November Country Days and Country Ways

 

 Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast
(Months of the year by Sara Coleridge )

 

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 I love the fitful gust that shakes

The casement all the day,

And from the mossy elm-tree takes

The faded leaf away,

Twirling it by the window pane

With thousand others down the lane.

 

I love to see the cottage smoke

Curl upwards through the trees,

The pigeons nestled round the cote

On November days like these,

The cock upon the dunghill crowing,

The mill-sails on the heath a-going.

(John Clare)

 Today, All Saints Day, might bring a short burst of summer..........
.

All Saints Summer lasts three hours, three days, or three weeks.

November takes its name from the Latin novem because it was the ninth month of the Roman year. The Anglo Saxons named November "Blodmonath" meaning Blood Month, maybe because this was the month when any older livestock would have been slaughtered before winter, so as to save fodder for the younger animals.

  Samhain which means "summers end" was the Celtic fire festival celebrated as the day shifted from October to November. The Celts believed that ghosts of their relatives could walk the Earth at Samhain.

Below is the picture of the Wheel of the Year showing the Autumn into Winter segment from my book Celebrations of the Seasons. 

 

From around the 8th Century the Catholic church declared November1st  as All Saints' Day commemorating the Saints and Martyrs of the Christian Faith who didn't have their own days also known as All Hallows Day (Hallow meaning Holy, Saintly or to respect greatly, in old English) so 31st October being Hallows'eve which turned into Halloween and November the 2nd became All Souls Day. ........celebrated in many countries by people visiting and picnicking at the graves of their loved ones.

    If there's ice in November to bear a duck

  the rest of the winter just mud and muck

 Many other weather sayings in November are linked to St Martins Day on the 11th

Wind north-west at Martinmas, severe winter to come

 

We shall see what happens as the month progresses but October went out yesterday with strong winds and a torrential downpour. The last weekend of boot-sales was a complete washout so it will just be charity shop visits now until next spring.

Back Tomorrow

Sue