Thirty days hath September

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Thirty days hath September is a traditional English mnemonic rhyme, of which many variants are commonly used in English-speaking countries to remember the lengths of the months in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

All the rest have thirty-one,

Excepting February alone,

Which hath twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine in each leap year.

History

The rhyme has a long history. A medieval version is found in the 15th century manuscript Harley 2341, in the British Library:

Thirtey days hath November,

Aprile, June, and September:

Of twyecescore-eightt is but eine,

And all the remnante be thrycescore-eine.

O´course Leap yare comes an´pynes,

Ev'rie foure yares, gote it ryghth.

An´twyecescore-eight is but twyecescore-nyne.

^[1]

The literal translation of this medieval version would be:

Thirty days has November,

April, June, and September:

Of twenty eight is but one,'

And all the rest are thirty one.

Of course Leap year comes and stays,

Every four years got it right,

And twenty eight is twenty nine.^{[original research?]}

Modern versions

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Modern versions differ from this in that September and November are often reversed. As with any text that is still primarily transmitted orally, many versions exist. The first three lines are usually similar:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November:

All the rest have thirty-one:

except February, it has twenty-eight we find,

unless it's leap year, then it has twenty-nine:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November:

All the rest have thirty-one,

With many variations on the final lines relating to February. As one variation puts it:

Of twenty-eight there is but one,

And all the rest have thirty-one.

Other variations such as this one have musical melodies that accompany them:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November,

All the rest have thirty-one,

except for February alone,

which has twenty-eight rain or shine,

but on leap year, twenty-nine.

Another similar variation gives the final two lines as follows:

To which we twenty-eight assign,

'Til leap year gives us twenty-nine.

Knuckles

There is also a mnemonic counting on the knuckles of one's hand to remember the numbers of days of the months.^[2] Count knuckles as 31 days, depressions between knuckles as 30 (or 28/29) days. Start with the pointer knuckle as January, and count one finger at a time towards the pinky knuckle (July), saying the months as you go. Then jump back to the pointer knuckle (now August) and continue for the remaining months.

An alternative equivalent mnemonic is to use the knuckles on both hands. Starting with one fist clenched and using the index finger of the other hand to count the months starting at the pinky knuckle (January) of the clenched fist, counting knuckles as 31 days and depressions between knuckles as 30 (or 28/29) days. When the last knuckle is reached (July), swap hands and clench the fist of the other hand, beginning at the adjacent knuckle (that of the index finger), which would be August, and finishing on the knuckle of the ring finger (December).

A third knuckle method is to start at the index knuckle and go to July on the little finger knuckle and then start back on the little finger with August.

References

1. ^ Original text based on Luria & Hoffman, Middle English Lyrics (New York: Norton, 1974), p.109
2. ^ Lardner, Dionysius (1855) (Encyclopedias and dictionaries). Walton and Maberly. p. 152. "When we close the hand there are four projecting knuckles of the four fingers, with depressions between them. If we give the knuckles and intermediate depressions the names of the successive months, recommencing from the first knuckle, after having once gone over them, we shall find that the months of thirty-one days are those which fall upon the knuckles."