MAY DAY

The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. It is said to be a time of love and romance. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer with lots of different customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter.

Although summer does not officially begin until June, May Day really marks its beginning. May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora, goddess of fruit and flowers, which marked the beginning of summer. It was held annually from April 28th to May 3rd.

Nowadays, May Day is celebrated on the first Monday of the month. This Monday is a bank holiday, a day off school and work.

(May Day es el primer día del mes de Mayo. Este es el periodo del año en el que las flores y los árboles florecen. La gente celebra este día con felicidad dado que el invierno ha acabado y el verano se acerca. Aunque el verano no empieza oficialmente hasta Junio, es en el mes de Mayo donde se muestra su comienzo. La celebración del dia 1 de Mayo tiene sus orígenes en Roma con el festival de la diosa Flora, la diosa de la fruta y las flores. Se celebraba cada año entre el 28 de Abril y el 3 de Mayo. Hoy en día se celebra el primer lunes del mes de Mayo y éste es un día festivo)

How was May Day Celebrated? (¿Cómo se celebraba el 1 de Mayo?)

Decorating houses

May Day began early in the morning. People would go out before sunrise in order to gather flowers and greenery to decorate their houses and villages with in the belief that the vegetation spirits would bring good fortune.

(La gente sale temprano de sus casas para recoger flores para decorar sus casas con la creencia de que todo esto les dará buena suerte)

May Day Garlands

Young girls would make May Garlands. They covered two hoops, one at right angles inside the other, with leaves and flowers, and sometimes they put a doll inside to represent the goddess of Spring.

(Las jovenes realizan guirnaldas de flores y hojas que colocan sobre sus cabezas; en ocasiones, colocan una muñeca en el centro de su frente que representa la diosa de la primavera, la diosa Flora)

Maypole Dancing:

Maypole Dancing is the traditional May Dance. People used to cut down young trees and stick them in the ground in the village to mark the arrival of summer. People danced around them in celebration of the end of winter and the start of the fine weather that would allow planting to begin. Schools would practice skipping round the pole for weeks before the final show on the village greens.

(La gente corta el tronco de un árbol y lo colocan verticalmente sujeto al suelo. La gente baila alrededor del tronco. Los niños practican antes durante semanas para mostrar su baile en dicho día)

Rochester Sweeps festival

In Rochester chimney sweeps used to enjoy on 1 May. It was the one time of the year when the sweeps could put away their tools and have some fun.

(En Rochester los deshollinadores difrutaban de este día ya que este era el único día del año en el que no trabajaban)

May Day Tricks

In the North of England, the first of may was a kind of late `April Fooling´ when all sorts of jokes would take place and May Gosling was the shout if you managed to trick someone. The response would be: `May Gosling past and gone. You are the fool for making me one!´

(En el norte de Inglaterra, el día 1 de Mayo se celebraba como `Aprils fool´ lo que nosotros conocemos como el día de los Santos Inocentes)