St. Bridget’s Day, Candlemas and Quarter Days

In Regency England, the quarter days were important events on the calendar. Rents were due, school terms started, and servants might be paid and hired. In England, these four dates fell on: Lady Day or March 25, Midsummer or June 24, Michaelmas or September 29, and Christmas Day.

In Scotland, an older calendar held the quarter days to be Candlemas or February 2, May Day on May 1, Lammas or August 1, and All Hallows on November 1. In England, these would become known as the cross-quarter days.

The older calendar for Scotland came from the Celtic year, which held that winter ended February 1. The feast day was named Imbolc (which literally means “in milk”). Ewes began to lamb and lactate, and life and light returned. This was the celebration of Brigid, the Light-Bringer. Even today, this feast day is known in Gaelic as Là Fhèill Brìghde.

A photo showing St. Bridget’s Well in Kildare, an old stone well within a wooden fenced area with a couple of trees and a grassy field beyond.
St. Bridget’s Well in Kildare

In ancient Celtic myth, Brigid was the daughter of Dagda, High King of the Tua Dé Danann (or Tuatha Dé Danann, the People of the Goddess Danu, or Tuath Dé, the Tribe of the Gods). Brigid became associated with wisdom, poetry and healing—and that meant the sacred wells of the Celts were often associated with her, and would then become associated with Saint Brigid of Kildare.

Not much is known about Saint Brigid, other than that she was said to have been an abbess who founded several convents, and performed miracles. She became the saint of learning, poetry, healing—and blacksmithing. Saint Brigid’s feast day was put on February 1—the Celtic feast day of Imbolic and Brigid. Like her Celtic counterpart, Saint Brigid also became associated with holy wells, and rags are still tied to trees near these wells to ask for protection and blessings.

While Imbolic was held to be a pagan celebration, the Church decided on February 2 as Candlemas. It was the day when baby Jesus was presented in Jerusalem’s temple, as was Jewish custom. For the Church, it set as the day when the candles that would be used in churches during the coming year were blessed—a festival of light. While the Reformation in England banned many of the older customs as too “popish”, many held to the old ways of wanting to celebrate the return of light and longer days.

One of the Celtic traditions associated with Bridget’s Day, was to ask her to come into the house and bless it. “Oh Brìde, Brìdeag, come with the wand to this wintry land; and breathe with the breath of Spring so bland, Brìde, Brìde, little Brìde.” —traditional rhyme translated from Scottish Gaelic, Scottish Customs by Shelia Livingston. (“Brìde” is a modern form of Brìghde, pronounced as “Bree-jah.”)

Interestingly, in France, Belgium and parts of Switzerland, Candlemas is celebrated with the thin pancake known as crêpes, which is a tradition associated with a pope distributing pancakes to pilgrims, and also to the ancient Roman custom of Vestal Virgins making offerings of cakes at Lupercalia, a feast that fell on February 15. In England, this is similar to Shrove Tuesday, the feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, and also known in England as Pancake Tuesday. It was the day to eat all the rich foods in the larder before fasting for Lent, and the day to be shriven or absolved of sins. Shrove Tuesday falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies—as does Easter—falling on a Tuesday that can be anywhere between February 3 and March 9.

Another ancient tradition in Ireland was to ignore leap year days—February 29 did not exist.

This became the day when the world could be out-of-order. Tradition held that St. Bridget had complained to St. Patrick about women having to wait too long for proposals, and Patrick answered that women could propose on Leap Day. In Scotland, tradition added on that any man who declined a proposal in a leap year must pay a fine, which could be anything from having to buy a fine silk dress for the lady to a kiss given to the disappointed female.

In Regency England, servants from Scotland or Ireland might well celebrate the old holidays in the old ways—and everyone would note the quarter days.


Article by Shannon Donnelly for The Quizzing Glass blog and The Regency Reader.

2 thoughts on “St. Bridget’s Day, Candlemas and Quarter Days

  1. I’m from the UK (living in Wales, Scotland and England) and have fond memories of Pancake Day. There are races in which women with a frying pan would toss the pancakes as they ran. Here’s a bit of history and a recipe. These pancakes were always eaten with a sprinkle of sugar and lemon juice. https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Pancake-Day/

    Even tossing a pancake while not running took some dexterity though in this video she’s a pro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTsXuPCZbRY

    Perhaps your Regency village could have a pancake race between the cooks of competing houses.

    (I hope the links work for you. The video is particularly fun.)

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