Hawthorn

The Hedges have suddenly become white in the last week as Hawthorn is flowering everywhere

 

 Hawthorn (or May) is one of those plants that has been around forever with so much folklore attached to it.  

During the land enclosures in the 16th to 18th centuries it's estimated that 200,000 miles of Hawthorn hedges were planted. Fast growing, sturdy and very spiny it makes a perfect impenetrable hedge when it's cut and laid. Something that doesn't happen so much nowadays, and of course many of those old Hawthorn hedges were pulled out in the 70's as farm machinery got bigger and farmers were paid to remove them and make bigger fields. 

Before the calendar changes Hawthorn would have been in flower on May day which was a special day for celebrations, also known Beltane( Bel's Fire) and would have been used in many of the old traditional festivities.

 

It was once though to protect from lightening

 

Beware the oak, it courts a stroke,

Beware the Ash, it courts a flash,

Creep under the Thorn,

It will save you from harm.

 

  Hawthorn branches were woven into a globe and hung in the rafters of the kitchen to protect from fire. Taken down when the May flowered the following year it was then burnt and the ashes scattered on the vegetable garden for fertility. 

But from the mid C17 it was considered unlucky to bring Hawthorn blossom into the house, thought to be due to the fact that people with the  plague had the scent of  May flowers about them.

 

Hawthorn blossom and Elder flowers

Fill the house with evil powers

 

 From that time Hawthorn was said to be a favourite of witches who were thought to be able to turn themselves into the tree at any time. So it was never a good idea to sit and rest or fall asleep under a Hawthorn as you could be taken by the witch and disappear into the mysterious fey world forever.

 

 

From The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady

It was thought that felling a Hawthorn was disastrous unless a prayer was said beforehand and to fell a Hawthorn when clearing the land to build a house meant bad luck or even death for the people who would live there.

Hawthorns crossed from Pagan to Christian lore and  in Ireland often became "mass trees" dedicated to Saints or associated with holy wells. While in  England The Glastonbury Thorn is  the most well known, growing from a staff planted in the ground by St Joseph of Arimathea.

And of course Cicely Mary Barker had an illustration for the May Fairy in her book "Flower Fairies of the Spring.

 

Back Tomorrow

Sue

 

May Country Days

From The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady.

The name of this month is of doubtful origin. Ovid suggests the goddess Maia, the mother of Mercury. In the Roman Catholic Church May is known as the 'Month of Mary.' 
 Or perhaps from the word maiores (meaning Elders) as this was the month when the Romans celebrated the older members of their families

So many weather sayings for May, everyone desperate to know what the weather would be like during the main growing season.

Best known, although no one has ever decided for definite if it means May the month or may the flower of the hawthorn.

Ne'er cast a clout 'til May is out.

                                  Most old sayings prefer a wet and cold month (hope it isn't!)

May damp and cool fills the barns and wine vats

Water in May is bread all the year

A cold May is kindly,
 And fills the barn nicely.

A wet May

Makes a big load of hay.

In the middle of May comes the tail of the winter

A Page from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden.

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.

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.

 

This is my vase of flowers for the first week of May. The last of my tulips from the cutting garden and some invasive bluebells - not native.

I won't be bringing in May blossom or Elder flowers because...........

Hawthorn blossom and Elder flowers

Fill the house with evil powers.

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

May Country Days

From The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady

Another book I have on my shelves is "A Country Calendar and Other Writings" by Flora Thompson - much more famous for her book "Lark Rise to Candleford".
About May she says "May comes sweet and complete in every detail. Along every lane and hedgerow bank spring a thousand small and seldom considered things - Natures embroidery, to finish off her festal robe to perfection. Within a few feet, massed closely together, may be seen the blue eyes of speedwell, silvery stitchwort stars, cowslip, coltsfoot and violet, with dog's mercury powdering them all with the gold-dust of it's pollen, and dead-nettle with honeyed coronets of rich cream"

Were violets later in the early part of the C20? and cowslips will be going over as we get into the first week of May as will the dog's mercury. Have the seasons changed? Or is Flora Thompson's writing artistic licence?


 So many weather sayings for May, everyone desperate to know what the weather would be like during the main growing season.

Best known, although no one has ever decided for definite if it means May the month or may the flower of the hawthorn. So keep your woolly vest on for a while longer!

Ne'er cast a clout 'til May is out.

Most old sayings prefer a wet and cold month (hope it isn't!)

May damp and cool fills the barns and wine vats

Water in May is bread all the year

A cold May is kindly,

And fills the barn nicely.

A wet May

Makes a big load of hay.

In the middle of May comes the tail of the winter

And a warning for shepherds

Shear your sheep in May,

And shear them all away.

I could go on as there are 3½ pages  of these in just one of my books!

May is possibly named after a Greek goddess Maia or from the word maiores (meaning Elders) as this was the month when the Romans celebrated the older members of their families.

The Wheel of the Year segment for this season from Ceremonies of the Seasons by Jennifer Cole as Spring turns to Summer

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.



Back Tomorrow
Sue

May Days

To make a change from the Edith Holden Country Lady Diary photos, here is a May page from another wonderful book.

Taken from this book " An Illustrated Country Year" by Celia Lewis

 and a page of  her paintings of May wild flowers

( I found this book at a charity book sale in the Library in Ipswich when we were living there. It's worth quite a bit on Ziffit but I'm not selling! There's an Illustrated Coastal Year too, which I would love to own)

May is possibly named after a Greek goddess Maia or from the word maiores (meaning Elders) as this was the month when the Romans celebrated the older members of their families.


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.

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