St Swithun's Day

Oh!

The sunshine has taken us by surprise. We fall out of the front door in a heap, blinking like moles.

A good thing too, because today is St Swithun's Day...And we all know what St Swithun's Day means ::

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 na mair

St Swithun's connection with the weather comes from the story of his burial. Apparently, as Bishop of Winchester he was entitled to be interred indoors, but he preferred to have the rain on his face and insisted on being interred in a virtual pauper's grave outside the cathedral. Later, when some people-who-thought-they-knew-better (always a few of them around) dug him up to move him to a 'proper' place in the cathedral, St Swithun sent 40 days of rain as a sign of his displeasure.

Also ::

Happy Birthday B.