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[Old Hywel]

Looks like it’s time.

[Birdsnet55]

Not sure about that, you may be a bank holiday early.

Paul

[Worf]

The cold north wind here has blown it all away.

[Herald1360]

Does the saying refer to the may (hawthorn) blossom or May the month?

[Wittsend]

What's the origin of the phrase 'Ne'er cast a clout till May be out'?
'Ne'er cast a clout till May be out' is an English proverb. The earliest citation is this version of the rhyme from Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia: A Collection of the Proverbs, Maxims and Adages That Inspired Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard's Almanack, 1732, although it may have existed in word-of-mouth form well before that:
"Leave not off a Clout Till May be out."

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Ne'er cast a clout till May be out'?
Let's look first at the 'cast a clout' part. The word 'clout', although archaic, is straightforward. Since at least the early 15th century 'clout' has been used variously to mean 'a blow to the head', 'a clod of earth or (clotted) cream' or 'a fragment of cloth, or clothing'. It is the last of these that is meant in 'cast a clout'. This was spelled variously spelled as clowt, clowte, cloot, clute. Here's an early example, from the Early English Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, circa 1485:
"He had not left an holle clowt, Wherwith to hyde hys body abowte."
So, 'ne'er cast a clout...' simply means 'never discard your [warm winter] clothing...'.
Ne'er cast a clout till May be outThe 'till May be out' part is where the doubt lies. On the face of it this means 'until the month of May is ended'.

There is another interpretation. In England, in May, you can't miss the Hawthorn. It is an extremely common tree in the English countryside, especially in hedges. Hawthorns are virtually synonymous with hedges. As many as 200,000 miles of hawthorn hedge were planted in the Parliamentary Enclosure period, between 1750 and 1850. The name 'Haw' derives from 'hage', the Old English for 'hedge'.
The tree gives its beautiful display of flowers in late April/early May. It is known as the May Tree and the blossom itself is called May. Using that allusion, 'till May is out' could mean, 'until the hawthorn is out [in bloom]'.

 

[Ian F]

Also remember Clootie Dumpling (well known to all Scots and recent migrants.....)

Ian F

[Alan Drover]

I thought it meant "Don't take your clothes off until the May blossom has bloomed!?"

[Ian F]

I think that's exactly what it means Alan!

Ian F