Mothering Sunday in the UK

Wishing all the UK Sasha Collectors a very happy Mothering Sunday. Our Mothering Sunday is now the equivalent of Mother's Day in other countries but originated rather differently.



It is always celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent (Lent is a moveable period of time but dates from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday) and this is why Mothering Sunday is not a fixed Sunday date and sometimes even falls in the different months of March or April.



The history behind Mothering Sunday.
It was also known as Refreshment Sunday, Pudding Pie Sunday or Mid Lent Sunday as it was a day in Lent when the Lentern fasting rules were relaxed in honour of 'The feeding of the Five Thousand' a story in the Christian Bible relatingbthe time when Jesus feed the five thousand people who had been following him with just five loaves and two fish that one of the boys had bought with him. When everyone had been well feed the scraps that were gathered up afterwards filled twelve baskets.



My 1967 brunette Gingham NP is wearing a delightful pink Dollydoodle outfit that I bought from Judith's website last Autumn but had put away until the Spring.



Some historians claim that the origin of Mothering Sunday was the ancient Spring Festival celebrated to the Mother Godesses and which over time was adopted by the early Church to venerate Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, and on that day you were expected to visit the church where you were baptised.

Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in England worship at their nearest parish or 'daughter church'.
Centuries ago (1600s) it was considered important for people to return to their home or 'mother' church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their 'mother' church - the main church or cathedral of the area.



Inevitably the return to the 'mother' church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.)
Most historians think that it was the return to the 'Mother' church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants in the richer gentry houses, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.
As they walked along the country lanes, the children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift. So this is how the saying 'Gone a-mothering' came into being.



Often the cooks in the kitchen would allow the girls to make a cake or bun/scone and the boys given some fresh fruit, eggs or flowers from the gardens, greenhouses or farm to take with them as a gift for their mothers.



This is a bobbed haired Frido 1968 Dungaree girl who has absolutely no fringe and I like to think that she was one of the dolls manufactured when the fringe rooting machine broke down. She is wearing a very attractive vintage-sasha outfit with commercially made shoes and socks.
She is one of the very first expensive dolls that I bought in the first few years of my Sasha collecting and has been with me ever since. She replaced my very first 1969 Dungaree girl, who although had her hair in plaits and a fringe arrived in just non original underwear without her outfit and cost me £350.
This doll too came in a non-original vest and pants set and I paid £800 for her. The Sasha Dolls in those days were very expensive to buy



To celebrate Mother's Day I have added photos of one of my favourite dolls in my collection at the moment. She is a Frido 1967 Blue Cord NP but dressed here in a Dollydoodle track suit and commercially made converses. The gorgeous grey/pink stripped hoodie was given to me yesterday by Judith and I searched and found these matching joggers in my Dollydoodle Sasha clothing box to complete this delightful outfit. Many thanks indeed Judith, a really lovely and totally gorgeous surprise indeed.



A special cake, called the Mothering Cake, was often bought along to provide a festive touch.
Around 1600, when the celebration was only held in England and Scotland, a different kind of pastry was preferred.
In England, "Mothering Buns" or "Mothering Sunday Buns" were made to celebrate. These sweet buns are topped with pink or white icing and the round, multi-coloured sprinkles known in the UK as "hundreds and thousands". They are not widely made or served today.
In Northern England and Scotland some preferred "Carlings", pancakes made of steeped peas fried in butter.



Simnel cake
The food item specially associated with Mothering Sunday is the Simnel cake.

A Simnel cake is a fruit cake with two layers of almond paste, one on top and one in the middle. My mother always made one for us to eat over Easter.

The cake is made with 11 balls of marzipan icing on top representing the 11 disciples. (Judas is not included.) Traditionally, sugar violets would also be added.

Why Simnel?
The name Simnel probably comes from the Latin word simila which means a fine wheat flour usually used for baking a cake.

There's a legend that a man called Simon and his wife Nell argued over whether the cake for Mothering Sunday should be baked or boiled. In the end they did both, so the cake was named after both of them: SIM-NELL.



'Rose Sunday' is sometimes used as an alternative title for 'Laetare Sunday' (which was mentioned in one of the comments) as the priest's purple robes of Lent were replaced in some churches by rose-coloured ones. This was because on this day 'The Golden Rose' sent to Catholic Sovereigns was blessed by the Popes at this time.



One of my favourite poses today. The sweet little FROM ME to YOU Bear that she is holding was one of my Christmas gifts from Shelly.



It was bought to my attention by Steve that I usually only use a few of my dolls to re-dress in any new clothing so now I've been made aware of this I'm making more of a concious effort to give some others a chance to model them.



This is an early mid 1960s Gotz slate eyed waif that I bought for £125 in the first couple of years of collecting to use for wearing wigs. She had bobbed length hair and her fringe had been cut close her crown but such a pretty little face. I actually kept her like that for several years to come until one day desperately wanting to buy a new doll but no spare cash to buy one I decided to cut her hair off and use her to wear the wigs that I had accumulated so giving me some different looks...rather like having a new doll.



Here she has a Monique real hair blonde Kimberly wig and is modelling another vintage-sasha dress with commercially made shoes and socks and further down over Dollydoodle's leggings.











Very special thanks to Sarah for the many downloads to my blog.