 Relationships (Outline) |
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Bachelor's Day, sometimes known as Ladies' Privilege, [1] is an Irish tradition by which women are allowed to propose to men on Leap Day, 29 February, based on a legend of Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick. It once had legal basis in Scotland and England.
The tradition is supposed to originate from a deal that Saint Bridget struck with Saint Patrick. [2] In the 5th century, Bridget is said to have gone to Patrick to complain that women had to wait too long to marry because men were slow to propose, asking that women be given the opportunity. [1] [3] [4] Patrick is said to have offered that women be allowed to propose on one day every seven years, but Bridget convinced him to make it one day every four years. [1]
The tradition also has background in the number of late February proposals encouraged by how undesirable it was to be unmarried during Lent, because of social responsibility to marry combined with the ban on marrying during the Lent observance. [1] [5] People who were single by Easter would be publicly named in Skellig Lists, ballads about single people, [1] [5] and harassed in the streets from the Sunday after Shrove Tuesday, known as Chalk Sunday, and throughout Lent. [5] The term "Skellig List" comes from the name of the Skellig Islands and particularly the largest, Skellig Michael, where Lent was believed to start later than in the rest of Ireland, providing a last opportunity to quickly wed. [1] [5]
Bachelor's Day was well established by the 1800s. Several stories of the tradition were then collected by the Irish Folklore Commission between 1937 and 1939, as part of an educational curriculum project. [1]
The custom is reported to allow women to initiate dances and propose marriage. [6] [7] [8] There are also traditions for if the proposal was refused, namely that the man would have to give recompense to the woman. This could come in different forms, though typically the man was expected to buy the woman gloves, a silk gown or, by the mid-20th century, a fur coat. [6] [9] He may have also had to perform a juggling trick on Easter Day. [6] In some areas a woman could propose for the entire leap year. [1] [6]
A related tradition is Puss Sunday. On either the last Sunday before, or the first Sunday after, Ash Wednesday, single women were reported to "have a puss", from the word pus being a term for scowling, but on Leap Years men would have the puss. [1] [5] [10] This appears to be a kinder form of Chalk Sunday. [5] Some records also include mention that it is traditionally unlucky to actually marry in February of a Leap Year. [1]
Similar traditions can be found in other countries, particularly in Scotland. It is also observed in other parts of the United Kingdom and in Finland. [1] By the early 20th century, the tradition had reached the United States, but was treated misogynistically. [1]
In some parts of Europe, if a woman proposed and the man refused, he would have to buy her twelve pairs of gloves, supposedly to hide the fact she was not wearing a ring. [4]
Irish monks took the tradition to Scotland. It has been widely reported that in 1288, it was made into a law that women could propose during leap years, that they must wear a red petticoat while proposing, and that refusals would result in a fine. This was supposedly decreed by the young, unmarried Queen Margaret, who was in fact 5 years old at the time. [4] The "fine" could be a kiss, or the traditional silk dress or gloves. [4] However, the fine and the red petticoat having the force of law have no basis in historical fact, though there was a superstition that a man declining such a proposal from a woman wearing a red petticoat would have bad luck. [11]
The fine comes from the story of Saint Bridget and Saint Patrick, where Bridget is said to have immediately proposed to Patrick after he allowed women to, but Patrick turned her down, giving her a kiss on the cheek and a silk dress. [4]
In traditional English law, 29 February was not a legal day, so the legal bar at that time on women proposing would not apply during a leap year. This may have begun the tradition there. [4]
The first record of the tradition in the United States is in 1860, when Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that his daughter had mentioned a "leap year dance", where the men sit around waiting to be invited by the women. [12] It became more known in the early 20th century, but was the butt of jokes about unmarried, romantically aggressive, women. [12] Cartoons were published mocking the concept [1] in various forms, commonly depicting women discussing the use of, or using, aggressive measures like nets and guns to capture unwitting men. [12] The societal impact of the tradition in the United States has been described as reinforcing gender stereotypes that suggest women should not propose, as it was treated as a joke to let them do so on Leap Day; a similar American tradition was to have women take leadership positions and arbitrarily run local councils on Leap Day, which was treated similarly to suggest that women should not have these roles. [12] Both traditions died out by 1980, when women's roles in relationships were more equal (and when the workplace swap became seen as entirely misogynistic). [12]
The 2010 American film Leap Year tells the story of a woman traversing around Ireland to find her boyfriend to propose on the day, and the tradition may have led to the day being used as Sadie Hawkins Day. [4]
Imbolc or Imbolg, also called Saint Brigid's Day, is a Gaelic traditional festival. It marks the beginning of spring, and for Christians, it is the feast day of Saint Brigid, Ireland's patroness saint. Its traditional date is 1 February, about halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Historically, its traditions were widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Imbolc is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with: Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.
A leap year is a calendar year that contains an additional day compared to a common year. The 366th day is added to keep the calendar year synchronised with the astronomical year or seasonal year. Since astronomical events and seasons do not repeat in a whole number of days, calendars having a constant number of days each year will unavoidably drift over time with respect to the event that the year is supposed to track, such as seasons. By inserting ("intercalating") an additional day—a leap day—or month—a leap month—into some years, the drift between a civilization's dating system and the physical properties of the Solar System can be corrected.
Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm branches waved by the crowd to greet and honor Jesus Christ as he entered the city. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week; in Western Christianity, this is the beginning of the last week of the solemn season of Lent, preceding Eastertide, while in Eastern Christianity, Holy Week commences after the conclusion of Great Lent.
Lughnasadh, Lughnasa or Lúnasa is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Traditionally, it is held on 1 August, or about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. In recent centuries, some celebrations have shifted to Sundays near this date. Lughnasadh is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Beltane. It corresponds to the Welsh Gŵyl Awst and the English Lammas.
Saint Joseph's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Joseph or the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, is in Western Christianity the principal feast day of Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus Christ, celebrated on 19 March. It has the rank of a solemnity in the Catholic Church. It is a feast or commemoration in the provinces of the Anglican Communion, and a feast or festival in the Lutheran Church. Saint Joseph's Day is the Patronal Feast day for Poland as well as for Canada, persons named Joseph, Josephine, etc., for religious institutes, schools and parishes bearing his name, and for carpenters. It is also Father's Day in some Catholic countries, mainly Spain, Portugal, and Italy. It is not a holy day of obligation for Catholics in the United States.
Shrove Tuesday is the final day of Shrovetide, marking the end of pre-Lent. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession; the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms; finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice; as well as eating pancakes and other sweets.
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Saint Brigid of Ireland is the patroness saint of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiographies, she was an abbess who founded the important abbey of Kildare, as well as several other monasteries of nuns. There are few documented historical facts about her, and her hagiographies are mainly anecdotes and miracle tales, some of which are Christianisations of hero tales from Irish mythology. They say Brigid was the daughter of an Irish clan chief and an enslaved Christian woman, and was fostered in a druid's household before becoming a consecrated virgin. She is patroness of many things, including poetry, learning, healing, protection, blacksmithing, livestock and dairy production. In her honour, a perpetual fire was kept burning at Kildare for centuries.
Ordinary Time is the part of the liturgical year in the liturgy of the Roman Rite, which falls outside the two great seasons of Christmastide and Eastertide, or their respective preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent. Ordinary Time thus includes the days between Christmastide and Lent, and between Eastertide and Advent. The liturgical color assigned to Ordinary Time is green. The last Sunday of Ordinary Time is the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's hillbilly comic strip Li'l Abner (1934–1977). The annual comic strip storyline inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a date or dancing. "Sadie Hawkins Day" was introduced in the comic strip on November 15, 1937; the storyline ran until the beginning of December. The storyline was revisited the following October/November, and inspired a fad on college campuses. By 1939, Life reported that 201 colleges in 188 cities held a Sadie Hawkins Day event.
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In legal definitions for interpersonal status, a person who is single is an individual not in a committed relationship, married, or part of a civil union.
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Indeed, it was widely and erroneously reported that a Scottish Act of Parliament from the 13th Century had mandated this, or that this "agree or else" proposition had been enshrined in English Common Law. Often this tidbit of misinformation was presented as a 1288 decree by Queen Margaret of Scotland, under which men who declined the invitation to wed were fined £100.