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Excerpt from The Waverley Pictorial Dictionary, Vol. 2 Amusements and Pageants that have Come Down to Us from Early Times carnival (kar' ni val), n. The days before Lent, devoted to revelry; a joyous festival; festive amusement. (F. carnaval.) Long ago when Lent was much more widely and strictly observed than it is to-day, the few days just before Ash Wednesday were given over to amusements and pageants, and the name ought really to be reserved for this particular time. In very early times the carnival began on Twelfth Night (January 6th) and continued up to and including Shrove Tuesday, but from about the year 1600 the public rejoicings were cut down to a shorter period. In Naples and other Italian towns very elaborate programmes are arranged, extending over a period of six, or seven days, but in Spain the carnival lasts only four days, and in France it is cut down to one day - Shrove Tuesday itself. The feast of Mardi Gras, as it is called in France, is, however, celebrated nationally, and the day is a feast day throughout the whole country. Many Christians do not eat meat during Lent, and the carnival is, as it were, a farewell festival in anticipation of this time of self-denial. Lord Byron refers to this in the sixth book of his poem "Beppo," in which he says: This feast is named the Carnival, which being Interpreted implies "farewell to flesh" So call'd because, the name and thing agreeing, Through Lent they live on fish both salt and fresh. Byron, it will be seen, was mistaken about the derivation of the word. A wider meaning has now become attached to the word, however, and any gay festival during which decorations such as flags and flowers are used, or fancy dresses are worn, is known as a carnival. Some of them, such as the flower carnivals of the Riviera, are magnificent spectacles. Huge and elaborate cars, in which are set up gigantic figures representing King Carnival, Neptune, and other characters, pass through the streets, accompanied by thousands of gaily-dressed merry-makers; gorgeous masked balls are held in all the theatres and large halls; and great battles of flowers and confetti take place in certain of the main streets and promenades. The carnival preceding Lent at Nice, on the south coast of France, lasts for twelve days, and a shorter carnival, the Mi-careme, is held in Mid-Lent. F. carnaval, Ital. carnevale, L.L. carnelev le from L. caro (acc. carn-em) flesh, levare to lift, put away, from levis light in weight, adj. suffixal (L. - lis). Syn.: Festival, fete, gala, pageant, revelry. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."