Lammas, n.
(ˈlæməs)
Forms: 1 Hláf-, Hlámmæsse, -messe, 2–7 Lammasse, 3 Lanmasse, 3–4 Lamasse, 3–5 Lam(m)es(s)e, 6–7 Lambmes(se, Lammes, 7 Lamas, 8 Lambmass, 5– Lammas.
[OE. hláfmæsse, f. hláf bread, loaf + mæsse mass; afterwards popularly apprehended as if f. lamb + mass.]
1. The 1st of August (Festum Sancti Petri ad Vincula in the Roman calendar; see also gule), in the early English church observed as a harvest festival, at which loaves of bread were consecrated, made from the first ripe corn. (In Scotland, one of the usual quarter-days.) Also, the part of the year marked by this festival.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. v. xiii. §2 Þæt (wæs) on þære tide calendas Agustus, & on þæm dæᵹe þe we hatað ‘hlaf⁓mæsse’. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1135 (Laud MS.) On þis ȝære for se king..ouer sæ æt te Lammasse. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 37/124 Bi-fore lamasse seueniȝht. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 421, I salle at Lammese take leue. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 286/1 Lammesse, festum agnorum, vel Festum ad Vincula Sancti Petri. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. (1482) 296 To mete at southampton by lammasse next sewyng without ony delay. 1570 Reg. Ministers in Lauder's Tractate (1864) Pref. 10 William Lauder, Minister of Forgondynye (in 1567), [his stipend] iiijxxli. [{pstlg}80], and xxli. mair sen Lambmes, 1569. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 393 Adam, called Bishop of Orkney, was delated for not visiting the kirks of his countrie, from Lambmesse to Allhallowmesse. 1716 Addison Drummer v. i, Six years old last Lammas. 1833 Tennyson in Mem. (1897) I. 112 A voice ran round the hills When corny Lammas bound the sheaves. |
† 2. Short for
Lammas-wheat.
Obs.| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 151 The white Lammas has both ears and grain white, and the red Lammas both red. |
3. latter Lammas († day), a day that will never come.
at latter Lammas: humorously for ‘never’.
| 1567 Gascoigne Instruct. Making Verse Posies (1575) U ij, Many writers..draw their sentences in length, & make an ende at latter Lammas. 1576 ― Steele Gl. (Arb.) 55 This is the cause (beleue me now my Lorde)..That courtiers thriue, at latter Lammas day. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xv. 316 This your will At latter lammas wee'l fulfill. a 1734 North Lives (1826) I. 4 The very expectation of them puts me in mind of latter Lammas. 1805 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. III. 244 This convocation was some⁓what unbecomingly postponed to latter Lammas. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago vii, A treatise..which will be published probably..in the season of Latter Lammas, and the Greek Kalends. |
4. attrib. and
Comb.: chiefly with the sense of ‘occurring’ or (of fruits) ‘ripening at Lammas,’ as
Lammas-apple,
Lammas-assize,
Lammas-eve,
Lammas-feast,
Lammas-month,
Lammas-night,
Lammas-tide,
Lammas-time;
Lammas-day, August 1;
Lammas growth Forestry [equivalent of G.
Johannestrieb St. John's shoot, in allusion to
St. John the Baptist's day, 24 June], a shoot produced by a tree in summer, after a pause in growth;
Lammas-land (see
quot. 1870); similarly
Lammas-field,
Lammas-mead,
Lammas-meadow-ground,
Lammas-rights;
Lammas shoot = Lammas growth;
Lammas-tower (see
quot. 1792);
Lammas-wheat = winter wheat.
| 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., *Lammas-apple. |
| c 1605 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 213 This yeare (1604) was *lammasse sysies holden at Rippo'. |
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 290 Nim of ðam ᵹehalᵹedan hlafe þe man haliᵹe on *hlafmæsse dæᵹ. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8669 In a þoresdai it was & þe morwe al so After lammasse day þat þis dede was ydo. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 239 Of hem is þe feste [of] Lammesse day, þey Peter were brouȝt out of prisoun aboute Ester tyme. a 1557 Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne Club) 9 Wpoun the Lambes day, the king desyrit fra all his officiaris renunciatioun of thair offices. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. viii. 122 On the first of August (Lammas Day; that the Reader may not forget it). |
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 17 Of all daies in the yeare come *Lammas Eue at night shall she be fourteene. 1820 Combe Consol. i. 132 I'm sure he'll grieve From Midsummer to Lammas Eve. |
| 1721 Ramsay Richy & Sandy 40 We'll meikle miss his blyth and witty jest, At spaining time, or at our *Lambmass feast. |
| 1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 246 The Roman tribesman..would probably have followed the early custom retained in the regulations of the ‘*Lammas fields’ in England, his arable resuming the character of common pasturage as soon as the crops were off the ground. |
| 1950 F. S. Baker Princ. Silviculture xv. 302 So-called ‘*lammas growth’ is common in some species... In vigorous young oak trees the lammas shoot formation may be repeated three or four times a season. 1971 T. T. Kozlowski Growth & Devel. Trees I. v. 204 Lammas growth often causes profuse branching and knotty lumber. |
| 1787 Mrs. Trimmer Œconomy Charity 113 The privilege of the people to turn in on the *Lammas lands is insensibly sliding away. 1870 Lubbock Orig. Civiliz. x. (1875) 445 Thus our ‘Lammas Lands’ were so called, because they were private property until Lammas Day (Aug. 1) after which period they were subject to common rights of pasturage till the spring. |
| 1826 Sunday Times 27 Aug. 3/3 To enquire to whom the right of hiring, mowing or feeding-off the crops on King's or *Lammas Meads vested. |
| 1694 Lond. Gaz. No. 2989/4 [It] has the benefit of a good Common, and several Acres of *Lammas Meadow-Ground. |
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 369 Claudius bygan to regne in *Lammesse monþe [L. mense Augusto]. |
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11650 In a *lammasse niȝt..Out of Wurcetre he wende. |
| 1892 Law Rep. Weekly Notes 165/1 Lands which were subject to *lammas rights had been acquired by the Ealing Local Board. |
| 1929 T. Thomson tr. Büsgen's Struct. & Life Forest Trees i. 10 The part of the annual shoot formed after the pause..appears as a new growth to which the name of *Lammas Shoot has been given in view of the approximate date of its appearance... The lammas shoots of the oak are very vigorous. 1971 T. T. Kozlowski Growth & Devel. Trees I. v. 202 Lammas shoots often form in response to abundance of available water. |
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 221 Þe fift day it was after *Lammesse tide, & writen is in þat pas, at Euesham gan þei ride. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 15 How long is it now to Lammas tide? |
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 314 Bi this lyflode we mot lyue till *Lammasse tyme. |
| [1792 Archæol. Scot. I. 194 Each of these communities agreed to build a tower in some conspicuous place..which was to serve as the place of their rendezvous on Lammas day.] Ibid. I. 198 The name of *Lammas towers will remain..after the celebration of the festival has ceased. |
| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 6 Some bring a plentifull encrease of good *Lammas Wheat. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 31 Winter, or Lammas Wheat—Triticum hybernum. |