Carling Sunday
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
It was an old custom, especially in the north, to eat parched peas fried in butter on this day, and they were called Carlings.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Carling Sunday” mean?
It was an old custom, especially in the north, to eat parched peas fried in butter on this day, and they were called Carlings.
Is “Carling Sunday” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.