Weather Lore and Saint Swithin
How an Anglo Saxon Bishop Influenced the Weather in July
A very old British superstition proclaims that if it rains on St Swithin’s (sometimes spelled St Swithun) Day, which falls on the 15th July, it will rain for forty days but if it’s fair, it will remain fair for the next forty days. There is no meteorological or scientific evidence to back this superstition up but it is talked about in the UK every summer.
St Swithin’s Rise from Scholar to Bishop
Known as “the Watery Saint”, St Swithin was born of noble parents near Winchester (a town which was then the capital city of the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex and is now in Hampshire) about the year 800 AD. By all accounts, St Swithin was a very intelligent and studious young man, excelling in philosophy, grammar and religious studies in his youth.
Hearing the call of God, he became ordained as a monk and then became a Prior of the cathedral (originally the Old Minster) at Winchester. He was such an influential and scholarly man that King Egbert of Wessex (died 839) gave him the job of tutor to his eldest son, Prince Ethelwulf (died 858).
Swithin was not only one of the leading minds of his day but also an extremely humble and caring man who was much loved by the common people of the land. He managed to persuade his former royal pupil, once he became King, to grant a tithe of one tenth of his lands for the use of the church.
The humble Prior was elevated to Bishop of Winchester around 852 and set about restoring the churches of the diocese of Winchester. He is credited with enclosing the Old Minster within a strong wall which proved a successful defence against the Vikings when they attacked in 860. He also built Winchester’s first stone bridge across the river Itchen.
The Death and First Burial of the Watery Saint
There is some discrepancy over the actual year in which Swithin died. The Anglo Saxon Chronicles show his year of death as 861 but his signature is found on documents and charters dated 862 but they could be forged. However, it is accepted that he died around that time.
According to legend, when he was dying, Swithin stated that he didn’t want to be buried in the chancel of the Minster with all the other Bishops but in the common churchyard outside where he could be closest to the ordinary folk who so loved him. His wish was granted and he was duly buried outside.
Swithin’s Miracles and Canonisation
Not long after he was buried, ordinary common people started talking about miracles that happened when they visited his grave. Sick and blind people were cured, a woman’s basket of eggs which had been maliciously broken by workmen were curiously repaired. Consequently, with so many pilgrims making the journey to his shrine, he was canonised.
Several years after Swithin became a Saint, it was decided that it wasn’t fitting for such a great man to be buried out in the open, common ground like that, he should be moved to the more holy confines of the cathedral. So the Bishops and local dignitaries arranged for a ceremonial procession and re-interment on the 15th July.
On the appointed day, the dignitaries gathered round the grave and began to dig. As they did, a terrific clap of thunder was heard and a torrential downpour appeared out of the blue. Such was the volume of rain, the ceremonies had to be abandoned. They tried the next day, and the next, and the next but the same thing happened. Eventually they abandoned the idea on the 40th day and the rains ceased.
St Swithin Changes his Mind
However, the Saintly man appears to have changed his mind about being outside a few years after that and began appearing to a humble, old and sick smith telling him to go see the Bishop as he wanted to be moved to the Cathedral after all. His wish was granted and he was moved into the cathedral on 15th July 971.
But the dreadful weather event that is supposed to have happened on the day of the first attempt to move his bones has become a strong superstition enshrined in folklore over the years and is still talked about today. It is concisely immortalised in that old rhyme:
St Swithin’s Day, if it does rain
Full forty days, it will remain
St Swithin’s Day, if it be fair
For forty days, t’will rain no more.
Sources:
- Liverpool Mercury Newspaper 1815
- Gentleman’s Magazine 1856
- Bow Bells Journal 1895
St Swithin - Forty Days Fair Weather
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St Swithin - Forty Days Wet Weather
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