AUGUST 241 



small blue butterflies, the large blue, the holly blue, and others, than 

 in any month. The bell heather is now at its best, and the close 

 grass of the commons is dotted with harebell and potentilla. Mush- 

 rooms are among the gifts of the month, especially in Western 

 England. 



Lammas (loaf-mass) day, the ist of August, may be said to 

 begin the festival of corn harvest ; and new wheat is still called 

 Lammas wheat. As for the poets there is Burns's ' Upon a Lammas 

 night, beneath the moon's unclouded light, corn rigs are bonnie.' 

 There is a phrase too about * Lammas floods.' The only other day 

 in the month that has any popular name is the 24th, which is a 

 favourite of the more hopeful weather prophets. It is said to cancel 

 St. Swithin : 



'All the tears St. Swithin can cry, 

 St. Bartlemy's mantle wipes them dry.' 



Or again, less prettily : 



' If the 24th of August be fair and clear, 

 Then hope for a prosperous autumn that year.' 



There is said to be a regular succession of weather during the first 

 half of the month : wet days followed by cold days followed by heat. 



The average temperature : August ist, 62-2 ; August 3ist, S9'9- 



The average rainfall is 2*35 inches. 



August i. Sun rises 4.24 a.m. ; sets 7.48 p.m. 



August 31. Sun rises 5.12 a.m. ; sets 6.48 p.m. 



