Lammas

Next: Sunday 1 August 2027

1 August, loaf mass, the festival of the first wheat harvest.

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The year from Friday 3 September

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Folklore from the old calendars

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.
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.
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.
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.
Lambs weaned at Philip and Jacob No longer kept Essex, SuffolkIn Essex and Suffolk the lambs were taken from the ewes on the feast of St Philip and St James, 1 May, by farmers who wanted to milk them.
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.
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.
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.
St Almedha’s dance near Brecknock No longer kept BrecknockshireAt the feast of St Almedha early in August, people danced round the churchyard of her church near Brecknock with a song, then fell down as if in a trance.
St Wilfrid’s Feast at Ripon Still kept YorkshireRipon honoured its patron St Wilfrid with an annual feast.
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.
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.
Up Snaefell and Barrule on the first Sunday of August No longer kept Isle of ManOn the first Sunday in August Manx country people climbed the highest hills in crowds, Snaefell in the north and Barrule in the south.

Folklore from the old calendars

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