Sunday 18 March 2012

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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'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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

10 comments:

  1. A feast for the eyes Kendal and very interesting about how mothering sunday came to pass.

    Hope you have a lovely day with all your brood
    Dee

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  2. A very Happy Mothers Day to you Kendal and it was a really nice treat to see your pics and be educated at the same time :o) Loving the pics of the Np , love Shelly and Jacob who likes them too xxxxxx

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  3. A very happy Mothers day to you dear Kendal. Loved reading about how Mothers came to be, as Shelly said, your so well educated, lol.
    The pictures of your girls are beautiful!
    Love Steve XXXXX

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  4. This was emailed to me as once again the comments were unable to be left. I just don't understand why Google have to make the verification word process so hard. They completely baffle me at the best of times.

    'Kendal, I noticed your lovely little model is wearing liturgically-correct pink, as this is Laetare Sunday! Thanks for the gorgeous pics, as always – and thanks a bunch for the informational background!'

    I was hoping to add some more infomation about the day also being called 'Rose Sunday' due to the fact that the priest's vestments were changed from purple to rose pink but time as usual ran out.

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  5. Another privately emailed to me comment.......

    'I loved reading your blog and learning all about how Mothers Day came to be and also seeing your lovely Sashas. Just love the one in the blonde wig bob. Thank you!'

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  6. Emailed to me privately.........

    'Nice post today... informative... educational... with great pics of the girls!!! (*Wonderful outfits*... as always!)'

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  7. Privately emailed.......

    'My, you have been busy with the blog. Looking wonderful.'

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  8. Another privately emailed......

    'Well, I hope you DO add comments about the Simnell cake, as I don’t know what that is! Every Laetare Sunday, when our priest wears his pink vestments, he makes a heavy-handed joke about the color, insisting it is not pink, but rose. I think he’s embarrassed!'

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  9. A truly *marvelous* post. I had no idea the origins of *Mothering Day* in the UK and found the information you provided to be enlightening... to say the least. Thank you so much for all the detail and research you did... simply fascinating!

    A belated "Happy Mother's Day" to all you Enlish Mothers!

    I completely enjoyed seeing all your gorgeous models... your NPs are just beautiful... do love their Dollydoodles outfits in pink... perfect for your *special* day... such a good Sasha Mum you are!!! Your brunette girl is *oh-so* pretty... and the wide faced blonde looks just *precious* holding her little grey plush with the blue nose... love her pose... chin down and head tilted a wee bit to the side... just GREAT!

    How *cool* to see the new faces... thank you for showing the bobbed 1968 red head, as I have not seen her before... her vintage-sasha outfit is stunning on her... one would never know she did not have fringe... wearing her matching beret... a very classic look!

    Adorable little Gotz *cupcake* waif... yummy little face... in her black and biscuit colored vintage-sasha dress... it was fun to see her in two looks... one with black knee socks and shoes and the other in black leggings and barefoot... sweet!

    Thank you for all your efforts in putting this post together... fabulous!
    Hugs, -Anne

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  10. Happy Mothers Day Kendal!!!!!! Belated yet sincere good wishes are coming your way.
    Thank you for the most interesting history lesson about Mothering Day. I love your girls, so nicely dressed. The brunette NP is very beautiful and just stunning!!!!!!! Thank you, and dear Sarah too :)

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