MARCH LORE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10106, 18 March 1911, Page 4

MARCH LORE.

("Weldo.n's Journal.")

The magic of March is the magic of swiftness, the magic of strength, the magic of battle. One may with safety speak of the " soft glamour" of all tho other months, even of December and January, for in their wildest days there comes the sudden hush and change which can only be described its an interlude of tenderness in a mad outburst of passion. But in March, although the hush and the change come, they are only on the surface, as it wore; for, though one listens ever so carelessly, one cannot but hoar the moaning throb of the imprisoned March forces behind tho apparent quiet. And so, to write of March is to write of battle, of the rushing of winds, of the far scattering of dust, of a wailing as of souls in bondage, of a thunder as of advancing armies, of that great Nature spirit which does battle with the March earth, and shakes it to its very foundations, that the months which are to follow may work out their mission in quietness and without hindrance. The spirit of March being a martial one, and the fact that the whole month resounds with the call of winds, or with the call of trumpets, prepares us for the knowledge that March has ever been the month of war—not elemental war only, but war which left in its train ruined homes, blackened villages, and dyed the earth and the rivers _ red. The very name, March, was given to the month in honour of Mars, god of battles; and it was in March that tho great Roman campaigns' were usually begun, and thus the Nature spirit of the month has coincided with the desires and the spirit of men, and made March, in a double sensey the month of war. War is the result of dissatisfaction, of restlessness, of strength kept within limits which have become irksome; and all the old writers recognise the March restlessness which, is the cause of the March war. In March the Nature forces really awake. They dominate the earth, giving greenness to the grass, unfolding tassels of green from the trees, spreading the white and gold of daisies, and the tender blue of violets abroad; and they awake In us that desire to rise up and conquer, and- give us that consciousness that we can conquer, which we know only when the earth has spring. March was known to our Latin forefathers as the Lenet-monat, or lengthmonth, the reason being that daylight then began to endure for a longer period than darkness. The fact that Lenet, or Lent, also means spring, may bo taken as another reason for the bestowing of tho old name, since March, throughout the centuries, has ever been known as the spring month. Owing to tho movable nature of all ecclesiastical feasts, and Easter in particular, it is difficult, without an alarming amount of calculation,, to assign any event to a particular date. " Mothering Sunday," or Mid-Lent Sunday, however, usually falls in March, and around it several of the quaintest of the Lenten customs have gathered. The name " Mothering Sunday " is due to the old custom of children visiting their parents on Mid-Lent Sunday and presenting them with what were known as "Simnel cakes." _ This, in turn, arose from the Catholic custom of., on that particular Sifnday, going to the Mother Church "and making offerings at theHigh Altar; but neither tradition, authenticated history, nor the all-know-ing dictionary, provide a satisfactory account of the word " Simnel," the last named authority merely describing it as a sweet cake of fine flour, for Christmas, Easter, or "Mothering Sunday." This particular Sunday has, however, more titles than one, being known as Refreshment Sunday and Rose Sunday. For the first name, the fact that the Gospel for that day is always that which tells of the miraculous feeding of the fivo thousand, and the first lesson tells of Joseph's entertainment to his brethren, is perhaps responsible; while the carrying of a golden rose by the Pope to and from Maeo gives it the second title.

Much of the month's lore hangs upon the history of St Patrick, whose birthday is March 17. A host of miracles surround this anniversary. One of the prettiest of these legends runs thus:—"The nurse of St Patrick was sick, even unto death, and in her (sickness she dreamed a dream, and in the dream she was told that if her lips touched honey her strength would return to her, and she Avould live. When she awoke ,she remembered the dream, but she was in a barren land, and there was no honey near. And the hope which the dream had given her being •strong, and life being very sweet, wept aloud in her disappointment. The Saint heard her, came to her, and asked the cause, and she told: him. And lo! no sooner was ho told than, by the,

touching of his hand, the water which stood beside her bed turned to the purest honey, and he held it to her lips, and her strength returned and she rose uo, praising God and His Saint." *

Among curious superstitions relating to times and seasons is that regarding the latter days of March, from which it appears that March borrowed days from' April, but that are all of bad omen. A rhymed version runs —

March borrowed of April Three day 3, and they wero ill; The one was sleet the other was snow, The third was tho worst that e'er did blow. And in an almanac dated 1731 we find the following:—

March borrowed of April three days, and they

were ill; , . They killed three lambs were playing on a, hill.

The Snanish legend about the borrowing days is that a shepherd promised March a lamb if he would temper 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.