Herring first, saltfish last

Ash Wednesday · England

No longer kept

The thrifty farmer ate his herring early in Lent and kept the saltfish for last, because saltfish still ate well once Lent was over. Tusser also argued that a Lent well kept spared the young stock, since March and April were the breeding months. He wanted the Lenten fish bought in beforehand, straight after harvest.

Let Lent well kept offend not thee, / for March and Aprill breeders bee: / Spend herring first, saue saltfish last, / for saltfish is good, when Lent is past.

From Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, p. 28. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Black clothes for Lent No longer kept WalesSome old people in Wales used to wear black clothes all through Lent as a sign of the season.
Rods for Lent at St Mary-at-Hill No longer kept LondonBefore the Reformation the London parish of St Mary-at-Hill bought rods for the penitential discipline of Lent.
Clacking at doors on Ash Wednesday No longer kept EnglandOn Ash Wednesday boys went about clacking at doors, begging eggs or scraps of bacon to make a feast among themselves.
Jack o’ Lent at Polperro No longer kept CornwallAt the start of Lent, Polperro people carried a straw figure in old clothes round the village and then burnt it, shot at it or otherwise disposed of it.
Pancakes and grey peas at Leeds Lore and belief YorkshireAt Leeds it was said that anyone who ate pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and grey peas on Ash Wednesday would have money in their pocket all the year.
Ashes that outlived the Reformation Still kept EnglandGiving ashes on Ash Wednesday was said to be almost the only Catholic custom to survive the Reformation under Henry VIII.
Wind on Ash Wednesday Lore and belief NorfolkIt was a proverb in Norfolk that wherever the wind lay on Ash Wednesday, there it would stay for the whole of Lent.
Staying Away from the Commination Lore and belief EnglandOn Ash Wednesday the Church of England reads the Commination, the curses against impenitent sinners, with the people answering Amen to each.
The King’s Cock Crower No longer kept LondonThrough Lent an officer of the royal household called the King's Cock Crower used to crow the hours each night within the palace instead of calling them like a watchman, in memory of the cock that called St Peter to repentance.
Jack-a-Lent No longer kept EnglandOn Ash Wednesday, the Shrovetide cocks being done with, a thin scarecrow of a puppet called a Jack-a-Lent was set up and pelted with sticks.

Herring first, saltfish last

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