I was so fortunate to receive some lovely gifts and cards from my family on Mothering Sunday. Yoghurt covered crystallised ginger, earrings, bracelet, stripy socks… and a Sigur Rós CD!
Mothering Sunday was originally the day before Easter when people would if they visit their ‘mother church’; there would be many small churches within a parish, but the ‘mother’ church would be the main one, and if parishioners could they would visit it. later, as people moved away to find work, they would make a longer journey on this particular Sunday. Eventually Mothering Sunday slightly changed to being the day when young women ‘in service’ were allowed a day off to go home to see their mothers, and there would be a special church service. As the young women hurried to see their mothers, they would pick spring flowers from the meadows and hedgerows as they walked to give when they arrived home. It also became the custom for a Simnel cake to be given, or at least eaten on that Sunday, breaking the Lenten fast just for one day. A Simnel cake is a spiced fruit cake with a layer of marzipan in the middle, another layer on top, and eleven marzipan balls to represent the eleven true disciples decorating the top.
A song from my new CD, Kveikur:
Lois Elsden 