APRIL - some interesting facts!!!

Gemstone : Diamond 
Flower : Sweet Pea

Where does the word April orginate from?

No one knows for certain how April got its name, but it may have come from the Latin word 'aperire' which means 'to open'. April is, after all, the month when in the northern hemisphere buds begin to open and things start to grow again after the winter.

The 23rd April is St. George’s Day . St. George is the Patron Saint of England

April begins with a day of fun and jokes - April Fool's Day. No one really knows when this custom began but it has been kept for hundreds of years.

The arrival of the cuckoo is the signal that spring has come. It arrives some time in mid April.

The cuckoo sings from St. Tiburtius' Day (14th April) to St John's Day (24th June). However in Worcestershire there is a saying that the cuckoo is never heard before Tenbury fair (April 21st), or after Pershore fair (June 26th). The difference in dates is because traditionally the bird arrives in different parts of the country during April.

Various April dates are called 'Cuckoo Day ' and some places hold 'Cuckoo Fairs'.

Marsden Cuckoo Day in West Yorkshire is an annual traditional festival that celebrates the arrival of spring. According to a local legend, Marsdeners used to try to prolong the cuckoo's stay by building a wall around its nest.

Heathfield Cuckoo Fair in East Sussex is an annual tradition of releasing a cuckoo to mark the beginning of summer. A tale of Heathfield Fair depicts an Old Woman releasing the Cuckoo from her basket, whereupon he "flies up England carrying warmer days with him".

Downton Cuckoo Fair is an annual traditional event held on the greens of the picturesque village of Downton, south of Salisbury, Wiltshire. The fair marks the "opening the gate" to let the cuckoo through.

The Swallow

The swallow makes its reappearance during April. Earlier people were mystified by the disappearance of many birds during the winter and at one time thought that the swallow spent the cold months hidden in the mud at the bottom of ponds. Traditionally April 15th is 'Swallow Day' in England , the date on which returning swallows were seen again.

April showers bring May flowers.

If early April is foggy

Rain in June

Will make lanes boggy.

When April blows its horn

'Tis good for hay and corn.

April wet - good wheat.

Till April's dead, change not a thread.

The 1st Sunday in April is called Daffodil Sunday. In Victorian times families picked daffodils from their gardens and took them to local hospitals to give to the sick.

On 6 April there used to be Candle Auctions. A candle was lit and a pin stuck in it about two and a half centimetres from the top. Then people would start bidding for a piece of church land to let to the poor for a year. The person bidding when the candle burned down enough to let the pin fall became the owner of the land.