The Day the Bells Escape
A Canadian Easter
The Easter holiday throughout the Victorian Era, had deeply religious roots, so most events were sponsored by the church, or at least associated with Lent.  That's not to say that Easter wasn't fun; especially for children; since there were Easter egg hunts and parades, and of course an opportunity to show off your best bonnet and new spring wardrobe.
Pancake Tuesday
Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday; is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, allowing families to use up their surplus of fat, butter and eggs; all foods that were forbidden during Lent.  Later, it was only necessary to give up one thing, but the custom of a huge pancake feast remained.
Mardi-Gras, which translates to "Fat Tuesday",  and is celebrated annually in New Orleans, is based on much the same principle.  This carnival originated  in the middle of the second century in Rome, when the Fast of the 40 days of Lent was preceded by a feast that lasted several days. The Romans put on masks, and considered all pleasure allowable; the masks no doubt giving them anonymity while they engaged in 'sinful' pleasures.
The English celebrated the day with the traditonal Pancake Day Race that originated in the fifteenth century.  The story goes that a woman was in the middle of making pancakes when she heard the shriving bell summoning her to confession. She ran to church wearing her apron and still holding her frying pan, beginning a trend that has lasted for more than five hundred years.
According to the rules, only women wearing a dress,  an apron and a hat or scarf, could take part in the race. Each contestant had a frying pan containing a hot, cooking pancake. She must toss the pancake  three times during the race and the first woman to complete the pre-dertimed course; arrived back at the church, served her pancake to the bellringer and was kissed by him; was the winner.
The males were not left out of the day's festivities, however, and could join in the  Annual Pancake Grease.  A huge pancake was thrown over a five metre high bar and the boys frantically scrambled for a piece. The one who emerged with the largest chunk was the winner.

In France, the main pancake eating day was Candlemas, which takes place on the 2nd of February, or six weeks after Christmas, the day that Christ was presented at the temple by his mother. During this festival, French children wore masks and demanded pancakes and fritters.

Customs did vary though,  in different parts of the country.  For example, in  Provence, if you held a coin in your left hand while you tossed a pancake, you'd be rich. In Brie, the first pancake was always given to the hen that laid the eggs that made it, and it was always bad luck to let a pancake fall on the floor while tossing it, anywhere.  Legend has it that Napoleon blamed the failure of his Russian campaign on the fact that he had dropped a pancake, years before, during Candlemas.
Lent itself comes from the Old English word Lenctentid, meaning the time of lengthening; and referred to the entire Spring season.  When Christianity arrived the days of Lent, became the forty days Christ fasted in the desert; beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending with Holy Week, which commemorated the last week of Christ's life.
Holy Thursday, Green Thursday, or Maundy (mandate) Thursday of Holy Week is the last day of Lent; the day that Christ was sentenced to be killed by the Romans. Good Friday is the day that he died on the cross. Holy Saturday is the vigil and Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection, which was the day for Easter Parades and the wearing of gay clothing and flowered bonnets. 

In Polish communities, the boys celebrated the end of Lent by swatting their sweethearts with red willow switches; but then on Easter Tuesdays, the girls had their turn, and they could switch the boys.

In Quebec, the children believed that on Good Friday the church bells escaped from the steeples and returned to Rome to be blessed; returning in time for Easter Sunday.  
Eastertide
The world is ready for the Spring,
The winter has been long and cold.
The birds will soon fly home to sing
Of April glories they behold.

The world has need of Eastertide.
It has been plunged in Lenten gloom.
But now upon the countryside,
The bashful crocuses will bloom.
Anne Campbell
The Easter Egg
The egg has always represented birth and new beginnings, and even before the time of Christ; the Egyptians and Persians used to dye eggs in spring colors and give them to friends as a symbol of renewed life.  Some Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures even maintain that the earth itself was hatched from a giant egg.

The name  Easter is derived from Oestar, a goddess of Spring and renewal, and the rabbit or hare has long been a symbol of fertility, called Wenu by the  ancient Egyptians, an insignia of the rising of the sun god, Ra, and the resurrective powers of Osiris.
Before the egg became closely entwined with the Christian Easter, it was honored during many Spring festivals.  The long, hard winter was over; the earth burst forth and was reborn, just as the egg bursts forth with life. Therefore, it isn't any wonder that it was thought to have special powers, and would often be buried under the foundations of buildings to ward off evil; would be carried by young pregnant women in Rome to protect their unborn child,  and French brides would step on an egg before crossing the threshold of their new homes, to ensure a long and happy life.
Decorating and coloring eggs for Easter was the custom in England throughout the Middle Ages and in the household accounts of Edward I; for the year 1290; there is a record of eighteen pence being paid for four hundred and fifty eggs to be gold-leafed and colored for Easter gifts.

In Canada, our Easter celebrations are a combination of many different cultures, but decorating, hiding and hunting for Easter eggs, has been popular for many years. 
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