Fastern's E'en: Shrove Tuesday dream charms
Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Lent. In England it's Pancake Day. In Scotland it was called Fastern's E'en, "the eve of the fast," and in the northeast also Brose Day or Bannock Night. The date moves with Easter, so it falls between early February and early March. An old Scots rhyme puts it this way: first comes Candlemas, then the new moon, and the first Tuesday after that is Fastern's E'en. It was an evening of feasting and fortune-telling, and some of the charms were meant to bring a dream.
Charms for a dream
A ring in the broth
In northeast Scotland, the main dish of the day was brose, a thick mix of oatmeal and hot beef broth. A ring was hidden in it, sometimes along with a button. The ring stood for marriage, the button for a single life. Whoever found the ring had to keep quiet until the dish was empty, then wear the ring until the next morning. The dreams of that night were carefully remembered and read as signs of how the coming year would go.
Dreaming bannocks
In the Highlands, the evening ended with the "bannich bruader," the dreaming bannocks. A bannock is a flat, round oatmeal cake, and these were baked like the others that evening, but with a pinch of soot mixed in. Whoever baked them had to stay as silent as a stone, because a single word would break the charm. Each person took one bannock, slipped off quietly to bed and laid their head on it. In the night, they hoped to see their beloved in a dream.
Other customs of the evening
Not every charm that night was about dreams. In northeast Scotland a thick "sautie bannock," or salty bannock, was baked in silence with a ring inside. It was cut into as many pieces as there were unmarried people in the room, and whoever got the ring was said to be the first to marry. In the Highlands, everyone shared a large "matrimonial bannock" with a small token hidden in it, which worked the same way.
Today
In many homes today, Shrove Tuesday simply means pancakes. If you like, make it a small ritual: before bed, think of one wish for the months ahead, and in the morning write down what you dreamed. It's a gentle way to mark the turn from winter toward spring.
Related symbols
Sources
- W. Gregor, "Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland", Folk-Lore Society, London 1881
- W. Grant Stewart, "The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland", London 1851
- T. F. Thiselton Dyer, "British Popular Customs, Present and Past", London 1876 (1900 printing)
Dream interpretations are for entertainment.