"
Now is the month of maying,
When merry lads are playing,
Fa la la la la”
This is the song that has been plaguing my brain all morning long. So, naturally, I decided to research the origin of May Day to put a stop to those Madrigals singing in my head.
In many countries, May Day is similar to International Workers' Day, or Labor Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labor movement. This originates with the United States labor movement in the 19th Century. On May 1, 1886, unions across the country went on strike, demanding that their workdays be shortened to eight hours. Though these protests were not immediately successful, eight hour workdays slowly became commonplace.
In medieval England, people would celebrate May Day, the start of spring, by going out to the country or woods, "going a-maying", and gathering foliage and flowers. They would also put up a maypole, a pole that was decorated with flowers and ribbons, brightly painted, and served as a centerpiece for the festivities.
Nowadays in England, the first Monday of May is a bank holiday. Since May 1 does not always fall on a Monday, May Day festivities have been moved to the Monday for public convenience. Some communities still start their celebrations at sunset on April 30 with parades and floral decorations.
Padstow, a small town on the North coast of Cornwall, holds the annual Obby Oss (
dialect for Hobby Horse), which is thought to be the oldest May Day celebration in the country dating way back to the 13th century. In this festival, dancers parade through town dressed as highly decorated horses. Some recreations of horses are dressed in bright ribbons, while others wear dark masks.
"
Each with his bonny lass,
Upon the greeny grass,
Fa la la la la.
The Spring clad all in gladness,
Doth laugh at Winter´s sadness,
Fa la la la la. "
