EASTER in Furness has long been associated by pace or pasch eggs — hard-boiled eggs coloured with redwood dye, or onion skins.

Furness lecturer Bill Rollinson, writing in 1974 for his book The Lake District Life and Traditions, noted: “Skilled practitioners would write their names in molten candle wax on the shell before dyeing and this would then appear in white on the finished egg.

“When the Wordsworths were living at Rydal Mount their pace eggs were decorated by their gardener."

He noted: "Several of his efforts may still be seen in the Dove Cottage Museum in Grasmere.”

Dr Rollinson also noted that a Barrow composer called J. A MacAlister produced music with the title Pace Egging Song.