School: Druim na dTréad

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1. May Day (continued)

   

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   for anything because they would not get it afraid they bring away the luck from them with the borrowed article. An especially superstitious pair would not give a man a coal for his pipe when he went in for it.

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2. Festival Customs - May Day

   

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   May Day is the name given to the first day in May. One of the superstitious customs connected with May Day is on May eve anyone who carries out this custom goes and gets the bark off a "rowan-berry tree" and early on May day they tie a piece of this to each of the cow's tails with a piece of a red rag. They believe if they don't do this both the cows and their milk will be "over-looked". Some people say if you give away milk on May day you give away the luck of your cows. People who did not believe in this in order to prevent the milk from being stolen went to the priest and got a "sup" of milk blessed and put a drop of blessed milk in each of the milking vessels.

   Long ago the children used to go out on May day and gather "prim-roses" or May flowers and strew them round the cows in the byre. They did this in order to prevent the cows from dying. Anyone who washes his face in the dew before sun-rise on May morn will be "good-looking" the whole year round.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

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