May Day is one of the lesser-known, lesser-celebrated holidays today, but it has a rich history.
Scholars conflict about how May Day began, but most agree that the holiday is a descendant of the Romans' festival of Floralia, which celebrated Flora, the goddess of flowers. This festival sought to expedite spring's arrival, and it spanned almost a week, from April 28 to May 3. As with many such celebrations, the festival's official elements were often accompanied by licentiousness.
This festival existed in various forms for many centuries. Eventually, the Puritans and others sought to prohibit celebration of May Day because of its pagan and licentious roots. Observance of the festival was gradually abandoned, but it experienced a revival in the 19th century. Even Lord Alfred Tennyson was inspired to write "The May Queen," a poem which begins:
You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear;
To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-year;
Of all the glad New-year, mother, the maddest, merriest day;
For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.
Historically, May Day celebrations included a Maypole, a tall pole around which ribbons were woven. Flowers and leaves often crowned this pole. Everyone danced around the Maypole, which often was located on the village green.
Also typical of the festival was the crowning of the Queen of the May, or May Queen. As Madeleine Pelner Cosman, author of Medieval Holidays and Festivals, explains, "[The May Queen] may be the prettiest or youngest or tallest or most honored guest. No matter how she is chosen, the queen must represent a particular quality in the superlative" (52). May Queens were often young, fair girls, and they ruled over the day's festivities.
The image above was taken in 1908 at the Mansfield Depot School. Eight-year-old Ella McCollum presides as the crowned May Queen, surrounded by foliage-bearing classmates.
Happy May Day from the Mansfield Historical Society!
---
If You’d Like to Learn More:
- Cosman, Madeleine Pelner. Medieval Holidays and Festivals. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1981. Print. 51-56.
- Douglas, George William. The American Book of Days. New York, NY: H.W. Wilson Co., 1948. Print. 251-54.
- Dunkling, Leslie. A Dictionary of Days. New York, NY: Facts On File Publications, 1988. Print. 74-75.
---
Please click here for the Mansfield Historical Society's website, which includes further information about the Society's services, programs, and publications, as well as archived articles and newsletters.
