Dirty days hath September
April June and November
From January up to May
The rain it raineth every day
All the rest have thirty-one
Without a blessed gleam of sun
And if any of them had two-and-thirty
They'd be just as wet and twice as dirty.
OCTOBER
October was the eighth month of the year and got its name from the word 'Octo' meaning eight.The Saxons called it Wyn Monath because it was the season of wine making. After the calendar reform of 1752, some activities traditionally associated with Michaelmas Day moved forward eleven days to October 10, which is sometimes called 'Old Michaelmas Day'. Many British folklore customs are of Celtic origin. The Celts divided their year by four great festivals, starting with Samhain, signifying the arrival of winter and the New Year, which fell on 1st November. Imbolc was next and occurred on 1st February, followed by Beltane on 1st May and Lugnasdh on 1st August.
WEATHER LORE
Rain in October, Means wind in December.
When berries are many in October, Beware a hard winter.
Many haws, Many snaws; Many sloes, Many cold toes.
If the oak bear much mast (acorns) it foreshows a long and hard winter.
Winter thunder, Rich man's food and poor man's hunger.
A hard winter follows a fine St.Denis.(9th)
There is often fair weather around this day, known as “St.Luke’s Little Summer”(18th)
Often bad weather, the end of St.Luke’s Little Summer.(28th)
If the October moon is without frost, expect no frost till the November moon.
OCTOBER CUSTOMS
7th October Twyford Church, Hampshire
A peal of eight bells hangs in the tower  and is associated with the story of William Davies who, with his horse, was saved by hearing the sound of the bells (see below). He endowed an annual dinner for the ringers', which is held to this day. There is a noble yew tree which graces the Churchyard. It is reputed to be 1000 years old, though considered by experts to be somewhat less. Even so, it is the oldest and most magnificent clipped yew tree in the country. On that dark October night in 1754 William Davis became lost in the Hampshire countryside. He was just about to ride his horse over a cliff when the sound of Twyford’s church bells rang out. As they did so William realised he was heading in the wrong direction and pulled up to take stock. It was then he noted he was on the edge of a deep quarry and had he not stopped would have plunged to certain death. In gratitude he left a pound for a peal of bells to be rung annually with a feast provided for the bell ringers. The funds ran out long ago but the tradition remains.
Feast day of St Keyne(13th), St Keyne's Well, near Liskeard, Cornwall.
The most famous holy well in Cornwall is named after Keyne (Cain Wyry – Cain the virgin) (461-505), a  Celtic saint who lived in the 5th century. She was the daughter of Brychan, the English King of Brecknock. Keyne dedicated her life to bringing Christianity to the West Country. Legend recalls that she planted four trees around this well – an oak, an elm, a willow and an ash – and as she was dying, she imparted to its waters a strange power.St Keyne", quoth the Cornishman, many a time drank from this crystal well, and before the Angels summoned her, she laid on the water a spell. " If the husband of this gifted well shall drink shall drink before his wife, a happy man henceforth is he, for he shall be master for life. But if the wife should drink of it first, God help the husband then" The stranger stooped to the well of St Keyne, and drank of the water again. "You drank of the well I warrant betimes?" he to the Cornishman said: but the Cornishman smiled as the stranger spake and sheepishly shook his head. I hastened as soon as the wedding was done, and left my wife in the porch but I faith she had been wiser than me, for she took a bottle to church. It is believed that after a wedding the first of the bridal pair to drink from the well would be the dominant partner.
‘A well there is in the west country, And a clearer one never was seen,
There is not a wife in the west country but has heard of the well of St Keyne’.
- Robert Southey (1774 - 1843), English poet.
St. Edward’s (The Confessor) Day, Westminster Abbey, London
A special service (13th) commemorates the last Anglo-Saxon king and the Abbey founder. He earned the pious nickname ‘The Confessor’ partly for his monk-like qualities of generosity to the poor and partly due to his unconsummated marriage to Queen Edith.
One of the more famous legends associated with the king recalls when he was riding by a church in Essex and an old man asked for alms. As Edward had no money to give he removed a large ring from his finger and gave this to the beggar. A few years’ later, two pilgrims were travelling in the Holy Land and became stranded. They were helped by an old man and when he knew they came from England he told them that he was St John the Evangelist and asked them to return the ring to Edward telling him that in six months he would join him in heaven. Edward died shortly afterwards, in 1066, to be followed by the ill-fated Harold.
Trafalgar Day.
In 1805, a fleet of 27 British ships, under the command of Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, engaged and fought a combined French and Spanish force of 33 ships off the coast of South-West Spain, at Trafalgar near the port of Cadiz. The result was an overwhelming British victory with 19 enemy ships either captured or sunk. More than 7,000 French and Spanish sailors were killed or wounded.
Losses on the British side numbered a mere 700; but amongst them was Nelson himself. The Royal Navy’s greatest hero, whose tactics and leadership had brought about the victory that would establish British domination of the seas for the next 100 years; Nelson had been shot as he paced the quarterdeck of his flagship, HMS Victory, by a sniper from the rigging of the French ship, Redoubtable.
St Jude’s Feast Day.(28th)
Saint Jude of Thaddaeus, a blood relative of Jesus, being the nephew of Mary and Joseph. He preached in Judea, Syria, Mesopotamia, Libya and Persia, where he was beaten to death and beheaded. He is the Patron Saint of lost or desperate causes because of his New Testament letter which called upon the faithful to persevere in adversity. The Apostle Jude, in his own Epistle, gives himself the title: "brother of James", which is the meaning of the name Thaddeus (or Lebbeus) by which Jude was also known. Probably no saint, after the Blessed Mother, has drawn such enthusiastic followers down through the centuries as St. Jude he was one of the chosen 12 Apostles; his brother was James the Less. Not too much is actually recorded about his life: it seems his big popularity began after his death.
Through history, legend and tradition, however, we can construct some details concerning St. Jude he comes from the line of David and is a cousin of Jesus Christ. The Jewish people, proud of their lineage, kept exact records of their ancestors, and we see that St. Jude's father, Cleophas, was the brother of St. Joseph. St. Jude's mother, Mary of Cleophas, was a cousin of the Blessed Virgin Mary: their mothers were sisters.
Saint Jude Thaddeus is "The Miraculous Saint," the Catholic Patron Saint of "lost causes" and "cases despaired of."When all other avenues are closed, he is the one to call upon, and his help often comes
at the last moment. Some traditions say that he was martyred in Persia and that his body was placed in a crypt in St. Peter's Basilica. Other traditions say that he brought Christianity to Armenia with Saint Bartholomew and that he was martyred in Armenia. There is no independent evidence for any of this.
'Mop' or Hiring Fairs.
The custom remains today in some towns and villages around the country. Several towns in Warwickshire enjoy the spectacle and the fun from the holding of the annual mop fair.In Stratford, which is home to one of the country's biggest fairs, the mop became a funfair after World War I. On the first morning of the fair, which is almost always on or near 12 October, children of the town go on the rides of the funfair free of charge.
Last Thursday of the month Punky Night, Hinton St George, Somerset.
This tradition goes back over 100 years, when it is said that the men from Hinton travelled to the fair at the nearby village of Chiselborough. When they didn't return as promised,  the women of the village went looking for their husbands with mangold lanterns. A mangold is a crop grown by farmers for cattle feed - a cross between a turnip and a pumpkin. The women pulled these up from the fields, carved them out and put candles in them to shed light, and then walked the four miles to Chiselborough, in search of their drunken husbands.
To commemorate the event local children still hollow out their mangolds, carving designs or faces onto the outside. In the evening candles are lit and the punky’s are paraded through the village.
Feast of St. Raphael's (24th)
The name of this archangel (Raphael = "God has healed") does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the Septuagint only in the Book of Tobias.  Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". The story of the adventurous journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding "in the desert of upper Egypt" of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of Sara, daughter of Raguel, regarding the healing powers attributed to Raphael, we have little more than his declaration to Tobit (Tobit, 12) that he was sent by the Lord to heal him of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his daughter-in-law, from the demon prince(Asmodeus) that was the serial killer of her husbands. Among Catholics, he is considered the patron saint of medical workers, matchmakers, & travellers and may be petitioned by them or those needing their services. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tobit 12:15. Cf. Revelation 8:2). Of these seven "archangels" which appear in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, are mentioned in the canonical Scriptures. The others, according to the Book of Enoch (cf. xxi) are Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel, while from other apocryphal sources we get the variant names Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel instead of the last three in the other list.
Hallowe’en
The eve of All Souls Day also coincides with the ancient festival of Samhain, which marked the last day of the Celtic year, when the Festival of the Dead took place. The day of the year when demons and evil spirits were free to roam and the night when witches gathered to hold their most important sabbats. Bonfires were lit as protection and charms placed in barns to safeguard livestock. It was believed that the dead returned on Hallowe’en, hence it was once the custom to leave doors open and food on the table to nourish the souls of recently departed family members.
NOTABLE DAYS
1st Oct 1870 The first official issue of the post card was made by the Post Office
together with the introduction of the halfpenny postage stamp.
1st Oct 1908 The first Model T Ford.
1st Oct 1974 McDonald's, opens its first British outlet in London.
1st Oct 2000 Last commercial Hover Craft flight across the English Channel.
2nd Oct 1925 The first of London's red buses allowed to be used.
3rd Oct 1906 S.O.S. was established as an international distress signal
3rd Oct 1959 The Post Code was first used at Norwich.
3rd Oct 1990 East & West Germany re-unite as the Berlin Wall Falls.
4th Oct 1905 Orville Wright became the first to fly an aircraft for over 33 minutes.
4th Oct 1226 Death of St. Francis of Assissi's now his Saint's day.
6th Oct 1769 Captain James Cook, on the 'Endeavour' discovers New Zealand.
10th Oct 1881 The Savoy Theatre, is the first public building lit by electricity.
11th Oct 1968 Apollo 7 1st manned mission was launched from Cape Kennedy.
11th Oct 1982 The Mary Rose Henry VIII's flag ship, raised 437 years after sinking .
12th October Columbus Day in USA.
13th Oct 1884 Greenwich Mean Time started.
14th Oct 1066 The Battle of Hastings King Harold Killed by William T ' Conqueror.
14th Oct 1884 Photographic film patented.
14th Oct 1926 Winnie-the-Pooh was first published, by A.A. Milne (1882-1956).
16th Oct 1958 Blue Peter' is first broadcast.
18th October St Lukes Day.
20th Oct 1966 The first message was sent between two computers in California.
21st Oct 1805 The Battle of Trafalgar.
23rd Oct 1642 The Battle of Edgehill between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads.
24th October United Nations Day.
25th October St Crispin's Day, Patron Saint of Shoemakers.
25th Oct 1415 The Battle of Agincourt fought.
25th Oct 1854 Charge of the Light Brigade, Battle of Balaclava.Cpt Nodial's last ride.
25th October Feast of St. Jude.
31st October All Hallows Eve.
Gemstone : Opal Flower : Calendula
  
  
 
CHASING CHARLIE
This is a armchair treasure hunt that has been on going for years, the clues are in a long story that will be posted two chapters at a time. If you find you have some time to spare have a read and see if any clues of the where abouts of the buried treasure come to mind. Be warned it must be very difficult otherwise the hunt specialists knocking about on the web would have solved it years ago --- the treasure?? 850 bottles of malt whiskey buried some place ..... some where.
Chasing Charlie was an illustrated treasure hunt book by author Richard Henderson. Published by Black Raven Publishing in 1996. 422pp. £5. ISBN 0 952 84320 X. Proceeds went to the Prince's Trust.
By following the story of three children retracing the steps of Bonnie Prince Charlie, clues were revealed as to the whereabouts of 1,000 bottles of Scotch Malt whisky hidden in the Scottish Highlands. The hunt ended with the main prize unclaimed, but hunt participants were invited to join the author to share 150 of the bottles for the Millennium Hogmanay near Loch Arkaig in the Scottish Highlands.
The remaining 850 bottles may still lie waiting for someone to discover. Updated in August 2003, the main website recounts the story that forms the hunt and in addition www.thecrossword.com appears to contain additional information and clues. aliceincyberland.com is the authors website but is empty apart from a link to the crossword site.
Story Starts Here
Chapter Index Page
William Burke - The Hanging
Read the on the spot report from The Scotsman
CLICK HERE
LIKE FATHER -- LIKE SON
Report taken from a news-sheet (just a single sided sheet for 1p) printed in 1826 at Kirkcaldy.An account of the Fatal Duel that took place, between George Morgan, Esq. Banker, and David Landale,Esq. Tanner, both of Kirkcaldy, in Cardon Den, on the estate of Raith, above Kirkcaldy, on the 23rd of August,1826, when George Morgan, Esq. was unfortunately Shot on the first fire and died.The account has been copied from the Fife Hearld of last week. The cause of the fatal meeting was over some cash or discounting transactions, but whatever the cause the result is melancholy indeed. We have heard it reported, as a curious coincidence, that the unfortunate gentleman Mr Morgan received his death wound from the very same pistol that killed his father, who it is said, met with his death in a similar manner, namely, a duel with the father of David Landale !!
The challenge by Landale to resolve their differences with "an affair of honour" was accepted and the parties met at six o'clock in the morning accompanied by their seconds, and two medical gentlemen. Having taken their ground at the usual distance, we are sorry to say that Mr Morgan fell, at the first fire; his antagonist's ball having penetrated his breast, entered his heart where upon he instantly expired. His body was brought to his own house about seven o'clock, and precognitions taken during the day. We hear that Mr Landale and his second have left Kirkcaldy ......
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