By Martina Juričková

Observing the world and nature for many centuries, old generations passed to their offspring multitudes of folk wisdom through various proverbs and sayings. This is the second of several articles featuring a selection of sayings and proverbs going around among the old Slovak people related to different times of the year.

Most of the proverbs and sayings are tied to feasts and memory days of important Christian saints, others just to the prevailing weather conditions during these months.

Slovak Spring Proverbs and Sayings

These sayings and proverbs are focused on the spring months: March, April, and May, with a special reference to the Easter season.

March

Special days proverbs

1 March – Saint Albin and Saint Eudokia

  • On Saint Albin’s, winter ends.
  • Saint Eudokia covers the field with snow up to a dog’s ears.

7 March – Saint Felicita and Perpetua

  • Saint Felicita removes the snow from the fields.

9 March – Saint Frances of Rome

  • What’s the weather like on Saint Frances’s day, such it will be the whole month.
  • If Saint Frances brings good winds, grass will grow long.

12 March – Saint Gregory

  • Saint Gregory melts the ice and kills the winter in thunder.
  • If there is still snow in the fields on Gregory’s, it will soon melt and spring will come.
  • If the roads are dusty instead of muddy on Saint Gregory’s day, it’s like gold to the farmer.
  • Saint Gregory drives the cattle to the fields.
  • If it rains on Saint Gregory’s day, it signifies a good harvest.
  • Gregory does the first field-ploughing.
  • If it snows on Saint Gregory’s, the spring will be slow to come. Instead, a blizzard may.

17 March – Saint Gertrude

  • If there’s frost on Saint Gertrude’s day, it will come for another forty days.
  • Saint Gertrude works in the garden already.

19 March – Saint Joseph

  • If the winds on Saint Joseph’s day bring snow, it foretells a nice Easter.
  • As many days it is warm before Joseph’s day, as many days it will be cold after his day.
  • If it freezes on Saint Joseph’s day, there will be a lot of hay.
  • Joseph sows in the garden. (Meaning, it is the highest time to start sowing).
  • Saint Joseph pulls a cart full of grass.
  • If Josephs brings the children outside, the mother will bring them in. (Meaning, if it’s warm enough that children want to play outside, it is probably still not warm enough for them not to get cold and sick, so the mother better keep them in).
  • If it freezes on Saint Joseph’s day, the oat will grow well.
  • On Saint Joseph’s day, birds buy their first songs.
  • If it freezes on Saint Joseph’s day, there will be a lot of fruits.
  • If Joseph puts his coat away, the harvest will be good.

25 March – The Annunciation

  • If it rains on the Annunciation, rye starts to grow.
  • What’s the weather like on the Annunciation, such it will be at Easter.
  • God’s Mother blesses the grass.
  • If there’s still snow in the fields on the Annunciation, they will frequently need scything.
  • Sow the wheats on the Annunciation.
  • If the sky’s clear on the Annunciation, the hemp will be good. If it’s cloudy, the hemp will go bad.

General proverbs

  • If March lacks rain, April lacks grass.
  • March’s snow is April’s manure.
  • Sow the spring plants in a coat and the winter plants in a shirt.
  • If March is warm, April is cold.
  • Better if you’re shaking due to cold in March than sweating due to heat.
  • If March is rainy, the summer will be dry.
  • If your grass-field gets flooded in March, don’t worry. You will have a lot of hay.
  • A rainy March is disastrous for the farmer, but a dry April even more.
  • Who has not sown peas in March will never harvest it.
  • If March ploughs the field and April waters it, May will be beautiful and green.
  • Dry March, wet April, and cold May fill the barns full and grow a lot of hay.
  • If March is windy and April rainy, May will be beautiful.
  • Cold March and wet April make the garden a paradise.
  • The best chickens are born in March.
  • Snow in March is a bad omen, even if it was just brought to the village in a bag from elsewhere.
  • If you want to eat your potatoes soon, plant them in March.
  • Dry March and wet May, there will be plenty of rye.
  •  Dusty roads in March guarantee good peas.
  • As much dew falls in March, as much frost will come in May.
  • March snow is a poison, April snow is a manure.
  • If you don’t kill a flea in March, you will sleep well in the summer. (Meaning, out of gratitude, the insects will not bother you in the summer).
  • March-sown barley is the best.
  • Dry March and muddy May is a gold to the farmer.
  • If it rains in March, it rains in June too.
  • If you hear a cuckoo cry and a stork clap its beak, a hot summer will come.
  • Men’s love, women’s desire, and March weather are changeable.

Easter and Pentecost proverbs

  • If it’s rainy on the Black Sunday (two weeks before Easter), the barns will be empty.
  • Potatoes sown on Maundy Thursday will make you happy in the autumn.
  • If it snows on Maundy Thursday, summer will be hot.
  • Rain on Good Friday foretells good produce.
  • Frost on Good Friday brings a lot of mushrooms.
  • Rain on Holy Saturday ruins the cherries.
  • If it rains into God’s open grave, the year will be dry.
  • Easter rains foretell a dry year.
  • Nice Easter signifies a rich harvest.
  • Clear sky on Easter makes the butter cheap. (Meaning, so much butter will be produced that it will be sold almost for free).
  • Not enough sunshine at Easter makes the grass-fields dry.
  • If it’s windy between Easter and Pentecost, it will remain so for the whole summer.
  • Wet Pentecost is followed by harsh Christmas.

April

Special days proverbs

24 April – Saint George

  • Before Saint George’s day snow is better than rain.
  • As deep the ground is dry before Saint George’s day, as deep it will get wet afterwards. 
  • What manages to grow before Saint George’s day, that will die afterwards.
  • As many times it thunders before Saint George’s day, as many times it will freeze afterwards.
  • Saint George brings the swallows back.
  • Frosts should cease as long before Saint George’s day as long before Saint Michael’s (29 September) they appeared.
  • On Saint George’s day, each rain drop is worth a gold piece.

25 April – Saint Mark

  • Saint Mark plants cucumbers.
  • Dew on Saint Mark’s day will make millet great. 

General proverbs

  • Nice April makes a pink May. (Meaning, there will be a lot of blooming in May).
  • Dry April worried the farmers.
  • Rainy April signifies a good harvest.
  • April snow fertilizes the fields, rain blesses them.
  • April rainstorms foretell a wet summer.
  • Rainy April, blossoming May.
  • Once a thunderstorm comes in April, there will be no more frosts.
  • If April’s very windy, the barns will get full.
  • Warm April nights are a blessing for fruits and vines.
  • What April makes green, May burns.
  • Warm April rain is more valuable than manna. It promises a good harvest and blessed autumn.
  • What April sows makes a good hay.
  • If thunder comes before trees start to bloom, the harvest will be bad.
  • April and May water dries up wine. (Meaning, if it’s rainy in April and May, the vine will be no good).
  • April droughts and May wets fill up the barn up to the roof.
  • If the lark stops singing in spring, it foretells rains.
  • If the valleys are filled with mists, the day will be nice. If the mist rises to the sky, it will rain.
  • If April weather is nice, May will be nasty.
  • April rain nourishes the rye, May rain the wheat, and June rain the barley.
  • If the pinch stops singing in April, it froze. 
  • To make good jams this year, cut the dry branches early in April.

May

Special days proverbs

3 May – Saint Jacob and Philip

  • On Saint Jacob and Philip’s day, linden trees are green.
  • Thirsty Philip, hungry Jacob, farmers gotta buy some bread.

4 May – Saint Florian

  • Saint Florian protects the produce.
  • Saint Florian may occasionally wear a snow hat.

13 May – The Ascension

  • Even a little rain on the Ascension ruins the hay.

12-14 May – Saint Pancras, Servatius, and Boniface (the Three Ice Men)

  • Pancras, Servatius, and Boniface are the men of ice and Sophia is their housemaid.
  • The last frosts come on the days of the Three Ice Men.
  • There is no summer before Saint Servatius and no frost after him.
  • Saint Sophia affirms the rule of the Three Ice Men and Urban ends it.

15 May – Saint Sophia

  • Saint Sophia drinks wine. (Meaning, the frost on her day harms the vines).
  • After Saint Sophia’s day, you can plant peppers.
  • Saint Sophia plants flax.

23 May – Želmíra

  • If bees come out on Želmíra’s day, you can milk the first sheep.

25 May – Saint Urban

  • If Urban laughs, wine cries. (Meaning, frosts on Urban’s day harm the vines).
  • If Urban drinks a wine while freezing the world, next year he will have only water to drink.
  • After Saint Urban’s, the frost can harm the vines no more.

General proverbs

  • Snow in May will make a lot of grass.
  • May brings the biggest dew.
  • Cold May foretells a paradise in barns.
  • Cold May and cool June fills the barns and barrels.
  • Cold May without frosts is dear to farmers because it will make for a lot of hay and wheat.
  • May thunderbolts make farmers happy.
  • May mud is like gold to the farmers.
  • May rain is gold.
  • Wet and cold in May will make little wine.
  • If treefrogs croak in May, rain will come.
  • May thunders are harmless.
  • Frequent May thunders promise a good year and rich wheat.
  • If it does not rain in May, it will in June.
  • Wet May is followed by a dry June, and vice versa.
  • The warmer and dryer May is, the wetter and cooler June is.

Slovak summer proverbs and sayings

These sayings and proverbs are related to the summer months: June, July, and August.

June

Special days proverbs

6 June – Saint Norbert

  • On Saint Norbert’s day, cold finally goes away.

7 June – Saint Robert

  • Norbert and Robert would like to be brothers with the Three Ice Men. (Meaning, on these days in some parts of the country the last frosts can appear).

8 June – Saint Medard

  • Saint Medard’s raindrop drips for forty days.
  • There is no more winter cold after Saint Medard’s day, nor does the cold harm the vines.
  • If it rains on Saint Medard’s day, the vine harvest will be bad.
  • Sowing ends on Saint Medard’s day.

11 June – Saint Barnabas

  • Saint Barnabas’s rain fills wine bottles to the brim.
  • Saint Barnabas brings a lot of storms.

15 June – Saint Vitus

  • Rain on Saint Vitus’s day ruins the wheat.
  • On Saint Vitus’s day, all night is dawning. (Meaning, we are nearing the shortest night of the year).
  • On Saint Vitus’s day, one end of the sky darkens while the other end dawns.
  • If it rains on Saint Vitus’s day, it will rain again in seven days.
  • Sowing on Saint Vitus’s day is in vain.
  • On Saint Vitus’s day, the head has not yet fallen asleep when the feet already have to wake up.

20 June – summer solstice

  • The four days before summer solstice and four days after it predict the weather for the time until Saint Michael’s day (29 September).

24 June – Saint John

  • On Saint John’s day farmers ready their scythes.
  • Saint John opens the summer’s gate.
  • If a cuckoo sings after Saint John’s day, the price of all produce will rise, especially of flour.
  • Rain on Saint John’s day stops the wheat from growing.
  • Saint John bring a bowl full of raspberries and strawberries.
  • Saint John’s rain lasts for ten days.
  • After Saint John’s, both the days are getting shorter and cows lose their milk.
  • Before Saint John’s day you pray for rain, afterwards it comes even without praying.
  • Saint John’s day has no night.
  • Saint John ripens the cherries, but also the flies.
  • Before Saint John’s the day lengthens, afterwards it shortens.

27 June – Saint Ladislaus

  • Ladislaus planted mushrooms so that Peter and Paul could harvest them. (Meaning, if it rains on this day, there will be a lot of mushrooms).
  • What’s the weather like on Saint Ladislaus’s day, such it will be for seven weeks.

29 June – Saint Peter and Paul

  • On Saint Peter and Paul’s day, nature treats us with storms and the ground with mushrooms.
  • After Saint Peter and Paul’s day, the harvestmen make use of their sharp scythes.
  • Clear day on Saint Peter and Paul’s ensures a good harvest.

General proverbs

  • If it’s windy the first day of June, it will be windy the next eight days too.
  • Dry June fills the barrels with wine.
  • Cold June makes the farmer sad.
  • If June is dry, barrels will not be empty.
  • Southern midnight wind in June brings a good harvest.
  • There’s no need to pray for rain in June. It will come when you start scything the grass.
  • Cold and wet June signifies a year of starving.
  • Rainy June ruins the whole summer.
  • June warm and wet does not make the farmers sad.
  • A lot of mushrooms in June can’t fill the barns. (Meaning, if there are a lot of mushrooms, it is because of a lot of rain, but that harms other produce).
  • When tits sing, rain is near.
  • Thunders in June signify thick wheat grains.
  • When the lark flies high singing, the weather will be good.
  • Cold June rains make the farmers afraid. Especially wine-makers and bee-keepers will far badly under such conditions.

July

Special days proverbs

2 July – Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

  • Clear sky on the Visitation ensures good fruit.

4 July – Saint Prokop

  • Saint Prokop sows mushrooms.
  • Saint Prokop earths up the potatoes.

5 July – Saint Cyril and Method

  • Saint Cyril and Method make the farmers laugh.

13 July – Saint Margita

  • If Margita cries, there will be plenty of rain.
  • Saint Margita calls the harvesters to the fields.
  • Saint Margita harvests the first pears.

15 July – The Dispersion of the Apostles

  • If it rains on the Dispersion day, all will be expensive.
  • There are usually nine storms on the Dispersion day.

18 July – Saint Kamil

  • On Saint Kamil’s day, sun is the strongest.

20 July – Saint Elias

  • The morning of Saint Elias’s day is summery, the afternoon autumn-like.

22 July – Saint Mary Magdalene

  • There are often rain showers on Saint Mary Magdalene’s day because she’s mourning for her Lord.
  • Saint Magdalene cries a lot.

25 July – Saint Jacob

  • On Saint Jacob’s day, lightning may hit an oak tree.
  • Clear night and dawn on Saint Jacob’s day provides the farmers with a lot of wheat.
  • If Saint Jacob’s day brings both sun and rain, your barn will get full.
  • Sun on Saint Jacob’s day foretells a harsh winter.

26 July – Saint Anna

  • Saint Anna is cold in the morning.
  • After Saint Anna’s day, the sun is no longer so burning.
  • If it is nice before Saint Anna’s day, afterwards it will be nasty.
  • If it rains on Saint Anna’s day, hazelnuts will get infested with worms.

31 July – Saint Ignatius

  • On Saint Ignatius’s day, summer is turning.

General proverbs

  • In July the days shorten but get hotter.
  • If owls howl in the night, it will rain.
  • If the swallows fly low, it will rain.
  • If the marsh harrier squeaks, it’s calling for rain.
  • Bees sting before storms.
  • Nice weather in July makes the farmers rejoice.
  • Harvesters go to the fields, bees out of there.
  • If cucumber flowers close, it will rain.
  • The most flies are out on the dog days.
  • If the dog days are clear and warm, they signify a good harvest year.
  • Cold July ruins the whole summer.
  • What July and August don’t manage to boil, September will not manage to fry.
  • If ants reinforce their hills in July, a harsh winter follows.

August

Special days proverbs

4 August – Saint Dominic

  • Great heat on Saint Dominic’s day signifies a white winter.
  • If Dominic sweats, Mark (25 April) will wear a coat.

10 August – Saint Lawrence

  • Nice weather on Saint Lawrence’s day foretells a nice autumn for the farmers.
  • Rain on Saint Lawrence’s day ruins the pumpkins.
  • After Saint Lawrence’s day wood does not grow.
  • If it’s sunny on Saint Lawrence’s day, there will be a plenty of honey.

15 August – The Assumption of Mary

  • Warm and clear Assumption day promises a good year for the wine-makers.
  • Rain on the Assumption day will bring 50 wet days.

18 August – Saint Helena

  • Flax sown on Saint Helena’s day has long hair.

24 August – Saint Bartholomew

  • Saint Bartholomew ripens the wild fruits.
  • What’s the weather like on Saint Bartholomew’s day, such it will be the whole autumn.
  • Ripe vine on Saint Bartholomew’s day promises a lot of wine.

28 August – Saint Augustin

  • Saint Augustin winds blow towards Budapest (the south).
  • If it’s warm on Saint Augustin’s day, it will be cold on Saint Catherine’s day (25 November).
  • The summer leaves on Saint Augustin’s day.

29 August – Saint John the Baptist

  • What’s the weather like on John the Baptist’s day, such it will be on Saint Michael’s day (29 September).
  • Rain on John the Baptist’s day ruins the walnuts.

General proverbs

  • What’s August like at its beginning, such it is until its end.
  • August’s weather is the best from the whole year.
  • Hot first August week foretells a white winter.
  • Wet August makes watery wine, dry August dry wine.
  • If August’s hot, wine will be too.
  • Morning rain in August will dry up until the noon.
  • A lot of dew in August foretells nice time.
  • No dew in August foretells storms.
  • Northern winds in August are pleasant for farmers.
  • If the wind blows from the north in August, it brings cold.
  • What’s the weather like on the last day of August, such it will be for the whole autumn.
  • Northern August winds bring a steady weather.