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Quarter days
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.
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.
The English quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are
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.
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Quarter days
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.
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.
The English quarter days (also observed in Wales and the Channel Islands) are
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.