Folklore of England

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Shrove Tuesday

Folklore from the old calendars

Football Day at Kingston No longer kept Middlesex, SurreyA Quaker travelling to Kingston upon Thames on Shrove Tuesday 1815 was told by the coachman that it was Football Day.
Going a-shroving near Salisbury No longer kept WiltshireIn the days before Shrovetide the boys round Salisbury went from door to door singing for apples, dumplings, cheese or pancake.
Great A, little A, this is pancake day No longer kept Northern EnglandIn parts of the north of England girls spent some of Shrove Tuesday playing battledore and shuttlecock, singing a rhyme as they played.
Hobthrust and the Fassen’s-eve cock Lore and belief Northern EnglandIn some northern farmhouses a cock and bacon were boiled on Shrove Tuesday evening, and everyone was expected to eat their fill.
Holly Boy and Ivy Girl No longer kept KentLate in the eighteenth century a Kentish village kept a Shrovetide custom in two halves.
Hurdles on the windows at Teddington No longer kept MiddlesexShrove Tuesday football at Teddington was played with such spirit that careful householders protected their windows with hurdles and bushes.
Leaden cocks at Shrovetide No longer kept EnglandWhen throwing at live cocks was stopped, toy cocks on heavy lead stands were put up for the boys at Shrovetide wakes and fairs, and whoever knocked one over kept it.
Leek pasties at Earls Barton No longer kept NorthamptonshireOn Shrove Tuesday the shoemakers of Earls Barton carried a chaff-cutter and a heap of leeks onto the village green and chopped them in public for leek pasties.
Lent Crocking No longer kept Dorset, WiltshireIn Dorset and Wiltshire boys went shroving in small bands, armed with the year's broken crockery.
Ludlow Rope-pulling No longer kept ShropshireOn Shrove Tuesday the Ludlow corporation handed a thick rope, thirty-six yards long, out of a window of the Market Hall at four o'clock.
Pancakes from the church leads at Sheffield No longer kept YorkshireAt Sheffield, pancakes were said to be thrown from the church roofs on Shrove Tuesday as the clock struck twelve.
Ringing the Pancake Bell in York Minster No longer kept YorkshireAt York it was an old custom that on Shrove Tuesday the apprentices, journeymen and servants of the city were free to go into the minster and ring the pancake bell.
Shrove Tuesday football at Dorking No longer kept SurreyDorking played football through its main streets every Shrove Tuesday, and shopkeepers barricaded their fronts for the afternoon.
Shrove Tuesday Weather Lore and belief EnglandThe Shepherd's Almanack of 1676 recorded two pieces of weather lore for Shrove Tuesday.
Shrovetide cockfights at Crosthwaite school No longer kept CumberlandAt Shrovetide the scholars of the school in Crosthwaite parish each brought a cock to fight at the school, and gave the master a present of money for allowing it.
Shying at buried cocks at Manchester school No longer kept LancashireAt the grammar school in Manchester the master provided cocks on Shrove Tuesday, which were buried up to their necks for the boys to shy at, and he was well paid for them.
Six silver glaives for the Chester runners No longer kept CheshireEvery Shrove Tuesday the shoemakers of Chester gave the drapers a leather football before the mayor at the cross on the Roodee, and the game was played from there to the Common Hall.
Sown on Shrove Tuesday Lore and belief EnglandThe Book of Knowledge of 1703 held that whatever was planted or sown on Shrove Tuesday would always stay green.
Stoning the doors in Scilly No longer kept Isles of ScillyHeath's account of the Isles of Scilly says that every Shrove Tuesday, once the throwing at cocks was over, the island boys spent the evening throwing stones at the doors of the houses.
The apprentices’ Shrove Tuesday No longer kept LondonUntil a few years before Hone wrote, Shrove Tuesday was the great holiday of the London apprentices.
The Bromfield silver bell and churchyard football No longer kept CumberlandWhen the Bromfield scholars had barred out their master at Fastings Even, one of the terms they always won was a cock-fight and a football match.
The Danes and the Shrove Tuesday cocks No longer kept EnglandThrowing at cocks on Shrove Tuesday was said to be revenge on the birds whose crowing had betrayed an English plot against the Danes.
The First Pancake No longer kept EnglandBy custom the first pancake off the pan was given to the laziest member of the household or the last one out of bed, though since nobody would own to it, it usually went to the dog.
The football over Alnwick Castle wall Still kept NorthumberlandBrand was told, and saw for himself on 5 February 1788, that at Alnwick the town waits came playing to the castle at two o'clock every Shrove Tuesday.

Folklore of England

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday, not tied to the day

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