Editing Quarter days

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{short description|Four dates in each year}}
[[File:Circular solar calendar.png|thumb|Solar calendar with quarter days and cross-quarter days.]]
In [[Great Britain|British]] and [[Ireland|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 festival]]s roughly three months apart and close to the two [[solstice]]s and two [[equinox]]es.

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.<ref>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.</ref>

==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 2'''5'''th. June has four letters and the quarter day is the 2'''4'''th, and September, having nine letters, has its quarter day on the 2'''9'''th.<ref>{{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.}}</ref>
 |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 [[Nativity of St John the Baptist|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 [[Nativity of Jesus|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) [[Calendar (New Style) Act 1750|until 1752]] (when it was harmonised with the Scottish practice of 1 January being New Year's Day). The British (personal) [[Fiscal year#Tax year|tax year]] still ends on "Old" Lady Day (5 April under the 'new style' ([[Gregorian calendar|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 [[History of taxation in the United Kingdom#Start of tax year|end of the British tax year for personal taxation]].<!-- Please do not add the myth that an extra day was added in 1800. This claim is based on a misunderstanding of the law and not founded on any historical evidence. For details, see the History of Taxation article. -->

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 Saints' Day|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Ireland==
[[File:Comparative seasons wheel.jpg|thumb|Diagram comparing the Celtic, astronomical and meteorological calendars]]
Prior to the [[Christianization of Ireland#Ecclesiastical history|Christianisation of Ireland]] in the 5th century AD, the [[Celts|Celtic]] quarter days were observed:<ref>{{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}}</ref>

*[[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.<ref>{{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]]}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Scotland==
The "[[Scottish term days|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.<ref>Mairi Robinson (chief ed.): ''The Concise Scots Dictionary'', Aberdeen University Press, 1985</ref> The [[Term and Quarter Days (Scotland) Act 1990]] redefined the "Scottish term days", in official use, as:<ref>{{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}}</ref>
*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.<ref>{{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'.")</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ember days]]
* [[Wheel of the Year]]
* [[Solar term]]

==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}

{{Culture of Europe}}
{{United Kingdom topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarter Days}}
[[Category:Quarter days| ]]
[[Category:Culture of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Calendars]]
[[Category:Holidays in Scotland]]
[[Category:Culture of Ireland]]
[[Category:Public holidays in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Solstices]]