The influence of the Faith ran deep in the Middle Ages. Today is Midsummer Day, the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. It is one of the four 'quarter days' in England and Wales.
In British and Irish tradition, the quarter days were the four dates in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. They fell on four religious festivals roughly three months apart and close to the two solstices and two equinoxes.
The English quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are
In British and Irish tradition, the quarter days were the four dates in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. They fell on four religious festivals roughly three months apart and close to the two solstices and two equinoxes.
The English quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are
- Lady Day (25 March, Feast of the Annunciation))
- Midsummer Day (24 June, Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist)
- Michaelmas (29 September, Feast of St Michael Archangel
- Christmas (25 December, Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord)
In Scotland, the days were different, but the idea was the same. The Scottish term and quarter days are the four divisions of the legal year, historically used as the days when contracts and leases would begin and end, servants would be hired or dismissed, and rent, interest on loans, and ministers' stipends would become due. The Term Days are Whitsunday and Martinmas, and together with Candlemas and Lammas they constitute the Quarter Days. Although they were fixed by the Term and Quarter Days (Scotland) Act 1990 as falling on the 28th day every three months, they originally occurred on holy days, corresponding roughly to old quarter days used in both Scotland and Ireland, thus:
- Candlemas (2 February, Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Whitsunday (15 May, Pentecost, actually a movable Feast falling between 10 May and 13 June)
- Lammas (1 August, Feast of St Peter in Chains
- Martinmas (11 November, Feast of St Martin of Tours)
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