The annual May Fair is an English tradition but are they dying out because the organisers charge too much, because people are too sophisticated or because of our English weather?
Maypole dancing is probably one of the better known traditions. The significance of Maypole dancing is centred around the White Hawthorn tree which was replaced by children dancing around a pole. This symbolises the fertility of Spring and Summer. Children dance around a pole holding long coloured ribbons attached to the pole.
Strangely, after years of decline and oblivion, Maypole dancing is starting up again in some places.
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Traditional British dancing is known as Morris Dancing and was a part of many May Day ( 1st May ) and May celebrations .
Men dress in white shirts and with their white trousers to their knees, with bells attached. They carry long coloured ribbons and sticks, and dance to traditional music. Very few Morris dance troops exist today. The May Queen is another declining tradition. The Catholic Church has stopped the traditional crowning of the statue and local May parades with a girl chosen as May Queen don't happen any more.
Is this because we have become too sophisticated or because of disinterest?
This year's fair though lovely was smaller. On the day we visited, there were fewer stalls and more fairground rides, very few artisan food stalls . Maybe this was because it was so wet that the rain was bouncing as seen in the photo above.
The white vertical lines in my photo show the height that the force of the rain bounced up to.
There weren't as many this year and when I commented to one stall holder she said the day costs for stall holders had put some stall holders off having a stall this year.
The Wishing Tree was novel. We had to write a wish and hang it on the tree. This is probably a remnant of the Ancient British tree worship.
I wouldn't have expected to see Zorbing at a May Fair but it was a pleasing addition though.
Josh Galloway
Here was a wonderful stall!
A young man named Josh Galloway makes his own beautiful and quirky guitars at a very reasonable cost. Talented, humble and nice-looking, he must have worked very hard to do all these.
www.facebook.com/TheMightyAslanMusic
Just look at these instruments and Josh himself.
Traditional stalls were sadly very few. This one hit the mark though and is what I would expect at a May Fair.
Charlie's homemade Fudge. Excellent home produce and a funny, friendly stall holder. Look at all that fudge in every flavour. Yummy!
I am a great believer in supporting local events and I hope that the May Fair is not so disappointing next year. I think the dreadful weather was a great influence on the day but that didn't affect the type of stalls and attractions though. A lot of work goes into it and it is excellent for the community to get together in this way.
Despite the Ancient British traditions having started over 2000 years ago, I am pleased that there is still evidence of their influence. They are part of our consciousness and who we and many other Ancient Brit descendants around the world are.
Comments
VeronicaAug 30, 2024
DerdriuMarrinerAug 30, 2024
Does the crowning Our Lady Mary event have as venue Church grounds?
VeronicaJun 8, 2017
katiem2Jun 7, 2017
VeronicaJun 6, 2017
NO I haven't seen that film but it sounds very quirky and super talented. I like quirky tihngs and his guitars were just amazing.
DerdriuMarrinerJun 6, 2017
VeronicaMay 25, 2017
frankbeswickMay 25, 2017
VeronicaMay 24, 2017
frankbeswickMay 24, 2017
Tacitus says that the Angles, a tribe friendly to Rome, were one of the tribes dwelling on the Baltic coast who worshipped the goddess. So they brought her cultus to England with them when they migrated, and it almost certainly fused with similar cults in British society.
blackspanielgalleryMay 24, 2017
frankbeswickMay 23, 2017
Don't make the very common mistake of over-distinguishing Saxons and Britons [Celts/Welsh.] When the Saxons arrived they mixed very easily with the Britons. The Romans brought in Saxon troops [male] but the Saxons left descendants, but that fact needed British females to make it happen. Southern Brits are descended from Saxon men and British women to some degree. It was different in the North.from which I and Veronica come.
BSG, I recall that your ancestors came from the area inhabited by the British tribe, Atrebates, but that area became part of Wessex. However. Francis Pryor, an eminent, now retired British archaeologist, says that in the area from which your ancestors came there is no evidence of population replacement during the Saxon settlements, but that Saxon and British settled together quite happily. [See his book Britain AD.]
In the nineteenth century racial theory, which taught that the Germanic races were superior to others arose [we know where that led.] Thus certain British decided that to be truly Germanic and therefore superior we had to have no Celtic ancestors. As the Celts had dwelt in Britain ere the Saxons arrived they had to invent the belief that the Saxons were genocidal savages who murdered every Welsh [British] person who did not flee to Wales. Sheer poppycock! Much of Western England is more British than Saxon. Indeed Welsh was spoken across parts of Western England until the eighteenth century. Even as a boy I found this view repulsivea nd incredible.
VeronicaMay 23, 2017
Wales is a country in the West of The British Isles.
blackspanielgalleryMay 23, 2017
Is this area near castle Carrington-Smith or Smythe in Essex near Wales? One branch of my family is from that region, so I am not purely from Sussex heritage in the branch from English roots. I should one day look at a map of England. .And now, onward to finding anotheer pre-Roman tribe.
VeronicaMay 23, 2017
That's a great comment and idea. TY
People known as Celts started off pre-Saxon times in mainland Europe so the links are highly likely. I don't usually refer to Celts as this term only started in approx. 18Th/ 19th Century. They were and are to me , Early Britons rather than Celts.
blackspanielgalleryMay 23, 2017
VeronicaMay 23, 2017
Yes a super talented young man. I hope he does well. Josh Galloway - The Mighty Aslan.
dustytoesMay 23, 2017
VeronicaMay 22, 2017
Great comment Ty .
frankbeswickMay 22, 2017
Mary the mother of Jesus was inserted into the role of Queen of the May to stem the cultus of the Great Goddess. Tacitus says that the Angles called her Nerthus, but I suspect that he erred, as that was a male name, and her name was Nertha, to them at least. Mary is also called Star of the Sea, a title that originally belonged to the pagan goddess Ishtar in the Middle East.