Weather and Folk Lore

of

Peterborough and District.

BY

CHARLES DACK.

Published by and for the benefit of the

PETERBOROUGH
NATURAL HISTORY, SCIENTIFIC,
AND
ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

1911.

PETERBOROUGH:
CHARLES HAWKINS, PRINTER, KING STREET

MAY DAY, AT GLATTON, Hunts.

1856.

FROM A DRAWING BY

The Rev. E. Bradley, (Cuthbert Bede).

Old Customs! Oh! I love the sound.

However simple they may be,

What e'er with time hath sanction found,

Is welcome and is dear to me.

John Clare.

WEATHER AND FOLK LORE OF PETERBOROUGH AND DISTRICT.

(Second Series).

his is a continuation of a Paper on the "Survival of Old Customs" inPeterborough and the neighbourhood which was read at the RoyalArchæological Society's meeting in 1898, with an addition of a few moreold customs, and more particulars of others, to which I have also addeda collection of the quaint Weather and Folk Lore of this district. Beingat a point where four counties are almost within a stone's throw,Peterborough possesses the traditions of the Counties of Huntingdon,Cambridge, and Lincoln, as well as Northampton. It is rather difficultto locate these sayings to one particular County, so I have taken thosecurrent within a radius of about fifteen miles.

Most of them have been repeated to me personally and only in a very fewcases have I copied any which have been printed and then only to makethe collection more complete.

The two Northamptonshire Poets, Dryden and John Clare, often notice thephases of the Weather, and John Clare, especially, describes the RuralCustoms and weather Lore of this district with a true Poets feeling andamongst his M.S.S., now the property of the Peterborough Museum, aremany unpublished poems and also his Diary which, at present, is unknownto the general public. John Clare was well styled the English Burns andhis notes and Memoranda on the various local events are most valuable tothose who take an interest in the sayings and doings of the early partof the 19th century.

Many charms are used at the present time and, altho' reticent, thevillagers, (when you have gained their confidence), will tell you oftheir belief in the various whims and of the successful results of theirpractice.

In almost every proverb where Peterborough is mentioned it is associatedwith pride, and some people say that they are still applicable.

The first and second of the following rhymes date from before the[Pg 1]Reformation:

Crowland as courteous, as courteous may be,
Thorney the bane of many a good tree,
Ramsey the rich and Peterborough the proud,
Sawtry, by the way, t

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