Thomasing dial.
(ˈtɒməsɪŋ)
[f. Thomas + -ing1.]
The begging of alms on St. Thomas's day (21 Dec.). Also called corning, doling, or gooding.
| 1847–78 Halliwell, Thomasing, a custom in Derbyshire, going from house to house on St. Thomas's day with a basket and can to beg milk, wheat, oatmeal, or flour. 1866 W. Henderson Folk Lore ii. 50 The widows ask and commonly receive at the farmers' houses a small measure of wheat, and they call it ‘going a Thomasing’. 1900 Daily Chron. 3 Nov. 3 (Cass. Supp.) The maying, processioning, Thomasing, carolling, and other junketings. |