the.com/maypole
a pagan fertility totem we somehow handed to elementary schoolers with ribbons
means A tall pole, often decorated with ribbons, that people dance around in springtime celebrations, especially on May Day.
from A plain compound of "May" (the month) and "pole," attested in English since the Middle Ages. The custom of dancing around a beribboned pole is older than the word and shows up across northern Europe, long tangled with spring fertility rites and folk festivals; the ribbon-weaving choreography familiar today is comparatively recent, popularized in the 19th century. The word itself is honest about what it is: a pole, raised in May.
- banned once
- Puritans outlawed it in 1644 England as sinful
- tallest ever
- London's Strand pole stood over 130 feet
- ribbon trick
- Braided dance is Victorian, not ancient at all
- phallic roots
- Scholars long debated its blatant fertility symbolism
barwick-in-elmet maypole — tallest maypole in england at 86 feet, yorkshire, erected 1986
welford-on-avon maypole — continuously decorated since 1660, warwickshire, still used annually
oxford university may morning — magdalen college choir sings from tower at dawn, then maypole dancing, may 1st tradition since 1500s