Brewer's: May-pole, May-queen

etc. Dancing round the May-pole on May-day, “going a-Maying,” electing a May-queen, and lighting bonfires, are all remnants of Sun-worship, and may be traced to the most ancient times. The chimney-sweeps used to lead about a Jack-i'-the-green, and the custom is not yet quite extinct (1895).

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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