Wednesday, 28 March 2018

3 Days Borrowed from April

Both of the weather folklore books I possess mention that the last 3 days of March are stolen or borrowed from April.

There is a Spanish story about the borrowing of days......it says that a shepherd promised March a lamb if he would temper the winds to suit his flocks; but after gaining his point he then refused to pay over the lamb. In revenge March stole 3 days from April in which fierce winds blew to punish the shepherd.

Then I found yet another version of the story

Borrowing Days

The last three days of March are called the Borrowing Days, said to have been a loan from April to March, the legend goes that March had a spite against an old woman, and wished to kill her cow; failing to do so in his own month, he borrowed three days of April to enable him to complete the task


 In one book there are several rhymes about this legend

March borrowed of April, April borrowed of May,
Three days they say
One rained and one snew,
And the other was the worst day that ever blew

*******
 
March borrowed from April
Three days, and they were ill
The first was frost, the second was snow
The third was cold as ever could blow 

********

March borrows of April
Three days and they are ill;
April borrows of March again
Three days of wind and rain. 



So to sum up it looks as if the next 6 days may be a bit rough! It's Easter weekend of course  but I have a secret stash of Easter Eggs, so will survive!.

Oh look over there at the followers........ up to 299, hello new peeps, hope you like reading. Although still a way to go to get to the 435 followers on the old blog.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

31 comments:

  1. I love that legend, thank you. March always seems such a long month, doesn't it, and now I know why! :-) Even the weather forecast fits in.
    J x

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  2. What a lovely story. I love the new header picture! Have a blessed Easter, whatever the weather x

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    1. I hoped the spring picture would make up for lack of it outside

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  3. Loving your writings here just as much as the old blog

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  4. That's a new one to me. Fascinating thanks
    Arilx

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  5. I had never heard this. Well if these days are borrowed time, I'm definitely going to try and enjoy them! Jane xx

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  6. My grandparents were full of these folklore rhymes but these are new ones to me. Brilliant:)

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    1. I have a couple.....or maybe 3 or 4 books about folklore full of bits like this

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  7. I guess I'm one of the new number, so I should say hello! I do like your weather rhymes. We shall have to see how the next few days play out in the Southern Hemisphere, too.

    ps: I have fond memories of Suffolk from when I lived in London. My first Christmas was in Holton near Halesworth with a dear friend's family.

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    1. hello and welcome and thank you for joining in.

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  8. I'm not sure if you have this expression in England (maybe it's more suited to Canadian weather?) about March. If it comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb, or the other way around (meaning if it is stormy, bad weather at the beginning of March, it will be mild at the end). I like to hear about the other folklore as well! -Jenn

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    1. Yes we have the same saying here, I didn't include it as it's probably the most well known of March sayings....it's been proved almost never to be true!

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  9. Afternoon Sue

    I like reading about the folklore and other titbits of information you write about, as well as local, family and home stuff.

    We've had the last week with family in Newcastle and the weather was lovely (no thermals needed). Come back home (Lincolnshire) and it's freezing, so thermals are back out of wardrobe! Oh well, fingers crossed we don't have snow!

    Hope hubby is ok.

    Best wishes

    Carol

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    1. Thank you for your lovely comment.
      Colin news later in the week when we know what's happening

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  10. It's definitely spot on when it comes to the weather! Fascinating.

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    1. The forecast is pretty grotty for Easter....maybe NO boot sales...tragedy!

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  11. My grandfather called these last days of the passing month, calendar days' and believed they were predictors of the month to come.

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    1. I've read about predicting days from various other days or even the whole year. I'll see if I can find the sayings again

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  12. That's interesting. Never heard of that before only that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb or vice versa as a previous comment said.Having said that the first few days of March here was very cold and snowing so according to the saying the last days should be mild.

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    1. Not a lot of mild or sunshine in the forecast....sadly

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  13. Interesting...never heard of that before x

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  14. Enjoyed the rhymes which were new to me although I’m a Suffolk “girl”. Fingers crossed for you both so looking forward to good Colin news later in the week x

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  15. Great rhymes. I really enjoy reading the old folklore. We're definitely getting more sunshine here now - thank goodness as we don't get a lot of them in winter - but I could do with it warming up.

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  16. I'd never heard about the borrowed days.. so it was fun to learn about them. I see some sunshine outside here and that makes me happy after days of grey and rain. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  17. I love when you write from your folklore books! It is so interesting to hear the stories and legends of old. I learn a lot from your blog Sue. May you, Colin and the family have a blessed Easter!

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  18. Wow, how very interesting. I love your folklore postings.

    God bless.

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