Hal-an-tow, jolly rumbalow!
We were up long before the day-o
To welcome in the summer
To welcome in the May-o.
The summer is a-coming in
And winter’s gone away-o.

Robin Hood and Little John
Have both gone to the fair-o.
And we will go to the merry greenwood, to see what they do there-o

~

Welcome to the merry and magical month of May! Out comes Jack, Robin Hood, the maypole and all the flowers in the greenwood, some with a ‘hey nonny -no’ and some without, and jolly wonderful it all is too!

In 1883 the Shropshire folklorist, Charlotte Burne, wrote ‘the magical virtue of everything connected with the month of May is well known’ and over one hundred years later May retains its ambience of the uncanny.

It is a liminal time. The magical properties of herbs and other plants collected in May were regarded as beneficial as were other remedies made at this time such a 19th century balm for burns made from ‘goose-dung and the ‘middle bark’ of the elder tree, fried in May butter.‘

It remains known that to wash one’s face in the early dew of a May morning will enhance beauty and remove blemishes.

The dew is said to contain all the goodness from the spring herbs and grasses so having the power to strengthen joints and muscles if rubbed into the skin.

The ‘bringing-in of May’ was first recorded in the thirteenth century apparently referring to a variety of foliage but primarily the blossom of the hawthorn or whitethorn. However, it is recorded birch was preferred as decoration in the Welsh Marches and Wales.

This most enigmatic of months has been fondly welcomed and celebrated for hundreds of years, a time for dalliance and love. The season was ‘bought in’ with the cutting and display of flowers and blossoms, especially May blossom from the hawthorn. In Shropshire the hawthorn doesn’t blossom until late in the month and so Marsh Marigolds, known as ‘Mayflowers’, were gathered instead.

In many places special May songs were sung: the ‘Night Song’ on May eve followed by the ‘Day Song’ the following morning, most famously sung today at Padstow in Cornwall. Hertfordshire, Leicestershire and Cheshire also sang night and day songs. And many May songs still survive. Our local pub still resonates to some riotous singing but ‘Delilah’ just doesn’t cut it in the same way as did the ‘May’ songs of folk singer Fred Jordan. Fred was well known in these parts and was apparently happy to sing the evening away in return for a few pints after finishing work in the fields.

This was also a time a time for some opportunist fund raising. ‘May-singing’ and ‘garlanding’ was a means to raise money: in seventeenth London, milkmaids put on their best frocks, dressed up their pails and hair with flowers. They would dance through the streets to the sound of fiddle and drum, collecting money from their admirers as they went. Samuel Pepys recorded encountering one such group in 1667 one May Day on his way to Westminster.

When pretty milkmaids went about,

‘In London thirty years ago

Its was a godly sight to see,

Their May day pageant all drawn out.

Such scenes and sounds once blest my eyes,

And charmed my ears, but all have vanish’d

On May Day now no garlands go,

For milkmaids and their dance are banish’d’

Hone’s Everyday Book, 1827

Following dissolution and reformation many customs were banned depending on contemporary political and religious views and no doubt many have been lost or forgotten. A few survive, once symbols of rebellion and non-conformity. Even today some people continue to dance and sing, pick flowers and cavort with hobby and hooden ‘osses at this time of year. And many still rise early to welcome the dawn on May morning, dance in the rising sun and celebrate the arrival of summer.

Some traditions were subjected to a nostalgic revival and, in some cases re-invention, by Victorian antiquarians and folklorists. We should be grateful as many more would have been lost and forgotten (although a number have been ‘tidied’ or ‘cleaned’ up!). Their identification by antiquarians and by some folklorists as representations of a pagan past has, in some cases, ensured their survival and subsequent revival. Maybe they are, maybe not. Certainly these assumptions have been challenged in recent years. But let us gently steer away from such controversies and have fun with some of the sayings and observations that so beautifully illuminate this beautiful and uncanny time of year

• ‘May Goslings dead and gone, you’re the fool for thinking on!‘

This is a tradition from the north of England when like the pranks played on the first of April.

The tricks played on the first of May must finish at 12 midday else the offender will be teased and called a May Gosling!

• To calm bees or stop them swarming, 16th century style… “A little durt cast up on high, doth end the quarrell presently”.

So recorded Thomas Tusser in 1557 in his advice concerning correct husbandry for May. This is a prime time for honey bees to swarm, a natural way for them to perpetuate their species but is dreaded by some bee keepers as it reduces honey yield. Tusser also wrote…

…the old inhabitants being wearie of their dwellinys doe leave their hives, then must you fall to ringing of Pans and Basons, to fear of bring don the runaways.

Ther fights…amongst themselves or one hive with another are easily stickled.

I would have thought the noise would make the bees more cranky but what is especially interesting to me about casting ‘a little durt’ is that it resembles a much older Anglo-Saxon charm to calm a swarm of bees:

Take earth with your right hand and throw it under your right foot, saying:

I’ve got it,     I’ve found it:
Lo, earth     masters all creatures,
it masters evil,     it masters deceit,
it masters humanity’s     greedy tongue.

Throw light soil over them [the bees] as they swarm, saying:

Sit, wise women,     settle on earth:
never in fear     fly to the woods.
Please be mindful     of my welfare
as all men are     of food and land.

It may be that throwing dust in the air calms the bees in a similar way to the smoker used by modern bee keepers.

• Don’t cast a clout, till May is out!

There are still frosts and sometimes even snow showers in May so keep your woollies on till the end of May!

• ‘Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date‘

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18

It is useful to note that prior to 1582 England was using the Julian calendar and so May Day was two weeks later (May 12th). This is reflected in certain early prose and references as certain flowers are not in bloom on the modern May Day. That two weeks have also made all the difference to outdoor celebrations also!

And finally, here is a final verse from the Night Song. It has many versions and still sung on May Eve.

The moon shines bright, and the stars give a light,

A little before it is day,

So God bless you all, both great and small,

And send you a joyful May.

The Night Song, Hertfordshire 1823