May Morning
May Morning
We’ve been rambling all this night
And some part of the day,
And now returning back again
We have brought you a branch of May
Traditional May song
In many country districts May morning, or the eve of May Day, saw young people spending the night gathering flowering branches, bushes, and greenery to decorate their houses. At one time it was very popular to go out before sunrise on May Day to collect dew from bushes. The belief was that to wash the face with the dew would make the complexion more beautiful or remove blemishes and freckles. It was also supposed to be a cure for consumption and is still thought to be effective in easing rheumatism. This practise is not only mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ Diary in 1667, but we know that Henry VIII and his wife, Catherine of Aragon, went gathering May dew in 1515.
Mischief Night
May Eve was known as Mischief Night in some regions (although in the North of England this fell on 4 November) and all sorts of practical jokes were played and a general nuisance made. For instance, horns would be blown in the middle of the night and tin can bands would awaken sleepers.
May Gosling
In the North of England, particularly Lancashire, the first of May was a kind of late ‘April-Fooling’ when all sorts of pranks would take place and “May Gosling” was the shout if you managed to trick someone. More fool you, though, if you went past the midday Boundary! The response would be “May Goslings past and gone. You’re the fool for making me one!”
May Birching
In the North West and Midlands, May Birching was a key feature. Between sunset and dawn, the May birchers would be on their rounds secretly fixing greenery to people’s houses. Each branch or spray was carefully chosen by the Birchers because its name rhymed with whatever they considered to be the most outstanding character or quality of the householder they visited. Pear rhymes with fair, lime with prime, but briar, holly, and plum, stood respectively for liar, folly, and glum. Hawthorn in flower was a compliment, but any other thorn was seen as ‘scorn.’ Nettles, thistles, and weeds had a more direct association. Although this practise could generate some ill feeling, it was generally seen as fun. It had largely disappeared by the end of the last century.
May Plants
Many plants were considered unlucky, although this varies from place to place. Black sycamore and ash were disliked in Cornwall; rowan and birch were frowned upon in Scotland and Wales. Generally it was felt inadvisable to bring into the house any whitethorn, blackthorn, elder, broom, alder, furze, or snowdrops. But in Ireland, after drawing the first water on May morning, flowers would be left at wells. Children made bouquets of fresh flowers to be laid on door steps, window sills, or hung up in the house.
May Day in Oxford
An early start is made on May morning in Oxford. Magdalen Tower at six o’clock sees the choristers of Magdalen College Chapel at the top of the tower singing Te deum Patrem Colimus, a custom begun in 1509. Spectators turn out to hear the singing and to see the many Morris Dancers in the city streets. A similar ceremony, ‘Singing on the Bargate,’ takes place in Southampton at sunrise by the Choristers of King Edward VI School.
Morris dancing
Meanwhile, in a number of places throughout England, other morris dancers are dancing in the May at dawn. In Hastings we see the first appearance of a Jack-in-the-Green, a man completely covered in leaves. Similar characters appear at Rochester and Whitstable on the May Bank Holiday also accompanied by morris sides.
The May Queen
The May Queen, representing the goddess Flora and often accompanied by a May King, is central to most modern revivals. She, along with a galaxy of other associated personages, appears at Knutsford in Cheshire at their Royal May Day on the first Saturday in May. Started in 1864, it became a Royal May Day after a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1887 and it is a mixture of practically everything that we think of associated with May Day. As well as large tableaux and a procession, there is a Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, lots of Morris teams and King Canute... to name but a few! A tradition of tracing mottoes and patterns in dyed sand on the streets of Knutsford in the early morning is reputed to have come from King Canute. After he had crossed a nearby ford in 1017 he is said to have sprinkled sand from his shoes in the path of a passing bridal party and he wished them as many children as there were grains of sand, which became symbolised as good luck. From this legend came the name of the town, Knut’s ford.
