May's brooms and May people.
It is Portuguese tradition for centuries (going back to the Roman period, if not earlier, since the first night of May had, for example, the Beltane feast for the celebration of the fertility that closes Spring and opens Summer) to hang yellow broom (the variants of any colour being folksy and scholarly called giestas in Portuguese) flower branches (folksy-wise named " Maios ", literally "Mays") at the entry of homes on the eve of May 1st (which before being a day associated with the labour/workers movement, was a day associated with Spring's last "peak"), with the Roman goddess Maia (after whom the month was named), and which was anthropomorphised by the Portuguese folk (probably as some pre-Roman leftover) as " Maio " (May), associated as a gender-changing figure that traveled around on the carro do Maio (or "May's cart") called in Lâmego and Viana do Castelo " carro das ervas " ("herbs cart"). The branch...