THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY

We can throw away our long combinations, consign our bed-socks to retirement, empty and hide away our trusty hot-water-bottles, for the calendar has gloriously announced the arrival of May, harbinger of summer and days of wine and roses. May has a lot to live up to:

O The month of May, the merry month of May, 
So frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green! 
O, and then did I unto my true love say, 
Sweet Peg, thou shalt be my Summer's Queen. 

So sang Thomas Dekker, the Tudor bard in 1599, while the arrival of May once triggered off galumphing dances around the Maypole, an orgy of Morris dancing, the wearing of diaphanous clothing by blonde beauty queens and serious revelry for the lads, booze and bonfires, especially in Northern Europe when they combined May Day with traditional Walpurgis Night. At Oxford 50+ years ago, we loaded up a punt with a few girls, rustled up a picnic, and congregated after a chilly night out on the river, for the May Morning choir trilling from Magdalen Tower. But much of this is for the antiquarian – 21^st century May has different enchantments.

Leicester City fans go bananas

If you are looking for May miracles, what about Leicester City, 5,000-1 outsiders who won the English Premier League title when Spurs failed to beat Chelsea on 2 May? The team cost a fraction of those of the famed leading clubs, but team spirit, some inspirational individual performances and steady, unflashy management from Claudio Ranieri has seen them gloriously through.  The world rejoices at the triumph of the underdog and nobody grudges them their moment of immortality. I confess to the occasional pang of regret that I will never again hop, skip and jump or play rugby or speed about a squash court – but spectator sport suits me fine and saves me from sweaty scrums, broken limbs and freezing hours on the boundary.

In Greece this year May Day clashed with the Orthodox Easter Sunday, a time for kissing strangers and general reconciliation and renewal. This mood is not likely to last as the traditional parties long to get their snouts back in the trough and do their damnest to undermine the SYRIZA-Anel coalition. I suppose Lefties throughout Europe marched grimly on May Day with their red banners and clenched fist salutes (or have they phased them out?) – anyway not much in evidence here in peaceful Tory Folkestone! The 5 May local elections see a Labour Mayor of London, but Labour disasters in Glasgow and elsewhere with some Tory and UKIP joy: the SNP was rampant but not wholly dominant.

A more generally applauded anniversary will be VE Day on 8 May, 71 years since Nazi Germany finally surrendered after causing 6 years of mayhem and suffering. The world could breathe again, although we had to wait until 1990 for the Berlin Wall to fall and communism peacefully to crumble in Europe. Our continent is poorly run and its governance requires a radical overhaul, but it remains a beacon of hope, attracting migrants from all over the world. To be fair, everyone, even Germans themselves, wants to avoid a revival of German hegemony in Europe and instead strive with every good will to support economic progress and mutual cooperation.

I was in classy Highgate, North London for two days and how lovely the gardens are in May, with cherry blossoms galore, magnolias starting to burst and a hundred other blooms dizzying the senses with colour and aroma. Yesterday morning I strolled over to Kenwood to admire again Robert Adam’s wonderful Library and savour the pictures from the Iveagh Bequest, ravishing English portraits from Romney and Gainsborough, frolicsome Bouchers and Dutch masters, like Vermeer and Rembrandt: I most enjoyed the peace and serenity of Cuyp’s View of Dordrecht, with the still water, the motionless boats and the distant townscape.

Albert Cuyp's View of Dordrecht from Kenwood

That peace and serenity is what Europe and the world needs this May.

SMD

6.05.16

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2016