Lughnasadh

Today, 1st August is Lughnasadh,  a festival in honour of Lugh, the pagan god of light and wisdom. Loaves were baked from the first corn of the harvest and either presented as offerings or eaten at the celebratory feast, which also included newly dug potatoes and fresh summer fruits. The day-long festivities featured games and sports, singing, dancing and story-telling, followed by general merry-making around bonfires in the evening.
One of the four great pagan festivals of Britain. When Christianity was introduced, the day continued to be observed as a festival on these grounds, and, from a loaf being the usual offering at church, the service, and consequently the day, came to be called Hlaf-mass, subsequently shortened to Lammas, just as hlaf-dig (bread-dispenser), applicable to the mistress of the house, came to be softened into the familiar and extensively used 'lady'.
Here is my loaf, fresh out of the oven - wish you could smell it...............