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Easter in Jane Austen’s Day: a pastiche of information

April 4, 2021 by Vic

Happy Easter, gentle readers. Many of the customs followed in the early 19th century by Jane Austen and her family are still followed today in one fashion or another. For this blog post, I have gathered information already known to many, and some that might be new. The following quote sums this holiday up nicely:

“Easter during the Regency was both a holy day and a holiday.” – Lesley-Ann McCleod

Pancake Races Before Lent:

The 40 days before Easter or Lent began on Wednesday with a church service. This day was preceded by Shrove Tuesday, on which one would confess one’s sins. The date was also the last day to eat all the foods that would be prohibited during abstinence. This meant emptying the larder of rich foods, such as milk, eggs, butter, fat, wheat flour, and spices—ingredients commonly found in pancakes. An alternate name in Britain for Shrove Tuesday was Pancake Tuesday! Pancakes were made for consumption or for public races:

“At the sound of a pancake bell, often the bell from the local church, women ran a course carrying a frying pan with a pancake in it. They had to successfully flip the pancake at least three times before they reached the goal. Some communities held pancake parties, with people dressed up [as] the Protector of the Pancakes, irst Founder of the Fritters, Baron of Bacon-flitch, and the Earl of Egg-baskets.” –  Regina Scott, guest author on The Regency Blog of Lesley-Anne McLeod

Pancake races with female contestants are still held today. In addition, street football, or hurling, where teams of men (country men against city dwellers, for instance) hurled the ball against the opposing team until one team won, is also a time-honored Easter tradition.

Pancake Race, Wikipedia image by Lestalorm, 2009
Pancake Race, Wikipedia image by Lestalorm, 2009
Old Town Hall, image Tony Grant
Old Town Hall, image Tony Grant
Black and white lithograph of Football on Shrove Tuesday
Foot Ball, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Shrove Tuesday

Easter Sermons:

Easter Sunday, which commemorated Christ’s resurrection from the dead, was a solemn occasion and one of obligation for parishioners, such as the Austen family and the community of worshipers. In the book, Jane Austen and the Clergy, Irene Collins writes that clergymen in Jane Austen’s day were not expected to write original sermons every Sunday, except on a few occasions.

“Henry Crawford, assessing Edmund Bertram’s commitments at Thornton Lacey, judged that ‘a sermon at Christmas and Easter ‘would be’ the sum total of the sacrifice.”

She also wrote that Mr. Collins produced only two sermons between his ordination at Easter and his visit to Longbourn in November of the same year.- p. 96. Jane Austen and the Clergy, Irene Collins, August 1, 2002.

cover of Religion and Philosophy of a stack of Bibles and the title of a sermon Thomas Lloyd preached in a parish church on Easter-Day, April 8th, 1787

Easter Music

I will always remember Sunday Easter service with my parents when singing this uplifting Methodist Church hymn, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.” (14th C. song rewritten in 1739 by: Lyricist Charles Wesley, Composer Samuel Arnold, initially titled Hymn for Easter Day). This hymn was also popular during Jane Austen’s day. My emotions well up when I watch this YouTube video of the King’s College choir singing the hymn.

Easter in Pride and Prejudice

When Elizabeth Bennet visits Hunsford and Rosings, she becomes aware of Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s omission in inviting the Collins’ and their guests in advance for this most important holiday:

“In this quiet way, the first fortnight of her visit soon passed away. Easter was approaching, and the week preceding it was to bring an addition to the family at Rosings, which in so small a circle must be important.”

Elizabeth understands that Lady Lady Catherine de Bourgh has no time for herself or Mr and Mrs Collins, but an invitation finally came:

“Colonel Fitzwilliam’s manners were very much admired at the parsonage, and the ladies all felt that he must add considerably to the pleasure of their engagements at Rosings. It was some days, however, before they received any invitation thither, for while there were visitors in the house they could not be necessary; and it was not till Easter-day, almost a week after the gentlemen’s arrival, that they were honoured by such an attention, and then they were merely asked on leaving church to come there in the evening. For the last week they had seen very little of either Lady Catherine or her daughter. Colonel Fitzwilliam had called at the parsonage more than once during the time, but Mr. Darcy they had only seen at church.”

The ladies, we presume, arrived wearing their new Easter bonnets and gowns made especially for such an important holiday. One assumes that Easter must have presented a busy schedule for Mr Collins, the vicar of his parish. Elizabeth Hawksley, who has written an interesting article about the clergy in Jane Austen’s novels, describes Mr Collins during the days surrounding Easter. His schedule is far from busy:

“So what did the vicar of a parish actually do? Elizabeth Bennet and Sir William and Maria Lucas visited the Collinses around Easter – today, the busiest time of the church year. Nevertheless, we hear of Mr Collins driving his father-in-law round the countryside every day during his visit, and of dinners at Rosings with Lady Catherine de Bourgh; but there is no mention of any church activities.” – Jane Austen and the Clergy: How the System Worked, Elizabeth Hawksley.

Tithing at Easter

Interestingly, people were punished for non-payment of tithes or attendance at Easter. In his book, The Parish Registers of England, Charles Cox (1843-1919) writes:

“…On conviction for divers of the less serious offences, such as non-payment of tithes or Easter dues, or for the non-observance of Sundays or Saints’ Days, offenders were admonished, and if obstinate excommunicated; but in such cases absolution and discharge could  usually be obtained on payment of a fine…”


The Monday After Easter—Merriment at Greenwich Park:

This image depicts Easter day for the masses in Greenwich Park in London. At the top of the hill is the Royal Observatory with astronomical equipment. According to a contemporary description, a sojourn to the park is well worth the visitors’ time! The Monday after Easter the park is filled with throngs of merry makers (ten to thirty thousand) from all walks of life and many ages. The hill is steep, with celebrants running down it in pairs or groups of males and females, sometimes tumbling head over heels, and most likely giggling.

Black and white engraving of Greenwich Park with crowds celebrating Easter

Greenwich Park with the Royal Observatory on Easter Monday, Modern London, Edward Pugh

“Greenwich is crowded at these holidays.  In the public-houses is dancing from morning to evening.  Almost every private house of the lower and middle sort make tea and coffee; yet it is often difficult to find room even for a small company; and it is very usual for parties to take a cold repast and wine with them, and dine beneath the trees in the Park, in spots a little retired from the throng. “ – Mapping Modern London, Horwood’s Map, Greenwich Park

Left side close up of Greenwich Park on the Monday after Easter
Left side close up of Greenwich Park on the Monday after Easter
Close up of steep hill in Greenwich Park on the Monday after Easter
Close up of steep hill in Greenwich Park on the Monday after Easter
Right side close up of Greenwich Park on the Monday after Easter
Right side close up of Greenwich Park on the Monday after Easter

To view the incredible details of the park, click on an image, which will open to enlarged version.

Food:

Hot cross buns, ham, lamb in season, and potatoes were common dishes at Easter, as were colored eggs for an Easter egg hunt. These foods are still popular today. Kirstin Olsen writes about Pastor Woodforde, the author of Diary of a Country Parson,

“Woodforde and his friends tended…to prefer the grass lamb, and it is in the spring that most of his references to eating lamb occur.” – Kirstin Olsen, Cooking with Jane Austen (pp. 66-67)

Grass lamb, or young lambs that still drink milk from their mothers were prized by many. Soon after they are born, the lambs start to eat hay, grass, or grain, but much of their food intake is still from their mothers’ rich milk. The lambs are slaughtered within 2-15 months of birth, weigh from 135 to 140 lbs, and are available only from April to September. Their taste is not as intense as an older lamb’s, but it is one that Pastor Woodforde prefered.

Jane Austen’s Easter

This 2011 article from the Jane Austen Centre, written by Laura Boyle, is worth reading in full. It is a comprehensive discussion about Jane Austen’s celebration of Easter, both as a solemn religious holiday and as a festive event. Click here to enter it.

All Things Georgian

I also recommend this website and its many fact-filled blog posts with well-researched, hard to find information. This link lead to an article entitled “An Early Easter Miscellany.”

_____________________

Have a happy Easter everyone. As with many of you, mine will be spent with the family. The sky is cloudless, the day is warm and perfect for the smaller fry to find Easter eggs.

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Posted in Jane Austen's religion, Jane Austen's World, Pride and Prejudice, Regency Customs, Regency Life, Romantic London | Tagged Easter Music, Greenwich Park, Jane Austen Easter, Mr Collins, Shrove Tuesday | 14 Comments

14 Responses

  1. on April 4, 2021 at 16:08 Darlene

    Happy Easter. When it comes to Easter, not much has changed. The video is very moving.


    • on April 4, 2021 at 19:19 Vic

      I was surprised, too, that traditions remained intact and, well, so traditional. That hymn will always connect me to my family and Easter service. I hope your Easter weekend was special this year.


  2. on April 4, 2021 at 19:07 Kevin Lindsey

    Thank you for the article on Regency Easter traditions. I always enjoy reading about how holidays were celebrated on that holiday! It’s also Interesting how many of them still continue. Happy Easter to you!


    • on April 4, 2021 at 19:23 Vic

      Kevin, my thoughts are with you on this family holiday. I, too, was amazed at how the traditions, both religious and pagan, continue to this day. The very young ones in our family finally understand that the Easter Bunny who hides eggs are the older family members who work hard to hide the egg. I was so deflated, knowing that they were becoming older and smarter. Another milestone. *Sigh*


  3. on April 4, 2021 at 21:14 Sarah Waldock

    I don’t know about other places, but racing was often associated with Easter here in the East, at Norwich, Bungay and Ipswich, certainly from the 16th century racing on Easter Monday was popular. Except under the Commonwealth of course.


    • on April 6, 2021 at 10:50 Vic

      I never knew about the races. In the States we enjoy Easter parades and public Easter egg hunts. Hope your holiday was splendid.


  4. on April 5, 2021 at 01:20 Lynne

    A lovely post, Vic – and Happy Easter to you! We sang “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” this morning – barely 150 people in a church that normally has about 600 on Easter. And of course we can’t compare with the King’s College – I don’t think they have ever sung anything badly! It always touches me, too – glad to know I’m not the only one. Thanks for an always interesting article.


    • on April 6, 2021 at 10:53 Vic

      The church my parents attended had a wonderful choir and acoustics, but you are correct–nothing can compare to the King’s College, from the setting to the soaring voices of the young choir boys combined with the more mature voices.


  5. on April 5, 2021 at 05:18 generalgtony

    The Kings College Choir is the highlight of every Christmas over here Vic. Great one.


    • on April 7, 2021 at 01:29 Lynne

      We used to get a taped feed of Christmas at King’s on Christmas Eve on our public television network every year, Tony! It was a wonderful experience and I always looked forward to it. It’s not done any longer – for whatever reason – but I have great memories. And I once attended Evensong at Salisbury Cathedral – that was an experience of a lifetime for me.


  6. on April 5, 2021 at 05:19 generalgtony

    ….and Easter!! Ha! Ha!


    • on April 6, 2021 at 11:20 Vic

      Hi Tony, thanks for your image of the old town hall, which is in the image of the men’s races. I added it to the images of the races.


  7. on April 6, 2021 at 01:29 dholcomb1

    Hope you had a very Blessed Easter.

    Since much in the traditions and polity of churches has not changed over the years, it’s easy to see how many things have remained the same with regard to the most sacred of holy days.

    I enjoyed your retrospective of then and now.

    denise


    • on April 6, 2021 at 10:54 Vic

      Thanks, Deb. I hope your Easter was as splendid as ours. Like Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is a time for family and a generational get together.



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