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

[Melissa Long Blevins]

WooHoo, Hot cookware!  
 
Elisabeth
(whohasbeenwithoutacomputerwaytolonglol)

 If ifs and buts were candy and nuts,we would all have a Merry Christmas!
Dr. Sheldon L. Cooper




________________________________
From: Jennifer Carlson <talana1 at hotmail.com>
To: northkeep lists.ansteorra.org <northkeep at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tue, March 8, 2011 9:51:26 AM
Subject: [Northkeep] It’s Shrove Tuesday – watch out for pancakes and rampaging 
apprentices!



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

                            
_______________________________________________
Northkeep mailing list
Northkeep at lists.ansteorra.org
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/northkeep-ansteorra.org