Butser
Ancient Farm
Site
Directed by Butser Archaeological Centre Ltd
Beltain 2008
Join us as we
Celebrate the Summer Festival of the Celts
Saturday 3rd May
Gates open 6pm
Lots to do and see!
Licenced Bar, BBQ
Music and Entertainment
Tickets in Advance
Adults £8.00 - Children
£4.00
No Concessions
BFLTAIN
(Celtic May Day)
May Day is the first day of the Celtic
summer, festival of the country side and rooted in pagan fertility rites.
The day starts early, rising at dawn
to wash in the dew to promote youthfulness.
One returns home with arms full of May Blosson(Hawthorn) to decorate
the houses.
Green ribbons fly from the May Pole and flowers show off the beauty
of the girls.
Spring planting is over and the first
real holiday has arrived.
The hard work is finished for a time and the sun has returned.
Bonfires are lit to echo the light and the warmth.
The livestock are driven between the fires to ritualy cleanse and promote
fertility.
For the people it is a time to spend on relationships, the unmarried
to find partners and spend the day in noisy dancing.
Throughout the day horns are blown and
much merriment and drinking is undertaken.
The prettiest girl is chosen as May Queen and the King is dressed in
'the green of the forest'.
The remains of this ancient festival
lingers on even now.
The dancers are remembered still in the Morris-Men, and the May Pole
is revived by school children.
May Queens are crowned and although the King is often forgotten,
he lives on in the legends of Robin Hood ( the green man).
Oxfordshire children still recite rhymes such as;
Good morning master and missus,
To wish you a happy day.
Please to smell my garland,
Because its the first of May.
In Yorkshire children play jokes with
the same rules as April Fool
but to the cry of "May Gosling".
In Buckinghamshire children go from door to door with bunches of flowers and the day is known as Garland Day.
So welcome to our Celtic May Day,and may the year be fruitful for you!
Close this window after use