“Here’s two or three jolly boys, all of one mind,
We have come a Pace-egging, and hope you’ll prove kind;
I hope you’ll prove kind with your eggs and strong beer,
And we’ll come no more near you until the next year.”
So went the old northern rhyme that once drifted up and down the cobbled streets at Easter-time, as the young boys of the towns made their way from door to door in search of treats, just as Americans do today at Halloween. It was an old tradition in the north of England for children to go “begging” for Easter eggs, although over time, the “strong beer” as mentioned in the ditty became the youngsters’ main priority!
Pace, or Pasche, (meaning Easter), eggs were traditionally presented to children on Easter Monday and Tuesday, particularly in the northern counties. Communities used to gather in meadows, and specially prepared hard-boiled eggs were handed out. These were usually decorated by boiling them with brightly coloured ribbons, or painted with dye, and covering them in gilding. People’s names, or memorable dates, were even inscribed in some of the shells using tallow candles. The children would each hold an egg in their hand, and challenge a friend to an egg duel. Whoever could break another’s egg, after a blow for blow battle, would be crowned “A Cock of One, Two, Three…” or however many eggs they had broken.
By the 1870s, new “magic eggs” had been introduced to England, which contained inside a variety of surprises, including bonbons, gloves, scents, and many other knickknacks that would have made lovely Easter gifts – (a far cry from today’s offerings, when a couple of Smarties inside an ever-thinning chocolate shell is all one can look forward to!)
Over three centuries earlier, King Henry VIII and his queen, Anne Boleyn, used to mark Easter-tide by watching their loyal subjects roll down Greenwich Hill, (no doubt breaking countless health and safety rules, as well as bones, as they went), before travelling on a gaily-decked barge down the river, and enjoying a festive meal of tansy pudding and bacon. The ordinary people of the land would enjoy traditional lamb and mint sauce for their Easter Sunday meal, though the citizens of Norfolk made it their tradition to enjoy baked custards at this time of the year.
Even further back in time, when the Saxons converted to Christianity around the 7th century, they changed their pagan springtime festival, (which was held in honour of the goddess Eástre), into a Christian feast to mark the miracle of the resurrection. Thus began the long and ever-changing tradition of Easter.
For more information about your own family’s history, whether they were hill-rollers, barge-travellers or Easter egg Cocks, visit the professional genealogy company, Ancestry by Heir Line, for more information.
Ancestry by Heir Line - Blog Page 