Pace Egging- The Tradition of Pace Egging Plays and Songs

The pace egging is observed as a custom of the Easter fun, which follows the tradition of the pace egging play. The term “pace” is derived from the word “Pacha”, a Latin word and it means Easter.

The play

The play is one of the most popular Easter activities that started out in parts of Northern England, mostly across Lancashire and Yorkshire. Having the essence of the folklores, the play actually narrates the story of St George combating the evils of the Knight and the bold Slasher. The twist part is when St George is executed by his opponents, but miraculously he is brought back to life by a quack doctor. As the play unveils, other characters come to the forefront, such as Beelzebub, Dublin the horse and Lord Nelson and others. The characters are sketched by the interested performers who act it out in front of the onlookers and then collect funds by parading through the streets by singing.

The king, the demons, the slaughtering and the miracles are all etched in the pace egging song sung by participants of the pace egg play. The pace egging play and song aims at:

• Creating a very colorful and melodious carnival.
• Propagating the story of St George and his challengers
• Enabling pace eggers to collect gifts and funds

The North European countries celebrate the pace egg custom with pomp and vigor and Lancashire tops the list.

In Lancashire

A Lancashire tradition of pace egg is one of the Easter traditions. According to the, the pace eggers were very much in demand who would visit the villages of the Lancashire and enact the pace egging play to collect funds or other gifts like eggs. In Lancashire the pace egg plays are staged at various villages and the game of pushing the pace eggs down the hills without breaking them are also followed. According to the legend, if the pace egg shells are fully cracked or smashed, then the Lancashire witch will take them away for constructing boats.

Pace egg play and songs still now follows a splendid street party.