| Until 45 BC, the Romans used a different calendar, said to
have been invented by Romulus. The year started on March 1 and consisted of 10
months, with 61 days in midwinter not assigned to any! This was amended with
the addition of January (Ianuarius) and February (Februarius) by King Numa Pompilius
around 700 BCE, an alternative to BC meaning Before Common Era. This left the
year at 355 days and, as the calendar failed to synchronize with the seasons,
an extra month was added in some years!
In 45 BC, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar of
365 days, beginning on March 1. An extra day was added to February, initially
every three years and then every four. The earth orbits the sun in 365 days, 5
hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds, so having a leap year every four years
gradually allowed the calendar to avoid coinciding with the equinox. By 1582,
the calendar was 10 days out with regards to equinoxes, and Pope Gregory
XIII decreed that the Gregorian Calendar be adopted. This continued with the
leap year every fourth year, but in years divisible by 100 there was no leap
year (although if the year was divisible by 400, there was a leap year!).
In 1750, Parliament passed the Calendar (New Style) Act in
1750, although it was not until 1752 that Britain and her colonies adopted the
Gregorian Calendar - which meant that September that year was just 19 days
long! Historically, the legal year in Britain started on Lady Day, March 25,
but the Act changed this to January 1. The change of date explains the anomaly
of the end of the tax year being on April 5, which was 11 days after the end of
tax year under the Julian Calendar.
The introduction of the Gregorian Calendar was not
universally accepted in Britain and in the picturesque Gwaun Valley, five miles
south-east of Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, New Year’s Day is celebrated on
January 13 - the January 1 of the Julian Calendar! Hen Galan is
celebrated at the Dyffryn Arms, Pontfaen, and the tradition of the Mari Llwyd -
the parading of a horse’s head around the village on a pole and decorated with
ribbons - continues to this day.
Geoffrey Davies retired to Wales following a
career in investment management and marketing, where he became intrigued by the
country’s beauty and wealth of half-forgotten history. His series of books for
Sigma Press includes Pembrokeshire
Villages, Carmarthenshire
Villages and Denbighshire
Villages. |
