In Europe there are various saints who are supposed to have had some
influence upon the weather; France has its St. Medard, and England has
its St. Swithin. Our actual knowledge of this old English saint is very
scanty, and the grounds upon which he has been associated with dry and
wet weather are of dubious origin. We are told that St. Swithin was a
monk in the Old Abbey of Winchester, and that because of his zeal he
became prior and then bishop of that See. We are told, also, that he
erected numerous churches, while his piety and learning were such that
Egbert, King of Wessex, gave him his son and successor to educate. As
was usual with good men in those days, many miraculous deeds were
attributed to St. Swithin, and finally he died in the year 862 A.D. He
was buried in the churchyard at Winchester, in a humble spot of his own
selection.
More than a hundred years afterwards the clergy of the diocese of
Winchester thought that the Saint deserved more honour than a grave
under the dripping eaves of the Cathedral. Accordingly, they arranged to
remove the body inside with great ceremony, and the date selected for
this event was the 15th July. Thereafter this day was regarded as St.
Swithin's Day because, if we are to believe popular legend, he objected
to have his body removed from the humble place in the graveyard chosen
by himself. In order to give outward and visible sign of his displeasure
violent rains descended on that 15th of July, and the torrent continued
for forty days, so that the ceremony of removing the Saint's body was
delayed, while the clergy of the diocese were thus rebuked for their
presumption. Hence there grew up the popular belief which finds
expression in the old rhyme:
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.
There is, of course, no truth in this old adage, although there are some
people who still profess to believe in it. The men whose business it is
to watch the weather day by day and write down all they observe, will
tell you that it does not matter in the least, as far as the rain of the
following forty days is concerned, whether it is wet or dry on the 15th
July. It is even very doubtful whether the ceremony of removing the
Saint's body was marked by any special downpour of rain; the fact is not
mentioned by the chroniclers of that time. Like many other things
connected with holidays and holy days this legend regarding St. Swithin
has its origin, probably in the heathen times that preceded
Christianity. That would account, at least, for the curious fact that
there are several rainy Saints in Europe.