THE MAY TREE

The hawthorn stands in full blossom — the May tree, the whitethorn, the hagthorn, the quickthorn. It is also known as the bread and cheese tree, for the young leaves that make a sweet, nutty spring snack straight from the hedge. It is one of the oldest and most storied trees in the British landscape, a tree of thresholds and protection, of fairy enchantment and deep-rooted magic.

It is considered unlucky to cut the May tree down, and the blossom, which releases trimethylamine (the same chemical compound produced by decaying flesh), has a strange, intoxicating, faintly sinister smell and is never brought indoors.

Tangled in a riot of ribbons and drums
and May Day breezes the dancing hare stops.

Ears forward. Listens, listens.

Can you hear?

And she sings,

The Flower Moon, The Planting Moon,
The Pink Moon, The Milk Moon
The Rose Moon, The Strawberry Moon

This painting appears in The Hare and the Moon by Catherine Hyde, where the hawthorn marks the turning of the season — the moment when winter finally releases its hold and the world breaks into white.

THE MAY TREE — Fine Art Print
From The Hare and the Moon by Catherine Hyde
Reproduction from the original painting by Catherine Hyde

Museum-quality archival print with light-fast pigmented inks
Signed, titled, and numbered beneath the image — Limited Edition
Unmounted, presented flat with a backing board and protective cover