Part 70

(b) If Candlemas Day be fine and clear, Corn and fruits will then be dear. (There'll be twa winters in the year.)

ST. VALENTINE'S DAY (February 14th).--Like so many of our old observances, the festival of St. Valentine dates from the time of the Romans, but the Church rechristened the custom and called it after one or two saints of the name, both of whom were martyred, one in the third and the other in the fourth century.

Latterly, the day has been dedicated to Cupid by fond lovers who believe it to be the date on which each bird chooses its mate.

The poet Drayton sings:--

Each little bird this tide Doth choose her loved peer, Which constantly abide In wedlock all the year.

Charms and omens are in favor on St. Valentine's Eve. Maidens decorate their pillows with five bay leaves and firmly believe that, if they dream of their lover then, they will be married to him in the course of the year. Another fancy is that the first person of the opposite sex whom one encounters, that morning is destined to be one's husband or wife. Naturally, there must be some sort of friendship in view previously.

A weather prophecy regarding February runs:--

All the months in the year Curse a fair Februeer. February fill the dyke, Weather, either black or white. If February gives much snow, A fine summer it doth foreshow.

In Cornwall, there is a proverb, "A February spring is not worth a pin," and the same thought is expressed in Wales by the saying that "The Welshman had rather see his dam on the bier than to see a fair Februeer."

MARCH

March was given its name by the Romans in honor of Mars, the God of War, as at this time of the year the weather was such that it enabled them to begin their campaigns after the worst of the winter was over. The Saxons called this month LENET MONAT, meaning "length month," in reference to the lengthening of the days.

Several weather prophecies refer to March:--

(a) A peck of March dust and a shower in May Make the corn green and the fields gay.

(b) As many mists in March you see, So many frosts in May will be.

(c) A peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom.

(d) March damp and warm Will do farmers much harm.

(e) Eat leeks in March and garlic in May, And all the year after physicians may play.

(f) March search, April try, May will prove whether you live or die.

(g) If on St. Mary's Day (March 25th) it's bright and clear Fertile 'tis said will be the year.

(h) A dry and cold March never begs its bread.

(i) A frosty winter, a dusty March, a rain about Averil, another about the Lammas time (Aug. 1st), when the corn begins to fill, is worth a plough of gold.

(j) March flowers make no summer bowers.

(k) March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.

(l) Whatever March does not want, April brings along.

(m) On Shrove Tuesday night, though thy supper be fat, Before Easter Day thou mayst fast for all that.

APRIL

The word April is probably derived from the Latin, Aperio, I open, since spring generally begins and Nature unfolds her buds in this month.

April is regarded as the most sacred month in the calendar of the Church, since it usually includes Good Friday, on which day blacksmiths once refused to work owing to the fact that one son of Vulcan made the nails for the Crucifixion.