42 May. 
on the earth, while she dances to the music of birds 
and brooks.” The birds now sing their enraptured 
songs of love. The bees hover from flower to flower. 
The butterflies, in the most brilliant colours, are dart¬ 
ing zig-zag in every direction, in the green lanes and 
fields. Everything seems clothed in beauty. 
May is said by some authorities to have received 
the name in honour of Maia, the mother, by Jupiter, 
of the god Hermes or Mercury ; but others state that 
the name was assigned to it by Romulus, the founder 
of Rome, in honour of his nobles or senators, who were 
called Majories, or, Maiores. The Anglo-Saxons 
called it Tri-mil chi, with reference, probably, to the 
improved condition of cattle, from the benefit of the 
Spring herbage as food. 
In this month the flowers are abundant on every 
side. The dazzling white of the daisies, the glittering 
gold of the buttercups, the fragrant lily of the valley, 
the sweet woodruff, the red and white campions, the 
greater and the lesser stitchwort, the various orchises, 
and the wild geranium, charm the eye, and the singing 
of the birds delights the ear, as we walk abroad in the 
green lanes or meadows ; while the beauty of budding 
foliage on the trees and hedges, and the fragrance of 
the hawthorn make us grateful to an all-wise Provi¬ 
dence for the varying beauty of the seasons in this 
happy land, in which our lot is cast. 
