October's Facts, Traditions and Customs.

FACTS ABOUT THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.

                                                                 Gemstone. Opal.





                                                                Flower. Calendula. (Marigold.) 

                                                               

The month of October gets its name from the old Roman Calendar. It was the eighth month of the year and 'Octo' was the roman word for eight.

The Saxons called this month 'Wyn Monath' as it was the season for making wine.

October is the start of Autumn, the days and nights begin to turn cooler as the summer months come to an end. The countryside turns into an array of colours, reds, orange and yellows as the leaves on the trees start to shed them until next spring.

October 4th is St. Francis Day. 
It is this time of the year when we see our summer visitors The Swallows lining up on telephone wires at the side of the road getting ready to begin their long flight across the world back to Africa. It was once thought by our ancestors that the Swallows, when they had disappeared had gone to sleep on the bottom of lakes and ponds for the winter. This myth probably came about because people saw them skimming across the surface of ponds and lakes when catching insects as nothing was known then about migration in those times.

October the 10th is the 'Old Michaelmas Day', this day was formally held on the 29th of September but after the calendar reform of 1752 it was moved forward by eleven days. On or around this day it was once the custom to hold the annual Mop Fairs.

Mop Fairs.

Mop Fairs were held on or around the 10th of October. ( Michaelmas Day ). Traditionally this was the time of the year that the Mop Fair or Hiring Fairs took place. The working year of most people that worked in the countryside for a living was from October to October. Farm workers and servants would go to the fairs to offer their services for hire, they would carry something with them so that their prospective new employers knew what their trade was. Dressed in their best clothes and carrying something to show what work they were looking for, they would walk around the fair looking for work for the next year. If you were a Shepherd you carried a fleece, a Forrester would carry an axe and if you were a Maid you would carry a mop, which was why they became to be known as Mop Fairs. When they had been chosen by their new master or mistress they were given a small token such as an old shilling ( 5 new pence ) to seal the agreement and the worker would then remove his or her sign of their trade and replace it with a bunch of brightly coloured ribbons to show that they had been hired. Mop fairs are still held in small towns and villages all around the country. In the county of Warwickshire there are several Mop Fairs with the main one being held in Stratford. On the morning of the fair children are given free rides.  After World War 1 most of these mop fairs became funfairs and are still held today.

St Luke's Day.

St Luke’s Day falls on October 18th, traditionally this was the day when young girls could take a look into the future regarding their marriage prospects. To do this they had to put on their faces a mixture of spices, honey and vinegar before going to bed. When they had done this and gone to bed, before going to sleep they had to recite the following rhyme;

St luke, St Luke, be kind to me,

In my dreams let me my true love see.

St Luke's day was also known as Dog Whipping Day, it was the custom on this day to Whip and chase out of the streets of the town all stray dogs.

Weather Lore, Beliefs and Sayings.

Rain in October

Means winds in December

When berries are many in October

Beware a hard winter.

In October dung your fields

And your land its wealth shall yield.

If the October moon comes without frost,

then expect no frost till the moon of November.

If ducks do slide at Hallowtide,

At Christmas they will swim;

If ducks do swim at Hallowtide

At Christmas they will slide.

And finally, although I can't see it happening this year.

It is said that there always will be Twenty nine fine days in October.

Festivals and Traditions.

October 1st. Start of the English Pudding Season.

This was the time of the year when everyone began making their puddings. The fillings in them could be anything; meat, fruit or vegetables. 

October 4th. St Francis Day. In olden days this was the day they thought Swallows flew to the bottom of ponds to hibernate for the winter.

October 21st. Apple Day.

In 1989 a custom began to celebrate nature and the culture symbolised by the Apple that began its life in the Tien Shan area ( the Heavenly Mountains ) in China.

Punky Night.

Punky Night falls on the last Thursday in October and is an old Somerset tradition.

This dates back to some time in the Middle Ages when all the men from a small village somewhere in Somerset went to a fair. When they failed to return that night all the women went looking for them, guided in the dark by the light of their punkies. A punky is another name for a pumpkin that had been hollowed out and a candle put inside to help see where you were going in the dark, a sort of 
Old Fashioned Torch.

Another name for these is a Jack O Lantern. Traditionally on this night children in the South of England would march through the streets, singing a 'punky' song.

It's Punky Night, tonight,

It's Punky Night tonight,

Give us a candle, gives us a light.

It's Punky Night, tonight. It's Punky Night, tonight,

It's Punky Night , tonight,

Adam and Eve, wouldn't believe

It's Punky Night, tonight.

October 31st. Halloween Night.

On October the 31st, we celebrate Halloween, thought to be the one night of the

year when ghosts, witches, fairies and all spirits from the spirit world became very active.

The Celts believed that the evil spirits came with the long hours of winter darkness. They believed that on this night that the barrier between our world and that of the spirit world were at their weakest and therefore the spirits would haunt our world. The Celts would also build large bonfires to frighten the spirits away and pray for the souls of people in Purgatory to help them rise to heaven.

A Jack O Lantern or A Punky.

Other Notable Dates.

3rd October 1906. The Letters S.O.S. Were established as the international distress signal for help.

3rd October 1990. East and West Germany re-united and became one country again.

4th October. St. Francis of Assisi’s Day.

6th October 1769. Captain James Cook discovered New Zealand.

11th October 1968. Apollo 7 was launched, making it the first manned flight of the capsule that would take men to the moon.

13th October 1884. Greenwich Mean Time was introduced.

14th October 1066. The Battle of Hastings, King Harold was defeated by William of Normandy.

18th October. St. Luke's Day.

21st October 1805. The Battle of Trafalgar.

23rd October 1642. The Battle between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads took place at Edgehill.

24th October. United Nations Day.

25th October 1415. The Anniversary of The Battle of Agincourt.

25th October 1854. The Anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava.

28th October. Feast of St Jude.

31st October. All Hallows Eve.