Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. This year’s Shrove Tuesday is 28th February 2006 (and Easter is Patriots’ Day weekend. Eastern Orthodox is different. Passover is 13th April) The three days before Lent are called Shrovetide.

Shrove Tuesday is historically a day of penitence, to cleanse the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins. The French term for this is ‘Fat Tuesday’ or mardi gras – which is associated with street parades and carnival. The word ‘carnival’ itself is connected, and comes from the Latin ‘carne vale’ or ‘farewell to meat’.
Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them. In the Catholic or Orthodox churches absolution is given by a priest. ‘Shrove’ means ‘having been shriven’. The word survives in the phrase ‘short shrift’, meaning getting less than one expected. It appears in Shakespeare’s Richard III, where the unfortunate Lord Hastings is given scant time to confess his sins before being executed (offstage, of course).
Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. In the old days there were many foods that observant Christians would not eat during Lent: meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. In Europe, Shrove Tuesday is associated with pancakes/crepes, since these delectables are a good way to use up milk and eggs (just add flour). In Today’s less-observant England, the day is often called Pancake Day (compare Turkey Day).

The Olney pancake race lineup in 1998

The festive spirit on this day gave rise in England to pancake races, which have been held in certain towns since the 1400s. One of the most famous pancake races is held at Olney in the county of Buckinghamshire, over a quarter-mile course. The rules are strict; contestants have to toss their pancake at both the start and the finish, as well as wear an apron and a scarf. The race is followed by a church service. Sure it’s not as licentious as New Orleans’ celebration – but this is Britain, after all!
English pancakes are more like crepes – they’re pan-sized and thin, and you need to be bold to toss them. Running and tossing the pancakes in a race is no problem – it’s the catching that’s hard!  Since 1950 Olney has competed with Liberal in Kansas, which holds an identical race, to see which town can produce the fastest competitor. After the 2000 race, Liberal was leading with 26 wins to Olney's 24.
www.sideburn.demon.co.uk/olney/pancake.html

Basic English Pancake Mixture:
4 oz (100g) plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ pint (250 ml) milk
Lard or fat for frying
Brown sugar and a lemon
Sieve the flour and salt, make a well in the center and add the egg, working the flour.Gradually add the milk, beating to make a smooth batter. Using the largest fry pan you can find, melt a small quantity of lard to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. When it is hot and just starting to smoke, pour in just enough pancake batter to coat the entire base of the pan. Cook until set and browned underneath. Shuffle the pancake to loosen it from the pan, then with a bold swing toss it high into the air and deftly catch it back in the pan, and briefly cook the other side of the pancake. You might have to practice this a few times, but the batter is not an expensive item to waste on a few futile essays!
Serve hot onto a plate and serve to a diner. Do not create stacks of pancakes – each diner awaits his own individual pancake, served piping hot. Serving fresh is part of the anticipation and the ceremonial. Diners add brown sugar and lemon juice to taste. Maple syrup is unheard of!
Connoisseurs insist that the batter should be made at least an hour previously, and allowed to stand. You can make it the previous night and keep in the refrigerator.

"... as fit as a pancake for Shrove Tuesday."
All's Well that Ends Well – William Shakespeare

Pancake tossing in London

Less Genteel Shrovetide events

Farther north of Olney, in Ashbourne in the county of Derbyshire, Shrovetide football has been played for such a long time that the people of this small market town have forgotten when the game first started.
The Shrovetide football match (not to be confused with soccer or American football !) dates back to the 12th century. Many English villages have their own variant of the game that usually involves the entire community. A whole village is often used as the football ground, local features become goal posts and streams turn into obstacles. Brute force is an essential element in scoring goals, and the ball is usually kicked, carried or thrown. There are hardly any rules and no limit on the number of players or goals.
"After dinner all the youth of the City goes out into the fields to a much-frequented game of ball. The scholars of each school have their own ball, and almost all the workers of each trade have theirs also in their hands. Elder men and fathers and rich citizens come on horse-back to watch the contests of their juniors, and after their fashion are young again with the young..."
William FitzStephen, discussing Shrovetide in London in the year 1183
In Ashbourne the ball is cork filled and the goals are up to three miles apart, with a stream running through the middle. It's a rough, tough, dirty game, in which anyone can compete. The town splits in half: those born north of Henmore Brook are the Up'ards, and those born south, the Down'ards. Kick-off normally takes place at 2pm, after the Shrovetide banquet, and there are somewhere in the region of 2,000 players.

Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Storekeepers know from experience that they’d better board up their windows!
There’s another tradition –a long history of the authorities trying to ban the game… but somehow this noisy and tough game continues, even though people continue to be hurt in it each year. It’s all part of the Shrovetide tradition!

From Rural Lodge Newsletter 13, dated
17 February 2006