Crouchmas is May 3

Crouchmas is an auspicious and fitting day for Crouches to have reunions, picnics, parties, and whatnot. It was originally the feast of the Cross, celebrating the day St. Helena (Emperor Constantine's mother and Old King Cole's daughter) discovered the true cross in a Jerusalem secondhand shop early in the 4th Century. ("Crouch" is Middle English for "cross.") The holiday had fallen into obscurity in most parts of England by the time of the Reformation. The church removed it from its calendar in 1969. It's our day now. Spread the word.

Crouchmas is also something of a holiday for cattle -- the traditional day for unpenning the bull. Thus a 16th-Century husbandry manual warns, "From bull cow fast, 'til Crouchmas be past."

If you have any Crouchmas customs, we would like to hear about them. If you don't, I suppose it would be appropriate to spend the day in contemplation of the Cross, or, like St. Helena, in relic hunting. In 1997 Crouchmas fell on the same day as the Kentucky Derby -- as it does in one out of seven years -- and we had a Mint Julep party, for which we cooked up five quarts of mint syrup.

This is also an excellent day to use your Crouchware, if you have any. It is early salt-glazed pottery from Staffordshire, made with fine white sand and clay.

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Crouch Family Heritage Association
Author: John Crouch