The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-02-24 00:00:00

SHROVE TUESDAY.

" Now every man and maide doe take their turtle,
And tease their pancakes up, for feare they burne ;
And all the kitchen doth with laughter sound
To see the pancakes fall upon the ground."

OUR readers are, of course, aware that the present is art
interesting anniversary, associated with pleasant recol-
lections, and looked forward to by the young with joyful
anticipations. Shrove Tuesday is almost equally well
known with Pancake Tuesday; but few, in these Protes-
tant times, see either the connexion between the two

names, or the reason for either.
On the day before Lent, it was a custom in the medi-
aeval times to go to confession at an early hour, in order
that each might start with a clean breast, if not with a
clear conscience, on the mortifying period of Lent. From
the Anglo Saxon word scrffan, to confess, we have the
old English words " shrive" and " shrove," and hence
one of the names. The remainder of the day was to be
spent in innocent mirth, but not in eating prohibited
food ; and thus fritters and pancakes came to be identified
with this day. This accounts also for the second name.
The clown, in " All's Well that End's Well," uses the
illustration, " As fit as a pancake for Shrove Tuesday, or
_ _

_
a morris for May-day."
The day preceding Shrove Tuesday was known u
" Collop Monday," because our ancestors salted and took
leave of their beef for a period of six weeks. In the
Roman Catholic countries of the continent, these days
are still known as the carnival (from carni-vale—farewell
to flesh), a period in which folly and mischief unite to
keep their holiday.
At an early hour in the morning it was usual to ring
the bell of every church, that the people might proceed to
confession; and the bell came to be called the Pancake
Bell. The nominal hour was eleven ; but in 1630. when
the austere practices had long given place to mere amuse-
ment, Taylor, the water poet, complains that, " by the

help of a knavish sexton, it is commonly rung before
nine. the sound whereof makes thousands of people dig.
tracted, and forgetful either of manners or humanitie."
The cathedral of York used to be a scene of great con-
fusion on these occasions. The morning service was
completely interrupted ; the crowds thronged to the nave,
the transepts, and the spire; and the bells were kept ring-
ing all day. Dr. Lake, who was deprived of the bishopric
of Chichester. in 16!9, for not taking the oaths, in
reference to William and Mary, had previously put a
stop to the practice, though remonstrated with by the
clergy. "It was very near costing him hi life," says an
ancient writer; " however, he did make such a corn-
bustion and mutiny, that I daresay York never remem-
bered nor saw the like."
In our own neighbourhood, the ceremonies were of
much interest. The guilds or corporations of trades,
which had existed in Chester from a remote period, had
abandoned, even before the Reformation, the annual
custom of representing some portion of Scripture history
as a play. But thoui,li Whitsun-week saw no more of
the mysteries at the " Pentice," the unions still existed.
The annual custom was for the saddlers to present to the
drapers, on Shrove Tuesday, a wooden ball decorated with
flowers ; and this was carried in procession on the point
of a lance. At the same time, the shoemakers delivered
to the drapers a leathern football, the origin of both of
which customs is unknown to us. These articles were
presented at the cross which formerly stood on the present
racecourse, in the presence of the mayor and a large
assemblage of citizens. The spot was called the Rodhee,
or Rodehee, (as if the island or plain of the cross;) and
the name is still retained with little alteration.
In 1540, an important change took place. The games
with the football had been found to be inconvenient in
the crowded streets, so that the shoemakers agreed to
give annually six " glayves" of silver, value 3s. 4d., to
tLe most distinguished in a foot-race. At the same time,
the saddlers undertook to present a silver bell, of the
value of at least 3s. 61, to the successful competitor in a
horse-race. It would appear that, for nearly eighty years,
this prize was a fixed one, permanently deposited with the
corporation ; and, like seals at office, only temporarily
held by the winner. It served, however, to originate
the proverb, both here and elsewhere, of " bearing away
the bell."
In 1624, the bell was enlarged, and was given annually,
a subscription being made by the citizens, amounting to
£8 or £lO ; and the horses were to run live times round
the course. About sixty years after, we find it having
assumed the form of a cup, which was won by the unfor-
tunate Duke of Monmouth; and those of our readers
who take any interest in the turf know that there has
been very little change since.
We will not consult Soyer on the best mode of cooking
a pancake, for the simple reason that every one knows as

well he does ; but we will present our readers with ;

receipt from an old author, who, evidently, was not fond
of them. Perhaps he had the gout, poor man ; or, more
who
probably,had he
missed
uas a •g
et t
ilnioaptelliees s
ring n and n hardened e
'Thered old bachelor,
,a 7
thing
called wheaten floure, which cookes do mingle with water,
eggs, spice, and other tragicall, magical! inchantments ;
and then they put it, by little and little, into a frying-part
of boiling suet, where it makes a confused dismal) hissing,
until! at last, by the skill of the cootie, it is so transformed
into the form of a flip-jack, card a pancake, which
ominous incantation, the ignorant people doe deyoure very
greedily." The quaint old Tusser speaks more respect-
tully of the interesting ceremonies, when he tells us in his
rude rhymes, that the pancake which fell on the floor was
given to the maid who lay longest abed in the morning.
As no one was willing to admit the soft impeachment,
this one generally fell to the share of the dog, at last.
Horatio Smith, who ought to he a good-natured fellow,
for he writes about "Festivals, Games, and Amusements,"
seems to condemn pancakes; and, conscious flirt we will
have the public on our side, we may venture to quote the
following general remarks :—" No religious ceremonies
are so long maintained, and so punctually observed by the
vulgar, as those that have reference to the sensual enjoy-
ments. Although a supper of eggs and fat bacon may
not prove them to be good Christians, it will at least
show that they are not Jews; wherefore, the gammon has
always been reverenced as an orthodox dainty. They
like no odour of sanctity so well as that which fumes up
to them from the kitchen; they haves wonderful tenacious
memory for all eating and drinking anniversaries, and
never fail to observe with a becoming zeal all those
religious rites and ceremonies which are celebrated in the
stomach !"

There were other customs associated with the day,
which are now happily almost completely abolished. It
is interesting to contemplate them, in comparing " the
past and present," for we thus see the progress that has
been made in civilisation and humanity. The boys of
the public schools in London, used to bring cocks
to their teachers for the purpose of setting them to
fight ; and cock-fights were common all over the
country. But this was not all ; it was not unusual to tie
the bird by the leg to a post and to throw at it with sticks,
the person who succeeded in killing it being entitled to
take it away. Occasionally, when the legs were broken,
it was supported with sticks, that the brutal sport might
not be interrupted. Lancashire was not without its share
in these degrading practices; and we have an impression
that we were told of them within the last few years. The
origin of the custom is variously accounted for. Some
say that a cock crowed in the morning when our Saxon
King Ethelred the Unready was about to slaughter the
Danes, and thus gave warning to the victims; others, that
the clergy introduced the practice, because a candidate far
ordination was too late, in consequence of a cock mali—
ciously refusing to crow at his usual time! Of course
this was very wrong, if lie did so. Others, still, say that
as gaffes denotes either a Frenchman or a cock, (whence
the well-known symbol of the Gallic cock,) our
countrymen are only paying off ancient national
grudges, under a convenient disguise. It is somewhat
unfortunate for this last explanation, that the French are
just as uncivil to their poultry as we are ; and that the
custom existed in both countries before their quarrels had
commenced.

setoo n
in es,,
enclosure, striking att
ethilileirenentiesaleiropanrne sdoeofnmtae,ndct
Nor is even the hen spared, for in rural districts of
England the poor bird is similarly murdered, not killed,
in a coarse game of blind-man's-buff. She is tied on the
oaeiepntuyaae.t
our pancakes with quiet thankfulness,
hack of a man who has little bells fastened on his dress;
and several others blindfolded pursue him through an
Magazine for 1749,
and appealing in strong terms to her merciless tormentors,
by a lucky stroke,.
Everyk kills
Ds a lyießr.ookl;
quotes
eoteGs etziliteleanritaincl'es
l
geirnpnoooele ntth
aatn dt h
e interesting,
vitin c 0 cbkustp notur.
as
sn
ancient speaking,ocr
eanThtlirhei,oinneasnwhiissh to extend the kindness which we owe to
rudeness of a darker age. rat
ns a
Liverpool
,nlr.
years a Dissenting Chapel, while that on
the borders of
aspwitlntlrtirleitleeisisvoiecobutenrtgtuawhfharwetaeorwsenaca
ecrfdssoecbv
eaoroet
et
accompanying
Aintree Race-course is converted into a
Church. We shall, therefore, unshriven and unabsolved
and we strongly recommend to our readers to do the same.

ROBBERY BY A CUSTOM-HOUSE CLERK.—On Saturday
a young and respectably-dressed man, named James Caf.
feran, was brought up at the Police-court charged with
having stolen a gold watch under the following circum-
stances :—The prisoner was in the employ of Messrs.
jSaocm°ot'timThe gyaloro,thains firm received
dTippe
Tipper as
from
sC
New Custom-house
clerk.
Orleans a par.
eel which should have contained a gold watch for Mr.
George Lawson Loughlin, a resident of New Orleans,
who is now in Liverpool. On Messrs. Jacot and Co.
receiving the parcel, one of the corners was broken, and
the watch was found to be missing. The prisoner, as
Custom-house clerk, received the parcel, and he stated it
was broken when ho got it. After some inquiries had
been made, suspicion fell upon the prisoner, who was
taken into custody, on 'Friday evening, by Inspector
Bates, on suspicion of stealing the watch. When told
what he was apprehended for, he denied the" charge, but
on his way to the police-office he attemptekto escape.
The prisoner, when searched, had the watch (minis per
too. He W 5 remanded for saran days.