The international working class holiday; Mayday,
originated in pagan Europe. It was a festive holy day celebrating
the first spring planting. The ancient Celts and Saxons celebrated
May 1st as Beltane or the day of fire. Bel was the Celtic god
of the sun.
The Saxons began their May day celebrations on
the eve of May, April 30. It was an evening of games and feasting
celebrating the end of winter and the return of the sun and fertility
of the soil. Torch bearing peasants and villager would wind their
way up paths to the top of tall hills or mountain crags and then
ignite wooden wheels which they would roll down into the fields
The May eve celebrations were eventually outlawed
by the Catholic church, but were still celebrated by peasants
until the late 1700's. While good church going folk would shy
away from joining in the celebrations, those less afraid of papal
authority would don animal masks and various costumes, not unlike
our modern Halloween. The revelers, lead by the Goddess of the
Hunt; Diana (sometimes played by a pagan-priest in women's clothing)
and the Horned God; Herne, would travel up the hill shouting,
chanting and singing, while blowing hunting horns. This night
became known in Europe as Walpurgisnacht, or night of the witches
The Celtic tradition of Mayday in the British
isles continued to be celebrated through-out the middle ages by
rural and village folk. Here the traditions were similar with
a goddess and god of the hunt.
As European peasants moved away from hunting gathering
societies their gods and goddesses changed to reflect a more agrarian
society. Thus Diana and Herne came to be seen by medieval villagers
as fertility deities of the crops and fields. Diana became the
Queen of the May and Herne became Robin Goodfellow (a predecessor of Robin Hood) or the Green Man.
The Queen of the May reflected the life of the
fields and Robin reflected the hunting traditions of the woods. The rites of mayday were part and parcel of pagan
celebrations of the seasons. Many of these pagan rites were later
absorbed by the Christian church in order to win over converts
from the 'Old Religion'.
Mayday celebrations in Europe varied according
to locality, however they were immensely popular with artisans
and villagers until the 19th Century. The Christian church could
not eliminate many of the traditional feast and holy days of the
Old Religion so they were transformed into Saint days.
During the middle ages the various trade guilds
celebrated feast days for the patron saints of their craft. The
shoemakers guild honored St. Crispin, the tailors guild celebrated
Adam and Eve. As late as the 18th century various trade societies
and early craft-unions would enter floats in local parades still
depicting Adam and Eve being clothed by the Tailors and St. Crispin
blessing the shoemaker.
The two most popular feast days for Medieval craft
guilds were the Feast of St. John, or the Summer Solstice and
Mayday. Mayday was a raucous and fun time, electing a queen of
the May from the eligible young women of the village, to rule
the crops until harbest. Our tradition of beauty pagents may have
evolved , albeit in a very bastardized form, from the May Queen.
Besides the selection of the May Queen was the
raising of the phallic Maypole, around which the young single
men and women of the village would dance holding on to the ribbons
until they became entwined, with their ( hoped for) new love.
And of course there was Robin Goodfellow, or the
Green Man who was the Lord of Misrule for this day. Mayday was
a celebration of the common people, and Robin would be the King/Priest/Fool
for a day. Priests and Lords were the butt of many jokes, and
the Green Man and his supporters; mummers would make jokes and
poke fun of the local authorities. This tradition of satire is
still conducted today in Newfoundland, with the Christmas Mummery.
The church and state did not take kindly to these
celebrations, especially during times of popular rebellion. Mayday
and the Maypole were outlawed in the 1600's. Yet the tradition
still carried on in many rural areas of England. The trade societies
still celebrated Mayday until the 18th Century.
As trade societies evolved from guilds, to friendly
societies and eventually into unions, the craft traditions remained
strong into the early 19th century. In North America Dominion
Day celebrations in Canada and July 4th celebrations in the United
States would be celebrated by tradesmen still decorating floats
depicting their ancient saints such as St. Crispin.
The next day at a demonstration in Haymarket Square to protest the police brutality a bomb exploded in the middle of a crowd of police killing eight of them. The police arrested eight anarchist trade unionists claiming they threw the bombs. To this day the subject is still one of controversy. The question remains whether the bomb was thrown by the workers at the police or whether one of the police's own agent provocateurs dropped it in their haste to retreat from charging workers.
In what was to become one of the most infamous show trials in America in the 19th century, but certainly not to be the last of such trials against radical workers, the State of Illinois tried the anarchist workingmen for fighting for their rights as much as being the actual bomb throwers. Whether the anarchist workers were guilty or innocent was irrelevant. They were agitators, fomenting revolution and stirring up the working class, and they had to be taught a lesson.
Albert Parsons, August Spies, George Engle and Adolph Fischer were found guilty and executed by the State of Illinois.
In Paris in 1889 the International Working Men's Association (the First International) declared May 1st an international working class holiday in commemoration of the Haymarket Martyrs. The red flag became the symbol of the blood of working class martyrs in their battle for workers rights.
Mayday, which had been banned for being a holiday of the common people, had been reclaimed once again for the common people.
Originally published Mayday 1995, Edmonton District Labour Council Newsletter and Labour News.
The Origins and Traditions of Mayday is the work and sole property of Eugene W. Plawiuk.
All rights are reserved. Except where otherwise indicated it is © Copyright 1996 Eugene W. Plawiuk.
You may save it for offline reading, but no permission is granted for printing it or redistributing it either in whole or in part. Requests for republication rights can be made to the author at:"ewplawiuk@oocities.com"
MAY DAY 1998
MAY DAY 1997
May Day Events In Edmonton, Alberta
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