In article , dated Mon, 19 Jun 2006,
Graham Jones wrote
What does midsummer actually mean?

Surely it can't mean the middle of summer as my calendar says the 21st
is the official start of summer. So where has this come from?


I'm not sure whether the offset is a Precession of the Equinoxes type
timeslip, or something to do with the lost eleven days when the calendar
was changed, but June 24 is midsummer as December 24 is midwinter, ie
the middle of the half-year. It's very ancient - the mid-winter date is
at least Roman (that's why it became Christmas). The division of the
year into two halves is also pretty old, and is seen on Celtic calendars
such as the Coligny calendar, though I expect the concept is a lot older
than that.


--
Kate B

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