In 1550, probably give or take a spring or two, Pieter (yes, Peter with an “i”) Brueghel the Younger painted a scene in the Netherlands of a village dancing and named it “St. George’s Kermis with the Dance around the Maypole.” Pieter the Younger, sometimes referred to as a copyist, often recreated his father’s, Pieter the Elder, paintings. Many were village life scenes from back in the day. This Maypole oil, valued well over $1 million, came from the creative mind of the Younger, not Elder.
Angelkeep’s “keep” half of the name came from the Gaelic culture carried down by years of genealogy searching. A summer home, a keep, also served Angelkeep’s ancestors when the terrible British came to take their lands in 1608. Long live the fighting spirit of Sir Cahir O’Dogherty from the Inishowen Peninsula. The young chieftain died, his body captured by the English, and taken to Derry (today called Londonderry by the Brits, but not by the O’Doughertaigh Clan), quartered for public display, and his head rushed to Dublin and placed on a spike above the main entrance to the castle.
That digression took place on July 5, the original point intending to be a Gaelic culture event on April 30, the celebration of Bealtaine. Bealtaine, or Beltane, became the Gaelic May Day. The name translates from Gaelic as “lucky fire.” Dancing took place on today’s May Day Eve, associated with fire, sometimes the dancing included leaps over the fire. The year? About 900 AD.
The approximation of half way between the spring equinox and summer solstice encouraged the custom of fire blessing cattle and other livestock as they were moved to summer pastures. It continued into the 1800s with the cows actually forced to jump over fires to protect their milk from being stolen by fairies. Humans joined in the fire leaping, believing it brought them good luck.
May Day turned political and religious. In 1955, during the lifetime of this Angelkeep columnist, Pope Pius XII chose May 1st to celebrate St. Joseph the Worker, husband of Mary who birthed Jesus, he being the legal father, not biological father of Jesus of Nazareth. Carpenter Joseph served as patron saint of workers. The Pope’s intent was to counterpoint the communist International Workers’ Day.
Now it was the English who came up with May Day things like a May Queen and a maypole, beginning in the 1300s. But in 1978 the first Monday in May became a bank holiday. Americans have a long history of understanding how the Brits enjoy celebrating taxes, such as tea taxes. Puritan parliaments banned May Day until restored by King Charles II in 1660. Then in 1707 it became a celebration of the union of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Wales, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain.
In the 1960s Swaffham Prior kept the Cambridgeshire village tradition going for May Day by having girls dress dolls and going around the village collecting pennies. May Dolling might take on a totally new meaning today in a world of gender vicissitudes.
Sing a song of May-time. Sing a song of Spring. Flowers are in their beauty. Birds are on the wing. May time, play time. God has given us May time. Thank Him for His gifts of love. Sing a song of Spring.
Now there’s a maypole dance song that Angelkeep just might be able to toast with a frosty mug of English Breakfast iced tea. Angelkeep will refrain from leaping off the Angelpond pier into the depths.
Brits began in the 1980s jumping off Magdalen Bridge into River Cherwell on May Day. Today officials close the bridge off to use on May Day since the water below is only 61cm (two feet to Americans.) Yet some Brits continue to climb over barriers and leap into the water causing injury to parts unmentioned.
Cornwall’s Cawsand Square hung to the May pole dancing tradition, to this day unheard of on Angelkeep soil. Angelkeep has not forgotten what those Brits did to Grandfather Sir Cahir’s head, rudely spiked at the castle door.
Angelkeep totally missed yesterday’s May Day. Not a single pole dance took place on Angelkeep’s patio. A hummingbird did a rather raucous aerial dance to attract a mate. It was good.
That’s what happened for Angelkeep’s May Day.
Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their backyard and have named it “Angelkeep.”
