Celebrations of spring have been held for centuries related to both pagan and religious beliefs, and the ritual crowning of a May Queen has been said to go back to the Middle Ages.

May Queen celebrations were revived in Victorian times and poets like Tennyson, who published a long poem called The May Queen, did much to popularise the return of the tradition.

In the 20th century it became fashionable for children, rather than adults, to perform a crowning ceremony and the Reepham Life 2023 Calendar picture from the 1950s (pictured above) shows Enid Pask as a teenage May Queen surrounded by her attendants.

Older residents, when they were at school, may remember learning Now is the Month of Maying, a song from Tudor times, and Sumer is icumen in, a song in the form of a round for four voices accompanied by two lower voices, probably written in the 13th century.

The opening line is shown here with the red cross indicating where the second voice is to enter. The manuscript is now kept in the British Library and includes instructions for its performance in Latin. It is traditionally sung from the tower of Magdalen College, Oxford, every May Day.

The song also made an appearance in an episode of the children’s TV programme Bagpuss and was used as part of the opening ceremony at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Information from Wikipedia and the British Library

Janet Archer

The Reepham Archive is open to the public on the first Wednesday and Saturday of the month from 10 am – 12 noon (or by appointment), upstairs in the Bircham Centre, Market Place, Reepham. For more information about opening times and current services, contact the Archive by email.