The first Spring birdsong signals a change in the rhythm of the agricultural year, and rural England begins to emerge from hibernation. Bonfires become the rising sun, maypoles are the earth’s axis and fertile phallus, and an abundance of flowers displays agricultural fecundity. Ceremonial acts of fertility seek agency over the land, reinforcing our relationship with nature and with our work upon the earth. The seasons’ associated symbols become physical and psychological structures which mirror the year’s cycle of decline and revival. The ceremony of crowning the May Queen evolved through an accumulation of rifts in the allegorical meaning of English mythical rituals. As Britain transitions into industrialisation, people’s relationship to, or dependence on, the land becomes less important, and as May Day celebrations decline to near obsolescence, the remaining fragments of a rotting maypole begin to ignite within another social context; May Day becomes Labour Day. Once a celebration of work, the fete that marked this occasion now becomes an escape, a relief. The trade union has taken the place of the Church and the fete becomes the perfect vehicle for demonstrations: in 1926 the General Strike becomes a form of May Day; mock funerals are held for blackleg miners, and Soviet flags appear at county fairs. In demanding that the pace of work slowed down, workers were reclaiming their right to control over the time and space where they worked, a right that was suppressed during the Industrial Revolution. The vestiges of ritual enable a traditional icon to assume new meaning on the fringes of its traditional context, but notably within the same working-class social milieu. The problem, however, with symbols is that they can be used to disguise political motives, decked out in the costume of community. In 1926, the
British elite appropriated and manipulated the symbolic event of the village fete, turning it on its own people: a counter-fete emerged, a festival to undermine strike action, organised by a body of middle-class volunteers whose ‘fete’ involved the novelty of doing the jobs of the striking workers. Working-class people made clear their belief that the volunteers were misappropriating traditional cultural expression to ‘wage war on the working classes’ 3. This was an early example of Shaw’s separation of ‘folklore’ from ‘the image of folklore’: the myths we consume are not authentic folklore, but toxic imitations of folkloric myths masked by the façade of their iconography. St George’s Day, for instance, no longer featured men battling papier-mâché dragons, a living representation of the legend; instead it was gradually transformed into a timid, and at times dubious, attempt to define what it means to be English. As Summer arrives, we begin to wonder: has our former ‘Merrie England’, framed by the seasons and encompassed by its acts of ceremonial chaos, become self-conscious and snobby?
3 Saltzman, Rachelle. (1994)
It’s the day of the a
annual village fete...
and already crowds are
gathering on the green.
May Day i
in bloom.
When nature is at its
our rites
most promising
s look to ensure the fertility of our crops.
The May Queen, a living symbol of our hope for, and dependen
nce on, the land.
An ornate pageant was disrupted at this seaside town. The Bootle Times in 1903 reported ‘The children, in order to avoid drenching which would have been inevitable had they remained in their respective positions on the uncovered lorries, rapidly dispersed to obtain shelter wherever possible. Thus in a moment was undone the work which it had taken so lengthy a period to build up.’ 1903
BOOTLE
Or a symbol of purity in the grasp of a school
centred on Social Justice.
Children from a local school make leafy crowns to celebrate May Day. The school, set up in 1925, specialises in the Arts, Social Justice and Sustainability. 1969
DARTINGTON
A constructed image projected abroad.
During WWII, the Women’s Land Army had their own May Queen. The crowning was recorded by the BBC and reportedly the May Queen gave special messages to the people of Persia and India. 1945
BEDFORDSHIRE TIMES
A cr
rown-piece of imperialistic propaganda.
For the time, the village of Stanion chose to crown a young black girl as their May Queen. The film from which these images were taken was made by the Colonial Film Unit, with the intention of screening it throughout Britain’s African and Caribbean colonies at a time when the government was looking to reinforce imperial support and attract cheap labour to the UK. 1944
STANION
1965
CONNAH’S QUAY
A fete organised by Connah’s Quay Old People’s Association. The event consisted of processions of young women for onlookers to observe, an increasingly uncomfortable concept within today’s society.
A day dominated by the charms and talents of females of all ages.
A contemporary Virgin Mary
on full display.
1907
LLANDUDNO
‘I ain’t the May Queen but the unfortunate suffragette’ reads the banner of a participant of ‘The Modern Trailer’ at a Llandudno carnival.
A figure rejected by the suffragette.
Our fete might begin to re-frame the ro
ole of women
Fancy dress costumes from Kingsland village carnival. 1953
KINGSLAND
and in embracing the changi
1920 Girls leaving ‘The Aber’ and Castle Silk Mills Flint.
ing nature of women’s work;
FLINT
1965
FLINT
The Rayon Queen became a particular feature of the area as thousands were employed by Courtaulds in their rayon-making factories.
a Rayon Queen is born.
Under the shadow of
a gala, sponsored by the
the local ironworks...
e town’s main employer!
1951
RENISHAW
A celebratio
on of work.
In this former mining town, Gornal, May Day has become the perfect opportunity to parade Trigger through the streets. Even stopping for breakfast inside someone’s home.
1974
UPPER GORNAL
1919
MANVERS
Miners joke around during a May Day parade, one of the few holidays that offer release from the daytime darkness of the pits. Manvers came to kick start the Great Strike of 1984, and the mine was closed in 1988.
An escape f
from work.
Employees enjoy a break from work with a selection of games and sports at a fete organised by the Creda domestic appliance factory.
1959
BLYTHE BRIDGE
A tenuous re-enactment o
1970s
LAXEY
Revived in 1971, Laxey Fair attendees continue to dress in Victorian costume, or even with coal tarnished faces, a nod to Laxey’s mining past. The celebration includes traditional Manx rituals such as the creation of a Crosh Cuirn - a small cross made out of sticks and wool to ward off witches and mooinjer veggey.
of a former type of work.
When the economy crumbles, the fete maintains;
The ironstone miners work settlement was set up by local gentry; the militaristic Major James, the right-wing activist and folk revivalist Rolf Gardiner, and the socialist Ruth Pennyman. Events at the fete included craft tents and the local black-face comedian. On the other side of the political spectrum, Left-Wing composer Michael Tippett, and Bauhaus-trained designer, Wilf Franks, were among its volunteers. 1935
CLEVELAND
May Day becomes Labour
Day.
1928
DURHAM
Picnicking, dancing and brass bands meet political speeches and banners at this annual Gala.
1984
DULAIS VALLEY
A gay and lesbian group from London donate more than £11000 to support the miners of the Dulais valley in South Wales during the strike of 1984-5. Then, hopping aboard a minibus, they joined them in a fete-esque fundraiser in that small Welsh town.
A vehicle by which to unite the people towards a common goal.
A Soviet horse show?
1946
PONTYPRIDD
An agricultural show in South Wales shows the hammer and sickle of the USSR flying alongside a stand decked out in the Union Jack.
1984
KERESLEY
As the Miners’ strike splits communities across the country, the fundraising women of Keresley provide some light and humour amidst a struggle for Socialism.
A Socialist pantomime?
Or, manipulated by
y the middle-class
the fete is thrown b
1979
HONITON
Honiton Hot Pennies ceremony involves hot pennies being thrown from the rooms above the Old Pannier Market. The custom originates from the local gentry gaining entertainment from seeing the peasants burn themselves trying to pick up the pennies.
back at the people,
its symbols altered
d and repurposed.
Even myths can become distorted.
1894 The Royal Society of St George manifesto, a society created to encourage national pride.
Each revival, finding a new purpose.
The mummers play at Croxley Green was began by an old school master but had to stop in the 1930s due to men being conscripted. A subsequent revival in the 50s was cut short when all the costumes were tragically destroyed in a fire in the 1960s. 1951
RCCROXLEY
Until the myth is lost entirely
Bus crews from Cotteridge fight back against the Pope’s decision to downgrade Saint George’s status as a saint in 1969 by wearing red roses in his honour. 1970
COTTERIDGE
1968 St George’s Day parade of the Yeovil Boys’ Brigade, Scouts, Cubs, Guides and Brownies. Images sourced from yeovilhistory.info.
2016
WEST BROMWICH
St George’s Day in West Bromwich, tied together with the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations, features an abundance of flags and English Royalist memorabilia. Photograph by Graham Young.
and only national pride remains.