LL-L: "Traditions" (was "Administrativa") LOWLANDS-L, 01.MAR.2000 (11) [E]

[Lowlands-L Administrator]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 01.MAR.2000 (11) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Edwin Michael Alexander [edsells at idirect.com]
Subject: LEAP YEAR

Ron:

My new wristwatch did the same to me and now I have to figure out how to
reset it.  While we're on the subject of leap year, I noticed the following
information in our local paper, which has a twinge of Scots in it:

For more than 700 years, leap year has traditionally meant it's ok for
women to propose to men.  The idea is supposed to have originated with St.
Bridget, principal of an Irish girls; school and nunnery.  She prevailed
upon St. Patrick to give permission for young women to make the first move.
 She became patron saint of leap year in the process.  But it wasn't until
1288 that Margaret, Queen of Scotland, made a law of the leap-year custom.
According to the law: "In lepe yeare, ilk mayden ladye of bothe highe and
lowe estait shall hae liberte to bespeke ye [sic] man she likes."

In the middle of this century, there was a revival of this tradition in
North America, inspired by cartoonist Al Capp in his strip Dogpatch, which
celebrated a Sadie Hawkins Day in which all the eligible batchelors were
given a head start in a race with the unmarried women of the town.  Those
who were caught were promptly married off, Winchester Cathedral style.

As some of you will remember, Dogpatch is the hills of Arkansas, and the
strip was one of the great exports (along with Pogo) from the Old South in
those days.  I wonder if this tradition of reverse courting goes back
farther than Al Capp to the ancient Scotch Irish heritage?

Ed Alexander
JAG REALTY INC.
80 Jones Street Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8R 1Y1
Pager: 905-545-0177  Fax: 905-525-6671 Email: edsells at idirect.com
Jag Realty Inc.: http://www.deerhurst.com/jag/
Ontario Ultra Series:  http://ous.kw.net/
Burlington Runners Club: http://www.deerhurst.com/brc/

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