St George's Day

What and when is St George’s Day?

St George’s Day is England’s National Day and is celebrated on the 23^rd April.

Who was St George?

It is believed that Saint George was born sometime during the late third century between AD 275 and AD 285 into a Christian family in Lod Syria Palaestina and he died in Nicomedia. His father - Gerontius was a Roman army official from Cappadocia (Eastern Turkey) and his mother - Polychronia was from Palestine. Both his parents were Christians and from noble families of Anici so as a child St George was raised with Christian beliefs. They decided to call him Georgius (Latin) or Georgios (Greek) which means "worker of the land". At the age of 14 - George lost his father and a few years later George's mother - Polychronia, died. George decided to go to Nicomedia - the imperial city of the time and present himself to Emperor Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with open arms as he had known his father - Gerontius who had been one of his finest soldiers. By his late 20s George was promoted to the rank of Tribunus and stationed as an imperial guard of the Emperor at Nicomedia.

In the year AD 302 Diocletian issued a proclamation that every Christian soldier in the army should be arrested and every other soldier should offer a sacrifice to the Roman Gods of the time. George objected to this and with the courage of his faith he approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was genuinely upset as he did not want to lose his best Tribune and son of his best official - Gerontius. George rejected the Emperor's edict and in front of his fellow soldiers and Tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian and declared his worship of Jesus Christ. Diocletian attempted to convert George – offering him gifts of land / money and slaves if he made a sacrifice to the Roman Gods. The Emperor made many offers but George accepted nothing.

Understanding the futility of his efforts Diocletian was left with no choice but to have him executed for his refusal to comply. Before the execution George gave his wealth to the poor and prepared himself. After various torture sessions - including laceration on a wheel of swords in which he had to be resuscitated three times George was executed by beheading before Nicomedia's city wall on April 23 AD 303.

A witness of George’s suffering convinced Empress Alexandra and Athanasius - a pagan priest to also become Christians and therefore they joined George in martyrdom. His body was returned to Lydda in Palestine for burial where Christians soon came to honour him as a martyr.

St George – Patron Saint

St George is not only the patron saint of England – he is also patron saint of many other countries and cities which include:

Countries:

·         Bosnia & Herzegovina

·         Bulgaria

·         Canada

·         Catalonia

·         Croatia

·         Cyprus

·         Greece

·         Georgia

·         Republic of Macedonia

·         Romania

·         Serbia

Cities:

·         Beirut – Lebanon

·         Genova – Italy

·         Ljubljana – Slovenia

·         Moscow - Russia

·         Qormi & Victoria – Malta

He is also celebrated in the old “Crown of Aragon” in Spain which includes: Aragon / Catalonia / Valencia and Majorca.  

How Do We Celebrate St George’s Day?

The tradition of celebrating St George’s Day waned towards the end of the 18^th Century after the union of England and Scotland. However the link with St George continues today in various ways. Salisbury holds an annual St George’s Day pageant – it is believed the origins of this pageant go back to the 13^th Century.

In more recent years there has been resurgence in popularity for St George’s Day and in 2006 BBC Radio 3 had a full programme St George’s Day events and also the Conservative MP for Romford even put the argument forward in the House of Commons to make St George’s Day a public holiday.

In 2009 Boris Johnson the Mayor of London spearheaded a campaign to encourage the celebration of St George’s Day.

Today we celebrate St George’s Day in various ways such as: Morris dancing / Punch & Judy shows / fly the St George’s flag (pubs in particular) / some people even choose to wear a red rose in their lapel (this is a very old custom) / traditional English foods and drink (for example: afternoon tea) may be eaten.

Another custom is for the hymn: “Jerusalem” to be sung throughout cathedrals / churches and chapels on St George’s Day or the closest Sunday to St George’s Day

The Legend of St George and the Dragon

The legend (story) of St George and the Dragon goes as follows:

St George had been travelling over land and sea for many months until he finally arrived in Libya. When he arrived in Libya he came across a poor hermit who told St George that the land and its people were in great distress as a dragon had been ravaging the country for many months.

The poor hermit told St George that the dragon had demanded the sacrifice of beautiful young maidens and now the only young maiden alive was the daughter of the King. The poor hermit told St George that unless the people of the land found a brave knight to slay the dragon the King’s daughter would be sacrificed the following day. The King of Egypt had agreed to give his daughter in marriage to the knight who overcame the dragon.

When St George heard this tale he was determined to attempt to save the Princess so that night he rested at the hermit’s home and when dawn came he set out to the valley where the dragon lived. Upon nearing the valley St George saw a procession of women that was being led by a beautiful maiden who was dressed in pure Arabian silk. The beautiful maiden was the King’s daughter – Princess Sabra and the women in the procession were her attendants. St George overtook the ladies and comforted them with brave words and persuaded all the ladies to go back to the palace – he then went into the valley.

The dragon saw St George immediately he entered the valley and rushed from its cave roaring at him. The dragon’s head was huge and its tail was more than fifty feet long. St George was not afraid (or at least did not show any fear) and struck the dragon with his spear hoping to wound it but because the dragons scales were so hard the spear broke in two and St George fell from his horse. He was fortunate in that there was an enchanted orange tree that he rolled under and because poison could not get through the dragon was not able to hurt him. This allowed St George time to recover his strength until he was able to fight again.

He fought the dragon with his sword however the dragon poured poison on him splitting his armour in two – St George again retreated to the orange tree to regain his strength and once he was fully recovered he faced the dragon again. This time he rushed at the dragon and pierced it under the wing (where there were no scales) and the dragon fell dead at his feet.

Enjoy your St George's day - whatever you're doing :D

Written by: Andria Owen

Tichborne Dole - March 25th

Tichborne Dole

Tichborne Dole

The tradition of the Tichborne Dole dates back to the 12th century (circa 1150) and is held every Lady Day which falls on March 25^th (regardless of the day of the week) when approximately two tons of high-grade self-raising flour is dispensed. If Lady Day falls on a weekend that figure can be 20% higher due to more people not working on the weekend. The terms of the Dole stipulated that the adults from the parishes of Tichborne / Cheriton and Lane End (Hampshire) are entitled to claim one gallon of flour each whilst the children were entitled to claim half a gallon each.

Before the flour is shared out it is blessed by the local parish priest and the huge flour box is sprinkled with incense and holy water. Then a blessing is made on the soul of Lady Mabella Tichborne who started it all. 

Who was Lady Mabella Tichborne?

Lady Mabella Tichborne - noted for her charity and piety - was married to Roger de Tichborne. Sir Roger was a professional soldier and his character was in stark contrast to that of his saintly wife. Even the imminent death of Lady Mabella failed to arouse any compassion in him. Her final request that the value of a small portion of the Tichborne estates be given annually to the poor of the parish in the form of a Dole was greeted with typical cruelty. No supporter of charity Roger answered his aged wife's plea by saying that he would agree to give every year the value of as much land as she could encompass while holding a blazing torch in her hand.

The Crawls

According to local folklore Lady Mabella - who was crippled by a wasting disease - crawled around 23 acres (93,000 square metres) of land before the torch went out. She charged her husband and his heirs to forever give the produce value of that land to the poor as agreed, however being mindful of Sir Roger's black character – Lady Mabella added a proviso to her request. She said that should the Dole ever be stopped then seven sons would be born to the house / followed immediately by a generation of seven daughters / after which the name would die out and the ancient house fall into ruin.

To this day there is a field at Tichborne known as "The Crawls".

The custom of giving the Dole - in the form of bread continued for over 600 years until 1794 when Magistrates abolished this custom due to abuse by vagabonds and vagrants.

The Curse

The custom of giving the Dole - in the form of bread continued from the time of Lady Tichborne's death until 1796 when due to disturbances during the handing out of the Dole lead to local Magistrates ordering it to cease.

Clearly somebody had forgotten Lady Mabella's curse!!

At that time Sir Henry Tichborne had seven sons. In 1802, George, the sixth son, died at the age of 13 and the same year the old house partly fell and was partly pulled down.

Four years later John - the fifth son died unmarried in the East Indies.

Another four years saw Benjamin - the second son die in China. He had also been a bachelor.

A few years later - seventh son Roger died. He was married without children. However, Henry - the eldest son managed to father seven children ........all of them girls.

Edward - the third son changed his name to Doughty in 1826. He produced the much wanted male heir. Sadly in 1835 the six-year-old Henry suddenly died. Edward Doughty immediately revived the Dole which has continued ever since. 

James - the fourth son married in 1827 and produced two sons. One son was born before the restoration of the Dole and the other after the restoration of the Dole. The eldest son - Roger Charles Tichborne was lost at sea in 1845 however he was impersonated two decades later. The unsuccessful claimant was unmasked as Arthur Orton - a butcher. The legal case dragged on for two years and cost the family £100,000 to defend their estates.

Alfred Joseph - the youngest of James's sons was the only one to survive Lady Mabella's deathbed curse. He was the great grandfather of the late Sir Anthony Doughty Tichborne - the 14th baronet.

The Seven Sons

·         Sir Henry Joseph Tichborne, 8th Bt (1779-1845)

·         Capt Benjamin Edward Tichborne, EICS (1780-1810 in China)

·         Sir Edward Tichborne-Doughty, 9th Bt (1782-1853)

·         Sir James Francis Tichborne, 10th Bt (1784-1862)

·         John Michael Tichborne (1788-1806) Died at Vellore, near Madras, India

·         George Tichborne (1789-1802)

·         Roger Robert Tichborne (1792-1849) married Rebecca Nunez, no male issue

The Seven Daughters of Sir Henry Tichborne, 8th Bt and Anne (daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, 1st Bt)

·         Eliza Anne Tichborne, married the 11th Baron Dormer

·         Frances Catherine Tichborne, married 11th Baron Arundell of Wardour (3rd wife, married 1829, died 1836)

·         Julia Tichborne, married firstly (1830) Charles Talbot, secondly Washington Hibbert

·         Mary Tichborne, died 1827

·         Catherine Caroline Tichborne, married William Greenwood

·         Lucy Ellen Tichborne, married Colonel John Towneley

·         Emily Blanche Tichborne, married firstly John Bennett, secondly Matthew Higgins

The above table was found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tichborne_Dole

Other Information

·         Villagers just don't want to miss the occasion as it is both an important link with the past and a great opportunity to meet the neighbours :D  

·         To carry their Dole back home villagers bring carrier bags / pillow cases / any type of suitable receptacle.

·         Their booty (the flour) - a family of six merits the maximum of 28lbs of flour - is worth having in any age and is particularly welcome to the elderly and needy.

·         Only those families living in Tichborne, Cheriton and Lane End are entitled to the Dole.


Written by: Andria Owen

Shrove Tuesday

What Is & When Is Shrove Tuesday?:

Shrove Tuesday is the term used for the day preceding Ash Wednesday (Ash Wednesday is the first day of the period of fasting and prayer Christians call Lent).

Shrove Tuesday is usually observed in English-speaking countries - especially in the United Kingdom / Ireland / Canada / Australia / New Zealand / the Philippines / Germany and even parts of the United States. Shrove Tuesday is linked to Easter and therefore the date changes annually.

What Does Shrove Mean?:

The word shrove is the past tense of the English verb to shrive: which means “to obtain absolution for one's sins by way of confession and doing penance”.

During the week before Lent which was sometimes called Shrovetide in English: Christians were expected to go to confession. They went to confess their sins so they were forgiven before Lent began.

Why Do We Eat Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?:

As Lent is a time when we give things up for 40 days (I usually give up chocolate / crisps or something else considered unhealthy) Shrove Tuesday is the last opportunity to indulge yourself before Lent and to use up foods such as fat / butter and eggs – foods that were not allowed during Lent. The season of Lent emphasised refraining from eating food that would give pleasure and eat plainer food instead. In many cultures this means giving up meat / dairy or eggs for Lent.

Pancake Recipe:

Recipe for basic pancake recipe for 8 pancakes:

·         4oz (100g) plain flour

·         Half a Pint (250ml) of milk

·         1 Standard Egg (Size 2)

·         Pinch of Salt (half teaspoon)

Extra Ingredients to finish the pancakes:

·         2oz (50g) Lard or Fat – for the frying pan

·         Sugar, Lemon, Orange. Etc to add flavour

Making the Pancake Batter:

1.    Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.

Make a small hollow in the centre of the mixture and drop in the egg (not the shell)

2.    Begin to mix while gradually adding about one quarter of the milk. Continue to mix well until bubbles become visible in the mixture.

3.    Gradually pour in the remaining milk while continuing to mix. (If it’s a bit too think – then add a little water.)

4.    Pour batter into a jug for easier pouring into pan.

Making the Pancakes:

1.    Heat the frying pan, and place a small piece of lard/fat in the centre. Allow this to melt and spread over the pan.

2.    Get the pan nice & hot and when the lard begins to smoke slightly, stir and pour in some of the batter – approx 30ml or 2 tablespoons, or enough to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. (Tilt the pan to help the batter spread evenly).

3.    Cook until nicely golden brown on the bottom. (Shouldn’t take too long)

4.    And now the only tricky bit of the whole operation – toss / flip the pancake to within an inch of the kitchen ceiling and position the pan to perfectly catch the pancake on the way down – cooked side up, easy. (You could of course just turn it over with a big plastic spoon, but where’s the fun in that? ;-)

5.    Cook the other side until nicely golden brown.

6.    Serve immediately with sugar, syrup, lemon or orange poured on top.

7.    Err ..........eat the thing, anyway you want. (Tip – when frying never turn the pancake more than once.)

Easy pancake recipe – Topping ideas:

·         Strawberries

·         Lemon

·         Orange juice

·         Honey. Maple Syrup, Golden Syrup

·         Grated cheese

·         Sugar

·         Raspberries

·         Chocolate sauce, Blueberry sauce – plus more or less anything you care to try

The recipe is thanks to: http://www.easy-pancake-recipe.com/

Traditions and Festivities around the UK:

Shrove Tuesday Football (“Mob Football”):

Shrove Tuesday Football or “Mob Football” dates as far back as the 12^th century and in England many towns held traditional games as part of community celebrations however this practice mainly died out in the 19th century. This was due to the passing of the Highway Act 1835 which banned the playing of football on public highways. Today there are still a number of towns who have maintained the tradition.

These towns and the names they call the game are:

·         Alnwick in Northumberland

·         Ashbourne in Derbyshire - the Royal Shrovetide Football Match

·         Atherstone in Warwickshire - the Ball Game

·         Sedgefield in County Durham - the Ball Game

·         St Columb Major in Cornwall - Hurling the Silver Ball

Mob Football

Pancake Races:

One of many Pancake Races held today

Shrove Tuesday was once known as a 'half-holiday' in England. The “half-holiday” started at 11:00am with the signalling of a church bell. On Pancake Day pancake races are held in towns and villages across the United Kingdom. The tradition of pancake races is said to have originated when a housewife from Olney was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake.

Pancake races still remain a relatively common tradition in the UK - in England in particular. Contestants – traditionally women - with frying pans race through the streets tossing pancakes into the air catching them in the pan whilst running. The winner is the first to cross the line having tossed the pancake a certain number of times. When men want to participate in a pancake race they must dress up as a housewife and wear an apron and a headscarf.

And in Olney – the town where pancake races have been held since 1445 - a pancake race still takes place every year on Shrove Tuesday.

And since 1950 the people of Liberal - Kansas and Olney have held the "International Pancake Day" race between the two towns. Competitors from the two towns race along an agreed-upon measured course and to determine the overall winner the times of the two competitors are compared and the winning time wins the race.

After the 2009 race Liberal - Kansas was leading with 34 wins to Olney's 25.

A similar race is also held in North Somercotes of Lincolnshire in eastern England.

Miscellaneous Festivities:

Scarborough: celebrates Pancake Day by closing the foreshore to all traffic and closing schools early – the town then invites everyone to skip. Traditionally long ropes were used from the nearby harbour. The town crier rings the pancake bell which is situated on the corner of Westborough (Main Street) and Huntress Row.

Whitechapel – Lancashire: the children of the hamlet of Whitechapel - Lancashire keep alive a local tradition. This tradition is that the children visit local households and ask "please a pancake" – they are rewarded with oranges or sweets. It is thought this custom arose when farm workers visited wealthy farm and manor owners to ask for pancakes or pancake fillings.

Traditions & Other Names for Shrove Tuesday Around the World:

Canada:

In Canada amongst Anglicans / Lutherans / some other Protestant denominations that include ethnic British communities / as well as Catholics this day is also known as Pancake Tuesday and it is customary to eat pancakes.

In Newfoundland and Labrador small tokens are frequently cooked into the pancakes. Children take delight in discovering these objects - which are intended to be divinatory. For example: the person who finds a coin will be wealthy / a nail dictates that the person will be (or marry) a carpenter / etc.

Finland and Sweden:

In Finland & Sweden (Fettisdagen – Fat Tuesday) Shrove Tuesday is associated with the almond paste-filled semla pastry. A semla pastry is a wheat bun with its top cut off and the insides scooped out. The bun is then refilled with a mix of the scooped out crumbs / milk and almond paste and then topped with whipped cream.

United States:

In the United States the term Shrove Tuesday is less widely known outside of people who observe the traditions of the Episcopal / Lutheran / Methodist and Catholic churches. Due to the increase in many diverse immigrant populations and traditions since the 19th century Mardi Gras has become more familiar as the name for Shrove Tuesday.

Brazil:

In Brazil (Terça-feira gorda - Fat Tuesday) – is the final day of Brazilian Carnival.

Greece:

In Greece (Apocreas) - means "from the meat" the Greeks do not eat meat during Lent, either.

Germany:

In Germany (Fastnacht – other spellings: Fasnacht / Fasenacht / Fasteloven - in the Rhine area or Fasching - in Bavaria)

France:

In France (Mardi Gras) – meaning: Grease or Fat Tuesday

Iceland:

In Iceland (Sprengidagur) – means Bursting day

Written by: Andria Owen