Minor Notes.
"_Thirty days hath September._"--The unknown author of _Thirty days hath
September_ may be fairly described as the most popular versifier in the
history of English literature. I believe he was rather a translator than
an author, and that both the Latin text and the English version are of
very early date. Be it as it may, no one can dispute its merit as a
specimen of mnemonic verse.
On the list of claimants to the honour in question it is my wish to
place, but without advocating the cause of either, 1. Richard Grafton,
citizen of London; and 2. Arthur Hopton, A.B. Oxon., the "miracle of his
age for learning."
(1.) "A rule to knowe how many dayes euery moneth in the yere
hath.
Thirty dayes hath Nouember,
Aprill, June and September.
February hath .XXVIII. alone.
And all the rest haue XXXI."
_Graftons Abridgement of the chronicles of Englande_, 1570. 8vo.
(2.) "The which ordination of the moneths, and position of dayes
[by Julius Cæsar], is vsed to this present time, according to
these verses:
'_Sep. No. Iun. Ap. dato triginta: reliquis magis vno:
Ni sit bissextus, Februus minor esto duobus._'
Which is,
Thirtie dayes hath September,
Aprill, Iune, and November:
The rest haue thirtie and one,
Saue February alone.
Which moneth hath but eight and twenty meere,
Saue when it is bissextile, or leap-yeare."
_Arthur Hopton, A concordancy of yeares_, 1615. 8vo. p. 60.
Wood states that Hopton left "divers copies of verses scattered in
books," so that we may venture to ascribe to him the above version--but
it is not the _popular version_.