Hallowmas
(ˈhæləʊmæs)
Forms: See hallow n.; also 4 hallomese, halumes, 6 hollomass, 7 hallamas.
[Shortened from All-Hallow-mass: see All-Hallow 5.]
The feast of All Hallows or All Saints. Also attrib., as Hallowmas-day, Hallowmas-eve.
| 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 60 Ye soneday be-forn halwemesse day. Ibid. 69 Ye souneday next after halumesday. c 1450 Merlin 97 At halowmasse Antor made hys sone knyght, and at yoole he come to logres. 1590 Greenwood Collect. Sclaund. Art. F iv b, Your solempne and double feasts of your hollomass, Christmass, Candlemass. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, v. i. 80 She came adorned hither like sweet May; Sent back like Hallowmas, or short'st of day. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 268/2 Sow Wheat before Hallowmas Eve. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 123 As bleakfac'd Hallowmass returns. a 1832 Scott St. Swithin's Chair, On Hallow-Mass Eve the Night-Hag will ride. 1876 Grant Burgh Sch. Scotl. ii. xiv. 469 The old quarterly terms for paying the school fees were Lammas, Hallowmas, Candlemas, and Beltane. |