We were having a mod-team discussion about International Workers Day, and the maypole tradition came up. Is that a tradition or a "tradition," that is, is there an organic maypole ritual/festival or is it an invented tradition?
My go-to reference for this sort of thing is the ever-reliable Jacqueline Simpson and S. Roud, "Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore" (2000). They indicate that,
The earliest references to maypoles are literary; a mid 14th-century poem Welsh poem and a late 14th-century poem 'Chance of the Dice'... Two earlier references which had been quoted have now been brought under suspicion... However, there is no reason to believe that the maypole was a new thing in the 14th century, but neither is there any evidence to show that it existed much before then.
Simpson and Roud discuss how the maypole fell out of favor in the sixteenth century but that it enjoyed a resurgence later on. The authors go on to point out,
Leaving aside the theories of maypoles as remnants of tree-worship, phallic symbols, and the like, for which there is no evidence, the pole seems to have had two essential qualities - first, it was a focal point for the celebrations, and second, it was a useful place to hang garlands and greenery.
Finding a distinction - as raised by your question - between tradition and "tradition" is a tough one. While we all may understand the distinction (or not!), we must concede that tradition is not what it used to be. Finding a recent root for a tradition does not really make it any less traditional. Tradition is very much in the eye of the beholder - and not in the eye of the critic. The often cited - and debated - source on this in the "The Invention of Tradition", the volume edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger (1983).
Further proof of the maypole's existence can be found in the fact that the Puritan-controlled Parliament sought to ban it in an ordinance of 1644:
And because the prophanation of the Lords-day hath been heretofore greatly occasioned by May-Poles, (a Heathenish vanity, generally abused to superstition and wickedness.) The Lords and Commons do further Order and Ordain, That all and singular May-Poles, that are, or shall be erected, shall be taken down and removed by the Constables, Borsholders, Tything-men, petty Constables, and Churchwardens of the Parishes, and places where the same be: And that no May-Pole shall be hereafter set up, erected, or suffered to be within this Kingdome of England, or Dominion of Wales.
Note that since the "Lord's day" is an archaic name for Sunday, this could be taken to imply that at this time the maypole was not restricted to May Day, but may have been a more regular activity.
