Tid, Mid, Misera,
Carling, Palm, Paste-egg day.
[APRIL-FOOL-DAY.]
The custom of making fools on the 1st of April is one of the few old English merriments still in general vogue. We used to say on the occasion of having entrapped any one—
Fool, fool, April fool,
You learn nought by going to school!
The legitimate period only extends to noon, and if any one makes an April-fool after that hour, the boy on whom the attempt is made, retorts with the distich—
April-fool time's past and gone,
You're the fool, and I'm none!
[MAY-DAY.]
Rise up, fair maidens, fie, for shame,
For I've been four lang miles from hame;
I've been gathering my garlands gay;
Rise up, fair maids, and take in your May.
This old Newcastle May-day song is given by Brockett, ii. 32. At Islip, near Oxford, the children go round the village on this day with garlands of flowers, singing—
Good morning, missus and measter,
I wish you a happy day;
Please to smell my garland,
'Cause it is the first of May.