shortest day – Mallaband-Brown

Someone reminded me what day it is today. Midsummers day. In the Northern Hemisphere it’s the longest day. I’m not sure but I think it’s the Shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere.

We have been singing “Summer is Icumen in” in choir. I usually sing the “foot” which is sung under the lyrics which are an example of middle english polyphony.

This is a set of lyrics from Wikipedia :

Middle English
Sumer is icumen in
Lhude sing cuccu
Groweþ sed
and bloweþ med
and springþ þe wde nu
Sing cuccu

Awe bleteþ after lomb
lhouþ after calue cu
Bulluc sterteþ
bucke uerteþ
murie sing cuccu

Cuccu cuccu
Wel singes þu cuccu
ne swik þu nauer nu

Sing cuccu nu • Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu • Sing cuccu nu^[9]

Modern English
Summer^[a] has arrived,
Loudly sing, cuckoo!
The seed is growing
And the meadow is blooming,
And the wood is coming into leaf now,
Sing, cuckoo!

The ewe is bleating after her lamb,
The cow is lowing after her calf;
The bullock is prancing,
The billy-goat farting, [or “The stag cavorting”^[11]]
Sing merrily, cuckoo!

Cuckoo, cuckoo,
You sing well, cuckoo,
Never stop now.

Sing, cuckoo, now; sing, cuckoo;
Sing, cuckoo; sing, cuckoo, now!^[12]

5pm sky. Less than a month after the shortest day, and this afternoon I noticed there was still light in the sky after 5pm.

Why does it matter? When I was working and doing a 9 to 5 job I hated starting and finishing the day in the dark, particularly in the evening.

There was an experiment in the 1960’s when the UK kept British Summer time throughout the year. It only lasted for about three years, but it was much better to walk home from school in daylight. The Royal Society for the prevention of accidents? (I think), worked out it was safer for children because in the evening people were tired and there were less accidents when children were more visible when walking home.

For me, when it starts to get lighter in the evening I feel less gloomy, my spirits lift. I’m pretty sure I don’t suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. (SAD). I can’t imagine how bad it must be for people that do.

Now I’m looking forward to Spring despite the rest of the winter to come.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: shortest day

Longest (or Shortest? Day)

Still light