'But, frustratingly, not a tabulation of the names of the months. More mead and cider required.'
Frust ye nae longer Borry a'charaid. Here for your eddyfication is a site with the information you require.
Although it is said in the lands where the winds do blow that there weren't really any monthly names once upon a time. Most of it is to do with change in the weather and agriculture etc.
'The Gaelic year began in November following the festival of An Samhain (which evolved into Halloween); and it ushers in the first of the new seasons: winter. The cold was considered necessary to cleanse the land and prepare it for the new bountiful year ahead. In Gaelic it is rendered An Geamhrachd, coming from an early Celtic term for cold, which in turn comes from an even more ancient linguistic source for ‘stiff and rigid’, describing the frosty ground. Within An Geamhrachd there are the three ‘months’ of An Dubhlachd, Am Faoilleach and An Gearran, meaning – the Dark Days, the Wolf Month and the Cutting or Gelding Month respectively.
The ‘dark days’ certainly capture the essence of December with its long, long nights – always more bearable with a couple of single malts of course. The ‘wolf month’ takes us back to the harsh and hungry weeks of January and early February when the wolves came down from the hills to scavenge – it is a common theme in many traditional winter tales across northern Europe. The gelding or castration of the cattle took place in late February so to let the wounds heal better, and without the nuisance of flies. As you can see each month has a significant theme, folk memory or important task on the farm; and this is repeated throughout the year as it unfolds.'
You can read the rest of it here.
http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/12/06/ ... -calendar/I've just been looking at translation sites and the Czech for 'Spring' is 'Jaro' which is rather similar to 'Earrach'
Presumably it is the same in all Slavic languages?
Anyway in honour of St George who seems to have a universal significance in all cultures non-celtic ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_George%27s_Day... just to redress the balance so to speak, I think I'll get ready for the celebrations. I've started drinking in preparation for the Morris dancing but then I thought why not do it in style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFPOYKGvUikIt does seem to have that swaying feeling one gets with the Morris men after a hard day's drinking. All for a good cause though. Keeps the world turning in spite of what the mullah says
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/558 ... NOT-RotateNow that would bugger your calendars up Borry me lad