May Day 2025: On The Coming Of Summer

To be fair we could be talking about workers of the world, the joys of collectivist thought, and even the "fruits" of Communism on this day. I would rather speak of a more ancient and far happier theme, the arrival of the season of warmth and growth.

May 1, 2023, in Glastonbury, United Kingdom

The Gaelic festival day, Beltane ("be-EL-ten-a" in Irish, "BEL-tayn" in English)) occurs on May 1 and is a cross-quarter day marking the beginning of summer in their ancient calendar. It is one of two "turning" days of the year and exactly six months apart from the other, Samhain (saa-wn), marking the beginning of the dead season of winter. In the United Kingdom and other places with Gaelic heritage Beltane celebrations began last night with the lighting of bonfires, dancing and feasting long into the night.

 

The fun continues with the welcoming of the sun, the selection of the May Queen or earth goddess representing fertility, and the May King or Green Man - the latter first appeared in the 12th century -  representing vegetation and growth. The partying includes a Maypole dance - once an ancient fertility rite - and the decoration of houses, farms, and livestock; and more feasting.

Here in the United States there isn't much associated with the day unless there's an opportunity to sell something under the May Day Sale label. Even schools show little interest in May Day but it was a day-long festival at my elementary school in the 1950's. Actually the day was a big event for the whole community. It was so important that I recall the teachers having us outside days in advance to practice the May Pole dance until the lattice pattern on the pole was perfect. I wonder how enthusiastic they would have been had they known we were practicing a fertility rite. Aside from a few New Agers all religious associations with the activities have been left to an ancient past. These days it's simply good fun. Or at least a happy memory.

Maypole Dance, Bascom Hill, Wisconsin, May 1, around 1917

May you have a most festive celebration of the arrival of a time of warmth and new life





Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Photograph: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

It's Guy Fawkes Day: Remember, Remember

Guy Fawkes in Ordsall Cave

If the American Revolution hadn't killed the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day on this side of the Atlantic, OSHA certainly would have done it in by now. Brits still celebrate this day in 1605 when an attempt by the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords and King James I was foiled with the arrest of Guy Fawkes who had been assigned to guard the explosives. Most Americans probably know the man and the day from the film, V for Vendetta, and the following poem:

The Fifth of November

Remember, remember!

The fifth of November,

The Gunpowder treason and plot;

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes and his companions

Did the scheme contrive,

To blow the King and Parliament

All up alive.

Threescore barrels, laid below,

To prove old England's overthrow.

But, by God's providence, him they catch,

With a dark lantern, lighting a match!

A stick and a stake

For King James's sake!

If you won't give me one,

I'll take two,

The better for me,

And the worse for you.

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,

A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,

A pint of beer to wash it down,

And a jolly good fire to burn him.

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!

Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!

Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Guy Fawkes Day celebration at Windsor Castle in 1776

Much of the religious bitterness has passed and Guy Fawkes Day is no longer an official holiday. Still, it's a fine opportunity to celebrate by lighting bonfires, marching in vast torch light parades or igniting fireworks just as celebrants did days after Fawkes's arrest.

It's a man's holiday when the sun sets and it's time for the FIRE.

I have a feeling this is reminiscent of Independence Day celebrations across the United States about a century ago. Frankly, I'd love to see it happen again. You can never have too many explosions and torches.





Sources


Photos and Illustrations:
Fawkes illustration, Ainsworth, William Harrison. Guy Fawkes, or The Gunpowder Treason, 1840; George Cruikshank [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Celebrating Warmth And New Life

To be fair we could be talking about workers of the world, the joys of collectivist thought, and even the "fruits" of Communism on this day. I would rather speak of a more ancient and far happier theme.

May 1, 2023, in Glastonbury, United Kingdom

The Gaelic festival day, Beltane ("be-EL-ten-a" in Irish, "BEL-tayn" in English)) occurs on May 1 and is a cross-quarter day marking the beginning of summer in their ancient calendar. It is one of two "turning" days of the year and exactly six months apart from the other, Samhain (saa-wn), marking the beginning of the dead season of winter. In the United Kingdom and other places with Gaelic heritage Beltane celebrations began last night with the lighting of bonfires, dancing and feasting long into the night.

 

The fun continues with the welcoming of the sun, the selection of the May Queen or earth goddess representing fertility, and the May King or Green Man - the latter first appeared in the 12th century -  representing vegetation and growth. The partying includes a Maypole dance - once an ancient fertility rite - and the decoration of houses, farms, and livestock; and more feasting.

Here in the United States there isn't much associated with the day unless there's an opportunity to sell something under the May Day Sale label. Even schools show little interest in May Day but it was a day-long festival at my elementary school in the 1950's. Actually the day was a big event for the whole community. It was so important that I recall the teachers having us outside days in advance to practice the May Pole dance until the lattice pattern on the pole was perfect. I wonder how enthusiastic they would have been had they known we were practicing a fertility rite. Aside from a few New Agers all religious associations with the activities have been left to an ancient past. These days it's simply good fun. Or at least a happy memory.




Maypole Dance, Bascom Hill, Wisconsin, May 1 ca. 1917





May you have a most festive celebration of the arrival of a time of warmth and new life





Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Photograph: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Remembering Guy Fawkes Day

Guy Fawkes in Ordsall Cave

If the American Revolution hadn't killed the celebration of Guy Fawkes Day on this side of the Atlantic, OSHA certainly would have done it in by now. Brits still celebrate this day in 1605 when an attempt by the Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords and King James I was foiled with the arrest of Guy Fawkes who had been assigned to guard the explosives. Most Americans probably know the man and the day from the film, V for Vendetta, and the following poem:

The Fifth of November

Remember, remember!

The fifth of November,

The Gunpowder treason and plot;

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes and his companions

Did the scheme contrive,

To blow the King and Parliament

All up alive.

Threescore barrels, laid below,

To prove old England's overthrow.

But, by God's providence, him they catch,

With a dark lantern, lighting a match!

A stick and a stake

For King James's sake!

If you won't give me one,

I'll take two,

The better for me,

And the worse for you.

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,

A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,

A pint of beer to wash it down,

And a jolly good fire to burn him.

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!

Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!

Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Guy Fawkes Day celebration at Windsor Castle in 1776

Much of the religious bitterness has passed and Guy Fawkes Day is no longer an official holiday. Still, it's a fine opportunity to celebrate by lighting bonfires, marching in vast torch light parades or igniting fireworks just as celebrants did days after Fawkes's arrest.

It's a man's holiday when the sun sets and it's time for the FIRE.

I have a feeling this is reminiscent of Independence Day celebrations across the United States about a century ago. Frankly, I'd love to see it happen again. You can never have too many explosions and torches. 





Sources


Photos and Illustrations:
Fawkes illustration, Ainsworth, William Harrison. Guy Fawkes, or The Gunpowder Treason, 1840; George Cruikshank [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A Welcome To The Warmth Of The Sun And The Greening Of Spring

To be fair we could be talking about workers of the world, the joys of collectivist thought, and even the "fruits" of Communism on this day. I would rather speak of a more ancient and far happier theme.

Earlier today in Glastonbury, United Kingdom

The Gaelic festival day, Beltane ("be-EL-ten-a" in Irish, "BEL-tayn" in English)) occurs on May 1 and is a cross-quarter day marking the beginning of summer in the ancient calendar. It is one of two "turning" days of the year and exactly six months apart from the other, Samhain (saa-wn), marking the beginning of the dead season of winter. In the United Kingdom and other places with Gaelic heritage Beltane celebrations began last night with the lighting of bonfires, dancing and feasting long into the night.

The fun continues with the welcoming of the sun, the selection of the May Queen or earth goddess representing fertility, and the May King or Green Man representing vegetation and growth. The partying includes a Maypole dance - once an ancient fertility rite - and the decoration of houses, farms, and livestock; and more feasting.

Here in the United States there isn't much associated with the day unless there's an opportunity to sell something under the May Day Sale label. Even schools show little interest in May Day but it was a day-long festival at my elementary school in the 1950's. Actually the day was a big event for the whole community. It was so important that I recall the teachers having us outside days in advance to practice the May Pole dance until the lattice pattern on the pole was perfect. I wonder how enthusiastic they would have been had they known we were practicing a fertility rite. Aside from a few New Agers all religious associations with the activities have been left to an ancient past. These days it's simply good fun. Or at least a happy memory.

Maypole Dance, Bascom Hill, Wisconsin, May 1 ca. 1917

May you have a most festive Beltane.










Sources


Photos and Illustrations:
Photograph: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Happy May Day 2022!

To be fair we could be talking about workers of the world, the joys of collectivist thought, and even the fruits of Communism on this day. I would rather speak of a more ancient and far happier theme. 

The Gaelic festival day, Beltane ("be-EL-ten-a" in Irish, "BEL-tayn" in English)) occurs on May 1 and is a cross-quarter day marking the beginning of summer in the ancient calendar. It is one of two "turning" days of the year and exactly six months apart from the other, Samhain (saa-wn), marking the beginning of the dead season of winter. In the United Kingdom and other places with Gaelic heritage Beltane celebrations began last night  with the lighting of bonfires, dancing and feasting long into the night.

The celebration continues with the welcoming of the sun, the selection of the May Queen or earth goddess representing fertility, and the May King or Green Man representing vegetation and growth. The partying includes a Maypole dance as a fertility rite, the decoration of houses, farms, and livestock; and more feasting.

Here in the United States there isn't much associated with the day unless there's an opportunity to sell something under the May Day Sale label. Even schools show little interest in May Day but it was a day-long festival at my elementary school in the 1950's. Actually the day was a big event for the whole community. It was so important that I recall the teachers having us outside days in advance to practice the May Pole dance until the lattice pattern on the pole was perfect. I wonder how enthusiastic they would have been had they known we were practicing a fertility rite. Aside from a few New Agers all religious associations with the activities have been left to an ancient past. These days it's simply good fun. Or at least a happy memory.

Maypole Dance, Bascom Hill, Wisconsin, May 1 ca. 1917

May you have a most festive Beltane.










Sources


Photos and Illustrations:

Photograph: University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Lammas Day: The Festival Of First Fruits

It's August. We're still in the midst of the sultry dog days of 2020 where a cold ice tea or Stella, shade, and a steady breeze make the thought of even the smallest chores tolerable. You would think that a festival on this day would celebrate the middle of summer but you would be wrong. In both the pre-Christian and Christian eras today is Lammas Day celebrating the beginning of the grain harvest. The name derives from "Loaf Mass" where bread loaves made from the first grain harvests are presented at Mass and used in  Holy Communion. In pre-Christian times the festival also celebrated fertility, the first harvest, as well as the presentation of that harvest by tenants to their landlords. Over centuries traditions in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and northern Europe have blended into a festival of faith, food, and affection.     

Here is some music for the festivities:

And here is wonderful folk tune with a lyric completed in 1783 by the Bard of Scotland, Robert Burns. It's a perfect capture - who would expect less from Burns - of the spirit of Lammas as a festival of life and love:

For more information about Lammas this page at Wikipedia. 

Medieval English Soldier Database

Researchers in military history now have a tremendous new source of original materials on line. It's the Medieval Soldier Database containing the service records of over 250,000 English soldiers enrolled between 1369 and 1453.

Years ago in college, I read a fascinating little book by H.S. Bennett entitled, Six Medieval Men and Women (1955). Only one of Bennett's subjects was what we would call an ordinary person in everyday life. This new database contains the records of thousands of common soldiers. Although it's unlikely that an author could build an essay on one person from the database alone, composite profiles are likely to reveal new details about common people in medieval England. Yes, it's a very small window for a equally small group of researchers, but the database illustrates the power of information technology to both organize, distribute and enliven source materials that would otherwise rest quietly in some obscure archive.

Check out the BBC News article here. Your direct link to the database is here. My source: The Corner.

Afghan Refugee Mom And Seven Kids Live In London Mansion At Taxpayer Expense

Here is another unbelievable story about the British welfare system and why it is bankrupting the UK. Be sure to click on the link to the Daily Mail article if you want to be completely outraged.

Last year, I met a couple in their forties from southwest of London who vacationed at their two modest properties in the U.S., one in central North Carolina, the other in Missouri. Back home in England, they operated a small, successful sandwich shop in a resort town. I asked them if they looked forward to retiring there and was met with an abrupt response that they would be here permanently in the U.S. tomorrow if our authorities would let them. Would the welfare story have something to do with their attitude?