Throwing Down the Goat on Saint James's Day

The old Bohemian custom of throwing a goat down from a tower or from a church on Saint James's day was observed in Prague as well. The butchers led a goat, adorned and accompanied by music, to the church of Saint James, hauled it up the tower and threw it down; then they roasted it and ate it in ceremony. It was said to be in memory of Saint James, who was cast down from the temple in Jerusalem. And as late as the eighteen-thirties they threw a goat down here, from the tower by the New Mills, from the tower of the church of Saint Lazarus and at the inn At the Black Court on Pohořelec.