OVER the centuries, the first day of August has attracted a large number of significant events and celebrations, as well as some weather lore.

Probably the most recent addition is Yorkshire Day, sometimes called White Rose Day which was founded in 1975 by the Yorkshire Ridings Society. On this important occasion, Yorkshire folk wear white roses, eat Yorkshire puddings and greet one another with phrases like “Noo then, hoo’st thoo gahin on?” or making remarks like “Ee baa gum.”

Some of us think that Yorkshire Day mourns the loss of the famous three Ridings, each in fact being an individual county. They were the North Riding, West Riding and East Riding which had existed for more than a thousand years. What the changes achieved was to create new administrative counties now known as North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Cleveland and Humberside. The old Ridings remain.

To commemorate this historic change to the county, a declaration is ceremoniously read at the Bars of the City of York on this day, whilst hotels, restaurants and cafes offer Yorkshire fare on their menus.

The Bars in question are not licensed premises but historic gates, whilst hereabouts the gates are streets! White roses are worn too, and some hotels, pubs and bars offer gigantic Yorkshire puddings as the main dish of the day. Many of these celebratory efforts are undertaken to raise cash for a range of charities.

Another name for August 1 is Lammas Day sometimes known as The Gule of August. This was formerly a great pagan celebration when fairs and festivals celebrated the first fruits of the annual harvest. The Church adopted this pagan festival and used the occasion to celebrate a Loaf Mass with small loaves made from newly ripened corn. Loaves were blessed during the Mass and the communion wafers were also made from the newly ripened corn. In parts of the north, it was known as Lowermass, with that word and Lammas both being derived from Loaf Mass. This may have been the forerunner of our Harvest Festivals. In fact, today’s name of Gule is thought to be derived from the Welsh gwyl which means “festival.”

An old custom on this day was to throw open certain areas of land that were used to grow crops. The reason was that once the crops had been harvested, the land could be used for pasture and other purposes, and in many cases it remained unused until the following year’s planting of new crops.

An old piece of weather lore says that after Lammas, the corn ripens as much by night as it does by day. This is a reminder that we are still within the summer period known as The Dog Days which create a long, hot period. They run from July 3 until August 11.

The Romans named this period The Dog Days because they believed that the Dog Star, Sirius, rose and set together with the sun to generate extra heat. The Dog Days remind us that this is usually a long, hot period of fine weather.

The day was also celebrated in other parts of the British Isles. In Scotland, for example, it was a quarter day when rents were due, but these could be paid with ripened corn. The Irish celebrate the Sunday nearest to August 1 as Bilberry Day or Bilberry Sunday which is sometimes known as Fraughan Sunday. An old Irish name for the celebrations was Domhnach na bh Fraochog or alternatively bhFraochan Sunday. Among its other names in Ireland are Whortleberry Sunday, Hurt Sunday, Heathberry Sunday and Blaeberry Sunday.

This all suggests there are many reasons for celebrating the first day of August.

There is a wealth of weather lore for today too, not only in this country but in various parts of the world. In Portugal it is said that August rain gives honey, wine and saffron.

In both Spain and France it is claimed that when it rains in August, it rains both honey and wine, and in Italy the saying is that a wet August never brings dearth. Across the ocean in America, we are advised to observe upon what day in August the first heavy fog appears whereupon we can expect a hard frost on the same day in October. Here, we believe that dew in August generally heralds fair weather, although thunderstorms in the early days of the month can mean more storms before the month is out. One general belief is that the weather in August forecasts what we might expect in February; for example a dry August means a dry February whilst a wet August forecasts in a wet February.

However, an unusually warm first week in August threatens a long, hard and white winter.

Elderflower stems

It seems the weather so far this year has resulted in a bumper crop of elderflowers. We tend to regard the fast-growing elder tree as little more than a weed and something of a nuisance in our gardens but in fact its products – fruit and flowers – are in great demand in wines, soft drinks, jellies and jams.

It seems that ideal weather in June this year has resulted in a magnificent harvest of elderflowers in Britain. These tiny blooms on their large flower-heads are very sensitive to the weather but this year it has been perfect in helping to produce wonderful elderflowers.

The tree and its products have many uses and whilst we might regard it as suitable for waste places, it is cultivated in many areas where it yields the raw products for healthy drinks, good wines and even a type of tea that is good for treating coughs. Both the fruit and flowers are rich in Vitamin C and even the bark can produce a variety of dyes. The pith in the stems can be used for holding botanical specimens whilst the timber is ideal for making small toys and wooden spoons.

This year, however, it is those tiny flowers that have caused a great deal of excitement in the commercial world. It is claimed that the elder drinks market alone this year will generate between £35 and £40 million pounds, and there is also interest in elder products for cooking meals.

In the fairly recent past, however, the elder tree was regarded with a good deal of suspicion and even fear. Burning elder wood was thought to bring the Devil into the household, and it was also forbidden to effect repairs in the house by using wood from the elder. There was a strong belief in Northumberland that an elder tree would produce blood if its wood was cut but in some areas the wood was used to protect people and property from witches and the Devil. However, some folk thought elder wood was a remedy for many ailments and a short stick of elder would protect the carrier against rheumatism and also cure warts.

But a little elderflower juice mixed with tonic water makes a delicious summer drink.