Hal-an-Tow, jolly rumbelowWe were up long before the day-oTo welcome in the summertimeTo welcome in the May-oFor summer is coming inAnd winter’s gone away
This May Day I put on my ‘Mother May’ mask and danced up the dawn.
I was inspired to do this by Lucy Wright. She invented the term ‘hedge morris’ – “Hedge morris dancing is for those of us who don’t have, or can’t be with a group of morris siblings, on May morning, but who still feel the call to dance up the sun! They can dance anywhere they happen to be: it doesn’t have to be an idyllic rural clearing, it can be the steps to a block of flats, or in their backyard.” Lucy Wright Tradfolk 6 September 2023. And find out more here ‘Join the ‘hedge morris’ dancing revolution’.
I wanted to perform my dance as a character and so set about thinking who this might be. Many May Day characters symbolise fertility and purity but I wanted something that could represent a different aspect of the season, something for those of us who aren’t fertile or child bearing so I created ‘Mother May’. They are a personification of ‘mothering’, nurture and care. I was also thinking of these traits in relation to May Day being the Workers Day and care for all workers.
I gathered together materials from my collection and created a headdress.
I did want to wear some bells but thought this might disturb my neighbours. Perhaps next year I will extend my costume and dance somewhere where I can make some noise and wear bells!
Another May Day tradition I have joined in with is giving posies of flowers to my neighbours. I first did this in 2015 and over the years have delivered more and more posies and also cards.
