This page was created by Marc Carlson
It was last edited 9 June 2004
September
Plough, fence, and store aught else before;
Trench hedge and furrow that water may through.
Mix rye aright with wheat that is white;
See corn sown in, too thick nor too thin;
Green rye have some, ere Michaelmas come.
Geld bulls and rams, sew ponds, amend dams;
Put boar in stye till Hallontide nigh;
Go gather up mast ere time be past; mast fats up swine.
Fruit gather, grapes pull, for fear of drabs go gather thy crabs;
Pluck fruit to last when Michael is past;
Forget it not, fruit bruised will rot,
Light ladder and long, doth trees least wrong,
Go gather will skill, and gather that will.
Set strawberries, wife, I love them for life.
Good dwelling give bee or else goes she,
Drive hive, good Coney, for wax and for honey.
...
At Michaelmas safely, go stye up the boar,
Lest straying abroad, ye do see him no more:
The sooner, the better for Hallontide nigh,
And better be brawneth, if hard he do lie.(1)
Farmers finished the grain harvest, and began the process of threshing the grain, and winnowing the chaff. August and September were often bad months for plague transmission.
| 1 | Natale Sancti Prisci(3)(4)(5)(7) (Nativity of Priscus of Capua) martiris; Sancti Egidii abbatis(2)(4)(7); Drithelm; Giles | ||
| 2 | Sancti Iusti martiris(4)(5); Sancte Edit(4); ii embolismus(3)(4). dies mala(3) | ||
| 3 | Paterni(4); Feliciani(4); Bonefacii(5), episcopi et martiris; Marcelli(5); Birini(5); Ordinatio Gregorii pape (Gregory)(7); Macanisius | ||
| 4 | Translatio Sancti Byrini; Translatio Sancti Cuthberhti(3) episcopi et confessoris(2); Sanctorum Ferioli(4), Fericiolis(4) et Marcelli(4); Marcellini(7); Ultan | ||
| 5 | Deposicio Sancti Baerhtini/Bertini(2)(3)(4)(5)/Berhtini(7) (Bertin); Sancti Quintini(4); Finding of the relics of Ferreolus(8) and Ferrutio(8); hic finiunt dies caniculares(5) | ||
| 6 | Zahcarias profeta(3) (The Prophet Zacharia) | ||
| 7 | Evurtius; Tilbert; Zahcarias profeta(4) (The Prophet Zacharia) | ||
| 8 | Nativitas Sancte Marie(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) (Nativity of Our Lady; Our Lady Day in Harvest); Sancti Adriani(3)(4)(7); Disibod; Ethelburga; Kinemark | ||
| 9 | Sancti Gorgoni martyris(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) (Gorgonius); Sancti Audomari(3)(4)(7); Bettelin; Ciaran of Clonmacnoise; Omer; Wulfhilda | ||
| 10 | Sancti Gordiane(4); Hilarii pape(7); Translatio Sancti Athelwoldi episcopi; Finian of Moville; Frithestan; Nicholas of Tolentino | ||
| 11 | Sanctorum Proti(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) et Iacincti/Iacincthi(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) eunuchorum/martirum (Protus and Hyacinth); Deiniol | ||
| 12 | Ailbe | ||
| 13 | John Chrysostom [Festival of the Deermen] | ||
| 14 | Exultacio Sancte Crucis(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) (Exultation or Triumph of the Holy Cross; Holy Rood Day in Harvest); Cornelii(4)(7) (Cornelius) et Cipriani(4)(7) (Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr of Carthage (258)) | ||
| 15 | Sancti Nicommedis martiris(3)(4)(5)(7) (Nicodemus); Iuliani(5); Adam of Caithness; Catherine of Genoa; Mirin | ||
| 16 | Sancti Eufemie(4)(5)(7); Lucii(4)(5)(7), Geminiani(4)(7); Ninan, Bishop in Galloway (430); Sancte Edith/Hedit(4) virginis non martyris(2) (Edith); Sanctorum Mauricii cum sociis suis(3) (Maurice and his companions) | ||
| 17 | Sancti Lanberti martyris(2)(4)(5)(7) (Lambert); Hildegarde | ||
| 18 | Meliti episcopi(5) | ||
| 19 | Theodori episcopi(5)(7) (Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury (690)); Januarius | ||
| 20 | Sancti Amandi(4) confessoris; Priuati(7); Eustace; Vigilia(5) | ||
| 21 | Sancti Mathie apostili(2)(4)(5)(7) (Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist);
equinoctium(5) [Autumnal Equinox - Modern] | ||
| 22 | Sanctorum Mauricii cum sociis suis(2)(7) vi dc lxvi(4)/cum vi dclxvi martiribus/cum vi milibus dc lxvita(7) (Maurice and his Companions); Laudus | ||
| 23 | Sancte Tecle virginis et martyris(2)(4)(5) (Thecla); Adomnan | ||
| 24 | Conceptio Sancti Iohannis(3)(4)(5)(7); Robert of Knaresborough; Aequinoctium/eqinoctium autumni(3)(4)(7)(32) (Autumnal Equinox) | ||
| 25 | Natale Sancti Firmini episcopi et martyris(2)(3)(4)(5) (Nativity of Firmin);
Sceollfridi(5)/Ceolfrith/Ceolfridi/In glaestonia sancti Ceolfriži(7) (716); Sergius, Abbot of Holy Trinity, Moscow (1392); Cadoc; Finbar [Autumnal Equinox, the Celebration of the Autumnal Equinox; Mabon; Mean Foghamhar; Harvest Home; Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle] | ||
| 26 | Natali Sancti Cipriani(3)(5) (Cyprian); Justine(5) (Justin); Jusatina | ||
| 27 | Sanctorum Cosme(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) et Damiani(2)(3)(4)(5)(7) martyrum (Cosmas and Damian) | ||
| 28 | Gylde confesoris(5); Lioba; Machan; Wenceslas; ii mensis aegyptorum faoni(7) | ||
| 29 | Dedicatio Sancti Michahelis Archangeli (2)(3)(4)(5)(7) (Michael and All Angels; Michaelmas) | ||
| 30 | Sancti Geronimi/Hieronimi presbiteri et doctoris(2)(3)(4)(7)/Germani episcopi et confessoris(5) (Jerome, Priest and Monk of Bethlehem, 420); Honorius; Tancred; Torthed and Tova |
After Michaelmas, fruit-gathering begins
1st Monday after the 1st Sunday after 4 September (Wakes Monday/Horn Dance (Abbots
Bromely, Staffordshire))
End of Harvest-time (Harvest Home; Harvest Thanksgiving; Kirn; Harvest Festival;
Thanksgiving)