May Day - May 1st
May Day ushers in the fifth month of the modern calendar
year, the month of May. May Day celebrations and festivities were once the
highlight of the year in every town and village through Britain. Although it is
not as popular today as it once was, it seems to be enjoying something of a
come back.
The month of May is named in honour of the goddess Maia,
originally a Greek mountain nymph, later identified as the most beautiful of
the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades. By Zeus, she was also the mother of Hermes,
god of magic. Maia's parents were Atlas and Pleione, a sea nymph.
Also, 1 May 1707, was the day the Act of Union
came into effect, joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of
Great Britain. Although this isn't celebrated, especially not in
Scotland.
