The start of our six-day summer

Nowadays, officialdom, or perhaps the world of computers, has changed things.

The modern idea is that June 1 is the first official day of summer whereas traditionalists continue to honour the age-old belief that the longest day of the year, based on the rising and setting times of the sun, arrives on June 21. Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day are celebrated on June 23 and 24 and in that way, we know that our summer has arrived.

Those few long days present a case for arguing that our summer is a mere six days long – three days before the middle of summer suggest another three days are following - but in fact we used to believe summer ended on September 21, the day of the autumn equinox or traditional start of autumn.

Down the centuries the arrival of summer has been celebrated in a variety of ways. Long ago, druids kept a midnight vigil before sunrise over the stone circle of Stonehenge, and this is continued by the Companions of the Most Ancient Order of Druids. Druids were priests of the ancient Celtic religion.

There is a similar stone circle at Ilton near Masham in Wensleydale but this is a folly built in 1820 to create work for the staff of Swinton Park estate. Nonetheless, it is an impressive piece of work.

June 22 was therefore the second day of summer and this became known as Weeding Day because there was an old belief that weeds cut down on this date, either at full moon or during the afternoon, would not re-appear. It is also the feast day of St Alban, a Roman soldier who was England’s first martyr, being beheaded for his faith in AD 303 or 304. The site of his execution is now known as St Albans.

June 23 is the Eve of Midsummer, but also Mugwort Digging Night, Need Fire Night and the Eve of St John. Mugwort is a common but curious-looking plant with a heathery appearance although it is said to be linked to the daisy family. It grows in waste areas and alongside some roads beneath hedgerows, producing small purple flowers crowded at the ends of its branches which have finger-like leaves covered with small white hairs.

Even from Anglo-Saxon times, the mugwort has been associated with witchcraft and sorcery and there was an ancient belief that beneath the plant on Midsummer Eve, there were pieces of magic coal that would offer protection against lightning, the plague and various other ailments. To be effective the magic coal had to be dug up on Midsummer Eve, and then carefully kept, hence the importance of Mugwort Digging Night.

Interestingly, the mugwort was found to have other uses. On occasions it was used instead of hops to assist the brewing of beer and in some parts of the country, was a substitute for tea-leaves. Its strong scent was useful for repelling moths among clothing, and in some continental countries it was used in the stuffing of cooked geese. Another of its values was to purify sick rooms by being burnt.

Also on Midsummer Eve, young girls would gather hempseed and scatter it around their rooms believing it would reveal the name of their true love. Another event of this night was to light a flame and carry it around all the houses in the village to light dormant domestic fires. Fire was a precious commodity which provided heat, light and cooking facilities, and so this activity on Need Fire Night helped to keep the home fires burning. If a domestic fire went out, sometimes there was great difficulty in re-lighting it, so this was a common act of kindness.

Midsummer Eve was also the Eve of St John’s Day, this St John being John the Baptist. Midsummer Day is his feast day which commemorates his terrible death. It happened when King Herod was hosting a feast during which Salome entertained him. Herod was so pleased with her performance that he promised to give her anything she wished. She said she wanted the head of John the Baptist on a plate at table, and so Herod immediately ordered John’s execution. Salome got her wish. Two years later, Christ was crucified.

Midsummer Day, June 24, was a time of festivities such as feasting, dancing, fairs, sports and general celebration. It was also a quarter day when tenants paid their rents whilst in Derbyshire it was, and still is, well-dressing day. This is not a hint to dress in one’s best clothes, but the water wells and springs were decorated with floral tributes or colourful banners, many depicting religious themes.

There is still some doubt about when or why this custom began with some believing it stems from pagan times when wells and springs were thought to contain deities. Another likely source is the time following the Black Death in 1348/9. Out of a hundred priests in Derbyshire, 77 died in that outbreak but the village of Tissington escaped without a single death. This was accredited to the purity of the water in the village wells and springs and so, ever since, the wells have been decorated as a form of thanksgiving to God, often with prayers and thanksgiving, and the custom spread to other parts of Derbyshire.

Another theory is that the area suffered a serious drought in 1615 with crops failing and deaths occurring. Only the wells of Tissington continued to provide good quality water and so the people trekked to the village to get supplies. Yet another account says the custom has been practised since time immemorial on Holy Thursday with Mass in church accompanied by psalms and hymns at the pure wells of Tissington.

Here in Yorkshire St John’s Day was the time to cut thistles.

AMONG the birds in our garden we have watched a female great spotted woodpecker but despite the caption that accompanied the photo heading this column on May 8, it did not feature this bird. A reader from Piercebridge recognised the photo as that of a very rare middle spotted woodpecker, a species I have never seen. As I work from home a long way from the editorial office, I do not view the illustrations that accompany these notes until they appear in the paper when it lands on my desk each Friday. I must rely on others…but thank-you to our correspondent. I now know what a middle spotted woodpecker looks like.

Of some interest among the birds in our garden is a family of tree sparrows. Their relations, the house sparrows that nested under our files and chirped incessantly, have disappeared. This seems to have been repeated over a wide area with house sparrows now very scarce whereas not long ago, they were among the most numerous of our wild birds.

In our case, they have been replaced by tree sparrows who look very similar and who chirp almost as much as their cousins. They have nested under the roof tiles of our garage and are feeding their brood as I write these notes. The most obvious difference is that tree sparrows have chestnut brown crowns on their heads whilst house sparrows sport a grey crown but even so it is not easy to distinguish one from the other.