Mary Mason Campbell writes in "The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac," illustrated by Tasha Tudor: "May Day has been celebrated merrily for many ages, from fertility festivals of the ancient Egyptians, and feasts of the Romans in honor of their goddess Flora, to the Middle Ages when the people of the British Isles danced about Maypoles. The English decked their villages with flowers and danced in the streets with gay abandon, greatly encouraged by enthusiastic drinking and feasting. In New England the first settlers, the Pilgrims, did not believe in such pagan festivities, and there was no thought of celebrating May Day until one boisterous Thomas Morton set foot on the shores of Boston Bay. He and his crew set up a Maypole on May Day 1627, celebrating their arrival with dancing and other raucous revelry. The Maypole is said to have been a pine tree eighty feet tall wreathed with wild flowers, vines, and ribbons and adorned with poems especially composed for the occasion. The merriment shocked Governor Bradford and his Puritan followers. Further celebrations of May Day in New England were abandoned until the nineteenth century when children played at dancing around the Maypole and renewed the old, old custom of filling May Baskets with flowers and candies for their friends."
Tasha Tudor recalls in "A Time to Keep" her family's dancing around the maypole and delivering May Baskets to neighbors. . . .
May was also a time to plant her garden. . . .
A time to finally be out of doors enjoying elevenish parties under the trees. . . .
In Tasha's "Around the Year" she shows us more idyllic scenes from her life and imagination. . . .
As are the Azaleas. . . .
Gabriel shares his birthday in May. . . .
In the U.S. we celebrate Mother's Day in May as well. My mother will have been gone now for 22 Mother's Days this year. . .
.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!
Your post reminded me of a Maypole dance I participated in Junior High School. It was a lovely celebration. We also used to make little posies and surprise our neighbors. Oh the carefree days of a child.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to your firstborn. What joy I see on your face in your photo!
I know you treasure the photo of your boys and your mother. We celebrate Mother's Day and the birth of our first grandson who will be 21 this month! How can that be? ♥
As a child in the 1950s I remember being told we couldn't celebrate May Day because it was Communistic! My first born will be 37! How can THAT be??!!
DeleteThis year my mom will have missed 17 Mother's Days with us, so of course that part of May will always be sad. But I graduated from college on Mother's Day too - in 1978 - so that was a major thrill for both me and my Mom. And just the fact that May is when Spring really starts to get serious - well, that's always been something to celebrate in our family. Both my parents were enthusiastic gardeners, especially my Dad, who got more than a little carried-away with tomato plants in his first year with a major plot of garden space. My grandfather remarked, at the time of the Great Tomato Deluge - "Dickie, you don't know your own strength!" LOL. We all made our First Communions in May when I was little too - very exciting for 6 little kids. This meant big breakfast parties and presents from all our relatives, although as my middle brother grudgingly-said, most of the presents were "holy" in nature - medals, prayer books, statues and the like. And of course May still brings my youngest brother's birthday - TODAY! He's 55 this year and we'll be giving him the typical AARP "gag" presents, just like the rest of us got when we officially became "senior-citizens-in-training." Explanation - in our family, we believe that TRUE senior citizens are 62 or older, because that's how old you need to be for Social Security. BUT... reaching 55 does give you "in-training" status since that's when you typically start getting literature from the AARP. Oh, I checked my giant list of National Days/Weeks & Months - and May 1 actually is listed as "International Worker's Day" - so that could be the "Communist connection." Didn't the USSR used to have a big parade of their military arsenal on May 1 every year? PS - Cathy, the photo of you with your oldest son is the sweetest thing. You should show this to Olivia and see if she can guess who the baby is - I bet she gets it immediately!
ReplyDeleteLots going on in May for you and your family, Janet! My mother's birthday is in May. Our second son's wedding was in May, but they were actually married at the court house the December before so that's when I celebrate their day. That picture was taken of me and my oldest when we brought him home from the hospital. I love the photo, too, because it shows how happy I was. 😍 You are correct about the Communist connection and the military parade.
DeleteAwesome post.
ReplyDelete