Today would have been and is Shrove Tuesday. We tend to refer to it as Pancake Day theese days!
Today is the last day before lent.
It is traditionally the day you would use up your dairy products. During lent these too are off the menu. Except Sundays!
Hence the consumption of Pancakes.
In times past this would be a day to let your hair down and have fun. It is the last chance to do so.
You may partake in cock fighting and other such blood sports on which much gambling was done. And the notorious FOOTBALL. A game that was repeatedly banned due to the violence and disturbance it caused. Of coarse the ban never really worked and we are still trying to control the violence and disturbance the game causes!
Football was quite a different game in which anything went. It may involve whole settlements or villages pitted against one another, this often got out of control.
You may then choose to be shriven after this... to have your sins absolved!
No comments:
Post a Comment