St. Swithun’s Day 2015

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Let the Feast of St. Swithun begin! 15 July 2015

Old Swithun (aka Swithin), often considered the patron saint of drought/rain cycles, you are needed now to relieve the horrible drought in Thailand. It is the worst drought in countless decades and the farmers up-country need rain. We down in the parched central plains need clouds and rain to cool things down. The sun is scorching our brains! I don’t really believe in saints, miracles, or theological meteorology, but appealing to fantasies such as this can be tempting.

As the ancient lore claims:

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“St. Swithun’s Day if thou dost rain

For forty days it will remain.

St. Swithun’s Day if thou be fair

For forty days ‘twill rain nae mare.”

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Therefore, for centuries the old-timer farmers in England and America had a strict rule: you must get your first crop of hay into the barn by 15 July, because if it does rain on that day, what if it actually does rain for the next forty days? Superstitious? Or prudent?

However, I hear that in old Warren County, Pennsylvania, USA they have been getting too much rain. Up there, folks are going to want a dry St. Swithun’s Day!

-Zenwind.

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