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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
104
There
are
several
versions
of
this
piece
of
weather-lore,
an
old
Kentish
one
being
"Oak,
smoke;
ash,
quash;"
and
according
to
a
version
given
in
Notes
and
Queries
(1st
Series
v.
71):--
"If
the
oak's
before
the
ash,
then
you'll
only
get
a
splash,
If
the
ash
precedes
the
oak,
then
you
may
expect
a
soak."
From
the
"Shepherd's
Calendar"
we
learn
that,
"If
in
the
fall
of
the
leaf
in
October
many
leaves
wither
on
the
boughs
and
hang
there,
it
betokens
a
frosty
winter
and
much
snow,"
with
which
may
be
compared
a
Devonshire
saying:--
"If
good
apples
you
would
have
The
leaves
must
go
into
the
grave."
Or,
in
other
words,
"you
must
plant
your
trees
in
the
fall
of
the
leaf."
And
again,
"Apples,
pears,
hawthorn-quick,
oak;
set
them
at
All-hallow-tide
and
command
them
to
prosper;
set
them
at
Candlemas
and
entreat
them
to
grow."
In
Germany,[4]
too,
there
is
a
rhyme
which
may
be
thus
translated:--
"When
the
hawthorn
bloom
too
early
shows,
We
shall
have
still
many
snows."
In
the
same
way
the
fruit
of
trees
and
plants
was
regarded
as
a
prognostication
of
the
ensuing
weather,
and
Wilsford
tells
us
that
"great
store
of
walnuts
and
almonds
presage
a
plentiful
year
of
corn,
especially
filberts."
The
notion
that
an
abundance
of
haws
betokens
a
hard
winter
is
still
much
credited,
and
has
given
rise
to
the
familiar
Scotch
proverb:--
"Mony
haws,
Mony
snaws."
Another
variation
of
the
same
adage
in
Kent
is,
"A
plum
year,
a
dumb
year,"
and,
"Many
nits,
many
pits,"
implying
that
the
abundance
of
nuts
in
the
autumn
indicates
the
"pits"
or
graves
of
those
who
shall
succumb
to
the
hard
and
inclement
weather
of
winter;
but,
on
the
other
hand,
"A
cherry
year,
a
merry
year."
A
further
piece
of
weather-lore
tells
us:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
