Burning Fern for Rain

1 August · Staffordshire

Lore and belief

A letter of 1 August 1636 from the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery to the high sheriff of Staffordshire said that the king was about to pass through the county. Having heard of an opinion there that burning fern brought down rain, the earl asked that the practice be given up while the king was in those parts, so that he and the country might enjoy fair weather. In Scotland, where great tracts of heather were burnt every spring to bring on the grass, it was a common remark that the moor-burn generally brought rain. Chambers thought it looked like mere folklore, though he noted an American, James Espy, had lately argued that great fires could bring on rain.

having heard there was an opinion in it that the burning of fern brought down rain, he desired that such practice should be forborne for the time

From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 2, p. 156. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Lammas Towers No longer kept East Lothian, Midlothian, West LothianUntil about the middle of the eighteenth century the cowherds of Lothian kept Lammas with towers.
Doggett’s Coat and Badge Still kept LondonThomas Dogget, a Dublin-born comic actor and a keen supporter of the Hanoverian succession, gave a waterman's coat and silver badge to be rowed for on 1 August 1715, the first anniversary of George I's accession, and at his death left money to keep the prize going for ever.
The Exeter Lammas Glove Still kept DevonExeter's Lammas Fair was opened with a glove of immense size, stuffed and carried through the city on a very long pole dressed with ribbons and flowers, followed by music, the parish beadles and a crowd.
St Wilfrid’s Feast at Ripon Still kept YorkshireRipon honoured its patron St Wilfrid with an annual feast.
Lammas, the Loaf-Mass No longer kept England, YorkshireThe first of August stands in the old almanacs as Lammas Day, and was also called the Gule of August.
Glove Silver No longer kept England, SuffolkIt was once the custom in England to give servants money on Lammas Day to buy gloves, which was called glove silver, in the teeth of the proverb that a cat in mittens catches no mice.
At Latter Lammas Lore and belief EnglandAn old proverb put off anything that would never happen until latter Lammas, a second Lammas that never comes.
A live lamb for York Minster No longer kept YorkshireOn Lammas Day, tenants who held land from York Minster once had to bring a live lamb into the church at high mass.
Lammas, called August’s Wheel Lore and belief EnglandLammas Day was called August's Wheel, and by then the ripe corn was said to stink of camomile, the weed growing among it.
The feast round Hitchingstone No longer kept YorkshireOn the 1st of August people gathered for a feast round the Hitchingstone, a huge block of granite on the highest part of Sutton Common in Craven, with dancing, racing and the other sports of the local village feasts.
Geese with straws on Lammas Day Lore and belief WalesOn the Welsh coasts it was said that if geese and ducks ran about with straws in their beaks on Lammas Day, destructive storms would follow in late summer and the autumn would be very boisterous.

Burning Fern for Rain

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