Popular pastimes, being a selection of picturesque representations of the customs & amusements of Great Britain, in ancient and modern times (1816).
Shrove-tide is the period of time before Lent where Christian prepares for Lent, and typically includes a series of merry-making before the solemnity of the holiday. The tradition is said to date to roughly the medieval period, and had the tinge of the scandalous for women running in their undergarments. It also would be sneered at a bit by the London newspapers and other publications as a “rustic” sport.
Women would race anywhere from a few hundred yards to beyond a mile, and it was not uncommon for women and girls of all ages to participate (Parratt, 2001). There was some thought it was a way for a young woman to snag a husband by impressing him with her form and figure (Hadgraft, 2022).
Hadgraft, R. (2022). Pioneers in Bloomers: The True Story of the Pedestriennes – British Sport’s First Female Celebrities. United Kingdom: Troubador Publishing.
Parratt, C. M. (2001). More Than Mere Amusement: Working-class Women’s Leisure in England, 1750-1914. Lebanon: Northeastern University Press.
