Maypole

English historian Ronald Hutton concurs with Swedish scholar Carl Wilhelm von Sydow who stated that maypoles were erected "simply" as "signs that the happy season of warmth and comfort had returned.

[3][4][5][6][7] Some observers have proposed phallic symbolism, an idea which was expressed by Thomas Hobbes, who erroneously believed that the poles dated back to the Roman worship of the god Priapus.

Phallic symbolism has been attributed to the maypole in the later Early Modern period, as one sexual reference is in John Cleland's controversial novel Fanny Hill: ... and now, disengaged from the shirt, I saw, with wonder and surprise, what?

[8] Ronald Hutton has stated, however, that "there is no historical basis for his claim and no sign that the people who used maypoles thought that they were phallic" and that "they were not carved to appear so.

"[1] The anthropologist Mircea Eliade theorizes that the maypoles were simply a part of the general rejoicing at the return of summer, and the growth of new vegetation.

[citation needed] In Bavaria, the Maibaum is procured, prepared and then stored in some building, such as a farmer's barn days or weeks before being erected on 1 May.

During the night before 1 May, traditionally unmarried men, but nowadays persons of any gender, erect cut young birch trees, complete with their spring green foliage, often decorated with multicoloured satin (sometimes crepe paper) streamers, in front of the house of their sweetheart.

The máj-kerék was placed on it that day, a wagon wheel on the end of a high pole, decorated with ribbons, wine bottles and linen scarves.

In the last of these regions, the tradition dates back to the Napoleonic campaigns, when the arbre de la liberté (Liberty tree), the symbol of the French Revolution, arrived in Italy.

Grand Master Marc'Antonio Zondadari introduced the game of cockaigne (with the use of the maypole) to Maltese Carnival in 1721: on a given signal, the crowd assembled in Palace Square and converged on a collection of hams, sausages and live animals hidden beneath leafy branches outside the Main Guard.

[23] In Denmark, the maypole tradition is almost extinct but is still observed on the islands of Avernakø and Strynø south of Funen and in a few villages in southern Himmerland in eastern Jutland.

Yet another pointer in this direction is the custom that young maidens expect to dream of their future mate if they pick seven different flowers and place them under their pillow when they go to bed on this day only.

[citation needed] In the United Kingdom, the maypole was found primarily in England and in areas of the Scottish Lowlands and Wales which were under English influence.

In some cases the wood for the pole was obtained illegally, for instance in 1603, the earl of Huntingdon was angered when trees were removed from his estates for use as maypoles without his permission.

[25] The rise of Protestantism in the 16th century led to increasing disapproval of maypoles and other May Day practices from various Protestants who viewed them as idolatry and therefore immoral.

In Scotland meanwhile, which at this time was still an independent state, Protestantism, in the form of Presbyterianism, had taken a more powerful hold, and largely wiped out the practice of maypoles across the country.

"[27] The only recorded breach of the Long Parliament's prohibition was in 1655 in Henley-in-Arden, where local officials stopped the erection of maypoles for traditional games.

[28] The church of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London is named after the maypole that was kept under its eaves and set up each spring until 1517 when student riots put an end to the custom.

The maypole there was the tallest by far, reaching over 130 feet (40 m), and it stood until being blown over by a high wind in 1672 when it was moved to Wanstead in Essex and served as a mount for the telescope of Sir Isaac Newton.

As revived, the dance is performed by pairs of boys and girls (or men and women) who stand alternately around the base of the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon.

for "dressing a Maypole", one of the last recorded examples of the rural festival of the first of May in Scotland, having been put down by Act of Parliament immediately after the Reformation in 1560.

[36] Holywood in County Down, Northern Ireland has a maypole situated at the crossroads of Main Street and Shore Road/Church Road in the center of the town.

The earliest use of the Maypole in America occurred in 1628, when William Bradford, governor of New Plymouth, wrote of an incident where a number of servants, together with the aid of an agent, broke free from their indentured service to create their own colony, setting up a maypole in the center of the settlement, and behaving in such a way as to receive the scorn and disapproval of the nearby colonies, as well as an officer of the king, bearing patent for the state of Massachusetts.

Morton likewise (to shew his poetry) composed sundry rimes & verses, some tending to lasciviousness, and others to the detraction & scandal of some persons, which he affixed to this idle or idol May-pole.

But this continued not long, for after Morton was sent for England, shortly after came over that worthy gentleman, Mr. John Indecott, who brought a patent under the broad seal, for the government of Massachusetts, who visiting those parts caused the May-pole to be cutt downe, and rebuked them for their profanes, and admonished them to look there should be better walking; so they now, or others, changed the name of their place again, and called it Mount-Dagon.

[44] In Colonial Williamsburg Virginia Maypole dancing is featured during spring events to teach children and tourists about European settlers' customs.

Centers such as the North House Folk School (Minnesota) host classes on Maypole construction, dance choreography, and its historical significance.

The story revolves around a young couple feeling the influence of nature who get betrothed in the presence of a Maypole and face Puritan ire.

For example, Ari Aster, The filmmaker, stated how a lot of the props they used, like the mallet used, were replicas based on real life items they saw in the country or in museums.

He states that "This is not Swedish history, this is folklore, when he spoke about a lot of the horror aspects of the film when they depict the cult like actions from the locals.