An Interesting History of Easter By Horace Smith 1831
Easter Day, a festival instituted to commemorate the resurrection of our Saviour, occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after the 21st day of March; and if the full moon happen upon a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday after. The name is derived from our Saxon ancestors, who at this season held a great festival in honour of the goddess Easter, probably the Astarte of the eastern nations. It has ever been considered by the church as a season of great festivity, and was signalized by extraordinary dramatic worship, with appropriate scenery, machinery, dresses, and decorations; the theatrical representations taking place in the churches, and the monks being the actors. Among many of the old trivial observances of this day we may note that the custom of eating a gammon of bacon, still preserved in many parts of England, was intended to show an abhorrence of Judaism at this solemn commemoration of the Lord's resurrection. Eggs, sometimes stained of a red colour to symbolize the shedding of the Saviour's blood, were commonly given at Easter, a custom which the learned De Gebelin, in his religious History of the Calendar, tells us may be traced up to the theology and philosophy of the Egytians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks, Romans, and other nations. Tansy cakes and puddings, in reference to the bitter herbs used by the Jews at this season, were eaten at Easter, and formed a common prize in the foot-races and games of hand-ball that prevailed st this season. Durand tell us that on Easter Tuesday wives used to beat their husbands; on the day following the husbands their wives. Probably both parties knew their deserts, and this was intended as a mutual punishment and atonement for their Greenwich-park and other pranks and misdeeds on the previous day.
Easter Day, a festival instituted to commemorate the resurrection of our Saviour, occurs on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after the 21st day of March; and if the full moon happen upon a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday after. The name is derived from our Saxon ancestors, who at this season held a great festival in honour of the goddess Easter, probably the Astarte of the eastern nations. It has ever been considered by the church as a season of great festivity, and was signalized by extraordinary dramatic worship, with appropriate scenery, machinery, dresses, and decorations; the theatrical representations taking place in the churches, and the monks being the actors. Among many of the old trivial observances of this day we may note that the custom of eating a gammon of bacon, still preserved in many parts of England, was intended to show an abhorrence of Judaism at this solemn commemoration of the Lord's resurrection. Eggs, sometimes stained of a red colour to symbolize the shedding of the Saviour's blood, were commonly given at Easter, a custom which the learned De Gebelin, in his religious History of the Calendar, tells us may be traced up to the theology and philosophy of the Egytians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks, Romans, and other nations. Tansy cakes and puddings, in reference to the bitter herbs used by the Jews at this season, were eaten at Easter, and formed a common prize in the foot-races and games of hand-ball that prevailed st this season. Durand tell us that on Easter Tuesday wives used to beat their husbands; on the day following the husbands their wives. Probably both parties knew their deserts, and this was intended as a mutual punishment and atonement for their Greenwich-park and other pranks and misdeeds on the previous day.
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