New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-04-30
MAY DAY.
Set Apart for Springtime Pleasure
Handed Dozen from Pagan Times.

Nav Day comes tomorrow and brings with
Il a time of gayety the world around. Wherever
the winter freezes and the spring thaws, whcr-
ever the earth blossoms at the return of a
southern sun. there the children of men show
their gratitude to nature in celebrations which
are everywhere much the same. The meaning
os the springtime varies little in New-York or
Saghaljen.
Like most of the picturesque customs of Chris
tian civlization the festivities Of the May Day
have their origin in an earlier paganism The
very word May is traced back to a NEUROLOGICAL
goddess Maia who was worshipped at woodland
shrinas by the ancient Romans She was be-
lieved to embody the principle of fertility and
growth and ner name may be regarded only
another form of the Latin word majus (greatel),
the foundation of such everyday English words
as majority and mayor Though the worship
of Maia is referred to only vaguely by those
Roman writers whose works have been pre-
served. yet it is known that even at very early
times the rites performed in her name much
senbled the May dances of the sons and daugh-
ters of modern times Then now, there were
a king and a queen. and their wedding was at
tended by dances on the lawn and songs chant
ed under the open sky. Indeed, many Of the
songs of the May Day of the present time reflect
their pagan source, as, for example, the ditty,
Here oats. peas beans and barley grow
The Maypole, like the May king and May
queen. has been bequeathed to the generation
of to-day by a heather ancestry. In the medi-
3cVal ages a tree was hewn the last night Of
April. stripped of its branches and brought in
and planted by the young men Of the village in
the public green. Lovers would take part in this
nocturnal excursion for the purpose also OF
plucking UP young trees and planting them in
front of the homes of their sweethearts. This
ceremony came to be called bringing in the
May"
Local tradition has Influenced the May Day
customs Of the present time. so that although
the same in meaning. they differ more or less
in their observance. In England, for instance,
Robin Hood was introduced into the May games.
and his doings were represented by cOstumed
and masked actors called morris dancers In
Scotland a bit Of Uncanny Druidical worship
crept into the May ceremony. After the dances
the May party selected youth Of their number
as a sacrifice to Beltan. god OF fame. A fire
built and the youth was made to leap through
the flames three times In Russia the boys and
girls greet the return Of the sun with choral
dance called the KhOrovod-
India celebrates the advent Of the season of
flowers and love" much earlier In the year. The
Holi festival comes sometimes In April and
sometimes In March. It Is characterized by
songs some OF which European would regard
immoral ana dances In which those who take
part sprinkle each other with red powder and
water or with filth.
In various parts Of the United States May
Day Observances also differ. In this State the
schools are not closed. whereas in California the
classes meet at the schOolhouse, and, with their
teachers, start out for all day picnics
May parties furnish much merriment for the
lads and lassies of this city. for they hold holi-
day. not on May 1, but every Saturday
throughout the month. In Central Park on any
Saturday in May there are likely to be fifteen
TO twenty thousand children dancing on the
lawns. the girls resplendent in gayly colored
tissue paper dresses donned over their sober
everyday clothes, and the boys wearing jockey
caps of various hues, and occasionally a costume
Of Robin Hoods time. dolly Gray and Ram
bic. Ramble" are their favorite tunes
In order that hoodlums may be kept out, the
Department Of Parks requires permits for the
parties. to which It assigns Fairgrounds In all
parts Of the big pleasure ground.