Hello – Colossus 221

“You are as welcome as the flowers in May” is a much-quoted line from a play by Irish playwright Charles Macklin, and it’s true that May is associated with the blossoming of flowers, and the much-longed-for warmth of summer.

In ancient times, the beginning of May, which we now call May Day, marked the coming of summer and the end of the long harsh nights of winter. It was a time of great celebration, such as the festival of Beltane which was held by the Celtic people. The name Beltane comes from the old Irish Beltene meaning ‘bright fire’ and nowadays the Irish for the month of May is Bealtaine. Bonfires were lit on hilltops at this time and herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures or mountains.

In Germanic countries they had Walpurgis Night and in other parts of Europe they held the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers.

The English month of May is named after the Roman goddess Maia and many English villages celebrated May Day by dancing around a maypole on May Day, until Cromwell’s reign put a stop to it. However with the restoration of the monarchy, the custom was resumed and was more popular than ever. The Maypole Dance was originally a dance celebrating the fertility associated with spring, both in nature and in human procreation. Youngsters would dance around the maypole, each holding a ribbon attached to the top of the maypole so that the ribbons became interwoven into patterns.

Villagers would go out early and collect greenery and flowers to decorate their homes and make garlands for the young girls to wear. One of the girls would be crowned as the May Queen.

 “But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May.”

So wrote Tennyson in his poem The May Queen. The traditional Morris dancing would often be performed on this day as well.

In some parts of Britain, these activities still go on, especially on the May Bank Holiday, which will fall on Monday 3rd May this year. In St Andrews, Scotland, students gather on the beach and at first light on May Day run into the North Sea, which I imagine would be icy cold! Bravo to the brave Scots.

There are many legends associated with May. Young girls would wake up early on the first day of May to go outside and wash their faces with the dew, which would ensure a clear complexion for the whole year. There is an old saying “Marry in May and you’ll live to rue the day” – oh dear, James and I were married in May.

May Day is the distress call in an emergency and was originated in 1923 by Frederick Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the word mayday from the French m’aider.

“Venez m’aider” means “(you) come help me.”

May you enjoy the joys of May!

Happy Puzzling!