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"If St. Paul's Day be fair and clear,
It doth betide a happy year;

If blustering winds do blow aloft,

Then wars will trouble our realm full oft;
And if it chance to snow or rain,

Then will be dear all sorts of grain."

The Latin is given differently in Hearne's edition of Robert of Avesbury's History of Edward III., p. 266:

"Clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni.
Si nix vel pluvia, designat tempora cara.
Se fiant nebulæ, morientur bestia quæque.

Se fiant venti, præliabunt prælia genti."1

Thus translated (ibid.) under the title of "The Saying of Erra Pater to the Husbandman :"

"If the day of St. Paule be cleere,
Then shall betide an happie yeere:
If it doe chaunce to snow or raine.
Then shall bee deare all kinde of graine.
But if the winde then bee alofte,

Warres shall vex this realme full oft:

And if the cloudes make dark the skie,

Both neate and fowle this yeare shall die."2

And in a MS. Register of Spalding, transcribed in Cole's MSS., vol. 44, Brit. Mus.

"Clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni;
Si nix, vel pluvia, designat tempora chara;
Si fiant venti, designat prælia genti;

Si fiant nebulæ, periant animalia quæque."

2 Among Bagford's fragments of books preserved with the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, No. 5937, are several pieces of an almanack in French, printed at Basle, in 1672. These lines occur in one upon St. Paul's Day:

"De Sainct Paul la claire journée

Nous denote une bonne année;
S'il fait vent, nous aurons la guerre,
S'il neige ou pleut, cherté sur terre,
S'on voit fort epais les brouillars,
Mortalité de toutes pars.
S'il y a beaucoup d'eau en ce mois,
Cet an peu de vin croutre tu vois."

"Some

Willsford, in his Nature's Secrets, p. 145, tells us, observe the 25th day of January, celebrated for the conversion of St. Paul; if fair and clear, plenty; if cloudy or misty, much cattle will die: if rain or snow fall that day, it presages a dearth; and if windy, wars; as old wives do dream." He gives the verses as follow:

"If St. Paul's Day be fair and clear,

It does betide a happy year;
But if it chance to snow or rain,
Then will be dear all kind of grain:
If clouds or mists do dark the skie,
Great store of birds and beasts shall die;
And if the winds do fly aloft,

Then wars shall vex the kingdome oft."

He farther informs us, that "Others observe the twelve days of Christmas, to foreshow the weather in all the twelve succeeding moneths respectively." A pleasant writer in the World, No. 10 (I believe the late Lord Orford), speaking on the alteration of the style, observes, "Who that hears the following verses, but must grieve for the shepherd and husbandman, who may have all their prognostics confounded, and be at a loss to know beforehand the fate of their markets? Antient sages sung

"If St. Paul be fair and clear,' &c."

Bishop Hall, in his Characters of Virtues and Vices, speaking of the superstitious man, observes that "Saint Paules Day and Saint Swithines, with the Twelve, are his oracles, which he dares believe against the almanacke." The prognostications on St. Paul's Day are thus elegantly modernized by Gay, in his Trivia :—

"All superstition from thy breast repel,

Let cred❜lous boys and prattling nurses tell
How, if the Festival of Paul be clear,
Plenty from lib'ral horn shall strow the year;
When the dark skies dissolve in snow or rain,
The lab'ring hind shall yoke the steer in vain
But if the threat'ning winds in tempests roar,
Then war shall bathe her wasteful sword in gore."

He concludes,

"Let no such vulgar tales debase thy mind,

Nor Paul nor Swithin rule the clouds and wind."

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[The following notices are taken from the Book of Knowedge, 1703:- If, on New Year's Day, the clouds in the morning be red, it shall be an angry year, with much war and great tempests. If the sun shine on the 22nd of January, there shall be much wind. If it shine on St. Paul's Day, it shall be a fruitful year; and if it rain and snow, it shall be between both. If it be very misty, it betokeneth great dearth. If it thunder that day, it betokeneth great winds, and great death, especially amongst rich men, that year."]

Schenkius, in his treatise on Images, chap. xiii., says, it is a custom in many parts of Germany to drag the images of St. Paul and St. Urban to the river, if, on the day of their feast, it happens to be foul weather. Bourne observes, upon St. Paul's Day, "How it came to have this particular knack of foretelling the good or ill fortune of the following year, is no easy matter to find out. The monks, who were undoubtedly the first who made this wonderful observation, have taken care it should be handed down to posterity, but why or for what reason this observation was to stand good they have taken care to conceal. St. Paul did indeed labour more abundantly than all the apostles; but never, that I heard, in the science of astrology. And why his day should therefore be a standing almanack to the world rather than the day of any other saint will be pretty hard to find out."

1" [Clara dies Pauli bonitatem denotat anni;
Si fuerint venti, crudelia prælia genti;

Quando sunt nebulæ, pereunt animalia quæque;
Si nix aut pluvia sit, tunc fiunt omnia chara.

Fevrier de tous les mois,

Le plus court et moins courtois.

En Mars me lie, en Mars me taille,

Je rends prou quand on m'y travaille."-MS. Harl. 4043.]

CANDLEMAS DAY.

FEBRUARY 2.

THE PURIFICATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

THIS is called in the north of England the Wives' Feast Day. The name of Candlemas is evidently derived from the lights which were then distributed and carried about in procession.I

In the first volume of Proclamations, &c., folio, remaining in the Archives of the Society of Antiquaries of London, is preserved, p. 138, an original one, printed in black letter, and dated 26th February, 30 Hen. VIII., "concernyng rites and ceremonies to be used in due fourme in the Churche of Englande," in which we read as follows:-" On Candelmas Daye it shall be declared that the bearynge of candels is done in the memorie of Christe, the spirituall lyghte, when Simeon dyd prophecye, as it is redde in the churche that daye." The same had been declared by a decree of Convocation. See Fuller's Church History, p. 222.

In Herbert's Country Parson, 12mo. Lond. 1675, third impression, p. 157, he tells us, "Another old custom (he had been speaking of processions) there is, of saying, when light is brought in, God sends us the light of Heaven; and the parson likes this very well. Light is a great blessing, and as great as food, for which we give thanks: and those that think this superstitious, neither know superstition nor themselves." This appears to be at this time totally forgotten. In the ancient calendar of the Romish Church, before cited,

' Mr. Douce's MS. Notes say, "This feast is called by the Greeks bπажаvтα, which signifies a meeting, because Simeon and Anna the prophetess met in the temple at the presentation of our Saviour." L'Estrange's Alliances of Divine Offices, p. 147. See Luke ii.-At the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi, at Aix, in Provence, there is a procession of Saints, among whom St. Simeon is represented with a mitre and cap, carrying in his left hand a basket of eggs. Hist. de la Fête Dieu, p. 100. "To beare their candels soberly, and to offer them to the saintes, not of God's makynge, but the carvers and paynters," is mentioned among the Roman Catholic customs censured by John Bale in his 'Declaration of Bonner's Articles,' 1554, signat. D. 4 b; as is ibid., fol. 18 b. "to conjure candels."

I find the subsequent observations on the 2d of February, usually called Candlemas Day :

66

"Torches are consecrated.

Torches are given away for many days."

Pope Sergius, says Bacon, in his Reliques of Rome, fol. 164,"commanded that all the people should go on procession upon Candlemass Day, and carry candels about with them brenning in their hands in the year of our Lord 684.” How this candle-bearing on Candlemas Day came first up, the author of our English Festival declareth in this manner: 'Somtyme," saith he, "when the Romaines by great myght and royal power conquered all the world, they were so proude, that they forgat God, and made them divers gods after their own lust. And so among all they had a god that they called Mars, that had been tofore a notable knight in battayle; and so they prayed to hym for help, and for that they would speed the better of this knight, the people prayed and did great worship to his mother, that was called Februa, after which woman much people have opinion that the moneth February is called. Wherefore the second daie of thys moneth is Candlemass Day. The Romaines this night went about the city of Rome with torches and candles brenning in worship of this woman Februa, for hope to have the more helpe and succoure of her sonne Mars. Then there was a Pope that was called Sergius, and when he saw Christian people drawn to this false maumetry and untrue belief, he thought to undo this foule use and custom, and turn it unto God's worship and our Lady's, and gave commandment that all Christian people should come to church and offer up a candle brennyng, in the worship that they did to this woman Februa, and do worship to our Lady and to her sonne our Lord Jesus Christ. So that now this feast is solemnly hallowed thorowe all Christendome. And every Christian man and woman of covenable age is bound to come to church and offer up their candles, as though they were bodily with our Lady, hopyng for this reverence and worship, that they do to our Ladye, to have a great rewarde in heaven," &c.

1 Idolatry. Halliwell's Dictionary, p. 545.

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