[Northkeep] It’s Shrove Tuesday – watch out for pancakes and rampaging apprentices!

[Jennifer Carlson]

Apprentices, take note:  today is your day to run riot through the streets and consort with women of loose virtue!
 
As anyone who has been to New Orleans during Mardi Gras has experienced, the day before the beginning of Lent is a time of indulgence, partying and, when taken to extremes, licentiousness, before getting down to the dour duty of Lenten restrictions.
 
In medieval England, apprentices traditionally got a day of play, and as you might expect, things sometimes got out of hand.  Partying with prostitutes was apparently a favorite tradition in the cities.
 
The day was also a last chance for dietary indulgence, as Lent required forbearance from animal products, which meant no meat, no cheese, no milk, no butter, no poultry, and no eggs from Ash Wednesday until Easter.  “Carnival” is the name for the day’s festivities in Italy and some other countries.  “Carnival” is from “carne vale”, which means “farewell to meat.”  So, eating the foods that would become forbidden the next day is part of the celebration.
 
In England, especially, pancakes and waffles were traditional Shrove Tuesday fare, to use up the milk, eggs, and butter you had on hand.  In England, Shrove Tuesday was known as a “half-holiday” for food purposes, and the dietary restrictions started at 11:00 am.  According to legend, a housewife was frantically making pancakes on a Shrove Tuesday morning, and hadn’t finished when the church bells started ringing at 11:00, and ran through the streets, still holding her griddle, to service.  Descending from this legend, local pancake races are still held in many English towns to this day.  The Buckinghamshire town of Olney has been holding pancake races since 1445!
 
A version of sports March Madness also exploded on Shrove Tuesday, with massive village football (soccer) matches, called “football mobs” roving all over town, a practice dating back to the 12th century.  
 
So, English traditions include rowdiness, whoring, overeating, drinking, running through the streets with hot cookware, and out-of-control soccer.  And people say the English are dull.
 
Kicking back eating a beignet and considering barbecue for lunch,
 
 
Talana