Cattle in the neighbour’s corn on May Eve

30 April · Ireland

Lore and belief

A sixteenth-century manuscript says the Irish drove their cattle into a neighbour’s corn on May Eve, most often an English settler’s. Unless they did so on May Day, it was believed, the witch would have power over their cattle for the whole year. Dyer quotes the manuscript from Notes and Queries.

Upon Maie Eve they will drive their cattell upon their neighbour's corne, to eate the same up ; they were wont to begin from the vast, and this principally upon the English churl.

From Dyer's British Popular Customs, p. 222. Read the original

Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks

We may earn a small commission if you buy through these links.

Also on this day

Folklore from the old calendars

Hawthorns from Woodstock Park No longer kept OxfordshireEvery May Eve the people of Woodstock went into the park and carried off a number of hawthorn trees to set before their doors.
The May bush in Westmeath No longer kept LeinsterSir Henry Piers wrote in 1682 that on May Eve every family in Westmeath set up a green bush before its door, strewn over with the yellow flowers that the meadows yielded in plenty.
Fetching the elm on May Eve in Cornwall No longer kept CornwallBorlase wrote that the Cornish people of the towns went out into the country on May Eve and cut down a tall elm, which they brought back with rejoicing.
Dun-pickles on the downs Lore and belief WiltshireIt was said in Wiltshire that the dun-pickles, or moor buzzards, came down in great numbers on the downs before rain.
The storm cock Lore and belief EnglandBefore a storm the mistle thrush was said to sing especially loud and to keep on singing until the rain began, and for this it was called the storm cock in some places.
The Swinton May-singers No longer kept LancashireIn 1861 a man at Swinton, near Eccles, was surprised one April evening by a party of singers on his lawn with a flute and a clarinet.

Cattle in the neighbour’s corn on May Eve

Also on this day

Questions and comments

Image credits