17th Century Almanac for June – Midsummer fires & hay making
The 17th Century Almanac for June is an article by author Charles Cordell on Early Modern life, St John’s fire, harvest hiring and rush bearing, the Battle of the Dunes, Dunkirk and D Day.
The 17th Century almanac for June – the beginning of the harvest season, sheep shearing and hay making. It was a time for midsummer bonfires, rush bearing and grass-beef. For all, it was a time of hope and uncertainty. So much depended upon each and every harvest.
As Nicholas Breton wrote in his FANTASTICKS of 1626:
“It is now June and the Hay-makers are mustered to make an army for the field, where not always in order, they march under the Bag and the Bottle, when betwixt the Fork and the Rake, there is seen great force of arms.”
But just 16 years later, so many of Breton’s haymakers would have marched away to a very different struggle as the English Civil War began. For June was also the start of the campaigning season. It is a month to remember battles, Early Modern and 20th Century. Battles fought amongst the sand dunes of Belgium and France, as well as the fields of Britain.
17th Century Life & Agriculture in June – sheep & hay making
In the 17th Century, June saw the start of the harvest season. It was a time of hope, expectation and uncertainty. June the 2nd was St Elmo’s Day, when sheep were washed and sheared, and shepherds dinned on wafers and cake. The wool was a key cash crop that went to feed cottage looms across England.
In the 17th Century, as today, hay making usually started in late June. Teams of men mowed the long grass on the meadows and field headlands. Women and children, raked and turned it each day until it was dry. Then they carried and stacked this first harvest as vital animal fodder for the winter.
Midsummer – St John’s fire, harvest hiring & rush bearing
The 23rd of June was and is St John’s or Midsummer Eve, a time of uncertainty. The night was traditionally marked with bonfires. This ancient ceremony was supressed and lost, across most of Britain, as a result of the English Civil War and Interregnum. However, it still survives in parts of Cornwall today as Golowan and as San Juan in Celtic Galicia.
June the 24th was Midsummer, a quarter day, when labourers queued to be hired for the harvest season, until Michaelmas. Those chosen were given a dinner of fresh grass-beef – the first fresh beef after winter – and peas. It must have been welcome after the long Lenten fast and uncertainty of the mop fair. Others were left to muster and march away as recruits.
Finally, the 29th of June was the feast of St Peter and St Paul. It was the day when parishioners bore fresh cut rushes (or hay) into their church and homes. The rushes lay on the floor as a covering until next rush bearing. Few owned a carpet. Those that did hung them on walls or tables, not on the floor.
Battle of Naseby & the Battle of the Dunes – Dunkirk & D Day
But June was also so often the opening of the campaigning season. It was a time when armies marched. When they destroyed crops and lives. And when they collided in battle.
The 14th of June is the anniversary of both the Battle of Naseby (1645) and the Battle of the Dunes (1658). The latter is often forgotten. However, it saw regiments of the New Model Army in close and bitter combat with Charles II’s royalist army in a huge pan-European battle outside Dunkirk. The King’s Royal Regiment of Guards – now the Grenadier Guards – made a final stand on a sand dune.
Operation DYNAMO saw the extraordinary rescue, from the same beaches, of two of those regiments, 282 years later on 4 June 1940. This included 1st and 2nd battalions of the Grenadier Guards and the few survivors of 1stBattalion Royal Scots, following their rear-guard stand “to the last man” at Le Paradis.
On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the Grenadiers and Royal Scots returned to Europe, landing amongst the first wave on the beaches of Normandy. Finally, this year, the King’s Company of the Grenadier Guards will Troop their Colour to mark the official birthday of King Charles III on 13 June 2026.
The Moon – Early Modern science & Galen’s humours
The Early Modern period gave birth to modern science. But most people in the early 17th Century still held to the classical, geocentric view of the cosmos. They saw the moon as one of Ptolemy’s seven celestial bodies that circled the earth. This concept was increasingly challenged as this most turbulent of centuries searched for answers. Slowly, science removed the sun and moon from our ever-expanding list of planets.
But whatever they thought of the cosmos, most people in the 17th Century still believed that the moon actively governed everyday life, from agriculture to health and human behaviour. The moon remained the fastest moving of the old planets, pulling on the earth’s tides and plants’ sap. It exerted its watery influence on fertility, growth and decay. It caused menstrual cycles and madness.
Diana, the moon, was feminine, changeable, moody. Her draw pulled at Galen’s four bodily humours, unsettling their flow and balance. The silver moon could even drive a man mad, over filling the head with fluid. Cold and moist, the moon’s shifting cycles were a metaphor for a mutable, inconstant, changing world. To so many in the 1640s and 1650s, it must have felt as if the moon truly ruled their world, turning it upside down.
June – Summer Solstice, Hay Moon & phlegmatic Cancer
June is the month of Cancer, the crab. Those born under its sign were said to have a phlegmatic temperament. According to Galen, their cold and moist humour tended to towards being pale and fleshy. They were thought to be calm, but tending towards listlessness, moveable, nocturnal even. For the moon rules Cancer.
For those who still look to the moon and its cycles, this year a new moon will rise on 15 June to be full on 30 June 2026. This will be the Hay Moon, the first after the summer solstice on 21 June. Traditionally, hay making should follow, when the grass is fullest with the moon’s energy. Then again, as the old saying goes, we should make hay while the sun shines. A few farmers have got theirs in already this year.
For many in the 17th Century, the stars also influenced life. This June, bright Venus will conjoin with Jupiter. They will be visible together above the western horizon at 22:30 on 9 June. Venus will then approach the new moon. They will be closest together at 22:30 on 17 June, before sinking below the western horizon.
Some astrologers see these events as brining cosmic shifts that have not been seen in decades. They predict a period of reflection and confidence. However, they also foresee power struggles and a need to heal old wounds.
Follow & Read More of the 17th Century Almanac
Whether you are shearing sheep, mowing hay, or scattering rushes – have a joyous June. Banish that uncertainty with fire and grass-beef. “Summer is in flower.” As ever, if this post is not the full, sweet-smelling hay crop you wished for, please tell me what is amiss.
I will post more of the 17th Century Almanac, next month. Each article discusses a topic of interest, such as 17th Century Climate Change and conflict, as well as annual activity in Early Modern Britain for that month. If you would like to receive email notification of the next post, click the button to follow.
17th Century History – articles, maps & events
In the meantime, this website includes articles and pages about life in 17th Century Britain, Europe and the Americas at Historical Notes and Maps. These include notes and pages on the impact of the Little Ice Age and The General Crisis of the 17th Century. They include articles on the English Revolution and Great Rebellion. They also include historical notes on the English Revolution and the Great Rebellion, as well as Pike and Shot Warfare and battles of the English Civil War.
You can also find more posts on Early Modern history, Living History and re-enactment at News & Blogs. You may also wish to read about the English Civil War history talks and battlefield walks I give.
Divided Kingdom – English Civil War historical fiction
The 17th Century almanac blog posts provide a backdrop and set the scene for the Divided Kingdom books. This historical fiction series is set in Early Modern Britain during the English Civil War. These posts are part of their backstory.
The Divided Kingdom books take a fresh approach. They are not based on a single hero. They do not take sides. Their voices – ordinary men and women – face each other in the chaos of Britain in civil war. They are both relatable and sharply relevant today. They are also as historically accurate as is possible.
Please do check out some of the writing at Divided Kingdom Books, including book tasters and a FREE ebook short story.
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