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holidays-msg - 2/6/08

 

Halloween, Samhain, other Medieval holidays.

 

NOTE: See also the files: fairs-msg, Yule-msg, Candlemas-msg, 12th-nite-msg, Christmas-art, 12th-nite-msg, Holiday-Celeb-lnks, Jewsh-Holiday-art, Halloween-lnks, Spring-Celeb-lnks.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: MS7539 at CONRAD (Stewart, Marie Alston )

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Vampires... Halloween info

Date: 21 Mar 1994 23:31:25 GMT

Organization: APPALACHIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

 

      Greetings all...  

 

      Forgive me I do not have the name of the person who posted this

tidbit,  but if you are reading this... I would love to see the documentation

for your statement... that...  Dressing up at Halloween, All Hallow's,

Samhain... was period....

 

      I beg to differ...  

 

      The only proof of customs that I can find are as follows...

 

1.  A proclomation by Queen Elizabeth I  stating that the ringing of bells

on Allhallowntide and at Al Souls' Day, with the two nights next before and

after, be prohibited"  

      From Strype's "Annals of the Reformation"

 

2. There is also a series of entries in the Heybridge Parish, near Malden

in Essex that calls for a new bell "knapple" clapper and rope  "agenste

Hallowmasse."  The entry is dated 1517.

 

3. A book called "The Festyvall"  written in 1511...  describes the customs

of the day in England and Wales at the time...  no mention of costumes is made

      However,  it does make mention of a custom of baking a cake for each

member of the house... Hence why Halloween is still known in the back waters

of Wales as Cake Day...  

 

4. Also Shakespeare's 2 gentlemen of Verona.. describes the tradition of the

populace to go a-souling...  This was when groups would travel from parish

to parish singing and begging soul-cakes... The same cakes as mentioned

above.  But there is no mention that it is done in any form of costume...

      that is I think there isn't,  and drat my copy of the bard is at

the other house...  piffle... I'll go look that one up...

 

5. The peasants in Ireland also went from house to house... collecting food

(apples and nuts, and cakes)  The procession is described as carrying torches

and the hill fires were lighted from the torches brought from each houses

hearth.    Again no mention of costume...  sorry...

 

6.  I also have replicas of wood cuts from the 14-15th centuries showing the

game of bobbing for apples and also of string apples.  One of the few modern

parts of Halloween that actually has some mideval roots...

 

7.  The only times that I can find where  masks and costumes were popular

are during the Feast of Fools and at the time of Carnival...  Neither

festival is near August... so

 

      This brings me to the point of all this... saying that the people

who choose to dress as vampires are just dressing up as they would in the

middle ages for Halloween, is, to me, a weak arguement...

      also I have found little proof that dressing as a malignant spirit

was popular... The instances I have found were generally only in morality

plays...  so the common person wouldn't be doing it...

 

      On the other hand from what I know of Russian folklore... the average

joe wouldn't go about saying the name of these creatures, let alone dressing

up like one of the damned...

 

      So please,  if there is some bit of evidence to the contrary,

enlighten me...  After all I am here to learn, and share what I know about

the time.  

 

      Also if any vampires are lurking and hope to run into me at

Pensic...  rethink that idea...

 

      Sincerely,  and hoping to find out more...

 

            The MacLean of Atlantia  

 

 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: lynch_c at csvax1.ucc.ie (Conor Lynch (U.C.C. Ireland))

Subject: Re: Vampires... Halloween info

Organization: Computer Science Dept. University College, Cork, Ireland.

Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 13:16:24 GMT

 

In article <1994Mar22.045309.15416 at sol.cs.wmich.edu>, Dale at sol.cs.wmich.edu (Dale Gee) writes:

>In article <2mlaod$3er at lester.appstate.edu> MS7539 at CONRAD (Stewart, Marie Alston         ) writes:

>>

>>Forgive me I do not have the name of the person who posted thisI would love

>>to see the documentation for your statement... that...  Dressing up at

>>Halloween,  All Hallow's, Samhain... was period....

>>

>It said that tradition of wearing a cosutume or a disguise

>came from the middle ages when people thought that all the spirits of the

>nether world rose up and roamed the earth on All Hallows Eve.

 

>Clynch> The idea of dressing up on the feast of Samhain is as old as the feast

of Samhain itself. The feast predates Christian times by a couple of thousand

years. Therefore it is period although it would not be period to refer to the

festival as Halloween or All Hallows eve.

Samhain in period was much more a pagan festival than it is today or at least

that was the case in Ireland where it formed one point of the yearly cycle of

which there were four; Imbolc, Samhain, Bealtane, Lughnasa

 

 

From: tmarsh at utic (Todd Marsh)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Help with Dates of Holidays

Date: 23 Jan 1995 06:06:52 GMT

 

Rosayln MacGregor of Glen Orchy wrote:

: As to canon vs. civil, I'd be interested in knowing if there were civil

: holidays observed by Elizabethan English people.

 

One of the popular civil holidays during Elizabeth's reign was the

anniversary of her accession to the throne.

 

"Her Accession Day, 17 November, began to be celebrated all over the

country with bell-ringing and bonfires, feasts and sermons - and this was

a spontaneous movement, not brought into being by any government

legislation.  Indeed, such was its aura, that the day went on being

celebrated long after her death, for more than a century. At the Court

it came to be signalised by the famous Accession Day Tilts, and was an

occaision for popular rejoicing: a secular feast grander than any of 'the

Pope's holydays'."

 

Quoting from "The Elizabethan Renaissance"  by A.L. Rowse,

Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971, LC 70-172948, pg 34.

 

***************************************************************************

Lord Llywelyn Gruffydd                           Todd Marsh, MIS Consultant

Ansteorra, Barony of Elfsea                      tmarsh at utic.unicomp.net

Cadet to Don Robin of Gilwell

 

 

From: Jo Lori Drake <jldrake at tasc.com>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Medieval Holidays?

Date: 26 Apr 1995 19:08:56 GMT

Organization: TASC

 

There is recently published book on Medieval Holidays:

 

Hutton, Ronald.  Rise and Fall of Merry England: the ritual year

1400-1700.  Oxford University Press. 1994

 

I just checked it out of the library last night.  It is limited in

time and geography, but it's got great information on what holdidays

were celebrated at this time period and how they were celebrated.

 

The author uses primary sources almost exclusively, but writes in

a very lucid, accessible style.

 

Enjoy!

Rhian Lyth

 

 

From: doug_brunner at hp-corvallis.om.hp.com (Doug Brunner)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: History of April Fools' Day?

Date: 13 Feb 1996 01:05:51 GMT

Organization: Hewlett Packard Inkjet Comp. Div.

 

jeffs at bu.edu (Jeff Suzuki) writes:

> I'm looking for references on the history of April Fools day, All Fools

>Day, a Festival of Fools and related holidays.

 

    Check me, I could be wrong, but -(now there's a lead in). Memory says that

April Fool's Day was once New Years. When either the Church or the King

changed it to January 1, some people still held onto the old ways. These

eventually became known as April Poisson(sp?), or April's Fish, in French.

There are a couple of references. One is "Customs of Mankind", who's author

escapes me , at the moment. The other is something like "Holidays and other

excuses for Merry Making". They're both printed in the earlier part of this

century, but they're very entertaining, if nothing else. You might also

check out some French History.

 

Bruno vonBrunner

Woods Crafter/ Merchant

The Termite of Shrewsbury

 

 

From: jeffs at bu.edu (Jeff Suzuki)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: History of April Fools' Day?

Date: 21 Feb 1996 15:43:20 GMT

Organization: Boston University

 

Doug Brunner (doug_brunner at hp-corvallis.om.hp.com) wrote:

> Check me, I could be wrong, but -(now there's a lead in). Memory

> says that : April Fool's Day was once New Years. When either the

> Church or the King : changed it to January 1, some people still held

> onto the old ways. These : eventually became known as April

> Poisson(sp?), or April's Fish, in French.

 

I'd heard the same thing; Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

gives the following explanation: March 25 (Ladyday) used to be the

first day of the year (it's right after the vernal equinox), and April

1 was the end of the "octave" (presumably, the end of the week) of

celebration of the new year and it was a traditional time to play

tricks on each other.

 

(In England, the beginning of the year didn't shift until England

switched to the Gregorian calendar, in 1752.  This led to some amusing

events, like Shakespeare and Cervantes dying on the same date...eleven

days apart.  April Fools, etc., is all tied up with "Thirty Days Hath

September, all the rest I can't remember..." and someday, someday...)

 

William the Alchymist

 

 

From: Mjccmc01 at aol.com

To: ansteorra at eden.com

Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996

Subject: Re: Mardi Gras (In Elizabethan England)

 

Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday as it was (and is still) called in the

English-speaking countries, was the festival that was celebrated on the

Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.  According to Daily Life In Elizabethan England

by John Singley (a really fabulous, affordable and highly recommended book):

 

"This holiday was the last day before the fasting season of Lent.  On the

Continent, this day was celebrated with wild abandon, reflected in the modern

Mardi Gras.  The English version was more subdued but still involved ritual

feasting and violence.  (Doesn't this sound like an event?)  On this day it

was traditional to eat fritters and pancakes.  It was also a day for playing

football (a game much rougher than any of its modern namesakes), and for the

sport of "cockthrashing" or "Cockshys."  In cockthrashing, the participants

tied a cock to a stake and threw sticks at it; they payed the owner of the

cock a few pence for each try, and a person who could knock down the cock and

pick it up before the cock regained its feet won the cock as a prize.  In

towns, this was often a day for the apprentices to riot; their violence was

often aimed against those who transgressed sexual mores, especially

prostitutes.  The two days previous were sometimes called Shrove Monday and

Shrove Sunday."

 

Aubrey, you may cheerfully ignore that apprentice business.

 

I believe I can find some information regarding Mardi Gras celebration in

Italy if anyone is interested, but I knew right where this was.  Reply if you

interested and I'll try to find it.

 

Siobhan Ni'Breoghan Fitzlloyd

Have a great Shrove Tuesday and stay away from roosters, apprentices and

prostitutes.

 

 

From: Mjccmc01 at aol.com

To: ansteorra at eden.com

Date: Tue, 20 Feb 1996

Subject: Re: Mardi Gras (In Italy, as requested)

 

In Italy, Mardi Gras, or carnival, as it was called (which is from the Latin

"carne vale,: or farewell to meat, indicating a period of fasting to follow)

was a much more elaborate affair than in England.  The custom was to go to the

festivities masked, and as the years progressed the masks grew more and more

elaborate.  Originally, this festival was a time to present miracle and

mystery plays; however, as the Renaissance began to grow, the pageants began

to reflect less religious themes, and the pageantry became the sole purpose,

with no pretense made at religious education.  In Rome, the custom evolved of

emulating the triumphs of Classical Roman Conquerors, complete with conquered

kings in chains, senators, chariots, wagons loaded with "spoils of war," etc.

In the Carnival of 1500, Cesare Borgia celebrated the triumph of Julius

Caesar (typically subtle).

 

In Venice, the festivities were no less grand; there are references to being

unable to even see the water for all the decorated boats. Mock tournaments

(horses and all)  were held in St. Mark's.  Interestingly, Noah was a popular

figure in Venetian decorations.

 

Florence, however, outshone them all during the Renaissance.  Allegorical and

fantastic ceratures paraded through the street.  Most of the guilds of  the

city were pledged to provide at least ten chariots. Lorenzo de'Medici  (The

Magnificent) wrote (or is credited with) several of the songs sung by various

groups of marchers, and various collections of these are fairly easy to find.

 

General reading on Italian society:  Gene Brucker, Ed., The Society of

Renaissance Florence, A Documentary Study; Burckhardt, Jacob, The

Civilization fo the Renaissance in Italy.  New York: The Modern Library,

1954; Henisch, Bridget Ann, Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society.

University Park:  Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976.

 

With best wishes for a happy Mardi Gras, Carnival, and Shrove Tuesday, I'll

leave you with a favorite, in translation:

 

Youth is beautiful, but it flies away!  Who would be cheerful, let him be; of

the morrow there is no certainty.  (Burckhardt, p. 317)

 

Festively,

Siobhan

 

 

From: dickeney at access2.digex.net (Dick Eney)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Valentine's Day

Date: 5 Feb 1997 21:57:10 -0500

Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA

 

Valentine's Day is mentioned in Chaucer (1381) with respect to "byrds"

choosing their mates (byrds being a synonym even then for young women).

Lydgate's _Min. (Minnesinger?) Poems_ lists one in 1430 "A balade made ..

in wyse of chesing loves at Saint Valentyne's Day". Later evidence shows

that one custom was to embrace the first person of the opposite sex that

you met that day as your valentine.  Young people would meet the night

before, on Valentine's Eve, to draw lots to see who would be their

valentine the next day.  These two customs persisted at least through

1729.

 

So a poem written to your Valentine would be quite appropriately medieval.

 

=Tamar the Gypsy (sharing account dickeney at access.digex.net)

 

 

From: jeffs at bu.edu (Jeff Suzuki)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Mardi Gras

Date: 21 Mar 1997 19:32:22 GMT

Organization: Boston University

 

Mary Shafer (shafer at spdcc.com) wrote:

: Actually, Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is 47 days before

: Easter.  The 40 days referred to above are the days that are fast

: days.  Sundays aren't fast days.  Thus, Lent is a period of 40 fast

: days (not counting Sundays, which aren't fast days), not 40 calendar

: days.

 

Ah.  This explains some things I was wondering about.

 

Serious question:  if Sundays aren't fast days, what are they?

(Insofar as dietary restrictions, etc.)  

 

Jeffs/William

 

 

From: bekka1 at ix.netcom.com(rebecca fildes)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Mardi Gras

Date: 20 Mar 1997 02:02:49 GMT

 

<E778J1.Kr3 at spdcc.com> shafer at spdcc.com (Mary Shafer) writes:

 

<large snip>

 

  Fast days are not days on which no one can

>eat, but days on which one cannot eat certain foods, such as meats and

>"luxury" foods.  

 

<more snipping>

 

>Mary Shafer  DoD #0362 KotFR  shafer at ursa-major.spdcc.com

>URL http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/People/Shafer/mary.html

Please forgive me, Mary, for I am about to nitpick.  Your reply was

quite accurate save for one thing: the confusion of a day of 'fast'

with a day of 'abstinence'. Simply replace in your post 'abstinence'

for 'fast' and you then become completely correct.

A fast day *is* a day when one cannot eat, or must limit the *amount*

of food eaten.

A day of abstinence is a day when one *abstains* from eating certain

foods, such as meat. What you are describing here are days of

abstinence.

In much of the Middle Ages, Lent was a time of abstinence (no meat or

eggs, etc) and for many, especially those in religious orders, a time

of fasting as well.

I am, of course, using the Catholic doctrinal definition of the words

'fast' and 'abstinence', but since we were discussing Lent and Mardi

Gras, I felt I should speak up.

    Thank you for your patience with my nickpicking,

    Leofwynn Criostai

    mka Rebecca Fildes

    bekka1 at ix.netcom.com

 

 

From: geard at clear.net.nz (J Geard)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Favors

Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1998 09:32:52 GMT

 

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 02:31:39 -0400, frasers at surenet.net (A. Stephen

Fraser) wrote:

>But I can face up

>to the fact that even Easter itself is a mixture of Christian and Pagan

>celebration (Easter was the celebration to the Pagan God Esther; The God

>of fertility I believe - Hence the eggs.  Someone correct me on this if

>I'm wrong please)

 

This may not be the appropriate forum, but...

 

It was my understanding that the _only_ reference anywhere to the

goddess <Eostre> was by (the very Christian) Bede, who started the

story that Easter was named for her. I've seen claims that she was

Germanic -- although she doen't turn up in the Eddas, which are

otherwise pretty full of minor deities -- and even a claim that she

was Celtic. I have seen nothing solid to back up any claims about her.

I _have_ seen claims that Bede should be believed only with a large

lump of corroborating evidence. Anyone know of such evidence?

 

Your humble servant,

  Alys le Chaunster

  In the final days before Pascha