Saint Swithin

 

Today I'm joining Elle from Empire of the Cat, our host this month at Art Journal Journey once again.  Her theme is Fairytales, Folklore, and Fables - Tell Me A Story.  

In the realm of folklore, I give you Saint Swithin.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Swithin, (born c. 800—died July 2, 862, Winchester, Hampshire, England; feast day July 15), celebrated Anglo-Saxon saint, bishop of Winchester, and royal counselor whose name is still associated with an old meteorological superstition. He served as counselor to Kings Egbert and Aethelwulf of the West Saxons. On or about October 30, 852, he was consecrated bishop of Winchester. Nothing else is reliably known of his life.

According to the BBC's web site:

Saint Swithin was a Saxon bishop. He was born in the kingdom of Wessex and educated in its capital, Winchester. He was famous for charitable gifts and building churches. His feast day is 15 July and his emblems are rain drops and apples.

Further:

Swithin died on 2 July 862. According to tradition, he had asked to be buried humbly. His grave was just outside the west door of the Old Minster, so that people would walk across it and rain fall on it in accordance with Swithin's wishes.

Even though so little is known about St. Swithins, it seems ironic that he would be given a special day all his own to honor him and his miracles.  Could it be that the British are obsessed with their weather, as suggested by National Today?

According to Catholic.org:

His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. According to tradition, if it rains on Saint Swithin's bridge (Winchester) on his feast day (15 July) it will continue for forty days. 

Further according to Encyclopedia Britannica:

There is a superstition that rain on St. Swithin’s feast day means rain for 40 days. The first evidence for the weather prophecy seems to be a 13th- or 14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. His feast day is the day his relics were transferred in 971 from the churchyard to Winchester Cathedral, after reports of miracles, by Bishop Aethelwold.

After 971, Swithin’s cult spread widely, and his name displaced those of Saints Peter and Paul in the dedication of the cathedral. His feast is observed in the Anglican calendar.

According to the Tudor Society:

Swithin died on 2 July 862 but his feast day marks the day in 971 when his remains were moved from his grave just outside the west door of the Old Minster of Winchester to a shrine inside the cathedral. This day was marked by miraculous cures and so became his feast day. It was also, however, marked by torrential rain which lasted forty days and forty nights and which was taken as a sign of the saint's anger at the digging up of his remains when his wishes were that his remains should be buried outside the west door so that rain could fall on his grave and people would walk over it. This forty days of rain led to the following traditional rhyme:

St Swithin's day if it does rain

For forty days it will remain

St Swithin's day if it be fair

For forty days t'will rain no more.

  

There is another variation:

If on St. Swithin's day it really pours
You're better off to stay indoors

There is no proof this folklore tale holds true.  In fact, according to the BBC:

Weather experts say that since records began in 1861, there has never been a record of 40 dry or 40 wet days in a row following St Swithin's Day.

I began by printing this image on my laser printer.  I then colored it using watercolor pencils.  I know some people enjoy that, but I am NOT one of them.  I spent two days off and on getting this even half decent.  I then backed and sewed the image to scrapbook paper from my stash.  I wrote the name in purple gel pen ink.

I then added the poem I wrote by hand using the same purple pen.  I used washi tape to adhere the two parts together.

Bleubeard and I would like to thank you for allowing us to share this bit of folklore with you today.  We would also like to thank Jan from The Low Carb Diabetic blog for sharing the original post back in July when it really was St. Swithin's Day.  And of course, we hope to see you at Art Journal Journey with your own take on Fairytales, Folklore, and Fables - Tell Me A Story.