Collopy/Clean/Shrove Monday

This occurs on the Monday before Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. It is part of Shrovetide which runs from Septuagesima Sunday until Shrove Tuesday. It is named Collopy Monday after the traditional dish of the day, slices of leftover meat (collops of bacon) along with eggs. It is eaten for breakfast and is part of the traditional Lenten preparations. In addition to providing a little meat, the collops were also the source of the fat for the following day’s pancakes. In east Cornwall, it is sometimes called Peasen Monday or Paisen Monday after the custom of eating pea soup on that day. In the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar it is called Clean Monday which is the first day of Great Lent and is traditionally considered the beginning of spring in Greece and Cyprus, where it is a bank holiday.