New-York tribune., 1921-07-10


is at once one of the most widesnrs.a
and persistent Of all, and one of Ii.
most falsely founded. and obviously most fool
ish. There are thousands of persons who b.r.
no fear of breaking a mirror or spillinc n.
salt, or walking under ladder, but condemn
such superstltions unworthy of intellioan.
persons, who yet seem to believe that there !,
something in the st. Swithin legend. and u,.
every year, if the weather on july 1s is u.
same as it was on July Is, say, "See- n,
coming true.'
Yet the facts are that in all the centuries
since Swlthins reburial there is no record ~
It's ever having once come true, and that al.
most every detail of the legend upon which +
is founded is VIGOROUSLY untrue The ous
, really interesting feature Of it, and the oplv
one worthy of serious consideration. is III.
number of days involved But that. as Kin.
ling says, is another story
AS July Is. 1921, is the 9i5th anniversary
of the perfectly authentic removal of the re-
mains of Bishop Swithin from the grave IN tbe
churchyard to a tomb in the nave of VIM
chester Cathedral, it may be worth while TO
recall some Of the facts in the case. as con-
trasted with the falsehoods of the legend
The legend is that ST Swithin was a
drunken saint" that he was buried at his own
command in the churchyard with an injunc
ton never to disturb his repose, that when
long afterward impious men sought to remove
his remains they were prevented by tremen.
dous thunderstorm which continued for forty
days, and that ever since whatever weather
there is on July Is continues fer forty days
thereafter.
Now for the true story, perfectly authent
Gated in history.
There was Swithin, or rather Swthun-in
Latin, Swithunus. He was not drunken"
saint, but most temperate and pious man.
He was not saint al all, never having been
formally canonized. But he was q deacon
under Bishop Emstan, and then succeeded the
latter as Bishop of Winchester, in which Office
he greatly distinguished himself by his pety
He died in the year 862, and at his own wish
was buried in the churchyard, at the north side
of Winchester Cathedral, close to the wall and
under the caves of the building. He designated
that place in order to break down supersti'
tious prejudice which had arisen against It,
and which had made his parishioners unwilling
to have any of their dead laid in that part Of
the grounds.
There he rested for more than hundred
years. Then the famous Archbishop Dunstan
of Canterbury, aided by his friend Bishop
Ethelwold of Winchester, conceived the sctsme
of transferring his remains to fine tomb
within the cathedral.
SO, on July Is, in the year 971, by roysl
command of King Edgar, the remains Of
Swithin were transferred from the humps
grave in the churchyard to splendid tomb u
the nave of the rebuilt cathedral. itls
later the cathedral itself was named 1O'
Swithin. 1t had originally been called Inc
Cathedral of SITS. Peter and Paul.
Now, as to the thunder storm story. Ac'
cording to the pious monk Wolstan and othef
historians of that time, there was no storm d.
all, and no interruption of the work IL was
a clear and beautiful day, vast concourse u
people was in attendance, a great out-ot-doof'
feast was held in honor of Swithin, ana 'n'
whole splendid ceremonial went through. Wi'H
out hitch and with the apparent high la'O'
of the elements.
of rain or forty days without rain, IS qui'
unknown at that time of year; at least III
Winchester, or in New York. To demons'rs :
the fallacy of the prediction, note was taken =
the Greenwich Observatory of the character u
the weather on July Is and the forty Gays iOs
lowing. during period Of twenty years' IN -
of those years ST. Swithins Day was raiay aH'
in the forty days following there were fespes
lively 13, IA, 16, IS, % and &c rainy days so 'n'
in most cases the majority of the forty cay
all of which should have been rainy, were :. =
fact, rainless. In the other fourteen years y
Swithins Day was rainless, and, of coaf''
the forty following days should all have p'''
rainless. But, in fact, in one year Il OF eas'
were rainy, in one Is, in two IA each, IN "
II each, in one IS, in ore 49, in two ~ ea.s
and in the remaining four respectively IL {,
20 and 81 were rainy. So the greatest nun'D.
of rainy days in that forty-day period, IN tWs.
ty years. followed rainless St. Sw!tsin's ~