Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday, day before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). In the Latin countries it is the last day of the carnival, called by the French Mardi Gras.

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Shrove Tuesday

Between February 3 and March 9; day before Ash Wednesday

There are a number of names in the West for the last day before the long fast of Lent. The French call it Mardi Gras (meaning "Fat Tuesday"), because it was traditionally a time to use up all the milk, butter, and eggs left in the kitchen. These ingredients often went into pancakes, which is why the English call it Pancake Day and still celebrate it with games and races that involve tossing pancakes in the air.
Other names include Shuttlecock (or Football ) Day, after sports associated with this day; Doughnut Day ; Bannock (or Bannocky ) Day (a bannock being the Scottish equivalent of a pancake), and Fastingong (meaning "approaching a time of fast"). The name "Shrove Tuesday" is derived from the Christian custom of confessing sins and being "shriven" (i.e., absolved) just before Lent.
In northern Sweden, people eat a meat stew. In the south, they eat Shrove Tuesday buns called semlor, made with cardamom, filled with almond paste, and topped with whipped cream.
No matter what its name, the day before Ash Wednesday has long been a time for excessive eating and merrymaking. The Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans is typical of the masquerades and dancing in the streets that take place in many countries on this day as people prepare for the long Lenten fast.
See also Carnival; Cheese Sunday; Cheese Week; Fasching; Fastens-een

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 128
EncyEaster-2002, p. 561
OxYear-1999, p. 606

Celebrated in: Estonia, Finland, Netherlands

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Shrove Tuesday (Bohemia)

Between February 3 and March 9; day before Ash Wednesday

In the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, a mummer known as the "Oats Goat" traditionally is led from house to house on Shrove Tuesday. He dances with the women of the house, and in return they feed him and give him money. Like the Fastnachtsbär (or Shrovetide Bear) in parts of Germany, the Oats Goat is dressed in straw and wears horns on his head. He is associated with fertility; at one time it was widely believed that dancing with the Fastnachtsbär ensured the growth of crops.

SOURCES:
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 370, 807
(c)

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Shrove Tuesday (Estonia)

Between February 3 and March 9; day before Ash Wednesday

Schools are closed in Estonia on the last day before Lent, known as Vastla Päev, and children often spend the entire day sledding. At night, their mothers serve a traditional Shrove Tuesday soup, which is made from pigs' feet boiled with dried peas or lima beans. After dinner, the children play with the vuriluu kont, or the bones left over from the pigs' feet soup. A hole is drilled in each bone and a doubled rope is inserted through the hole. When the contrivance is manipulated in a certain way it causes a terrific rattle, which delights the children and is a traditional way to end the day's celebration.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 102
(c)

Celebrated in: Estonia

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Shrove Tuesday (Finland)

Between February 3 and March 9; day before Ash Wednesday

Children in Finland often spend Shrove Tuesday, a school holiday, sledding and enjoying other outdoor sports. According to an old folk saying, the better the coasting and the longer the hills one rides on Laskiaispäivä, the more bountiful the coming harvest will be. A typical Finnish meal on this day would include pea soup and blini, or rich pancakes, served with caviar and smetana, a kind of sour milk. A typical dessert consists of wheat buns filled with almond paste, placed in deep dishes, and eaten with hot milk.
There are many folk beliefs surrounding Shrove Tuesday. At one time, women would not spin on this day, believing that if they did, no flax would grow the following summer. Men refrained from planing wood, the common wisdom being that if farm animals walked on the chips made by the planes, their feet would become swollen and sore.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 111

Celebrated in: Finland

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Shrove Tuesday (Netherlands)

Between February 3 and March 9; day before Ash Wednesday

The day preceding the Lenten fast is known as Vastenavond (Fast Eve) in the Netherlands, where it is a time for feasting and merrymaking. In the provinces of Limburg and Brabant, it is customary to eat pancakes and oliebollen, or rich fried cakes with currants, raisins, and apples added. Brabant specializes in worstebrood, a special kind of bread that appears ordinary on the outside but is filled with spiced sausage meat.
In the southern part of the country, the Carnival season lasts for three days, beginning on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. In other areas, the celebration is confined to one day. The farmers of Schouwen-en-Duiveland, on the island of Zeeland, still observe the old Vastenavond custom of gathering at the village green with their horses in the afternoon. The animals are carefully groomed and decorated with paper roses. The men ride their horses down to the beach, making sure the animals get their feet wet. The leader of the procession toots on a horn. It is possible that this custom originated in an ancient spring purification rite, when blowing horns was believed to drive away evil spirits and getting wet was a symbolic act of cleansing.

SOURCES:
BkFest-1937, p. 241
FestWestEur-1958, p. 124
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 102

Celebrated in: Netherlands

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Shrove Tuesday (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Between February 3 and March 9; day before Ash Wednesday

Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, work is taboo on Shrove Tuesday, just as it is on other religious holidays. There is an old superstition that if a woman sews on Shrove Tuesday, she will prevent her hens from laying their eggs. Some believe that sewing on this day means that the house will be visited by snakes during the spring and summer.
A special kind of cake or doughnut known as a fasnacht is eaten on this day. Rectangular with a slit down the middle, it is often soaked with molasses and then dunked in saffron tea. Sometimes the fasnachts were crumbled and fed to the chickens in the belief that it would prevent the hawks from snatching the chicks in the spring. Another old custom associated with Shrove Tuesday is "barring out," or locking the teacher out of the local school. In many areas, Christmas is barring-out day.

SOURCES:
EncyChristmas-2000, p. 35
FolkAmerHol-1999, p. 100