"The dirty golden mustard of September"

And I stop by a gateway
To smoke a cigarette
And stares across the fields and remember
The gypsy fairs of August
And early evening haze
The dirty golden mustard of September

Martin Newell, Black Shuck
 

I quote this poem every year or so, but not this specific stanza. I do the previous one, but rereading it yesterday as I often do during my reading ritual in preparation for Halloween, the last line struck me. This is what it has started to look like now outside, the trees have dirty golden mustard spots in their branches. Dirty golden mustard is the colour of September. Oh and you can most definitely feel (and enjoy!) the early evening haze too.

"There comes an autumn sickle..."

 And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble

Martin Newell, Black Shuck

 We are Lammas Day, and as it is a tradition here, I quote this poem. The first day of August and this lovely evocative quote about it are a reminder of two things: 1)autumn is on its way, closer than before, 2)so is Halloween. So I am getting in an autumnal mood, and I have already started reading horror stories.

An autumn sickle...

 And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble

Martin Newell, Black Shuck

We are Lammas Day, the first day of August. To commemorate, I am renewing a tradition on this blog, abandoned after 2017: I am quoting Newell's epic (and spooky) poem. As a reminder that some harvests have already started, that autumn is coming and that, yes, Halloween is coming too. Time to read scary stories and get into a chilling mood.

"There comes an autumn sickle..."

And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble

Martin Newell, Black Shuck

 We are Lammas Day, the first day of August. The first day of harvest, but more importantly for me the day when summer starts to end and when I truly start my countdown to autumn. Like every year since I read the poem, I make the above quote. This is my official countdown to autumn and my officious countdown to Halloween, when I will start reading scary stories and get into a spooky mood. The verse about the autumn sickle is most appropriate this year: it has been cool for a few days and summer does look like it is in trouble. It may give us a few more blasts, but I do hope that its throat is indeed cut.

Because it is Lammas Day...

"And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble"

Martin Newell, Black Shuck

 It is the third time in a row I quote the exact same passage of Newell's epic poem (see the one from 2014 and 2015), because today is the first day of August, Lammas Day, first day of harvest. It is still summertime, but autumn is getting closer and closer and is already looming with the harvest. August is in many a gateway between the two seasons. Tonight I will reread the poem. I will also gradually change my reading list for more autumnal stuff" I am thinking of course of scary stories, which I read for my countdown to Halloween, which has started earlier in recent years. The beginning of August may seem very early indeed to start it, but  find Lammas Day to be a suitable time to start it. I am an autumnal man, you will I hope forgive my impatience and my state of mind. And as you know there is something else autumn will bring this year, all the more reason to be eager for the season to arrive.

When Lammas has come in...

"And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble"

Martin Newell, Black Shuck

I quoted the epic poem last year, to commemorate the first of August and Lammas Day. This passage of the poem made a strong impression on me. It illustrates what August is for me: the passage from summer to autumn. It has harvest associations and deliciously sinister tones. The poem is among my read for the months and weeks leading to Halloween, to get myself in seasonal mood. It is a bit of a horror story in verses. As a reminder to my readership and especially the Halloween and autumn aficionados among them, Lammas has come in. And watch out for ghost hounds.

Lammas Day

"And as the daylight's fading
When Lammas has come in
And gleamers go to work among the stubble
There comes an autumn sickle
To cut the summer's throat
Before the season knows it is in trouble"

Martin Newell, Black Shuck

Today is the first of August, or Lammas Day a I learned in the above quoted epic poem. I used to dislike August, but now I learned to appreciate it as a transitory month, a month that shows the passage of summer to autumn and marks the beginning of harvest. It makes me long for Halloween, my favourite holiday. When I read the poem, these verses about Lammas struck me. Cutting summer's throat with an autumn sickle, this is what August does.So I wanted to share it with you tonight. I will talk more about the poem in upcoming posts. It is beautiful and eerie.

Black Shuck

This is my new countdown to Halloween post, it is about an old British folkloric creature: Black Shuck. I have learned about him first on All About Ghosts, a book I blogged about recently. The image you see on your left is from the book. As you can see, he is sometimes depicted as having one eye, which makes him all the more sinister. You can read more about Black Shuck here. He is a ghostly hound that often appears in British folklore and is one of the most famous. I find ghostly or devilish hounds the lost children of eerie folklore and horror stories. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, heck even witches to some degree have showed up in modern horror fiction. Devilish hounds like Black Shuck? Well, The Hound of the Baskerville is famous, but he was rationalized in a crime fiction story and in the end he is nothing but a trained killing dog. But supernatural hounds in horror fiction, there are very little that I know of. Maybe ghostly hounds are too beastly to relate to (I mean you cannot have a conversation with them, unlike a lycanthrope in human form or a vampire), maybe they limit the narrative and plot possibilities. All the same, I'd like to have a crack at one of them, maybe Black Shuck himself.