IN Winchester they call Swithin "Swithun". I suppose they ought to know, since he has been associated with the city for more than 1,100 years. He was born there around AD 800, was bishop of the diocese from 852 until his death some 10 years later, and has several dozen churches in the region dedicated to his memory.
Most of us are aware of Swithun only from the ancient belief about the weather on his feast day - which is, of course, today. In its most popular form the saying goes:
Saint Swithun's day if it do rain,
For forty days it will remain.
Saint Swithun's day on it be fair,
For forty days `twill rain nae mair.
Apparently Swithun, who was renowned for his humility, left instructions that when he died he was to be buried outside his cathedral "in a place made vile both by the feet of passers by and by the raindrops falling from the eaves".
There he lay for more than 100 years. But when miracles came to be performed in Swithun's name, the local monks came to think of it as scandalous that the remains of such a holy man should rest in such a lowly spot.
They prepared to move him to an opulent shrine inside the cathedral, the day appointed being July 15th, 971.
According to legend, a tempest raged on that fateful day and the removal was postponed for 40 days and 40 nights it rained without intermission until the monks, realising the folly of trying to thwart the saintly whim, decided to leave the humble bishop where he was.
But history records a somewhat different tale. According to contemporary narratives, the transfer was successfully accomplished on the chosen day, albeit during a very severe storm. Moreover, in succeeding years, the poor saint endured several more "translations", as they are rather nicely called.
In 974 his bones were split in two, half being consigned to a side chapel for the benefit of pilgrims and the rest to a shrine behind the high alter for ceremonial occasions.
Then in 1006 Alphege, Bishop of Winchester, was made Archbishop of Canterbury and, wishing to bring a worthy gift to his new flock, he took the head of Swithun with him. In 1125 Reinald, one of the monks of Winchester, crossed the North Sea to found a Christian settlement at Stavanger, and allegedly took one of Swithun's arms to Norway.
And finally Swithun's remaining bones were scattered far and wide during desecrations of his shrine in 1252, and again in 1538 as part of Henry VII's dissolution of the monasteries. Poor Swithun, apparently, was rarely allowed to rest in peace for long.