Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Hart Dowd

May 1, 2006

MAY brings flocks of pretty lambs,

Skipping by their fleecy dams.

Festivals

MAY DAY - We seldom now see May Day (1 May) celebrated as it once was.  This was the day on which the end of winter and the full opening of the new flowers were celebrated.  People used to dance around a flower-decked maypole, which was the symbol of new life pushing up from the earth.

The May Day celebration on May 1^st really carries on an old pagan ceremony.

For the Romans, the celebration was to honor Maia, the Roman goddess.  Druids held their feast of Bel (or Baal of the Old Testament) on May 1^st, and for many centuries the Irish and Scottish Highlanders called the festival Beltaine, or Bel’s Fire, {return of the sun}, it is the third and last of the spring festivals,  when fires were lit to honor Bel.

In England, May Day was a rite-of-passage custom that marked an important seasonal transition in the year.  It became very picturesque.  People would head out into the woods early in the morning and return with flowering boughs of Hawthorn and a growing tree, which would be set up on the village green as the Maypole.  We can see traces of the Beltane by dancing round the Maypole and sending a basket of flowers to a neighbours door.

In Victorian times, the Maypole was decorated with ribbons and the young girls of the village would dance around it.  There is an old poem that goes:

The fair maid who, the first of May,

Goes to the fields at the break of day

And washes in the dew from the hawthorn tree

Will ever after handsome be.

Many of the village maidens would be sure to use the May dew in hopes that they would be more beautiful and perhaps be chosen “Queen of the May,” an honor that was sought after by all of the young ladies.

Here in Canada, Acadians and Quebecois collect the dew, called l’eau de mai, on May 1^st because tradition says that this water has special powers to heal skin ailments and beautify.  It was also believed to cure freckles.

A big part of the May Day celebration in England was a dance competition of “Morris Dancers.”  To this day, Morris Dancers, dressed in white shirts and pants, wear bells tied on their legs and carry large white handkerchiefs to emphasize the movements of the old and intricate English folk dances.

The old tradition has carried over to Canada, and in many cities including Toronto, London, Ottawa and Vancouver, the Morris Teams, as they are known, gather before dawn to “dance the sun up.”

Many years ago, French-Canadians used to set up the Maypole, but this tradition is now pretty much restricted to Vancouver Island, where people of British descent keep the custom alive.

May Day has now come to be celebrated as a day of solidarity among workers, with processions and parades.  Some Europeans celebrate May 1^st as Labour Day.   In rural regions of Germany, Walpurgisnacht celebrations of pagan origin are traditionally held on the night before May Day, including bonfires and the wrapping of May Poles, and young people use this opportunity to party, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air, wurst and beer. Motto: "Tanz in den Mai!" ("Dance in May!").

In Canada, many German-Canadians remember this date as Labour Day, and special celebrations are held at their clubs.

For French-Canadians, May 1^st is Vappu or Carnival Day.  Usually held in a hall decorated with streamers and balloons, Vappu is a time for drinking Sima, a lemon-flavored drink, and eating tippaleipa, sweet bread, while dancing with friends and family.  Originally, Carnival Day was linked with the labour movement and the partying of university students.  It is now a social event for all to enjoy.

In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day, and is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and native Hawaiian culture in particular.

EuroMayDay

Since 2001, EuroMayDay has become part of the celebration of the First of May, aiming to update the political content of the traditional May Day. The point of reference of EuroMayDay is not the industrial working class, but rather the multitude of increasingly precarized post-fordist flex/temp/networkers. EuroMayDay aims to create visible opposition against precarization of labour and life. EuroMayDay was originated in Milan, Italy from where it first spread to Barcelona in 2004 and then to over a dozen cities all over Europe in 2005. In 2005, approximately 200.000 people took part in the Europe-wide EuroMayDay.

Governmental Resistance to May Day

The United States is one of only a very few remaining places in the world where May Day has neither official governmental sanction nor massive marches (500,000-1,000,000 people or more) in the streets on the actual day. The situation in the U.S. is particularly ironic given that it is the country in which the Haymarket Riots occurred. The adoption of May Day around the time of the Haymarket events by the worldwide socialist and communist movements as their primary holiday cements official resistance to this expression of the day in the U.S. The Government of the United States has attempted to create other holidays for the day of 1 May in order to further discourage the celebration of May Day.

In a separate attempt to co-opt May Day, the Roman Catholic Church added another Saint Joseph's Day in 1955 that Christianized 1 May as the day of "Saint Joseph, the Worker". It is perhaps surprising that the Church did not take this step earlier, to distract attention from the traditionally virile pagan celebrations of May Day.

May Day Songs


Sung to the tune of "The Mulberry Bush"

Shout hurray for the flowers of May,
Flowers of May, flowers of May.
Shout hurray for the flowers of May,
Pretty springtime flowers!

Let's all play in the flowers of May,
Flowers of May, flowers of May.
Let's all play in the flowers of May,
Pretty springtime flowers!

MAY DAY IS HERE
Sung to the tune "Three Blind Mice"

May Day's here, May Day's here,
Sun shines bright, sun shines bright.
Birds and butterflies are in flight,
Blooming flowers--such a sight!
Everything feels just right.
May Day's here!

Ring Around the Maypole
Sung to the tune "Ring a Ring of Roses"
(Join hands with others and move in a circle.)

Ring around the Maypole.
Pocket full of roses.
Ribbons, ribbons,
We all fall down!
(Drop to floor.)


Sung to the tune "Did You Every See a Lassie?"

Did you ever see a May basket,
A May basket, a May basket?
Did you ever see a May basket
That looked so good?
I worked for hours,
Then filled it with flowers.
Did you ever see a May basket
That looked so good?

I Made A May Basket
Sung to the tune "a Tisket, a Tasket"

A- tisket, A- tasket
I made a may basket
I filled it up with flowers bright
and hung it on the door just right

A-tisket, A-tasket
I made a may basket
Flowers are a sign of spring
And all the joy that it can bring.



Make a Maypole Centerpiece

You Will Need:

A cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels

Heavy cardboard

Paint

Crepe paper in two or three colors

Some small stones

Flowers for decorating

A ruler

Scissors

Tacky glue

Step One - Cut a circle from heavy cardboard about 1 and 1/4 inches larger than the diameter of the cardboard tube.

Step Two - Glue the cardboard tube to the center of the cardboard circle. Let dry.

Step Three - Paint the cardboard tube and the cardboard circle. Let the paint dry.

Step Four - Cut 3 or 4 pieces of crepe paper the length of the tube. Cut the crepe paper in half length-wise. Glue the crepe paper strips to the top inside of the tube alternating colors.

Step Four - Put some small stones inside the tube to add some weight so that it will not tip over.

Step Six - Decorate the top of your Maypole with flowers and more crepe paper if desired. Enjoy!

A Quick May Craft - Make some paper cornucopias and fill them with flowers to give to friends and neighbors.

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Hartson Dowd