October

Illustration by Frederick Walker (1822) Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel

O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

~Percy Bysshe Shelley (1819)

October was called ‘Winterfylleth’ or ‘the fullness of winter’ by the Anglo-Saxons because it is when the first full moon of winter occurs. October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and has 31 days. October's name is a holdover from the old Roman calendar and comes from the Latin and Greek word for eight, ôctō. From duck migration to cherry tree flowering, portents and superstitions abound in October, which has, throughout time, been linked with harvest time and survival in the coming winter months.