Ah, Roseberry on the autumnal equinox – or, perhaps I should say: “a day with not much to see.” At precisely 1:44pm BST, the Earth performed its annual act of balancing on a metaphorical tightrope. It’s axis, normally so busy tilting this way and that, was for once perfectly upright, neither tipping its cap to the sun nor casting a glance over its shoulder. Thus, summer gives up its weary struggle, and autumn takes the stage to begin its slow march towards winter, all under the pretence of “balance between dark and light” – a poetic way of saying “brace yourselves for long, gloomy evenings.”
The Old English called this event the ‘hærfestlice emniht‘, because what better way to celebrate the year’s slow decay than by noting the exact moment when night and day are equally dull? Today, then, is an occasion as rich in linguistic history as it is in cold winds and damp leaves. Byrhtferth of Ramsey, evidently a man with far too much time on his hands, took the liberty of reminding us that from this day forward, ‘langað seo niht and wanað se dæg‘ — “the night lengthens and the day wanes.” So let us rejoice in the knowledge that things are about to get darker, and undoubtedly wetter, as nature does its best to imitate our moods.
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