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Check the calendar. After 'Cruel April' we now find ourselves halfway through 'Merry May' - a month that stirs, intrigues and excites so many people.
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As the American naturalist Edwin Way Teale wrote: 'The world's favourite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May.'
Named after Maia, the Roman goddess of increase and growth, it's the moment for nature to spring free from winter's cold hold into cascading and colourful life.
In the warm breeze - and before the deadening summer heat - wild flowers blossom and bloom in the seasonable climate, as mother birds sit on eggs soon to hatch.
No wonder the poets are so drawn to this month. Shakespeare spoke of 'the darling buds of May', while Scottish poet James Thomson found nothing to compare with such a flowering. 'Among the changing months,' he wrote, 'May stands confest the sweetest, and in fairest colours dressed.'
n May 1st is also an ancient pagan festival. May Day is a 'cross quarter day', falling exactly half way between the spring equinox (March 21st) and the summer solstice (June 21st) and as such was celebrated in pre-Christian Europe.
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n Even in modern England, May Day is still widely celebrated.n
n Traditional activities include bonfires and wild parties on its eve; village fetes and community events on the day; dancing, particularly around a Maypole, and the crowning of a May Queen - traditionally, a teenage girl dressed in white and with a crown of flowers.
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n In Maypole dancing, long ribbons are attached to the top of the pole, with each dancer taking hold of one. As the dance progresses, intricate patterns are formed and reformed by the ribbons, which finally wrap the pole entirely. Morris Dancing is another customary May Day activity.n
May Day is also International Workers' Day, which commemorates the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago on May 4th 1886, when police fired on and killed workers demonstrating in support of an eight hour day. In countries across the world anarchists and left-wing groups mark the occasion with street protests that have sometimes turned into riots.
n Warm desiren n n For others May has been a time of violence and upheaval - when youthful activists revolt against the chill hand of n But in both cases, the essence of the month remains the same: a spirit of new life, shaking up the dull, sleepy world. " Morris Dancing goes urban with Dizzee Rascal in this video. A short article about the Roman goddess Maia - more mysterious than you might think. A walker's guide to the weather and flowering in May. Read the full story of the Haymarket Massacre. A Wikipedia entry on the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, held on May Day in prehistoric Britain, and still celebrated by some today. A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.
n For the poet John Milton, May was a time for laughter, youth and longing: 'Hail, bounteous May that doth inspire mirth and youth, and warm desire.'n
n authority, as famously happened in France during the great strikes of May 1968.n Expert Links
Q & A
n For others May has been a time of violence and upheaval - when youthful activists revolt against the chill hand of
n authority, as famously happened in France during the great strikes of May 1968.n
But in both cases, the essence of the month remains the same: a spirit of new life, shaking up the dull, sleepy world.
Q & A
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Morris Dancing goes urban with Dizzee Rascal in this video. A short article about the Roman goddess Maia - more mysterious than you might think. A walker's guide to the weather and flowering in May. Read the full story of the Haymarket Massacre. A Wikipedia entry on the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, held on May Day in prehistoric Britain, and still celebrated by some today. A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.Q & A
A short article about the Roman goddess Maia - more mysterious than you might think. A walker's guide to the weather and flowering in May. Read the full story of the Haymarket Massacre. A Wikipedia entry on the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, held on May Day in prehistoric Britain, and still celebrated by some today. A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.Q & A
A walker's guide to the weather and flowering in May. Read the full story of the Haymarket Massacre. A Wikipedia entry on the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, held on May Day in prehistoric Britain, and still celebrated by some today. A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.Q & A
Read the full story of the Haymarket Massacre. A Wikipedia entry on the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, held on May Day in prehistoric Britain, and still celebrated by some today. A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.Q & A
A Wikipedia entry on the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, held on May Day in prehistoric Britain, and still celebrated by some today. A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.Q & A
A lot happens on May Day.: It does. In Central and Northern Europe, it's known as Walpurgis Night. It used to be part of the pagan cycle of spring celebrations which began with the birth of spring animals in April and culminated with the flowering of the trees in May. New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.
New birth?: Yes, though In Germany, Estonia and the Czech Republic, Walpurgis Night is also associated with witches. And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.
And who or what are Morris dancers?: A Morris dance is a form of English folk dance often accompanied by the accordion. It's based on rhythmic stepping and choreographed moves by a group of dancers, who tend to wear white smocks and use sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells to bring the dance to life. So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.
So is May spring or summer?: Both. Which may be its genius.