Calendar Rhymes

DESCRIPTION: Rhymes detailing the months of the year, e.g. "January brings the snow, Makes our feet and fingers glow"; "February brings the rain, Thaws the frozen lake again"; and so on to "Chill December brings the sleet, Blazing fire and Christmas treat"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: probably of various ages; nearly all published in nineteenth century nursery rhyme books; the version in Purslow-MarrowBones is from 1907
KEYWORDS: nonballad wordplay
FOUND IN: Britain(England(South))
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Gundry-CanowKernow-SongsDancesFromCornwall, p. 45, "A Stratton Carol of the Months" (1 text, 1 tune)
Purslow-MarrowBones, p. 15, "A Child's Calendar" (1 text, 1 tune)
Baring-Gould-AnnotatedMotherGoose #329, p. 180, "(January brings the snow)"; #336, p. 182, ("February brings the rain"); #341, p. 182, ("March brings breezes, loud and shrill"); #354, p. 185, ("April brings the primrose sweet"); #359, p. 186, ("May brings flocks of pretty lambs"); #371, p. 188, ("June brings tulips, lilies, roses"); #377, p. 189, ""Hot July brings cooling showers); #383, p. 190, ("August brings the sheaves of corn"); #389, p. 190, "Warm September brings the fruit"); #393, p. 191, "Fresh October brings the pheasant"); #402, p. 193 ("Dull November brings the blast"); #412, p. 194, ("Chill December brings the sleet")
Roud #1599 and 1954
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Months" (Flanders and Swann parody incorporating some of the traditional elements; DT JANMONTH)
NOTES [75 words]: Some of the verses of this are slightly similar to "The Months of the Year"; Roud to some extent combines them, and it is likely enough that "The Months" swallowed some of these rhymes. But that song is so different in form that I have split them.
Even with that separated out, this is a very amorphous item, and may not have been sung in the consecutive form implied by the Baring-Gould entries. But tracking each fragment individually is hopeless. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: BGMG329

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