MAY-DAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4404, 1 May 1875, Page 3

MAY-DAY.

; Notwithstanding the various vague and voluminous accounts set forth By local literari, as to the usages and customs observed on May-Day, we will lay '■ before our readers the result of some research into the subject. The word "May" is evidently the same as the French Mai, Latin Maius, sacred to "Maia," mother of Mercury; derived from root " may," Sanscrit "mah," which signifies to grow; and hence the month of May receives its name. It is easily to be believed that so auspicious a day. would be a day of great hope and expectation, and would be welcomed with much rejoicings. It was anciently the custom for all ranks of people to "go out a Maying" on the first of May. Bourne tells us that in his time, in the villages of the North of England, the juvenile part of both sexes wero wont to riso a little after midnight on the morning of that day, and walk to some neighboring wood, accompanied with music and the blowing of horns, where they broke down branches from the trees and adorned them with nosegays and crowns of flowers. This done, they returned homewards with their booty, about the time of sunrise, and made their doors and windows triumph in the flowery spoil. In an old ballad, " The Milk-maid's Life," 1630, we are told : " Upon the first of May, With garlands fresh and gay, With mirth and muslck sweet, Tor such a season meet, They passe their time away. They dance away sorrow, And all the day thorow Their legs doe never f ayle ; They nimbly their feet doe ply, And bravely try the victory, In honor of the milking pail." There was a time when this custom was observed by noble and royal personages, as well as the vulgar. We read in Chaucer's " Court of Love " that early on May-Day "fourth goth al the Court, both most and least, to fetche the flouris fresh, and braunch and blonie." It is recorded that King Henry the Eighth and Queen Katherine partook of this diversion ; and historians also mention that he, with his courtiers, in the beginning of his reign, rose on May-Day very early to fetch may, or green boughs, and then went with their bows and arrows shooting to the wood. The poet Shakspeare says (Henry VIII.) —" It is impossible to make the people sleep on May mourn," and again (Midsummer Night's Dream), "that they rose early to observe the rights of May." The Court of King James the Virst, and the populace, long preserved the observance of the day. In Northumberland, Hutchinson relates that "a syllabub is prepared for the May feast, which is made of warm milk from the cow, sweet cakes, and wine ; and a kind of divination is practised by fishing with a ladle for a wedding ring, which is dropped into it, for the purpose of seeing who is lirst to be married. The ceremony, although not able to be fixed to any definite period, better judges may decido that the institution of this festival originated from the Roman floralia, or from the Celtic La Beltine ; but it is moro probably handed down to us from our Gothic ancestors. Olaus Magnus de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, lib. xv., c. 8, says that "after their long winter, from the beginning of October to the end of April, the northern nations have a custom to welcome the returning splendor of the sun with dancing, and mutually to feast each other, rejoicing that a better season for fishing and hunting has approached." In honor of May-Day the Goths and southern Swedes held a mock battle between summer and winter, which ceremony is still retained by some in the Isle of Man, where the Danish and Norwegian customs are indelibly imprinted on the habits of the people. In Germany also we find traces of this almost universal custom of welcoming the May-Day. The following is the legend:-—" 'Tis commonly said in Germany that the witches do meet in the night before the first day of May upon a high mountain called the Blocksberg, situated in Ascanien, where they, together with the devils, do dance and feast; and the common people do, the night before the said -day, fetch a certain thorn, and stick it at their house door, believing the witches can then do them no harm." Again, in Eussia we And in Dr. Clarke's travels, 1810:—" The promenades at this season of the year (Easter), are amongst the many sights in Moscow most interesting to strangers. The principal is on the Ist of May, Eussian style, in a forest near the city. It affords a very interesting spectacle to strangers, because it is frequented by the bourgeosle as well as by the nobles, and the national costume may then be observed in its greatest splendor. The procession of carriages and persons on horseback is immense. Beneath the trees and upon the green sward, Eussian peasants are seen seated in their gayest colors, expressing their joy in songs and dances. The music of the balalaika, the shrill notes of rustic pipes, clapping of hands, and the wild dances of the gypsies all mingle in one revelry." As to the Italians, the youths of both sexes were accustomed to go into the fields in the calends of May and bring thence the branches of trees, singing all the way as they came, and so place them on the door of their houses. This is an ancient custom among the heathens, who observed the last four days of April and the Ist of May in honor of the goddess Flora, who was the deity presiding over the fruit and flowers, a festival which was observed with all manner of obscenity and lewdness. These few instances from the manners and customs of different nations unmistakeably show that the origin of the idea of celebrating May-Day arose from the wish to propitiate the gods in favor of a plentiful harvest. The Maypole used generally to be erected in the most public portion of the village, and consecrated to the goddess, of flowers, without the least violation offered to it in the whole circle of the year. The conclusion arrived at is that it was a custom among the Ancient Britons, before converted to Christianity, to erect these Maypoles, adorned with flowers, in honor of the Goddess Flora, and the dancing of the milkmaids may be only a corruption of that custom