Some Customs of May Day

Today, May Day is known as La Fête du Travail (Workers’ Day) here in France and celebrated with a public holiday. It has become an occasion to be seen to campaign for workers’ rights and social justice but the date also carries a much older tradition here; it is also la Fête du Muguet, when sprigs of muguet or Lily of the Valley are presented to loved ones.

With roots in the ancient practice of heralding new-growth after the end of winter, the custom is said to originate from May 1560 when King Charles IX was given a bouquet of Lily of the Valley as a token of good luck. Not known for his sensitive side, the young King was so charmed by this gesture that, on the following first of May, he presented a sprig of this flower to all the ladies at his court.

The tradition is still observed today and you will often see these blooms sold in sprigs and bouquets at this time of year; bought by people as gifts for family and friends to whom they are presented as tokens of affection.

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However, in Brittany, the custom of using green foliage to express hope and gratitude at this time of year likely extends back to antiquity. For the ancient Celts, the year is thought to have begun on 1 November with the festival of Samhain, which inaugurated the start of winter, while six months later, on 1 May, the feast of Beltane marked the start of summer. Two intermediate festivals, now known as Imbolg on 1 February and Lugnasa on 1 August, divided the year into four equal seasons, the middle of which roughly corresponded to the Midsummer and Midwinter solstices. We need not get too obsessed with exact dates, particularly given the changes wrought by the adoption of the Gregorian calendar mean we are now some two weeks adrift of the dates recorded at the end of Caesar’s reign.

When establishing its liturgical calendar, the infant Church took pains to absorb and divert the popular feelings associated with the old pagan festivals by supplanting these with Christian ones. Thus, ancient celebrations such as the summer solstice were dispossessed by the new religion to become Saint John’s Day; Samhain became All Saints’ Day and Christmas Day appropriated the winter solstice. The Celtic festival of Beltane, midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice, was most effectively subsumed by the moveable feasts of Easter, Ascension and Pentecost, which shared the common theme of rebirth and new life. Such themes were also the focus of another popular festival held at this time of year; the Ancient Roman festival of Floralia, devoted to Flora, the goddess of flowers and fertility, which was celebrated between 28 April and 3 May.

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The month of May has therefore long represented one of the pivotal stages in the life of agrarian society in Europe; it heralded the arrival of summer, the renewal of nature and the beginning of the heavy agricultural work upon which the people so depended. With the crops sown, the abundance of the forthcoming harvest and thus one’s hopes for survival through the cold winter months were still uncertain. Given this uncertainty, it is perhaps not surprising that the community’s hopes and fears merged and superstitions born.

Nature’s re-awakening reminded the Breton farmer of the fragility of the boundary between success and failure; over time, rituals developed that both symbolised nature’s renewal and the farmer’s need for protection. In western Brittany, a traditional ritual known as Barrin ar Mae (May Branch) was performed on the eve of May Day. Here, a branch of budding beech but sometimes birch was hung or laid in front of the house and other key structures such as the stable, hen-house and bread oven, in order to bring on good luck and to protect against evil. Similarly, the gateways to fields were often honoured with a May Branch in order to ensure a good harvest and to protect the sown crop against misfortune and witchcraft.

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The May Branches were customarily picked only by boys; a privilege that seems to have continued until the 1960s. Although not as popularly practiced as in the past, the ceremony still survives in a few areas to this day; branches being placed in the evening against the homes of the elderly and those of friends, who will not discover this sign of affection until the morning of May Day.

Unfortunately, a related practice, known as Bodig Mae (Girls’ May) disappeared around the time of the Second World War. This ceremony was again only performed by young men, who, on the eve of May Day, visited the homes of young women with a branch, popularly known as ‘the May’, which was left against the door or a window as a declaration of romantic interest. Different traditions were noted in different localities; in some areas, it was a solo enterprise and done anonymously, in others, groups of four or five young men would visit four or five different households and sing songs while one of the party left their dedication.

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One custom common to all localities saw the offering placed in the most prominent position available; some were leant against doors so that they would fall inside the house when the door was opened, others were tied against buildings facing the house so that it was the first thing seen on the following morning. The size of the branch offered was said to indicate the depth of the man’s ardour. We can therefore imagine where such notions might have led and the arguments that might have arisen in the house that contained two unmarried sisters and two branches upon the threshold.

While this might sound rather endearing, we should not lose sight of the human element and the bitterness occasionally found in the heart of a spurned lover. Sometimes, the budding beech was substituted with less welcome bouquets of thorns, stinging nettles or brambles. Some offerings were laden with mean-spirited symbolism: cauliflowers for the jealous woman; cabbages for the greedy; laurel for the lazy; apple for the drunk; the fir for the wicked and broom for the promiscuous. Given our capacity for cruelty under the cloak of anonymity, we can but wonder what other objects might have been left for the young lady whose only injury might have been to refuse someone a final dance at a church fête.

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It has been recorded that, at times, middle-aged spinsters and widows who had re-married with what the community considered unseemly haste were often targeted in a form of communal condemnation. Those ladies who found themselves ill-served, naturally tried to make neighbours believe that there had been a substitution and it was not unknown for people to stay-up late to be sure that no prankster replaced a beech with a bramble. Eligible women who, for whatever reason, had not received a May branch were the object of as much gossip and speculation as those who had woken-up to a bundle of nettles. Given the anxiety that the eve of May Day might have brought to some households, it is perhaps not too surprising that the custom eventually died away.

The notion of renewal and new growth gave rise to several superstitious rituals to celebrate and encourage fertility and drive away opposing forces. On the eve of May Day, it was customary to place a little salt in the four corners of the pastures in order to protect the cattle from evil spells over the year ahead. Similarly, to preserve the health of cows, their udders were rubbed with the morning dew of May Day. Indeed, cattle were traditionally taken out of the stable earlier than usual on this day to allow them to graze the May Day dew.

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Great virtues were once attributed to the dew that formed on May Day; young girls here traditionally rubbed their faces with it, in expectation of securing a fresh complexion and protection against all manner of skin diseases. An indication of the ancient traditions that held this month was a period full of mystic potential seemed to have survived into fairly recent times with the popular belief that May Day rain – not a particularly rare event here – was especially harmful to the bounty of fruit trees.

To be continued ….

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