quarter days
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{short description|Four dates in each year}}
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In British and Irish tradition, the quarter days are the four dates in each year on which servants were hired, school terms started, and rents were due. They fell on four religious festivals roughly three months apart and close to the two solstices and two equinoxes.
The significance of quarter days is now limited, although rents for properties in England are often still due on the old English quarter days.
The quarter days have been observed at least since the Middle Ages, and they ensured that debts and unresolved lawsuits were not allowed to linger on. Accounts had to be settled, and a reckoning had to be made and publicly recorded on the quarter days.Clines, David J. A. (1998). [http://www.shef.ac.uk/bibs/DJACcurrres/Postmodern2/Quarter.html On the Way to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays, 1967-1998] (Continuum International Publishing), p. 801.
England and Wales
{{See also|Old Style and New Style dates}}
{{quote box | Assuming you can remember when Christmas occurs, a useful mnemonic to place the remaining quarter days is to count the letters of the relevant months. Thus, in March, there being five letters, you can know that the quarter day is the 25th. June has four letters and the quarter day is the 24th, and September, having nine letters, has its quarter day on the 29th.{{cite news|last1=Young|first1=G. C. M.|title=Quarter days|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/quarter-days-dz9dcccfwv8|access-date=11 June 2019|work=The Times|publisher=Times Newspapers|date=15 April 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611181343/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/quarter-days-dz9dcccfwv8|archive-date=11 June 2019|location=London|url-status=live|quote=Assuming you can remember when Christmas occurs, a useful mnemonic to place quarter days is to count the letters of the relevant months. Thus, in March, there being five letters, you can know that the quarter day is the 25th. June has four letters and the quarter day is the 24th, and September, having nine letters, has its quarter day on the 29th.}}
|source= G. C. M. Young, The Times, 2006
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The English quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are
- Lady Day (25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation);
- Midsummer Day (24 June, the Feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist);
- Michaelmas Day (29 September, the Feast of St Michael and All Angels); and
- Christmas Day (25 December, the Feast of the Nativity of Jesus).
Falling close to the Spring equinox, Lady Day was the first day of the civil year in England, Wales and the British dominions (but not Scotland) until 1752 (when it was harmonised with the Scottish practice of 1 January being New Year's Day). The British (personal) tax year still ends on "Old" Lady Day (5 April under the 'new style' (Gregorian) calendar, which in the 18th century corresponded to 25 March under the 'old style' Julian calendar: the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 advanced the calendar by eleven days. 5 April is still the end of the British tax year for personal taxation.
The cross-quarter days are four holidays falling in between the quarter days: Candlemas (2 February), May Day (1 May), Lammas (1 August), and All Hallows (1 November).
At many schools, class terms would begin on the quarter days; for example, the autumn term would start on 29 September, and thus continues to be called the Michaelmas term, especially at more traditional universities.{{cite web|author=Staff|work=Gazette Supplement|url=http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwoxacuk/localsites/gazette/documents/supplements2013-14/Lectures_and_Seminars,_Michaelmas_term_2013_-_%281%29_to_No_5035.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110201728/http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwoxacuk/localsites/gazette/documents/supplements2013-14/Lectures_and_Seminars,_Michaelmas_term_2013_-_%281%29_to_No_5035.pdf |archive-date=2015-01-10 |url-status=live |title=Lectures and Seminars, Michaelmas term 2013 |publisher=Oxford University|page=1|date=9 October 2013|access-date=24 June 2014}}
Ireland
File:Comparative seasons wheel.jpg
Prior to the Christianisation of Ireland in the 5th century AD, the Celtic quarter days were observed:{{Cite web|title=What are Quarter Days and Cross-Quarter Days?|url=https://www.learnreligions.com/quarter-days-and-cross-quarter-days-2562061|access-date=2021-01-13|website=Learn Religions|language=en}}
- Imbolc (February 1)
- Beltaine (May 1)
- Lughnasadh (August 1)
- Samhain (November 1)
These are now called cross-quarter days since they fall about halfway into each of the English quarters.{{Cite web |last=Rothovius |first=Andrew E. |date=November 29, 2023 |title=Ancient Celtic Calendar: Quarter Days and Cross-Quarter Days |url=https://www.almanac.com/quarter-days-and-cross-quarter-days |website=The Old Farmer's Almanac}}
Since 2022, when a holiday for Imbolc was added to the list, all four traditional Celtic quarter days are now marked in the Republic of Ireland by an annual public holiday on a Monday close to the quarter days.{{Cite web |date=2022-01-19 |title=Government agrees Covid Recognition Payment and New Public Holiday |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/b926b-government-agrees-covid-recognition-payment-and-new-public-holiday/ |access-date=2023-08-25 |website=www.gov.ie |language=en}}
Scotland
The "Old Scottish term days" corresponded approximately to the old Celtic quarter days:
- Candlemas (2 February)
- Whitsunday (legislatively fixed for this purpose as 15 May)
- Lammas (1 August)
- Martinmas (11 November).
These were also the dates of the Quarter Days observed in northern England until the 18th century.{{cn|date=March 2021}}
The dates for removals and for the employment of servants of Whitsunday and Martinmas were changed in 1886 to 28 May and 28 November respectively.Mairi Robinson (chief ed.): The Concise Scots Dictionary, Aberdeen University Press, 1985 The Term and Quarter Days (Scotland) Act 1990 redefined the "Scottish term days", in official use, as:{{cite web | title = Term and Quarter Days Act (Scotland) Act 1990, Section 1 |url= https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/22/contents | publisher = Government of the United Kingdom}}
- 28 February,
- 28 May,
- 28 August and
- 28 November.
The Act specifies that the new dates take effect on 13 June 1991 (12 months from the date it was passed). Thus the Scottish term days, as days on which rents are paid, correspond more closely to the cross-quarter days than to the English quarter days.
In other countries
In late 18th century Germany, it was customary for property rentals to start on Easter or one of the quarter days being Midsummer Day, Michaelmas or Christmas.{{cite web |last1=Sethmann |first1=Jens |title=Wie lebte es sich in Berlin, als die Wohnungspolitik noch vom König gemacht wurde? |url=https://www.berliner-mieterverein.de/magazin/online/mm0918/wie-lebte-es-sich-in-berlin-als-die-wohnungspolitik-noch-vom-koenig-gemacht-wurde-091816.htm |website=Berliner Mieterverein |access-date=17 January 2025 |date=2018}}: "Aushänge direkt am Haus informierten darüber, bei wem man sich melden möge, wenn man hier ein „Logement“ ab Ostern, Johanni (24. Juni), Michaelis (29. September), Weihnachten oder „anjetzo gleich“ mieten möchte." ("Advertisements directly affixed to the house set out who to contact if one wanted to rent a 'lodgement' from Easter, St Johns (24 June), St Michaels (29 September), Christmas or 'immediately'.")
See also
Notes and references
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{{Culture of Europe}}
{{United Kingdom topics}}
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Category:Culture of the United Kingdom