Holly and May: cultural symbolism and reality

ABSTRACT

Archaeology, history, ecology and ethnology are closely related to our understanding of landscape history but there are other cultural sources that deserve investigation. Here an attempt is made to look into related folklore. Two trees in particular epitomise the seasons — the holly and the hawthorn (may) — and this article considers why this should be so.

Most of our seasonal rituals have an ancient ancestry but their meanings have changed over time. The holly was constantly seen as the tree of the waning year while the may heralded the beginnings of spring. In Celtic mythology the Oak King would give way to the Holly King as the seasons turned and the holly provided protection for the home. The holly gradually found its way into Christian rituals and was brought as greenery into the church at Christmas. But the holly’s dominance in winter also reflects its invaluable use as a winter fodder crop, especially during inclement weather.

The may, on the other hand, was invariably associated with spring when the hawthorn was bursting into flower. In Celtic and later rural rituals, it was a fairy tree invariably seen as sacred, symbolising love and protection, youth and sexuality, and associated with fertility. The church decried the unseemly rituals that took place and attempted to see it as the thorn associated with Christ’s crucifixion. But rural May Day ceremonies rarely lapsed altogether — this tree was so closely seen as the harbinger of the fertility of crops and animals.

KEYWORDS:

• Folklore
• holly
• may
• seasonal resources

Notes

1 Based upon a paper presented at the Woodland & Tree Archaeology Conference, Sheffield Hallam University. 4–6 September 2019.