Easter Eggs
Traditionally, boiled eggs were eaten on Easter Sunday and people used to wrap their eggs in onion skins, before boiling them and decorating them with flowers and leaves to give as gifts.
Traditions of Pace Egging, Egg Rolling and Egg Jarping evolved in villages, especially in the north of England: these sports and entertainments usually took place on Easter Monday.
Although customs vary, boiled eggs, artistically labelled with the owner’s name, were rolled down a hill or between two pegs, the winner being the one which either went the farthest or survived the most intact. Egg rolling still takes place in many villages in the UK especially in Lancashire and Cumbria, with Avenham Park in Preston being a popular event.
An even more famous venue further afield is the lawn of the White House in Washington DC, when competitors roll an egg along using a spoon in a desperate race to the finishing line.
Egging, Tapping, Jarping, Dunch: Easter the Jolly Boys’ Holiday
The old custom of Pace Egging was related to the mumming tradition, and comprised a procession through the streets to the accompaniment of the Pace Egging song, culminating in an entertainment acted out by a group of local yokels known as Jolly Boys wearing elaborate costumes of animal skins and coloured ribbons and streamers. With a cast of characters that usually included Old Tosspot, St George, the Lady Gay, and a Turkish knight known as Bold Slasher, the actors’ comic antics were rewarded after a bit of friendly coercion, with gifts of decorated eggs from the crowd or a free pint of ale from the pub.
Egg Jarping or tapping – a kind of conker fight played with eggs – is popular in County Durham and contests are held in pubs and houses. A player is known as a “jarper” and a particularly good hit is known as a “dunch”. Competitions can be quite intense and some bouts are so hotly contested that they can last all day.
In Victorian times, with the advent of chocolate factories, larger chocolate eggs began to be all the rage. Easter egg hunts became popular, and sometimes Easter baskets were given containing candy.
Printed cards started to be sent as the holiday celebrations became more widespread.
Easter: 2 April – 5 April 2010
For many people living in the UK, Easter is a double bank holiday during which it’s possible to scoff loads of chocolate eggs – after fathoming out where that anthropomorphic Santa Claus called the Easter Bunny has hidden them.
Still in some parts of the country, people roll hard-boiled eggs down a hill or indulge in a bit of Egg Jarping, smashing an opponent’s egg to smithereens.
Today, families wishing to celebrate Easter Sunday in a traditional manner will usually eat a dinner of roast lamb, followed by custard tarts and Easter biscuits, all rounded off with a piece of Simnel cake.
…after having had boiled eggs for breakfast of course!
Easter Traditions and History
The Romans, Gauls, Chinese, Egyptians and Persians celebrated the egg as a symbol of the universe.
In Pagan times it represented the rebirth of the earth and was believed to have special powers, buried under foundations of buildings to ward off evil and used by Roman women to foretell the sex of their unborn child.
In Anglo Saxon legend, the goddess Eostre was said to have changed a wounded bird into a hare so it could survive the winter; when the “hare” discovered its amazing egg-laying powers, it not only left them as an offering to the goddess every spring, but also decorated them in bright colours to symbolize the rebirth of the world.
The time of year became known as Eostre-monath, named after the goddess. When early Christians began to commemorate Christ’s resurrection from the dead, the celebration was known as Pascha, relating to the Jewish festival of the Passover.
Because this usually took place in Eostre-monath, the name evolved into Easter.
Easter: A Christian Festival
Forming the foundation of the Christian Church, Easter is the most important time in the liturgical calendar and refers to the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus, who was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday.
As a moveable feast, Easter can fall any time between March 22nd and April 25th: the actual date is linked to the Passover and falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon which, being an ecclesiastical full moon, varies slightly from the astronomical one.
Also marking the end of Lent, a time of fasting and abstinence, Easter Sunday signalled a return to a more indulgent diet when eggs could be enjoyed once more.
Another important symbol was gained with associations of the renewal and rebirth of the world with the death of Christ, and eggs also came to represent the rolling away of the stone to Christ’s tomb.