May Day Tradition

Some of the oldest May Day traditions are connected with dew. According to folklore, the dew on 1st May has magical properties and anyone who washes their face in it will have a flawless complexion for the entire year. May dew was also said to be able to remove spots, freckles and pimples.

This country belief was widely accepted by city folk, as famously recorded by diarist Samuel Pepys. He noted that his wife went to Woolwich on the night of 30 April 1667 to collect May dew the following morning "which Mrs Turner hath taught her is the only thing in the world to wash her face with."

A traditional rhyme says that the maid who rises early on May morning "And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree,/ Will ever after handsome be." Others suggest that the dew had to be collected from ivy leaves, or from grass under oak trees. The one factor universally agreed upon is that the dew is only effectual at or just before sunrise.