Lammas Day - The Beginning of the Harvest

~A little known mostly forgotten holiday and some interesting seasonal information,  

all rolled up in one,  for they do go together~

....................................

Lammas Day...or Loaf Mass Day

August begins with Lammas Day  (or Loaf Mass Day),  the day when a bread loaf baked with flour from July-harvested wheat or corn would be brought into church and blessed.  It's one of the oldest points of contact between the agricultural world and the Church.

Many colonial farmers celebrated the holiday  (or holyday,  as these special days of celebration or worshiping were called)  on August 1st,  which marked the first major harvest of the beginning fall season.  

Even though it is still technically summer,  August was once considered one of the months of harvest time.  As such,  Lammas Day was a sort of  Thanksgiving,  and so it remained for many colonial families not only here in America,  but in many parts of the world,  especially the British Isles.  

On a colonial-era Lammas Day,  it was customary for the head of the household to bring to church for a blessing the first loaf of bread made from the new crop,  which began to be harvested at Lammastide,  falling at the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumn September equinox.  That loaf was then used as the center of the family’s Lammas Thanksgiving feast.  

Well,  at least the good ol'  Farmer's Almanac
recognizes the old holyday!

It was by religious festivals such as such as Candlemas,  Rogation Sunday,  and Lammas  (Loaf Mass)  Day that villagers told the passing of time,  especially in the Middle Ages  (click HERE for historical Candlemas).  Events in the recent past or near future would be dated by their coincidence with - or proximity to - a particular saint's day or festival.  Few in the Medieval period knew the exact year according to the Christian chronology,  and even literate men & women living in the manor houses looked at the passing of time in terms of the monarch's reign.  The hours of the day were calculated by the position of the sun or sundial on the church tower.  In fact,  not too long ago I read an excellent novel,  The Outcasts of Time  by Ian Mortimer,  about two time-traveling Englishmen - John & William - who were originally from the year 1348 but travel into the future at 99 year intervals,  witnessing the changes made in each near century.  And since we are speaking of  marking time,  I thought the following passage and exchange in the book was well-suited at this point,  for it speaks of  the ultimate man-made time-keeper:  clocks.  You see, mechanical clocks,  as we know them to be,  did not exist in John & William's starting point time.  However,  a major breakthrough occurred around 1360 when a device designed and built by Henry de Vick established basic clock design for the next 300 years.  Of course,  ideas and inventions took much longer to spread in those long ago days,  and minor developments were added over the decades and centuries,  such as the invention of the mainspring in the early 15th century,  which allowed small clocks to be built for the first time,  but the basics were there early on and remain to this day.

So,  as the Outcasts of Time story continues on,  at one point the two men find themselves in the year 1546 - 198 years past their own time - and in meeting a man named Tom,  the following occurs  (written in 1st person from John's perspective p. 134):

St.  Michael the Archangel's Church,  Chagford

The church bell in Chagford  rings out nine times. 

"Nine of the clock,"  remarks Tom.

"What is  'the clock'?"  I ask.

He looks at me.  "How can you not know what a clock is?  It is a machine for telling the time.  With weights and cogs and things like that.  Surely you've heard one?  They're proud of their clock in Chagford.  All the folks there live by its chimes.  But those from the town are constantly saying  'sorry,  sorry'  for their lateness - and why?  Because their clock tells them so.  If they didn't have a clock,  they would never be late.  No one would know."

I am still mystified.  How do you get a machine to tell the hour?  Time is reckoned by the motion of the sun around the Earth,  which is down to the Will of God,  so how do you make a machine that tells the Will of God?

You see,  because the seasonal tasks were the same every year,  and because only a major public or private event,  such as a plague epidemic,  a drought,  or the death of a monarch or a family member,  for example,  would distinguish any one year from all the others,  the perception in the passing of time meant little to most people,  and only few were even aware of any differences in the physical conditions of their lives compared with those of their grandparents  (even though such differences may have been minimal). 

So Lammas  (or Loaf Mass)  Day was one such religious festival or celebration to help the marking and passing of time.

It is still somewhat celebrated in England and throughout the British Isles and elsewhere throughout the world,  though it is a forgotten holyday by most here in America.  However,  a variety of Pagan religions also still celebrate,  I am told.

To coincide with Lammas Day,  the harvest fly,  more commonly referred to today as the cicada,  was thought to make its first appearance of the year on that day.

On August 3,  1805,  Noah Blake wrote:

"Very warm.  The harvest fly was two days late."

The year of Blake's diary,  cicadas seem to have decided to come a bit later.

Here in my neck of the woods,  the metro Detroit area,  it tends to come a day or two early.

This 1st Lammas Day picture shows the wheat - could be winter wheat planted last fall or an early summer wheat crop planted in the spring - ready for harvest.  Winter grain harvest is ready around early July,  while a spring sown crop is ready late in July to early August  (these harvest dates are just generalities,  as many conditions can change the ripening date). 

In the 2nd photo we see the gristmill where the grain will be ground into flour
to make the bread.
Though the Loranger Gristmill seen in this photo was built in 1832 - decades after
the colonial period in America's history - the architectural style of such buildings 
(like taverns and blacksmith shops),   generally did not change much from the
18th century through much of the 19th century.

In this 3rd picture you see an 18th century scene with me standing near my
presenter friend Rebecca  (along with a few others)  in the kitchen garden of the
18th century Daggett Farm House in Greenfield Village, perhaps gathering
summer harvest vegetables to add to the Lammas Day Thanksgiving feast.
The house was built in the early 1750s but is presented as being in the 1760s.

And the 4th photo is of  "Mama"  Jean Dillard,  a former
Greenfield Village employee holding fresh-baked bread that
my wife Patty made especially for her for Lammas Day.
Mama Jean was one of the best presenters I've ever met, 
and is one of the kindest of people.
She is greatly missed at the Village,  but she is now
enjoying her time with her family.
God Bless her.

So to you all reading this I say Happy Lammas Day!

Perhaps,  if you are able,  you can bake bread today in celebration.  Or,  if you are not a baker,  maybe a visit to your local bakery to purchase some freshly baked bread may be in order as a second choice.

Celebrations are always fun,  and freshly baked bread is always good!

Now,  early August is usually also the time for harvesting / pulling flax,  the plant used in the textile industry that is planted in late April or May.  Almost exactly three months later the plant is ready for harvesting,  though,  just like wheat and other crops,  these harvest dates are just generalities.

American Gothic?  Green Acres?   

Tales From The Green Valley?

Mayhaps  Jonathan and Suzanna Heacock,  my 5th great grandparents 

who were 18th century Quaker farmers? 

Or how about Samuel and Anna Daggett,  whose house now sits 

inside Greenfield Village?

We'll take 'em all,  but really,  we're just Ken & Patty~

And we're ready to harvest flax!

From the diary of Martha Ballard:

August 3,  1786,  Thursday

the Girls Pulld Flax.

August 4,  1786,  Friday

Clear & Hott.  we pulld flax.

In August of 2021,  my wife and I pulled flax that was grown from seed.

 

Once pulled,  there is a process that is done to prepare the flax for spinning.  This includes rippling  (removing the seeds),  retting,  drying,   breaking,  scutching,  hackling,  then,  finally,  spinning it.

Here you see me breaking the flax with a flax break.
This is only just one part of a multi-part process to prepare the flax for spinning,
of which you see in the picture below.

Yes,  Rebecca is spinning the flax that was broken,  scutched, 
and hackled  earlier that same day.

So,  though most of us do not think of the month of August as anything but the month before school begins - the final month of the summer season - its importance in the farming season was,  and to some extent,  still is,  important in the harvest season. 

Well then,  just what season of the year is August considered to be in?

And what's the difference between autumn or fall?

We'll tackle that second question first:

of the names autumn and fall,  are both commonly used,  though  Autumn  is thought to be slightly older,  appearing in the 1300s,  with the word Fall  first appearing around the 1500s in reference to leaves falling off trees.  

We're not quite there yet.  But...

An even earlier name for the season is Harvest.  It comes from the Old English word hærfest,  of Germanic origin,  perhaps with an underlying,  ancient sense of   “picking,  plucking”  (as in,  picking fruits to harvest them).

Now that makes sense!

Perhaps we should change the name back to harvest rather than autumn or fall!
I don't know...it's all psychological anyhow,  right?

Lol

But to get technical:
based on the intensity of  the sun as well as duration of daytime,  mid-August marks the start of autumn.  The solar season of fall is centered on the September equinox  (approximately the 21st of September),  so the season comprises the second-half of August,  the complete months of September and October,  and first-half of November.

Now,  before allayall start coming down on me with your  "it's still summer - stop rushing it!"  

I'm not rushing anything.  

This is the earth and nature's natural cycle.  And it's okay,  for there is plenty of summer weather still to be had,  especially in August!  

Pulling flax in the hot August sun:  90 degrees and humid.
We were drenched in summer sweat,  just like our colonial ancestors.

All of this because of a forgotten holiday known as Lammas Day.

I find this sort of thing very interesting. I mean,  most of us here in 21st century America do not live by the seasons.  We can get fruits and vegetables virtually any day,  any month,  any season of the year,  where in centuries past we would have eaten seasonally.  March,  April,  and most of May,  for example,  could have been fruits-and-vegetables-free,  for in your cellar you would probably have the last of the potatoes,  winter squash,  soft old carrots,  onions,  dried beans,  and perhaps dried fruit,  if there were any left.

So celebrating Lammas Day and understanding our seasonal - and monthly - earth weather/solar cycles was of utmost importance to our ancestors.

Until next time,  see you in time.

If you are interested in daily life on a colonial farm,  click HERE

Celebrating another religious festival - Candlemas

And also celebrating yet another 18th century religious festival - Rogation Sunday

~   ~   ~