Borrowed days of March

The last three days of March are said to be “borrowed from April.”

‘March said to Aperill,

I see 3 hoggs [hoggets, sheep] upon a hill;

And if youʹll lend me dayes 3

Iʹll find a way to make them dee [die].

The first oʹ them wus wind and weet,

The second oʹ them wus snaw and sleet,

The third oʹ them wus sic a freeze

It froze the birdsʹ nebs to the trees.

When the 3 days were past and gane

The 3 silly hoggs came hirpling [limping] hame.”

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.