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May Day / 'Obby 'Oss Cornish Phrases
Kala' Me
May Day / 'Obby 'Oss is called "Kala' Me" in Cornish.
May Day in Cornish is Kala' Me. In Padstow it is the day of the 'Obby 'Oss. Below are the Cornish words for the day, the month, the hobby-horse and the dancing.
Useful words
Kala' Me
May Day
The first day of May.
Me
May
The month. Compare Welsh Mai and Breton Mae.
hobbihors
hobby-horse
The plural is hobbihorsys.
dons
a dance
The plural is donsyow.
The history of Kala' Me
The 'Obby 'Oss festival takes place on 1 May in Padstow, on the north coast of Cornwall, or on Monday 2 May when 1 May is a Sunday. It starts at midnight on 30 April, when townspeople gather to sing the "Night Song". By morning the town is dressed with greenery and flowers around the maypole, and two processions, each with its own hobby horse, the "Old" and the "Blue Ribbon" 'Obby 'Oss, make their way around the town with dancers.
Common questions
What is May Day in Cornish?
Kala' Me.
May Day / 'Obby 'Oss in the other Celtic languages
Further reading
Cornish is on blas. now
Grammar, mutations, vocabulary, and reading with spaced repetition. The Cornish course is in the blas. app now.
Start learning CornishCornish phrases for the year ahead
Cornish phrases for everyday occasions
Sources
Every phrase and fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Last checked 2026-10-20.
- Wikipedia
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): May Day Kala' Me n.m
- Web page: cornwalls.co.uk, Padstow 'Obby 'Oss
- Web page: Corncott, Padstow 'Obby 'Oss festival
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): May Me n.m
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): hobby-horse hobbihors n.m hobbihorsys n.pl
- Akademi Kernewek, Gerlyver Kernewek (Standard Written Form): dance dons n.m donsyow n.pl
Credit: Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.