SC - Lochac's event

[James Gilly / Alasdair mac Iain]

I thought I would let you guys in on the Lutfisk conversation we're
having on the Tavern Yard currently.  Here are some excerpts below. 
	Christianna
- --------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: Sabia420 at aol.com
To: meridies at web.ce.utk.edu

In a message dated 11/20/98 12:57:58 AM Central Standard Time,
whitedragon at nex.net writes:

<< Its a type of pickled fish, which I am told can be really smelly >>
This is one part of my heritage I would have gladly left out.  Lutefisk
has
got to be the most loathsome concoction I have ever encountered.  They
have
whole festivals devoted to it.  poeple in Yuper accents saying "Eh, der I
think I'll be eaten at least 5pounds there eh".  I shudder at the memory.

Sabia.

>>It did have to be prepared about 4-6 weeks ahead of time and has >>the
texture of canned sardines, even the bones are softened.
				Duke Andrew<snip>

>Dec. 13th, St. Lucy's Day, is the traditional day in Sweden to start the
>Lutfisk.  
>	Mistress Christianna
>

>Oooo, ooooh!  She gave me an opportunity to tell why this is so!- or at
>least take a guess.
	One type of fish known in heraldry is called a Lucy; mostly,
>it's a pike, but heraldically it's a lucy.  (Don't ask; heralds consider
>bats to be birds, and a dolphin looks more like a posessed goldfish...)
>	So, it follows that if you make your lutefisk out of Lucys, then
>it will probably be good luck to start it on St. Lucy's Day.  And,
>because I'd guess it would be pretty cold i Sweden on 13 December, it
>might cut down on the smell....

>Aeruin
>(now willing to try lutefisk, but probably not in imminent danger of
>having to do so!)

My guess is that you are putting your heraldry before your holiday.  As
we know, the days of the Advent (and the rest of the year) were marked by
Saint's Days rather than dates by most of the populace.  I suspect that
the Saint's Day was used as a marker for the start of the recipie. 
(There are other things that are supposed to happen on St. Lucy's Day,
the complete listing from my book is below.)  I imagine the fish got
named for the date it was associated with, and the heraldry followed
suit.  
Christianna

St. Lucy's Feast Day (304) Patron Saint of Gondoliers, Glaziers, and
Lamplighters; Invoked against Dysentery, Eye Disease, Hemorrhage, and
Throat Disease. Sicilian, virgin martyr, refused to marry a pagan. Her
feast day fell on the winter Solstice on the old calendar, and her name
means "light".  
Celebrated as 'Luciadagen' in Sweden, early in the morning the oldest
girl of the family, wearing a white robe, a red sash, and a crown of
lighted candles brings coffee and saffron buns to all the adults in the
house. Many schools, offices, and communities have a Lucia procession and
sing carols that thank the Queen of Light for bringing hope at the
darkest time of the year.   Luciadagen is supposed to mark the completion
of the busiest holiday chores.  Young people have finished their gifts,
the farmers have finished threshing and set their storerooms in order,
and the housewife has cleaned, made tallow candles, and started the
'lutfisk' for the Christmas dinner.  


- --------- End forwarded message ----------

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