Part 72

THE MORRIS DANCES.--Whitsuntide was pre-eminently the time for the performance of the Morris dances, which some suppose derive their name from the Spanish Moriseo, a Moor, and the dance was originally identified with the fandango. Others believed them to be connected with one of the season's pagan observances prevalent amongst primitive communities and associated in some mysterious manner with the fertilization and slaughter of all living things.

Usually the Morris dances were only performed at special seasons once or twice a year, and in some districts they were only indulged in at Christmas. It is highly significant, and bears out the belief in the religious origin of the movement, that the first of the Whitsuntide dances in some villages was performed on the top of the tower of the church. Lucky indeed were those who took part in these church-top revels, for they were certain to be free of the devil's attentions for some while to come.

Weather lore affirms the following:--

(a) Dry May Brings nothing gay.

(b) Mist in May, heat in June, Makes the harvest come right soon.

(c) Shear your sheep in May, And shear them all away.

(d) Change not a clout Till May be out.

(e) A dry May and a leaking June Make the farmer whistle a merry tune.

(f) A May wet was never kind yet.

(g) For an east wind in May, 'Tis your duty to pray.

(h) Fogs in February mean frosts in May.

(i) Who shears his sheep before St. Gervatius' Day (May 13th), loves more his wool than his sheep.

JUNE

June owes its name to Juno, the goddess of heaven, who takes a special interest in women and protects their interests. She is supposed to accompany every woman through life, from the moment of her birth to her death. Little wonder, then, that the women of ancient times considered that, by propitiating Juno, their fortunes were assured. This they usually did on their birthdays.

Midsummer Day (June 24th) is sacred to the memory of John the Baptist, and the ceremonies practised at this season in the Middle Ages were partly relics of the saints and partly relics of old sun worship. Great fires of wood or bones blazed on every mountain top, and were supposed to be typical of the saint, who was called a burning and a shining light.

These Beltane fires burned often on bare, flat rocks, not only in England, Scotland, and Ireland, but on the Alps, the Hartz Mountains, and elsewhere. It was a great thing to be present at or in view of one of these fires, for the evil spirit was dispelled by the potency of the light and flames.

Rhymes regarding June:--

(a) A dripping June Brings all things in tune.

(b) If St. Vitus' Day (June 14th) be rainy weather, It will rain for thirty days together.

(c) He who bathes in May will soon be laid in clay; He who bathes in June will sing a merry tune; But he who bathes in July will dance like a fly.

(d) Look at your corn in May, And you will come weeping away: Look at the same in June, And you'll sing a merry tune. (e) June, damp and warm, does the farmer no harm.

(f) If it rains on Midsummer Eve, the filberts will be spoilt.

JULY

This month was so named in honor of Julius Caesar, whose birth-month it was. The Saxons called it Hey Monat on account of the hay harvest.

The following old sayings regarding July may be noted with interest:--

(a) A shower of rain in July, When the corn begins to fill Is worth a plough of oxen And all belonging theretill.

(b) Ne'er trust a July sky.

(c) Whatever July and August do not boil, September cannot fry.