History of the May Pole Dance

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http://www.umkc.edu/imc/mayday.htm

On May Day it was customary for the ancient Romans to march in a procession to the grotto of Egena, where they carried out ceremonies honoring the revival of vegetation and to assure abundant crops.

May Day, which was also called Beltane (Bright Fire) by the Anglo-Saxons, was considered the first day of summer. May Day was symbolic of a return to life, of the defeat of the hard winter, with new hopes for good planting and rich harvests. Beltane was the time of milk and honey, the primary time of pleasure, of blossoming and blooming, of desire and satisfaction, so the cow and the bee were both significant symbols for this celebration. The cow's miraculous ability to create great amounts of milk and the bee's creation of honey, the sweetest food on earth, were absolutely magical. After blessing the cows with protective bonfire smoke, they were turned out to pasture. Because of the abundance of grass, the milk was of finer quality, the cows yielded much more abundantly, and had to be milked 3 times each day. So it was in May that the Anglo-Saxons began making cheese. Special May Day sacrifices were offered, even including human beings. The people built great bonfires on hillsides, leaped over flames, or drove cattle through them. Large oatcakes, called bannocks, were eaten as part of the festivities. Traditionally a portion of the cake was burned or marked with ashes. The unfortunate soul who received the marked piece was sacrificed to the gods. More recently, the recipient simply jumped over a small fire 3 times instead. It is said that the custom of leaping over flames continued in some parts of Britain as late as the 18th century--the height of their leaps was supposed to forecast the height of crops.

While a German farmer's calendar of 1493 shows all other months of the year illustrated by hard-working farm folk, May alone represents leisure time with luxuriating lovers. A man attentively plays a lute for a bathing woman. Beltane especially celebrated love, attraction, courtship and mating--that yearly groundswell of desire we know as "spring fever." Long before our current high school prom king and queen, villages elected a young, attractive couple to represent the King and Queen of the May, also known as John Thomas and Lady Jane. Folks danced around the May pole, the skyward symbol of life; they gathered flowers and spent nights together under the stars in the forest.

Since ancient times, May 1 has been a day for outdoor festivals. The English have observed May Day since medieval times. All classes of people used to rise at dawn to go “a-maying.” They would return laden with flowers and branches of trees to decorate their homes. A May Queen was crowned to reign over the games, dancing, and festivities. Flowers, fruits and other sweets, and a May pole with streamers were featured. Alfred Lord Tennyson referred to the custom in these words:


For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, Mother,
I’m to be Queen of the May.