A Candlemas Day Rhyme to Bear in Mind
What is Candlemas?
Candle in the snow.
February 2nd is Candlemas Day. Candlemas is Christian festival celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the temple. In the 5th century it was observed by lighting candles, earning the day its name. The idea of using candles ritualistically in early February was likely lifted from earlier non-Christian festivals.
These days, I think it’s fair to say, groundhogs have stolen Candlemas. Even here, in groundhog-free Newfoundland, it’s his shadow that most people want to talk about.
It wasn’t always that way.
Candlemas Weather
Early Europeans knew February 2nd was the approximate midpoint between the onset of winter and the start of spring. It was an important tipping point, a time when they began to consider the growing season ahead. It’s probably their thoughts of the coming spring that led to an abundance of weather talk on the day.
Once in Newfoundland, the weather talk only seemed to intensify.
Some parts of the island talk about a period of cold weather or ‘Candlemas Snap’ they expect around February 2nd. In other places, including my grandfather’s kitchen, the term Candlemas Day has undergone a make-over to become ‘Calmest Day’ — a term that could easily be descriptive of the weather.
Regardless of name, something about February 2nd seemed to inspire people to rhyme.
Newfoundland Candlemas Rhymes
Candlemas weather lore has been set to rhyme in a lot of places. Most of the Newfoundland verses came from the UK. Today, there is no single Newfoundland Candlemas weather rhyme — versions have evolved all over the island.
Take these five Candlemas rhymes, recorded over the last century in publications from across the island:
—Harbour Grace Standard, Feb 07, 1902
— The Daily News, Feb 04, 1960
— Harbour Grace Standard, Feb 05, 1909
— The Southern Gazette, Feb 02, 2010
As you can see, like the groundhog, most of the rhymes have it that if the weather is good on February 2nd, there’s more winter in store. Not always though, in one case the opposite is true; a fair day indicates winter’s left behind.
I sort of like that. It gives me some wiggle room — I can wait til the morning of February 2nd, look out the window and believe whole-heartedly in the superstition that delivers what I want.
After all, I may not be able to control the cards I’m dealt but, I can certainly decide the game I play.
More Newfoundland Candlemas Talk
Not all Candlemas verses are about weather.
Some, like the one above which appeared in the Harbour Grace Standard in 1909, were content to just remark on the passing of the winter season, particularly the increasing daylight.
In my books, that is something worthy of remark — by Candlemas, the daylight hours have been increasing for about six weeks. In Gander, where I live, that means we’ve gained an hour and 17 minutes of daylight since the start of winter.
And while I’m not eating my meals without aid of electric lights yet, the longer days are noticeable and, as far as I’m concerned, a very good thing.
Candlemas Bear
Speaking of good things, if nothing else Candlemas gives us the opportunity to get in touch with our natural world. Apart from rhymes, Candlemas weather forecasting was often delegated to animals.
Today, groundhogs have the job but they weren’t the first choice. It was once a bit of shared task among hibernators. In some places it was badgers or marmots, even non-hibernating foxes have gotten in on the action.
In Newfoundland, as with much of Canada and parts of Europe, the forecaster of choice was the bear. The bear did the same job as the groundhog. If it emerged from its den and saw its shadow winter was going to linger; if it came out and it was a shadowless day, winter would end soon. It’s even been suggested that the song “The Bear Went Over The Mountain’ might have ties to this tradition.
According to a 1996 article in the Memorial University Gazette, the bear folklore was in use in southwestern Newfoundland, where some people had sussed out the best den to watch. Maybe.
Groundhog Day was an American invention. It seemed to spread through Canada in the early 1900s. It became so popular that bears were eventually eclipsed and Candlemas, to some degree, fell from public consciousness.
A Proposition
The island of Newfoundland does not have groundhogs but it is home to, not only some of the largest black bears in North America, but one of the highest concentrations of bears too.
Obviously, we should return to our roots. We need to buck the groundhog trend and re-adopt the bear as our forecaster-in-chief. We can let the rest of North America have rodents, while we bravely mark ‘Bear Day.’
After all, if you’re going to stare down Mother Nature — in February on this frozen, windswept island — you’re going to want an animal with real fortitude. Something with a little muscle. Something that’s going to need to see a good strong shadow before it blinks.
If we want a fighting chance of an early spring, it’s gotta be Team Bear.
All the way.