Friday, 1 November 2024

November Country Days

 

A November page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

   If there's ice in November to bear a duck
The rest of the winter is just mud and muck.

  

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.


 Dull November brings the blast,
Then the leaves are whirling fast

(Months of the year by Sara Coleridge )
 
********************
 
 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)



Samhain which means "summers end" was the Celtic fire festival celebrated as the day shifted from October to November. The end of the light half of the year. Celts considered sundown as the start of a day, which is why although Samhain is November 1st, it would have been celebrated at sundown on the 31st. It was their new year and fires would have been lit on the hilltops to drive out the evil of  the last year and welcome in the new. Then later came the Christian feasts of All Saints on the 1st and All Souls on November 2nd, when the dead are remembered in prayers.


Back Soon
Sue

16 comments:

  1. Happy November! It seems that almost all cultures have some sort of remembrance for the departed at this time of year.

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    1. A real dull start to November here in Mid Suffolk - very grey skies

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  2. I didn't know Celts began their days at sunset, like the ancient Hebrews used to (and Jews still do). Always something new to learn :)

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    1. It's odd how it changed later in some countries/cultures.

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  3. It seems that now the year races to its end. The days grow short, the nights grow long and there's much to do before Christmas . . . for some, anyway.

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    1. Always a struggle through dull November, December has more colour but then miserable January that goes on forever!

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  4. We have a sunny but chilly day today for our first day of November. A windy day yesterday brought many, many of our colorful leaves down so there might be some raking this weekend (my son is a great help with this!).
    Have a nice weekend, Sue!

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    1. I've raked up lots of leaves but run out of anywhere to put them!

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    2. Oh, we put ours on the front curb and our city vacuums them up!

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  5. Oh dear. I missed the opportunity to drive out the evil of the last year before the election.

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  6. Slightly damp autumn morning. Went to the big Swedish place to buy a new chair but was very disappointed in the quality of what’s on offer so left without spending any money. Home for lunch as don’t like the cafe there. Catriona

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  7. I enjoyed reading the John Clare poem. I'm trying not too dread November but thinking in terms of comforting meals and less chores in the garden. Feels like this year has been in a hurry somehow.
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. I expect November will rush by too - dull and cloudy here today - not nice at all

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  8. I like the idea of samhein. It's not something we do here -- and I think it would be lovely.

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  9. And now Christmas is suddenly everywhere! I would like to enjoy bonfire night, before I think too much about that.
    It's damp and gloomy here today. Very Novemberish Xx

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  10. Today it is 70 degrees F and unusually warm for November. We also had a mix of clouds and sunshine with gusty winds which brought lots of leaves to the ground. I mowed over lots of leaves. Once they are mulched by the mower over time they dissolve and add to the soil which I like. Recycled leaves!

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