Winter's lease hath all too lengthy a date (From Gazette & Herald)

Winter's lease hath all too lengthy a date

FOR country people whose health and ways of earning a living depend so heavily upon the weather, this is a highly significant stage of the year.

Perhaps it is not so relevant nowadays as it was in bygone times but even within living memory, this was regarded as a most important time so far as the weather and forward planning was concerned.

The reason is that rural people regard it as the half-way stage of the winter.

With winter beginning on December 21 and ending on March 21 (even if some modern calendars do not accept those dates), it is easy to calculate that this week is the half-way stage.

However, because the nights are lighter and there is often rather more sunshine than in previous weeks, with perhaps some extra warmth in the sun, we can be tempted into believing winter is over. That is an unwise assumption.

The key date is February 2, which is Candlemas Day - this Thursday.

Due to its importance in the rural calendar, it has other names too, including the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Cradle Rocking Day, Groundhog Day and Wives' Feast Day.

Not surprisingly, there is a wealth of folklore and lots of weather prognostication verses for Candlemas, with the best-known advice for country people throughout Britain being: "Always be sure to have half your fodder left at Candlemas."

This was one method of advising farmers and smallholders not to use all their stock of winter hay; because winter has a long way yet to go, fodder and bedding would be required for their livestock over the next few weeks.

All kinds of harsh weather may still materialise, with much livestock being kept indoors.

Many of us will have encountered a variety of verses which tell us that: "If Candlemas be fair and bright, winter will have another flight; if Candlemas be dull with rain, winter will not come again."

Around the country, there are local variations of this and the theme is often quoted by professional weather forecasters, even if there appears to be no scientific evidence of its accuracy.

Even so, country people will consider the weather at Candlemas, and will often believe its forecast.

A similar belief appears in America where it is known as Groundhog Day. A small rodent called the groundhog hibernates over winter but on Candlemas Day, so it is said, he awakes and pokes his head out of his lair to examine the weather.

If he sees his own shadow, he will go back to sleep for a further six weeks - in other words, he agrees with our belief that if Candlemas is fair and bright, winter will have another flight. If the groundhog sees the weather is dull and wet, however, he knows that spring-like weather is not far away and so he will emerge.

Candlemas gets its name from the candlelit mass which was celebrated on February 2 in honour of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the symbol of purity, hence this atmospheric Catholic church service, and it was customary for wives to attend, after which they held a celebratory feast. That is why the date is also known as the Wives' Feast Day.

The day's association with candles went a little further because this was, by tradition, the time to put away one's household candles for another year. This was because the nights grew significantly lighter by Candlemas (and this would be before we starting altering our clocks) and candles, as a source of light, were considered very precious.

Nothing should be wasted and so great care was taken of such items. And, of course, bedtime was rather earlier than our modern practice.

The old Yorkshire saying was: "On Candlemas, a February day, put t'candle an' t'candlestick away." I am sure this logic would also apply to other forms of light, such as oil lamps.

Due to Candlemas being the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and because, by tradition, snowdrops often make their appearance around this time, the flower has become known as the Purification Flower, or Fair Maid of February. Maidens would often gather them and wear small bunches in honour of Mary, but also as a symbol of their own purity.

Due to Candlemas Day's importance in the rural calendar, other events were held throughout the country. Fairs were very popular, and throughout the countryside, farmers and gardeners would begin planting crops such as peas, lettuce, sweet peas, onions, beans and cabbages. It was also thought that geese would start to lay their eggs on Candlemas Day - all very important events in the rustic household.

And finally, Candlemas is also Cradle Rocking Day at Blidworth church in Nottinghamshire when the most recently born male child in the parish is placed in a cradle and rocked 12 times before the altar.

Updated: 09:39 Wednesday, February 01, 2006