The First of May

Simonthepilgrim

Sing hurrah for the First of May;
Outdoor swiving starts today!

May each of us receive the blessings of the Mother's Month.

federica

I'll drink to that - the 31st will be my day to remember...or the one to forget.....

questZENer

MayDay Song courtesy Thomas Morton, a rabble-rouser of 1625 Puritan Quincy, Massachusetts who erected a May Pole to celebrate. Needless to say, he was thrown out two years later...

"There was likewise a merry song made, which, (to make their Revells more fashionable,) was sung with a Corus, every man bearing his part; which they performed in a daunce, hand in hand about the Maypole, whiles one of the Company sung and filled out the good liquor, like gammedes and Jupiter.

Drinke and be merry, merry, merry boyes;
Let all your delight be in the Hymens joyes;
Yo to Hymen, now the day is come,
About the merry Maypole take a Roome.
Make greene garlons, bring bottles out
And fill sweet Nectar freely about.
Vncover thy head and feare no harme,
For hers good liquor to keepe it warme.
Then drinke and be merry, merry, merry boyes;
Yo to Hymen, &c.
Nectar is a thing assign'd
By the Deities owne minde
To cure the hart opprest with greife,
And of good liquors is the cheife.
Then drinke, &c.
Yo to Hymen, &c.
Give to the Mellancolly man
A cup or two of 't now and than;
This physick will soone revive his bloud,
And make him be of a merrier moode.
Then drinke, &c.
Yo to Hymen, &c.
Give to the Nymphe thats free from scorne
No Irish stuff nor Scotch over worne.
Lasses in beaver coats come away,
Yee shall be welcome to us night and day.
To drinke and be merry &c.
Yo to Hymen, &c.

Sabine

Isn't May Day a Socialist holiday?

Yay for Socialism!
I guess.
It just depends on your political status. :tongue2:

Xrayman

questZENer wrote:

MayDay Song courtesy Thomas Morton, a rabble-rouser of 1625 Puritan Quincy, Massachusetts who erected a May Pole to celebrate. Needless to say, he was thrown out two years later...

"There was likewise a merry song made, which, (to make their Revells more fashionable,) was sung with a Corus, every man bearing his part; which they performed in a daunce, hand in hand about the Maypole, whiles one of the Company sung and filled out the good liquor, like gammedes and Jupiter.

Drinke and be merry, merry, merry boyes;
Let all your delight be in the Hymens joyes;
Yo to Hymen, now the day is come,
About the merry Maypole take a Roome.
Make greene garlons, bring bottles out
And fill sweet Nectar freely about.
Vncover thy head and feare no harme,
For hers good liquor to keepe it warme.
Then drinke and be merry, merry, merry boyes;
Yo to Hymen, &c.
Nectar is a thing assign'd
By the Deities owne minde
To cure the hart opprest with greife,
And of good liquors is the cheife.
Then drinke, &c.
Yo to Hymen, &c.
Give to the Mellancolly man
A cup or two of 't now and than;
This physick will soone revive his bloud,
And make him be of a merrier moode.
Then drinke, &c.
Yo to Hymen, &c.
Give to the Nymphe thats free from scorne
No Irish stuff nor Scotch over worne.
Lasses in beaver coats come away,
Yee shall be welcome to us night and day.
To drinke and be merry &c.
Yo to Hymen, &c.

Ummm, Is the reference to Hymen what I think it is? or is it an old English way of saying Highwaymen???
:eek2:

I'm confused...and somewhat tittilated-I think it's just me.

Simonthepilgrim

Sabine,

Yes, the Socialist International chose May 1st as a day to celebrate labour all round the world. The Catholic Church dedicated the day to Saint Joseph the Worker, which is appropriate as May is dedicated to his wife, Mary.

Xrayman,

Hymen, in this song, refers to marriage and not an anatomical feature. Hymenaeus was the Greek god of marriage. Shakespeare, who knew his Greek gods well, says, in As You Like It:

"’Tis Hymen peoples every town;
High wedlock then be honoured.
Honour, high honour, and renown,
To Hymen, god of every town!"

buddhafoot

Wasn't there a myth about the Greek goddess Hymenaeus and her love of a mortal man called Foreskinius Maximus?

I love that story.

-bf

federica

Plank.

YogaMama

May is my favorite month...Mother's Day, my birthday, things growing more and more in my gardens...I love it!