St Swithin’s Story
Whatever the reason, we’ve conveniently been blaming Saint Swithin for something that is probably beyond his control, but as forecasting the weather is as unreliable as the alleged powers of the venerable saint himself – and folklore is far more interesting than meteorological tables – we’ll stick with old story!
Saint Swithin was in fact the Bishop of Winchester, who lived during the reign of King Egbert and died in 852.
Chaplain to Egbert and ordained by Helmstan, Swithin’s elevation to Bishop was a direct result of being appointed tutor to the king’s son Aethelwulf, with whom he was a great favourite.
He was said by all accounts to be a pious and frugal man who invited the poor to banquets and always carried out his ministrations on foot.
According to The Golden Book of Legend, if any church fell down or was in decay, St Swithin would amend it “at his own cost”.
His best known (and rather unspectacular) miracle took place on a bridge, when he was said to have restored a basket of eggs belonging to an old lady that had been broken by men working on the nearby church.
Science and St Swithin’s Day
Is this really a true reflection of the British weather?
According to the Met Office, when records were checked going back 55 years, it was discovered that (with the possible exceptions of 1985 and 1995) the weather on St Swithin’s Day was not necessarily replicated by the next forty.
Nevertheless, there are two possible weather patterns that occur in the middle of July, and some believe that these have formed the basis for the myth.
If the jet stream – a fast wind current that blows around the earth – lies north of the British Isles in July, then we’re in for some continental, high pressure weather; if the jet stream lies to the north however, Arctic currents usher in weather systems from the Atlantic.
Or maybe it’s just that the British weather is completely inexplicable.
St Swithin’s Day – 15th July 2010
Most people probably wouldn’t wish the British climate on their worst enemies but, if we are to believe an old weather rhyme, there’s one person who should receive his fair share of blame for our unpredictable weather: St Swithin.
St Swithin’s Day if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain.
St Swithin’s Day if thou be fair
For forty days ‘twill rain nae mair.
In other words, if it rains on July 15th – St Swithin’s Day – we need to invest in a new brolly.
St Swithin’s History
The most interesting thing about St Swithin’s life in fact came after his death.
Because he believed himself unworthy to be buried in a church, he issued posthumous orders that his body be buried outside in a “vile” place where “it might be subject to the feet of passers-by and to the raindrops pouring from on high”.
And so he was duly buried outside the west door of the Old Minster at Winchester.
Over one hundred years later, after he had been made the patron saint of Winchester, the monks decided that he should be moved to a more glamorous resting place within Aethelwold’s basilica at the cathedral: a move that conveniently fitted in with Bishop Aetholwold’s plans to turn the Old Minster into a shrine-church, centred around the relics of St Swithin, and on 15th July 971 his body was interred in what had become the largest church in Europe.
As the monks tried to move him, it was said that the saint was so displeased there was a clap of thunder and a tremendous deluge of rain…
It was this event that gave rise to the legend of St Swithin’s Day.
St Swithin Likes Them Apples!
The saint’s anger probably didn’t improve much when his body was later dismembered and distributed to various locations as relics: an arm in Peterborough Cathedral, and head in Canterbury Cathedral.
In 1093 the main shrine was established at the new Norman Cathedral at Winchester, where hundreds of pilgrims visited the “holy hole” behind the high altar to pay their respects.
Another downpour of rain that occurred on St Swithin’s Day in 1315 most probably added to the legend.
Symbols of raindrops and apples are associated with Saint Swithin because there is another proverb that says that when rain falls on St Swithin’s Day, the saint is “christening the apples.”
To this day, apple growers ask for St Swithin’s blessing on July 15th and no apples are picked before that date, after which it is believed they will ripen fully.