92 PASQUE? 



APRIL 1. St. Hugh, bp. of Grenoble, A. D. 1132. 

 St. Melito, bp. of Sardes in Lydia, 175. 

 St. Gilbert, bp. of Cathness, in 1240. 



Veneris et Fortunae Virilis. — Julian Cal. 



Obs. St. Hugh was of Dunphine, born near Valence. He died 

 April 1, 1132, being near eighty years old. His father, who had 

 entered the Carthusian Order, had died at the age of near one hun- 

 dred years. 



April Fool Day and All Fools' Day are names of the first of April. 



All Fools' Day seems to be the same day as the Feast of Fools, 

 which was held on the 1st of January, of which a very particular 

 description may be found in Du Gauge's Glossary, under the word 

 Kalendae, 



The following curious passage is inserted in Brand's Popular 

 Antiquities : — Aia ti ra KujivaXia MilPilN EOPTHN ovo/xal^ovi-iv ; 

 n OTi -r»v n/xl^av ravrriv aTfi^i^aixBTav (cue laSaj <|»ia-() TOij raj auTov 

 (fttTgiaj aj/voouij-iv » Toi? fxri Qva'as'iv, air'jrs^ ot Xoittoj, xara <fiiXa? ..^ 

 Ton; 4>oygvaxaXioi?, Ji atrp^oXiaf n a7ToSi>ij.iitv n ayvoiav eJoflu Tn rifx.e^a. 

 ravrri tuv £ogT»v exeivhv aTroXaSaiv. That is, " Why do they call 

 the Quirinaha the Feast of Fools? Either because they allowed 

 this day, as Juba tells us, to those who could not ascertain their 

 own tribes, or because they permitted those who had missed the 

 celebration of the Fornacalia iu their proper tribes along with the 

 rest of the people, either out of negligence, absence, or ignorance, 

 to hold their festival apart on this day." — Plu. Quaest. Rom. Opera, 

 cum Xylandri Notts, fol. Franc. 1599, tom. ii. p. 285. 



All Fools' Day is now uaiversally considered to be April 1, and 

 its former connexion with the 11th of the kalends of March, that 's 

 February 19, makes no difference in our identification of the feasts. 

 See a long account of April fooleries in Perennial Calendar, London 

 1824. 



The old Pagan Romans called this Venus' Day, and the 29th 

 of the month Flora's Day. 



Annual Mercury Mercurialis annua flowers. 



This plant springs up in great abundance under hedges and in 

 shady places, and in warm seasons is now in flower. The Ash tree 

 Fraxinus excelsior is now in flower, and frequently the Rush Juncus 

 campestris. 



The weather is frequently clear and cold, and for the most part 

 dry : the sky during April becomes of a fine deep blue, and the inter- 

 vals between the showers of rain and hail which fall in this month 

 are the clearest perhaps of the whole year. 



