A biretta tip to Eleanor Parker, who posts wonderfully on Twitter about early English medieval things. o{]:¬)
Today she has things about “Catterns Day”, the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria.
‘Catterns Day’ was celebrated with caraway cakes, torchlight processions and general festivity – ‘young women meeting on the 25th of November, and making merry together’. People would go ‘Catterning’, singing and begging for apples and beer.
(EDD, https://t.co/by2YZkN6gL, OED) pic.twitter.com/yYAZNdUUjv
— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) November 25, 2023
There is a page with a recipe for “Cattern Cakes” and it has a wonderful introduction. HERE
Today, the 25th November is St Catherine’s Day ~ in the UK it is a special day for lace makers whilst in France it is special day for young unmarried women. In France on St Catherine’s Day, young unmarried women are encouraged to pray for a husband ~ these young women are called “Catherinettes” (what a truly wonderful name) and as well as the special name, family and friends make them outlandish and rakish hats in vivid colours such as yellow (for faith) and green (for wisdom), these hats are then worn all day as a “crown” of their spinsterhood. The Millinery trade in France has also chosen this day to show off their latest hat designs, with more than a passing nod to the nation’s unmarried hat-wearing young ladies.
Whilst the French ladies are busily praying for a husband, in the UK our Lace Makers are celebrating their Saint’s Day and “Cattern Cakes” are the speciality of the day; “Cattern cakes” are spiced with cinnamon, lightly fruited and flavoured with caraway seeds; they were traditionally made by the English Nottingham lace makers for the festivities on their special feast day. The recipe goes back to Tudor times and has changed little over the centuries, although they are sometimes made with yeasted dough. Also known as Catherine Cakes, after Catherine of Aragon, whom whilst imprisoned locally at Ampthill, heard of the lace-maker’s financial plight and destroyed all of her lace only to commission some more and give work to the local industry.
Cattern Cakes are still specially prepared for St. Catherine’s Day in the UK by Lace makers for their special day, and are traditionally washed down with Hot Pot – a hot mixture of rum, beer and eggs. However, I find that I prefer mine with a cup of tea! These delicious little cakes are more like a soft and slightly chewy biscuit or cookie and I find the addition of caraway very refreshing, but then I love seed cake.
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Thank you – delightful, and all new to me! Following your recipe link, I see the catterning song beginning “Cattern’ and Clemen be here, here, here”, and while it goes on to say “Clemen’ was a good man, Cattern’ was his mother” (!) I suspect the reference is to the Feast of Pope St. Clement on 23 November – though funnily enough there is an Anglo-Norman verse Life of St. Catherine by the nun Clemence of Barking. Following up further, the French Wikipedia “Catherinette” article has jolly 1905 and 1909 illustrations of hats, painted and photographed respectively. Her English Wikipedia article tells me that a Middle English life of her, “Seinte Katerine”, was co-edited by Tolkien’s student and friend, Simonne R.T.O. d’Ardenne, which I find available among Texts to Borrow in the Internet Archive. Happy St. Catherine’s Day!