148 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



It is hardly necessary to remark that a phenomenon 

 which thus attracts general attention, and is also 

 capable of being verified by scientific observation, must 

 be at once marked and very regular in its recurrence. 

 Humboldt mentions that the cold days of May were 

 recognised by the unlearned, and speaks of them as 

 the three ' ill-named days ' of May, corresponding with 

 the days of St. Mamert (May 11), St. Pancras (May 

 12), and St. Servatius (May 13). 



On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that 

 these cold spells are not recognised every year. Take, 

 for instance, the cold days in May, and consider the 



The first a bitter blast did blaw, 



The second it was sleet and snaw ; 



The third it cam sae full a-freeze, 



The wee birds' neb they stack to the trees ; 



But when the days were past and gane 



The three puir hoggs cam hirplin' hame. 



But the following is probably a more perfect version of the doggerel 

 poem: 



March said to Aperill, 



I see three hogs upon a hill ; 



But lend your first three days to me, 



And I'll be bound to gar them dee. 



The first it shall be wind and weet, 



The next it shall be snaw and sleet ; 



The third it shall be sic a freeze 



Shall gar the birds stick to the trees ; 



But when the borrowed days were gane 



The three silly hogs came hirplin' hame. 



Here the reference to the borrowing is clearer, for in the former 

 version not days, but hogs, were borrowed. At the date to which the 

 latter poem is usually referred, the three cold days of April were 

 called April 1, 2, and 3, so that, being cold and bleak, they might well 

 be regarded as borrowed by March. 



