For ancient Celtic people May 1st was Beltane( Bel's Fire). The first day of summer and bonfires were lit to help the sun regain it's strength. A day of feasting and in many places there are still traditional events on this day, involving dancing round maypoles, May Queens, Garland dancers and Morris men and hobby horses.
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| The Maypole Pub in Wetherden, a village in Mid Suffolk. |
I don't know how many pubs in England are called The Maypole but in the village where I went to primary school there is a one and a very old building it is too...... circa 1530. The maypole in the middle of the front yard wasn't there until a few years ago.
Ne'er cast a clout till May is out.
Probably
the best know of weather sayings because May can have hot sunny days
and frosts too, don't rely on summer clothes too soon. Or does it mean
May flowers on Hawthorn? No one knows!
But May Blossom should never be taken inside the house and bunches were traditionally hung outside above the doors and windows to protect against the devil.
Hawthorn blossom and Elder flowers
Fill the house with evil powers.
Although many Elderflowers are brought in to make Elderflower Cordial or wine, so I'm not sure what happens then!
During May the day length increases to 16 hours and 17 minutes by the end of the month and over 17 hours in Scotland.
Watch out for late frosts around the third week of May. These are attributed to Saint Dunstan (or St. Franklin in some versions). Apparently he made a pact with the devil in order to obtain good sales of his beer. In return for his soul the devil promised to attack the blossoms of the apple trees in the orchards so that the cider makers would have less cider to sell.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Watch out for late frosts around the third week of May. These are attributed to Saint Dunstan (or St. Franklin in some versions). Apparently he made a pact with the devil in order to obtain good sales of his beer. In return for his soul the devil promised to attack the blossoms of the apple trees in the orchards so that the cider makers would have less cider to sell.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
Those illustrations are simply beautiful.
ReplyDeleteJ x
Every page is a treat
DeleteMy dad used to say your top one, and would never plant anything tender until the end of May, we lived in Somerset and I still follow his lead. Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteThat first saying is certainly well known
DeleteWhat a beautiful book, I might look for a copy myself.
ReplyDeleteVery expensive on Amazon, mine was a lucky find
DeleteWhat a lovely book,I like the sound of the coastal one too.
ReplyDeleteThey are both silly prices on amazon
DeleteThe village where I was born (not a village any more) had a Maypole in the centre and I remember dancing around it on or near May Day when I was at junior school with the villagers looking on. It was an art form with the ribbons, weaving them in, out, over and under and then undoing them, all while dancing Sadly all the old traditions have died a death.
ReplyDeleteJoan (Devon)
They had kept the tradition of dancing round the maypole at the primary school our youngest went to, and making patterns with the ribbons ( and getting into knots!)
DeleteA lovely book. I must check out this Ziffit as a few pennies in is better than giving stuff to the charity shop all the time {although it's often easier!}
ReplyDeleteZiffit is pretty straightforward although they are very choosy about what they take. I often have to go through shelves full to find enough. But what they don't want one day they may want another day, so I keep trying and there are so many books at boot sales now it's impossible to sell for more than 50p
DeleteWe always wait until the last full moon in May to plant our tender plants. The weather can be capricious. Lovely excerpts from the books.
ReplyDeleteWe can still get frosts right up to to the third week of May so have to watch the forecast
DeleteThose illustrations are wonderful, I love the bullfinches. No elderflowers here yet, I'll have to risk the evil powers, I really want to make some cordial this year. I cast a clout this morning, regretted it by lunch time...that'll teach me!
ReplyDeleteI removed my liberty bodice too! glad I did, the hospital was stifling.
DeleteThat book is superb with the illustrations.
ReplyDeleteI'll use some more of the illustrations in more posts I think
DeleteWhat a gorgeous book. Love the picture of the bullfinches, such beautiful birds. We were extremely lucky to have 3 of them, 2 males and a female, in our garden last year - not been back, sadly. Prior to that we hadn't seen bullfinches for years.
ReplyDeleteThat glimpse of bright pink is a rare occurrence here too
DeleteI saw an article in The Guardian to say that the sale of maypoles are up as are the number of Morris Dancers celebrating it. Some sides were dancing when the sun came up this morning...I erm stayed in bed!
ReplyDeleteArilx
Where to buy a Maypole? From a Maypole shop? :-)
DeleteSunrise is quite a bit too early at the moment, I keep getting woken by blackbirds at 10 to 5.
Bedding plants are disappearing from shops very fast here - hope folk are not planting them out. Up here in the North it is never safe to do so until the beginning of June.
ReplyDeleteI walked past the trolleys full of bedding plants outside Tesco and noticed half were dead - not frost but lack of water. I really don't like the way supermarkets waste so many plants
DeleteMy nan used to say never cast a clout till may is out what's a clout ?
ReplyDeleteClothes
DeleteThat's a beautifully illustrated book!
ReplyDeleteI'll put some more photos of the illustrations in another post
DeleteHere in Saskatchewan we never plant anything until the Victoria Day weekend (the third weekend of May). By that time frost is pretty much a thing of the past. Though we have had the occasional bout of snow.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
The may blossom I believe, today the first Thursday in May Great Torrington is having its May Fair...maypole dancing and a May Queen...wrapping up warm to go! xx
ReplyDelete