Easter - Pasch eggs, given out at homes in Austria

Chamber's Book of Days 1863, mentioned Pasch eggs in Chester, UK and handed out at the houses in the Tyrol area in the Alps.




Pasch or Paschal eggs in the Tyrol

The Pasch or Paschal eggs, which have formed a necessary part of all Easter offerings for centuries past, are not forgotten: some are dyed in the brightest colours and boiled hard; others have suitable mottoes written on the shells, and made ineffaceable by a rustic process of chemistry. The good wife has these ready prepared, and when the children bring their baskets they are freely given: at the higher class of farmers' houses wine is brought out as well as eggs, and the singers are refreshed and regaled in return for their Easter carols.

Easter singers in the Tyrol (Vorarlberg, Austria)

Bands of musicians, traverse every valley, singing the beautiful Easter hymns to their guitars; calling out the people to their doors, who join them in the choruses and together rejoice on this glad anniversary. Their wide-brimmed Spanish hats are decorated with bouquets of flowers; crowds of children accompany them, and when the darkness of night comes on, bear lighted torches of the pine wood, which throw grotesque shadows over the spectators and picturesque wooden huts.

Pace, Pask, or Easter eggs in Chester

We may be sure that the Pace, Pask, or Easter eggs were not forgotten by the Chester children. Eggs were in such demand at that season that they always rose considerably in price; they were boiled very hard in water coloured with red, blue, or violet dyes, with inscriptions or landscapes traced upon them; these were offered as presents among the “valentines” of the year, but more frequently played with by the boys as balls, for ball-playing on Easter Monday was universal in every rank.

Chambers, Robert. Book of Days. v1. London: 1863

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