the wearin' o' the green

When I was in elementary school, it was not such a good idea to

show up on March 17th, wearing anything other than green. All

three hundred some students would take much pleasure in delivering

their hardest, twisting pinch. This odd practice taught me, at a tender

age, that you get pinched if you're a nonconformist. I also found out

that pinching gives you bruises, so you actually can have some green

on you, if you forget to wear it.

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Pinching those not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day is a long

standing American tradition, having really nothing to do with St. Pat.

It does, however, involve the Irish and Leprechauns. It's thought

that the pinching started in the early 1700s, in the Massachusetts

colony. It was believed, if you wore green, it made you invisible to

the Leprechauns, who were known to pinch anyone they could see.

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My mother, never big on holidays or traditions, certainly did not

promote the "wearin' o' the green". WE don't WEAR green on

St. Patrick's Day. She would say, with more than a little disdain.

WE'RE not Irish! Well, it only took a few years of coming home black,

blue, and green from school on St. Paddy's, for me to learn to look

lively, and be sure to wear green on March 17th. To this day, I

proudly wear, not only green, but my favorite shamrock brooch, as

well.

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The amusing thing is, while I was doing genealogical research

several years back, I found that my paternal line, although

originating in Scotland, spent several hundred years in Ireland

before migrating to America. I also found a paternity issue in my

maternal line, which proved to be quite interesting. As it turns out,

my mother is, after all, of Irish descent, with a little Cherokee

thrown in for good measure.

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This is a Theme Thursday post.