Talk:Groundhog Day
From Academic Kids
I'm not too sure about the Scottishness of the couplet. Mainly because it's not written in Scots as I would expect this type of folk weather prophecy to be. Rather than saying...
- If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
- there'll be two winters in the year.
... a genuine Scottish couplet would say something more like...
- Gin Candlemas be bricht and clear,
- ye'll see twa winters in ae year.
It seems more likely to me that it's English but perhaps others know different -- Derek Ross
- This article was from a US POV. Before I rewrote the intro (badly, I admit) it leaped in with "Groundhog day has its origins in .." without actually saying what Groundhog day actually is. sigh... -- Tarquin
Hedgehog Day
I added a comment about Hedgehog Day. The article claimed that Groundhog Day came from Candlemas. That is very odd since Candlemas has little to do with predicting the remaining length of winter. It merely falls on the same date. Hedgehog Day began in ancient Rome, falling on Februa 2 (February 2), and entailed checking to see if a hedgehog saw its shadow when it emerged from its den. If so, there will be 6 more weeks of winter. It became Groundhog Day in the Americas because there were no hedgehogs to check on. I feel that it may be best to emphasize Hedgehog Day and note that Candlemas is merely a coincedental holiday. Kainaw 20:16, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)
