Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-05-03
MAY.
The Floral month.
Something OF May Day Festivities
and Pleasanfries. ra t

A Aas7 a.l.N
May has opened upon us with all lis
verdure, its freshness, its ioyousness, and If
beauty. Ovid suggests the derivation
OF the word from either Bsdjestds, nlgjores
or Mata, the mother Of. Mercury; and
others think it a Teutonic word. Among
the Romans it was sacred to Apollo, and
almost every day was a festival. On the
9Th, 18th and 18th days was celebrated the
festival Of the tee1tI5G, in memory Of the
dead, and consequently it was believed
that marriages contracted il this month
would result fatally. From the ancient
Ft0Tdtsa, or festival in honor of Flora,
| celebrated from April the 18th to May 2,
Is perhaps derived the medieval and mod
ern custom of observing .May-day festivir
ties and floral rites The Druids were
also accustomed to light large fires on the
SUBMITS OF hills on the eve of May. In
the knights Tales, on May morning,
Fourth goeth all the court, both most and Iests,
10 feeche the houres freshes and branche and
~ .blome." $40 i.af Ffe
Hall mentions in his Chronicle that Hem
~ the VIII rode a-Maying with Catharine
and many lords and ladies' from Green
wich to the high ground Of Shooters Hill;
and he adds that il was customary for the
citizens Of London to Join together and
nave their several Mayings and Maypoles,
warilkc shows, arches, morris dancers and
other devices. Milton wrote a song, and |
Shakespeare and Herrick frequently referred |
to its observance. Robin Hood and Marian,
the Queen of May, are associated with the /
traditions of May games.
In the rounds of the seasons we are agafA
at the commencement of the merry Nav
month, which dawned upon us on Sunday
morning. ga
The earliest violets were harbingers of
her coming, and the roses of June will be |
her fragrant souvenirs All hearts respond |
IN quIikened pulses to the general out |
bursts Of buds and leaflets, and we find |
ourselves in sympathy with the full tide Of |
the ascending current of life in the vege-
table world. We do not attempt to check |
the unwonted exuberance of feeling, for !
custom, so intolerant Of many Of the ardent |
impulses OF nature, has set on this months |
merry making the seal of established usage. |
The first Of May has, from time i'm
memorial, been season of frolic and glee. |
In the early ages this day was sacred to |
Flora. Fioralia, or floral games. were cele- /
brated, and the shrine of the goddess was /
heaped with flowers These games usually 1
began on the 2Sth of April and continued /
from five to seven days. ..
We have all read with delight accounts
of its observance in Merge Englande. "
Chaucer, Spenser, Herrick, and other Of
the ancient British poets, make glowing
mention of the festival Youths and
maidens rose early and fastened to the
woods, garlanded their brows, and return
ing laden with floral spells, left branches
of the blooming hawthorne at the church
door and on every rustic porch. Even roy
atty saIlie forth to join in the sport of
bringing home the May"
We find in Shakespeare allusion to the
custom of painting May-poles. The first
of these painted May poles of which any
representation has been preserved, is of
one supposed to date back as far as the |
reign of Henry VIII. 1t has attached to
it a st. Georges red-cross banner and a
white streamer torked at the end, the shaft
is painted in diagonal lines of black and
yellow. We have also pictures Of Dutch
and French May poles of great antiquity.
In the city Of London, as well as in the
rural districts of England, the people used
to turn ont zen masse TO dance around the
MaypOle. A Queen of May was chosen,
and In dance and song, mimiery and mer-
ry jest, the winged hours sped by. Robin
Hood games were enacted, the most inhu-
entail citizens taken such characters as
'sFriar Tuck, 'Abbot of Unreason," etc.
During the administration of Cromwell
these innocent pastimeS were forbidden, |
but they we're revived with renewed zest
upon the Restoration. Now, by the gIadu-
al change in the spirit of the age, they
have almost entirely disappeared
In France Mayday is held sacred to the
Virgin Mary. Groups of little girls adorned
with flowers carry in their midst a large |
doll dressed in white. They sing simple
ditties and claim a gratuity in the name of
the Virgin. @ ~
Anciently the first day of May was Gel
ebrated in France by fetes called " les jour
Fl0reatr, when troubadours from the va
rious provinces assembled at Toulouse and
sang their verses, prizes being awarded for
the most pleasing. 1l[ $50
In Scotland though the May is a
thing of the past, the Scottish lassies
still HE to the hills, to wash their faces
in the dew just as it glitters in the first
beam OF the May morn.
Some of the happiest recollections of our
early days cluster about the flower crown
ed brow of a brighteyed Queen of May.
Her dainty feet trod pathway strewn
with flowers by laughing companions who
sang a JOYOUS welcome to her flushing
majesty.
We regret that these time-honored cus-
toms are gradually passing away, bat we
are glad that we will never grow too wise
to feel the genial influence of the glad
May-time.