Thirty Days Hath September - History

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 has 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.

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 but twenty-nine.

Later versions differ from the medieval version in that September and November are often reversed, as in the Mother Goose variants above. As with any text that is still primarily transmitted orally, many versions exist. The first two lines are usually similar, with variations in the final lines relating to February. For instance, here is an unusual version that is longer and more rhythmic, with paired rhyming lines:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

no exceptions, but save one:

twenty-eight hath February,

but from this we still must vary

each four years when we do find

a small leap to twenty-nine.

A shorter version that rhymes perfectly is from an unknown source and date:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

Thirty-one the others date,

Except in February, twenty-eight;

But in leap year we assign

February, twenty-nine.