Lady Day

In the nineteenth century, 25th March had been observed as the Feast of Annunciation or Lady Day,  an abbreviation of our Lady's Day. It is an age old custom, which had been in practice in English rural societies. It had its roots in the economic life of the people, and evolved in course of time. While the Church provided a name and fixed a date, the custom was largely driven by the economic and agricultural practices and traditions. 

The Role of Church in fixing the date.

The Church established the date and name and adopted it into their own system. The Church decided to celebrate 25th March as Our Lady's Day; It commemorates the announcement to Mary by angel Gabriel that she was to be the mother of Christ. The day is known as the Feast of Annunciation. In common parlance it is came to be called Lady Day. It was a major celebration observed by Catholic and Orthodox churches.

It is the first quarter day of the year, the date when rents are due, farm tenancies begin and servants are hired and fired.

The Church was adopting a custom and usage followed by agrarian and economic practices and customs evolved and followed by mercantile and agrarian society. They evolved this through trial and error experiment of centuries. Families moved into new tenancies around this time, and it marked the end of winter, and the movement was easy. Before the intervention of the Church the Lady Day had been observed on 6th April. The Church connected its fiction to the birth of Jesus Christ; to an existing festival aligned with seasonal change based on what we on the earth perceive as the movement of Sun across equator around March 21st. Around this time the winter ends ending the frost and cold winds. Astronomical winter starts on 21st December, the shortest day of the year. This period is known as winter solstice. The winter season then runs until vernal or spring equinox, which falls on March 21st.

While the Church provided religious label, the festival functioned as the psychological and economic "Welcome to Spring". It was reset to the normal life. Light begins to outperform darkness, signalling the end of winter.

In rural England, the day was the signal that the earth was warm enough for the "spring sowing". A  welcome to the new agricultural cycle. 

There was a strong tradition of "putting out the fires" on that day. Households would stop lighting candles and hearths as early in the evening, literally welcoming the natural light of spring back into their  homes. Because it marked the beginning of the agricultural season it kindles the hope of prosperity.

Before the Church appropriated it as their own, the time around late March was celebrated as Vernal Equinox. Different cultures named it differently. It evolved from several ancient roots all of which share the the theme of welcoming light and warmth. In Roman Empire the festival of Hilaria (a Greek word meaning rejoicing) was celebrated on March 25th, and dedicated to Cybele, the mother of God's. It marked the point when the day became longer than the night.

Anglo Saxons in England celebrated the month of March (Hrethmonath) in honour of their godess Eostre; the linguistic root from which the word Easter was derived. It was a celebration of fertility, the return of the dawn, and the springing of the earth.

In many ancient cultures, this time was simply known as the New Year.
For a tenant farmer or a servant the day represented a fresh start. If you had a tough master or a failed crop the previous year, the Lady Day came to your rescue. After a winter of freezing homes and expensive candles the light of spring was a psychological relief.

The Church did not invent the Lady Day, but they anchored it to a sacred story.

                 The End 




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