Wither the ‘bobolee’

By Felix Edinborough

The word ‘bobolee’ might sound strange to the young people of today but when I was a child, one of the traditions was beating a bobolee on Good Friday.

Well, for those who do not know, since I believe it is no longer common, a bobolee was a stuffed human-sized doll that was supposed to represent Judas who betrayed Christ. Thus, we took revenge on this representation of the betrayer by beating his effigy to a frazzle. Some were also hanged from the branch of a tree.

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