pace eggn.
/ˈpeɪs ˌɛɡ/, U.S. /ˈpeɪs ˌɛɡ/, Scottish English /ˈpes ˌɛɡ/ Chiefly English regional (northern) and Scottish.
An Easter egg; = pasch egg n.
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society > faith > artefacts > consumables > Easter eggs > [noun]
Easter egga1572
pace egg1579
1579 G. Gilpin tr. P. van Marnix van Sant Aldegonde Bee Hiue of Romishe Church i. ii. f. 14v Holy ashes, holy Paceegges [Du. paesch-eyeren], and flanes, palmes and palme boughes.
a1607 A. Dent Opening of Heauen Gates (1610) 111 The rest of their sacraments, paying of vaine vowes, going on pilgrimage, pace-eggs, manyples, [etc.].
1789 J. Clarke Surv. Lakes Cumberland (ed. 2) p. xxi It is hardly worth while to mention here the pace-eggs of Easter-Sunday, [etc.].
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 214/1 The strength of the shell constitutes the chief glory of a pace egg, whose owner aspires only to the conquest of a rival youth.
1876 Prayer Bk. Interleaved 117 The custom of asking for Pace (Pasche) eggs at Easter, seems to have arisen from the combination of a festival season with the adoption of the emblem of resurrection, the egg.
1918 Kelso Chron. 12 Apr. 2 That Monday was ‘pace egg day’.
1958 People's Jrnl. 12 Apr. We eest tae gaither the flooers tae colour oor pess eggs.
2001 Jrnl. (Newcastle) (Nexis) 14 Apr. 32 Dad recalls with pleasure booling and jarping his Pace eggs in the Easters when he was young.
Compounds
pace egg play n. a form of traditional mummers' play performed at Easter, depicting the legend of St George.
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1893 Folk-lore 4 153 Of the three important divisions or types of English folk-drama, viz., the Christmas Mumming-play, the Plough-Monday Play, and the Easter or Pace-Egg Play, the first and the last contain the character of St. George.
1916 Mod. Philol. 14 501 The Pace Egg play also has a passage in which St. George tells of slaying a giant and freeing a lady.
1939 Times 8 Apr. 15/5 By the performance to-day of the Pace Egg play, this West Riding village has kept alive a custom long forgotten in most parts of the country.
2001 Quicksilver Mag. Spring 106/1 This country has many unusual and fascinating traditions..which provide us with a link to our past... When was the last time you saw a pace egg play? Do you even know what one is?
Derivatives
pace-ˈegger n. a person who takes part in pace-egging.
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1841 R. T. Hampson Medii Ævi Kal. I. 202 In Lancashire, young people fantastically dressed..perform a sort of drama. The performers are called Pace Eggers.
1872 Scribner's Monthly Apr. 751/2 The youngsters still run to and fro singing the old ‘Pace-Egger's Song’.
1910 W. G. Collingwood Dutch Agnes 14 What should our Colin Clouts know of a good play..save and except the pace-eggers' great St George?
1951 Folk-Lore Dec. 465 Now we're jolly pace eggers all in one round.
2010 T. Holman Lancs. Misc. 39 Pace eggs are eggs decorated especially for the occasion, then either eaten or given to pace eggers, who would walk in procession through towns and villages.
pace-ˈegging n. now historical any of various Easter rituals and games involving pace eggs.
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1842 C. Redding Illustr. Itin. Lancaster 288 ‘God's sake a pace egg!’ is the continual cry... This practice of pace-egging used also to be practised in some parts of Yorkshire.
1872 C. Hardwick Trad., Superstitions, & Folk-lore 73 [They] sallied forth during Easterweek ‘a pace-egging’ as it was termed.
1967 Listener 6 Apr. 471/3 Vegetation ceremonies still describable in pace-egging and mummers' plays.
2002 P. R. Wilkinson Thes. Trad. Eng. Metaphors (new ed.) 807 Pace-egging is still a custom in Preston parks and other Lancashire towns, and consists in rolling eggs on Easter morning.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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