Stocsio

Sikes reports Stocsio at Aberconwy and says it was still practised there in 1835. On Easter Sunday, men and boys carrying gorse wands went to Pen Twthill to announce the next day’s rules. Rising times differed by age, and the last man married before Easter served as crier. The morning patrol, accompanied by fife and drum, searched for people who had remained in bed.

Those discovered were taken by cart to the stocks, lectured about laziness, and asked absurd questions before release. The account describes mud being smeared on a hand and the crowd cheering. These details identify a particular local form of holiday enforcement; they do not establish that the custom survives today or justify its penalties. The source’s claim of great antiquity is retained as its own characterization.

Public proclamation, age-based rules and theatrical punishment distinguish this account from the separate chair-lifting custom discussed nearby.