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THE PASCHAL EGG.

CONTRIBUTED BY J. H. DIXON, ESQ.

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HE local song of "The Pitman's Courtship" has, in reference to a custom very prevalent in Northumberland and Durham, the following passage:

"And to please the pit laddies at Easter A dish-full of gilty paste eggs."

Of the many who have sung the song, and observed the practice alluded to, how few have enquired into the why and the wherefore!-and yet the custom of preparing these Easter eggs, which some deem a purely local one, and confined to one or two counties, would if sought into, be found to prevail in different, and widely separated, parts of the globe, to be more catholic than local, and peculiar to no place. It is found all over Asia minor, and we trace it throughout the north of Europe, more particularly in those countries where, as in the Russian empire, the Greek church is the religion of the people. Köhl, one of the most observant of travellers, thus speaks in his late work, "Russia," "The Easter Eggs play a very important part, at this time of the year. St. Petersburgh, lying in a plain, little peopled either by man or barn-door fowls, must procure her eggs from a great distance. Moscow, in particular, supplies large quantities. On a very moderate computation, there cannot be less than ten millions used at Easter in this capital; for as it is always customary at Easter, on greeting an acquaintance, to press an egg into his hand, many an individual may consume his hundreds. Nothing is more amusing, than to visit the markets and stalls, where the painted eggs are sold. Some are painted in a variety of patterns; some have verses inscribed on them, but the more usual inscription, is the general Easter greeting "Christohs vosskress," (Christ is risen) or "eat and think of me." The wealthier do not, of course, content themselves with veritable eggs dyed with Brazil wood, but profit by the custom to shew their taste and gallantry. Searcely any material is to be named, that is not made into Easter eggs. At the imperial glass cutting manufactory, we saw two halls filled with workmen, employed on nothing else, but in cutting flowers and figures on eggs of crystal. Part of them, were for the emperor

and empress to give away, as presents to the courtiers. The waxfruit makers and confectioners produce some pretty pieces of workmanship, in elegant boxes filled with eggs of all sizes, in regular order, from the mighty ostrich egg down to the nightingale's, and all in wax and sugar. Very costly presents are also offered in egg shells. Some are transparent, and in place of the yolk contain little fairy bouquets, and some have a magnifying glass neatly fitted in, and display pictures of saints and tiny angels couched on roses.'

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In giving the above extract, I have marked one or two parts in italics, to shew how the "paste eggs" of the Northumbrian and Durham "pit laddie," painted, decked with tinsel, or dyed with log wood, find their exact counterpart in the Easter eggs of the Russians. I have hitherto only spoken of the "paste egg" as connected with the customs of our Northern counties, or with the religious observances of the Greek church. The "Paste egg" is however found in countries where the Latin church is the prevalent faith, as in Italy, Spain, &c. In Italy, as I am informed by my friend, the Rev. Dr. David Meldola of London, [an Italian by birth, and the present High Priest of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews worshipping in England,] it is customary at Easter, among the Catholics, to prepare currant cakes similar to English Christmas cakes, but having a painted egg stuck on the top of them. If therefore, the "paste eggs" had been found in one particular spot, and there only, we might suppose the practice had its commencement in caprice or whim, but when the very same custom is observed in various parts of Christendom, (Catholic, Greek, and Protestant,) and with trifling variation, we feel curious on the subject, and wish to trace out its origin. And here I would premise, that the term "paste" is a corruption-the proper word is "pasche" or "pasque,"‡ i. e. passover. In fact, the "paste" or

pasque eggs are the paschal eggs, and the practice of using them, was

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By referring to two works quoted by Brand in his "Popular Antiquites," viz. the Abbé d'Auteroche's “Journey to Siberia," and Hakluyt's Voyages. fol. London 1589, it will be seen, that in the Russian empire, the custom has hardly undergone any change, since the time of the above authors.

It does not, however, appear to be known in Ireland. The Rev. W. Mc Avila, the respected Catholic pastor of Islington, assures me that the Irish do not prepare the paste eggs. This may be easily accounted for, from the peculiar notions which St. Patrick found attached to the egg and the oval shape by the heathen inhabitants of Ireland, when he came amongst them, and owing to which he would not introduce the practice.

The festival of the Resurrection, was in early Christian times, known by various names; one of these was "Pasque Sunday," another was "Goddus Sunday." By the Anglo Saxons it was first called "Easter day," according to some authors from the Saxon verb Oster, to rise-others deriving the term from the goddess who used to be worshipped at that season. The fact is, that the Saxon verb itself is derived from the name of the

adopted by the early Christians, from the passover ceremonies of the Jews. If the reader will refer to a translation of the Jewish daily prayers, by my friend the Rev. D. De Sola, Minister of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, London, he will find, that the egg is an important part in the religious ceremonies, observed at the paschal festival; particular directions are given in the rubric to those prayers, as to its preparation and where it is to be placed, [it is not intended for food], and the learned Rabbi in his preface says, in reference to its origin amongst his brethren, "it is used in commemoration of the festive offering, formerly brought in the Temple," a rational and simple explanation of the matter, with which, taking into consideration the source from whence it emanates, I am perfectly satisfied. Every reader of the Bible, is aware what the Temple offerings were; and that they were various, some of them consisting of living creatures, as doves and pigeons. Since the abolition of the Temple service, it has not been customary, amongst the Jews, to make any living offerings, but to present in their stead such things as may be deemed appropriate substitutes, and certainly the egg may be regarded as a good vicarious offering for the Temple dove. Some of our Historians, who fancy themselves far more knowing in such matters than any Hebrew Divine, have however had recourse to all sorts of fanciful theories, and invested with an air of mystery, the origin of that, which without their learned labours, would be as clear as the sun at noon day. Ex. gr. Hutchinson, in his History of Northumberland says, "the Jews adopted the egg, to suit the circumstances of their History, as a type of their departure from the land of Egypt; and it was used in the feast of the Passover, as part of the furniture of the table with the paschal lamb."

Hutchinson in thus accounting for the origin of the practice, seems to take it for granted, that the Egg was an object of veneration and respect, and a religious and national emblem amongst the ancient Egyptians, which is by no means certain. Since the days of Hutchinson there have been much inquiry into, and investigation of, Egyptian antiquities, and nothing has been hitherto discovered, to shew that the egg was ever with them either a religious, or even a national emblem. It is not found sculptured on any of their temples or sarcophagi, except as an hieroglyphic, i. e. as a simple

Goddess, the Phoenician Estarte (the personified Moon,) and who is identical with Isis, Luna, Venus-genetriæ, &c. The word Oster, was used in the sense of "To rise" from the fable of the goddess having risen from the sea. The real signification of the word Estarte, is fecundity.

Samuel Sharpe, Esq., the author of some learned works on Egypt, is of opinion that the egg was never either a religious, or national emblem of the Egyptians.

letter. In many mythologies of an unquestionable oriental origin, as the Drudical &c., the egg figures as an emblem of creative and reproductive power, along with the phallus, the triangle, the serpent, the round pillar, and various other symbols indicative of the same mythic worship; but although some of these objects were pressed into the worship of the ancient Egyptians, we are, I think, without sufficient evidence to shew, that the egg was ever regarded by them, in any other light than, as I have before stated, a simple egg, or a symbol for a letter. Had it been otherwise, and had the paschal egg been adopted by the Jews as a memento of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, it would no doubt have been in use at the passover from the period of its institution, but the Rev. D. De Sola assures me, it formed no part of the ceremonies of such feast, till after the destruction of the Temple, when it was used solely, for the reason assigned by him in the extract I have given from his edition of the Daily service. He also informs me that there is no notice of the Paschal egg in the Talmud, and no allusion whatever in the writings of the ancient Rabbins to any supposed Egyptian origin, nor when it is placed on their domestic altar, is it accompanied by any prayer, in which reference is made either to their Egyptian bondage or deliverance therefrom.

Fanciful, however, as Hutchinson has been, he is far exceeded by the French writer, Basnage, who in his Historie des Juifs says, that a hard egg is amongst the provision of the modern paschal feast, in reference to an enormous bird called Ziz “ a cause d'un oiseau prodigieusement grand," &c., and which, he says, the Talmudists absurdly supposed caused, by expansion of its wings, the eclipses of the sun! The simple answer to which, Mr. De Sola observes, is, that no Jew ancient or modern ever believed in the existence of such a bird, but, whether Rabbi or layman, regarded the Talmudical account of Ziz, as purely allegorical or figurative.

Having explained the Jewish origin and meaning of the paschal egg, it may be asked why such a practice was engrafted upon the observances of a Christian festival, and what is signified by it there ; and having no account as to the time when it was so introduced, vague conjecture is all we can arrive at. The most rational conclusion to which I can come is the following; that by the Christian passover egg, two things are typified, viz:-the tomb in which our Saviour was laid, and a resurrection* and future life, and such I may remark

* Brand says, that the church of Rome has considered eggs as emblematical of the resurrection, may be gathered from the subsequent prayer, which the reader will find in an extract from the Ritual of Pope Paul the fifth, for the use of England, Ireland, and

is the opinion of the learned and Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, of York, in a communication with which he has obligingly favoured me.

From the very nature of the egg, and the latent vitality within it, it seems a most fitting emblem of the latter, and that it was deemed emblematic of our Saviour's tomb, may be deduced from the Russian, or rather the Greek, practice of depriving it of its yolk, and filling it with figures of angels couched on roses,* intended no doubt to represent the glorious beings who proclaimed that "death was swallowed up in victory" and that the Lord was "not there but risen."

Since I prepared the above communication for the Table Book, I have been introduced to the Rev. Dr. Shufami, of Salonichi, and who is at present, February, 1844, in London. He informs me that his countrymen the Greeks, consider the paschal eggs as commemorative of the death of Christ, and that the red paint with which they cover them is emblematical of his blood. If a Greek is asked why (as he always does) he paints his paschal egg red, he invariably answers, "because it is the colour of blood, and as at this time, Christ died for mankind." It is worthy of remark as bearing out this idea that Hyde in his work "De Ludis orientalibus," 8vo. Oxon. 1694. alludes to the Mesopotamian Christians dying their paschal egg red, and says it is “in memoriam effusi sanguinis Salvatoris eo tempore crucifixi.'; Dr. Shufami reminds me, that the Jews have in addition to their Paschal egg, the "egg of Mourning," which is presented to the mourners on the burial ground, after the funeral rites are concluded, and says that he believes the Pasche egg to be taken not from the Jewish paschal egg, but from the egg of mourning. It is by no means improbable, that our pasche eggs may be derived from two Jewish ceremonies, though, I see no reason for altering the opinion at which I have arrived, that their origin is to be found alone in the egg of the Jewish passover.

Scotland. "Bless O Lord! we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that it may become a wholesome sustenance to thy faithful servants eating it in thankfulness to thee, on account of the resurrection of our Lord," &c., &c. I was not aware of any such prayer, when I wrote the above passage.

It is an old Ecclesiastical Tradition, that roses sprung up in the tomb of our Lord. Bishop Heber has a beautiful verse, evidently suggested by the fancy :

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