The remarks on the _Vernal Equinox_, immediately following, are
communicated by a respected scientific friend to the editor.
This is a day of great consequence in the year, and one that must excite
many associations in the mind of the astronomer, and of every one who
entertains a due reverence for our sacred records. The sun on this day
passes the imaginary line in the heavens, called the equator, or
equinoctial; it being the middle circle equally distant in every part
from the north or the south poles. The line is passed to an observer on
Greenwich hill, at ten minutes past nine in the morning; and,
consequently, when it is on the meridian, or its highest point at noon,
it will appear to every observer in the united kingdom at some distance
from the equator. It is commonly said, that at this time the day is
equal to the night all the world over; but this is a vulgar error. The
day is not equal to the night in this country; that is, the sun appears
for more than twelve hours above the horizon, and, consequently, a less
time than twelve hours elapses before it shines again to us in the
morning. Besides, the fallacy of this common saying is perceived at once
by any one who considers, that the inhabitant of the north pole, if
there is any inhabitant there, has already seen for some days the sun
above his horizon, and it will not set to him for above six months. The
day then is not equal to the night, either in the united kingdom, or at
the north pole. We will leave to the astronomer to determine at what
part of the earth this circumstance really takes place; in the
investigation of the problem he may encounter some difficulties, of
which at present he is probably not aware. The sun crosses the
equinoctial line at ten minutes past nine; it was therefore at its
rising south of that line, and at its setting it will be north of that
line. The line it marks out in the heavens is an arc of a spiral; but
had it risen and set in the equinoctial line, the arc would have been
circular.
To leave, however, the circumstances peculiarly relative to astronomy,
let us consider this day in another point of view. The sun and the moon
are the regulators of days, and months, and years, and times, and
seasons. Every nation in the world pays some regard to their motions;
and in this country they are the subjects of legislative
enactments--enactments which have been laughed at by our makers of
almanacs; disregarded by the church, though sanctioned in its rubrics;
and set at naught by courts of justice, whose openings at certain
periods depend on prescribed appearances in the heavens. Of this,
hereafter, sufficient proof will be given; and, in thus noticing the
errors of past times, there is a chance, that a statute of importance,
certainly, as it has been thought worthy of legislation, should not be
hereafter violated without the interposition of the legislature.
Our ancestors began their year about this time, and not without reason;
for they had for it the sanction of a divine command. To the Israelites
it was commanded, that this should be the beginning of their sacred
year, on which the great festivals prescribed by their law should
depend. Their civil year begins in September, and they continue to
observe the command, having an almanac founded on the complicated
motions of the sun and moon, whose calculations are of a very subtle
nature, and whose accuracy far exceeds that of the polished nations of
Europe. That the year should begin either at the vernal or the spring
equinox, or at the autumnal equinox, good reasons may be given; but for
our taking the first of January for the commencement of the year,
nothing more can be said, than the old theme,
_Sic volo, sic jubeo, stet pro ratione voluntas._
--Such is my will, the sun and moon may move as they please.
Except for the refraction of the atmosphere, the inhabitants of the
equator would have at all times twelve hours’ day and twelve hours’
night; the sun being north or south of this circle not causing any
difference, for the equator and ecliptic being both great circles of the
sphere, the two points of intersection must be in the same diameter.
By the almanac it will be found, that there are nearly eight days more
in the interval between the vernal and the autumnal equinox, than
between the latter and the return of the vernal equinox. As, therefore,
from the vernal to the autumnal equinox, the sun is on the northern side
of the equator, our summer occurring during this period, gives us an
advantage of nearly eight days, in this respect, over the southern
hemisphere. This difference arises from the oval or elliptical form of
the earth’s orbit. The earth, therefore, being at different distances
from the sun during the year, it is found to move with different
velocities; moving slowest when furthest from the sun, and quickest when
nearest to that luminary. It happens to be at its greatest distance just
after our Midsummer, and moving consequently slower during _our_ spring
and summer months; our summer is about eight days longer than that of
the southern hemisphere, our winter eight days shorter than theirs.
* * * * *
The annexed diagram will exhibit the equinoctial condition of the earth;
the sun’s rays at their noon falling vertically to the inhabitants of
the equator.
[Illustration]
~Care Sunday.~
Care Sunday; care away,
Palm Sunday, and Easter day.
Care Sunday is the fifth Sunday from Shrove Tuesday, consequently it is
the next Sunday before Palm Sunday, and the second Sunday before Easter.
Why it is denominated _Care_ Sunday is very uncertain. It is also called
_Carle_ Sunday, and in some parts _Carling_ Sunday. A native of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne[33] observes, that in that town, and many other
places in the north of England, peas after having been steeped a night
in water, are fried with batter, given away, eaten at a kind of
entertainment on Carle Sunday, and are called Carlings, “probably as we
call the presents at fairs, fairings.” To this he attaches a query,
whether Carl_en_ may not be formed from the old plural termination in
_en_, as hos_en_, &c. The only attempt at a derivation of the word
_Care_, is, that “the Friday on which Christ was crucified, is called
in German both Gute Freytag and _Carr_ Freytag;” and that the word
_karr_ signified a satisfaction for a fine, or penalty.[34] The
inference is corroborated, by the church of Rome anciently using rites
on this day peculiar to Good Friday, whence it was also called _Passion
Sunday_. It is noted in an old calendar, that on this day “a dole is
made of soft _beans_,” which was also “a rite in the funeral ceremonies
of heathen Rome.” This “dole” of soft beans on Care Sunday, accounts for
the present custom of eating fried peas on the same day. No doubt the
beans were a very seasonable alms to help out the poor man’s lent stock
of provision. “In Northumberland the day is called _Carling Sunday_. The
yeomanry in general steep peas, and afterwards parch them, and eat them
on the afternoon of that day, calling them _carlings_. This is said by
an old author, to have taken its rise from the disciples plucking the
ears of corn, and rubbing them in their hands.”[35] Hence it is clear,
that the custom of eating peas or beans upon this day, is only a
continuation of the unrecollected “dole” of the Romish church. It is
possible, however, that there may have been no connection between the
heathen funeral rite of giving beans, and the church donation, if the
latter was given in mere charity; for there was little else to bestow at
such a time of the year, when dried pulse, variously cooked, must have
been almost the only winter meal with the labourer, and a frequent one
with his employer.
The couplet at the head of this article Mr. Nichols says he heard in
Nottinghamshire. There is another,
Tid, Mid, Misera,
Carling, Palm, Paste Egg day.
The first line is supposed to have been formed from the beginning of
Psalms, &c. viz. _Te d_eum--_Mi d_eus--_Misere_re mei.[36]
But how is it that _Care Sunday_ is also called _Carl Sunday_ and
_Carling Sunday_; and that the peas, or beans, of the day are called
_carlings_? _Carle_, which now means a churl, or rude boorish fellow,
was anciently the term for a working countryman or labourer; and it is
only altered in the spelling, without the slightest deviation in sense,
from the old Saxon word _ceorl_, the name for a husbandman. The older
denomination of the day, then, may not have been _Care_ but _Carl
Sunday_, from the benefactions to the _carles or carlen_. These are
still the northern names for the day; and the dialect in that part of
the kingdom is nearer to Saxon etymology. But whether the day were
called _Carle_ or _Care Sunday_ it is now little known, and little more
can be said about it, without the reader feeling inclined to say or
sing,
“Begone dull _Care_.”
* * * * *