Halcyon is a name for a bird of Greek legend which is commonly associated with the kingfisher. The phrase comes from the ancient belief that fourteen days of calm weather were to be expected around the winter solstice - usually 21st or 22nd of December in the Northern Hemisphere. as that was when the halcyon calmed the surface of the sea in order to brood her eggs on a floating nest. The Halcyon days are generally regarded as beginning on the 14th or 15th of December.

Halcyon means calm and tranquil, or 'happy or carefree'. It is rarely used now apart from in the expression halcyon days. The name of the legendary bird was actually alcyon, the 'h' was added in regard to the supposed association with the sea ('hals' in Greek).

The source of the belief in the bird's power to calm the sea originated in a myth recorded by Ovid. The story goes that Aeolus, the ruler of the winds, had a daughter named Alcyone, who was married to Ceyx, the king of Thessaly. Ceyx was drowned at sea and Alcyone threw herself into the sea in grief. Instead of drowning, she was carried to her husband by the wind. The rest of the story is, in a translation of Ovid:

The Gods their shapes to winter-birds translate, But both obnoxious to their former fate. Their conjugal affection still is ty'd, And still the mournful race is multiply'd: They bill, they tread; Alcyone compress'd, Sev'n days sits brooding on her floating nest: A wintry queen: her sire at length is kind, Calms ev'ry storm, and hushes ev'ry wind; Prepares his empire for his daughter's ease, And for his hatching nephews smooths the seas.

The legendary bird is usually identified with the kingfisher. That was also said to nest on the sea and was believed to be able to calm the sea for the seven days before and seven days after the winter solstice.

In 1398, John Trevisa translated Bartholomew de Glanville's De proprietatibus rerum into Middle English:

"In the cliffe of a ponde of occean, Alcion, a see foule, in wynter maketh her neste and layeth egges in vii days and sittyth on brood ... seuen dayes."

In Henry VI, Part I, 1592, Shakespeare refers to halcyon days:

JOAN LA PUCELLE: Assign'd am I to be the English scourge. This night the siege assuredly I'll raise: Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days, Since I have entered into these wars.

Note: Saint Martin's summer is what we now know as an Indian summer.

The kingfisher is associated with other powers relating to the weather. In mediaeval times it was thought that if the dried carcase of a kingfisher was hung up it would always point its beak in the direction of the wind [don't try this at home]. Shakespeare also refers to this in King Lear, 1605:

Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods; Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks With every gale and vary of their masters

Our current use of halcyon days tends to be nostalgic and recalling of the seemingly endless sunny days of youth.

"Halcyon Days" may also refer to: 

In 2003, two young lads played together in what was the first incarnation of the band Halcyon Daze. For years, musicians came and went from the group, but the duo of guitarist/singer Podge and drummer Jay was a constant, and formed a solid foundation for Halcyon Daze. As Jay and Podge were both still in school, the band was very on and off, that is until the pair finally realised that music was all they should be doing and quit college to take the band to the next level.

Having already played a lot of the venues on the Dublin gig circuit, they decided it made more sense to do something different to their peers, who seemed to be going around in circles, by playing free gigs on the streets. Instantly the band began to build a real following, and even more so with the addition of Daragh Kinch on bass in October 2010. Since then the group has jammed out on street corners, at college balls, flea markets, parks and even a haunted castle! By playing gigs in England and Scotland, and especially by playing on the streets around Ireland to masses of people, Halcyon Daze has built a reputation as a great live act, and gained an international fanbase that extends accross Europe and even over to the U.S.

In the seven years of the bands existence, Halcyon Daze's sound has morphed and mutated into many different musical styles - spacey psychedelic soundscapes, wahwah and sunshine soaked funk, crunching rock and metal, folk, prog, dance, surf, porn and country music, off the wall improvised jams, and many other things that don't have words - the trio just play whatever comes out of them. The sound has been described as "mesmerizing", "tidal" and "hypnotic" by listeners and it is not unusual to see people breaking into dance or even start screaming at the top of their voice in joy as they pass the band on the street. (No joke)

2011 has been a great year for Halcyon Daze so far, the busy group continue to spread their message on the streets and in venues around Ireland, and in August they will make their first ever festival appearance at the world famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, where earlier in the year they were filmed for a soon to be aired Australian TV show showcasing undiscovered musicians from around the world

David Granato and Cloudye Carew-Reid the founders of Polygranate Films are in Edinburgh to film a TV Special featuring Halcyon Daze, Das Contras, an exciting new Rock Jazz Funk Band from Fifth in Scotland getting ready to tour Australia with Halcyon Daze and other new exciting

talent discovered around

the world by Wijat Records such as Michael Scot Parker (the girl) and her Creature Rock Band from San Francisco,

Ian Pummell's Trip Tyle, Skirlie

a Scotish Folk Band and

the list goes on and on....

Home Page

 INLNews.Com   USAWeeklyNewsNews
Easy To find Hard To Leave
GMail YahooMail HotMail GMail 
MyWayMail  AOLMail  
USA MAIL

YahooUK     INLNews.Com  Bebo    YouTube   MySpace   
Twitter  FaceBook.

Click here to log into ClipMarks.com 
 http://www.facebook.com/login.php 

USAWeeklyNews.com
 Easy To Find and Hard to Leave

Mr Wijat recommends to check out these great email, news and information links  
au1.us for
DailyworldnewsHeadlines 

 INLNews.Com 
 USAWeeklyNewsNews
Easy To find Hard To Leave   

EdinburghFringeFest  inltv.com  USAWeekendNews 

INLNews.Com   CNNWorld  IsraelVideoNs
 NYTimes WashNs
 WorldMedia  
JapaNs  AusNs 
WorldVideoNs  
WorldFinance
ChinaDaily  Ind
iaNs USADaily BBC EuroNs 
ABCAust NZNews QldNews
 WANs   NZNews  QldNews
 MelbAge   AdeaideNews  TasNews  ABCTas   DarwinNews YAHOO 7 Australia  YahooUK INLNews.Com  Urban75.com

 Comcast.net: News, Sports, Video, TV listings, Email and more!http://www.comcast.net/d/
 Click Here For Your Up To Date World Live Sports Scores

USAWeeklyNews.com
Easy To Find and Hard to Leave
http://www.usaweeklynews.com/Home_Page.php

Your Daily Motivation from Inspiration Line Add Inspiring Daily Quotes to YOUR Website 

Top Stories Video/Audio  Reuters AP AFP The Christian Science Monitor U.S. News & World Report AFP Features Reuters Life! NPR The Advocate Pew Daily Number Today in History Obituaries Corrections Politics   LocalNews o BBC News Video Reuters Video AFP Video CNBC Video Australia 7 News Video CBC.ca Video  NPR Audio Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone Video Richard Bangs Adventures Video Charlie Rose Video Expanded Books Video Assignment Earth Video ROOFTOPCOMEDY.com Video Guinness World Records Video weather.com
Video AccuWeather Video You Witness News User VideoNews Services News via RSS  News Alerts Weather Alerts News Badge Yahoo! News Help
 News by Region (Yahoo! Directory) News & Media Sites (Yahoo! Directory)

 Exciting Wijat  
Entertainment  News:
Halcyon Daze set to take to music world by storm 

Wijat Records signs the most exciting new Irish Band from Dublin, Ireland found by the Fringe Shows Have 
Talent Team busking in Dublin on the sam street corner where Bono and his U2 Band where found

Mr Wijat recomends 
clicking here to see rare USAWeeklyNews footage of Dar Williams backed by a four piece rock band 
playing live at 
the Club Voltaire, 
Edinburgh, Scotland in 2007
http://www.usaweeklynews.com/Dar_Williams_
Live_4.php

Dar Williams singing to a packed house at The Pleasance Bar, Edinburgh, 21st November, 2009