When I was a kid the view from my bedroom window was of a
rural scene. At the bottom of the garden which my father cultivated with
vegetables there was an expansive meadow. On the far side there was a brook that
was hedged in by a miscellany of bushes and small trees. Halfway between an
orchard where the brook turned to the south and a wooden pedestrian bridge
further to the south, there was a ford where cows could lap cool, clear water. Right next to this haven of refreshment for
the herd there was a most wonderful May Tree that never failed to blossom in
the month of May.
The tree was nothing more than a Common Hawthorn, but it was
impregnable, being one of the few trees I could not climb because of long
vicious thorns protecting it from my advance. Even cows kept clear of it, but
it was magnificent when in bloom. I can't remember the tree blossoming as
early as March, and yet this has become more common for Hawthorns in present
times, perhaps due in part to there being a general trend towards warmer
winters leading to warmer springs – this year bucking the trend.
Because of recent cold weather I am surprised how buds are
pressing forth from greenery in my garden, and I am reminded that spring can’t
be all that far away, despite snow flurries throughout the day. The phrase, ‘The
darling buds of May’, came to mind; May being the May Tree, rather than the
month of May.
How I would love to see that cherished May Tree of my
youth; the beautiful tree that confirmed it was nearly time to, ‘Cast a clout
when May is out’.
Links
The Darling Buds of May
The Darling Buds of May
H. E. Bates
Hawthorn (May Tree)
Crataegus monogyna (Hawthorn)
The Worship of Trees - Hawthorn
Never Cast a
Clout Until May Is Out
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