Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: May

Festivals / May

Castleton Garland

29th May – A Garland King and Lady ride around the parish boundary on white horses. A garland, which is a large cone of flowers, is placed over the king topped with a posy of flowers called the queen. After the tour the garland is placed on the church tower. The ceremony has ancient origins.

Festivals / May

Arbor Day, Aston on Clun

29th May – Is Arbor Day in Aston on Clun.  A Poplar tree in the town is bedecked with flags, they are left on the tree all year round.   The ceremony has been held each year at Aston on Clun since 1786 andprobablt dates back to 1660 when King Charles II declared a holiday in May called Arbor day following th erestoration of the monarchy.

0

Festivals / May

Feast of St Michael

8th May – Feast of the Apparition of St Michael.  St Michael is one of the Archangels and is said to have appeared several times throughout history.  In 391AD at Monte Cargano and in 495AD at St Michaels Mount in Cornwall.  In 590AD he was seen by St Gregory the Great in the air sheathing his sword.  Signalling the ces

Dragons / Festivals / Legends / May

The Helston Flurry Dance

8th May – The Helston Flurry Dance takes place, where Helstonians take part in a pagan ritual processional dance through the town in a custom that pre-dates Christianity and probably dates back to Celtic times. The dance takes place each eighth of May unless it falls on a Sunday or Monday and was probably originally a fertility or Spring festival.

Festivals / May

Garland Dressing, Charlton On Otmoor

1st May – is Garland Dressing Day in Charlton On Otmoor.  A wooden cross is bedecked with Yew and Box leaves.

Dragons / Festivals / Legends / May

Padstow Hobby Horse (Oss)

1st May – The festival starts at midnight in the early hours of Mayday. The actual Hobby Horse is a hoop covered with black material with an African mask, and a horses head with snapping jaws. A man stands inside the hoop and the procession parades around the town. The festival has ancient origins.

0

Festivals / May

May Day

1st May – The old Pagan fertility festival of Beltane, the day used to be celebrated in nearly every village green with may pole dancing. The custom has rapidly died out and many of the old village greens have been reclaimed. The festival was also celebrated with hilltop fires.

1

Festivals / May

Beltane

Beltane (or Beltaine) is a festival that marks the return of summer with the lighting of fires; where people could burn their winter bedding and floor coverings, ready to be replaced afresh. Referred to as a Gaelic ceremony, it has been celebrated for thousands of years throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.

Apparitions / Festivals / Hauntings / May

Minehead

Minehead is the scene of the Obby Oss Festival April 30th, May 1st -3rd. The oss or horse is a covered wooden frame with a painted head at the centre bedecked with ribbons. The Oss meets the rising sun early on the 1st of May. In some stories this festival is said to date to a time when the local people scared away Norse invaders by disguising their ship as a sea serpent.