May Queen

History

In 1922 James George Frazer speculated that the figure of the May Queen was linked to ancient tree worship.

In the High Middle Ages in England the May Queen was also known as the "Summer Queen". George C. Homans points out: "The time from Hocktide, after Easter Week, to Lammas (1 August) was summer (estas)."

In 1557, a London diarist called Henry Machyn wrote:

"The xxx day of May was a goly May-gam in Fanch-chyrchestrett with drumes and gunes and pykes, and ix wordes dyd ryd; and thay had speches evere man, and the morris dansse and the sauden, and an elevant with the castyll, and the sauden and yonge morens with targattes and darttes, and the lord and the lade of the Maye".

Modern English: On the 30 May was a jolly May-game in Fenchurch Street (London) with drums and guns and pikes, The Nine Worthies did ride; and they all had speeches, and the morris dance and sultan and an elephant with a castle and the sultan and young moors with shields and arrows, and the lord and lady of the May".

Maintaining the tradition

Many areas keep this tradition alive today. Whilst exact records are often unavailable, a number of celebrations have unbroken records (with some known breaks for world wars and COVID-19) spanning over 100 years. These include:

• Ickwell May Day - records from 1872, but involving a bequest to continue a tradition still in operation.
• Knutsford Royal May Day - revived in 1864.
• Lustleigh May Day, revived 1905.
• Brentham May Day Festival, revived 1906.
• London's May Queen, held at Hayes Common in Bromley, running since 1912 or 1913.
• Hayfield May Day - revived in 1928.
• Whitelands College, Roehampton University (London) - Inaugurated in 1881.

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.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break; But I must gather knots of flowers and buds, and garlands gay; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green, And you'll be there, too, mother, to see me made the Queen; For the shepherd lads on every side 'll come from far away; And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-grass, And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass; There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the livelong day; And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

All the valley, mother, 'll be fresh and green and still, And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill, And the rivulet in the flowery dale 'll merrily glance and play, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

A May Day celebration held annually since 1870 in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, has the distinction of being the longest running May Day celebration of its kind in the British Commonwealth.

Related personifications

Male companions to the May Queen, sometimes associated with May Day customs in Great Britain, include personifications known as Father May, King of the May, May King, Garland King, Green Man, or Jack in the Green. As part of this folk custom, some villages would choose a man to act as consort for the May Queen. This man, the May King, would dress in greenery to symbolise springtime.

References

References

1. Frazer (1922), ''[[The Golden Bough]]'', [http://www.bartleby.com/196/19.html ch. 10 "Relics of tree worship in modern Europe"]; Frazer quotes Mannhardt: "The names May, Father May, May Lady, Queen of the May, by which the anthropomorphic spirit of vegetation is often denoted, show that the idea of the spirit of vegetation is blent with a personification of the season at which his powers are most strikingly manifested."
2. Homans, ''English Villagers of the Thirteenth Century'', 2nd ed. 1991:354.
3. [[John Gough Nichols
4. "Ickwell May Day".
5. "Knutsford Royal May Day".
6. "Lustleigh May Day - A History". The Lustleigh Society.
7. (8 May 1914). "Lustleigh". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette.
8. Torr, Cecil. (1918). "Small Talk at Wreyland. Volume I". Cambridge University Press.
9. "May Day: 1908-2020".
10. "May Day".
11. "London Crowns 100th May Queen".
12. "London's May Queen".
13. Ball, Lucy. (10 April 2024). "Hayfield May Queen Festival back for its 97th year". Buxton Advertiser.
14. [https://books.google.com/books?id=kXd4bRr71a4C&dq=Charles+Timothy+Brooks+ON+Alpine+heights&pg=PA239 ''A Library of Poetry and Song: Being Choice Selections from The Best Poets. With An Introduction by William Cullen Bryant''], New York, J.B. Ford and Company, 1871, pp. 239-242.
15. New Westminster Hyack Festival Association. (2004). "Hyack Festival Events".
16. (3 May 2018). "May Folklore: May Day, Maypoles and May Queens in Britain". FolkloreThursday Ltd.
17. Frazer, James George. (1922). "[[The Golden Bough]]".
18. (30 April 1998). "May Day history and folklore". BBC News.