Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday
   Some children's seasonal games used traditionally to begin on this date, notably *marbles. In Sussex, Hampshire, and Middlesex up to the 1950s, children brought an ash-twig with a black bud on it to school; any who were caught without one would be pinched or stamped on by the others, up until noon. Some maintained that it must then be thrown away at once (Vickery, 1995: 17). This must be related to the Catholic ritual of blackening one's brow with ashes, but whether as parody or as misunderstanding of the word 'ash' is impossible to say; it also echoes a *Royal Oak Day custom.

A Dictionary of English folklore. . 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ash Wednesday — • The Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the first day of the Lenten fast Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Ash Wednesday     Ash Wednesday      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Ash Wednesday — (englisch für „Aschermittwoch“) bezeichnet: amerikanischer Spielfilm (1973) mit Elizabeth Taylor, siehe Die Rivalin amerikanischer Spielfilm (2002) von Edward Burns, siehe Ash Wednesday (2002) Roman von Ethan Hawke, siehe Aschermittwoch (Roman)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ash Wednesday — Wednesday Wednes day (?; 48), n. [OE. wednesdai, wodnesdei, AS. W[=o]dnes d[ae]g, i. e., Woden s day (a translation of L. dies Mercurii); fr. W[=o]den the highest god of the Teutonic peoples, but identified with the Roman god Mercury; akin to OS …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ash Wednesday — n. the first day of Lent and seventh Wednesday before Easter: so called from the practice of putting ashes on the forehead as a sign of penitence …   English World dictionary

  • Ash Wednesday — Ash Wednes day ([a^]sh w[e^]nz d[asl]). The first day of Lent; so called from a custom in the Roman Catholic church of putting ashes, on that day, upon the foreheads of penitents. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Ash Wednesday — n [U and C] the first day of Lent …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Ash Wednesday — noun count or uncount the first day of LENT (=the period before Easter during which Christians traditionally eat less) …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Ash Wednesday —    Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, is so called because of the custom of receiving blessed ashes on the head as a sign of repentance. The ashes, which come from the burning of palms blessed on the previous Palm Sunday,are administered with… …   Glossary of theological terms

  • Ash Wednesday — ► NOUN ▪ the first day of Lent in the Western Christian Church. ORIGIN from the custom of marking the foreheads of penitents with ashes on that day …   English terms dictionary

  • Ash Wednesday — For other uses, see Ash Wednesday (disambiguation). Ash Wednesday A cross of ashes on a worshipper s forehead on Ash Wednesday Observed by Followers of many Christian denominations, primarily Western Christian (see below) …   Wikipedia

  • Ash Wednesday — noun the 7th Wednesday before Easter; the first day of Lent; the day following Mardi Gras ( Fat Tuesday ); a day of fasting and repentance • Hypernyms: ↑Christian holy day • Part Holonyms: ↑Lent, ↑Lententide * * * noun [noncount] : the first day… …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”