Milford chronicle., 1907-12-06
ASH WEDNESDAY,.
Some Old Time Customs Of the Day
and What They Meant.

With the exception of Good Friday
there is no more solemn day In the
church year than Ash Wednesday. Ev
erybody understands that it is the first
day Of Lent, but that it has not al
ways been included In Lent doubtless
is a fact little known.
In the fifth and sixth centuries Lent
began with the succeeding Sunday and
continued for six weeks, which, with
The omission Of Sundays, would be
lhirty-six days. At what time Ash
Wednesday and the three following
days were added to the fast IS not
precisely known. but It was before
ia. as we have records of Lent kept
at that date in precisely tile same way
as It is kept now.
Ash Wednesday got its name from
the fact that on that day each year
people received at church ashes that
were put on their foreheads by the
priest Making the sign Of the cross
with the ashes, the priest would say
in Latin, Remember, man, thou art
but dust. and unto dust thou shalt re-
Gods curse Of Adam after the fall.
Originally the administration Of the
ashes was only for public penitents.
These appeared harefooted and i'm some
rough garh before the church door.
There their penances were imposed
on them. Then. upon admission into
the church. they were brought before
the bishop. who put ashes ON their
heads and to the words already quot
ed added, do penance, that thou may
est have eternal life"
soon. however. human nature assert
ed itself. and people would not allow
their friends and relatives TO 20 unac-
companied as penitents to the church;
so, expressing similar cOntritiOn by
dress and receiving ashes on their
heads. they went with them. When
the number of these charitable people
increased, the rite was extended to the
whole congregation.
The ashes used were obtained from
the burning of the palms IN the church
es on the previous Palm Sunday. Soon
after the reformation the English
church abandoned the Use Of ashes.
Ashes in the Old dispensation were
used as a sign of mourning and peni-
tence Sackcloth and ashes formed
common combination. The Jews con-
stantly used these as symbols Of grief
and desOlation.
In rural France the peasantry on Ash
Wednesday used to carry around an
ef1igy supposed to be the personifcation
of good cheer and collected money for
its funeral inasmuCh as this day was
the burial of good living. After several
mummeries the efiigy was deposited i'll
the earth.
The burial Of the sardlne is a Span
ish custom. A small paper covered cof-
fin containing a small fish or morsel
of sausage is carried in procession as
a symbol of the burial of all worldly
pleasures during Lent At Madrid a
vast throne turns out TO witness the
burial Of the sardine in the banks of
the Manzanares.
The Jack-o'-Lent is a scarecrOw-like
effigy used as a symbol Of Lent and
carried around in professions. The
idea of fasting and abstinence never
has been popular; consequently the
Jack-o'-Lent usually becomes a target
for sticks and stones.
In England arose a curious custom.
An officer known as the kings cock
Grower crowed the hour every night
within the precincts Of the palace dur
ing Lent instead Of leaving 1t to the
watchman to proclaim the time. On
the first Ash Wednesday after the
Hanoverian succession, just as the
Prince of Wales subsequently George
H. sat down to supper, this officer
made his appearance and emitted ten
shrill crows. But this did not happen
again. The court decided 1t could do
without any further imitation Of Pc
ter's cock to remind 1t Of its errors
New York Post
She Couldn't Abide Boards.
The late Baroness BuTdett-Coutts,
who. despite her physical Ills, was one
Of the greatest and most famous phil
lanthropists England has ever known,
was a woman of remarkable determi-
nation. Despite all pleas and appeals
she would not permit any one Of the
many old men employed in her bank in
the Strand, London-the Coutts bank,
It is called-to wear hair on his face.
The sproutlng Of beard was tanta-
mount to dismissal. Every "clark" had
to be clean shaven, and even the po-
liceman on duty had to have a smooth
face. It was quite a hardship for
some Of the old fellows past eighty,
whose hands were none too steady, for
not one Of them would dream Of going
to a barber to be shaved, but The baron
ess said that as long as she lived she