Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 19:56:10 JST HebrideanHecate

   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7890k1re2po

   In 1948, the vicar of Olney, the Reverend Canon Ronald Collins, decided to revive the tradition after he found old photographs of women running with frying pans, while clearing out a cupboard.

   He called for volunteers to take part and 13 showed up on the day.

   Keeping the tradition alive, while the country was in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown in 2021, a solitary pan-bearer took part so the consecutive annual run would not be broken.

   Ruth Martin, one of the current organisers, says there are not many details of why the race started or the history behind it.

   "I kind of love the [story of the] housewife running down the street. It's my favourite one and it sums up what we are doing... the madness of all these women running down the main road," she said.

   "It's got to link back to something quite quirky."

   • KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Lady_Penelope (lady_penelope@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 19:56:12 JST Lady_Penelope

     in reply to
     @HebrideanHecate I love this. The time of year and female exclusivity would to me at least, suggest a possible link to an old pagan fertility ritual or event 🤔 who knows
     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 19:56:23 JST HebrideanHecate

     in reply to

     • Lady_Penelope

     @Lady_Penelope Smacking them with the frying pans, I could get with that!

     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Lady_Penelope (lady_penelope@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 19:56:24 JST Lady_Penelope

     in reply to

     • Lady_Penelope
     @HebrideanHecate Ooooh, or an anti fertility ritual, maybe they were running away from the men?
   • Embed this notice
     KeepTakingTheSoma (keeptakingthesoma@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 20:04:10 JST KeepTakingTheSoma

     in reply to

     • Lady_Penelope
     @Lady_Penelope @HebrideanHecate Of course, pancakes are associated with the onset of Lent in the Christian calendar which, like Advent is to Christmas, is a waiting and preparation period for the major Christian festival of Easter. Shrove Tuesday (also referred to as pancake day) is the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins and represents eating up the food (butter, eggs, flour, milk) prior to fasting.
     Just as the setting of Christmas in the church calendar aligned with Saturnalia and Yule, so Easter aligned with festivals of rebirth and fertility.
     The stories and traditions may vary, but the meanings are universal. This is why it's important to pass on traditions within families and communities.
   • Embed this notice
     Flick ?? (flick@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 20:12:42 JST Flick ??

     in reply to

     • KeepTakingTheSoma
     • Lady_Penelope

     @KeepTakingTheSoma @Lady_Penelope @HebrideanHecate It’s practical, too: the cows are dry, the chickens are off lay, we’ve eaten most of the meat that was slaughtered before winter (and that we haven’t will soon be rotten as the temperatures increase), hunting is out if you want decent stocks for the future, the vegetable stores are nearly bare: let’s make a virtue of necessity and call it a religious fast. That way the peasants won’t complain so much that they only have bread and thin gruel.

     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 20:13:37 JST HebrideanHecate

     in reply to

     • KeepTakingTheSoma
     • Lady_Penelope

     @KeepTakingTheSoma @Lady_Penelope Using up things like eggs and milk, cream, as don't keep, have a feast, suffer for a bit, have another feast!

     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     KeepTakingTheSoma (keeptakingthesoma@spinster.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 04-Mar-2025 20:16:14 JST KeepTakingTheSoma

     in reply to

     • Lady_Penelope
     @HebrideanHecate @Lady_Penelope Exactly.
     Religions started in the axial age as a way of establishing practices which kept communities together and minimised selfishness, greed and crime. Often a story has more power than a lengthy explanation.