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westerly prevail in summer and the noi-th westerly in autumn, the 

 summer will probably be wet altogether and the autumn dry ; or 

 from frequent and long continued oscillations of the winds between 

 these two points, the wet and dry mat keep alternating at short 

 intervals through both seasons, obliterating all distinction between 

 the several periods above marked out. 



With these data to guide us in the enquiry, let us now revert to 

 the Saints'-Days before spoken of, with which particular states of 

 weather are wont to be associated. We will confine ourselves 

 to those mentioned by Forster, which alone relate to our own 

 climate. No one for a moment can suppose that the precise days 

 on which those festivals occur are otherwise than accidentally 

 coincident with the commencement of wet and dry periods. Even 

 had we generally found them so, the change of style that has taken 

 place since the days of St. Swithin would throw us quite out of our 

 calculations. But can we in any way connect them with such 

 periods so as to afford the slightest ground for the beliefs, which 

 were once so prevalent, and which are still entertained by some at 

 the present day 1 Let us first move the festivals forward to the 

 days on which they would occur if no change of style had taken 

 place. The difference between the two styles is about 11 days. 

 According to this, St. Vitus's Day would fall on the 26th of June ; 

 St. John the Baptist's Day on the 5th of July ; St. Swithin's on 

 the 26th of Jvily ; and St. Simon and St. Jude's on the 8th of 

 November. Now if the first of the two wet periods above defined 

 were to set in soon after Midsummer, say the end of June or the 

 beginning of July, its commencement might very well synchronize 

 with either St. Vitus's Day or St. John the Baptist's Day ; if it 

 were deferred till the last week in July, which is not iinfrequently 

 the case, it might coincide with St. Swithin's. Or if, as in some 

 years, the wet had occurred much earlier than usual, it might clear 

 up about the time of St. Swithin's, and a dry period set in, which 

 is eqvially looked for, if St. Swithin's day itself be dry, according to 

 the last two lines of the Scottish proverb before quoted : — 



St. Swithin's Day, an ye be fair. 



For forty daies 'twill rain na mair. 

 With regard to St. Simon and St. Jude's Day, which connects 

 itself with the period of the autumnal rains, if September and 



