Saturday, 1 May 2010

Beltane / May Day


Every year around this time, my Rare One waxes poetic and recites (seemingly incessantly) a little verse that she learned during her youth on the Canadian prairies:

Hurray, hurray, the first of May!
Outdoor screwing starts today!

Now, as poetry, this doggerel ranks right up there with the equally popular rhyme from the hippy era:

If this van's a-rockin',
Don't come a-knockin'!

Nevertheless, the first of May verse does genuinely express the pagan spirit of Beltane, when Celtic people traditionally had sex outdoors in the fields and woods to encourage the fecundity of the Goddess and the Green Man. Did this verse have its origin in the ancient pagan rites of the Old Country or is it simply a randy 20th century expression of campground horniness? Who knows?

Enjoy your maypole dancing, everyone!

18 comments:

  1. Yay for sex outside ;0)

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Hurray, hurray, the first of May!
    Outdoor screwing starts today!"

    My husband recites that same little verse, and he didn't grow up on the Canadian prairies. I imagine it's pretty world wide. >,-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. i reconnected with one of my best friends that i knew in the late
    60's and she said her favorite memory of me was coming to work(we wer waittresses at the palm gardens) and me giggling like a 6 year old and putting yellow notes of paper on all the tables..she asked what i was doing and i handed her one of the notes..
    which said "hooray hooray the first of may...outdoor screwing starts today"..and of giggling i went..ha

    ReplyDelete
  4. You make me smile Debra She Who Seeks (0: Love yer posts! Happy horny season!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovin' that catchy little jingle!! :0)
    Beltaine Blessings to you! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  6. Why wait for May? haha! Happy Mayday.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love it. Beltaine Blessings to you and yours. May your day be filled joy and laughter.
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  8. Outside, inside, I'll take what I can get! Very happy Beltane to all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd never heard this but it sure sounds fun!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, love the maypole. Did you dance around it?
    May Beltane bless you with love, happiness and magickal surprises

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL yeah sounds wonderful :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. if it weren't for the blackflies this time of year...I think it would be a grand plan!

    ReplyDelete
  13. And I thought the main attraction of the May Day parade in the former Soviet Union was their huge intercontinental ballistic missiles.

    ReplyDelete
  14. if ya had sex outside here in springtime, you would get bitten on the bum by either snakes or spiders.. guess it is a northern hemisphere thing !!

    ReplyDelete
  15. OMG...that is so funny! I have heard the van quote...but not the outdoor screwing...hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Don't know about the 'Chuck, but we had S N O W !! for the 1st (and several more days) of May - GRRR. No outside nekkidness, but I do love that little rhyme ha ha!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are welcomed and appreciated!

However, comment moderation is on and no comments will be published from trolls, haters, bots or spammers.