As winter sets in, February can sometimes be difficult to get through. It’s cold, often windy, and sometimes brings snow – which is beautiful, but a real pain if you have to travel anywhere. In some countries, though, February was simply seen as an unlucky month.
The ancient Norse folk called it ‘Wolf Month’, closely following the ‘Wolf Moon’ in January. It was believed that hungry wolves would come into the villages due to the scarcity of food elsewhere. They were very much on their guard for the entire month.
In Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man, a folklore figure called Cailleach (or the ‘Winter Crone’) was a divine hag associated with landscape and the weather – especially storms and winter. In Scotland she was known as Beira, Queen of Winter and in Ireland she was known as The Hag of Beara. It was long believed that if the first day of February was bright and clear, it meant that Cailleach would be out gathering firewood, signalling that it was going to be a much longer winter.
In ancient Rome, even numbers were considered unlucky so, in order to ensure their year had an odd number of days (355 days back then), there had to be one month with an even number. It was given to February making it the shortest month at 28 days. (All the other months alternated between 29 and 31 days.) For the Romans, February was associated with the dead. Derived from the word ‘februare’, which means ‘to purify’ in Latin, they dedicated the month to honouring the dead which gave it a reputation as a sombre and ill-omened time of the year. It’s no wonder they wanted it to be a short month!
Back in the 6th – 8th centuries, Anglo-Saxons used to offer hearthcakes (a sort of biscuit baked on the hearth as they had no ovens) to their gods during the month of February which, back then, was known as ‘Solmanath’. Literally translated, this means ‘mud-month’. Given the English climate, this is not surprising!
Old English folklore warned that bringing snowdrops indoors was unlucky as they were once seen as an omen of death. Also, farmers believed that speaking too much during February would scare off the luck they needed for the forthcoming growing season. Perhaps their fears were linked to a noisy February in general – as there is another old English superstition that says if there is thunder in February, it will be frosty in April.
One version of this superstition is very specific: if there is thunder on 5th February, there will be frost on 5th April. Yet another version would have you believe that thunder in February would bring snow within a fortnight and make for a very cold and frosty spring season. Whilst there is no scientific evidence to back these superstitions, meteorologists concede that shared atmospheric dynamics (such as the pattern of the jet stream allowing cold air to move south) means that thunderstorms in February could coincide with a later cold snap. Like all good folk lore, it is often born of observing patterns over many years.
Despite all these negative superstitions, February does have some good stuff going on. Every fourth year, there is an extra day – known as ‘Leap Day’ – which carries a whole raft of superstitions all of its own! There is St. Valentine’s Day, where people traditionally left an anonymous message for someone they admired. Then there is (usually) Shrove Tuesday – or Pancake Day – which is always something to look forward to! Don’t forget, free pancacks at the Memorial Hall, 2pm to 4pm on Shrove Tuesday.
[Editor’s note: Another great thing about February is that one of CCN’s hardworking team members, Jan, has a birthday! From everyone at the newsletter and the Camber Community Group, Happy Birthday Jan!!]
