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Thursday 15 July 2021

Today is St Swithins Day, do we need to keep an eye on the weather?

If you are fortunate to be on your summer holidays or perhaps looking forward to breaking up from school soon, you're probably hoping for a bit of sun. But what if it rained non-stop for 40 days?


"Well, today is St Swithin's day. It takes place on 15 July each year, and according to traditional folklore, whatever the weather is like on St Swithin's Day - whether rain or sunshine - it will continue for the next 40 days and 40 nights.

But where does this legend come from and is there any truth to it?

What is the story of St Swithin?
The old poem goes like this...

"St Swithin's Day, if it does rain
Full forty days, it will remain
St Swithin's Day, if it be fair
For forty days, t'will rain no more"


Swithin was a man born in or around the year 800. He became Bishop of Winchester. Unlike other religious figures, he asked not to be buried in a prominent place within Winchester Cathedral, but outside in a simple tomb "where the sweet rain of heaven may fall upon my grave". The legend says after his remains were moved inside there was a great storm and it rained for many weeks after.

Winchester Cathedral (image from the web)

Is there any truth to the folklore?
According to the old saying, if it rains on St Swithin's Day it will rain for the next 40 days. If St Swithin's Day is dry, the next 40 days will also be dry.

No one takes the prediction literally - in fact, few take it seriously! - and there is definitely no statistical evidence to support the claim.

Weather experts says that since records began in 1861, there has never been a record of 40 dry or 40 wet days in a row following St Swithin's Day.

So while we might not like 40 days of rain and 40 days of sun sounds fun, neither is likely to happen!"
See original article here

... well we have had rather mixed weather lately, but I believe today is going to be a sunny one, so a nice salad may be on the menu plans.
What's the weather like where you live?
Will you be enjoying a salad, or is your weather more suited to a stew or casserole?

Triple Berry Summer Salad, it's so delicious, more details here

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All the best Jan

33 comments:

aussie aNNie said...

Your salad is like I make for our summer bbq's and it's full of great vitamins too.
Never heard of St Swithin so it was interesting reading as always. xx

J.P. Alexander said...

No conocía esa leyenda. Es genial te mando un beso

William Kendall said...

That's a new one to me.

Tom said...

...this should be interesting, we had an early thunderstorm followed by sunshine! 40 more days you say?

Christine said...

First I am hearing of St Swithin.

DVArtist said...

Wow this is a great post. If it is true the wind will never stop blowing here. LOL The salad looks fantastic.

Jutta Kupke said...

Dieser Blog ist ein sehr guter Blog !
Ich habe ihn in meiner Leseliste aufgenommen und lese jeden Beitrag.
Er ist informativ und interessant gestaltet, die vorgeschlagenen Rezepte sehr ansprechend.
Weiter so und alles gute
Liebe Grüße von Jutta,
die nicht immer kommentiert aber immer liest :-)

Elephant's Child said...

Just to be sure - I hope St Swithins Day is sunny for you.

Valerie-Jael said...

I hope very much that it won't rain for the next 40 days, we already have extensive flooding here! Have a great day, stay dry! Valerie

Jo said...

It definitely feels like we're having forty days of rain sometimes in our summer, let's hope for sunshine this year.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I've never heard of St Swithins, but I enjoyed reading about him. Quite the tale. I have my doubts about the folklore, but it is definitely a good story to tell. I LOVE the look of that salad.

baili said...

each nation beard such pious souls i agree dear Jan

folklore sounds intriguing ,it can false for your part of world but sounds true for here as i know it is gonna dry weather for next forty days :(

blessings !

linda said...

Well it's lovely and warm here today and no rain so far so here's to the next 40 days haha. The salad looks yummy.

Sami said...

I had never heard of St Swithins and really hope the prediction about the rain doesn't come true, lol. It has been raining for a whole week and apparently more rain to come next week here in Perth. We've had flooded streets, fallen trees, a sinkhole... more rain in 2 days than the normal amount that falls the whole month of July!

R's Rue said...

I will take the rain where I live. We need it. I need to make that summer salad. Have a delicious day.

Margaret D said...

Well I have just eaten my sweets which were strawberries, we eat sweet well after dinner, time is 9.40pm on the 15th, a very rainy day - yes it has rained most of the day!

My name is Erika. said...

Thank goodness no one take St. Swithin seriously because we've had so much rain in the last 2 weeks, and humidity and clouds today the 15th, that I don't want to see if for 40 more days. July is usually such a sunny month for us. I enjoyed reading this and learning something new.

Ygraine said...

Well, the weather hasn't been too bad today...so here's hoping there is something in the ancient folklore!😉
Oh WOW, that berry salad looks absolutely irresistible...I simply HAVE to try it!!
Thank you so much.😊😊

Have a lovely weekend, dear friends!

Hugs xxx

Mary Kirkland said...

Interesting post. That salad looks good.

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Sunny day here
🙂

José Antonio Sánchez Rumí said...

Interesting story Jan, I did not know it, as all has its part of truth and its part of legend, the 40 days is excessive both with rain and without rain, but not impossible.
Salads in summer are all wonderful.
Best regards.

Lowcarb team member said...

Jutta Kupke said...
Dieser Blog ist ein sehr guter Blog !
Ich habe ihn in meiner Leseliste aufgenommen und lese jeden Beitrag.
Er ist informativ und interessant gestaltet, die vorgeschlagenen Rezepte sehr ansprechend.
Weiter so und alles gute
Liebe Grüße von Jutta,
die nicht immer kommentiert aber immer liest :-


Google translate...
This blog is a very good blog!
I have included it in my reading list and read every post.
It is informative and interestingly designed, the proposed recipes very appealing.
Keep it up and all the best
Greetings from Jutta,
which does not always comment but always reads :-)

Ananka said...

That salad looks super :-D Didn't rain up here was VERY warm today in Scotland!

HappyK said...

Haven't heard of this before.
But once it did rain for 40 days and nights - Noah. :)

magiceye said...

Salad sure looks great! We've been having rains and looks like it might continue for 40 days!

Veronica Lee said...

I've never heard of St Swithins! I enjoyed the tale.

That salad looks delish! Smackin' my lips!

Iris Flavia said...

We "luckily" just have grey weather. Parts of Germany drowned real bad. Not a drop here.
The salad looks yummy.

mamasmercantile said...

Interesting post. Cool with a little rain here today but I do enjoy a salad.

Teresa said...

Interesante leyenda. Por aquí mucho sol y subiendo las temperaturas. La ensalada se ve muy buena. Besos.

Jules said...

The summer berry salad looks delicious and just perfect for enjoying in this glorious sunny weather. I'm hoping it continues for the duration of our summer break, with some occasional rain for the gardens, of course. X

Kay said...

When we were building the addition to our house some 15 years ago, it rained for about 40 days and nights so the carpenters couldn't get started. We met a builder the other day and he remembered that time. We don't have Swithins Day in Hawaii though. It must have been a menehune instead.

sandy said...

Fascinating...never knew about that "day". and that lemon blueberry below - yum.

Magic Love Crow said...

This was fun to read! Thank you Jan! Big Hugs!