May Day is celebrated in England and other countries in Europe and around the world. Some have made it into a military celebration, showing off their "wealth in arms". I think of it as a day to celebrate Spring. I suppose in many ways the scene in the movie "Camelot" would be how I think of it.
The blossoms are out in the hedgerows. The trees are blooming, Apple and Cherry blossoms and the Blackthorn and Hawthorne. The earth awakens and renews. The birds are nesting and the babies are being born in the woods and forests. Baby bunnies, the fawns and the kits in the Fox's den. Such beauty and renewal. No wonder the old Pagan religions dwelt so much upon the Springtime.
(john colliers Queen Guinevres Maying)
May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane. It marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and so it stands to reason that flowers are a huge part of it. Roodmas was a Christian Mass celebrated in England at midnight on May 1.
In our village we celebrated the crowning of the Queen of the May. She would be paraded through the village with her attendants and be crowned on the village green. It is celebrated with Morris Dancers and the Maypole dancing
Much of this tradition derives from the pagan and Anglo-Saxon customs and many Celtic traditions.
May blossom, the flower of the May tree. May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. It is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Since the reform of the General Roman Catholic Calendar, May 1st is the Feast of St Philip & St James, they became the patron saints of workers. Seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the Maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons.
Morris Dancers are a rather strange and an olde worlde sort of thing. They are funny and clever and usually do their dances outside a pub from what I have seen. Although I admit often on the village green when the Fete is in progress
I hope this ancient tradition does not go the way of so many others. Its such a shame to see things pass away after centuries of enjoyment. I love tradition when its good and pretty and brings a community together for fun and fellowship as does May Day.
(john colliers Queen Guinevres Maying)
May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane. It marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere. Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and so it stands to reason that flowers are a huge part of it. Roodmas was a Christian Mass celebrated in England at midnight on May 1.
In our village we celebrated the crowning of the Queen of the May. She would be paraded through the village with her attendants and be crowned on the village green. It is celebrated with Morris Dancers and the Maypole dancing
Much of this tradition derives from the pagan and Anglo-Saxon customs and many Celtic traditions.
May blossom, the flower of the May tree. May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. It is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Since the reform of the General Roman Catholic Calendar, May 1st is the Feast of St Philip & St James, they became the patron saints of workers. Seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the Maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons.
Morris Dancers are a rather strange and an olde worlde sort of thing. They are funny and clever and usually do their dances outside a pub from what I have seen. Although I admit often on the village green when the Fete is in progress
I hope this ancient tradition does not go the way of so many others. Its such a shame to see things pass away after centuries of enjoyment. I love tradition when its good and pretty and brings a community together for fun and fellowship as does May Day.
2 comments:
I love the village fetes that happen around May Day. I think we are off to one in Studham this year - I'll take the camera!
I remember making May day baskets in school, but it was not a real big occasion here in the states when I was growing up...but I knew about it. Now no one would know what it was all about.
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