Dates to remember in March 2024 – 3

 

Dates to remember in March 2024 – 3

                                                       Archdruid
                                        Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

20^th March: London Druid Spring Equinox

The Vernal Equinox is the time of equal day and night, when the light begins to gain ascendancy. The soil starts to warm up and it is a time to sow seeds. The equinox is celebrated at many locations in the British Isles and one of the most well-known is that held by the Druid Order at Tower Hill in London. About 30 Druids, dressed in flowing white robes, process in silence to Tower Hill Terrace. The ceremony lasts for about three-quarters of an hour. The Druids celebrate the changing of the seasons and rebirth.  They welcome the Earth Mother, Ceridwen, who represents fertility and new beginnings.

What do Druids believe? This is some of what I found:

While there are no set texts or traditions for the Druid religion, most Druids believe in the following: Spiritual truth is found in nature and all things are interconnected, honouring one's ancestors and the divine through celebration is integral, souls go to another place when they die (sometimes known as the Otherworld), and they believe in reincarnation.

 

 

 Tichborne Dole, Painting by Flemish painter Gillis van Tilborch (c1625 - c.1678)

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

25^th March: Tichborne Dole, Hampshire

The festival of the Tichborne Dole (gift) is held annually in Tichborne, Hampshire, on Lady Day, 15^th March. At 2:30 on that day, residents from the parishes of Tichborne, Cheriton and Lane End are entitled to claim a gallon of flour each. Children may claim half a gallon. The flour is blessed by the local priest before distribution at the front door of Tichborne House.

The Dole dates from the 13^th century. Lady Mabella Tichborne was known and loved for her kindness and charity. During her final illness, she asked her husband to create an annual gift of produce for all those who came to Tichborne for the Feast of the Annunciation. Sir Roger Tichborne was not enamoured of the idea but agreed on one condition. Flour for the bread would only be provided from the land that his wife was able to encompass unassisted, while carrying a burning torch. Lady Mabella, though greatly enfeebled, managed to crawl round a field of 23 acres before her torch went out. This area is still known today as The Crawls.

Lady Mabella, fearing that her bequest might not be honoured, put a curse on the Dole. If it were to be abandoned, the Tichborne family would bear seven sons, followed in the next generation by seven daughters. In this way, the family’s name would die out and the house would fall into disrepair.

The Dole continued for 600 years until 1796, when disturbances by tramps during the ceremony caused it to be suspended by local magistrates. Remembering the curse, local people were alarmed when part of the house subsided in 1803. When Sir Henry Tichborne, one of seven brothers, succeeded to the baronetcy in 1821, and subsequently fathered seven daughters, the curse seemed to have been at least partially fulfilled. The tradition was re-established around 1836 and continues to this day.

The Tichborne baronetcy became extinct in 1968 on the death of the 14^th baronet.

 

Near Hammersmith Bridge

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

30^th March: The Geminin Boat Race, River Thames, London

Generally referred to as ‘The Boat Race’, it is also known as the University Boat Race or the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. It first took place in 1829 and has been an annual event since 1856, apart from WWI and WWII and the Covid pandemic in 2020. The inaugural women’s boat race was in 1927 and it became an annual event in 1964. Since 2015, it has been conducted on the same day as the men’s race and along the same course. The reserve crews also race.