Devon / Westcountry weather lore #3

Saint Paul - by Lucas van Leyden [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"If the weather be dry and bright on January 26th, the year will be generally of the same type. St. Paul is the guardian saint of this day.

If the day of St. Paul be clear,
Then shall betide a happy year,
If it do chance to snow or rain,
Then shall be dear all kinds of grain,
But if the wind then be aloft,
Wars shall vex this realm full oft,
And if the clouds make dark the sky,
Both beasts and fowl this year shall die.
When midges in January play and fly,
Treasure your fodder for beasts in July."

 

Hewett 1900