It's spring--almost! With Valentine's day here, you can read up on a History of Valentine's Day over at Jane Austen's World.
But let's look ahead to March and the coming of spring.
January was
not always the beginning of the year—an older tradition began the year in
March.
In March, Lady
Day, March 25, was the traditional day for planting and hiring farm laborers
for such work. In the church calendars, this day was set as the Feast of the Annunciation,
when the angel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary to tell her about her upcoming
role. This was also the traditional day for when yearly agreements might end or
need renewal—it was the old day for the first day of the year. This made it one
of the main quarter days.
The quarter days were when servants were
hired, rents were due, and assizes were held in the Assizes Towns, over Assizes
Week. Assize comes from the Old French and meant that judges traveled the
seven circuits of England and Wales, setting up court.
The English
quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are:
March 25 Lady Day
June 24 Midsummer Day
Sept 29 Michaelmas
Dec 25 Christmas
Cross-quarter
days that fall between the quarters, adhere to older Celtic holidays:
Feb 2 Candlemas
May 1 May Day
Aug 1 Lammas
Nov 1 All Hallows
In Ireland, prior to 5th
century AD, the old Celtic quarter days were observed:
Feb 1 Imbolc
May 1 Beltaine
Aug 1 Lunasa
Nov 1 Samhain
The old Scottish term days, and the quarter days in northern England until the 18th
century, were:
Feb 2 Candlemas
May 15 Whitsunday
Aug 1 Lammas
Nov 11 Martinmas
(For more information on quarter days and cross-quarter days, visit Almanac.com.)
St. David's
Day, the Welsh patron saint, came on March 1, and tradition held that all good
Welshmen should wear a leak—a vegetable readily available from winter fare.
March also
brought Lent, and very often Easter (in March or April).
You may think
that colored eggs and rabbits are modern inventions, but these are actually
ancient traditions associated with Easter. (It’s only the chocolate Easter
bunny and the bunny with eggs in its basket that are new.)
Eggs have
been associated with fertility and new beginnings for a very long time. And the
hare is also an ancient symbol used since the Middle Ages by the Church. In 1290, King Edward I of
England actually ordered 450 eggs to be gold-leafed and colored for Easter
gifts.
Pace Eggs are
hard boiled eggs with patterned shells, and are traditional made in northern
parts of England.
At Biddenden
in Kent at Easter, the Biddenden Dole—bread, cheese, beer, and cake—is distributed.
Since the late 1700’s, the cake given out bears an image of two women said to
be the founders of this charity, a pair of Siamese twins who were born in 1100
and died within a few hours of each other at thirty-four.
Hot Cross
Buns are also an old tradition in England. It is said they were made by Saxons
to honor their goddess Eostre, with the bun represented the moon and the cross
the moon's quarters. But at Easter the cross symbolizes the crucifixion.
They’re traditionally served warm on Good Friday.
In Shropshire
and Herefordshire, Simnell Cakes made with saffron were made for the Easter
season. But in many parts of England, the Simnell Cake is made at the end of
Lent, the period of forty days before Easter (starting with Fat Tuesday and Ash
Wednesday).
In the 17th century, Mothering Sunday,
the fourth Sunday in Lent, became the day when those in service were allowed a
day off to go and visit their mothers. Girls would bake their mothers a Simnell
cake as a gift.
In England, Maundy Thursday, is the
beginning of Easter celebrations and commemorates the Last Supper. The name
comes from the Latin, mandatum (relating to Jesus’ commands to his disciples). Up
to 1689, the king or queen would wash the feet of the poor in Westminster
Abbey. Food and clothing were also handed out to the poor. Maundy coins—specially
minted—were also given out to pensioners.
From the fifteenth century on, the
amount of Maundy coins handed out, and the number of people receiving the
coins, was tied to the years of the Sovereign’s life and given to celebrate
specific events. The Yeomen of the Guards carry the Maundy money in red and
white leather purses on golden alms trays on their heads.
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