TODAY is Michaelmas Day, more formally known as the Feast Day of St Michael the Archangel who was a spirit, not a human being. Nonetheless, mass was said throughout the world to celebrate the occasion, but here in the North-East of England, it was always claimed that the devil put his foot on the ripe brambles on this date. In some cases, it was claimed the devil spat on them. This was one way of reminding country folk that, after this date, the bramble crop was past its best and that it was no longer wise to eat them.

In bygone times, there were many other celebrations on this date. Goose fairs were popular in some areas, the largest being in Nottingham; in some parts of this region, sheep sales were held while in others, hiring fairs were sometimes arranged, although most of these occurred at Martinmas (November 11).

In some parts of Yorkshire, rose hips were picked and turned into a drink, thus making this day known as Hipping Day. In the south, it was the date for electing the Lord Mayor of London, while in many rural areas throughout the country, it was one of the quarter days when rents were due.

So far as our weather is concerned, it is said that if no rain appears on Michaelmas Day, then a dry spring is forecast, while a heavy acorn crop on this day heralds a covering of snow at Christmas.

A clutch of nouns

Following my recent references to dotterel in the Yorkshire Dales, a Leeds reader has reminded me that the collective noun for a group of these birds is a trip. A trip of dotterel has a lovely sound to it, and he also quotes a parliament of rooks, a covert of coot and a murmuration, or chattering, of starlings. There are many others and I quote a few: a peep of chickens, a murder of crows, a herd of curlews, a flight of doves, a paddling of ducks, a convocation of eagles, a charm of finches, a gaggle of geese, a trembling of goldfinches, a siege of herons, a band of jays, a deceit of lapwings, an exaltation of larks, a tiding of magpies, a watch of nightingales, a covey of partridges, a congregation of plovers, a rush of pochards, a clamour of rooks, a wisp of snipe, a tribe of sparrows, a flight of swallows, a spring of teal, a mutation of thrushes, a company of widgeon, a descent of woodpeckers and a herd of wrens.

There is a similar list for groups of animals, and here are some of them: a sute of bloodhounds, a pace of asses, a clouder of cats, a drove or herd of cattle, a rag of colts a herd of deer, a kennel or pack of dogs, a business of ferrets, a trip of goats, a leash of greyhounds, a husk of hares, a harras of horses, a nest of mice, a labour of moles, a team or yoke of oxen, a litter of pigs, a nest of rabbits, a hurtle or flock of sheep and a pack of wolves.

Fish don't attract the same breadth of names, but here are some: a catch means a number of fish caught at any one time, a cran is a measure of caught herrings, a flote is another name for a shoal which refers to a large group of fish, while a run is a shoal in motion.

A school refers to porpoises or other large creatures like whales, while a group of jellyfish is known as a flutter.

As a member of the Crime Writers' Association, I recall someone trying to decide on a suitable name for a group of such authors, and my wife came up with: a body of crime writers or a volume of authors, while someone else added a disaster of politicians, an expectation of children, a flow of motorists, a nuisance of complainers, a litter of tourists and a jam of caravans. I am sure many more suitable names could be added to this list.

Slaking a thirst

Recently in these notes, I commented upon the fact that wasps had been visiting our bird bath, apparently to drink deeply from the edge of the water and I wondered if this was normal behaviour for these busy insects. In response, I have received a note from a reader in Hamsterley, who tells of a neighbour who regularly placed drinks of water outside for the bees, while a retired biology teacher from Darlington writes to say that wasps do take water on board, almost like mini-tankers. They seem to spend some time stocking up their supplies, which they then carry back to their nest for the purpose of cooling it.

Because wasps' nests are often in warm, dry places they do tend to get overheated, and this can also occur due simply to the activities of the insects themselves. They generate a good deal of heat during their daily routine, and so, to make life more tolerable, they gather cool water and then jettison it upon the surfaces of their nest. The water then evaporates and this produces a very effective cooling system.

Bees also drink water and my correspondent recalls seeing lines of bees heading from their hives to a nearby duck pond to enjoy a long, cool sip. While writing, my Darlington correspondent refers to an earlier note in which a Middlesbrough reader noticed an insect, which looked very like a bumble bee; it used a long proboscis to abstract nectar while hovering over flowers with wings whirring like a humming bird. I thought she had seen a type of hoverfly, possibly one known as the bee fly, but my correspondent tells me that a hoverfly settles on the flower to abstract the nectar, and it does not have a long proboscis. She believes that my Middlesbrough correspondent actually saw a bee hawk moth. There are two kinds of bee hawk moth, the broad-bordered bee hawk moth (Hemaris fudformis) and the narrow-bordered bee hawk moth (Hemaris tityus). Although these are usually restricted to the south of England, they have been seen in the north in increasing numbers, probably due to global warming, but the interesting thing is that these large moths do hover over flowers, and they do use a long proboscis to abstract the nectar.

Furthermore, they do look very much like large bumble bees - the wing-span of the former is about two inches, so these insects are a considerable size. The wings of these moths are transparent, like those of a bee, and they have coloured borders, maroon in the case of the broad-bordered variety, and rather more brown for the narrow-bordered variety.

When the moths are hovering over a flower, their wings are a mere blur, and although both species were declining in recent years, it does seem that their numbers have lately increased as they have spread northwards.

The narrow-bordered variety can be seen in Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as this country, while the broader-bordered bee hawk moth was generally confined to the south of England, and only in a few isolated areas.

Now, it seems, thanks to global warming, both are more widespread, and both may visit the same flowers at the same time. Unlike many other moths, these do fly during the day-time hours, and they seem to favour places like railway embankments, woodland clearings, meadows near woods and other places where a rich variety and lush profusion of wild flowers can be seen, but they also like marigolds and rhododendrons in our gardens. The most likely time to see them is during May and June. I thank my correspondent for her helpful note.

Sticks and stones

In days of yore, which were before the era of political correctness, people would make fun of others in various ways, and one of those methods was to chant a verse about their home village or town. For example there was "Raskelf - a wooden church, a wooden steeple, rascally place and rascally people," or "Romaldkirk - rum old church, rum old steeple, rum old parish, rum old people." Of Stokesley, people would chant: "Stowla's larnt all it knaws fra t'Yatton feeals," or "Well and Snape, where they gin and gape, and bray hard watter soft wi' a clothes prop." Yarm was said to be the only place that was finished when the world was created while "Whorlton snobs are all bobs" and Nafferton is "where they shoe ducks by steam." Wonderful stuff!