For six years I wrote a short history
article in the monthly parish magazine,
The Pelican. One of the articles
(my last) is
shown in the column opposite.
Articles can be accessed by
clicking on the appropriate title from
the index below.
If anyone has any old photographs or
parish information which they would like
recorded (for present and future
generations to share) then please get in
touch with me.
John Davison (Website Co-ordinator)
Telephone: 01670
760609
Email:
jdavison26@btinternet.com
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ACKLINGTON HISTORY
SLOT
"We'll
Weather The Weather"
I do not know if it is down to climate change or not but
our weather patterns in recent years have proved so
unpredictable. Accurate forecasting is quite a
challenge. I read this amusing quote which sums it up
very well: ‘The trouble with weather forecasting is that
it is right too often for us to ignore and wrong too
often for us to rely on.’
With all this uncertainty around I have decided, for my
final history article, to take a light-hearted look at
weather folklore. A rhyme handed down from generation to
generation was a good way to share and remember
knowledge (especially in the days before literacy was
widespread) so maybe some of the old weather sayings are
not as fanciful as we may first think.
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LAST DECEMBER
Acklington last December
was covered in deep snow.
They say; “most likely same again”
but do they really know?
Forecasters are warning
of a harsh winter ahead
But perhaps we can learn
from other ways instead.
We live in a high-tech world
with super technology
Yet next week’s weather
remains a mystery.
So let’s look back in time,
to the historical old folklore.
How was weather predicted then
in the good old days of yore?
They didn’t have satellites
or computers way back yonder
But were their predictions less reliable?
…..here are a few to ponder.
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January
‘Fog in January brings a wet spring.’
‘Wet your feet with dew in the morning, you’ll keep them
dry for the rest of the day.’
February
‘When a cat lies in the sun in February she will creep
behind the stove in March.’
March
‘If March arrives like a lamb, it will leave like a
lion.’
April
‘Till April’s dead change not a thread.’
‘When pigs carry straw to their sties, expect bad
weather.’
May
‘A cold May gives full barns and empty churchyards.’
‘Those who bathe in May will soon be under clay.’
June
‘Those who bathe in June bathe a bit too soon.’
‘A good leak in June sets all in tune.’
July
‘St Swithin’s Day (July 14), if thou dost rain - for 40
days it will remain,
St Swithin’s day if it be fair - for 40 days twill rain
nae mair.’
August
‘If St Bartholomew (August 24) be clear, a prosperous
autumn comes that year.’
‘When it rains in August it rains honey and wine.’
September
‘If Michaelmas (Sep 29) showers us with acorns,
Christmas will cover us with snow.’
‘Red sky at night, shepherd's delight; red sky in the
morning, shepherd's warning.’
October
‘When the leaves fall early, winter will be calm and
mild; when the leaves fall late, winter will be severe
and wild.’
‘Spiders webs floating at autumn sunset, brings a night
frost - of that you may bet.’
November
‘Ice in November to bear a duck, the rest of the winter
will be slush and muck.’
‘When the wind is out of the east, tis neither good for
man nor beast.’
December
‘If Christmas day be bright and clear there’ll be two
winters in the year.’
‘If a circle forms 'round the moon, 'twill rain or snow
very soon.’
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As I alluded to
earlier, this will be my last “Acklington
History Slot”. My first history piece appeared
in the December Pelican of 2005 so now, six
years later, it seems an appropriate moment to
sign off. I feel (when I have to resort to
writing about the weather) it is probably the
right time to consign my monthly ramblings to
history.
Thanks for reading!
John Davison
(jdavison26@btinternet.com) |
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