Springing Into March

 1st .......St David's Day and the first day of meteorological spring

Upon St David's Day

Put oats and barley in the clay

From the book 'The Illustrated Book of Days' artwork by Eugène Grasset

In the Roman calendar March,or Martius, was the first month of a new year. The month was named after Mars, the god of war and the guardian of agriculture. March was the month when both farming and warfare could begin again after winter. (There have always been wars waiting to start)

MARCH

  I Martius am! Once first, and now the third!

To lead the year was my appointed place;

A mortal dispossessed me by a word,

And set there Janus with the double face.

Hence I make war on all the human race;

I shake the cities with my hurricanes;

I flood the rivers and their banks efface,

And drown the farms and hamlets with my rains.

H.W. Longfellow. In the Harbour, The Poets Calendar 1882

The Saxons called it  Hlydmonath meaning loud month for the windy weather or Lentmonath or lengthening month, because of the equinox and lengthening of days and this is the origin of the word Lent. By the end of the month there will be two extra hours of daylight and then we'll change clocks on the last day of March which is also Easter Sunday.

Dry days are precious to get seeds sown.................A peck of dust in March is worth a king's ransom.

It would be very good to have dry days and sunshine in March - we certainly need it. It feels as if it's been raining since October..............actually it HAS been raining since October!

Back Tomorrow

Sue