In Lagos, legend tells us about the story of a knight that robbed two ladies in town in the month after April.
What is a month of celebration for Algarvians in general is not so for Lagos folk.
Here, this is the “month that passed” or “the month that follows”, depending on the date referred to – better not to even mention the name of the month.
The first day of the month is especially seen as a bad omen, although this belief dates back to the 16th century.
On this day, there was the habit of “dressing a foreigner with the richest robes that could be found, covering him all in gold, jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, rings and valuable ornaments, sewn over the robes, and putting him on the best of horses. All the people would follow him around town, carrying shields and spears, while the men would lead his way, playing their flutes, and many women would sing and dance, and all would say: Hurray for our May”.
It all went well until the year when: “And doing the May to a foreigner, decorated and out on horseback, to whom was said, outside the town, to run, he tightened his legs around the horse and ran away with all the town’s jewels and riches in May”.
12.05.2021
