So to celebrate May Day I am sharing a section from my book ‘Lost Love in Spring’
‘Going A-Maying’ by John Ingram
Oh, we will go a-Maying, love,
A-Maying we will go.
Beneath the branches swaying, love,
With weight of scented snow.
Laburnum’s golden tresses, love.
Float in the perfumed air;
Which heedless their caresses, love.
Seeks violets in their lair;
And with their scents a-playing, love.
It gambols to and fro,—
Where we will go a-Maying, love,
Where we will Maying go.
The bees are busy humming, love,
Amid the opening blooms.
Foretelling Summer’s coming, love,
Farewell to wintry glooms.
The primrose pale, from crinkly sheen.
Up from the ground now speeds;
And cowslips slim, ‘mid leafy green,
Else in the unknown meads.
And buttercups are weighing, love,
The gold they soon -must strow,—
Where we will go a-Maying, love,
‘Where we will Maying go.
The hawthorn’s bloom is falling, love,
We must no longer wait;
Each bird is blithely calling, love.
Unto his chosen mate;
Each bud unblown is swelling, love.
Green grow the vernal fields;
Each insect leaves its dwelling, love,
And all to Summer yields:
The mowers are out haying, love,
Woodbine is in full blow,—
Where we will go a-Maying, love,
Where we will Maying go.
(Featured in Mrs Kirtland Poetry of Flowers 1800)
History
The hawthorn is known by many names one of the most popular being The May Bush or May Blossom but it is also known as Quickthorn.
Country folk used to take themselves to the woods on May Day and snip branches off the flowering hawthorn hence the old custom of ‘Going – A – Maying’. They did this in order to celebrate the Goddess of Flowers – Flora.
Plant Features
Hawthorn is a fast growing plant and often used as cheap hedging. It can grow into a tree of around thirty feet. When the plant is young its twigs are a reddish colour with small leaves. Flowering in late spring the hawthorn produces white flowers each having five petals with reddish centres.
Berries also grow on the hawthorn tree but are not ripe until the autumn.
Ancient Medicinal Use
The flowers were distilled and if applied to areas on the skin that may have been pierced by thorns or splinters then the liquid would draw them out.
Any inward pains were eased by bruising the seeds and boiling them in wine.
Modern Medicinal Use
The hawthorn is more popular today than ever, as the berries are found to increase the muscle action of the heart. A tonic is made using two tablespoons of berries to one cup of boiling water. For a mild tonic the flower buds may be used again – two tablespoons of buds to one cup of boiling water taken twice a day.
Alternatively tinctures are available from herbalists and used as preventative treatment for many diseases connected with the heart: angina, palpitations, poor circulation and atherosclerosis or fatty degeneration.
~*~*~*~
I hope you enjoyed this little snippet from ‘Lost Love in Spring’
To take a peek inside the book visit Amazon by clicking the image
Happy Reading
Like this:
Like Loading...
![170507 Chill Award A Boy From The Streets by Maria Gibbs[834]](https://roseenglishukauthor.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/170507-chill-award-a-boy-from-the-streets-by-maria-gibbs834.jpg?w=714)
Rose English UK 