Wishing you a happy May!
Other than playing the Lusty Month of May from Camelot a few times. May Day or Lady Day is not a holiday I’ve ever observed, but am familiar with from English novels and stories. Grey Rabbit’s May Day is all about the little animals celebrating May Day like the village children except with their own carol and spin on the traditions. Despite my tearing through Grey Rabbit books as soon as they arrive in the mail, I made a concentrated effort to save GR’s May Day to enjoy on the eve of May Day.
GR’s May Day was published May 1963, so I like to imagine it was a summer treat for all the Little Grey Rabbit fans. Particularly since Collins delayed publishing it, according to The Life of a Country Child by Denis Judd, due to a dispute between Uttley and Tempest regarding the quality of the illustrations.
I own two copies, and Margaret Tempest illustrated both. The first is the abridged version included in the Little Grey Rabbit’s Year of Stories treasury published by Templar in 2015. The other is the 1968 reprint published by Collins. Comparing them side by side makes me glad that I purchased the Collins reprint because the abridgement removed the foibles of the characters that I like so well. The pictures seem a bit brighter in my Collins edition too. I’m surprised that the foreword is not included in the 1968 reprint, and I wonder if this was intentional or accidental. However, there is a dedication to the “children of Longwick School, Buckinghamshire, who carry garlands on May Day”. A google search turns up results for Buckinghamshire Family History Society’s website, where they mention the dedication.
In a nutshell, May Day is a celebration of the start of summer. The way it is celebrated is varied depending on country and region. It has pagan roots and is celebrated with flower garlands, maypoles and processions. A tie to communism and worker’s holiday is only a slice of May Day’s fascinating history in modern times. Uttley’s story is naturally focused on the rural English celebration of May Day with Maypoles and nature that she knew and wanted to share.
Hare, who seems to go to the village more than anyone else, initiates the idea of the woodland animals having their own May Day celebration. They go to Wise Owl for advice and for once, perhaps owing to the spirit of the holiday, he doesn’t ask for payment. In this story May is a spirit of spring and queen of the flowers who will collect the flowers from the May Tree.
Word of the Day: Argybargy 16th century origin. “vigorous or noisy discussion or dispute”. Related word: argle-bargle.
It appears in the story when Wise Owl gives up trying to read to the animals, because there is too much “argybargying” about what to do for May Day. This amusing tidbit was sadly abridged from the Templar edition.
So, the animals gather local flowers such as cowslips and bluebells, make garlands and celebrate around a venerable hawthorn tree instead of a maypole. Rat, who still seems to hang back on the fringes of respectable animal society, carves a doll to sit in the May Day crown. Miss Susan, a human character, who first appeared in Grey Rabbit Makes Lace returns again to aid the animals. As thanks Miss Susan receives the restorative benefits of some May Day dew collected by Grey Rabbit. The May tree is decorated with all of their garlands, cowslip balls, and crowns. The last few pages, Uttley’s text really sells all of nature celebrating summer, accompanied by Tempest’s picture of the animals dancing in a circle around the May tree. It makes me long to visit a May Day celebration, or at least start a garden.
I have noticed that human interaction between the animals becomes increased in the later published stories. In Little Grey Rabbit Makes Lace Hare easily talks with Miss Susan, but in this story Hare communicating with Miss Susan is described as squeaky and mouse like. By the time Hare Goes Shopping it seems that only children and perhaps the young at heart can understand the animals.
It’s a good story, and likely handy to introduce children to the holiday and its traditions in rural England. Out of curiosity I took a cursory look through my local library’s catalogue, there’s nothing in juvenile fiction about May Day, only non-fiction books.
After reading GR’s May Day I listened to all of the May Day carols I could find on Apple Music. My favorite two recordings were by Magpie Lane and Kyle Carey. The Revels had a solemn and wistful recording. Singing the animal’s May Day song is a lot easier and fun after getting to know the May Day Carol tune. I even made a May Day crown per the instructions from Little Grey Rabbit’s Country Book—using papers flowers of course. This morning I rose early and after taking my allergy medicine, went out to see the dew. I just wasn’t brave enough to pat some on my face.
Again, Here’s wishing you a happy May!
Sincerely,
Primrose
Little Grey Rabbit Scholar 