July 15.] St. Swithin’s Day
July 15.]
ST. SWITHIN’S DAY.
St. Swithin was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the time of King Ethelbert, and the great patron saint of the cathedral and city of Winchester. In some church-books there are entries of gatherings of “Saint Swithine’s farthyngs” on this day. There is an old proverb which says:
“St. Swithin’s Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain:
St. Swithin’s Day, if thou be fair,
For forty days ’twill rain na mair.”
There is also a quaint saying, that when it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it is the saint christening the apples.—See Timbs’ Things not Generally Known, 1856, p. 153.