Thrimilce-Monath: Three Milkings Month

New Moon ♉️

I had missed the Flower Moon, but my Dad had taken this photo of the bluebell woods near my parents’ home at the beginning of May.

We’re long into the merry month of May! The days are longer, the trees are greener and the flowers of both tree and plant are open, giving us a multitude of colour.

Now is the time of rich green leaves on the trees and a whole multitude of coloured flowers: bluebells (see above), forget-me-nots, borage, magnolia, dandelions, dead nettle, tulips, apple trees, plum trees, cherry blossom, hawthorn and more!

Everything growing now was important to our ancestors as it provided fruit and grain for the harvest. Everything growing and blooming now would be vital in produce for both Human and animal. The Anglo-Saxons were said to have described the grass being so plentiful during the month of May, you could milk the cows up to three times a day!

Unlike the Irish Bealtaine, which now begins on the 1st May and the modern English May Bank Holiday (normally the first Monday of May), the beginning of May wasn’t really seen as a special time of itself. For the Anglo-Saxons, the beginning of summer started on the 9th May; although this is going on the Julian Calendar rather than the modern Gregorian Calendar.

May was seen during Anglo-Saxon times as the month when everything starts growing, whether it’s plant, tree, harvest crop or cattle. And bizarrely enough, there were rituals practiced by Christians that read like they may possibly be linked to something older….

Rogationtide takes place five or seven weeks around Easter. If you recall from last month’s post, Easter itself is mutable depending on when it can take place. Ergo, Rogationtide can be celebrated as early as 25th April and up to 12th May, perhaps even later. Rogationtide was enacted by prayers of penance, fasting and an annual presenting of holy relics of the saints into the countryside; bringing the power of God from the church and into the open to give blessings of fecundity to the coming crops and growing cattle. As well as praying for the souls of Man, this was ritual and prayers for blessings on the land.

It is believed this practice was a Christianised version of a pagan Roman ceremony called the Amburbium. Which might explain its rather different approach.

The crowds that gathered for this procession into the fields were so popular that they carried on into the late Middle Ages where this blessing extended from fields to the boundaries of local parishes. This was met with local pride and became seen as local folk re-establishing their own parish borders. This, in time became known as ‘Beating the Bounds’ and was marked with sticks being beat on the boundaries themselves, or crosses being placed at these positions. By the late Middle Ages this was celebrated by the people with lots of cheering, noise making, bell ringing, feasting and communal walks in the countryside.

I, myself, was introduced to the “Beating of the Bounds” in a local camp here in Nottingham. The campers met with most of the children (adults were invited too!), who were encouraged to bring pots and pans and we travelled to each of the four corners of the field that became course campsite; where we whooped, hollered, made an absolute din to mark this space as ours and drive away any harmful spirits!

According to the Anglo-Saxons, there was even a ritual called the Aecerbot or ‘Field Remedy’ to be performed when your field was no longer delivering produce. If this happened it meant your fields were sick or were bewitched and so this plough based ritual was enacted:

Before dawn, four pieces of turf were cut from the four corners of the field. A concoction of oil, honey, yeast, holy water milk from every cow you have and portion of every tree and plant you have was dripped on to these pieces of turf. Prayers were offered as was the Pater Noster (the Lord’s Prayer), a priest would then sing four masses over them before sunset. These pieces of turf were then put back- but each had a wooden cross made of Rowan (for repelling witchcraft) underneath them. Whoever performs the ritual bows to the east nine times, saying a prayer to the east. More prayers and a curious act which involves taking seeds from beggars, but with you giving back twice as many seeds as you took from them. These seeds are then set on your plough then you say:

“Erce, erce, erce, mother of earth, may the All-wielder, the eternal Lord, grant you fields growing and putting forth shoots, increasing and becoming strong, tall shafts, bright crops, and the broad barley-crops and the white wheat-crops and all the crops of the earth. May the eternal Lord and his holy ones who are in heaven grant to him that this field may be protected against every enemy, and guarded against every evil from poisons sown across the land. Now I ask the Ruler who created this world that there may be no talking woman or cunning man who is able to change the words thus spoken.”

You then cut the earth with this plough and seeds, say: “Be well, earth, mother of mankind! Be growing in the embrace of God, filled with food for the use of all.”

You then bake a loaf of bread and lay this in the first furrow that was ploughed and finish with more prayers.

So, with the blessing of the Christian God, the Earth Mother was invoked! And “Erce, erce, erce….” Frustratingly enough this is the ONLY mention of Erce, and if I had to guess, I would say this could be a name of the Earth Mother, perhaps even an Anglo-Saxon derivative of the Earth Goddes Nerthus. But without substantial research and evidence, this is purely my personal conjecture.

The Aecerbot was not limited to any particular time of the year, it could be performed at anytime as long as it was started before sunrise.

The importance of gaining a good harvest in order to provide food for both the community and fodder for livestock was paramount. It seems that the Anglo-Saxons wanted to ensure the health of their crops and cattle- as any good culture must in order to survive! And if this depended on praying to the Christian God as well as borrowing processional ceremonies from pagan peoples of the past, or even calling upon the Earth Mother to bless the fields…. Then to borrow a cliche: the ends justified the means.

Whatever this month means to you and however you celebrate it (if at all), here’s wishing your fields are healthy, your livestock are abundant and your harvest will be a plentiful one! May your boundaries be safe and have a Merry May-time!

Locksley. /|\

Mischief and Misrule

Ah yes, here we are!
That time of year where (for the fortunate) family gather together to exchange gifts and share in feasting and drinking.

For some this is a time of family, for quite a lot it is the celebration of a certain individual who was said to be born at this time.

For the Pagan community it is a time where friends and family gather, the feasting still takes place (not to mention the usual tired arguments about Christmas vs. Yuletide); although quite a few of these are celebrating either the Winter Solstice, the birth of Mithras or even Modranacht.  Or even none of the above.

In British folk tradition, there is the concept of Misrule at Yuletide.  Folklore says there are spirits roaming about and causing trouble during the Twelve Days.  Even the early Church had Fool Bishops ruling the land for one day in Christmas.
By Yuletide I don’t just mean the Pagan observances of the Midwinter Solstice.
Yuletide, in its classical sense, meant any of the celebrations or observances taking place from the beginning of Martinmas (11th November) to Candlemas, the 1st February.  Chances are this was an effort by the Church to allow the populous to keep their original winter customs spanning from Samhain to Midwinter then to Imbolc.

And during this time a lot of the folk customs, though having possibly Pagan origins were in fact practiced by people who were Christian.  Here’s a few:

*The Old Oss (Horse)

The Black Pig Border Morris version of ‘Old Oss’ http://www.blackpigborder.co.uk/home.htm

And its variations have the comedic if sad sacrifice of a horse that has gone past its prime.  It can be traced back to medieval times where the in the 7th Century, Theodore of Tarsus once declared:

“If any of one on the Kalends of January walks as a stag or as a little old woman, that is to say if they change themselves into the likeness of wild animals, or clothe themselves in the skins of cattle and wear the heads of beasts, they shall do penance for three years: for this is devilish.” (David Clarke, Strange South Yorkshire: Myth and Magic in the valley of the Don, Sigma Press, Cheshire, 1994, p.77).

Pixyled writes more about the Owd Loss here: http://traditionalcustomsandceremonies.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/custom-revived-poor-owd-oss/ he is also the photographer of the image I used, thanks Pixy!

*The Mummers Play

The Black Pigs performing the ‘Selston Mummers Play’ for the W.I. 2012.

And even the Plough Plays have the theme of good overcoming evil (white knight vs black knight) only for good to get a grilling from evils mother.  Think of it as an ancestor to the Pantomime.

*Morris Dancing

Black Pig Border Morris at the Galleries of Justice, Nottingham, 2013.

Has as many variations as it does origins although Border Morris (sticks, painted faces) began as a winter time activity.

What they all share (despite being resurrected into the public consciousness by Cecil Sharp) is that they all contain an element of mischief and chaos.  Border Morris has lots of shouting and hollering as well as the black face said to scare away evil spirits (another aspect of Yuletide, now only enacted with traditions like opening all windows and doors at New Year’s in order to release all the present year’s bad luck.  Be sure to close them gently… lest you run the risk of trapping any passing spirits in your home!).  The Old Oss involves dressing up as a beast, something banned around the 7th century, obviously our ancestors didn’t care for it and carried on, ban be damned!  The Mummers and Plough plays are bawdy comedy stories involving men dressed as women, quack doctors with ridiculous cures for death.  Usually the character of Beelzebub turns up at the end to take money from anyone to give them a reason to buy beer.

These were originally done throughout Winter, but it was Cecil Sharp who brought them back for Boxing Day.

Practical jokes on our neighbours were also popular… possibly a reason why there is the practice of putting coins into the Christmas pudding, which then became a sort of divination.

I’m normally playing St. George or the Doctor characters in the Mummers Plays I’m involved with, so this years Solstice was the first for a while where I’ll not be in costume.

However, to keep within the spirit of Misrule, I’d like to leave this little bit of writing to give an image in your mind:

The children gaped on in horror as they looked at Father Christmas laying flaccid on the now snapped Christmas tree.  He reeked of sherry and his beard was soaked in mince pie vomit, the stench of which crept along as he breathed heavily.
  “Are- are you alright, Father Christmas?” Tommy asked warily.
Father Christmas rolled his bloodshot eyes at young Tommy and tried to pull at his magic bin liner, not quite managing to reach it.
Cynthia slowly walked forward to the magic bin liner and passed it gently to the exhausted man. 
  “Giveitfugginhere!” Father Christmas mumbled, grasping the black polythene in his trembling hand.  He quickly thrust one gloved hand inside and pulled out…. a fist. Which slowly revealed one digit facing the two children, before he collapsed and fell asleep.
  Cynthia walked back to Tommy shaking her head.
  Tommy hugged his little sister and told her  “Never mind, we’ll make him some coffee and phone Mrs. Christmas.“
  The little girl looked up with a hopeful glint in her eyes. “Yes! And maybe next year someone else will have to be the last house on Christmas Eve…”

Mischief managed!