1387, from L.
rogatio (gen.
rogationis), from
rogatus, pp. of
rogare "to ask," apparently an image, lit. "to stretch out (the hand)," from PIE
*rog-, 0-grade form of root
*reg- "move in a straight line" (see
regal).
Rogation days were the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Ascension Day, a time for processions round fields blessing crops and praying for good harvest, also blessing the boundary markers of each parish. Discouraged by Protestants as superstitious, but continued or revived in modified form as
beating the bounds.