The evening times., 1900-02-27
THE MERRY sHRoVETIDE.
Festivities That Immediately Pre-
cedc the Prnitentiai Sen~on.


From the Philadelphia Reeord)
shrovetide began Satu. day Llznt. and
I ends the morning of Ash Wednesday Feb
/ ruary 23. Shrovetide is the termination OF
! the pre- -Lenten season. the two weeks and
! a half that Immediately pTecede Lent, be
/ ginning with Septuagesim2 Sunday. This
! forms a transition period between the
! joyful ChristTnastide and Epiphany, and
! the penitential season CT Lent
/ The Sunday of Shroyetide is named
/ Cuinquagesima. Latin Gttieth because in
. round numbers it is fifty days before
! Easter Gregory the Great uses this name
| for the Sunday preceding Ash Wednes-
I day. so il must be Of very ancient date.
/ but its celebration as a preparation for
Lent is entirely a practice OF the Western
! Church Monday OF Shrovetide is given
( the name OF CoIlop Monday. because, OF
old. as it was the last day before Lent,
/ when meat might be eaten. the meat was
cut into steaks or colIcps and saited down.
to be eaten when Lent was over.
According to POiydore Virgil it sprang
from the feasts of Bacchus, which were
formerly celebrated In Rome at the same
period. 1t is possible. then. that CollOp
Monday may be OF heathsn origin. Pos
sihly it is for this reason the EtOn boys
choose CoIlop Monday to write verses to
Bscchus. On this day, which at EtOn Is
called Becchus day. verses are written and
put up. but their subjects are not BY any
means confined to the god OF wine.
The people Of Cornwall call Collop Mon
day Hall Monday and the boys 90 about
al dusk with clubs. batteriug at each door
and then fleeing in haste for fear Of Getee-
ton. 4 prank similar to that Of our own
boys pulling dOOrbells Halloween night
This is called Nickanan night with them
Shrove Tuesday. the day preceding Ash
Wednesday, the first day Of Lent, is So
called because it was the day on which
the people made shriit or confession in
preparation for Lent II is Known in Scot
land as Fasten's Fen, while the French
call it Mardi Gras. Before the Reformation
IL was the first and great duty Of everyone
on this day to apply early in the morning
70 the priest for absolution in the con-
fessional. For the rest Of the day they
were allowed to indulge in all sorts Of
merrymaking. which at times reached into
unbounded license.
Shroye Tuesday has been called Pancake
Tuesday from time immemOTial and the
custom Of eating pancakes on that day is
a very ancient one. One seemingly very
good reason for this practice is that as
meat was strictly tabooed during Lent. all
the drippings and Fat were Used on this
preparatory day in making pancakes. In
order that none should be left. all about
the house were called together to eat the
pancakes by a bell that was naturally
called the pancake bell. Before the PAN
cakes were eaten in oldeH times there vas
a great deal of rivalry among the pancake
revelers to see who could most eleverly
toss them in the pan. This tossing OF PAN
cakes on Shroye Tuesday, with some of its
ancient accompaniment still survives IN
few parts of Cheshire and Lancashire.
Mardi Gras is celebrated with great
reveI and merry making in Latin countries.
and some few in our own cities among the
Latin races The gayeties continue from
week down to the single day, always
concluding with ShrOve Tuesday. Con
fetti thrcwing-the word being from the
Italian. meaning neutrality-suspicious. the
prettiest ard most popular OF the Roman
and Partisan carnival practices. although it
is said this practice will this year be
omitted in Paris. After the procession has
passed these pretty paper trifles form the
missiles with which the merry makers pelt
each other. The more people are show
cred with them the more attention they
are considered to have received. as confetti
showers are a tribute to beauty and popu-
larity.