On 1st May villages celebrated the return of spring and the beginning of another farming year by putting up a maypole to dance around. As the dancers were single, this acted as an early form of dating agency with celebrations often culminating in young couples disappearing into the dark together!
The girls crowned a May Queen whilst the men were represented by a Robin Hood-like figure or a green man. This takes the festival back to the very earliest of pagan times when it was believed that the god of the forest or spirit of nature controlled the soil's fertility.
Pubs near the site of the maypole sometimes took the name, presumably implying that it was a place for entertainment and enjoyment throughout the year.
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