Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on April 29, 2010 at 20:45

In Reply to: Ne'er cast a clout till May be out posted by Isobel Child on April 28, 2010 at 22:12:

: My father, born 1929, said to me today "I have long accepted the hawthorn meaning.... Those [like myself] who were clothed in woollen underwear, not to mention jerseys and waistcoats, in winter could not believe that anyone could wait till the end of May to discard them".

The historical and multicultural evidence, however, all points the other way. It's hard to imagine that in Spain people would wait till after May to go out without their coats, and yet the equivalent Spanish proverb advises precisely that. (VSD)