The six weeks leading up to Easter are known as Lent in the Christian Calendar and are traditionally a time of prayer, almsgiving and fasting, however, the six Sundays of the Lenten period are not fast days. The name of Lent may come from the Anglo Saxon word ‘lengentide’ which refers to the lengthening daylight at this time of year or the Saxon word for spring which was ‘lenct’ and commemorates the forty days that Christ spent in the wilderness.
Shrovetide
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent preceded by Egg Saturday, Quinquagesima Sunday (meaning fiftieth in Latin, referring to the fifty odd days until Easter Sunday), Collop Monday and Shrove Tuesday. These four days are known collectively as Shrovetide. Shrove comes from the Roman Catholic practice of confessing sins and being shriven. Our Catholic ancestors were seeking forgiveness before being cleansed of their sins at the start of Lent.
In Brittany, France, Shrovetide was called the Fat Days when no spinning work was done. People believed that the yarn would turn greasy and anything made from it would be eaten by rodents. Others thought that cats would do this. Nothing was made at all for fear that it would become fatty and eaten.
Collop Monday
On Collop Monday, all leftover meat was eaten as steaks or collops. A collop is a fried egg on top of a thick slice of bacon or mutton. The goal was to eat as many as possible and the bacon fat was kept to cook the following day’s pancakes. In Cornwall, the day was called Peasen or Paisen Monday with pea soup as the traditional dish of the day.
Nickanan Night
Nickanan Night, named after ‘Old Nick’ took place on Shrove Monday evening in Cornwall. Boys ran riot in the villages hiding gates, removing door knockers and running off with anything that was not tied down. They left the stolen items somewhere they could easily be found by their owners in the morning, which was normally on a big heap in a public place. The owners were not seen as unlucky, they were seen as careless. In Penzance, people walking down the street had buckets of water thrown over them or had their faces blackened with soot by those who were taking part in this night of mayhem. Rubbish was even thrown through open doorways. The night was a lot less chaotic in north Devon. Called Dappy Door Night, children tied string around door knobs and doors were banged on loudly before running away.
Shrove Tuesday
First comes Candlemas,
Then the new moon,
The First Tuesday after
Is aye Fastern’s E’en
On Fastern’s Eve as it was known in Ireland and Scotland, the Shrove Tuesday Bell summoned villagers to confession where penitents wore sackcloth and ashes. The unrepentant were cursed out loud. The lean times began the following day and before the penance of fasting commenced our Christian ancestors made the most of their last day of feasting and fun.
There was dancing, horse racing and games such as marbles, quoits, rope pulling and street football. Hurling was a popular game in Cornwall and Devon. Young children played a game called the Holly Boy and the Ivy Girl, where the boys made a corn dolly decorated with holly and the girls made one decorated with ivy. They then hid the dolls. The boys had to try and find the Ivy Girl and the girls had to find the Holly Boy. When they eventually did, the dollies were burned on a bonfire. Fairs were also a common sight today. A well known fair in Lincolnshire was called the St Rattle Doll Fair. The rattling sound came from the gambling die, the dolls were sold at the fair stalls and the saint part of the fair’s name was to add an air of respectability!
Skipping on Shrove Tuesday was a tradition followed by the people of Scarborough. The Pancake Bell was rung at noon, after which people would slowly walk down to the foreshore and skip there until tea time. In Brighton, this tradition used to take place on Good Friday. Fishing families skipped on beaches and at fish markets until the tradition died out after WWII. Skipping also took place on the Bartlow Hills’ burial mounds that lie between Essex and Cambridgeshire on Good Friday. The old ritual of skipping on hills was associated with sowing seeds and encouraging them to grow tall. Skipping rituals took place on other barrows as well.
Popular Shrovetide Foods
There were many regional names for Shrove Tuesday such as Shreftis E’en, Guttit Tuesday, Brose Day and Bannock Night in Scotland, as well as Milk-Gruel Night on the island of Orkney. The most popular foods to make this day were pancakes and bannocks which like hot cross buns were possibly relics of the small wheaten cakes that were once made at pre-Christian spring festivals.
As eggs were forbidden during Lent, Shrove Tuesday was the last chance to use them all up and pancakes were the best way to do this. Any left over eggs were hard boiled and eaten later as the emphasis was on fresh eggs not being permitted. With the lengthening days, chickens begin laying more eggs, so by refraining from eating eggs allowed the chickens to brood on their chicks meaning they would hatch around Easter time.
In Tavistock, Devon, families gathered around the fire each taking their turn to toss and eat a pancake, even if it fell on the floor. On north country farms, anyone who was unable to finish their pancake before the next one was ready was thrown onto a gooseberry bush or the rubbish heap. The first pancake made was given to the cockerel by the cook if she was unmarried or another girl who would stay and watch how many chickens joined him in the pancake feast. The number of chickens that joined him would be the number of years she would have to wait to marry.
In Ireland, the Christmas holly decorations were kept especially for the fire that would cook the pancakes. The eldest daughter of the family tossed the first pancake knowing that her luck depended on a perfect flip. If she failed then it meant that she would not marry this coming year. Plenty of meat was enjoyed today with the more wealthier farmers gifting portions to their less fortunate neighbours. It was an Irish tradition to offer the head of the slaughtered animal to the local blacksmith as a tribute.
The tradition of the pancake race is over 500 years old. It is said that in 1445 a woman who lived in the village of Olney, Buckinghamshire was in the middle of cooking pancakes when she heard the Shriven Bell ring. Panicking that she would be late for church she ran out of the house still holding her frying pan. Since the mid 1450s, the women of Olney have been entering a pancake race every Shrove Tuesday. The rules of the race are quite simple. Only women can take part, but they must wear an apron, a head covering and a skirt because no trousers are allowed. The bell is rung at 11:30am for the contestants to gather. The bell rings again at 11:45 for the women to start cooking their pancakes and the third bell at 11:55am signals the start of the race. The pancake racers are required to run 415 yards from the Olney village square to the church, tossing their pancake three times as they go. Thankfully, dropping your pancake does not disqualify you. The first woman to reach the church is greeted by the vicar who awards her and the runner up with the prize of a prayer book as well as a kiss from the bell ringer!
Farming families ate beef on Shrove Tuesday to ensure their cattle would thrive throughout the year. A boiled dumpling, called the Fastyn Cock was made with oatmeal and suet and was shaped like a bird. In the evening Scottish families ate bannocks made from oatmeal, eggs and salt mixed with milk or broth. Sometimes the mixture was more like a pancake batter with flour, eggs and sugar. It was baked on a girdle surrounded by family, friends, neighbours and servants with every unmarried person present sharing in the cooking.
When all the bannocks had been eaten, a larger and thicker one was made called the Sauty or Dreaming Bannock. In other regions of Scotland it was known as the Dumb Cake where some folk even added a little soot to the mixture to bring good luck and called it the Sooty Skone. Just like the brose, it contained charms for divination and had to be cooked in silence, otherwise it would lose its magical potency. Part of the fun was to try and make the cook laugh or talk so that someone else could take over her role. As soon as the Sauty Bannock was ready to eat, it was cut up into pieces, one for each unmarried person there. Taking it in turns they pulled out a piece of the bannock from the cook’s apron pocket or else the cook was blindfolded as she walked around the room asking who owned that piece. The first to answer had that piece along with a possible charm inside. A less common method was to cook your own bannock, wrap it up in a left foot stocking and place it under the pillow in order to dream of your future partner.
In Hertfordshire, Shrove Tuesday was Doughnut Day and the doughnuts were fried in hog’s lard. Small currant loaves or buns called Coquilles were sold in the streets and bakers of Norwich on Brusting Eve. In Lincolnshire on Quinquagesima Eve, it was a popular tradition to fry pancakes that were thick and crumbly.
Folk Charms And Marriage Customs
In some parts of Ireland, the head of the household took a piece of meat from the Shrove Tuesday meal and nailed it to the inside of the chimney or inside the kitchen roof where it stayed until Easter Sunday. This was believed to bring good luck and abundance to the household and ensured a constant supply of meat.
Shrovetide was the traditional time for marriages in Ireland and Shrove Tuesday was the most popular day of all. It was not acceptable to get married during Lent because the church wanted people’s attention to be on Christ’s suffering. The Welsh believed that it was unlucky to marry during Lent and the Cornish had a saying, ‘Marry in Lent, live to repent.’ Marriage divination was popular on Shrove Tuesday.
A popular savoury broth called the Matrimonial Brose was served today in Scotland. A wedding ring was added to the broth for the purpose of divination. Young people scooped their spoon into the large bowl hoping to be the first one to find it and when they did they had to hide it until the bowl was completely empty. Other charms were also added to the broth such as a coin for wealth and a thimble or button that indicated the person would remain unmarried until the following Brose Day.
Lent-shard Night
Lent-shard Night was another overzealous tradition whereby children would go door to door carrying armfuls of broken crockery. Also known as Sharp Tuesday and Lincrook Day, if a child was refused alms then the person’s front door would receive a volley of the broken crockery. Unpopular folk in the village had their front doors battered with crockery while the children chanted, ‘Skit, scat take this and that.’ It was a widespread tradition for children to sing Shroving songs before making their requests for cakes, eggs, flour, butter or money needed for their pancake feast.
A-shroving, a-shroving,
We be come a-shroving;
A piece of bread, a piece of cheese,
A bit of your fat bacon, doughnuts and pancakes,
All of your own making.
In Devon they sang;
I see by the latch
There is something to catch;
I see by the string
The good dame’s within;
Give a cake, for I’ve none;
At the door goes a stone,
Come give, and I’ve gone.
Egg Shackling
Egg shackling was a Shrove Tuesday tradition where hard boiled eggs marked with their owners name were placed inside a sieve and gently shaken until there was only one unblemished egg left. Children took eggs to school to play this game and each class winner received a prize. Other games children played were rolling eggs down hills until they cracked and tapping the egg of your opponent with your own. The child with the last unscathed egg got to keep all of the broken ones.
Clipping The Church
The ancient ceremony of Clipping the Church was observed in some parishes on Shrove Tuesday. ‘Clypping’ comes from the Old English word ‘clyppan’ meaning to encircle or embrace. Parishioners would dance around the exterior of the church building three times in a sunwise direction while holding hands and singing a traditional clipping hymn.
Ash Wednesday
The first day of Lent was a solemn occasion. Ashes were blessed and placed on parishioners' foreheads reminding them that we are all born from ashes and we will all return to them. The ashes were a symbol of repentance and sorrow. Children carried an ash twig with its black buds to church today and no white was worn, even white handkerchiefs. People only ate one meal today accompanied by water.
At least one person from each household went to church on Ash Wednesday to be marked with ashes and returned home with a small amount of ashes to anoint the foreheads of the rest of the family too. Some people brought their own ashes to church made from turf to be blessed and any unused ashes were wrapped up and carefully put away. Ash Wednesday was known as Cussing Day, the only time the church allowed people to cuss their neighbours. Aunt Sallys, straw stuffed human effigies, were used for beating and target practice today. In Cornwall, the figure was called Jack-a-Lent who represented the archetype of the scapegoat and was possibly based on Judas Iscariot. Some people believe that he is a relic of an old god of winter. The effigy of Jack was dragged through the streets and hanged.
The Lenten Fast
Despite the worst of the winter finally being over, food stores were continuing to dwindle and people were naturally forced to fast, so the requirement to fast for Lent came at an opportune time. Throughout Lent, the Church advised parishioners to only eat one meal a day and the meal could not contain any meat, eggs, dairy or wine. As fish was permitted, our Christian ancestors became very creative when it came to what could actually qualify as a fish. In their eyes, if it lived in water then it was a fish and could be eaten during Lent. On the menu were beavers, whales, seals, dolphins and shellfish. In Ireland, the barnacle goose was thought to hatch from a shellfish, allowing it to be eaten as well. This belief can be traced back to the 12th century and only died out in the early 1900s. The Cornish believed that because puffins tasted like fish, then they too could be a Lenten meal. Fish fritters, fish pie, Lenten Kedgeree, frumenty and Hasty Pudding were traditional Lenten dishes. Unsurprisingly, the fishing industry boomed during Lent.
Having no dairy made it difficult to bake Irish bread which was traditionally made from sour milk and baking soda, so yeast, barm and sourdough had to be used instead. Poor folk had no choice but to eat oat cakes because they would not have had the necessary equipment to bake bread with these alternatives. The poor were exempt from fasting during Lent as they would not not have known where their next meal was coming from. In later years, Irish families ate dry bread or porridge with black tea in the morning and again in the evening while lunch consisted of potatoes with fish or onions. People living on the coast could have shellfish and seaweed with potatoes as a meal. Water that was used to soak oats was also drunk. Children over the age of seven had no milk whatsoever and those under this age had it sparingly. During Lent, there was no music, no dancing or card playing and no visiting family or friends. Playing cards were burned and new ones bought at Easter.
Chalk Sunday
Chalk Sunday was the Sunday after Shrove Tuesday. It was assumed that if an unmarried person had not tied the knot at Shrovetide then they would not marry at all that year. This made them a target for humiliation. Single people were marked with chalk on their way to or from mass on the first Sunday of Lent. Victims would attempt to joke along with this and could afford to if they were still young, but older folk would get very angry. This custom disappeared in the 1930s.
I hope you enjoyed learning about some of the curious traditions of our ancestors and perhaps you could have a go at making your own bannocks or perhaps try your hand at some skipping!
Brightest blessings
Elissa
The Year In Ireland by Kevin Danaher (1972) Can be read for free on archive.org.
A Calendar Of Scottish National Festivals Vol II by F. Marion McNeill (1959) All four volumes can be purchased as e-books on stuarttitles.co.uk
Maypoles, Martyrs & Mayhem by Quentin Cooper and Paul Sullivan (1994)
The Celtic Calendar by Brian Day (2003)
A Chronicle Of Folk Traditions by Brian Day (1998)
A Year Of Festivals by Geoffrey Palmer and Noel Lloyd (1972)
English Traditional Customs by Christina Hole (1975)
A Dictionary Of British Folk Customs by Christina Hole (1979, 2nd edition)
A Calendar Of Country Customs by Ralph Whitlock (1978)
In Search Of The Lost Gods by Ralph Whitlock (1979)
Folklore And Customs Of Rural England by Margaret Baker (1975, 2nd edition)
A Calendar Of Old English Customs Still In Being by Mark Savage (1900)
Curious Country Customs by Jeremy Hobson (2007)
Some of my ancestors came from Tavistock. I thought it was in Devon. I’m not sure of the geography of the area, is it close to the border between the two?
Fantastic reading! Thankyou