SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #1826

[LadyVXN at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/30/99 6:32:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
owner-sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG writes:

<< Does anyone know how (and what time of year) New Year's was celebrated 
 foodwise in period? I was getting together our "traditional" collection of 
 foods eaten for luck on New Year's Day, and it seemed likely that something 
 similar would have been going on in medieval kitchens.
 
 Our lucky foods include pork & sauerkraut from my husband's Pennsylvania 
 upbringing, and blackeyed peas/Hoppin'John and collard greens from various 
 Dixie connections. I have also heard of lentils, carrot "coins", whole fat 
 fishes, and other symbols of abundance (quantity, or richness), wholeness, 
 and money (carrot "coins" are probably a bit older than collard 
 "greenbacks"!)
 
 I also recall that the New Year used to be considered to start in May. When 
 did we switch to January? Was January 1 a special day, or was it part of the 
 general Christmas season? Inquiring minds want to know...
 
 Morwyn of Wye, O.L.
 Barony of Three Mountains, An Tir
 (Portland, OR, USA)
 mka Linda Taylor, lmt_inpnw at hotmail.com
  >>


New Year's used to be April 1 under the Julian calendar. It switched to Jan. 
1 under the Gregorian. That's the origin of the term "April Fool" - the fools 
celebrated New Year's day on the wrong day! 

Hope this helps ... 
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