by Elaine Mead
The two faces of May Day in Paris - bunches of lily of the valley (muguet) for good luck and demonstrations for workers' rights
On 1 May in France the air will be filled with the scent of flowers and everywhere you go, you'll find people with smiles on their faces and white flowers in their hands. This is ‘Fête de Muguet’, the festival of lily of the valley. Not only are these delicate, bell-shaped flowers a herald of spring, they are also given as a token of appreciation and good luck between close friends and family members.
The practice is said to date from King Charles IX of France, who was presented with lily of the valley flowers on 1 May 1561. He liked the gift and decided to present the flowers to the ladies of his court each year on 1 May.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, during the time of the Roman Republic. Many pagan rituals recognised the seasonal change from the dark, winter months to the return of the beautiful, sunny days of spring.
Traces of one of these rituals still exist today. The rather quirky May Day tradition known as the ‘tree of May’, involved young men cutting down a tree during the night between 30 April and 1 May, then replanting it by the door of the woman they hoped to marry. It was a sign of honour and also a celebration of the arrival of May: the month of trees, water, and nature. Other versions of this tradition saw this ‘May tree’ placed in front of a church or at the home of a newlywed couple. Sound familiar? Think about the maypole and its dancers often seen at English and North American festivals.
In the late nineteenth century 1 May, also known today as Labour Day or International Workers’ Day, was adopted to celebrate workers’ rights. The origins go back to 1 May 1886 in Chicago, when American unions launched a strike movement to obtain the 8-hour working day. The ensuring riots ended with several dead. From 1890 protesters wore a red triangle on their jackets to symbolize their triple claim: 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure!
Don’t confuse May Day with ‘mayday’ - the international distress call first used in 1923 and made official in 1948. Frederick Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport, London was asked to think of a word in radio communication that would indicate distress and be easily understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed ‘mayday’ because it sounded like the French word m'aider, which means “help me."
What does May Day mean to you?
The practice is said to date from King Charles IX of France, who was presented with lily of the valley flowers on 1 May 1561. He liked the gift and decided to present the flowers to the ladies of his court each year on 1 May.
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared with the Floralia, festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, during the time of the Roman Republic. Many pagan rituals recognised the seasonal change from the dark, winter months to the return of the beautiful, sunny days of spring.
Traces of one of these rituals still exist today. The rather quirky May Day tradition known as the ‘tree of May’, involved young men cutting down a tree during the night between 30 April and 1 May, then replanting it by the door of the woman they hoped to marry. It was a sign of honour and also a celebration of the arrival of May: the month of trees, water, and nature. Other versions of this tradition saw this ‘May tree’ placed in front of a church or at the home of a newlywed couple. Sound familiar? Think about the maypole and its dancers often seen at English and North American festivals.
In the late nineteenth century 1 May, also known today as Labour Day or International Workers’ Day, was adopted to celebrate workers’ rights. The origins go back to 1 May 1886 in Chicago, when American unions launched a strike movement to obtain the 8-hour working day. The ensuring riots ended with several dead. From 1890 protesters wore a red triangle on their jackets to symbolize their triple claim: 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of leisure!
Don’t confuse May Day with ‘mayday’ - the international distress call first used in 1923 and made official in 1948. Frederick Mockford, a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport, London was asked to think of a word in radio communication that would indicate distress and be easily understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed ‘mayday’ because it sounded like the French word m'aider, which means “help me."
What does May Day mean to you?
Lily of the Valley
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