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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Shrove Tuesday
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(also known as Pancake Day) The Tuesday 41 days before Easter. It is followed by Ash Wednesday, the first of the 40 days of Lent. The name relates back to pre-Reformation times, when the priest 'shrove' his parishioners on this day – meaning that he heard their confessions, enabling them to enter Lent with a clear conscience. The approach of lean times provoked in other countries the merry excesses of carnival (a farewell to meat), but in Britain the humble pancake has been the national indulgence. Traditionally it is turned in the pan by tossing it in the air. In many places (most famously at Olney in Buckinghamshire) this is done by women while running in a pancake race. An ancient ceremony at Westminster School, called the Pancake Greeze, involves the cook tossing a large pancake over a high bar before the boys scramble for it.
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