Hot, hot, hot

[dogfrank]

What have dog days got to do with dogs?

[andy hughes]

The 'dog days' fall between July 23 and August 23, in old Almanacs, which marked days with pictorial symbols, these days were marked with a dog. Superstition advised that various prohibitions during this period were good for people - abstinence from bathing, washing hair, conception and so on, gradually led to the notion that the 'dog days' were bad luck. In Roman times, when Sirus, the Dog Star appeared with the morning sun from July 20 onwards, it was said to foretell bad luck. A pagan superstition advised that underground spirits controlled the crops, and that dogs must be sacrificed to appease them. All in all, the 'dog days' were seen as a bad time, and since they fell in the height of summer, there's the connection.