A big chunk of Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough is allocated to discussing the customs and rituals that surround this day. When I first read Frazer I thought he was describing an extinct society. It was only after I began studying the village communities of the county that I realised it is all still there waiting to be rediscovered (if you look hard enough).
For instance, driving back from the station this evening, just before six (I left work early, as it is Bank Holiday weekend and I am “working at home” tomorrow), I passed through a tiny hamlet at the foot of the western hills. At a small wayside chapel signs announced that they were having a “flower festival”. As there was still a lot of activity around the building I stopped to have a look.
Above: the Union flag flew in the evening sunshine, in a display of gordonian Britishness.
Above: in the gloom of the chapel the place was jam-packed with flowers and reeking of forced tuberoses (the scent so overpowering I felt I was being smothered).
Above: sturdy watering cans were used to replenish the many vases.
Above: there was no doubt about who was responsible for everything - more pervasive and observant than the Stasi, the myriad ladies of the village watched and waited and served teas at a table in the corner.
Above: and in confirmation of everything Sir James Frazer has written about the millennia-long hold of the May Day customs, the primary school children of key stage 1 were doing a project on dancing round the maypole, which will culminate in a public display on Sunday (as this is a county-wide school project, dancing round maypoles is an expanding activity, no longer one that is dwindling away).
Above: the children had even constructed a life-size three dimensional paper and card tableau.
Above: in Oxford the choir of Magdalen College sings on top of Magdalen tower every May Day morning to welcome the dawn. I have often thought of going to see this, but you have to get up early, and the crush on Magdalen bridge is supposed to be heavy. When I was in Port Sunlight recently I saw Holman Hunt’s 1890 painting May Morning on Magdalen Tower.
More on the Magdalen ceremony: http://www.oxford.anglican.org/page/6525/
3 comments:
Would you explain the cleric in the cap, seated far right in Hunt's painting? First time I have seen this, you do provide some gems.
All the people in the painting are real people Anna - in the gallery they had a list of the names which had him down as "Mr Cama, Parsee of India" - presumably a post-grad student at Oxford.
I also half-remember that he is meant to be a Zoroastrian fire-worshipper who went up on the tower that morning to worship the sun (not sure if Zoroastrians and Parsees are the same).
Good Lord, that's fascinating, thanks.
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