1 Midsummer's Eve

This Thursday, June 24, is Midsummer Day, a legal holiday in some European countries (although some countries have moved the actual celebration to the third Friday in June to give people a three-day weekend).

From ancient times Midsummer's Eve was a celebration linked to the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. In northern European countries like Sweden, Norway, and Estonia Midsummer's Eve is considered the greatest festival of the year, comparable to Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

In some eastern and southern European countries the festival merged with St. John the Baptist Day, which is also on June 24. When I was on my mission in Brazil, St. John the Baptist Day was widely celebrated during a week or more of festivities, particularly in northeastern Brazil, where the whole season was referred to as the "June holidays."

In England, where many of our ancestors came from, Midsummer was celebrated on Midsummer's Eve (June 23). These celebrations date from at least the 13th century and were characterized by bonfires, feasting, and merrymaking. According to one report, "because Midsummer was thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strongest, it was considered a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. Traditionally, young people pick bouquets of seven or nine different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse."

One of our ancestors, Eliza Brazier Batt (1864-1926), shared an account of a Midsummer's Eve from when she was a teenager in England, serving as one of several maids in the mansion of a wealthy gentleman:

"I remember well one Midsummer's night, which night was always looked forward to with much merriment because one thought she could find out who she would marry.

"On this Midsummer's night the back door was left open instead of being locked, and because the house was very large and dark, this made a lonesome and weird feeling. Each girl placed on a table a basin of water and beside the basin a bunch of hyssop, then hung on a line a garment that she had worn many times. As the clock struck twelve, her future husband was supposed to come and sprinkle the garment with hyssop.

"So that night when the clock struck eleven, we were all sitting in a row. Not one word could be spoken or the spell would be broken.

"Tick, tick, tick—oh! how long an hour seemed! What if the housekeeper should find the door open, especially the street door? But, nothing ventured nothing to have gained, was our motto.

"Tick, tick, tick—we never knew an hour could be so long! Five minutes to twelve.

"Hark! What was that? Creak, creak, creak, nearer it came, a lose board in the corridor; creak, creak, closer and closer it seemed to come, but not a word must pass our lips. Creak, creak creak. Sitting nearest the door, I could take it no longer and jumped and ran and broke the spell" (Batt & Lee Ancestors, 6).