As Valentine’s Day comes around, spare a passing thought for that ubiquitous red heart that has come to symbolize the event. Historically speaking, there is a lot more than is at the surface for that emblem of love.
In Cork, on May morning before sunrise, a person went out and brought back a branch of hazel, holly and mountain ash and returned to the house singing the above verse to ‘bring in the summer’. In Ireland, as in many parts of Western Europe, May marked the beginning of summer…
What unites bikers, punks, feminists and sewing? Scott Malthouse explores the social history of battle jackets.
Maypoles are often seen as a quintessentially English tradition, yet in Bavaria the raising of the Maibaum (or May Tree) is also an important event, and it is not the only time a tree is hefted aloft in celebration.
I began writing ‘Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe: A Treasury of British Folklore’ back in April last year.
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