Lammastide

August 1 is Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon hlaf-mas, "loaf-mass"), the festival of the wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. There is also a Gaelic festival called Lughnasadh, but I have decided in this poem to focus on the Anglo-Saxon customs:

Lammastide
 
The bells are ringing out so clear
Calling out across the land
Come, they say, oh, come on here
Leave the meadow, leave the sand
 
It is the festival of harvest wheat
Come along, and bring the bread
The blessings of the summer heat
Break the bread, and come be fed
 
Take the bread, and break in four
So spins the magic, tells the yarn
Of ancient Anglo-Saxon lore
And put in corners of the barn
 
Come Lammastide, at sound of bells
The feast of first fruits weaves its spells