Bannock Nicht : 21 February

Bannock Nicht ("Bannock Night") is a festival that was held in Scotland on the same day as Shrove Tuesday.

It was also called Faster Even or (Beef) Brose (Broth) Day. It was considered that having beef on this day would ensure that your cattle would prosper.

There was usually a soup based on beef broth. In the soup would be placed a ring and a button; a button signified a single life, the ring signified marriage. If you got the ring, you didn't say anything till everyone had finished eating. You'd wear the ring overnight, then give it back to whomever it actually belonged to, and tell people the dreams you'd had overnight. Sometimes, groups of young people would go from house to house with their own spoon to have the broth at many different houses.

It got its bannock name from a tradition around bannocks in the evening. Each person present would choose an egg. The person with the best "fortune telling" skills would separate the egg, putting the white into a cup of water, then she or he would tell fortunes based on the shapes the white took. If it spread out like a sheet, that indicated death. Then all the egg yolks and whites were gathered up, and used along with oatmeal (and / or flour) and milk to make bannock, baking them on the girdle. Everyone would have to take part in making, cooking and eating them.

At the very end of the evening, a final large bannock would be made called a "sautie bannock" into which was mixed a ring. The person who was responsible for actually baking this large bannock had to remain completely silent, while everyone else tried to get them to say something. If they broke down, someone else would take their place. The cake was then divided up amongst the single people of marriageable age and whoever got the ring, would be the first among them to be married.

The men might also play some kind of ball game.

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