Category: customs and traditions
Palm Sunday & carlings
Palm Sunday may be a ‘big day’ in the Christian calendar, but ‘only’ in church. As a child, I remember walking home from Sunday school clutching a palm cross – handed out after we were remin... Read More
Shrove Tuesday customs
Shrove Tuesday = Pancake Day. That is pancakes as in crêpes, not American-style. Served with sugar and lemon juice. Or maybe Nutella, if you have a sweet tooth. Or flambéed with alcohol, for the gro... Read More
New Year’s Eve 1859-1867
New Year’s Eve is traditionally a time for Reviews of the Year. Partly because people do like to reflect back on the previous 12 months, as they prepare to welcome in the next. But mainly because it... Read More
Christmas Eve
After labour’s long turmoil, Sorry fare and frequent fast, Two-and-fifty weeks of toil, Pudding-time is come at last… This post is set to appear on December 24. So, while it will remain ‘o... Read More
Changing customs
Changing customs – 2022 Changing customs – let’s start with very recent times! Christmas this year seems to have started before Bonfire Night. Hallowe’en was a wash-out, with heavy r... Read More
May Day – ruined by the Puritans!
May Day celebrations have been more lamented than practised since the killjoy Puritans came on the scene, even if the village of Temple Sowerby still has a maypole (main image). Origins of May Day cel... Read More
Easter in Carlisle 1803
Easter in Carlisle Easter in Carlisle has previously been mentioned on Cumbrian Characters, in a post on the public space by Carlisle Castle known as the Sorceries. The post covered the old tradition ... Read More
Holly, a unique Westmorland tradition
A look into a Twelfth Night tradition, involving holly, in Westmorland leads to the story of a worthy Cumbrian Character. But in this post, it’s all about the holly! Holly, a Brough-under-Stainmore ... Read More