Laurel for St Catherine’s learned men

25 November · England

Lore and belief

By St Catherine’s Day only the evergreen laurel was left in leaf, and the rhyme of the saints’ flowers says it crowned learned men on her feast, since Catherine was the patron of scholars. Holly and ivy berries and the Yule log followed.

Soon the evergreen Laurel alone is seen, / When Catherine crowns all learned men.

From Forster's Perennial Calendar, p. 108. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Cathar’ning No longer kept England, KentSt Catherine was the patron of spinsters, and on her day young women met to make merry together, which was called Cathar'ning.
St Catherine’s fast Lore and belief IrelandIn Ireland women and girls once fasted every Wednesday and Saturday of the year, and some also on St Catherine's Day.
The charms of St Catharine Lore and belief EnglandMother Bunch's Golden Fortune Teller gave a charm for St Catharine's night.
The Cattern bowl at Worcester No longer kept WorcestershireUntil shortly before Ellis wrote, the dean and chapter of Worcester gave out a rich mixture of wine and spices on St Catharine's Day, the last day of their yearly audit, to the people living in the cathedral precincts.
The ropemakers’ Queen Catherine at Chatham No longer kept KentOn St Catherine's night the ropemakers of Chatham dockyard carried a woman dressed as Queen Catherine, founder of the ropery, through Chatham, Rochester and Brompton by torchlight.
Five hundred lights round St Paul’s steeple No longer kept LondonOn the evening of St Catherine's Day 1553, five hundred great lights were carried round the steeple of St Paul's in her procession.

Laurel for St Catherine’s learned men

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