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.
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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