Catherine Rowan Jones

Just checked & no mention of #QuarterDays, so time for a #nerdout

Back in the early 2000s I was proof-reading commercial leases: office space & small businesses including many fish & chip shops.

I had to make my own fun to maintain focus (fish & chip shop names aside). I soon learned that almost all these modern business leases stated that rent was to be paid quarterly - fair enough, I thought. But:

'on the standard Quarter Days'

FYI these are 25 March, 24 June, 29 September, 25 December.

Sep 29, 2023 at 10:30pmWeb
Show threadCatherine Rowan JonesSep 29, 2023

Why these precise dates?

Because there's a very long tradition of paying rent on the Quarter Days, said my boss.

I knew from my time as a historical re-enactor (specialist period 1460-1485), these were four major religious feast days of the Church, so there'd be regular reminders.

So, on this #Michaelmas #MichaelmasDay all kinds of businesses are paying their rent on a feast day fallen into desuetude, wondering 'why today' & receiving that most unhelpful response, 'because we always have'.

Show threadJessica SSep 30, 2023

@ivyfox also still the main date for agricultural rents.

There's also a neat way to remember them!

Show threadCatherine Rowan JonesSep 30, 2023
@JessicaS
Thank you, I reckoned they'd likely be so but it's great to have it confirmed.
The mnemonic is very tidy!
Show threadSally JefferySep 30, 2023
@ivyfox @aegir If a head lease was written in eg the 1980s using the old quarter days, sub-leases that refer to it must use those dates too. It’s a pain in the bum but lawyering it out means ££££. So you just use the mnemonic for the days (provided you can remember the months). Number of letters in the month gives the second digit in the date, so March with five letters = 25 March (Lady Day). And so on. Doesn't work for Christmas but you may know that one.
#nerdery
Show threadCatherine Rowan JonesSep 30, 2023
@sallyjeffery @aegir
Ah, thank you for the explanation.
My boss did tell me the mnemonic, so I could check the dates if they were specified.