Bank holiday customs are gradually fading away into obscurity.
A number of banks in the UK - including some in Birmingham - are opening on Bank Holiday Monday in a major break with tradition.
Most banks have been closed for business on Bank Holiday Monday ever since a law on public holidays was passed in 1871.
Many other May rituals and beliefs have already vanished into the mists of time - and now the customary closure of banks may be starting to follow suit.
Here’s some of the weird and wonderful things we used to do at at this time of year in Birmingham and the Midlands.
Which May customs do you remember?
1. Dance round the maypole
May Day was once the Celtic festival of Beltane, seen as the start of summer. The maypole itself has its origins in Germany, probably as a continuation of ancient pagan beliefs that were centred on sacred trees and wooden pillars.
Here in Birmingham, we actually had a pub called The Maypole at the junction of Alcester Road South and Maypole Lane in Kings Heath.
Knocked down in December 2004 to make way for a supermarket, the pub took its name from a tall pole that once stood on the spot.
It's not known for sure if this pole was decorated and danced around during the May Day celebrations. But it was definitely used as an important signpost for travellers - as indicated in an Ordnance Survey map of 1887.
Not far from the pub was Maypole Farm, on the north side of Druids Lane - names that do seem to imply a link to May Day rituals with ancient origins in this area.
2. Wash in the dew
It was once believed that dew gathered on May Day (May 1) had magical properties and could cure freckles and pimples.
Anyone who washed their face in it would have a flawless complexion. Many young girls would rush out on May Day morning to bathe their faces in the dew.
This was a widely held belief until more recent times and the famous diary of Samuel Pepys tells how his wife went to Woolwich on the evening of April 30, 1667, so she could collect May Day dew early the next morning.
3. Going a-Maying
Young men and women went off to gather may tree (hawthorn) blossom and other greenery early on May Day.
According to some old wives' tales, it was more amorous than that, with young couples heading into the woods and fields early on May Day to make love. They then came back with armfuls of hawthorn sprigs to decorate their homes and wrap around the maypole and other objects used in the celebrations.
This custom of heading out to collect the blossom was called going a-Maying.
It was the only occasion when hawthorn could be brought into the house, as it was unlucky to do so at any other time of year.
4. Make a garland
Young girls would make May garlands by covering hoops with flowers and leaves. In some parts of the UK, May 1 is also called Garland Day.
5. Build a bower for the May Queen
The May Queen represented an ancient goddess of fertility.
Selected from local maidens and crowned with flowers, she led the May Day celebrations.
An enclosed wooden chair bedecked with blossom, known as a bower, was constructed for the May Queen to sit in.
6. Enjoy merriment on the village green
As part of the celebrations, there was much music and dancing on the village green.
Morris dancers, mummers, hobby horse dancers and the folklore figure of Jack in the Green - a man inside a wooden frame covered in foliage and flowers - took part in the festivities.
Jack in the Green was also called the Green Man or May King. He represented an ancient god whose union with the fertility goddess (symbolised by the May Queen) triggered nature bursting into life at the start of summer.
7. Collect cash on a spoon
During the festivities around the maypole on the village green, long wooden spoons were used by groups of female dancers to collect money from onlookers.
8. Avoid plans for marriage
In folklore, the month of May is usually considered unlucky for getting married, with the old phrase warning: "Marry in May and you’ll rue the day."
The following month is a great time to get hitched because it was once the time to honour Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage who was the equivalent of Hera among the Greeks.
However, in spite of all that, modern followers of the ancient Celtic religion believe that May Day, with all its links to fertility, is a perfect time for a wedding.
These pagan marriages are called handfasting ceremonies and involve the couple’s hands being tied together with red cord or ribbon. It’s said to reflect the marriage of ancient deities whose union brought new life at the beginning of summer.
9. Don't buy a broom
An old saying advises us: "Buy a broom in May, and you will sweep your friends away."
Brooms were made from birch - the same tree often used to create the maypole - so there may be an ancient connection there.
10. And don't wash your blankets either
We're not sure where this one originates but people were once warned: "Wash a blanket in May, wash a dear one away."
