Today is an extraordinary day in Lithuania: others have forgotten it

This day was celebrated by the ancestors who even had a special dance to celebrate this date.

The name of the month of May comes from the name of a bird that crows this month or a little earlier. True, now another name of this bird is more often used – not maypole, but cuckoo.

Our ancestors celebrated cuckoo day – usually in the first week of May, on the day when they heard the cuckoo crowing for the first time.

The ceremonial dance “May” was common among young people. One girl (voted the most beautiful of all) used to portray a cuckoo. She would sit on a chair – the cuckoo’s throne – blindfolded, while everyone else danced in a circle around her.

The guys dancing around would sing as they passed by the “cuckoo”: “Queen cuckoo, cuckoo, I’m your brother, cuckoo.” Listening to the voices, the “cuckoo” had to choose the three guys she liked the most.

Then she would be blindfolded and dance with those guys all night. When parting, she gave each of her three “brothers” a woven ribbon. The cuckoo was also sung in songs, for example: “Cuckoo in the garden / Cuckoo in the garden / Gray cuckoos / Gray feathers / Sweet cuckoo / Sweet little bird / Tin cuckoo / Tin voice…”