The History of Mothers day

It is interesting to find out when is Mothers Day in the UK and when is it celebrated around the world. In the UK the day we honour our Mothers is called Mothering Sunday also known as Mother’s Day. Mothering Sunday in this country is celebrated on different days each year. So how do we work out when is Mother’s Day, well it is always the fourth Sunday after Lent. This year 2009 Mothering Sunday will be the 22nd March

It is a day for giving thanks to our mothers for all that they do for us. It has been celebrated in the UK for at least 400 years.

It’s not absolutely certain how the idea of honouring mothers on Mothering Sunday began but it is believed to have originated from the 16th century. They have “gone a Mothering” was a term used when people who lived in small villages would make a point of going to their nearest big church rather than their local one. Some would go to a Cathedral which is a very big church – the mother of all churches hence the term gone a Mothering. Four hundred years ago the Christian practice of visiting one’s own Mother Church once a year meant they could be reunited with their children on this day.

Some historians suggest that young boys and girls in service in Victorian times were given a day off to visit their mother and family. The UK was one of the first countries to do this and the day set aside was Mothering Sunday. Flowers were often taken which were gathered along the walk through the village home or sometimes cakes were baked to be taken home to their mother; the Simnel cake was the most popular choice at the time although it is now an Easter tradition. The Simnel cake is a fruit cake often decorated according to Christian tradition; 11 marzipan balls are placed on top of the cake to represent Christ's disciples - Judas is left out. (12 apostles minus Judas)

Simnel Cake Verse

I'll go to thee a Simnell bring
'Gainst thou go'st a mothering,
So that, when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give to me

Robert Herrick 1648

Original 19th Century Simnel Cake Recipe

The name given to a sweet, rich, flat cake made chiefly in Lancashire, to be eaten on Mid – Lent Sunday. The name Simnel is derived from the Low Latin siminellus- bread made from simila wheat-flour. The following is a good receipt for its manufacture:

Beat 1lb of butter with the hand till creamy, then add the well-whipped whites of six eggs; beat these together for a minute, then mix in the beaten yolks of the six eggs, 3/4lb of caster sugar, 1 1/4lb of flour,1 1/2lb of well-washed and dried currants, 3/4lb of finely -shred candied citron and lemon peels, 1/2 lb of blanched and chopped almonds, 2oz of orange-sugar, and ½ oz of pounded nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. When the above ingredients are well mixed, pour in 1 wineglassful of brandy and a little water, and beat them for some time. Gather the paste into a lump, then roll it out, double it over, put into a cloth that has been wrung out in hot water and floured, tie it up, put in a saucepan of boiling water, and boil for three hours. Take the cloth off the cake at the end of the three hours, stand the cake on a tin, the smooth surface upwards, and leave it till cool. Brush the cake over with a paste brush dipped in beaten egg, and bake in a slow oven till the outer crust is hard and lightly browned. Take the cake out, and leave it till cold.

Garret, Theodor Francis, 1899, The Encyclopædia of Practical Cookery.

More recipes from the 19th Century can be found here Original Victorian Recipes.

It was not until the twentieth century that Mothering Sunday was established officially as a day honouring mothers.

There are many schools of thought to how this custom emerged. One idea suggests it goes back to ancient Greece where the Great Mother of Greek Gods “Cybele” was worshipped. A festival was held around middle of March. This soon spread to Rome.

The ancient Romans also had their own holiday known as Matronalia dedicated to Juno, where mothers were usually presented with gifts.

In the USA Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. The first national Mothers Day was declared in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson and the day became officially recognised for American citizens to honour their mothers. It was the time of the B]Great War of 1914 when deep feeling of unity and national pride was running high that brought the American people together in honouring mothers especially whose sons had died in war.

Although declared an official holiday in the 20th century, the idea was inspired around the time of the Civil War when social activist Julia Ward Howe tried to get recognition of a Mothers Day Peace by uniting women against war. In 1870 she wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation. Although her attempt failed it did inspire others.

A young Appalachian Ann Jarvis encouraged women to work for better sanitation on both sides of the Civil War and when she died her daughter carried on the crusade to found a Memorial Day for women. The first such Mothers Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia but soon spread to 45 states. The International Mothers Day Shrine is to be found at Grafton. Today Mother’s Day has become one of the biggest commercialised holidays in America.

In many African countries there were many festivals celebrating mothers long before the colonials arrived bringing with them the new idea of Mother’s Day from the western civilisation In most of East Asia Mother’s Day is as commercialised as the USA and is big business.

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