Rain, rain, go away

Christine Tailer
By Christine Tailer
HCP columnist
The first few weeks of spring have hardly been springlike here in the creek valley. The dawning temperatures have dipped well below freezing, and the gray skies have repeatedly dropped not only rain, but hail. I have sadly put on my down vest before venturing outside to make my morning rounds, all the while, a childhood rhyme circling through my thoughts.
“Rain, rain, go away.
Come again some other day.
We want to go outside and play.
Rain, rain, go away.”
I remembered the little song from my childhood, well over 60 years ago. I was certain, however, that the simple song was far older than even I.
I decided to look into it, and yes, the rhyme is old indeed, dating back to the late 1500s, a time when the Britain and Spain were ocean going rivals. The Spaniards had built a fleet of over 150 galleons, and due to the ships’ massive size and armament of as many as 200 cannons on each ship, they were presumed to be undefeatable.
British sailing ships, on the other hand, were much smaller, but because of their small size, they were far more maneuverable. In late May of 1588, the renowned Spanish fleet left Lisbon, intending to sail up the English Channel, make landfall, offload their 15,000 troops, conquer Britain, and thereby reinstate Catholicism, as well as end the British threat to Spanish holdings in the New World.
The impressive Armada set sail under fair winds and made its way north to the English Channel. There, they set anchor for the night, planning to launch their shore attack in the morning, but while the Spaniards slept, the smaller, more agile British ships sailed in among them and set fire to many of the vessels.
Five of the massive galleons were engulfed in flames and sunk. The others ships hastily pulled up their anchors and set sail, scattering into what was becoming a stormy night. The galleons set course across the channel towards the presumed safety of the European coast, but by then the storm had grown so strong that many of the deep drafting ships were blown up against the rocky shores and sank. The remaining fleet managed to stay in deep water and sailed through the storm to escape into the North Sea.
While the British had sunk five of the invading fleet, the storm’s toll was far higher. Twenty-four of the Armada’s galleons were lost to the storm, and so the high seas and wind whipped rain aided the British in their defeat of the mighty Spanish Armada.
The original words of the rain song were somewhat different from the childhood version I know.
“Rain, rain, go to Spain.
Never show your face again.”
It was not until 1843, that James Orchard Halliwell, a British author, published a book of oral tradition children’s rhymes and stories that had been passed down through the generations. Halliwell’s version of the rhyme included the wording with which I have always been so familiar.
Thus, it appears that the rain and stormy weather played a large part in Britain’s victory over the Spanish Armada. I looked across the creek valley, the simple rhyme dancing through my thoughts. I lead the little horses out of their muddy paddock and over to the hay shelter where I could pick the mud out of their hooves and still stay relatively dry.
The rain pattered down on the shelter’s metal roof. The little horses happily nibbled at the rain-soaked grass, and I danced to the simple little tune. I imagined the British, back in 1588, also dancing in the rain.
Christine Tailer is an attorney and former city dweller who moved several years ago, with her husband, Greg, to an off-grid farm in Ohio south-central Ohio. Visit them on the web at straightcreekvalleyfarm.com.
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