[jambutty]

Originally Posted by Eric

I know what you mean about the critters .... but hey, they have to make a living too ... and, believe it or not, I did know about the proverb .... maybe you should explain "clout", or is that maybe something that all Lancashire folk should know

I’ve just asked my friend I N Ternet for a definition of clout.

There seems to be two different definitions – one where it refers to a clod of soil and one where it refers to winter clothing.

“Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” is an old English proverb. The earliest citation is this version of the rhyme from Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732, although it probably existed in word-of-mouth form well before that.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/till-may-is-out.html

However like most old proverbs there is a difference of opinion about their meaning.

In the case of “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” some people read it as the month of May whilst others read it as when the Hawthorn blossoms.

In the south of England the Hawthorn will blossom in early April or even late March but in the north of Scotland it could be as late as June.

I think that “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out” refers to the Hawthorns as that would make it applicable to the whole of the UK.