History
According to the polemic anti-Catholic pamphlet, The Two Babylons, the origin of the maypole dance began in ancient Babylon during sex worship and fertility rites. However, as documented in the book review, "THE TWO BABYLONS: A Case Study in Poor Methodology", by Ralph Woodrow, which appeared in volume 22, number 2 (2000) of the Christian Research Journal (Article DC187), Two Babylons author Alexander Hislop was an exceptionally poor researcher who "picked, chose and mixed" portions of various unrelated myths from many different cultures. For example, he wrote that Nimrod was married to Semiramis although she lived 2,000 years later.
The church of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London is named after the maypole that was kept under its eaves and set up each spring until 1517 when student riots put an end to the custom. The maypole itself survived until 1547 when a Puritan mob seized and destroyed it as a "pagan idol".
Read more about this topic: Maypole Dance
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