May 1st is an important day of celebration in many cultures. It’s a very old celebration going back thousands of years and pre-dating many of the Christian celebrations. In modern times, it’s often associated with celebrating working people, but it also welcomes the coming of spring and summer, and has connections to the pagan religion of Britain which existed for thousands of years.
Oxford has its own particular May Day tradition known as May Morning. Very early in the morning, at around 5:30am on May 1st thousands of people gather on Magdalen Bridge to listen to the choir of
Magdalen Boys’ School sing with the sunrise at 6:00am. There are also traditional Morris dancers from around the county, people playing music in the street and even people dressed up as Jack in the Green,
a traditional figure who looks like a walking Christmas tree and is said to be one of the spirits of the nature of the British Isles.
Oxford’s May Morning tradition is at least five hundred years old and is first documented in 1674 however there is evidence of May celebration going back to 1250, when the Chancellor of the University made a statement saying that ‘alike in churches, all dancing in masks or with disorderly noises, and all processions of men wearing wreaths and garlands made of leaves of trees or flowers or what not.’ were not allowed.
Despite this the celebrations continued and still continue to this day.
The two most famous songs the choir sing are the Hymnus Eucharistus, a religious song written by Benjamin Rogers, a professor of music at the University in the late 17th century.
We worship you, O God the Father,
we offer you our praise,
for you nourish our bodies,
and minds with heavenly grace.
The other song which is always sang is Now is the Month of Maying, written by the English composer Thomas Morley which welcomes the spring and the joy it brings
Now is the month of maying,
When merry lads are playing,
Fa la la la la la la la la,
Fa la la la la la la lah.
Each with his bonny lass
Upon the greeny grass.
Fa la la la la la la la la,
Fa la la la la la la lah.
The Spring, clad all in gladness,
Doth laugh at Winter’s sadness,
Fa la la la la la la la la,
Fa la la la la la la lah.
And to the bagpipe’s sound
The nymphs tread out their ground.
Fa la la la la la la la la,
Fa la la la la la la lah.
It’s a happy atmosphere, but calm, friendly and peaceful. Very different to how it was several hundred years ago where there reports of the choristers throwing stones and rotten eggs at the people listening below after they’d finished singing.
After a long winter, people are keen to embrace the coming summer months and their long days and warm weather. So the streets are filled with a mixture of early-risers and students who’ve probably been partying all night ready to join the celebrations. It’s a special way to greet the summer and something you can only find in Oxford.
Word of warning though, for some years people decided it would be a good idea to jump off Magdalen Bridge into the river, not realising how shallow the water was and there were more than a few broken legs before the idea stopped.