and Nettle Day
Type	Historical
Observances	Wearing of sprigs of oak leaves and/or oak apples; those who failed to do so might be beaten with nettles
Date	29 May
Next time	29 May 2017 (2017-05-29)
Frequency	annual

Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day was a formal public holiday celebrated in England 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 declared 29 May a public holiday, "to be for ever kept as a day of thanksgiving for our redemption from tyranny and the King's return to his Government, he entering London that day."

The public holiday, Oak Apple Day, was formally abolished by the Anniversary Days Observance Act 1859, but the date retains some significance in local or institutional customs. It is, for example, kept as Founder's Day in 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.

In Upton Grey, Hampshire, after the church bells had been rung at 6 a.m. the bell-ringers used to place a large branch of oak over the church porch, and another over the lych gate. Smaller branches were positioned in the gateway of every house to ensure good luck for the rest of the year.