WHAT is the origin of Mothering Sunday and how it is connected to Carling Sunday? - Chris Parker, Peterlee.

SOME say Mothering Sunday can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, where there were celebrations in honour of the mother of gods, known in Greece as Rhea and in Rome as Cybele. A ceremony dedicated to the worship of Cybele was incorporated into the Roman celebration called Hilaria which took place in March. It is believed that this was adapted for a Christian ceremony dedicated to the Mother Church in which people visited the place of their baptism or the cathedral - Mother Church - of their area. Mothering Sunday was also known as Mid-Lent or Mid and takes place on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

On Mothering Sunday, servants were often given a day off "to go Mothering". This meant that they were expected to visit their mothers, taking a cake, often a rich fruit Simnel cake.

Carling Sunday, also known as Passion Sunday, is the fifth Sunday in Lent and its association with peas is thought to derive from a corruption of the word passion into peasen. This was the day in which peas, called carlings or carlins, were eaten. Carling Sunday probably derives from the earlier term Care Sunday which derives from an old word for grief or mourning. It was an acknowledgement of Christ's suffering on the cross.

FURTHER to your recent question on the Blue Stone at Sherburn, you asked if there were any other Blue Stones in the North-East. I know of one on the old Tyne Bridge - a stone bridge knocked down in the 19th Century. There was a Blue Stone about two thirds of the way across the bridge. I think that this marked the boundary between Northumberland and Durham. I have a book on the history of Newcastle which says that the stone was a block of granite approximately six feet high. - Bill Hutchinson, Chester-le-Street.

I OWN a modern German book relating to the railway system in the former German territory of East Prussia. On one of the maps in the book, a steam ship connection is shown from the port of Pillau (now Baltijsk) near the provincial capital of Konigsberg, to Newcastle. What can you or your readers tell me about this service, including operational date and who was the operator? I assume that the service had ceased by September 1939. - John Lavender, Swalwell, Tyne and Wear.

I AM afraid I have drawn a blank on this one but would appreciate any help from our readers on the subject. Perhaps someone remembers some of the people who worked on this ship?

l If you have a Burning Question, or can improve on any of the answers above, please write to Burning Questions, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF or e-mail dsimpso