Photo by L. Walkins, August 2010

Each year, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the first full moon of spring.  After a long winter, I have been heartened this week to see some encouraging signs of spring.  Just yesterday, I spotted a cheery bed of crocuses, purple and white petals open to the warm sun.  Two nights ago, a beautiful full moon hung in the night sky, heralding the coming of Easter on this Sunday, March 31.

According to popular legend, many Easter traditions arise from pagan customs related to the Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and spring, Eostre.  In the sixteenth century, when Mary Seton, a character in my novel, Forget-Me-Not, served as a maid of honor to her childhood friend, Mary Queen of Scots, she must have observed some of these traditions while celebrating this important feast day.  Perhaps she exchanged Easter gifts with the Queen and the other Marys.  She may have watched an Easter play or taken part in a flowering the cross ritual.  Most certainly, the Court hosted a Paschal Feast, and perhaps Mary enjoyed eating some hot cross buns.

 In the twenty-first century, Stirling Castle, one of Queen Mary’s primary residences during her reign, offers a day of family fun on Easter.  Visitors may compete in a crossbow championship or attend “fool school.”  Children are treated to a special tour during which they discover how Easter was celebrated by the Royal Stewart Court.

 As part of a day tour of the Highlands in August 2010, I briefly visited Stirling Castle with my cousin.  We enjoyed our afternoon, exploring the gardens and learning about the history of the castle, but before we knew it, we had to climb back onto our tour bus and head home for Edinburgh.  How wonderful would it be to go back to Stirling and walk in the footsteps of Mary Seton and her Queen.