From the Vault: May Day
MAY DAY, marked on the first of the month, is a popular celebration throughout most of Europe. Its origins are unclear, but it is believed that some ancient festivals preceded it, including the Roman Floralia and the Celtic Beltane.
Celtic celebrations are experiencing a resurgence in 21st-century Scotland, with revellers embracing ancient links to seasonality. However, these archaic rituals were never entirely forgotten.
In 1948, a special correspondent for The Scots Magazine reported that May Day was celebrated in Scotland with “annual revels at Arthur’s Seat on the dawning of the first of May.”
“Nowadays a religious service precedes the ancient ceremony,” the writer explained, highlighting how the event had been adapted to fit contemporary religious practices.
“The ancient festival of Beltane was duly honoured at a spot which for centuries was certainly a place of its celebration by the Druids, and thousands of Edinburgh lasses bedewed their beauty in the pearly moisture which damps the hilly grasses at the hour of sunrise.”
The tradition of washing your face in the morning dew was said to bring beauty and a youthful complexion for the coming year, and was especially popular with young women.
The Scots Magazine’s special correspondent went on to reference the earlier work of a Victorian writer from Edinburgh, who had also visited Arthur’s Seat to witness the festivities.
“The summit, he tells us, was occupied by a large body of tradesmen attired in kilts, who danced round a maypole…
"Bagpipes screamed, we are told, and girls washed their faces in the dew, and by eight o’clock all was peace again, save for the sad procession of intoxicated casualties which streamed back from the hill citywards.”
However you choose to celebrate, summer is always a welcome sight after the long winter – and a quick, refreshing splash in the crisp morning dew surely couldn’t hurt!
📷 DC Thomson, Adobe Stock, Shutterstock
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