Thirty Days Hath September

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,

Save February, with twenty-eight days clear,

And twenty-nine each leap year.

History

The rhyme has a long pen is. 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.

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 remnant is thirty-one.

Of course Leap year comes and stays,

Every four years got it right,

And twenty-eight is but twenty-nine.

Modern versions

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Of twenty-eight there is but one,

And all the rest have thirty-one.:

...or others:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

February has 28 alone,

All the rest have thirty-one;

Except there is a time,

When February has twenty-nine.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

Excepting February alone

Which has eight and one score

And every fourth year one more.

Thirty days hath September

April, June, and November.

All the rest have Thirty-One,

– well, all the rest but one.

February only has twenty-eight,

and that's just fine,

except for every fourth year,

when February has twenty-nine.

30 days hath September,

April, June and November,

All the rest have 31,

Except February alone

(Which has 28 days clear,

and 29 in each leap year).

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

Once short February's done,

All the rest have thirty-one.

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."

30 days have September,

April, June and November,

All the rest have 31,

Except for February alone

And that has 28 days clear

and 29 in each leap year

Other more elaborate variations such as these commonly 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.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November,

All the rest have thirty-one,

except for February alone oh no,

which has three less than the others rain or shine,

but on leap years, twenty-nine.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

All the rest have thirty-one,

except for February alone,

which has four and twenty-four,

'til leap year gives it one day more.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, and November;

All the rest have thirty-one,

except for quite contrary, February,

which has twenty-eight most of the time,

but in leap year twenty-nine.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

save for February alone.

And then in leap year that's the time

that February has twenty-nine.

Thirty days hath September,

April, June and November.

All the rest have thirty-one,

February has twenty-eight alone.

Leap year coming one in four,

February has one day more.

Another similar variation gives the final two lines as follows:

To which we twenty-eight assign,

'Til leap year gives us twenty-nine.

In one Bugs Bunny Cartoon, Daffy Duck was quoted in saying:

"Thirty Days Hath September,

April, June, and Nebraska!"

Knuckles

The knuckle mnemonic.

The French typically use a mnemonic by counting on the knuckles of one's hand to remember the numbers of days of the months. Count knuckles as 31 days, depressions between knuckles as 30 (or 28/29) days. Start with the index finger knuckle as January, and count one finger at a time towards the little finger knuckle (July), saying the months as you go. Then jump back to the index finger knuckle (now August) and continue for the remaining months.

One variant of this approach differs after reaching the little finger knuckle (July): instead of wrapping around back to the index finger, some people reverse direction and continue from the little finger knuckle (counting it for both July and August) and ending on the middle finger knuckle. Still others use two hands (as shown in the diagram, right): starting with the little finger knuckle of the left hand proceed to the left index finger knuckle, then (swapping hands) jump to the right fist's index finger knuckle for August, finishing on the knuckle of the right ring finger (December).