May Day was eagerly anticipated in the Middle Ages as it was the first of the summer festivals and held the promise of good times to come.
Origins of May Day
As with so many medieval festivals, including Easter and Halloween, May Day predates Christianity and was already a permanent fixture of both the church and the social calendar by the Middle Ages.
In pagan tradition, the May festival of Beltane was exactly six months on from the winter feast of Samhain in November, which heralded the start of cold, dark days. In a world before electricity, people in the Middle Ages were much more aware of the changing of the seasons, because they had such an impact on their lives. The thought of long summer nights and a good harvest, with a plentiful supply of food to come, provided every excuse to celebrate May Day.
Bringing in the May
Medieval May Day celebrations started on the night before the first of May, Beltane Eve. There would be a bonfire and dancing, feasting and drinking, as well as tales of May Days gone by.
At the break of dawn on May Day, it was traditional for the young men and women of a community to go into the woods or forest and gather flowers and branches ready for the day’s celebrations. Neighboring villages would compete to see who could bring back the largest piece of wood, which would be used as the maypole. It was also said that anyone who bathed in the morning dew of May Day, would have a radiant complexion and everlasting youth.
Not only did younger people have the will and energy for the flower gathering, they represented hope and new growth, which is what the May celebrations were all about. Most of Europe was still predominantly rural throughout the Middle Ages and so woods and forests could be easily accessed.
Queen of the May
The high point of the celebrations was the crowning of the Queen of the May. The queen was chosen from all the eligible young women in the community and would be the envy of the other girls as she was crowned with flowers and paraded around the village.
The Green Man was a feature in some May celebrations and although he appears to be of pagan origin, he features mostly in later medieval records as a Lord of Misrule for the day, leading the revellers wherever he pleased and poking fun at the authorities.
Flowers and trees were a major feature of this festival. Men could deliver a tree decorated with streamers to the doorstep of a girl they liked. But tradition said if the streamers were white, this signified hatred. Long streamers were also attached to the village maypole for dancing and young men and women would wind the ribbons around each other as the dance progressed, in the hope of becoming entangled with their future love.
Morris Dancers were a part of the celebrations, usually at the end of the day, when the feasting and dancing began in earnest. The dancers were always male and often dressed as animals, sometimes with antlers. This, again, fits in with the flora and fauna themes of the day.
May Day was as much a part of the medieval calendar as Christmas and Easter. In a world where prosperity depended so much on the weather and the changing of the seasons, the start of summer was a big event.
Source
Rowling, Marjorie, Life in Medieval Times [Perigree,1973]
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