Next Sunday is the time to go a-mothering
sir – Each year, as we approach the fourth Sunday in Lent, we are bombarded by historically inaccurate advertising. Sadly, this year is no exception.
This coming Sunday is Mothering Sunday (Letters, March 26), which has much earlier roots and traditions than the American invention of Mother’s Day. The latter was founded in 1908 and celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
Mothering Sunday dates back to the 16th century when people, many in domestic service, were given the day off to go “a-mothering” and visit their family and mother church. Julian Stapleton
Ash, Somerset
sir – When I was a child between the wars we went to church on Mothering Sunday. During the hymn before the sermon all the children in the congregation were invited to step into the aisle and go up to the chancel steps. Here, we were each presented with a buttonhole of fresh violets to give to our mothers. That was it.
Some time after the war it mutated into the commercial exercise that is Mother’s Day.
R E K Finlay
Calne, Wiltshire
sir – Not being religious, I prefer to have my Mother’s Day when it suits me and my children. I am taken out and spoilt on the Saturday, leaving the Sunday free for my daughter to be spoilt by her own son.
Margaret Mccrimmon
St Albans, Hertfordshire