First day of my favourite month and, thankfully, the OED didn’t have a word that was particularly relevant to May-Day. I had visions of having to hunt down morris men and maypole dancers, which would not have been difficult as we are in the depths of the countryside – a hop across the river to the forest would have provided plenty of material for populating a project on pagan rites – but I had other things to do. Instead, I was on the hunt for stolen goods and what better place to start than the flea markets and charity shops. The hunt was something of a failure, though, as both pelf and photography books remained elusive.
As it’s May-Day, I feel I ought to make some sort of token gesture to the occasion, so I share with you one of my not-very-good attempts at video, which was taken a couple of years ago and shows friend Rudi from Vienna grasping the basics of morris dancing. A local historian explained that the dancing had evolved from times when men used to leave the wimin’ behind and go into the forest together … I’m sure he said it was something to do with crop fertility rituals, but I’m afraid my concentration lapsed after the word ‘naked’ triggered visions of the locals leaping over bough and branch in their birthday suits. [Edit to add that I don’t seem to be able to add the video, I think I’ll have to do it via another site and add the link – watch this space]
Day #121 of the second 365 project, where the daily pic is informed by the OED word of the day.