814-Umcm»r Firming. Saturday, May 9. 1992
May Day Fest Renews Medieval Customs
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
BLUE BALL (Lancaster Co.)
Visitors at the May Day Fcst
held at the Village Herb Shop in
Blue Ball observed medieval cus
toms of celebrating one of the
world’s oldest holidays.
According to Pat Dyer, manager
of the Village Herb Shop, May
Day was the world’s oldest and
most widely celebrated holidays in
ancient times.
It was a time to welcome spring
time and rejoice in the renewal of
nature. The joy and thankfulness
that people felt with the advent of
spring was acted out with dancing
and flower gathering.
One of the most widely prac
ticed traditions was decorating the
Maypole. The Maypole was usual
ly a tree, a symbol of nature’s fer
n hty and vitality. The Maypole
was decorated with flowers and
ribbons, which two rows of cos
tumed dancers grasped and wove
in and out while moving in oppo
site directions.
The merry-making included an
activity known as “bringing in the
May.” Before dawn on May Day,
people would go out in the woods
and gather boughs of hawthorn,
also known as May or Mayblos
som to decorate their homes.
Women who wanted to look young
bathed their faces in the morning
dew.
Young girls wove leaves and
flowers in their hair and went from
door to door singing. They
arranged May baskets of flowers to
hang anonymously on neighbors’
door knobs.
Suitors picked wildflowers to
ninke nosegays for their
sweethearts’ May baskets.
The festivities included outdoor
and indoor displays of herbs and
When we traveled south to visit
our children, we stopped to see
Skyline Caverns in Virginia. They
were only recently discovered by
a scientist in 1937. These caverns
have subterranean streams and
cascades. They also contain cal
cite formations known as antho
dites or cave flowers, the only
ones of this type in the world.
After driving for 500 miles we
stopped for the night in Bristol,
Virginia. The next day we drove
through the Great Smokey Moun
tains. Trees and plants were
blooming and we stopped to take
several short hikes to see water
falls. After we drove seven miles
up a mountain peak to a tower,
Allen climbed to a point more than
6,000 feet elevation. These moun
tains are enveloped in a haze and
are richly forested. There are
their uses. Visitors could tour the
herb gardens and buy herbs to
plant in their own gardens.
Displays included instructions
on how to dry and arrange herbs on
notecards and pictures. Work
shops instructed participants on
how to arrange tussie mussies or
nosegays. Nosegays or tussie
mussies date back to the days in
England when flowers and herbs
woe carried in tight bunches and
held to the nose to block out
offending odors.
According to instructor Ruth
Pankuch, the miniature arrang
ments were originally carried in
medieval times. “People didn’t
bath and sewage ran through the
streets so people pressed the nose
gays against their noses when con
fronted with an offensive odor,”
she said.
Victorian nosegays included
clusters of herbs recommended by
physicians to revive those who felt
faint or as a means of warding off
diseases.
The nosegays often were used to
convey a sentiment because flow
ers and herbs were assigned mean
ings. If a lady had a fight with her
boyfriend, her bouquet might
include the herb tansy, which
meant hostility or a declaration of
war against him. A rose meant love
and was often used as the central
flower in the nosegay.
Fresh or dried flowers and herbs
can be used to make tussie mussies
or nosegays. If fresh flowers are
used, cut and set in water to condi
tion them before arranging.
Directions for Nosegays
Materials:
Scissors
One central flower with a 4- to
6-inch stem
Ida’s
Notebook
Ida Risser
restored historic farm buildings at
one end of the park which strad
dles Tennessee and North
Carolina.
That night we arrived in Atlan
ta, Georgia, were our son and
daughter live with their families.
The next day was Easier and 17
people gathered at one table for a
meal of lamb. Having six grand
children together at one time for
an Easter egg hunt was unusual
and also a noisy affair.
The next day the whole group,
including a 10-month-old, two
2-year-olds, a 3-year-old, a
S-year-old, and an 11-year-old
(plus we older grandparents) took
a cable car up Stone Mountain. It
is 825 feet high and has the faces
of Davis, Lee, and Jackson carved
on it with their horses. I do not
know just how we managed but
Helen Gruber, left, and Addle Bauman, both of Bernvllle, displayed their handiwork
with what they call "Nature’s Jewels.” The women use pressed flowers, herbs, and
greens to make notecards
Other flowers, herbs, and
leaves, as desired, with a 4- to
6-inch stem
6-inch diameter paper doily
Floral tape
% -inch wide ribbon, enough to
make desired bows and streamers.
Holding a central flower in one
hand, surround it with other flow
ers. heibs, or leaves. Chamomile,
Forget-Me-Nots, Lamb’s Ears,
were used during the workshop.
Foliage should be stripped off
stems. Enlarge the bouquet until it
is the size desired. Wrap stems
with floral tape. Trim off stems
evenly.
Cut an X in the center of the doi
ly and insert flowers.
Tie with ribbon streamers and
bows, if desired.
Four Food Watch vohmtMrs w ora honored for leadership and support In building
public confidence In the food and agriculture Induetry. From left: Phil Koch, Clba-
Gelgy Corp.; Dale Darting, DuPont Agricultural Products; Wm. Patrick Nichols, Agri
cutltura Council of America; and Dick FoeH, ICI Americas me.; have given hundreds of
speeches in behalf of Food Watch and have developed matching funds programs ben
eflttlng Food Watch, a national public education and awareness program designed to
build public confidence in the food and agriculture Industry.
we walked or ran down this moun- whole way down by herself over picked our way down to a train
tain with the baby in a backpack, big, round rocks and was a sight to which took us to our parking lot.
The one two-year-old girl ran the see. We older folks carefully
Holland, taught workshops on making tussle mussies,
more commonly known as nosegay bouquets.