With reference to the May-day festival of the sweepers the same author
says:--“The chimney-sweepers of London have also singled out the first
of May for their festival, at which time they parade the streets in
companies, disguised in various manners. Their dresses are usually
decorated with gilt paper and other mock fineries; they have their
shovels and brushes in their hands, which they rattle one upon the
other; and to this rough music they jump about in imitation of dancing.
Some of the larger companies have a fiddler with them, and a Jack
in the Green, as well as a Lord and Lady of the May, who follow the
minstrel with great stateliness, and dance as occasion requires. The
Jack in the Green is a piece of pageantry consisting of a hollow frame
of wood or wicker-work, made in the form of a sugar-loaf, but open at
the bottom, and sufficiently large and high to receive a man. The frame
is covered with green leaves and bunches of flowers, interwoven with
each other, so that the man within may be completely concealed, who
dances with his companions; and the populace are mightily pleased with
the oddity of the moving pyramid.”
Since the date of the above, the sweepers have greatly improved
on their pageant, substituting for the fiddle the more noisy and
appropriate music of the street-showman’s drum and pipes, and adding to
their party several diminutive imps, no doubt as representatives of the
climbing-boys, clothed in caps, jackets, and trowsers, thickly covered
with party-coloured shreds. These still make a show of rattling their
shovels and brushes, but the clatter is unheard alongside the thunders
of the drum. In this manner they go through the various streets for
three days, obtaining money at various places, and on the third night
hold a feast at one of their favourite public-houses, where all the
sooty tribes resort, and, in company with their wives or girls, keep
up their festivity till the next morning. I find that this festival is
beginning to disappear in many parts of London, but it still holds its
ground, and is as highly enjoyed as ever, in all the eastern localities
of the metropolis.
It is but seldom that any of the large masters go out on May-day; this
custom is generally confined to the little masters and their men. The
time usually spent on these occasions is four days, during which as
much as from 2_l._ to 4_l._ a day is collected; the sums obtained on
the three first days are divided according to the several kinds of work
performed. But the proceeds of the fourth day are devoted to a supper.
The average gains of the several performers on these occasions are as
follows:--
My lady, who acts as Columbine,
and receives 2_s._ per day.
My lord, who is often the master
himself, but usually one of the
journeymen 3_s._ „