Many festivals not of Christian origin were derived from the ceremonies with which the heathen peoples of Europe had been accustomed to mark the changes of the seasons. Thus, April Fool's Day formed a relic of festivities held at the vernal equinox. May Day, another festival of spring, honored the spirits of trees and of all budding vegetation. The persons who acted as May kings and May queens represented these spirits. According to the original custom a new May tree was cut down in the forest every year, but later a permanent May pole was set up on the village common. On Midsummer Eve (June 23), which marked the summer solstice, came the fire festival, when people built bonfires and leaped over them, walked in procession with torches round the fields, and rolled burning wheels down the hillsides. These curious rites may have been once connected with sun worship. Hallow Eve, so called from being the eve of All Saints' Day (November 1), also seems to have been a survival of a heathen celebration. On this night witches and fairies were supposed to assemble. Hallow Eve does not appear to have been a season for pranks and jokes, as is its present degenerate form. Even the festival of Christmas, coming at the winter solstice, kept some heathen features, such as the use of mistletoe with which Celtic priests once decked the altars of their gods. The Christmas tree, however, is not a relic of heathenism. It seems to have come into use as late as the seventeenth century.
THE MORRIS DANCE
Young and old took part in the dances which accompanied village festivals. Very popular in medieval England was the Morris dance. The name, a corruption of Moorish, refers to its origin in Spain. The Morris dance was especially associated with May Day and was danced round a May pole to a lively and capering step. The performers represented Robin Hood, Maid Marian, his wife, Tom the Piper, and other traditional characters. On their garments they wore bells tuned to different notes, so as to sound in harmony.
MUMMING
Mumming had a particular association with Christmas. Mummers were bands of men and women who disguised themselves in masks and skins of animals and then serenaded people outside their houses. Oftentimes the mummers acted out little plays in which Father Christmas, Old King Cole, and St. George were familiar figures.
[Illustration: MUMMERS From a manuscript now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It was written and illuminated in the reign of Edward III.]
MIRACLE PLAYS
Besides these village amusements, many plays of a religious character came into vogue during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The earliest were the miracle plays. They presented in dramatic form scenes from the Bible and stories of the saints or martyrs. The actors at first were priests, and the stage was the church itself or the churchyard. This religious setting did not prevent the introduction of clowns and buffoons. After a time the miracle play passed from the clergy to the guilds. All the guilds of a town usually gave an exhibition once a year. Each guild presented a single scene in the story. An exhibition might last for several days and have as many as fifty scenes, beginning at Creation and ending with Doomsday. [35]
[Illustration: A MIRACLE PLAY AT COVENTRY, ENGLAND The rude platform on wheels which served as a stage, was drawn by apprentices to the market place. Each guild had its own stage.]