According to tradition, April begins on March 29 th because the last three days of March are said by country dwellers to be "borrowed" from April and can be relied upon for weather guidance and information; An abundance of rhymes foretell in many and varied ways climatic expectation, as does this example;

March borru'd from April three rare days

T 'elp the seasons settle their ways

If on the first the rain doth fall

A summer wet us'll befall

If on the second winds do blow

Autumn gales will come enow

If on the third snow lays behind

Fear naught a winter-time unkind.

FEAST of ST. AMBROSE; Last Day of the OLD Year; April 4th;

Once equal to March 24th, the last day of the year on the old calendar, this day, marooned with little purpose in the fourth month of our year still receives the attention of those who wish to see beyond the veil which separates this world from the next. A memory of year's end ?

The Rev. A. L. Giles writes in 'The Parish Church of Paignton' 1911, that; "the white witch of the place used to resort here at midnight, on the last day of the year, (old style) to see the forms of those who would depart this life in the coming year pass out into the churchyard. At that time there were two white witches, Agnes Williams and Grace Setter, and under cover of the night the two crones had quietly taken their places on the east and west seats, unknown to each other. They were competitors for the stray pence of the credulous Paigntonians, and, as rivals, hated each other bitterly. At about the dread hour of midnight a flash of lightening revealed either to the other, after which they both crept away satisfied. The twelve months passed, and, as neither had had the pleasure of attending the other's funeral, as was fondly hoped, there was mutual disappointment."

It is believed in some parishes that this is the night upon which the Devil will call in any outstanding debts. Taxpayers will need no reminding that, perhaps with some long forgotten significance, the financial year is ending, and thereafter the taxman cometh. Is this a reminder of evil and witchcraft, a time to pay ones debt to the devil ?

TAXATION DAY !!! April 5th;

Perhaps not a day for celebration since Income tax is imposed for the year ending on April 5th.

A strange choice of date, there seems no reason why a 'year' for paying taxes shouldn't be the same as the calendar year that ends with the last day of December. Had the Papal decree issued in March 1582 been accepted, the Inland Revenue might not have been the one organisation today which reminds us annually of the Old year.

England and Scotland in 1582 were separately ruled and governed and neither country, nor their dependencies, as Protestant States would have anything to do with any decree issued by Pope Gregory.

The Gregorian calendar was ignored for over a century and a half before its values were accepted by which time the day and date differences between the old, Julian, calendar and its Gregorian replacement amounted to eleven days. But first, one step at a time.

From 1600 Scotland has recognised January 1st as the day on which a year commences.

Prior to Union with Scotland, the National Accounts in England were made up to Lady Day, 25th March, the date on which the English civil year began.

After the Union of Parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707 the closing of the National Accounts, for both Kingdoms, appears to have conformed with the English practice of closing the Financial Year on March 25th.

With the passing of the "Calendar (New Style) Act 1750" the 3rd September 1752 became the 14th September and consequently the date which would have been March 25th 1753 became, instead, April 5th and there ended the Financial year until 1855 after which the date for closing public accounts was moved to 31st March.

H. M. Inland Revenue continues to recognise 5th April as a happy, old year, day of significance.

ST MARK'S EVE; 24th April

The custom or tradition of Porch Watching and Waiting, noted on April 4th, extends further into the month, to the eve of St. Mark's Day.

The Rev. S. Baring Gould, in his book "Folklore", and Rev. H. Breton in "The Forests of Dartmoor" both record the events that overtook a young carpenter from Monkokehampton on this mysterious eve when a watcher, it is said, will see passing before him the forms of those who will die in the parish in the ensuing twelve months.

This brave young carpenter was determined to test these claims and he settled himself in the church porch on St Mark's Eve to await any wandering spirits who might pass that way. Later, the man, by then a far from fearless figure, solemnly affirmed that during his vigil he had seen two wraiths pass by him and enter into the Church.

It was then that his bravery deserted him; shocked and frightened, he claimed that he had witnessed his own ghostly form also entering the church ! The man, distraught though he was, could not be shaken in his conviction. He was utterly convinced that he had seen his own death foretold.

Although there was nothing apparently physically wrong with him, he took to his bed, and died; sheer fright alone accounting for his untimely death.

The mysterious eve of St Mark's Day was a night on which divination could be achieved. A young lady could summon the future to be revealed before her by visiting a church as the clock struck midnight. Stealthily, in the dead of night, from a grave on the south-facing side of the churchyard, she must carefully remove, three tufts of green growing grass. To her home she must then swiftly return, to secrete the grass beneath her pillow, and retire to her bed, reciting three times over

This eve, by St Mark, for prediction is blest,

I pray that my hopes and my fears he can rest;

Reveal me my fate, whether weal or woe;

And tell if my rank will be high or be low;

Will I live ever single, or be taken as bride,

Lay 'fore me the destiny my star doth provide.

In recognition of her obedience to these instructions she was promised that her dreams that night would reveal the future that awaited her; but if she had no dreams at all it was a sign that she would be single and miserable throughout her life.

WALPURGIS NIGHT; 30th April

The eve of May, when the Queens of winter and summer battle with gorse clubs and witches meet on one of their two main Sabbats. Flora, ancient Sabine goddess of spring and flowers, youthfulness, and sex, encourages a night of earthy celebration. Maeve, the Celtic Queen Mab of the Fairies, invites dancers to pick a partner, then wander to the greenwood to make love at sunrise.

Across Devon, until early in the 20th century, bonfires were lit on hill tops, young men led their partner sunwise round the pyre, jumping three times through the flames before feasting on full-moon cakes and supping wines of elder, dandelion, or blackberry, made a year or two earlier, and which by then were particularly potent.

In some parts of Devon and the South West the bonfire rituals continue on the eve of May by those that remember the importance and value of the night calendar of ancient ways.

© Roy & Ursula Radford