Co Down Town stocks up on May Day festivities (2009)
He might have got the day off school – but cheeky Jack Dougan still couldn’t escape being scolded.
The nine-year-old was locked in the stocks as part of a medieval May Day extravaganza in Holywood.
He was among hundreds of families who flocked to the town for a festival of colour yesterday. Jack’s dad said: “We’ve been bringing him here since he was born, but this is the first time we’ve had to put him in the stocks.”
Giving the lad a telling off was Boyd Rankin, whose historical group paraded the streets as town criers, knights and jesters.
Also breaking up the grey day was the traditional dances around Ireland’s only Maypole in the centre of Holywood.
The performers followed in the footsteps of shipwrecked Dutch sailors who jigged around the landmark more than 300 years ago to celebrate their rescue by the townsfolk.
Most of the crowd were unsurprised by the ancient rituals on display.
But for Brazilian anthropology student Alinne Fernandes it was a chance to learn about “strange” behaviour.
She said she had no idea the history of the Maypole, wrapped in red and white ribbons, is thought to stretch back to the tree worship of Druids. Symbolising life, boughs of birch and rowan were used to ward off witches thought to roam the country in May.
Alinne, 24, studying for a PhD at Queen’s University, said: “We have nothing like this in my country – it’s a chance to observe an unusual bit of culture.”
North Down Mayor Leslie Cree, sitting beside 18-year-old May Queen Melissa Browning, said the festival had gone down a “storm” despite the weather.
He added: “It’s been super. Hundreds have turned out. “It’s great for the local economy, and there’s no way a bit of damp kept anybody away this year.”
Craft and charity stalls packed the town around the Maypole and bonny baby and fancy dress contests were judged in the afternoon.
The most spectacular display came later in the day when fighting knights battled in front of maidens and fire-breathers.
May Day in Belfast was marked by the city’s marathon, with thousands lining the streets to cheer on a record number of athletes.
“It was a far cry from the scene in Northern Ireland years ago,” noted the News Letter, “when it was the date of a huge hiring-fair, where children would jostle for jobs on farms”.
Meanwhile, punters enjoyed the “sport of kings” and broke up the grey skies with a splash of colour at the Down Royal racecourse.
Holiday events defy the rain and draw in the crowds
The rain failed to dampen the spirits of Ulster May Day revellers yesterday as families made the most of the public holiday and enjoyed a variety of events across the Province.
Festivities got off to a bit of a star-studded beginning in Co Antrim, where radio station Citybeat hosted their Young Star Search at the annual Carrickfergus May Day Fair in Marine Gardens.
Children and young people between the ages of eight and 16 were out in force to audition for the competition, hosted by the station’s afternoon drive time presenter Stuart Robinson and side-kick Work Experience Boy.
The pair will now be travelling around the country over the summer, visiting most of Northern Ireland’s shopping centres in their hunt for the cream of local singing talent in a major audition trawl.
Co Antrim nature lovers enjoyed a series of events at Portglenone Forest, with a number of organisations on hand to provide demonstrations and information about local animals, flowers and trees.
At that time in May 2009 , the forest was the home to around 60 million bluebells – “the Province’s most spectacular display of the flower”.
Visitors enjoyed them in their full glory as they wandered paths covering 25 acres of bluebells. Ballynease Primary School displayed work on their Tree of Life project, and the North West Mountain Rescue Team demonstrated what’s needed to rescue people in difficulty.
Glenarm Youth Club held a May Day Family Fun Day at Glenarm Marina, where fun-seekers enjoyed a barbecue, bouncy castle, music, dancing and tombola.
A May Bank Holiday Extravaganza also took place at the Share Centre in Lisnaskea, where those who fancied spending their holiday in a slightly more physical manner took part in activities on both land and in water, including sailing, kayaking, canoeing, archery, climbing and pedal go-karting.