The last three days of March are said to be "borrowed from April."
March said to April.
I see 3 sheep upon a hill;
And if you’ll lend me three days
I’ll find a way to make them die.
The first of them was wind and wet,
The second of them was snow and sleet,
The third of them was such a freeze
It froze the birds’ nests to the trees.
When the 3 days were past and gone
The 3 silly sheep came limping home.
I modernized the English above. Below is the original version that can be found in the "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, published in 1905…
March said to April,
I see 3 hoggs (hoggets, sheep) upon a hill;
And if you’ll lend me dayes 3
I’ll find a way to make them dee (die).
The first o’ them wus wind and weet,
The second o’ them wus snaw and sleet,
The third o’ them wus sic a freeze
It froze the birds’ nebs (noses) to the trees.
When the 3 days were past and gane
The 3 silly hoggs came hirpling (limping) hame.
I wish March would give those three days back to April so we’d have some warm weather right about now!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 at 4:17 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, England, English, English Nursery Rhymes, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Proverbs, Rhymes about the Months, Rhymes about the Seasons, Rhymes by Theme, Sayings, Seasonal, Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
One Response to “March Borrowed Three Days from April”
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November 4th, 2020 at 6:32 am
It was only yesterday my 83 elderly mother and I were speaking about this poem. We were reflecting on how the typical family storytelling seems to be a thing of the past. It was nice to come across this website.