Maypole Dancing For Schools? The 199 New Answer

The maypole dance is a form of folk dance from Germany, England and Sweden. There are two forms. The first and most popular consists of dancers performing circle dances around a tall pole decorated with garlands. In the second, the dancers move in a circle, each holding a colored ribbon attached to a much smaller pole. As they move around the pole, the dancers braid their ribbons either in a web around the pole or to braid them to the pole itself. To unravel the ribbons, the dancers retrace their steps. Historians believe that the first maypole dance arose as part of Germanic pagan fertility rituals. Originally, the dancers danced around a living tree. While dancers usually perform this dance in spring on May Day or May Day, in Sweden dancers perform it during their midsummer celebrations. The second type of maypole dance, originating in the 18th century, began as a traditional or artistic dance popular in Italy and France. Eventually, traveling dance companies performed it in London theaters, bringing this traditional dance to a larger audience. An English teacher training school adopted the maypole dance and soon it had spread to most of central and southern England. The dance became part of the repertoire of girls’ physical education classes and remained popular in elementary schools in England and the United States well into the 1950s.

All About Maypole Dancing You’ve got your maypole and now you need some music and some ideas for dancing.

music

The Stradivarious album Maypole Dance Music can be downloaded from Rod’s main website or click here to purchase physical CD.

The following titles are available;

* Maypole dance roles; These are suitable for any type of maypole dance. The music is based on traditional music from the Cotswolds and Lichfield, Staffordshire. You might recognize some of the melodies.

* Maypole Dance Hornpipes; These melodies fit a step hop step hop rhythm. This rhythm takes a little practice but gives the dance a very different feel.

* Maypole Dancers; These contraptions will help you jump around the maypole. They are suitable for any type of maypole dance.

* Maypole waltz; If you like slow and stately movements, then this is the type of music to use.

————————————————– –

More about the music audio samples >>

Maypole Dance Reels (track length; 11 min 40 s)

The music includes the following tunes; Processional Tune (Winster), Princess Royal, Young Collins (Bledington), Blue Eyed Stranger (Headington), Sheriff’s Ride (Lichfield), Nutting Girl, Getting Upstairs (Headington), Milley’s Bequest (Lichfield), Brighton Camp (Eynsham). Most of these tunes are used for or related to Morris Dancing.

Maypole Dance Hornpipes (track length; 10 min 51 s)

These slower and more rhythmic melodies are all traditional. Included are; The Keel Row, Kafoozalum, Navvie on the Line, Harvest Home and the Trumpet Hornpipe.

Maypole Dance Jigs (track length; 8 min 31 s)

These are all traditional tunes including; Blackberry Quadrille, Oyster Girl, Moon and Seven Stars, Old Rosin the Beau and Kemp’s Jig. The last tune was originally published by Playford in 1650.

Maypole Dance Waltzes (track length; 9 min 49 s)

These melodies were all written by the Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan (1670 – 1738), who was blinded by smallpox in 1688. Included are; Planxty Irwin, Si Bheag Si Mhor (referring to Fairy Hill), Planxty F. Poer and Planxty Hewlett. Planxty is usually referred to as “In honor of…”.

The maypole is one of Beltane’s traditional symbols, and let’s face it, it’s a giant phallus. Since the celebrations in Beltane usually started the night before with a big bonfire, the Maypole celebration usually took place just after sunrise the next morning. By this point, couples (and probably more than a few surprised triads) would stumble in from the fields, their dresses tousled and their hair tangled in straw after a night of lusty campfires.

Did you know? If you plan ahead, you can stage a fun and exciting maypole dance by digging a hole in advance and inserting a 15- to 20-foot wooden pole.

Ask each participant to bring their own ribbons and attach them to the top of the pole.

When the dance is over, the pole will be wrapped in a ribbon sheath and your guests will have had a wonderful time!

The stake was set up in the village square or in the meadow or even in a handy field – either permanently or temporarily stuck in the ground – and fastened to it with brightly colored ribbons. Young people came and danced around the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon. As they weaved in and out, men in one direction and women in the other, a kind of covering—the enveloping womb of the earth—was created around the pole. When they were done, the maypole was almost invisible under a covering of ribbons.

Put up your maypole

cbarnesphotography/Getty Images

To set up your own maypole dance you will need the following:

Dig a hole a few feet deep in advance. You don’t want your friends waiting while you hunt for a shovel. The hole should be at least three feet deep to prevent the pole from tipping over during the ceremony.

A pole between 15 and 20 feet long, preferably made of wood

Guests who like to have fun

Ask each participant to bring their own ribbon; It should be about 20 feet long and two to three inches wide. When everyone has arrived, attach the ribbons to one end of the pole (if you put a metal grommet screw in the pole beforehand, it’s a lot easier because you can just tie each ribbon to the grommet). Have extra tapes handy, because inevitably someone will have forgotten theirs.

Once the ties are attached, raise the bar until it is vertical and slide it into the hole. Make sure you crack lots of crude jokes here. Pack dirt around the base of the pole to keep it from shifting or falling during the dance.

Host your dance

Andrew Lockie/Getty Images

Don’t worry if you don’t have an equal number of male and female guests. Just have everyone count in pairs. People who are “1” go clockwise, people who are “2” go counterclockwise. Hold your bands in the hand closest to the bar, your inner hand. As you move in a circle, you’ll pass people first to the left, then to the right, then to the left again. As you pass them on the outside, hold up your band so they pass underneath. You might want to do a practice round beforehand. Continue until you all run out of ribbon, then knot all the ribbons at the bottom.

If none of this makes sense to you, don’t worry! The folks at MaypoleDance.com have some great tips to share, including instructions on the introductory dance steps and the first round of braiding. They point out

“There are many variations of this dance, with each team taking turns moving or one team passing two of the other teams before dancing around them. It’s easy to experiment, but remember that the goal is to relax cleanly behind you when you’ve used up all the bands.”

One thing that is always welcome at a maypole dance is music. There are a number of CDs but there are some bands whose music has a May theme. Look for the phrase “Morris Music” or traditional fife and drum tunes. Best of all, of course, is live music. So if you have friends who are willing to share their skills and put out the dance, ask them to provide you with musical entertainment.

Additional maypole hands

Sarradet/Getty Images

All About Maypole Dancing You’ve got your maypole and now you need some music and some ideas for dancing.

The maypole

It is important that the maypole does not wobble or fall over after it has been set up. Make sure the dancers have enough space to move around the maypole. It needs to be attached to the base so it stays in place while the dancers pull on the ribbons. In general, the more dancers, the higher the maypole. A 3 to 5 m high wooden maypole should have a diameter of at least 40 mm. A strong plastic tube is another option for the maypole.

The top of the maypole needs a crown (right) to attach your ribbons to. They can have a fixed crown or one that can rotate freely, depending on what dances you want to perform. Attach a ribbon to the crown for each dancer. Use a mix of colorful ribbons like red, yellow, purple, blue, green and white to make the dance an attractive pattern and make sure their length is about twice the length of the maypole.

If you wish, you can decorate the crown with leaves and artificial flowers. You may want to use a wire frame to hold the decorations securely.

The maypole dance is a springtime ritual that has long been known to Western Europeans. The folk custom is usually performed on May Day (May Day) and is performed around a pole decorated with flowers and ribbons to symbolize a tree. The tradition of the maypole, practiced for generations in countries like Germany and England, dates back to the dances that ancient people performed around real trees in hopes of reaping a great harvest.

Today the dance is still practiced and has special meaning for pagans, including Wiccans, who made a point of participating in the same customs as their ancestors. But both newcomers and veterans alike may be unaware of the intricate roots of this simple ritual. The history of the maypole dance shows that a variety of events led to this custom.

A tradition in Germany, Great Britain and Rome

Historians have suggested that the maypole dance originated in Germany and traveled to the British Isles courtesy of invading forces. In Britain, the dance became part of a fertility ritual held every spring in some areas. Up until the Middle Ages, most villages had an annual maypole festival. In rural areas, the maypole was usually placed in the village green, but some places, including some boroughs of London, had a permanent maypole that stood all year round.

But the ritual was also popular in ancient Rome. The late Oxford professor and anthropologist E.O. James discusses the maypole’s association with Roman traditions in his 1962 article The Influence of Folklore on the History of Religion. James suggests that trees were stripped of their leaves and branches and then garlanded with ivy, as part of the Roman spring celebration, Vines and flowers were decorated. This may have been part of Floralia’s festival, which started on April 28th. Other theories have it that the trees or poles were draped in violets in homage to the mythological couple Attis and Cybele.

The puritanical effect on the maypole

In the British Isles, the Maypole celebration usually took place the morning after Beltane, a celebration to welcome spring that included a large bonfire. When couples performed the maypole dance, they usually stumbled in from the fields after a night of drinking, their clothes in tatters and straw in their hair. This led to Puritans frowning on the use of the maypole for celebration in the 17th century. After all, it was a huge phallic symbol in the middle of the village square.

The Maypole in the United States

When the British settled in the United States, they brought the maypole tradition with them. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1627, a man named Thomas Morton raised a giant maypole in his field, brewed a batch of hearty mead, and invited village girls to frolic with it. His neighbors were horrified, and Plymouth leader Myles Standish stopped by in person to interrupt the sinful celebrations. Morton later shared the bawdy song that accompanied his maypole celebrations, which included the lines:

“Drink and be merry, merry, merry, boys,

Let all your joy be in Hymen’s joys.

Lo zu Hymen, now the day has come

take a room over the happy maypole.

Make green garlands, put out bottles,

and fill sweet nectar freely around.

Bare your head and fear no harm,

‘Cause there’s good liquor here to keep it warm.

Then drink and be merry, merry, merry boys

Let all your joy be in Hymen’s joys.”

A revival of tradition

In England and the USA, the Puritans managed to suppress the celebration of the Maypole for about two centuries. But the custom regained popularity in the late 19th century when the British took an interest in their country’s rural traditions. This time, the poles emerged as part of the church’s May Day celebrations, which included dancing but were more structured than the wild maypole dances of centuries past. The maypole dance practiced today is probably associated with the 19th-century revival of the dance rather than the old version of the custom.

The Pagan Approach

Today, many Pagans include a maypole dance as part of their Beltane celebrations. Most lack the space for a full-fledged maypole, but still manage to incorporate dance into their celebrations. They take advantage of the fertility symbolism of the maypole by making a small tabletop version that they place on their Beltane altar and then dance nearby.

Body

May Day (May 1st) is a holiday steeped in history and folklore, celebrating the return of spring! Learn about some of the fun traditions, from may baskets to dancing around the maypole. Here are 10 ways to “bring in May.”

advertisement

Origins of May Day

Did you know that May Day has its roots in astronomy? Traditionally, it was halfway between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice! In ancient times this was one of the Celtic cross quarter days marking the midpoints between the (four) solstices and equinoxes of the year.

As with many early holidays, May Day was rooted in agriculture. Spring festivals of song and dance celebrated the sown fields that began to sprout. Cattle were driven out to pasture, special bonfires were lit, and front doors and cattle were decorated with yellow mayflowers. In the Middle Ages, the Gaels celebrated the Festival of Beltane. Beltane means “Day of Fire”. People made big bonfires and danced at night to celebrate.

May Day has a long history and tradition in England, some of which eventually made its way to America. Children danced around the maypole, holding on to colorful ribbons. The people would “bring in the May” by gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving flower hoops and hair garlands, and crowning a May King and Queen.

When is May Day?

This one is easy to remember: May 1st takes place on May 1st every year! See what day of the week May 1st falls on in the coming years:

What day is May Day? Year May Day 2022 Sunday, May 1, 2023 Monday, May 1, 2024 Wednesday, May 1, 2025 Thursday, May 1

The maypole dance

Did you ever dance around the maypole as a child? Wrapping colorful ribbons around a maypole is a joyful tradition that still persists in some schools and communities.

Originally, the maypole was a living tree that was chosen with great pleasure from the forest. The ancient Celts danced around the tree and prayed for the fertility of their crops and all living things! For younger people there was the possibility of courtship. When a young woman and young man mated at sunset, their courtship would continue so the couple could meet and possibly marry 6 weeks later on Midsummer’s Day in June. So the “June Wedding” became a tradition.

In the Middle Ages all villages had maypoles. Cities competed to see who had the tallest or best maypole. Over time, this Old English festival has included dance performances, plays and literature. People would crown a “May Queen” for the day’s celebrations.

The strict Puritans of New England considered the May Day celebrations licentious and pagan, so they prohibited their observance, and spring break never became an important part of American culture as it was in many European countries.

Interestingly, from the late 19th century through the 1950s, the maypole dance and celebration became a springtime rite in some US colleges. Regarded as a healthy tradition, this celebration often included class performances, Scottish dancing, morris dancing, a cappella concerts, and cultural dance and music performances.

Interest waned in the 1960s and 1970s; The May Queen and her court became more of a popularity contest. Today, the maypole dance is mainly celebrated in schools (from elementary through college) as a fun springtime activity.

Make maybaskets

Ever heard of the May baskets? People left a trash can or a bag of spring flowers and sweets in front of each other’s doors, usually anonymously.

This tradition was popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially among children or lovers. The custom was to knock on the door and shout “Maikörbchen”. and then run. If the receiver caught the giver, he or she was entitled to a kiss.

Louisa May Alcott wrote about May Basket Day in the late 19th century. In the 1920s, some brave schoolchildren hung a May hoop for First Lady Grace Coolidge on the White House door.

The May Day Basket is still a cherished tradition for some Americans, although not well known today. To make a simple maybasket, fold a piece of colored paper into a cone. Then fill with wildflowers! If you don’t have colored paper, roll up a paper plate and secure it (with tape or staples). Paint the plate with spring colors and fill it with flowers!

You can also fill a real basket with small gifts like packets of flower seeds, baked cookies, sweets and pretty trinkets. If you don’t have a basket, an empty milk carton or seed pot will do. Simply cover with colored paper or pretty streamers and fill with tissue paper!

First Lady Grace Coolidge receives a may basket from young children. Photo credit: Library of Congress

10 ways to celebrate May Day

Why not celebrate May Day? Here are some joyful May Day traditions that mark the return of spring and the renewed gift of life.

Among the many superstitions associated with May Day was the belief that washing the face with dew on the morning of May Day would beautify the skin and bring good luck. We keep telling! Get outside and sprinkle your face with morning dew (or snow!).

On May 1st, people in Britain welcome spring by ‘bringing in May’ or collecting cuttings from flowering trees for their homes. Bring sprigs of forsythia, magnolia, redbud, lilac or other flowering branches to your area!

Make this May Day basket full of flowers! Get the kids involved. We like this little guy’s homemade basket that he’s probably leaving for mom (pssst!).

Credit: Suzanne Tucker.

May Day is called “Lei Day” in Hawaii and people make pretty flower leis. Leis are garlands or wreaths often made from native Hawaiian flowers and leaves. Today, leis are given as a symbol of greeting, farewell, affection, celebration, or honor—all in the spirit of aloha. Make a floral wreath or garland for yourself or your mom!

Children went barefoot for the first time on May Day. No matter how old you are today, go barefoot in the morning dew (or snow?). Encourage the kids to do the same!

In parts of Ireland people made a maybush; Typically this was a thorn bush or branch decorated with flowers and ribbons. Create your own corn bush or tree! Decorate with colorful ribbons!

On May 1st, the beekeepers traditionally moved. Want to get involved in beekeeping? Check out our series on starting a honey bee hive!

Fishermen expect to catch fish on May 1st. Here you will find our best fishing days.

Farmers traditionally planted turnips on this day. You can find planting dates for your region in our planting calendar.

The Kentucky Derby begins in May (first Saturday of the month).

What Does “Mayday!” Mean?

Here’s a fun fact: The term “Mayday!” has nothing to do with the spring festival “May Day” but comes from the French expression “M’aidez!”, which means “help me!”. When you hear “Mayday!” repeated three times, you know it’s an urgent emergency call. (To signal that you need help but are not in a life-threatening situation, repeat the phrase “Pan-pan!” three times when calling for help.)

So now you know everything about May Day! When stallions and calves kick up their heels, saplings seek the sun, and birds call for mates, we humans can join in their feasts for a day: during the Spring Festival, May Day! Even serious people can put work aside to enjoy the exuberance of nature!

Do you celebrate May Day? Share your traditions in the comments below.

In 1889, May Day was declared by an international federation of socialist groups and unions as May Day, a day in support of workers to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, a violent confrontation that took place on May 4, 1886 in Chicago, Illinois.

May Day, also known as Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day, is the day to commemorate the struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement. It is celebrated on May Day in many countries. In the United States and Canada, a similar celebration known as Labor Day is held on the first Monday in September.

May Day, also called Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day, a day commemorating the historic struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement, celebrated in many countries on May Day. In the United States and Canada, a similar celebration known as Labor Day occurs on the first Monday in September.

In 1889, an international federation of socialist groups and unions declared May Day as Workers’ Support Day, commemorating the Haymarket Rebellion in Chicago (1886). Five years later, U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland, concerned about the socialist origins of Workers’ Day, signed legislation to make Labor Day – which in some states is observed as early as the first Monday in September – an official US holiday honoring workers. Canada followed shortly thereafter.

Labor Day in the United States Learn about the origins of Labor Day in the United States. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O’Neill Riley

In Europe, May Day was historically associated with rural pagan festivals (see May Day), but the day’s original meaning has gradually been replaced by its modern association with the labor movement. In the Soviet Union, leaders welcomed the new holiday because they believed it would encourage workers in Europe and the United States to unite against capitalism. The day became a major holiday in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, with high-profile parades, including one in Moscow’s Red Square led by senior government officials and Communist Party officials, to celebrate workers and the Soviet Union demonstrate military might. In Germany, Labor Day became an official holiday in 1933 after the rise of the NSDAP. Ironically, the day after the holiday was introduced, Germany abolished free trade unions, effectively destroying the German labor movement.

May Day workers march on Red Square in Moscow, May 1, 2015. Nikolay Vinokurov/Alamy

On This Day: May Day Kurt Heintz of the Encyclopædia Britannica explores the importance of May Day as a public holiday, a day traditionally celebrating the return of spring and much more. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of communist governments in Eastern Europe in the late 20th century, large-scale May Day celebrations in this region became less important. However, May Day is recognized as a public holiday in dozens of countries around the world and continues to be celebrated with picnics and parties, while also serving as an occasion for demonstrations and rallies in support of workers.

May 1, 2019 – Beltane

Beltane is a pagan holiday and one of the eight Sabbaths. It is about halfway between the spring equinox (Ostara) and the upcoming summer solstice, Litha. The holiday celebrates spring at its peak and the coming summer. Beltane is sometimes also called May Day. This holiday is very closely associated with fertility for pagans.

This festival is often celebrated with bonfires, maypoles, dances and fertility rituals. Beltane is a Celtic word meaning “the fires of Bel”. Bel, probably related to the Celtic sun god Belenus. The Celts used to light two bonfires because they believed they would purify themselves and increase their fertility. They allowed cattle to pass between the two fires, believing that it would cleanse the cattle and ensure the fertility of the herd. Although not a ritual practiced today, modern pagans still light bonfires and practice fertility rituals on this day.

Pagans today celebrate Beltane in a variety of ways. One way to celebrate is with a maypole. In this custom, a pole with ribbons is placed in a field. Each person (usually women and girls) grabs their own ribbon and dances around the pole in a special way to weave the ribbons in a specific pattern. This is one of the more common fertility rituals that can take place on this day. Celebrators could also weave flowers into their hair or create a wreath of flowers to wear on their heads in celebration of spring. Some pagans light a bonfire and dance around (or even over) it, which is another common fertility ritual for the day. Finally, some people prepare “May baskets” and fill them with flowers and goodwill. You give the baskets to people in need of care, e.g. an elderly friend or someone recovering from an illness.

Learn more about the holiday with these articles:

Beltane

May Day Festivals in America, 1830 to the Present

May 2nd, 2019 – The last day of Ridván

From the evening of May 1st to the evening of May 2nd, the Bahai celebrate the last and twelfth day of Ridván. Ridván, which translates to Paradise, is a twelve-day Bahai festival that commemorates the historic events when Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, declared himself a messenger of God. The holiday is named after the Garden of Ridván where he made the declaration. The first, ninth and twelfth days are holy days of the feast. They mark Baha’u’llah’s arrival, the arrival of his family and their departure from the Garden, respectively.

Upon his arrival in the Garden, Bahá’u’lláh made his declaration for the first time to a small group of family and friends. During the next eleven days Bahá’u’lláh received many visitors. However, his family could not catch up until April 30, the ninth day, because the Tigris River had risen and made the path to the garden difficult. On the twelfth day of their stay, Bahá’u’lláh and his family left the Garden and set out for Constantinople. He was banned by the Ottoman Empire government for fear of the Baha’i faith, namely how quickly it was spreading and how popular it was becoming.

Bahá’i reflect carefully on Bahá’u’lláh’s Exile as they celebrate the Twelfth Day of Ridván. They celebrate this holiday by gathering together for prayer and celebration. On the twelfth day of the Ridván, school and work are forbidden as it is a holy day.

Learn more below.

Baha’u’llah

The Baha’i Faith

If we missed a specific celebration that you or someone you know is attending, let us know by leaving a comment on this post. Or, if you think we’ve done something wrong, please comment as well and let us know. We try to be as accurate as possible, but if there is an error we want to correct it.

High wooden mast erected as part of various European folk festivals

This article is about the tall wooden pole and its dance. For other uses, see Maypole (disambiguation)

Dancing around the maypole in Åmmeberg, Sweden

A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected at various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.

The festivals may take place on May Day or Pentecost (Pentecost), although in some countries they are erected on Midsummer (June 20–26) instead. In some cases the maypole is a permanent fixture used only during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose and then taken down.

Found predominantly among the peoples of Germanic Europe and neighboring areas influenced by them, its origins remain unknown. It has often been speculated that the maypole originally had some significance in the Germanic paganism of the Iron Age and early medieval cultures, and that the tradition survived Christianization, although losing its original meaning. It was a recorded practice in many parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and early modern period, although it became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. [citation needed] Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and among European communities in the Americas.

Symbolism [edit]

May Day: Villagers southeast of Munich raise a very tall, wooden maypole into place. They competed with the surrounding villages for height.

The English historian Ronald Hutton agrees with the Swedish scholar Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, who observed that maypoles were put up “simply” as “a sign that the happy season of warmth and comfort had returned”, at least in the British Isles , first seen between 1350 and 1400 AD in the context of medieval Christian European culture.[1] In 1588, the villagers gathered around the “summer staff” at Holy Trinity Church in Exeter to celebrate and drink.[1] Chaucer mentions that St. Andrew Undershaft had a particularly large maypole which, because of its large shape, was erected annually by parishioners.[1]

The symbolism of the maypole has been debated by folklorists for centuries, although no definitive answer has been found. Some scholars classify maypoles as symbols of the world axis (axis mundi). The fact that they were found primarily in areas of Germanic Europe where, prior to Christianization, Germanic paganism was persecuted in various forms has led some to speculate that the maypoles were in some way a relic of a Germanic pagan tradition. One theory holds that they were a vestige of Germanic reverence for sacred trees, as there is evidence of various sacred trees and wooden pillars worshiped by pagans throughout much of Germanic Europe, including the Torsiiche and the Irminsul.[2] However, Ronald Hutton states that “there is absolutely no evidence that the maypole was taken as a reflection of it.”[1] It is also known that in Norse paganism, cosmological views held that the universe was a world tree known as Yggdrasil.[3][4][5][6][7]

Some observers have suggested phallic symbolism, an idea put forward by Thomas Hobbes, who mistakenly believed that the spears traced back to Roman worship of the god Priapus. This notion has since been endorsed by various figures, including the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. In later Early Modern times, phallic symbolism was ascribed to the maypole, as a sexual reference is found in John Cleland’s controversial novel Fanny Hill:

… and now, detached from the shirt, I saw with amazement and surprise, what? not a boy’s toy, not a man’s weapon, but a maypole of such enormous size that, if one had considered the proportions, it must have belonged to a young giant.

However, Ronald Hutton has stated that “there is no historical basis for his claim and no indication that the people who used maypoles thought they were phallic” and that “they were not carved to look so”.[1 ]

Anthropologist Mircea Eliade surmises that the maypoles were simply part of the general joy at the return of summer and the growth of new vegetation. In this way they bore similarities to the May Day garlands, which were also a common festival practice in Britain and Ireland.[9]

Regional traditions[ edit ]

Malta[ edit ]

kukkanja in situ, in which the maypole was stuck Remnants of the, in which the maypole was stuck

Grandmaster Marc’Antonio Zondadari introduced the Cockaigne (using the maypole) to the Maltese carnival in 1721: at a given signal, the crowd gathered in the Palace Square gathered to a collection of hams, sausages and live animals hidden under leaves Branches outside the main guard. Stocks became the property of those who could carry them away once confiscated.[10]

Germany and Austria[edit]

Rhenish maypole for a girl in Koenigswinter

In Germany and Austria, the Maibaum (or Maibaum) is a tradition that dates back to the 16th century.[11] It is a decorated tree or tree trunk that is usually set up either on May 1st – in Baden and Swabia – or on the eve, for example in East Frisia. In most areas, especially in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Austria, it is customary to solemnly erect the maypole on the village green. The custom of combining it with a village or town festival, which usually takes place on April 30th, May 1st or at Pentecost, is widespread. This tradition is particularly strong in the villages of the Bavarian Alps, where the erection of the traditional maypole on May 1st in the village square is a reason for many celebrations. The mast is usually painted in the Bavarian colors of white and blue and adorned with emblems representing local crafts and industry. In Bavaria, the maypole is erected a few weeks before May 1st. The young men from the villages try to steal each other’s maypole, so the men of each village or town take turns guarding the maypole. If a village manages to steal a maypole, the village from which the maypole was stolen must invite the whole village of thieves to a free beer and festival, which then takes place on May Day.

Immediately before the maypole is erected, depending on the region, there is a parade through the village, which usually ends at a central location and/or restaurant and is usually observed by many spectators and accompanied by a brass band. The actual installation of the tree takes place in the afternoon or evening. While the crowd mostly whiles away the time with beer and sausages, the young men bustle about decorating the maypole to put the symbols of various crafts of the region in the right position. While the maypole is traditionally erected with the help of long poles, today this can sometimes be done with tractors, forklifts or even cranes. In Lower Austria ropes and ladders are used.

In the Rhineland in and around Cologne there is a slightly different maypole tradition. On the night of May 1st, unmarried men plant young birch trees in front of the houses of their loved ones. These trees, which can reach five meters and more in height, are sold beforehand by local foresters. The men usually decorate them with colorful crepe paper and often a red wooden heart with the girl’s name written on it. In the month of May there are such maypoles in many front yards.

If the tree is erected on the eve of May Day, the event is usually followed by a May Dance or Dance into May. Depending on local custom, the maypole can remain in place all year round or be taken down at the end of May. The trunk can then be stored until the following year.

Nordic countries[ edit ]

In Denmark the maypole tradition is almost extinct but is still observed on the islands of Avernakø and Strynø south of Funen and in some villages in southern Himmerland in East Jutland. The maypole is commonly referred to as majtræ, meaning “maypole”.

Finland A midsummer mast at the harbor in Bromarv

In Sweden and the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland, the maypole is usually referred to as the midsummer tree (midsommarstång) as it appears at midsummer celebrations, although the literal translation majstång also occurs, with the word maj referring to the Old Swedish word maja meaning dress, and not the month of May. Traditions surrounding the maypoles vary locally, as does the design of the poles, although the design with a cross and two rings is the most common today. Perhaps a more original incarnation is that still used in the Swedish countryside of Småland, where the pole carries a large horizontally suspended ring around it, suspended by ropes attached to the top of the pole. Of course, this perhaps more original form strongly reinforces the reproductive symbolism. The cross arm may be a modern-day attempt to Christianize the pagan symbol into the semblance of a cross, although not entirely successful alternately dancing and making movements and gestures based on the songs, such as pretending to scrub laundry while they sing about washing, or jump as frogs during the song Små grodorna (“The Little Frogs”). The ring dance is especially popular with small children. The central role played by young children in the celebration emphasizes the procreative aspect of the celebration. Another clue in this direction is the custom that young girls expect to dream of their future partner if only they pick seven different flowers that day and put them under their pillow when they go to bed.

Belgium[ edit ]

In Belgium, the maypole is called Meiboom or Meyboom in Dutch. Hasselt erects its Meiboom on April 30th. In Brussels and Leuven, the Meyboom is traditionally set up on August 9 before 5 p.m. The planting of the Meyboom is the reason for a friendly rivalry between the two towns that dates back to 1213. That year a brawl broke out between Leuven and Brussels, with the latter winning. To commemorate this event, almost 100 years later, the city of Brussels was granted the perpetual right by John III, Duke of Brabant to erect a Meyboom, but only if it succeeded, before 5 p.m. on August 9 every year to do. A first attempt by Leuven to steal the tree in 1939 was stopped by the police.[12] In 1974, however, a group of people from Leuven found out which tree Brussels had chosen for this year’s Meyboom. The tree was felled on the night of August 8th and transported to Leuven, where it was placed in front of the town hall. Since then, Leuven has claimed ownership of the only official Meyboom.[13] However, Brussels denies losing the right as another tree was felled and put up before 5pm on August 9th.

It is also common, especially in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, to place a tree branch (also called a meiboom) on the highest point of a building under construction.[14] The construction of the branch is often a reason to celebrate, both for the craftsmen and the neighbors.

United Kingdom[ edit ]

A maypole in Llanfyllin, Wales on 1 May 1941

In the United Kingdom, the maypole was found primarily in England and in areas of the Scottish Lowlands and Wales that were under English influence. However, the earliest recorded evidence comes from a Welsh poem written by Gryffydd ap Adda ap Dafydd in the mid-14th century, in which he described how people of Llanidloes, central Wales, used a tall birch pole.[15] Literary evidence of the use of maypoles in much of Britain increases in later decades, and “by the period 1350 to 1400 the custom was well established throughout southern Britain, in town and country, and in both Welsh-speaking and English-speaking areas.” [15 ]

Villagers and Morris men dance beside the maypole on Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire at dawn on May 1, 2005

The practice grew in popularity over the following centuries, with the maypoles becoming “community symbols” that brought the local community together – in some cases poorer communities joined with neighboring communities to maintain and erect one, while in other cases like in Hertfordshire in 1602 and Warwickshire in 1639, people stole the poles of neighboring communities, leading to violence. In some cases the wood for the poles was obtained illegally, for example the Earl of Huntingdon was angered in 1603 when trees were removed from his lands for use as maypoles without his permission.[16]

The maypole at Barwick-in-Elmet, Yorkshire, which is lowered, renovated and raised every three years.

The rise of Protestantism in the 16th century led to increasing disapproval of maypoles and other May Day practices among various Protestants, who viewed them as idolatry and therefore immoral. Under the reign of Edward VI. Protestant Anglicanism was declared the state religion in England and Wales, and many maypoles, such as the famous Cornhill maypole of London, were destroyed under the Reformation; However, when Mary I ascended the throne after Edward’s death, she restored Roman Catholicism as the state faith, and the practice of maypoles was reinstated. Under later English monarchs the practice was sporadic, being banned in certain areas such as Doncaster, Canterbury and Bristol, but continued in many others in accordance with the wishes of local governors. In Scotland, then still an independent state, Protestantism, in the form of Presbyterianism, had meanwhile gained a stronger foothold, and the practice of the maypole had largely been wiped out throughout the country.[17]

Royal support contributed to the ban on maypole exhibitions and dances during the English interregnum. The Long Parliament Ordinance of 1644 described maypoles as “a pagan vanity, generally abused for superstition and malice.”[18] The only documented breach of the Long Parliament ban was in 1655 at Henley-in-Arden, where local Officials stopped the erection of maypoles for traditional games. Scholars suspect, but have no way of proving, that the absence of such records indicates official connivance in violating the ban. However, they are certain that the ban has made Maypole dancing a symbol of resistance against the Long Parliament and the republic that followed.[19]

Raising the maypole, 1855

The Church of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London is named for the maypole kept under its eaves and raised every spring until 1517 when student riots put an end to the custom. The maypole itself survived until 1547, when a Puritan mob confiscated and destroyed it as a “pagan idol”.

May Day celebrations, banned under the Commonwealth, were revived in 1660. The maypole at Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire was engraved to commemorate the date when it was later cut in half for use as a ladder

When the Restoration took place in 1660, according to John Aubrey, the common people of London in particular put up maypoles “at every crossroads”. The largest was the maypole in Strand, near the present church of St. Mary-le-Strand. The maypole there was by far the tallest at over 40m and stood until it was blown over by a strong wind in 1672 when it was moved to Wansted in Essex to serve as a mount for Sir Isaac Newton’s telescope.[19][20 ]

In the countryside, may dances and maypoles appeared sporadically even during the interregnum, but the practice revived significantly after the Restoration. By the 19th century, the maypole was subsumed into the symbology of “Merry England”. The addition of intertwined ribbons appears to have been influenced by a combination of 19th-century theatrical fashion[a] and 19th-century visionaries such as John Ruskin. However, the maypole remained an anti-religious symbol for some theologians, as evidenced by The Two Babylons, an anti-Catholic conspiracy pamphlet first published in 1853.

Revived, the dance is performed by pairs of boys and girls (or men and women) who take turns standing around the base of the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon. They weave into and around each other, boys going one way and girls the other, and the ribbons are woven together around the pole until they meet at the base. There are also more complex dances for a certain number of (skilled) dancers (the May Queen’s dance groups) involving intricate weaves and unweaves, but they are not well known today. However, such dances are performed around the permanent Maypole at Offenham in Worcestershire every May Day. Temporary maypoles are usually set up in village greens and events are often overseen by local morris dance groups.

In some regions there was a slightly different maypole tradition: the carrying of highly decorated sticks. The sticks had hoops or cross sticks or garlands covered with flowers, greenery, or artificial materials such as crepe paper. Children would take these hand-held poles to school on the morning of May Day, and prizes could be awarded to the most impressive. Known as the garland, this tradition was a central feature of Mayday celebrations in central and southern England until the mid-19th century. After this time it was gradually replaced by formally organized school-centred celebrations. It still occurs from place to place, but is invariably a reinstatement of a local custom that had lapsed decades earlier.

In 1780 the Council of Kilmarnock, now in East Ayrshire, paid Robert Fraser 2s.6d. for “Dressing a Maypole”, one of the last recorded examples of the rural May Day festival in Scotland, laid down by law immediately after the Reformation in 1560.

The tallest maypoles in Britain are in the villages of Nun Monkton, North Yorkshire (27 meters or 88 feet 5+1⁄4 inches),[24] Barwick-in-Elmet, West Yorkshire (26 meters or 86 feet), [25 ] and Welford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (20 meters or 65 feet). [citation required]

Ireland[ edit ]

Holywood in County Down, Northern Ireland has a maypole at the junction of Main Street and Shore Road/Church Road in the town centre. It is the only maypole in Ireland. Although the origin is uncertain, the original maypole is believed to date back to the 18th century when a Dutch ship ran aground off the coast. The last maypole was damaged and removed after a storm in February 2021. The remains were removed by Ards and North Down Borough Council and a replacement mast ordered. The Maypole was the center of the city’s May Market until it fell.

United States[edit]

Children swing on a maypole at Golden Rule Park in Toledo, Ohio, 1900s

Although not widely celebrated in the United States today, a maypole dance almost identical to that celebrated in the United Kingdom is an important part of May Day celebrations in local schools and communities.[27] The maypole dance is often accompanied by other dances as part of a public presentation.

The earliest use of the maypole in America was in 1628 when William Bradford, governor of New Plymouth, wrote of an incident in which a number of servants, together with the help of an agent, freed themselves from their contracted service to found their own colony to erect a maypole in the center of the settlement and behave in such a way as to earn the contempt and disapproval of the nearby colonies as well as an officer of the king who bears a Massachusetts state patent. Bradford writes:

They also put up a maypole, drank and danced together for many days, invited the Indian women to their consorts, danced and danced together (like so many fairies or rather furies) and worse practices. As if they had revived and celebrated the festivals of the Roman goddess Flora or the cowardly practices of the mad Bacchinalian. Morton also composed (to show his poetry) various rhymes and verses, some tending towards lasciviousness and others tending to denigrate and scandalize some persons, which he attached to this idle or idolized maypole. They also changed the name of their place, and instead of calling it Mounte Wollaston, they call it Merie-mounte, as if that joy lasted forever. But this did not last long, for after Morton was despatched to England, shortly after came that worthy gentleman, Mr. John Indecott, who brought a patent under the broad seal for the Government of Massachusetts, which caused the visit of these parts of the Mai -polle to be cast down, and reprimanded them for their profanes, and exhorted them to see that it was better to walk; so they or others now changed the name of their place again and called it Mounte-Dagon.[28]

Governor Bradford’s criticism of the maypole tradition was central to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional story, The Maypole of Merry Mount, published in 1837.

Italy[ edit ]

Maypole traditions are found in some parts of Italy, such as Veneto,[29] Friuli,[30] Umbria[31] and Marche. In the last of these regions, the tradition dates back to Napoleon’s campaigns when the Tree of Liberty, symbol of the French Revolution, arrived in Italy. Liberty Trees were erected in the southern part of the region in Ripatransone and Ascoli Piceno. In 1889 the First Congress of the Second International met in Paris on the centenary of the French Revolution and the World’s Fair. A proposal by Raymond Lavigne called for international demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the Chicago protests in 1890. After the introduction of International Workers’ Day, the Maypole ritual became a socialist ritual in the southern part of the Marche. At the top of the tree (poplar) the red flag appeared. In the second half of the 20th century, the rite of the maypole around Ascoli remained a rite of spring celebration, but also became a political symbol of the peasant movement (mezzadri), which fought against the landowners for decent living conditions. Every year, still today, on the night of April 30th, in many villages of the area such as Appignano del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto, Ascoli Piceno, Castorano, Castignano, Castel di Lama, Colli del Tronto, Grottammare, Monsampolo del Tronto, Porchia (Montalto Marche), Monteprandone, Offida, Rotella, Spinetoli, San Benedetto del Tronto citizens cut a poplar from which they hang a red flag and the tree is placed in village squares or at crossroads.[32]

After getting the pole at thirty or forty people, we placed it like a six-month-old. We went in procession with this tree and not a single leaf had to touch the ground. We had to pick it up without it touching the ground and hold it in our arms like a child. For us it was the saint of May Day Quirino Marchetti (old peasant of San Benedetto del Tronto), [32]

The same ritual is known from Lamon, a village in the Dolomites in Veneto, which probably predated the Napoleonic era. Here some quarters and hamlets erect a maypole in the form of a larch, whose branches and bark have been almost completely removed. Only the top branches are left. Usually a red flag is attached, but Italian flags or flags of other countries (e.g. Colombia, Bolivia) or artists (Bob Marley) are also attested.[33] Around the maypole, neighborhoods and hamlets give festivals of music, food and alcohol that usually last until dawn on May Day. The Maypole is locally called “Majo” (May in the local dialect).

Canada[ edit ]

In Canada, maypole dances are sometimes performed as part of the Victoria Day celebrations, which take place in May.[34] Maypole dancing and May Day celebrations have been celebrated in New Westminster, British Columbia for 149 years.[35]

In the literature[edit]

The poet Jonathan Swift describes a maypole in his poem “A Maypole”[36] as follows:

Stripped of root and branch and bark,

But I carry flowers of every kind:

And so is my fruitful power,

They bloom in less than half an hour;

“The May-Pole of Merry Mount” is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.[37] It first appeared in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1832. The story revolves around a young couple who feel the influence of nature, become engaged in the presence of a maypole, and face the Puritan’s wrath.[38] Hawthorne based his story on events in New England’s colonial history, borrowing from a story by Thomas Mortan, whose settlement contradicted the strict cultural and religious standards of the Puritans of Plymouth Colony.

In popular culture[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes [edit]

^ [21] A contemporary theater review refers to that evening’s performance in a melodrama of “a novel and an excellent dance round the maypole”.[22] Folklorist D. R. Rowe refers to the practice which began on November 28, 1836 at the Victoria Theatre, London.

References[edit]

Celebration of the first day of summer

May Day is a European festival of ancient origin that marks the beginning of summer and is usually celebrated on May Day, about halfway between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice.[1][2] Celebrations can also take place on the eve, known as May Eve. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and leafy branches, weaving garlands of flowers, crowning a May Queen (sometimes with a male attendant), and setting up a maypole, maypole, or cornbush to dance around.[3] In some regions, bonfires are also part of the festival. Regional variants and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe,[1] the Gaelic festival of Beltane,[4] the Welsh festival of Calan Mai,[4] and May Day devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was also associated with the ancient Roman festival of Floralia.[5]

In 1889 it was chosen by the Second International as International Workers’ Day to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago and the fight for an eight-hour day.[6] For this reason, International Labor Day is also called “May Day”, but the two are unrelated.

Origins and Celebrations[edit]

The earliest known May celebrations appeared with the Floralia, the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, which took place from April 27 to May 3 during the Roman Republic era, and the Maiouma or Maiuma, a festival honoring Dionysus and Aphrodite, which took place every three years during this month of May.[7] The Floralia was opened with theatrical performances. In the Floralia, Ovid says that hares and goats were released as part of the celebrations. Persius writes that vetches, beans and lupins were thrown at crowds. A ritual called Florifertum was performed on either April 27 or May 3, [8] [9] during which a bundle of ears of wheat was carried to a shrine, although it is not clear whether this devotion was to Flora or to Ceres. 10][11] Floralia ended with competitions and spectacles and a sacrifice for Flora.[12]

Maiouma was celebrated at least as early as the 2nd century AD, when records show that the expenses for the month-long festival were confiscated by Emperor Commodus.[13] According to the 6th-century chronicles of John Malalas, the month of Artemisios is celebrated”. During this time, the government set aside enough money for torches, lights, and other expenses to fund a 30-day festival of “night celebrations.”[14 ] The Maiouma was celebrated with sumptuous banquets and offerings Its reputation for licentiousness meant that it was suppressed during the reign of Emperor Constantine, although a less lavish version of it was briefly restored during the reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, only for the sake of the same Period to be suppressed again.

A May festival later celebrated in Germanic countries, Walpurgis Night, commemorates the official canonization of Saint Walpurga on May 1, 870.[15] In Gaelic culture, the evening of April 30th was the celebration of Beltane (which translates to ‘bonfire’) as well as the similar Welsh Calan Mai, and marks the beginning of the summer season. First recorded in AD 900, the celebration focused primarily on the symbolic use of fire to bless cattle and other livestock as they were brought out to the summer pastures. This custom continued into the early 19th century, when cattle had to jump over fires to protect their milk from being stolen by fairies. People also jumped over the fires for good luck.[16]

Since the 18th century, many Catholics have commemorated May – and May Day – with various May Day devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary.[17] In works of art, school sketches, etc., Mary’s head is often decorated with flowers at a May coronation. May Day is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers, St. Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband of Mother Mary and foster father of Jesus.[18] This date, which replaced another feast in honor of St. Joseph, was confirmed by Pope Pius XII in 1955. chosen as a counterpoint to the communist celebrations of International Workers’ Day on May Day.[18]

Some of the best-known modern May Day traditions, observed in both Europe and North America, include dancing around the maypole and the coronation of the May Queen. Since the late 20th century, the tradition of giving away “Maikörbchen”, small baskets of sweets or flowers that are usually left anonymously on neighbors’ doorsteps, has become increasingly popular.[19]

In the late 20th century, many neo-pagans began to reconstruct some of the older pagan festivals and combine them with newer European secular and Catholic traditions and celebrate May Day as a pagan religious festival.[20]

Europe [edit]

Belgium[ edit ]

Known locally as “Labor Day” (Dutch: Dag van de arbeid, French: Fête du Travail), Belgium has celebrated May Day as a public holiday since 1948.[21]

Bulgaria[ edit ]

On May Day, Bulgarians celebrate Irminden (or Yeremiya, Eremiya, Irima, Zamski den). The holiday is associated with snakes and lizards and rituals are performed to protect people from them. The name of the holiday comes from the prophet Jeremiah, but its origins are most likely pagan.

It is said that on the days of the Holy Forty or the Annunciation, snakes come out of their caves and their king comes out on Irminden. Old people believe that those who work in the fields on this day will be bitten by a snake in summer.

In western Bulgaria, people light fires, jump over them and make noises to scare snakes. Another custom is the preparation of “Podnici” (special clay pots for baking bread).

This day is especially observed by pregnant women to prevent their offspring from contracting “yeremiya” – a disease caused by evil forces.

Czech Republic[ edit ]

In the Czech Republic, May 1st is traditionally considered the holiday of love and May is the month of love. Spring celebrations take place on April 30, when a maypole (“májka” in Czech) is erected – a tradition possibly linked to Beltane, as bonfires are also lit on the same day. The event is similar to Germany’s Walpurgis Night, their public holiday on April 30th. On May 31st, the Maypole is felled in an event called Maypole Felling.

On May 1st, lovers kiss under a blossoming tree. According to ethnographer Klára Posekaná, this is not an old habit. It was most likely created in the urban environment at the beginning of the 20th century, perhaps in connection with Karel Hynek Mácha’s poem Máj (which is often recited these days) and Petřín. This usually happens under a cherry, apple or birch tree.

Estonia[ edit ]

May Day or “Spring Day” (Kevadpüha) is a national holiday in Estonia celebrating the arrival of spring.

More traditional festivals take place the night before and into the early hours of May 1st on Walpurgis Night (Volbriöö).

Finland[ edit ]

In Finland, Walpurgis Night (Vappu) (“Vappen”) is one of the four major public holidays, along with Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Midsummer (Juhannus – Midsommar).[22] Walpurgis witnesses the largest carnival-like festival held in Finland’s cities and towns. The celebrations, which begin on the evening of April 30 and continue through May 1, typically center on the consumption of sima, sparkling wine, and other alcoholic beverages. Student traditions, especially those of engineering students, are one of the main characteristics of Vappu. Since the end of the 19th century, this traditional feast has been appropriated by the upper classes of students. Many Lukio alumni wear the black and white student cap and many university students wear student overalls. One tradition is to drink sima, a homemade low-alcohol mead, along with freshly cooked funnel cakes.

France [ edit ]

lily of the valley

On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX. of France a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to give the ladies of the court a lily of the valley as a gift every year. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became customary to give away a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of spring, on May 1st. The government allows individuals and labor organizations to sell them tax-free that one day. Today, you can gift your loved ones with either lily of the valley or dog rose flowers.[23]

Germany [edit]

Maypole in Munich, Germany

In rural regions of Germany, particularly in the Harz Mountains, Walpurgisnacht celebrations of pagan origin, including bonfires and the wrapping of a maypole (maypole), are traditionally held on the night before May Day. Young people take this opportunity to celebrate, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air. Motto: “Dance into May”.

In the Rhineland, May Day is also celebrated by delivering a maypole, a tree covered with streamers, to a girl’s house the night before. The tree usually stems from a love interest, although a tree clad only in white streamers is a sign of dislike. Women usually place roses or rice in the shape of a heart in their beloved’s house. It is customary to stick the heart on a window or put it in front of the doormat. In leap years it is the women’s job to set up the maypole. All actions are usually carried out in secret, and it is the individual’s choice whether to provide a clue as to their identity or remain anonymous.

May Day was not introduced as a public holiday until Nazi Germany declared May Day, 1933, “National Workers’ Day”. As Labor Day, many political parties and unions hold activities related to labor and employment.

Greece[ edit ]

May 1st is a day to celebrate spring.

Maios (lat. Maius), the month of May, takes its name from the goddess Maia (gr. Μαία, the wet nurse), a Greek and Roman goddess of fertility. The day of Maios (modern Greek Πρωτομαγιά) celebrates the final victory of summer over winter as the victory of life over death. The celebration resembles an ancient ritual associated with another minor demigod, Adonis, who also celebrated the revival of nature. Today there is some mingling with another tradition, the revival or marriage of Dionysus (the Greek god of theater and winemaking). However, in ancient times this event was not celebrated in May, but in connection with the Anthesteria, a festival that took place in February and was dedicated to the goddess of agriculture Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Persephone emerged from the underworld every year at the end of winter. The Anthesteria was a festival of souls, plants and flowers, and Persephone’s emergence from Hades to earth marked the rebirth of nature, a common theme in all these traditions.

What remains of the customs today reflects these traditions of antiquity. A common practice until recently on May Day was the annual revival of a youth named Adonis, or alternatively Dionysus or Maios (in Modern Greek Μαγιόπουλο, the son of Maia). In a simple theatrical ritual, the meaning of which has long been forgotten, a choir of young girls sang a song about a youth lying on the ground, representing Adonis, Dionysus or Maios. At the end of the song, the youth rose and a wreath of flowers was placed on his head.

The most common aspect of modern May Day celebrations is the making of a wreath of flowers from wildflowers, although with urbanization there is an increasing trend to buying wreaths from flower shops. The flowers are placed on the wreath against a background of green leaves and the wreath is hung either at the entrance of the family home/apartment or on a balcony. There it remains until midsummer night. On this night the wreaths of flowers are lit in bonfires known as bonfires. Youths jump over the flames and devour the wreaths of flowers. This custom, too, like the theatrical revival of Adonis/Dionysos/Maios, has practically disappeared in most Greek neighborhoods as a result of increasing urban traffic and with no alternative public spaces.

Ireland[ edit ]

May Day has been celebrated in Ireland since pagan times as the Feast of Beltane (Bealtaine) and later as Mary’s Day. Traditionally, bonfires were lit to mark the arrival of summer and to bring good luck to people and livestock. The official Irish May Day is the first Monday in May. It has been reported that the tradition of a MayBush was suppressed by law and magistrates in Dublin in the 18th century. Old traditions like bonfires are no longer widespread, although the practice still persists in some places across the country. Limerick, Clare and many other people in other counties still uphold this tradition, including areas of Dublin City such as Ringsend.[25]

Italy[ edit ]

In Italy it is called Calendimaggio or Cantar Maggio, a seasonal festival to celebrate the arrival of spring. The event takes its name from the period in which it takes place, that is, early May, from the Latin Calenda Maia. The Calendimaggio is a tradition that is still alive today in many regions of Italy as an allegory of return to life and rebirth: including Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna (z , Pavia, Alessandria and Genoa), Tuscany and Umbria. This magical ritual of atonement is often performed during an alms giving, during which the Maggi (or Maggerini) sing auspicious verses to the occupants of the houses they visit in exchange for gifts (traditionally eggs, wine, food or sweets). Across the Italian peninsula, these Il Maggio couplets vary widely – most are love songs with a strong romantic theme, sung by young people to celebrate the arrival of spring. Symbols of spring revival are the trees (alders, laburnum) and flowers (violets, roses) mentioned in the stanzas of the songs and with which the Maggerini adorn themselves. In particular, the alder plant that grows along the rivers is considered a symbol of life and is therefore often present in rituals.

Calendimaggio can be historically mentioned in Tuscany as a mythical figure who played a predominant role and fulfilled many of the attributes of the god Belenus. In Lucania, the “Maggi” have a clear auspicious character of pagan origin. Syracuse, Sicily, holds the Albero della Cuccagna (cf. “Greasy pole”) in May, a festival celebrated to commemorate the victory over the Athenians led by Nicias. However, Angelo de Gubernatis, in his work The Mythology of Plants, believes that the festival undoubtedly predated the said victory.

It’s a festival that dates back to ancient peoples and is very integrated into the rhythms of nature, like the Celts (who celebrate Beltane), Etruscans and Ligurians, where the arrival of summer was of great importance.

Poland[ edit ]

May Day is a public holiday in Poland.[26][27] It is currently celebrated without any particular connotation, making it May Day. [citation needed] However, due to historical connotations, most celebrations focus on the Labor Day celebrations. It is common for labor activists and left-wing political parties to organize parades in cities and towns across Poland on this day. The holiday is also commonly referred to as “Labor Day” (“Święto Pracy”).

May Day is followed by another public holiday in Poland, 3 May Constitution Day. The Polish National Flag Day, observed on 2 May, was introduced by the Parliament Act of 20 February 2004. Although not a public holiday, it forms, along with the other two, what is known as “Majówka” – a three-day celebration period that is often seen as the start of the barbecue season in the country.

Portugal[ edit ]

“Maias” is a superstition found throughout Portugal, with particular emphasis in the northern areas and rarely elsewhere. Maias is the predominant designation in northern Portugal, but it can also be referred to by other names including Dia das Bruxas (Witches’ Day), O Burro (the donkey referring to an evil spirit) or the last of April as the local ones that survive to this day Traditions only take place on this evening. People put the yellow flowers of the gorse, the bushes are known as giestas. Maias are the flowers of the bush, which are attached to doors or gates and every passage of houses, windows, granaries, currently also cars, which the population collects in defense on the evening of April 30th, when the Portuguese broom blooms Places from evil spirits, witches and the evil eye. The placement of the may flower or the may bush in the door frame must be done before midnight.

These celebrations are a continuum of the “Os Maios” of Galiza. In ancient times, this was done while playing traditional night music. In some places children were dressed in these flowers and went from place to place begging for money or bread. On May 1st, people also sang “Cantigas de Maio”, traditional songs related to that day and the whole month of May.

The origin of this tradition can be traced back to the history of the Catholic Church in which Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod. It was said that brooms were found on the door of the house where Jesus was, but when Herod’s soldiers got there they found every door adorned with brooms.

Romania[ edit ]

On May Day, Romanians celebrate Arminden (or Armindeni), the beginning of summer, which is symbolically linked to the protection of crops and livestock. The name comes from the Slavic Jeremiinŭ dĭnĭ, meaning “Day of the Prophet Jeremiah”, but the celebration rites and customs of this day are apotropaic and pagan (possibly deriving from the cult of the god Pan).

Also called ziua pelinului (“Day of the Mugwort”) or ziua bețivilor (“Day of the Drunkards”), the day is celebrated to ensure good wine in the fall and good health and protection from the elements for humans and livestock alike in nature (storm, hail, disease, pests). People would party in natural settings, with lăutari (fiddlers) for those who could afford it. Then it is customary to roast and eat lamb, along with new mutton cheese, and drink mugwort-flavored wine or just red wine to refresh the blood and protect against disease. On the way back, the men wear lilac or mugwort flowers on their hats.

Other apotropaic rites in some areas of the country include people washing their faces with morning dew (for good health) and decorating the gates of good fortune and abundance with green branches or with birch saplings (for the houses with girls). The entrances to the animal shelters are also decorated with green branches. All branches remain in place until the wheat harvest, when used in the fire that will bake the first bread from the new wheat.

On the eve of May Day, rural women do not work as well in the field as they do in the house to avoid devastating storms and hailstorms beating the village.

Arminden is also ziua cooking (ox day) and therefore the animals must not be used for work, otherwise they could die or their owners could get sick.

It is said that the weather is always good on May Day for people to celebrate.

Serbia[ edit ]

“Prvomajski uranak” (Reveille on May Day) is a folk tradition and festival that consists of people going out into nature on May Day or even leaving the day before and spending the night with a bonfire. Most of the time, a dish is prepared in a kettle or on the grill. This holiday is widespread among Serbs. Almost every city in Serbia has its own traditional May Day excursion destinations, and mostly these are green areas outside the city.[28]

Spain[ edit ]

May Day is celebrated across the country as Los Mayos (literally “the Mays”), often similar to “Fiesta de las Cruces” in many parts of Hispanic Americas. One such example in Galicia is the Fiesta de los Mayos (or Festa dos Maios in Galician, the local language). It has Celtic origins (from the Beltane festival)[29] and consists of different traditions, such as depictions around a decorated tree or a sculpture. People sing folk songs (also called Maios) and mention social and political events of the past year, sometimes in the form of a conversation, while walking around the sculpture with the clash of two sticks. In Lugo[30] and in the village of Vilagarcía de Arousa[31] it was customary to ask participants for a tip, which used to be a handful of dried chestnuts (castañas maiolas), walnuts or hazelnuts. Today the tradition has become a competition where the best sculptures and songs are awarded.[32]

In the Galician city of Ourense, this day is traditionally celebrated on May 3, the Day of the Holy Cross, which in the Christian tradition replaced the tree, “where are health, life and resurrection”, according to the introit of the Mass on this one Day. [33]

May Day is not celebrated in Catalonia.

Sweden[ edit ]

The more traditional celebrations have shifted to the day before, Walpurgis Night (“Valborgsmässoafton”), known simply as “Last April” in some places, and is often celebrated with bonfires and a good drink. May 1st is instead celebrated as International Labor Day.

Turkey [ edit ]

It was officially celebrated in Turkey for the first time in 1923. Since 2009 it has been celebrated as a public holiday in Turkey on May 1st.

United Kingdom[ edit ]

England [ edit ]

May Queen on the village green, Melmerby, England

Children dance around a maypole during a May Day celebration in Welwyn, England

Traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include the coronation of a May Queen and celebrations with a maypole around which dancers often tie ribbons. Historically, dancing the morris was associated with the May Day celebrations.[34] The earliest records of maypole celebrations date from the 14th century, and by the 15th century the maypole tradition was well established in southern Britain.[16] The tradition persists on the Isle of Ely into the 21st century. A centenary green portion of the Octavia Hill Birthplace House, Wisbech has a flagpole that turns into a maypole each year and is used by local schools and other groups.

The early May bank holiday on the first Monday in May was introduced in 1978; May Day itself – May 1st – is not a public holiday in England (unless it falls on a Monday). In February 2011, the UK Parliament is due to consider scrapping the bank holiday associated with May 1st and replacing it with an October bank holiday, possibly coinciding with Trafalgar Day (celebrated on October 21), to create a “United Kingdom day” to create. .[36] Similarly, attempts were made in 1993 by the John Major government to abolish May Day and replace it with Trafalgar Day.

Unlike the other bank and common law holidays, the first Monday in May is taken by (public) schools in its own right and not as part of a term or end of term. Because it has no Christian meaning and otherwise does not fit into the usual school holiday rhythm. (By contrast, the Easter holiday may start as late as Good Friday when Easter falls early in the year, compared to Easter, or end as early as Easter Monday, when Easter falls late in the year, because of the paramount importance of Good Friday and Easter Day for Christianity.)

May Day was abolished and banned by Puritan parliaments during the interregnum, but reinstated with the reinstatement of Charles II in 1660.[37] On May 1, 1707, the Act of Union came into force, uniting the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Queen Guinevere’s Maying, by John Collier

For so it happened one morning when the whole court

Dressed in green but with feathers mocking May,

Had been, won’t, a-maying and returned,

This modred still in the green, all ears and eyes,

Climbed to the high top of the garden wall

To spy on a secret scandal if he could [38]

In the villages of Cambridgeshire, young girls went to May Dolling (walking through the villages with dressed dolls and collecting pennies). This doll dressing and singing is said to have persisted at Swaffham Prior into the 1960s

Sing a Maytime song.

Sing a spring song.

Flowers are in their beauty.

Birds are on the wing.

May time, season.

God gave us the May season.

Thank Him for His gifts of love.

Sing a spring song. [39]

It is a centuries-old tradition in Oxford for revelers to gather beneath the Great Tower of Magdalen College at 6am on May morning to listen to the college choir sing traditional madrigals to mark the conclusion of the previous night’s celebrations. Then, since the 1980s, some people have been jumping off Magdalen Bridge into the River Cherwell. For several years, the bridge has been closed on May Day to prevent people from jumping as the water under the bridge is only 61 cm deep and jumping off the bridge has resulted in serious injuries in the past. There are still people who climb over barriers, jump into the water and injure themselves.[40]

In Durham, University of Durham students gather on Prebend’s Bridge to watch the sunrise and enjoy festivities, folk music, dancing, madrigal singing and a BBQ breakfast. This is a burgeoning Durham tradition, with patchy adherence since 2001.

Kingsbury Episcopi, Somerset, has seen its annual May Day celebrations on Monday, a bank holiday in May, gain in popularity in recent years. It has grown in size since it was restored 21 years ago and on May 5th 2014 thousands of revelers were drawn from across the South West to enjoy the celebrations, with BBC Somerset covering the festivities. These include traditional maypole and morris dancing, as well as contemporary music acts.

Whitstable, Kent hosts a fine example of more traditional May Day celebrations, where the Jack in the Green festival was revived in 1976 and continues to feature an annual May Bank Holiday procession of morris dancers through the town. A separate revival took place in Hastings in 1983 and has become a major event in the town calendar. On the May Bank Holiday, Rochester, Kent hosts a traditional sweep festival with the Jack in the Green being awakened by morris dancers at dawn on May 1st.

At 7:15 p.m. On May 1st each year, the Kettle Bridge Clogs [41] Morris Dance Side dance across the Barming Bridge (also known as Kettle Bridge) spanning the River Medway near Maidstone to mark the official start of their To mark Morris Dancing season.

The Mayday Run sees thousands of motorbikes undertake an 89km journey from Greater London (Locksbottom) to the Hastings seafront in East Sussex. The event has now been held for almost 30 years and has growing commercial and public interest nationwide. The event is not officially organized; The police only direct traffic and volunteers manage parking.

Padstow in Cornwall holds its annual Obby Oss (hobby horse) day. This is believed to be one of the oldest fertility rites in the UK; Revelers dance with the Oss through the city streets and also through citizens’ private gardens, accompanied by accordion players and white-clad retainers with red or blue sashes singing the traditional “May Day” song. The whole city is adorned with spring greenery and thousands of onlookers come every year. Before the 19th century, May Day celebrations were widespread across West Cornwall and are being revived in St Ives and Penzance.

Kingsand, Cawsand and Millbrook in Cornwall celebrate the Flower Boat ritual on the May Day bank holiday. A model of the ship The Black Prince is covered in flowers and is carried in procession from Millbrook Quay to Cawsand Beach, where it is floated. The houses in the villages are decorated with flowers and the people traditionally wear red and white clothes. There is further celebration in Cawsand Square with Morris Dancing and May Pole Dancing.

Scotland[ edit ]

May Day has been celebrated in Scotland for centuries. It used to be closely associated with the Beltane Festival.[42] Ein Hinweis auf diese frühere Feier findet sich im Gedicht “Peblis to the Play”, das in den Maitland-Manuskripten der schottischen Poesie des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts enthalten ist:

In Beltane, quhen ilk bodie bownis

An Peblis zum Spiel,

Um den Gesang und die Soundis zu erben;

Der Trost, sozusagen,

Be firth and forest weiter fanden sie

Thay greythis tham voll schwul;

Gott warte auf diesen Wald, den sie machen,

Denn es war ihr Festtag, der Tag, an dem sie den 1. Mai feiern,

Thay sagte, […]

Das Gedicht beschreibt die Feier in der Stadt Peebles in den Scottish Borders, die weiterhin jedes Jahr eine Parade und einen Festzug veranstaltet, einschließlich des jährlichen „Common Riding“, das in vielen Städten in den Borders stattfindet. Neben der alljährlichen Krönung einer Beltane-Königin ist es Brauch, „The Beltane Song“ zu singen.[43]

John Jamieson beschreibt in seinem Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808) einige der Bräuche des Ersten Mais/Beltane, die im achtzehnten und frühen neunzehnten Jahrhundert in Teilen Schottlands bestanden, von denen er bemerkte, dass sie langsam aussterben.[44] Im neunzehnten Jahrhundert sammelte der Volkskundler Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912) das Lied Am Beannachadh Bealltain (Der Segen von Beltane) in seiner Carmina Gadelica, das er von einem Crofter in South Uist hörte.[43]

Die Feierlichkeiten zum schottischen Maifeiertag/Beltane wurden seit dem späten 20. Jahrhundert etwas wiederbelebt. Sowohl Edinburgh als auch Glasgow organisieren May Day Festivals und Kundgebungen. In Edinburgh findet am Abend des Maiabends und bis in die frühen Morgenstunden des Ersten Mais auf dem Calton Hill der Stadt das Beltane Fire Festival statt. Eine ältere Tradition in Edinburgh besagt, dass junge Frauen, die Arthur’s Seat erklimmen und sich im Morgentau das Gesicht waschen, lebenslang schön sein werden. An der University of St. Andrews versammeln sich einige Studenten am späten 30. April am Strand und rennen am 1. Mai bei Sonnenaufgang in die Nordsee, gelegentlich nackt. Begleitet wird dies von Fackelumzügen und ausgelassenem Feiern.

Wales [edit]

In Wales ist der erste Tag im Mai als Calan Mai oder Calan Haf bekannt und entspricht dem Festival von Beltane und anderen Traditionen des Ersten Mais in Europa.

Die Traditionen begannen in der Nacht zuvor (Nos Galan Haf) mit Lagerfeuern und gelten als Ysbrydnos oder Geisternacht, wenn die Menschen Weißdorn (draenen wen) und Blumen sammelten, um ihre Häuser zu schmücken und neues Wachstum und Fruchtbarkeit zu feiern. Während die Feierlichkeiten zum 1. Mai Sommertänze (dawnsio haf) und Mailieder (carolau mai oder carolau haf) umfassten, die manchmal auch als „Singen unter der Mauer“ (canu dan y pared) bezeichnet werden, war der 1. Mai auch eine Zeit für die offizielle Eröffnung eines Dorfplatz (twmpath chwarae).

North America[edit]

Canada[ edit ]

Der 1. Mai wird in einigen Teilen der Provinzen British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick und Ontario gefeiert.

Toronto

In Toronto versammeln sich am Morgen des 1. Mai verschiedene Morris Dancing-Truppen aus Toronto und Hamilton auf der Straße beim Grenadier Cafe im High Park, um “im Mai zu tanzen”. Die Tänzer und das Publikum versammeln sich dann und singen traditionelle May Day-Lieder wie Hal-An-Tow und Padstow.

Britisch-Kolumbien

Celebrations often take place not on 1 May but during the Victoria Day long weekend, later in the month and when the weather is likely to be better. The longest continually observed May Day in the British Commonwealth is held in the city of New Westminster, BC. There, the first May Day celebration was held on 4 May 1870.[45]

United States[edit]

Main: Labor Day vs. May Day

May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone’s doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away.[46]

Modern May Day ceremonies in the U.S. vary greatly from region to region and many unite both the holiday’s “Green Root” (pagan) and “Red Root” (labour) traditions.[47]

1876 May Day celebration at Central City Park, Macon, Georgia

May Day celebrations were common at women’s colleges and academic institutions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a tradition that continues at Bryn Mawr College[48] and Brenau University[49] to this day.

In Minneapolis, the May Day Parade and Festival is presented annually by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre on the first Sunday in May, and draws around 50,000 people to Powderhorn Park.[50] On 1 May itself, local Morris Dance sides converge on an overlook of the Mississippi River at dawn, and then spend the remainder of the day dancing around the metro area.[51]

Hawaii

In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day, and it is normally set aside as a day to celebrate island culture in general and the culture of the Native Hawaiians in particular.[52] Invented by poet and local newspaper columnist Don Blanding, the first Lei Day was celebrated on 1 May 1927 in Honolulu. Leonard “Red” and Ruth Hawk composed “May Day Is Lei Day in Hawai’i,” the traditional holiday song.[53]

See also[edit]

In 1889, May Day was declared by an international federation of socialist groups and unions as May Day, a day in support of workers to commemorate the Haymarket Affair, a violent confrontation that took place on May 4, 1886 in Chicago, Illinois.

May Day, also known as Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day, is the day to commemorate the struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement. It is celebrated on May Day in many countries. In the United States and Canada, a similar celebration known as Labor Day is held on the first Monday in September.

May Day, also called Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day, a day commemorating the historic struggles and achievements of workers and the labor movement, celebrated in many countries on May Day. In the United States and Canada, a similar celebration known as Labor Day occurs on the first Monday in September.

In 1889, an international federation of socialist groups and unions declared May Day as Workers’ Support Day, commemorating the Haymarket Rebellion in Chicago (1886). Five years later, U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland, concerned about the socialist origins of Workers’ Day, signed legislation to make Labor Day – which in some states is observed as early as the first Monday in September – an official US holiday honoring workers. Canada followed shortly thereafter.

Labor Day in the United States Learn about the origins of Labor Day in the United States. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Patrick O’Neill Riley

In Europe, May Day was historically associated with rural pagan festivals (see May Day), but the day’s original meaning has gradually been replaced by its modern association with the labor movement. In the Soviet Union, leaders welcomed the new holiday because they believed it would encourage workers in Europe and the United States to unite against capitalism. The day became a major holiday in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, with high-profile parades, including one in Moscow’s Red Square led by senior government officials and Communist Party officials, to celebrate workers and the Soviet Union demonstrate military might. In Germany, Labor Day became an official holiday in 1933 after the rise of the NSDAP. Ironically, the day after the holiday was introduced, Germany abolished free trade unions, effectively destroying the German labor movement.

May Day workers march on Red Square in Moscow, May 1, 2015. Nikolay Vinokurov/Alamy

On This Day: May Day Kurt Heintz of the Encyclopædia Britannica explores the importance of May Day as a public holiday, a day traditionally celebrating the return of spring and much more. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of communist governments in Eastern Europe in the late 20th century, large-scale May Day celebrations in this region became less important. However, May Day is recognized as a public holiday in dozens of countries around the world and continues to be celebrated with picnics and parties, while also serving as an occasion for demonstrations and rallies in support of workers.

May Day, in medieval and modern Europe, public holiday (May 1st) celebrating the return of spring. The observance likely has its origins in ancient agricultural rituals, and the Greeks and Romans held such festivals. Although later practices varied widely, the celebrations included the gathering of wildflowers and leafy branches, the weaving of flower garlands, the coronation of a May King and Queen, and the setting up of a decorated maypole or maypole around which people gathered to dance. Such rites may originally have been intended to ensure the fertility of crops, and thus of livestock and people, but in most cases this meaning was gradually lost, and the practices survived largely as folk festivals. Among the many superstitions associated with May Day was the belief that washing the face with dew on the morning of May Day would beautify the skin. Seeing May Day celebrations as rampant and pagan, the Puritans of New England banned their observance, and the holiday never became an important part of American culture. In the 20th century, traditional May Day celebrations declined in many countries as May Day became associated with the international holiday honoring workers and the labor movement (see May Day).

Maypole decorated with streamers. © Turbowerner/Fotolia

High wooden mast erected as part of various European folk festivals

This article is about the tall wooden pole and its dance. For other uses, see Maypole (disambiguation)

Dancing around the maypole in Åmmeberg, Sweden

A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected at various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.

The festivals may take place on May Day or Pentecost (Pentecost), although in some countries they are erected on Midsummer (June 20–26) instead. In some cases the maypole is a permanent fixture used only during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose and then taken down.

Found predominantly among the peoples of Germanic Europe and neighboring areas influenced by them, its origins remain unknown. It has often been speculated that the maypole originally had some significance in the Germanic paganism of the Iron Age and early medieval cultures, and that the tradition survived Christianization, although losing its original meaning. It was a recorded practice in many parts of Europe during the Middle Ages and early modern period, although it became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. [citation needed] Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and among European communities in the Americas.

Symbolism [edit]

May Day: Villagers southeast of Munich raise a very tall, wooden maypole into place. They competed with the surrounding villages for height.

The English historian Ronald Hutton agrees with the Swedish scholar Carl Wilhelm von Sydow, who observed that maypoles were put up “simply” as “a sign that the happy season of warmth and comfort had returned”, at least in the British Isles , first seen between 1350 and 1400 AD in the context of medieval Christian European culture.[1] In 1588, the villagers gathered around the “summer staff” at Holy Trinity Church in Exeter to celebrate and drink.[1] Chaucer mentions that St. Andrew Undershaft had a particularly large maypole which, because of its large shape, was erected annually by parishioners.[1]

The symbolism of the maypole has been debated by folklorists for centuries, although no definitive answer has been found. Some scholars classify maypoles as symbols of the world axis (axis mundi). The fact that they were found primarily in areas of Germanic Europe where, prior to Christianization, Germanic paganism was persecuted in various forms has led some to speculate that the maypoles were in some way a relic of a Germanic pagan tradition. One theory holds that they were a vestige of Germanic reverence for sacred trees, as there is evidence of various sacred trees and wooden pillars worshiped by pagans throughout much of Germanic Europe, including the Torsiiche and the Irminsul.[2] However, Ronald Hutton states that “there is absolutely no evidence that the maypole was taken as a reflection of it.”[1] It is also known that in Norse paganism, cosmological views held that the universe was a world tree known as Yggdrasil.[3][4][5][6][7]

Some observers have suggested phallic symbolism, an idea put forward by Thomas Hobbes, who mistakenly believed that the spears traced back to Roman worship of the god Priapus. This notion has since been endorsed by various figures, including the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. In later Early Modern times, phallic symbolism was ascribed to the maypole, as a sexual reference is found in John Cleland’s controversial novel Fanny Hill:

… and now, detached from the shirt, I saw with amazement and surprise, what? not a boy’s toy, not a man’s weapon, but a maypole of such enormous size that, if one had considered the proportions, it must have belonged to a young giant.

However, Ronald Hutton has stated that “there is no historical basis for his claim and no indication that the people who used maypoles thought they were phallic” and that “they were not carved to look so”.[1 ]

Anthropologist Mircea Eliade surmises that the maypoles were simply part of the general joy at the return of summer and the growth of new vegetation. In this way they bore similarities to the May Day garlands, which were also a common festival practice in Britain and Ireland.[9]

Regional traditions[ edit ]

Malta[ edit ]

kukkanja in situ, in which the maypole was stuck Remnants of the, in which the maypole was stuck

Grandmaster Marc’Antonio Zondadari introduced the Cockaigne (using the maypole) to the Maltese carnival in 1721: at a given signal, the crowd gathered in the Palace Square gathered to a collection of hams, sausages and live animals hidden under leaves Branches outside the main guard. Stocks became the property of those who could carry them away once confiscated.[10]

Germany and Austria[edit]

Rhenish maypole for a girl in Koenigswinter

In Germany and Austria, the Maibaum (or Maibaum) is a tradition that dates back to the 16th century.[11] It is a decorated tree or tree trunk that is usually set up either on May 1st – in Baden and Swabia – or on the eve, for example in East Frisia. In most areas, especially in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Austria, it is customary to solemnly erect the maypole on the village green. The custom of combining it with a village or town festival, which usually takes place on April 30th, May 1st or at Pentecost, is widespread. This tradition is particularly strong in the villages of the Bavarian Alps, where the erection of the traditional maypole on May 1st in the village square is a reason for many celebrations. The mast is usually painted in the Bavarian colors of white and blue and adorned with emblems representing local crafts and industry. In Bavaria, the maypole is erected a few weeks before May 1st. The young men from the villages try to steal each other’s maypole, so the men of each village or town take turns guarding the maypole. If a village manages to steal a maypole, the village from which the maypole was stolen must invite the whole village of thieves to a free beer and festival, which then takes place on May Day.

Immediately before the maypole is erected, depending on the region, there is a parade through the village, which usually ends at a central location and/or restaurant and is usually observed by many spectators and accompanied by a brass band. The actual installation of the tree takes place in the afternoon or evening. While the crowd mostly whiles away the time with beer and sausages, the young men bustle about decorating the maypole to put the symbols of various crafts of the region in the right position. While the maypole is traditionally erected with the help of long poles, today this can sometimes be done with tractors, forklifts or even cranes. In Lower Austria ropes and ladders are used.

In the Rhineland in and around Cologne there is a slightly different maypole tradition. On the night of May 1st, unmarried men plant young birch trees in front of the houses of their loved ones. These trees, which can reach five meters and more in height, are sold beforehand by local foresters. The men usually decorate them with colorful crepe paper and often a red wooden heart with the girl’s name written on it. In the month of May there are such maypoles in many front yards.

If the tree is erected on the eve of May Day, the event is usually followed by a May Dance or Dance into May. Depending on local custom, the maypole can remain in place all year round or be taken down at the end of May. The trunk can then be stored until the following year.

Nordic countries[ edit ]

In Denmark the maypole tradition is almost extinct but is still observed on the islands of Avernakø and Strynø south of Funen and in some villages in southern Himmerland in East Jutland. The maypole is commonly referred to as majtræ, meaning “maypole”.

Finland A midsummer mast at the harbor in Bromarv

In Sweden and the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland, the maypole is usually referred to as the midsummer tree (midsommarstång) as it appears at midsummer celebrations, although the literal translation majstång also occurs, with the word maj referring to the Old Swedish word maja meaning dress, and not the month of May. Traditions surrounding the maypoles vary locally, as does the design of the poles, although the design with a cross and two rings is the most common today. Perhaps a more original incarnation is that still used in the Swedish countryside of Småland, where the pole carries a large horizontally suspended ring around it, suspended by ropes attached to the top of the pole. Of course, this perhaps more original form strongly reinforces the reproductive symbolism. The cross arm may be a modern-day attempt to Christianize the pagan symbol into the semblance of a cross, although not entirely successful alternately dancing and making movements and gestures based on the songs, such as pretending to scrub laundry while they sing about washing, or jump as frogs during the song Små grodorna (“The Little Frogs”). The ring dance is especially popular with small children. The central role played by young children in the celebration emphasizes the procreative aspect of the celebration. Another clue in this direction is the custom that young girls expect to dream of their future partner if only they pick seven different flowers that day and put them under their pillow when they go to bed.

Belgium[ edit ]

In Belgium, the maypole is called Meiboom or Meyboom in Dutch. Hasselt erects its Meiboom on April 30th. In Brussels and Leuven, the Meyboom is traditionally set up on August 9 before 5 p.m. The planting of the Meyboom is the reason for a friendly rivalry between the two towns that dates back to 1213. That year a brawl broke out between Leuven and Brussels, with the latter winning. To commemorate this event, almost 100 years later, the city of Brussels was granted the perpetual right by John III, Duke of Brabant to erect a Meyboom, but only if it succeeded, before 5 p.m. on August 9 every year to do. A first attempt by Leuven to steal the tree in 1939 was stopped by the police.[12] In 1974, however, a group of people from Leuven found out which tree Brussels had chosen for this year’s Meyboom. The tree was felled on the night of August 8th and transported to Leuven, where it was placed in front of the town hall. Since then, Leuven has claimed ownership of the only official Meyboom.[13] However, Brussels denies losing the right as another tree was felled and put up before 5pm on August 9th.

It is also common, especially in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, to place a tree branch (also called a meiboom) on the highest point of a building under construction.[14] The construction of the branch is often a reason to celebrate, both for the craftsmen and the neighbors.

United Kingdom[ edit ]

A maypole in Llanfyllin, Wales on 1 May 1941

In the United Kingdom, the maypole was found primarily in England and in areas of the Scottish Lowlands and Wales that were under English influence. However, the earliest recorded evidence comes from a Welsh poem written by Gryffydd ap Adda ap Dafydd in the mid-14th century, in which he described how people of Llanidloes, central Wales, used a tall birch pole.[15] Literary evidence of the use of maypoles in much of Britain increases in later decades, and “by the period 1350 to 1400 the custom was well established throughout southern Britain, in town and country, and in both Welsh-speaking and English-speaking areas.” [15 ]

Villagers and Morris men dance beside the maypole on Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire at dawn on May 1, 2005

The practice grew in popularity over the following centuries, with the maypoles becoming “community symbols” that brought the local community together – in some cases poorer communities joined with neighboring communities to maintain and erect one, while in other cases like in Hertfordshire in 1602 and Warwickshire in 1639, people stole the poles of neighboring communities, leading to violence. In some cases the wood for the poles was obtained illegally, for example the Earl of Huntingdon was angered in 1603 when trees were removed from his lands for use as maypoles without his permission.[16]

The maypole at Barwick-in-Elmet, Yorkshire, which is lowered, renovated and raised every three years.

The rise of Protestantism in the 16th century led to increasing disapproval of maypoles and other May Day practices among various Protestants, who viewed them as idolatry and therefore immoral. Under the reign of Edward VI. Protestant Anglicanism was declared the state religion in England and Wales, and many maypoles, such as the famous Cornhill maypole of London, were destroyed under the Reformation; However, when Mary I ascended the throne after Edward’s death, she restored Roman Catholicism as the state faith, and the practice of maypoles was reinstated. Under later English monarchs the practice was sporadic, being banned in certain areas such as Doncaster, Canterbury and Bristol, but continued in many others in accordance with the wishes of local governors. In Scotland, then still an independent state, Protestantism, in the form of Presbyterianism, had meanwhile gained a stronger foothold, and the practice of the maypole had largely been wiped out throughout the country.[17]

Royal support contributed to the ban on maypole exhibitions and dances during the English interregnum. The Long Parliament Ordinance of 1644 described maypoles as “a pagan vanity, generally abused for superstition and malice.”[18] The only documented breach of the Long Parliament ban was in 1655 at Henley-in-Arden, where local Officials stopped the erection of maypoles for traditional games. Scholars suspect, but have no way of proving, that the absence of such records indicates official connivance in violating the ban. However, they are certain that the ban has made Maypole dancing a symbol of resistance against the Long Parliament and the republic that followed.[19]

Raising the maypole, 1855

The Church of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London is named for the maypole kept under its eaves and raised every spring until 1517 when student riots put an end to the custom. The maypole itself survived until 1547, when a Puritan mob confiscated and destroyed it as a “pagan idol”.

May Day celebrations, banned under the Commonwealth, were revived in 1660. The maypole at Castle Bytham, Lincolnshire was engraved to commemorate the date when it was later cut in half for use as a ladder

When the Restoration took place in 1660, according to John Aubrey, the common people of London in particular put up maypoles “at every crossroads”. The largest was the maypole in Strand, near the present church of St. Mary-le-Strand. The maypole there was by far the tallest at over 40m and stood until it was blown over by a strong wind in 1672 when it was moved to Wansted in Essex to serve as a mount for Sir Isaac Newton’s telescope.[19][20 ]

In the countryside, may dances and maypoles appeared sporadically even during the interregnum, but the practice revived significantly after the Restoration. By the 19th century, the maypole was subsumed into the symbology of “Merry England”. The addition of intertwined ribbons appears to have been influenced by a combination of 19th-century theatrical fashion[a] and 19th-century visionaries such as John Ruskin. However, the maypole remained an anti-religious symbol for some theologians, as evidenced by The Two Babylons, an anti-Catholic conspiracy pamphlet first published in 1853.

Revived, the dance is performed by pairs of boys and girls (or men and women) who take turns standing around the base of the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon. They weave into and around each other, boys going one way and girls the other, and the ribbons are woven together around the pole until they meet at the base. There are also more complex dances for a certain number of (skilled) dancers (the May Queen’s dance groups) involving intricate weaves and unweaves, but they are not well known today. However, such dances are performed around the permanent Maypole at Offenham in Worcestershire every May Day. Temporary maypoles are usually set up in village greens and events are often overseen by local morris dance groups.

In some regions there was a slightly different maypole tradition: the carrying of highly decorated sticks. The sticks had hoops or cross sticks or garlands covered with flowers, greenery, or artificial materials such as crepe paper. Children would take these hand-held poles to school on the morning of May Day, and prizes could be awarded to the most impressive. Known as the garland, this tradition was a central feature of Mayday celebrations in central and southern England until the mid-19th century. After this time it was gradually replaced by formally organized school-centred celebrations. It still occurs from place to place, but is invariably a reinstatement of a local custom that had lapsed decades earlier.

In 1780 the Council of Kilmarnock, now in East Ayrshire, paid Robert Fraser 2s.6d. for “Dressing a Maypole”, one of the last recorded examples of the rural May Day festival in Scotland, laid down by law immediately after the Reformation in 1560.

The tallest maypoles in Britain are in the villages of Nun Monkton, North Yorkshire (27 meters or 88 feet 5+1⁄4 inches),[24] Barwick-in-Elmet, West Yorkshire (26 meters or 86 feet), [25 ] and Welford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (20 meters or 65 feet). [citation required]

Ireland[ edit ]

Holywood in County Down, Northern Ireland has a maypole at the junction of Main Street and Shore Road/Church Road in the town centre. It is the only maypole in Ireland. Although the origin is uncertain, the original maypole is believed to date back to the 18th century when a Dutch ship ran aground off the coast. The last maypole was damaged and removed after a storm in February 2021. The remains were removed by Ards and North Down Borough Council and a replacement mast ordered. The Maypole was the center of the city’s May Market until it fell.

United States[edit]

Children swing on a maypole at Golden Rule Park in Toledo, Ohio, 1900s

Although not widely celebrated in the United States today, a maypole dance almost identical to that celebrated in the United Kingdom is an important part of May Day celebrations in local schools and communities.[27] The maypole dance is often accompanied by other dances as part of a public presentation.

The earliest use of the maypole in America was in 1628 when William Bradford, governor of New Plymouth, wrote of an incident in which a number of servants, together with the help of an agent, freed themselves from their contracted service to found their own colony to erect a maypole in the center of the settlement and behave in such a way as to earn the contempt and disapproval of the nearby colonies as well as an officer of the king who bears a Massachusetts state patent. Bradford writes:

They also put up a maypole, drank and danced together for many days, invited the Indian women to their consorts, danced and danced together (like so many fairies or rather furies) and worse practices. As if they had revived and celebrated the festivals of the Roman goddess Flora or the cowardly practices of the mad Bacchinalian. Morton also composed (to show his poetry) various rhymes and verses, some tending towards lasciviousness and others tending to denigrate and scandalize some persons, which he attached to this idle or idolized maypole. They also changed the name of their place, and instead of calling it Mounte Wollaston, they call it Merie-mounte, as if that joy lasted forever. But this did not last long, for after Morton was despatched to England, shortly after came that worthy gentleman, Mr. John Indecott, who brought a patent under the broad seal for the Government of Massachusetts, which caused the visit of these parts of the Mai -polle to be cast down, and reprimanded them for their profanes, and exhorted them to see that it was better to walk; so they or others now changed the name of their place again and called it Mounte-Dagon.[28]

Governor Bradford’s criticism of the maypole tradition was central to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional story, The Maypole of Merry Mount, published in 1837.

Italy[ edit ]

Maypole traditions are found in some parts of Italy, such as Veneto,[29] Friuli,[30] Umbria[31] and Marche. In the last of these regions, the tradition dates back to Napoleon’s campaigns when the Tree of Liberty, symbol of the French Revolution, arrived in Italy. Liberty Trees were erected in the southern part of the region in Ripatransone and Ascoli Piceno. In 1889 the First Congress of the Second International met in Paris on the centenary of the French Revolution and the World’s Fair. A proposal by Raymond Lavigne called for international demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the Chicago protests in 1890. After the introduction of International Workers’ Day, the Maypole ritual became a socialist ritual in the southern part of the Marche. At the top of the tree (poplar) the red flag appeared. In the second half of the 20th century, the rite of the maypole around Ascoli remained a rite of spring celebration, but also became a political symbol of the peasant movement (mezzadri), which fought against the landowners for decent living conditions. Every year, still today, on the night of April 30th, in many villages of the area such as Appignano del Tronto, Arquata del Tronto, Ascoli Piceno, Castorano, Castignano, Castel di Lama, Colli del Tronto, Grottammare, Monsampolo del Tronto, Porchia (Montalto Marche), Monteprandone, Offida, Rotella, Spinetoli, San Benedetto del Tronto citizens cut a poplar from which they hang a red flag and the tree is placed in village squares or at crossroads.[32]

After getting the pole at thirty or forty people, we placed it like a six-month-old. We went in procession with this tree and not a single leaf had to touch the ground. We had to pick it up without it touching the ground and hold it in our arms like a child. For us it was the saint of May Day Quirino Marchetti (old peasant of San Benedetto del Tronto), [32]

The same ritual is known from Lamon, a village in the Dolomites in Veneto, which probably predated the Napoleonic era. Here some quarters and hamlets erect a maypole in the form of a larch, whose branches and bark have been almost completely removed. Only the top branches are left. Usually a red flag is attached, but Italian flags or flags of other countries (e.g. Colombia, Bolivia) or artists (Bob Marley) are also attested.[33] Around the maypole, neighborhoods and hamlets give festivals of music, food and alcohol that usually last until dawn on May Day. The Maypole is locally called “Majo” (May in the local dialect).

Canada[ edit ]

In Canada, maypole dances are sometimes performed as part of the Victoria Day celebrations, which take place in May.[34] Maypole dancing and May Day celebrations have been celebrated in New Westminster, British Columbia for 149 years.[35]

In the literature[edit]

The poet Jonathan Swift describes a maypole in his poem “A Maypole”[36] as follows:

Stripped of root and branch and bark,

But I carry flowers of every kind:

And so is my fruitful power,

They bloom in less than half an hour;

“The May-Pole of Merry Mount” is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.[37] It first appeared in The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1832. The story revolves around a young couple who feel the influence of nature, become engaged in the presence of a maypole, and face the Puritan’s wrath.[38] Hawthorne based his story on events in New England’s colonial history, borrowing from a story by Thomas Mortan, whose settlement contradicted the strict cultural and religious standards of the Puritans of Plymouth Colony.

In popular culture[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes [edit]

^ [21] A contemporary theater review refers to that evening’s performance in a melodrama of “a novel and an excellent dance round the maypole”.[22] Folklorist D. R. Rowe refers to the practice which began on November 28, 1836 at the Victoria Theatre, London.

References[edit]

Celebration of the first day of summer

May Day is a European festival of ancient origin that marks the beginning of summer and is usually celebrated on May Day, about halfway between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice.[1][2] Celebrations can also take place on the eve, known as May Eve. Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and leafy branches, weaving garlands of flowers, crowning a May Queen (sometimes with a male attendant), and setting up a maypole, maypole, or cornbush to dance around.[3] In some regions, bonfires are also part of the festival. Regional variants and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe,[1] the Gaelic festival of Beltane,[4] the Welsh festival of Calan Mai,[4] and May Day devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was also associated with the ancient Roman festival of Floralia.[5]

In 1889 it was chosen by the Second International as International Workers’ Day to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago and the fight for an eight-hour day.[6] For this reason, International Labor Day is also called “May Day”, but the two are unrelated.

Origins and Celebrations[edit]

The earliest known May celebrations appeared with the Floralia, the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, which took place from April 27 to May 3 during the Roman Republic era, and the Maiouma or Maiuma, a festival honoring Dionysus and Aphrodite, which took place every three years during this month of May.[7] The Floralia was opened with theatrical performances. In the Floralia, Ovid says that hares and goats were released as part of the celebrations. Persius writes that vetches, beans and lupins were thrown at crowds. A ritual called Florifertum was performed on either April 27 or May 3, [8] [9] during which a bundle of ears of wheat was carried to a shrine, although it is not clear whether this devotion was to Flora or to Ceres. 10][11] Floralia ended with competitions and spectacles and a sacrifice for Flora.[12]

Maiouma was celebrated at least as early as the 2nd century AD, when records show that the expenses for the month-long festival were confiscated by Emperor Commodus.[13] According to the 6th-century chronicles of John Malalas, the month of Artemisios is celebrated”. During this time, the government set aside enough money for torches, lights, and other expenses to fund a 30-day festival of “night celebrations.”[14 ] The Maiouma was celebrated with sumptuous banquets and offerings Its reputation for licentiousness meant that it was suppressed during the reign of Emperor Constantine, although a less lavish version of it was briefly restored during the reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, only for the sake of the same Period to be suppressed again.

A May festival later celebrated in Germanic countries, Walpurgis Night, commemorates the official canonization of Saint Walpurga on May 1, 870.[15] In Gaelic culture, the evening of April 30th was the celebration of Beltane (which translates to ‘bonfire’) as well as the similar Welsh Calan Mai, and marks the beginning of the summer season. First recorded in AD 900, the celebration focused primarily on the symbolic use of fire to bless cattle and other livestock as they were brought out to the summer pastures. This custom continued into the early 19th century, when cattle had to jump over fires to protect their milk from being stolen by fairies. People also jumped over the fires for good luck.[16]

Since the 18th century, many Catholics have commemorated May – and May Day – with various May Day devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary.[17] In works of art, school sketches, etc., Mary’s head is often decorated with flowers at a May coronation. May Day is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers, St. Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband of Mother Mary and foster father of Jesus.[18] This date, which replaced another feast in honor of St. Joseph, was confirmed by Pope Pius XII in 1955. chosen as a counterpoint to the communist celebrations of International Workers’ Day on May Day.[18]

Some of the best-known modern May Day traditions, observed in both Europe and North America, include dancing around the maypole and the coronation of the May Queen. Since the late 20th century, the tradition of giving away “Maikörbchen”, small baskets of sweets or flowers that are usually left anonymously on neighbors’ doorsteps, has become increasingly popular.[19]

In the late 20th century, many neo-pagans began to reconstruct some of the older pagan festivals and combine them with newer European secular and Catholic traditions and celebrate May Day as a pagan religious festival.[20]

Europe [edit]

Belgium[ edit ]

Known locally as “Labor Day” (Dutch: Dag van de arbeid, French: Fête du Travail), Belgium has celebrated May Day as a public holiday since 1948.[21]

Bulgaria[ edit ]

On May Day, Bulgarians celebrate Irminden (or Yeremiya, Eremiya, Irima, Zamski den). The holiday is associated with snakes and lizards and rituals are performed to protect people from them. The name of the holiday comes from the prophet Jeremiah, but its origins are most likely pagan.

It is said that on the days of the Holy Forty or the Annunciation, snakes come out of their caves and their king comes out on Irminden. Old people believe that those who work in the fields on this day will be bitten by a snake in summer.

In western Bulgaria, people light fires, jump over them and make noises to scare snakes. Another custom is the preparation of “Podnici” (special clay pots for baking bread).

This day is especially observed by pregnant women to prevent their offspring from contracting “yeremiya” – a disease caused by evil forces.

Czech Republic[ edit ]

In the Czech Republic, May 1st is traditionally considered the holiday of love and May is the month of love. Spring celebrations take place on April 30, when a maypole (“májka” in Czech) is erected – a tradition possibly linked to Beltane, as bonfires are also lit on the same day. The event is similar to Germany’s Walpurgis Night, their public holiday on April 30th. On May 31st, the Maypole is felled in an event called Maypole Felling.

On May 1st, lovers kiss under a blossoming tree. According to ethnographer Klára Posekaná, this is not an old habit. It was most likely created in the urban environment at the beginning of the 20th century, perhaps in connection with Karel Hynek Mácha’s poem Máj (which is often recited these days) and Petřín. This usually happens under a cherry, apple or birch tree.

Estonia[ edit ]

May Day or “Spring Day” (Kevadpüha) is a national holiday in Estonia celebrating the arrival of spring.

More traditional festivals take place the night before and into the early hours of May 1st on Walpurgis Night (Volbriöö).

Finland[ edit ]

In Finland, Walpurgis Night (Vappu) (“Vappen”) is one of the four major public holidays, along with Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve and Midsummer (Juhannus – Midsommar).[22] Walpurgis witnesses the largest carnival-like festival held in Finland’s cities and towns. The celebrations, which begin on the evening of April 30 and continue through May 1, typically center on the consumption of sima, sparkling wine, and other alcoholic beverages. Student traditions, especially those of engineering students, are one of the main characteristics of Vappu. Since the end of the 19th century, this traditional feast has been appropriated by the upper classes of students. Many Lukio alumni wear the black and white student cap and many university students wear student overalls. One tradition is to drink sima, a homemade low-alcohol mead, along with freshly cooked funnel cakes.

France [ edit ]

lily of the valley

On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX. of France a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to give the ladies of the court a lily of the valley as a gift every year. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became customary to give away a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of spring, on May 1st. The government allows individuals and labor organizations to sell them tax-free that one day. Today, you can gift your loved ones with either lily of the valley or dog rose flowers.[23]

Germany [edit]

Maypole in Munich, Germany

In rural regions of Germany, particularly in the Harz Mountains, Walpurgisnacht celebrations of pagan origin, including bonfires and the wrapping of a maypole (maypole), are traditionally held on the night before May Day. Young people take this opportunity to celebrate, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air. Motto: “Dance into May”.

In the Rhineland, May Day is also celebrated by delivering a maypole, a tree covered with streamers, to a girl’s house the night before. The tree usually stems from a love interest, although a tree clad only in white streamers is a sign of dislike. Women usually place roses or rice in the shape of a heart in their beloved’s house. It is customary to stick the heart on a window or put it in front of the doormat. In leap years it is the women’s job to set up the maypole. All actions are usually carried out in secret, and it is the individual’s choice whether to provide a clue as to their identity or remain anonymous.

May Day was not introduced as a public holiday until Nazi Germany declared May Day, 1933, “National Workers’ Day”. As Labor Day, many political parties and unions hold activities related to labor and employment.

Greece[ edit ]

May 1st is a day to celebrate spring.

Maios (lat. Maius), the month of May, takes its name from the goddess Maia (gr. Μαία, the wet nurse), a Greek and Roman goddess of fertility. The day of Maios (modern Greek Πρωτομαγιά) celebrates the final victory of summer over winter as the victory of life over death. The celebration resembles an ancient ritual associated with another minor demigod, Adonis, who also celebrated the revival of nature. Today there is some mingling with another tradition, the revival or marriage of Dionysus (the Greek god of theater and winemaking). However, in ancient times this event was not celebrated in May, but in connection with the Anthesteria, a festival that took place in February and was dedicated to the goddess of agriculture Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Persephone emerged from the underworld every year at the end of winter. The Anthesteria was a festival of souls, plants and flowers, and Persephone’s emergence from Hades to earth marked the rebirth of nature, a common theme in all these traditions.

What remains of the customs today reflects these traditions of antiquity. A common practice until recently on May Day was the annual revival of a youth named Adonis, or alternatively Dionysus or Maios (in Modern Greek Μαγιόπουλο, the son of Maia). In a simple theatrical ritual, the meaning of which has long been forgotten, a choir of young girls sang a song about a youth lying on the ground, representing Adonis, Dionysus or Maios. At the end of the song, the youth rose and a wreath of flowers was placed on his head.

The most common aspect of modern May Day celebrations is the making of a wreath of flowers from wildflowers, although with urbanization there is an increasing trend to buying wreaths from flower shops. The flowers are placed on the wreath against a background of green leaves and the wreath is hung either at the entrance of the family home/apartment or on a balcony. There it remains until midsummer night. On this night the wreaths of flowers are lit in bonfires known as bonfires. Youths jump over the flames and devour the wreaths of flowers. This custom, too, like the theatrical revival of Adonis/Dionysos/Maios, has practically disappeared in most Greek neighborhoods as a result of increasing urban traffic and with no alternative public spaces.

Ireland[ edit ]

May Day has been celebrated in Ireland since pagan times as the Feast of Beltane (Bealtaine) and later as Mary’s Day. Traditionally, bonfires were lit to mark the arrival of summer and to bring good luck to people and livestock. The official Irish May Day is the first Monday in May. It has been reported that the tradition of a MayBush was suppressed by law and magistrates in Dublin in the 18th century. Old traditions like bonfires are no longer widespread, although the practice still persists in some places across the country. Limerick, Clare and many other people in other counties still uphold this tradition, including areas of Dublin City such as Ringsend.[25]

Italy[ edit ]

In Italy it is called Calendimaggio or Cantar Maggio, a seasonal festival to celebrate the arrival of spring. The event takes its name from the period in which it takes place, that is, early May, from the Latin Calenda Maia. The Calendimaggio is a tradition that is still alive today in many regions of Italy as an allegory of return to life and rebirth: including Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna (z , Pavia, Alessandria and Genoa), Tuscany and Umbria. This magical ritual of atonement is often performed during an alms giving, during which the Maggi (or Maggerini) sing auspicious verses to the occupants of the houses they visit in exchange for gifts (traditionally eggs, wine, food or sweets). Across the Italian peninsula, these Il Maggio couplets vary widely – most are love songs with a strong romantic theme, sung by young people to celebrate the arrival of spring. Symbols of spring revival are the trees (alders, laburnum) and flowers (violets, roses) mentioned in the stanzas of the songs and with which the Maggerini adorn themselves. In particular, the alder plant that grows along the rivers is considered a symbol of life and is therefore often present in rituals.

Calendimaggio can be historically mentioned in Tuscany as a mythical figure who played a predominant role and fulfilled many of the attributes of the god Belenus. In Lucania, the “Maggi” have a clear auspicious character of pagan origin. Syracuse, Sicily, holds the Albero della Cuccagna (cf. “Greasy pole”) in May, a festival celebrated to commemorate the victory over the Athenians led by Nicias. However, Angelo de Gubernatis, in his work The Mythology of Plants, believes that the festival undoubtedly predated the said victory.

It’s a festival that dates back to ancient peoples and is very integrated into the rhythms of nature, like the Celts (who celebrate Beltane), Etruscans and Ligurians, where the arrival of summer was of great importance.

Poland[ edit ]

May Day is a public holiday in Poland.[26][27] It is currently celebrated without any particular connotation, making it May Day. [citation needed] However, due to historical connotations, most celebrations focus on the Labor Day celebrations. It is common for labor activists and left-wing political parties to organize parades in cities and towns across Poland on this day. The holiday is also commonly referred to as “Labor Day” (“Święto Pracy”).

May Day is followed by another public holiday in Poland, 3 May Constitution Day. The Polish National Flag Day, observed on 2 May, was introduced by the Parliament Act of 20 February 2004. Although not a public holiday, it forms, along with the other two, what is known as “Majówka” – a three-day celebration period that is often seen as the start of the barbecue season in the country.

Portugal[ edit ]

“Maias” is a superstition found throughout Portugal, with particular emphasis in the northern areas and rarely elsewhere. Maias is the predominant designation in northern Portugal, but it can also be referred to by other names including Dia das Bruxas (Witches’ Day), O Burro (the donkey referring to an evil spirit) or the last of April as the local ones that survive to this day Traditions only take place on this evening. People put the yellow flowers of the gorse, the bushes are known as giestas. Maias are the flowers of the bush, which are attached to doors or gates and every passage of houses, windows, granaries, currently also cars, which the population collects in defense on the evening of April 30th, when the Portuguese broom blooms Places from evil spirits, witches and the evil eye. The placement of the may flower or the may bush in the door frame must be done before midnight.

These celebrations are a continuum of the “Os Maios” of Galiza. In ancient times, this was done while playing traditional night music. In some places children were dressed in these flowers and went from place to place begging for money or bread. On May 1st, people also sang “Cantigas de Maio”, traditional songs related to that day and the whole month of May.

The origin of this tradition can be traced back to the history of the Catholic Church in which Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod. It was said that brooms were found on the door of the house where Jesus was, but when Herod’s soldiers got there they found every door adorned with brooms.

Romania[ edit ]

On May Day, Romanians celebrate Arminden (or Armindeni), the beginning of summer, which is symbolically linked to the protection of crops and livestock. The name comes from the Slavic Jeremiinŭ dĭnĭ, meaning “Day of the Prophet Jeremiah”, but the celebration rites and customs of this day are apotropaic and pagan (possibly deriving from the cult of the god Pan).

Also called ziua pelinului (“Day of the Mugwort”) or ziua bețivilor (“Day of the Drunkards”), the day is celebrated to ensure good wine in the fall and good health and protection from the elements for humans and livestock alike in nature (storm, hail, disease, pests). People would party in natural settings, with lăutari (fiddlers) for those who could afford it. Then it is customary to roast and eat lamb, along with new mutton cheese, and drink mugwort-flavored wine or just red wine to refresh the blood and protect against disease. On the way back, the men wear lilac or mugwort flowers on their hats.

Other apotropaic rites in some areas of the country include people washing their faces with morning dew (for good health) and decorating the gates of good fortune and abundance with green branches or with birch saplings (for the houses with girls). The entrances to the animal shelters are also decorated with green branches. All branches remain in place until the wheat harvest, when used in the fire that will bake the first bread from the new wheat.

On the eve of May Day, rural women do not work as well in the field as they do in the house to avoid devastating storms and hailstorms beating the village.

Arminden is also ziua cooking (ox day) and therefore the animals must not be used for work, otherwise they could die or their owners could get sick.

It is said that the weather is always good on May Day for people to celebrate.

Serbia[ edit ]

“Prvomajski uranak” (Reveille on May Day) is a folk tradition and festival that consists of people going out into nature on May Day or even leaving the day before and spending the night with a bonfire. Most of the time, a dish is prepared in a kettle or on the grill. This holiday is widespread among Serbs. Almost every city in Serbia has its own traditional May Day excursion destinations, and mostly these are green areas outside the city.[28]

Spain[ edit ]

May Day is celebrated across the country as Los Mayos (literally “the Mays”), often similar to “Fiesta de las Cruces” in many parts of Hispanic Americas. One such example in Galicia is the Fiesta de los Mayos (or Festa dos Maios in Galician, the local language). It has Celtic origins (from the Beltane festival)[29] and consists of different traditions, such as depictions around a decorated tree or a sculpture. People sing folk songs (also called Maios) and mention social and political events of the past year, sometimes in the form of a conversation, while walking around the sculpture with the clash of two sticks. In Lugo[30] and in the village of Vilagarcía de Arousa[31] it was customary to ask participants for a tip, which used to be a handful of dried chestnuts (castañas maiolas), walnuts or hazelnuts. Today the tradition has become a competition where the best sculptures and songs are awarded.[32]

In the Galician city of Ourense, this day is traditionally celebrated on May 3, the Day of the Holy Cross, which in the Christian tradition replaced the tree, “where are health, life and resurrection”, according to the introit of the Mass on this one Day. [33]

May Day is not celebrated in Catalonia.

Sweden[ edit ]

The more traditional celebrations have shifted to the day before, Walpurgis Night (“Valborgsmässoafton”), known simply as “Last April” in some places, and is often celebrated with bonfires and a good drink. May 1st is instead celebrated as International Labor Day.

Turkey [ edit ]

It was officially celebrated in Turkey for the first time in 1923. Since 2009 it has been celebrated as a public holiday in Turkey on May 1st.

United Kingdom[ edit ]

England [ edit ]

May Queen on the village green, Melmerby, England

Children dance around a maypole during a May Day celebration in Welwyn, England

Traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include the coronation of a May Queen and celebrations with a maypole around which dancers often tie ribbons. Historically, dancing the morris was associated with the May Day celebrations.[34] The earliest records of maypole celebrations date from the 14th century, and by the 15th century the maypole tradition was well established in southern Britain.[16] The tradition persists on the Isle of Ely into the 21st century. A centenary green portion of the Octavia Hill Birthplace House, Wisbech has a flagpole that turns into a maypole each year and is used by local schools and other groups.

The early May bank holiday on the first Monday in May was introduced in 1978; May Day itself – May 1st – is not a public holiday in England (unless it falls on a Monday). In February 2011, the UK Parliament is due to consider scrapping the bank holiday associated with May 1st and replacing it with an October bank holiday, possibly coinciding with Trafalgar Day (celebrated on October 21), to create a “United Kingdom day” to create. .[36] Similarly, attempts were made in 1993 by the John Major government to abolish May Day and replace it with Trafalgar Day.

Unlike the other bank and common law holidays, the first Monday in May is taken by (public) schools in its own right and not as part of a term or end of term. Because it has no Christian meaning and otherwise does not fit into the usual school holiday rhythm. (By contrast, the Easter holiday may start as late as Good Friday when Easter falls early in the year, compared to Easter, or end as early as Easter Monday, when Easter falls late in the year, because of the paramount importance of Good Friday and Easter Day for Christianity.)

May Day was abolished and banned by Puritan parliaments during the interregnum, but reinstated with the reinstatement of Charles II in 1660.[37] On May 1, 1707, the Act of Union came into force, uniting the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Queen Guinevere’s Maying, by John Collier

For so it happened one morning when the whole court

Dressed in green but with feathers mocking May,

Had been, won’t, a-maying and returned,

This modred still in the green, all ears and eyes,

Climbed to the high top of the garden wall

To spy on a secret scandal if he could [38]

In the villages of Cambridgeshire, young girls went to May Dolling (walking through the villages with dressed dolls and collecting pennies). This doll dressing and singing is said to have persisted at Swaffham Prior into the 1960s

Sing a Maytime song.

Sing a spring song.

Flowers are in their beauty.

Birds are on the wing.

May time, season.

God gave us the May season.

Thank Him for His gifts of love.

Sing a spring song. [39]

It is a centuries-old tradition in Oxford for revelers to gather beneath the Great Tower of Magdalen College at 6am on May morning to listen to the college choir sing traditional madrigals to mark the conclusion of the previous night’s celebrations. Then, since the 1980s, some people have been jumping off Magdalen Bridge into the River Cherwell. For several years, the bridge has been closed on May Day to prevent people from jumping as the water under the bridge is only 61 cm deep and jumping off the bridge has resulted in serious injuries in the past. There are still people who climb over barriers, jump into the water and injure themselves.[40]

In Durham, University of Durham students gather on Prebend’s Bridge to watch the sunrise and enjoy festivities, folk music, dancing, madrigal singing and a BBQ breakfast. This is a burgeoning Durham tradition, with patchy adherence since 2001.

Kingsbury Episcopi, Somerset, has seen its annual May Day celebrations on Monday, a bank holiday in May, gain in popularity in recent years. It has grown in size since it was restored 21 years ago and on May 5th 2014 thousands of revelers were drawn from across the South West to enjoy the celebrations, with BBC Somerset covering the festivities. These include traditional maypole and morris dancing, as well as contemporary music acts.

Whitstable, Kent hosts a fine example of more traditional May Day celebrations, where the Jack in the Green festival was revived in 1976 and continues to feature an annual May Bank Holiday procession of morris dancers through the town. A separate revival took place in Hastings in 1983 and has become a major event in the town calendar. On the May Bank Holiday, Rochester, Kent hosts a traditional sweep festival with the Jack in the Green being awakened by morris dancers at dawn on May 1st.

At 7:15 p.m. On May 1st each year, the Kettle Bridge Clogs [41] Morris Dance Side dance across the Barming Bridge (also known as Kettle Bridge) spanning the River Medway near Maidstone to mark the official start of their To mark Morris Dancing season.

The Mayday Run sees thousands of motorbikes undertake an 89km journey from Greater London (Locksbottom) to the Hastings seafront in East Sussex. The event has now been held for almost 30 years and has growing commercial and public interest nationwide. The event is not officially organized; The police only direct traffic and volunteers manage parking.

Padstow in Cornwall holds its annual Obby Oss (hobby horse) day. This is believed to be one of the oldest fertility rites in the UK; Revelers dance with the Oss through the city streets and also through citizens’ private gardens, accompanied by accordion players and white-clad retainers with red or blue sashes singing the traditional “May Day” song. The whole city is adorned with spring greenery and thousands of onlookers come every year. Before the 19th century, May Day celebrations were widespread across West Cornwall and are being revived in St Ives and Penzance.

Kingsand, Cawsand and Millbrook in Cornwall celebrate the Flower Boat ritual on the May Day bank holiday. A model of the ship The Black Prince is covered in flowers and is carried in procession from Millbrook Quay to Cawsand Beach, where it is floated. The houses in the villages are decorated with flowers and the people traditionally wear red and white clothes. There is further celebration in Cawsand Square with Morris Dancing and May Pole Dancing.

Scotland[ edit ]

May Day has been celebrated in Scotland for centuries. It used to be closely associated with the Beltane Festival.[42] A reference to this earlier celebration is found in the poem “Peblis to the Play” contained in the Maitland manuscripts of 15th- and 16th-century Scottish poetry:

In Beltane, quhen ilk bodie bownis

To Peblis for the game,

To inherit the singing and the soundis;

The consolation, so to speak

Be firth and forest farther they found

Thay greythis tham full gay;

God wait for this forest they make,

Because it was their feast day, the day they celebrate May Day,

Thai said […]

The poem describes the celebration in the Scottish Borders town of Peebles, which continues to hold a parade and pageant each year, including the annual ‘Common Riding’ which takes place in many Borders towns. Alongside the annual crowning of a Beltane Queen, it is customary to sing “The Beltane Song”.[43]

John Jamieson, in his Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808), describes some of the May Day/Beltane customs which existed in parts of Scotland in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries which he noted were slowly dying out.[44] In the nineteenth century, the folklorist Alexander Carmichael (1832–1912) collected the song Am Beannachadh Bealltain (The Blessings of Beltane) in his Carmina Gadelica, which he heard from a crofter in South Uist.[43]

Scottish May Day/Beltane celebrations have been somewhat revived since the late 20th century. Both Edinburgh and Glasgow organize May Day festivals and rallies. Edinburgh hosts the Beltane Fire Festival on the city’s Calton Hill in the evening of May evening and into the early hours of May Day. An older tradition in Edinburgh says that young women who climb Arthur’s Seat and wash their faces in the morning dew will be beautiful for life. At the University of St Andrews, some students gather on the beach late April 30th and run into the North Sea at sunrise on May 1st, occasionally naked. This is accompanied by torchlight processions and boisterous celebrations.

Wales [edit]

In Wales, the first day of May is known as Calan Mai or Calan Haf, corresponding to the Festival of Beltane and other May Day traditions in Europe.

The traditions began the night before (Nos Galan Haf) with bonfires and are considered Ysbrydnos, or Ghost Night, when people gathered hawthorns (draenen wen) and flowers to decorate their homes and celebrate new growth and fertility. While May Day celebrations included summer dances (dawnsio haf) and May Day songs (carolau mai or carolau haf), sometimes referred to as “singing under the wall” (canu dan y pared), May Day was also a time for the official opening of a village square (twmpath chwarae).

North America[edit]

Canada[ edit ]

May Day is celebrated in some parts of the provinces of British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario.

Toronto

In Toronto, on the morning of May Day, various Toronto and Hamilton Morris Dancing troupes gather on the street by the Grenadier Cafe in High Park to “dance in May”. The dancers and audience then gather and sing traditional May Day songs such as Hal-An-Tow and Padstow.

British Columbia

The celebrations often do not take place on May Day, but rather over the Victoria Day long weekend, later in the month and when the weather is likely to be better. The longest continuously observed May Day in the British Commonwealth takes place in the city of New Westminster, BC. The first May Day celebrations took place there on May 4, 1870.[45]

United States[edit]

Main: Labor Day vs. May Day

May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the Americas. May baskets are made in some parts of the United States. These are small baskets, usually filled with flowers or treats, left on someone’s front door. The dealer rings and runs away.[46]

Modern May Day ceremonies in the United States vary greatly from region to region, and many combine both the “green root” (pagan) and “red root” (work) traditions of the holiday.[47]

May Day Celebration 1876 in Central City Park, Macon, Georgia

May Day celebrations were common in women’s colleges and academic institutions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tradition that continues today at Bryn Mawr College[48] and Brenau University[49].

In Minneapolis, the May Day Parade and Festival is presented annually by the In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater on the first Sunday of May and draws around 50,000 people to Powderhorn Park. On May Day itself, local Morris Dance teams converge at dawn on a Mississippi River lookout and then spend the rest of the day dancing around the metro area.

Hawaii

In Hawaii, May Day is also known as Lei Day and is usually marked as a day to celebrate island culture in general and the culture of native Hawaiians in particular.[52] Invented by poet and local newspaper columnist Don Blanding, the first lei day was celebrated in Honolulu on May 1, 1927. Leonard “Red” and Ruth Hawk composed “May Day Is Lei Day in Hawai’i,” the traditional holiday song.[53]

See also[edit]