Once regarded as the start of the new year, by the Regency Era Lady Day was the first of the English quarter days, and to some, the most significant because that as when everything started.

Liturgical  significance

Lady Day originated in the Middle Ages as the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and carry the son of God.  (The date is nine months before Christmas, the observed date of the Christ child’s birth.) The lady of Lady Day is the Virgin Mary. Though it seems like it should be Lady’s day to the modern ear, the term comes from Middle English when the possessive apostrophe ‘s’ was used a bit differently than it is today.

Why was Lady Day considered the first day of the year?  The church’s measuring system for time was Anno Domini (A.D.), in the year of our Lord. In the most technical sense, this would be measured from the incarnation, rather than the birth of the Christ child. Hence, the year would started at the annunciation.

 This changed with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1752. (Scotland changed its new year’s day to 1 January in 1600.)

Lady Day occurs close to the Vernal Equinox , very near the beginning of Spring. It also occurs during the Lenten season of fasting, which makes it difficult to celebrate an actual feast, a bit of a catch twenty-two there. So, people would make a special effort to make what they were allowed to eat during Lent more interesting.

Occasionally, Lady Day could also fall on Good Friday, a coincidence that is considered bad luck in England. An old saying explains: “If Our Lord falls in Our Lady’s lap, England beware of some mishap!” In this case, the observance of Lady Day is moved to the first Sunday after Easter Sunday.

Practical significance

Quarter days

Lady Day was the first of the English quarter days, when the countryside cycle of life began afresh with spring dispelling winter. The four traditional quarter days were Lady Day, March 25, Midsummer (Also St. John the Baptist day), June 24, Michaelmas (the Feast of St. Michael), September 29, and Christmas, December 25, all close to religious holidays and solstices or equinoxes.

(A bit of another research rabbit hole here: Scotland had different quarter days than England:   Candlemas (February 2), Whitsunday (May 15), Lammas (August 1) and Martinmas (November 11). But I’m just gonna tiptoe away from that and move on…)

Quarter days were established during the Middle Ages. With many people, illiterate and few calendar’s available, religious holidays were much easier for people to keep up with than specific dates. Thus, these four quarter days became the times when servants were hired, leases were contracted, and rents and other debts were paid.

Hiring

In rural areas, hiring fairs—not unlike today’s job fairs—were held each quarter day. Most hiring, especially of domestic servants, occurred on Lady Day. Participants in the hiring fairs often arrived with some implement of their trade to indicate the sort of position they were hoping for, making them a rather colorful scene.

Payments to servants were made less frequently than we expect to receive our pay today. At most, servants were paid quarterly on quarter days. Some were only paid yearly, and usually payday fell on Lady Day. So, it seems natural that the day would also be one where outstanding debts were paid off and investment interest was paid out as well.

Leases

Because Lady Day fell outside the times for planting and harvesting, it became the traditional day for yearlong contracts between landowners and their tenant farmers to begin. Families would often move on to the land they would be working on this day. Farm leases always lasted at least a year since it took that long to complete a full cycle of farm operations. Multi-year leases were common.

If rent was paid yearly, it was generally due on Lady Day. Some, though some paid rent on each of the quarter days.

Leases for homes and other non-agricultural properties were often established for terms of less than a year. Even so, Lady Day was still the day that many of them began or contracts had to be negotiated by. The was especially true for fashionable homes in London leased by those who wanted to be in town for the social season. Six-month leases which ran from Lady Day to Michaelmas were common for these properties. The leases might be paid in a single amount up front or in two payments on the quarter days.

 Other Customs

Beyond these better know customs, a few other more lesser-known practices were associated with Lady Day.  

 No More Fires

Lady Day signaled the advent of spring, which has some interesting implications in rural communities. In many country houses no fires were permitted beyond the kitchen (and nursery if there were young children) after Lady day since the winter chill would largely be passed. The increasing daylight after the spring equinox meant that in some households, candles were no longer used at night beginning on Lady Day.

These economies were practiced less often in the great house in town, but even in the city, poorer folks might have followed them.

Goose Down and Pen Quills

Goose farmers also marked Lady Day with the first schedule plucking of the geese. Down was plucked four or five times a year, starting with Lady Day, ending about at Michaelmas to give the geese time to grow new down to protect them during winter.

Goose wing feathers for quill pens, only harvested once a year, were collected at Lady Day.

Modern fiscal years and tax days

Even today, the significance of Lady Day is still felt in the establishment of the fiscal year, though it is a several step process to suss it out.

The tax year in the United Kingdom ends on April 5, which is also known as “Old Lady Day” (not a day for old women, but the more ancient day to celebrate Lady Day.) When England switched to the Gregorian from the Julian calendar in 1752, adjustments had to be made for eleven lost days. (The Julian calendar lagged the Gregorian by eleven days.) Hence March 25 in the Julian calendar became April 5 in the Gregorian calendar.  

Therefore, the day contracts start, effectively the fiscal year beginning of the financial year, moved from March 25 to April 5. Today, many British influenced governments begin their fiscal years in April, and American income taxes are also due in April.

Waffles and Lady Day

Very few celebratory customs of Lady day are known as it was mostly set aside as a day of prayer. However, on interesting custom did develop. Eating waffles on Lady Day.

It is said that this waffle celebration results from a big misunderstanding. In Swedish, Our Lady Day, or Vårfrudagen, when said very quickly or in certain Swedish dialects, sounds very much like Våffeldagen, which translates to “Waffle Day” leading to a long-standing tradition of eating waffles on this day.

References

Kane, Kathryn. “The Importance of Lady Day in the Regency Calendar.” The Regency Redingote. September 2, 2010. Accessed February 20, 2021. https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2010/09/03/the-importance-of-lady-day-in-the-regency-calendar/

CooksInfo. ”Lady Day.” CooksInfo. March 12, 2004, updated June 25, 2018.. Accessed Februsry 19, 2021. https://www.cooksinfo.com/lady-day

“Our Lady of Waffles.” Book of Days. March 25. 2014. Accessed February 23, 2010. http://www.conviviobookworks.com/blog/our-lady-of-waffles/

Darsie, Heather R.  “About Lady Day.” Maidens and Manuscripts. April 28, 2018 Accessed February 20, 2021. https://maidensandmanuscripts.com/2018/04/28/about-lady-day/