St Barbara

St Barbara

Dec 4 is Saint Barbara's day. What I remember most about her day is that if you cut pussy willow branches (and the like) and put them in water on her day, they'd be budding by Christmas. 

Her story does read like a Fairy Tale though - supposedly beautiful and kind, but her jealous father kept her in a tower, where she became a Christian. Did she let down her hair and escape? No, but her father drug her by her hair to be executed. A mighty clap of thunder was heard and a lightening bolt reduced him to ashes. She lived and died around 300AD.