“It is late in March, so quarter-day is at hand” [WIST]
“I called at Allan Brothers’, the chief land agents in the village, and found that it was from this firm that the villa had been rented. It struck me that the whole proceeding could hardly be for the purpose of making a fool of me, and that the main object must be to get out of the rent. It is late in March, so quarter-day is at hand.”
What is quarter day and what does it have to do with real estate?
The short answer is there are four quarter days in a year: one each in March, June, September, and December. And rent was always due at the end of the quarter.
The longer answer is each of these quarter days has a special significance tied to a religious holiday or celebration:
- March: Lady Day (the Annunciation)
- June: Midsummer Day (the Nativity of John the Baptist)
- September: Michaelmas (St. Michael and the Angels)
- December: Christmas (the Nativity of Jesus)
It is only Lady Day that gets mentioned in the Canon, though. We've already mentioned "Wisteria Lodge." The other is "The Resident Patient," when Percy Trevelyan recounted Mr. Blessington's offer:
“This was the strange proposal, Mr. Holmes, with which the man Blessington approached me. I won’t weary you with the account of how we bargained and negotiated. It ended in my moving into the house next Lady Day, and starting in practice on very much the same conditions as he had suggested.”
In the very first season of Trifles, we discussed the significance of quarter days:
Meanwhile, at Baker Street Elementary, the dates seem to be the biggest mystification of all...
Baker Street Elementary follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at the Baker Street Elementary website.
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