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Months - stories from ancient folklore

January - weather lore and rhymes

Good weather in january is thought not to bode well for the rest of the year. One rhyme informs us that a fine day on the first of January is especially not to be wished for ...

“If January kalends be summerly gay, 'Twill be winterly weather to the kalends of May”

and likewise, but somewhat more eloquantly put

“Jack Frost in Janiveer, Nips the nose of the nascent year.”

St Paul's Day - jan 25

“If Saint Paul's day be faire and cleare, It doth betide a happy yeare ; But if by chance it then should rain, It will make deare all kinds of graine; And if ye clouds make dark ye skie, Then neats and fowles this year shall die; If blustering winds do blow aloft, Then wars shall trouble ye realm full oft.”

Wind on St. Paul's Day, too, foretold wars, mist, famine, and pestilence. The weather of the whole year thus depending, on the humour in which St. Paul might chance to be on his feast day. In Alsace there is a common belief that on the evening of this day a fierce contest prevails among the winds, and the wind which proves victorious at midnight —the devil's dancing hour— will be the prevailing wind throughout the year.

this website has been put together from a series of old texts that i came across, while researching fairies and the world of fae in folklore, i thought there was enough here to share with other people on these other topics. these pages are meant as an introduction or a bit of fun reading, for those interested in delving deeper,
find the source material on the reference page
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