Sunshine on the twelfth of January

12 January

Lore and belief

The Shepherd’s Almanack for 1676, among its notes on January, recorded that some people held that if the sun shone on 12 January it foretold much wind. The almanac set this beside the better known reading of the whole year from the weather on St Paul’s Day later in the month. The Book of Knowledge of 1703 gave the same warning of wind for sunshine on 22 January instead.

Some say that, if on the 12th of January the sun shines, it foreshows much wind.

From Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. 1, p. 39; Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. 1, p. 42. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Plough Monday Still kept LincolnshireOn the first Monday after Twelfth Day farm lads dragged a plough decked with ribbons, the Fool Plough, from house to house, led by a man dressed as an old woman called Bessy and a Fool, sometimes with morris or sword dancers.
Goose-dancing in Scilly No longer kept Isles of ScillyHone's Table Book, quoting the Monthly Magazine of January 1827, says that at Plough Monday time the young people of the Isles of Scilly went goose-dancing.
Cock in the pot on Plough Monday No longer kept EnglandTusser counted Plough Monday among the ploughman's feast days, and Tusser Redivivus of 1744 explained the rhyme that went with it.
Plough Monday morris at Claybrooke No longer kept LeicestershireAulay Macaulay, in his History and Antiquities of Claybrooke of 1791, wrote that every Plough Monday a company of morris dancers came into Claybrooke from the neighbouring villages of Sapcote and Sharnford.
The sock-men’s ploughs No longer kept Northern EnglandOn Plough Monday, ploughmen in the north dragged a plough from door to door and begged money for drink.
The Madgy Pegs of Whitby No longer kept YorkshireOn Plough Monday at Whitby an extra band of six danced the sword dance, ending by plaiting their swords into a hexagon or rose that one of them held up above their heads.
The Lord Mayor’s Plough Monday wassail No longer kept LondonOn Plough Monday the Lord Mayor of London kept wassail with his household, with the Lady Mayoress at the head of their table.
The plough-gathering at Wigtoft No longer kept LincolnshireIn 1575 the churchwardens of Wigtoft in Lincolnshire received a pound from two men for the plough-gathering, the money collected when the ploughmen went round with their plough.
The plough light at Holbeach No longer kept Lincolnshire, NorfolkMany churches before the Reformation kept a plough light burning before an image, paid for by the husbandmen, who feasted on Plough Monday and went about with a plough and dancers.

Sunshine on the twelfth of January

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