"Hear ye! Hear ye!" A crier would yell through the streets of medieval England to grab the attention of the townspeople to deliver a message from the monarch.
Here's how it would go down:
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The town crier would ring a bell and say "Oyez, oyez, oyez," a derivative of the French word "ouïr," which basically means "hear ye!"
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He'd read the important message (aka news, laws, proclamations, etc.)
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Then the crier would end by saying, "God save the King" or "God save the Queen."
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After he finished, the crier would attach the message to the post of a local inn (the reason why so many news sources are named "Post").
But reading proclamations wasn't the only role of town criers. They also:
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Patrolled the streets
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Ensured fires were dampened after the curfew bell
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Arrested miscreants
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Posted offenders' crimes
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Cut down people who had been hanged
Fun Fact: Don't shoot the messenger. Because town criers acted in the name of the monarch, harming them was considered an act of treason.
Hire a Home Crier
In honor of International Town Criers Day, hire one of your kids to be your home's crier. Their job is to act in your name to notify the family of important declarations.
Activity
- Designate one of your kids to be your home's town crier. (If you have more than one kid with town crier aspirations, you can take turns or designate tomorrow as an unofficial town criers day.)
- Throughout the day, write down a declaration for the official crier to announce.
- Have the town crier declare announcements in a loud voice beginning with "Hear ye! Hear ye!"
Here are some ideas for things the town crier can announce:
— By official decree of Mom, it is time to partake of breakfast!
— Each child needeth to clean their personal domicile ere they are permitted to play the games of video!
— The monarch decrees all peoples under the age of seven must hop upon one foot.
— By official proclamation, children are requested to embrace their kin five times, at the least.
If you need help translating your modern English into old English, here's a "super authentic" translator.
Famifi This: For each child, have the town crier proclaim why you love him/her and why.
