_Dog-days._ A popular superstition—in all probability derived from the Egyptians—referred to the rising and setting of Sirius, or the Dog-star, as infusing madness into the canine race. Consequently, the name of “Dog-days” was given by the Romans to the period between the 3d of July and 11th of August, to which Shakespeare alludes in “Henry VIII.” (v. 3), “the dog-days now reign.” It is obvious that the notion is utterly groundless, for not only does the star vary in its rising, but is later and later every year. According to the Roman belief, “at the rising of the Dog-star the seas boil, the wines ferment in the cellars, and standing waters are set in motion; the dogs, also, go mad, and the sturgeon is blasted.” The term Dog-days is still a common phrase, and it is difficult to say whether it is from superstitious adherence to old custom or from a belief of the injurious effect of heat upon the canine race that the magistrates, often unwisely, at this season of the year order them to be muzzled or tied up. _Lammas-day_ (August 1). According to some antiquarians, Lammas is a corruption of loaf-mass, as our ancestors made an offering of bread from new wheat on this day. Others derive it from lamb-mass, because the tenants who held lands under the Cathedral Church of York were bound by their tenure to bring a live lamb into the church at high mass.[676] It appears to have been a popular day in times past, and is mentioned in the following dialogue in “Romeo and Juliet” (i. 3), where the Nurse inquires: “How long is it now To Lammas-tide? _Lady Capulet._ A fortnight, and odd days. _Nurse._ Even or odd, of all days in the year, Come Lammas-eve at night, shall she be fourteen?” [676] See “British Popular Customs,” pp. 347-351. In Neale’s “Essays on Liturgiology” (2d. ed., p. 526), the Welsh equivalent for Lammas-day is given as “dydd degwm wyn,” lamb-tithing day. _St. Charity_ (August 1). This saint is found in the Martyrology on the 1st of August: “Romæ passio Sanctaram Virginum Fidei, Spei, et Charitatis, quæ sub Hadriano principe martyriæ coronam adeptæ sunt.”[677] She is alluded to by Ophelia, in her song in “Hamlet” (iv. 5): “By Gis,[678] and by Saint Charity, Alack, and fie for shame!” etc. [677] Douglas’s “Criterion,” p. 68, cited by Ritson; see Douce’s “Illustrations of Shakespeare,” p. 475. [678] This is, perhaps, a corrupt abbreviation of “By Jesus.” Some would read “By Cis,” and understand by it “St. Cicely.” In the “Faire Maide of Bristowe” (1605) we find a similar allusion: “Now, by Saint Charity, if I were judge, A halter were the least should hamper him.”