Chambers' Book of Days tells us:
"The eve of May Day is a time when witches are believed to fly abroad. In Germany it is known as Walpurgisnacht, a night that bears the name of an English nun, St. Walburga (or Walpurgis), who became the abbess of Heidenheim in the eighth century. On Walpurgisnacht, witches are said to gather at the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains in Germany. There they carouse with the devil until midnight , when the Queen of May appears. (In other parts of the country, other high places are said to be the scene of the revelries.) The night is marked by fancy-dress celebrations, with costumes similar to those of Hallow'een, and by singing and dancing around bonfires."
St. Walburga was born, c. 710, in the county of Devonshire into a local aristocratic family. She was the daughter of an under king of the West Saxons. At the age of 11 Walburga was entrusted to the abbess of Wimborne Abbey in Dorsetshire and in the course of time became a nun.
Eventually Walburga, after 26 years at Wimborne, travelled with her brothers to Francia to assist St. Boniface in evangelising the still pagan Germans.
Walburga became a nun at the double monastery of Heidenheim amm Hahnenkamm which was founded by her brother Willibald. He named her as his successor and she became abbess of the monastery following his death in 751.
Walburga died in February 777 or 779 - the records are unclear - and was canonised by Pope Adrien the Second in 870.
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