Weatherlore

Everyone is talking about the weather. Eighty degrees in March is unheard of until this year.  Some attribute these odd turns of the weather to global warming, others to a natural cycle of weather changes or sun flares.  Whatever the reason for the strange weather we have had this winter, it has been the source of many conversations that I have had with family, colleagues and facebook friends.

Of course, weather is nearly always the topic of conversation in Maine and over the years the staff of the Maine Folklife Center has collected hundreds of stories and poems about the weather. Folklorists call it “weatherlore,” so weatherlore is the title of this week’s blog.

Farmers , especially need to know when to plant and many have relied on the predictions of the Farmer’s Almanac:  http://www.farmersalmanac.com/  Yup, they’re online these days so you don’t need to purchase one of those little yellow books to find out what’s going to happen in the next couple of months.  The Farmer’s Almanac is known for its long-range predictions so necessary to farmer’s planning their next year’s crops.  In addition to the Farmer’s Almanac, farmers and gardeners have long pointed to local knowledge of the environment to guide their planting.  For example, I was told years ago to plant my beans when the lilacs bloom.  I found other suggestions in our collection:

• ·         “If you plant beans when the blackberries blossom you can harvest them before the frost sets in.”  NA 94:32 Harrison Yeaton, Auburn told to Eleanor Damon, 1960.
• Other sayings and folk beliefs predict the depth of the next winter. For example:
• ·         If the skins of onions are thick, it’s going to be a cold winter. If thin it’s going to be a mild one. NA 94;32 Harrison Yeaton, Auburn told to Eleanor Damon, 1960.
• ·         Cold winter: caterpillars fur is thicker, mild winter: bee hives are lower, bird nests are lower, squirrels not collecting as much food. NA 1414: 4-5 Evelyn Terrill, Orono.
• ·         When animals grow a thick coating of fur in the autumn, a cold winter will follow.
• ·         When hornets build their nests up high off the ground, there will be a lot of snow that winter.
• ·         A ring around the moon means snow. (NA 1415: 3 Kristina Soper, Orland)

Traditional beliefs also identifiy ways to predict rain:

• ·         When leaves on a tree turn upside down, there will be rain
• ·         Cobwebs upside down are a sign of rain
• ·         If the spider webs are low on the ground and are thick, it is a sign of rain; if they are high and lacy it means fair weather. NA 56:025 Wilda Robinson
• ·         Three white frosts will bring a rain in the fall or spring. NA 56:025 Wilda Robinson
• ·         The crows sleep in the west, and in the morning they fly east. If they fly west again around nine o’clock in the morning it means bad weather is coming. NA 56:25 Wilda Robinson.
• ·         If there is a ring around the moon there will be a storm. If there is one star inside the ring, it will come in one day, if two, two days. NA 56:25 Ann Bauer.
• ·         When a poplar tree turns its leaves so that they show their silvery side, it will rain soon. NA 56:25 Ann Bauer.
• ·         When the sun is drawing water, it will rain. (When long beams of sunlight stream thorough the  clouds). NA 56:26 Ann Bauer
• ·         Birds sitting on electrical wires indicates rain
• ·         Cows laying down indicates rain
• ·         Smoke flowing straight down from a chimney fire indicates rain.
• ·         Sunshiny showers won’t last half an hour NA 282:28 Marjorie Moody, Weston
• ·         Rain before seven clear before eleven NA 282:28 Marjorie Moody, Weston

And there are predictions about the wind:

• ·         If an old cat starts to play, it means there will be a high wind. NA 56:25 Ann Bauer
• ·         When the wind is in the east ‘tis neither good for man or beast NA 282:28 Marjorie Moody, Weston

And dry weather:

• ·         Dry weather is imminent when the moon looks like a hanging powder horn.
• ·         Mackerel sky (high scattered cirrus clouds drawn out tin long streamers) brings the fourth of July NA 56:25 Ann Bauer

Finally, there are a group of sayings about the effect winter has on people:

• ·         Open winter (cold, little or no snow) means a lot of sickness and death. NA 1416:7 Lillian Powell told to Linda Cyr October, 1980 Carmel.
• ·         On Candlemas Day (Feb. 2) Half your meat and half your hay NA 282:28 Marjorie Moody, Weston

I have no doubt that we will continue talking about the weather and next week, when the eighty degree March weather is a fond memory and the white stuff comes falling down we’ll shrug and say, “That’s ok. It’s just poor man’s fertilizer.”