Shrove Tuesday is the last day of Shrovetide and can fall anytime between 3rd February and 9th March. The Monday before was called Collop Monday which was the day for eating up collops of bacon and meat (collops means slices) and Tuesday the last day for rich foods and the day to eat up all the eggs and butter before Lent fasting starting the next day - Ash Wednesday - and it really was fasting back then - no eggs, no fats, no meat.
Looking in my book The English Year by Steve-Roud I discovered that Shrovetide was the most popular time of the year for Cock Fighting and a weird vicious 'game' called Cock Throwing. This involved maiming or killing cocks by throwing sticks at them or using a flail. Onlookers to the game would be charged for throwing pieces of wood at the Cock bird. In the 1730's public opinion about cruelty began to change, people wrote to the newspapers complaining and the last place it was known to have happened was in 1844 in Buckinghamshire.
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| Shrove Tuesday throwing at cocks(William Hone, The Every-Day Book, 1827) |
There were many other traditions taking place in various parts of the country over Shrovetide but probably a good thing that the only one we generally take part in is eating pancakes.
Mix a pancake, stir a pancake, pop it in the pan,
Fry the pancake, toss the pancake -
Catch it if you can.
Anyway, I'm ready
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Some of us still continue today to fast as much as possible throughout Lent. A time for reflection and thought before the greatest Christian festival. Unlike Advent which should also be a calm time but is overtaken by the horror of modern Christmas, Lent can be used for deep thought, a reset in life and just sufficient nutrition to keep one alive. Wishing you a peaceful 6 weeks until Easter celebrations. Sarah Browne.
ReplyDeleteI hope your Lent goes well, I doubt many people give up so many foods nowadays - but I'm willing to be proved wrong.
DeleteLove the typo in your heading!!
ReplyDeleteWhoops - I didn't love it and have put it right
DeleteIt did make me laugh though! Happy Shrove Tuesday anyway.
DeleteI love the spotty jug! We had to go to two different supermarkets to get the eggs for tonight's party (sadly the egg farm up the road closed last year)
ReplyDeleteThankfully there are still several farms still selling eggs at the gate round here.
DeleteI heard there is now a tomato shortage - what next I wonder.
Enjoy your pancakes. I’m going to do 40 days of decluttering and hope that I feel lighter once the items have gone. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI had much the same idea when I 'found' something that needed to go - tomorrows blog post! I will make an effort
DeleteI shall be enjoying sweet pancakes later on. Probably for my tea. Enjoy yours. Deb in Wales
ReplyDeleteLemon and sugar here - delicious - but once a year is enough for me
DeleteI dearly love pancakes and will be having them today for sure . What do you like on them? I'm guessing lemon and sugar from the photo xx
ReplyDeleteYes lemon and sugar is my choice - the original and the best!
DeleteOh my goodness Sue...guess who has just been reminded it's Shrove Tuesday! What a banana brain I am turning into...ours may be delayed until tomorrow...don't trust hubby cooking pancakes alone whilst I'm at work! x
ReplyDeleteThe year rushes on!
DeleteI rather like the whole photo.
ReplyDeleteLove my spotty jug and my ancient whisk!
DeleteMe too, me too
DeleteHope you eat them with lemon juice and sugar - the only way.
ReplyDeleteYep. Lemon and sugar
DeleteLemon and sugar - yum, the only change I've made the last few times of pancake making is to make them quite a lot thinner - like a French crepe - feels more digestible that way!
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Nothing worse than a big fat stolid pancake when the fat isn't hot enough!
DeleteI see you go with lemon and sugar on pancakes. Me too, though in the US it's more likely to be syrup.
ReplyDeleteI have never had a pancake with lemon and sugar. I wonder if I am missing something.
ReplyDeleteThe original way over here for Shrove Tuesday. I believe our pancakes are much thinner - like a crepe- to pancakes in your part of the world. I might be wrong
DeleteMany years ago, I used to see people with ashes on their forehead for Ash Wednesday. Has the practice disappeared? Giving up something for Lent used to be practiced too. Let's not forget Fish on Friday. These practices seem nearly gone. Lemon and sugar on pancakes is new to me. What proportions do you use? I'll try this. For me, butter and maple syrup tops my pancakes.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the ashes might still be done in some churches?
DeleteYes, we burn the palm crosses and ashes used to mark here in Dorset. You don’t have to fast on Sundays though. Sarah Browne.
DeleteLemon and sugar is the old faithful recipe! I do like maple syrup though.
ReplyDeleteI commented in here a while back -- maybe check your spam?
ReplyDeleteLemon and sugar all the way here in southern Australia!
ReplyDeleteWe still eat no meat on Ash Wednesday, or the Fridays of Lent (heck Hubby was brought up not eating meat any Friday of the year). The fat and eggs thing would be hard for us to follow completely though.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
That's the thing with living alone, you always forget events like this
ReplyDeleteI went on Tarragon and Thyme's blog and her pancake is what we would call a crepe in North America. I make crepes but never pancakes here.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make any pancakes, gosh now I'm wishing I had.
ReplyDeleteI am decluttering one item a day from the house for Lent and donating it on Olio. As I don't really have that much left that I need to part with, any day that I can't find something I am putting an item of food from the cupboard into a bag and that will go either on Olio or to the foodbank.