March Weather Lore

March brings breezes loud and shrill,

To stir the dancing daffodil.

March comes in like a lion.

And goes out like a lamb.

March comes in like a lamb,

And goes out like a lion.

A March sun sticks,

Like a lock of wool.

It is believed that the commonly accepted folklore phrase, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb", was first based on the relative positions of the constellations, Leo (the lion) at the beginning of the month and Aries (the ram, or lamb) at the end of the month. Many now associate the phrase to the varied weather conditions during the month of March. If the weather is wild and volatile at the start of March, it is expected to be calm and quiet at the end of the month, and vice versa.

March winds and April showers,

Bring forth May flowers.

... and ...

In beginning or in end,

March its gifts will send.

In the Netherlands, they say:

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Maart roert zijn staart.

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Literal translation - "March stirs its tail",

meaning that the weather in March changes a lot,

sometimes sunny and warm,

or very cold, chilly, rainy and snowy.

In Scotland, they say,

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March comes in with adders' heads,

And goes out with peacocks' tails.

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"The last three days of March are sometimes called the borrowing days for as they are remarked to be unusually stormy, it is feigned that March had borrowed them from April to extend the sphere of his rougher sway." - Sir W. Scott

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March borrow it from April

Three days, and they were ill,

The first was frost,

The second was snow,

The third was cold as ever't could blow.

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March borrows from April

Three days, and they are ill,

April borrows of March again

Three days of wind and rain.

(Scotland)

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The worst blast comes in the borrowing days.

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There is a Spanish story about the borrowing days - a shepherd promised March a lamb if he would temp the winds to suit his flocks. But after gaining his point, the shepherd refused to pay over the lamb. In revenge, March borrowed three days from April, in which fiercer winds than ever blew and punished the deceiver.

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March borrowed of April,

April borrowed of May,

Three days they say.

One rained, and one snowed,

And the other was the worst day that ever blew.

(Staffordshire)

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One more North Country version, said to be the oldest and from Scotland and North England, about the proverb of the borrowing days follows:

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March said to Averil,

I see three hoggs (year-old sheep) on yonder hill;

An' if ye'll lend me days three,

I'll find a way to gar them dee.

The first o' them was wind an' wet;

The second o' them was snow an' sleet;

The third o' them was sic' and freez,

It froze the birds' nebs to the trees.

When the three days were past and gone,

The silly hoggs cam' hirplin home.

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Whimsical, entertaining weather folklore quoted as found in the booklet, "Weather Lore, a Collection of Proverbs, Sayings and Rules Concerning the Weather", as compiled and arranged by Richard Inwards, F.R.A.S., London, 1898, and bought by the Harvard College Library with income from the bequest of Henry Lillie Pierce of Boston.

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All photos, scenes from the yard,

taken by me during snow showers

this morning while dog walking.

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Reminiscent of my father and our Scottish heritage, my favorite lore quoted above is that of the adders' heads and peacocks' tails.

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