Lady day

Lady Day is the traditional name in some English speaking countries for the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March), and is the first of the four traditional English quarter days. The "Lady" is the Virgin Mary. The term derives from Middle English, when some nouns lost their genitive inflections. "Lady" would later gain an -s genitive ending, and therefore the name means "Lady's day".

History

In England, Lady Day was New Year's Day from 1155 until 1752, when 1 January became the start of the year. A vestige of this remains in the United Kingdom's tax year, which starts on 6 April, i.e., Lady Day adjusted for the lost days of the calendar change. Until this change Lady Day had been used as the start of the legal year. This should be distinguished from the liturgical and historical year. It appears that in England and Wales, from at least the late 14th century, New Year's Day was celebrated on 1 January as part of Yule.

As a year-end and quarter day that conveniently did not fall within or between the seasons for ploughing and harvesting, Lady Day was a traditional day on which year-long contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end in England and nearby lands (although there were regional variations).

In the Christian calendar

In the western liturgical year, Lady Day is the first day of the year, starting from 25 March. The liturgical or church year begins with the first Sunday in Advent, which can fall between 27 November and 3 December, but because the Feast of the Annunciation (which commemorates the Incarnation of Jesus) is fixed to 25 March (near the Vernal Equinox), it will always fall in the liturgical year preceding the calendar year in which it is celebrated.

See also

• Quarter days
• Feast of the Annunciation
• Liturgical year
• Incarnation (Christianity)