The bull kept from the cows till Crouchmas

3 May · England

No longer kept

The bull was kept from the cows until Crouchmas, the feast of the Finding of the Cross on 3 May, and from the heifers until Lammas. Tusser gave the rule among his short reminders for May. It kept calves from coming too early in the year.

From bull cow fast / till Crowchmas be past. / From heifer bul hid thée / till Lammas doth bid thée.

From Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, p. 110. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

The crowfoot on Holy Cross Day Lore and belief EnglandThe feast of the Finding of the Cross on 3 May belonged to the crowfoot, or buttercup, which by then turned the grass gold.
Ringing the old bailiff out at Buckingham No longer kept BuckinghamshireA visitor to Buckingham on the first Sunday after May Day found the main street lined with townspeople and villagers crying that they were ringing the old bailiff out.
All friends round the Wrekin No longer kept ShropshirePeople from round Wellington in Shropshire used to climb the Wrekin on the Sunday after May Day, and on the three Sundays following, to drink a health to all friends round the Wrekin.
Heavy cake Sunday at Penzance No longer kept CornwallOn the first Sunday after May Day families from Penzance went out together to Rose Hill, Poltair and other villages near by.

The bull kept from the cows till Crouchmas

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