Finding clues for the summer-to-be on St Swithin’s Day
THIS coming Wednesday is St Swithin’s Day, long regarded in English folklore as the key to forecasting our summer.
“St Swithin’s Day, if thou dost rain for forty days it will remain,” goes the old saying. “If thou be fair, for forty days it will rain no more.”
Swithin was the Bishop of Winchester in the ninth century. The legend surrounding his name refers to July 15, 971, when the decision was taken to move his remains from the churchyard (where he had asked to be buried) inside the old church. Even though it was intended as a mark of respect, he posthumously kicked up a storm and – among other things – it lashed it down for 40 days straight.
Over these past few dreary days you might have been forgiven for looking out of the window at the leaden clouds and rain-slicked pavements and wondering what other spiritual force has been inflamed. The weather has been dire for many of us.
But this weekend things are finally starting to look far more settled. As I write this (Friday morning) the first patches of blue sky for days have appeared above my head and bees and butterflies which have been sheltering from the rain are drifting back over the flower beds like wayward confetti: a saintly vision indeed.
Next week looks largely fine and dry (though with bursts of rain showers in the north and north west). As for Wednesday itself, the weather app for my northern neck of the woods, at least, presently tells me it will be cloudy and dry.
While the St Swithin’s legend lacks all scientific rigour, it still serves as a useful bridge to the past and one that resonates through the ages. Above all it demonstrates that for millennia us Britons have looked at the July rain pelting down and wondered who on earth we need to pray to in order to save our summer.