Editing Maypole (section)

====Hungary====
[[File:Nemespann májusfa állítás 2014b.JPG|thumb|May Pole in Hungary. When the girl sees this, she lights three matches to show that she likes it.]]
In Hungary the common term is Májusfa. They were danced around and usually decorated with a full bottle of wine, with ''hímestojás'', flowers and ribbons. May Poles and similar decorated branches, collectively called ''[[Zöld ágak]]'' were believed to have magical properties. All of them were often put up as an ornament to bring good luck and protect against witches' spells, since it was generally believed by the Hungarians that they can be protected against with different types of weed and herbs.

The base was a tall tree stripped of its bark, with the foliage left only at the top (usually 12-15 meters), but it could also be a smaller tree or a large, flowering, greenish branch. They also tried to personalise the trees, decorating them with small gifts, combs, mirrors but also thorny branches and rags, reflecting negative qualities.

Often it was only in front of the priest and judge's house that a tall May Pole was erected, but every girl had to have at least one branch. Usually each suitor would put one in the girl's garden. Often they would carve it out and write the boy's name on it. The cutting and wood delivery had to be done in secret, under the cover of night, so that the lady in question would not suspect anything. When the family saw the boys, if the girl liked the suitor, they invited them in to dinner and proudly left the tree in the garden.

In the morning, they compared who got the longer May Pole, and tried to guess who gave it to them and often, which envious lover has plucked the tree. Unlike other May Poles, in Hungary it was the length of the tree that mattered, which would ultimately convince the girls to go out with the men. This was a common form of rural [[flirting]], similar to the Hajnalfa. 

The lovers were always assisted by a (often drunken) courting team of similar boys. If two boys liked the same girl, after one team had erected the maypole, the other would secretly take it away and dig his own in its place. 

On the last Sunday of May ''májusfa-kitáncolás,'' when they tore the pole down, while dancing one last time. The máj-kerék was placed on it that day, a wagon wheel on the end of a high pole, decorated with ribbons, wine bottles and linen scarves. Its placement was a metaphor for the fulfilment of a love affair. If the kitáncolás didn't happen that meant, the boy has abandoned his courtship. The ornaments of the wheel were raced to be taken down by the men climbing up the pole. Often, however, they would play tricks on each other by putting water with paprika in a bottle on top of the tree instead of wine. The winner was declared the [[King of Pentecost]], the [[Judge Stag]] or the First Stag. During the demolition, young people dressed merely in green branches collected a "ransom", all around the village. 

In addition to the love May Poles, there were also community May Poles in front of churches and pubs, around which they had fun until the evening.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-30 |title=Májusfa, zöldfarsang, jakabág - tavaszi népszokásaink |url=https://kultura.hu/majusfa-zoldfarsang-jakabag-tavaszi-nepszokasaink/ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=kultura.hu |language=hu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=májusfa, májfa {{!}} Magyar néprajzi lexikon {{!}} Kézikönyvtár |url=http://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonok-magyar-neprajzi-lexikon-71DCC/m-732AC/majusfa-majfa-7330A/,%20https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonok-magyar-neprajzi-lexikon-71DCC/m-732AC/majusfa-majfa-7330A/,%20http://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonok-magyar-neprajzi-lexikon-71DCC/m-732AC/majusfa-majfa-7330A/,%20https://www.arcanum.hu/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Lexikonok-magyar-neprajzi-lexikon-71DCC/m-732AC/majusfa-majfa-7330A/ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=www.arcanum.com |language=hu}}</ref>