observed in his time at Padstow: called the _Hobby-horse_, from the
figure of a horse being carried through the streets. Men, women, and
children flocked round it, when they proceeded to a place called Traitor
Pool, about a quarter of a mile distant, in which the hobby-horse was
always supposed to drink. The head after being dipped into the water,
was instantly taken out, and the mud and water were sprinkled on the
spectators, to the no small diversion of all. On returning home a
particular song was sung, which was supposed to commemorate the event
that gave the hobby-horse birth. According to tradition the French once
upon a time effected a landing at a small cove in the vicinity, but
seeing at a distance a number of women dressed in red cloaks, whom they
mistook for soldiers, they fled to their ships and put to sea. The day
generally ended in riot and dissipation.--Hitchins, _History of
Cornwall_, 1824, vol. i. p. 720.
On the first Sunday after May-day it is a custom with families at
Penzance to visit Rose-hill, Poltier, and other adjacent villages, by
way of recreation. These pleasure-parties generally consist of two or
three families together. They carry flour and other materials with them
to make the “heavy cake”[46] at the farm-dairies, which are always open
for their reception. Nor do they forget to take tea, sugar, rum, and
other comfortable things for their refreshment, which, by paying a
trifle for baking and for the niceties awaiting their consumption,
content the farmers for the house-room and pleasure they afford their
welcome visitants.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p 561.
[46] See May-eve, Penzance, p. 216.
DERBYSHIRE.
Maypoles are to be seen in some of the village-greens still standing,
and adorned with garlands on May-day. On this morning, too, the young
village women go out about sunrise for the purpose of washing their
faces in the May-dew, and return in the full hope of having their
complexions improved by the process.--_Jour. of Arch. Assoc._, 1852,
vol. vii. p. 206.
DEVONSHIRE.
At the village of Holne, situated on one of the spurs of Dartmoor, is a
field of about two acres, the property of the parish, and called the
Ploy (play) Field. In the centre of this stands a granite pillar
(Menhir) six or seven feet high. On May-morning before daybreak the
young men of the village used to assemble there, and then proceed to the
moor, where they selected a ram lamb (doubtless with the consent of the
owner), and after running it down, brought it in triumph to the Ploy
Field, fastened it to the pillar, cut its throat, and then roasted it
whole, skin, wool, &c. At midday a struggle took place, at the risk of
cut hands, for a slice, it being supposed to confer luck for the ensuing
year on the fortunate devourer. As an act of gallantry the young men
sometimes fought their way through the crowd to get a slice for the
chosen amongst the young women, all of whom, in their best dresses,
attended the Ram Feast, as it was called. Dancing, wrestling, and other
games, assisted by copious libations of cider during the afternoon,
prolonged the festivity till midnight.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. vii. p.
353.
In some places it is customary for the children to carry about from
house to house two dolls, a large and a small one--beautifully dressed
and decorated with flowers. This custom has existed at Torquay from time
immemorial.
ESSEX.
At Saffron-Walden, and in the village of Debden, an old May-day song
(almost identical with that given under BERKSHIRE, which see) is sung
by the little girls, who go about in parties, carrying garlands from
door to door.
The garlands which the girls carry are sometimes large and handsome, and
a doll is usually placed in the middle, dressed in white, according to
certain traditional regulations.--_Illustrated London News_, June 6th,
1857, p. 553.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
In the village of Randwick, hard by the Stroud cloth-mills, at the
appointed daybreak, three cheeses were carried upon a litter, festooned
and garlanded with blossoms, down to the churchyard, and rolled thrice
mystically round the sacred building; being subsequently carried back in
the same way upon the litter in triumphal procession, to be cut
up on the village-green and distributed piecemeal among the
bystanders.--_Household Words_, 1859, vol. xix. p. 515.
In this county the children sing the following song as they dance round
the Maypole:
“Round the Maypole, trit-trit-trot!
See what a Maypole we have got;
Fine and gay.
Trip away,
Happy is our new May-day.”--
_Aunt Judy’s Magazine_, 1874, No. xcvii. p. 436.
HAMPSHIRE.
In the village of Burley, one of the most beautiful villages of the New
Forest, a maypole is erected, a fête is given to the school-children,
and a May-queen is chosen by lot; a floral crown surmounts the pole, and
garlands of flowers hang about the shaft.
HERTFORDSHIRE.
At Baldock, in former times, the peasantry were accustomed to make a
“my-lord-and-my-lady” in effigy on the first of May. These figures were
constructed of rags, pasteboard, old masks, canvas, straw, &c., and were
dressed up in the holiday habiliments of their fabricators--“my lady” in
the best gown’d, apron, kerchief, and mob cap of the dame, and “my
lord” in the Sunday gear of her master. The tiring finished, “the pair”
were seated on chairs or joint-stools, placed outside the cottage-door
or in the porch, their bosoms ornamented with large bouquets of May
flowers. They supported a hat, into which the contributions of the
lookers-on were put. Before them, on a table were arranged a mug of ale,
a drinking-horn, a pipe, a pair of spectacles, and sometimes a
newspaper.
The observance of this usage was exclusively confined to the wives of
the labouring poor resident in the town, who were amply compensated for
their pains-taking by the contributions, which generally amounted to
something considerable. But these were not the only solicitors on
May-day; the juveniles of Baldock constructed a garland of hoops
transversed, decorated with flowers, ribbons, &c., affixed to the
extremity of a staff, by which it was borne, similar to those at
Northampton and Lynn.--Hone, _The Year Book_, 1838, p. 1593.
The following amusing account of the manner in which May-day was
formerly observed at Hitchin is given by a correspondent of _Every Day
Book_, 1826, vol. i. p. 565:
Soon after three o’clock in the morning a large party of the
townspeople, and neighbouring labourers parade the town, singing the
_Mayer’s Song_. They carry in their hands large branches of May, and
they affix a branch either upon or at the side of the doors of nearly
every respectable house in the town. Where there are knockers they place
their branches within the handles. The larger the branch is that is
placed at the door the more honourable to the house, or rather to the
servants of the house. If in the course of the year a servant has given
offence to any of the mayers, then, instead of a branch of May, a branch
of elder, with a bunch of nettles, is affixed to her door: this is
considered a great disgrace, and the unfortunate subject of it is
exposed to the jeers of her rivals. On May-morning, therefore, the girls
look with some anxiety for their May-branch, and rise very early to
ascertain their good or ill-fortune. The houses are all thus decorated
by four o’clock in the morning. Throughout the day parties of these
mayers are seen dancing and frolicking in various parts of the town. The
group that I saw to-day, which remained in Bancroft for more than an
hour, was composed as follows:--First came two men with their faces
blacked, one of them with a birch broom in his hand, and a large
artificial hump on his back; the other dressed as a woman, all in rags
and tatters, with a large straw bonnet on, and carrying a ladle; these
are called “Mad Moll and her husband;” next came two men, one most
fantastically dressed with ribbons, and a great variety of
gaudy-coloured silk handkerchiefs tied round his arms, from the
shoulders to the wrists, and down his thighs and legs to the ancles; he
carried a drawn sword in his hand; leaning upon his arm was a youth
dressed as a fine lady in white muslin, and profusely bedecked from top
to toe with gay ribbons--these were called the “Lord and Lady” of the
company; after these followed six or seven couples more, attired much in
the same style as the lord and lady, only the men were without the
swords. When this group received a satisfactory contribution at any
house the music struck up from a violin, clarionet, and fife,
accompanied by the long drum, and they began the merry dance. While the
dancers were merrily footing it the principal amusement to the populace
was caused by the grimaces and clownish tricks of Mad Moll and her
husband. When the circle of spectators became so contracted as to
interrupt the dancers, then Mad Moll’s husband went to work with his
broom, and swept the road-dust, all round the circle, into the faces of
the crowd, and when any pretended affronts were offered to his wife, he
pursued the offenders, broom in hand; if he could not overtake them,
whether they were males or females, he flung his broom at them. These
flights and pursuits caused an abundance of merriment.
The _Mayer’s Song_ is a composition, or rather a medley of great
antiquity, and is as follows:--
“Remember us poor mayers all.
And thus do we begin
To lead our lives in righteousness,
Or else we die in sin.
We have been rambling all this night,
And almost all this day,
And now returned back again
We have brought you a branch of May.
A branch of May we have brought you,
And at your door it stands,
It is but a sprout, but it’s well budded out
By the work of our Lord’s hands.
The hedges and trees they are so green,
As green as any leek,
Our Heavenly Father, he watered them
With his heavenly dew so sweet.
The heavenly gates are open wide,
Our paths are beaten plain,
And if a man be not too far gone,
He may return again.
The life of man is but a span,
It flourishes like a flower;
We are here to day, and gone to-morrow,
And are dead in an hour.
The moon shines bright, and the stars give a light
A little before it is day.
So God bless you all, both great and small,
And send you a joyful May.”
HUNTINGDONSHIRE.
In the village of Glatton, May-day is observed by the election of Queen
of the May, and the making of the garland.
The garland is of a pyramidal shape, and in this respect resembles the
old milk-maid’s garland; it is composed of crown-imperials, tulips,
anemones, cowslips, kingcups, daffodils, meadow-orchis, wallflowers,
primroses, lilacs, laburnums, and as many roses and bright flowers as
the season may have produced. These, with the addition of green boughs,
are made into a huge pyramidal nosegay, from the front of which a
gaily-dressed doll stares vacantly at her admirers. This doll is
intended to represent Flora. From the base of the nosegay hang ribbons,
handkerchiefs, pieces of silk, and any other gay-coloured fabric that
can be borrowed for the occasion. The garland is carried by the two
maids of honour to the May queen who place their hands beneath the
nosegay, and allow the gay-coloured streamers to fall towards the
ground. The garland is thus some six feet high.
The following song was sung by “the Mayers” on May-day, 1865, in the
village of Denton and Chaldecote, when they went round with their
“garland”:--
“Here comes us poor Mayers all,
And thus do we begin
To lead our lives in righteousness,
For fear we should die in sin.
To die in sin is a dreadful thing,
To die in sin for nought;
It would have been better for us poor souls
If we had never been born.
Good morning, lords and ladies,
It is the first of May;
I hope you’ll view the garland,
For it looks so very gay.
The cuckoo sings in April,
The cuckoo sings in May,
The cuckoo sings in June,
In July she flies away.
Now take a Bible in your hand,
And read a chapter through;
And when the day of judgment comes
The Lord will think of you.”--
_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. vii. p. 373.
It is the custom at Warboys for certain of the poor of the parish to be
allowed to go into Warboys Wood on May-day morning for the purpose of
gathering and taking away bundles of sticks. It may possibly be a relic
of the old custom of going to a wood in the early morning of May-day for
the purpose of gathering May-dew.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. xii. p. 42.
KENT.
Sir Dudley Diggs, by his will, dated 1638, left the yearly sum of £20 to
be paid to two young men and two maids, who on May 19th yearly should
run a tye at Old Wives Lees in Chilham and prevail; the money to be paid
out of the profits of the land of this part of the manor of Selgrave,
which escheated to him after the death of Lady Clive. These lands, being
in three pieces, lie in the parishes of Preston and Faversham, and
contain about forty acres, all commonly called the _Running Lands_. Two
young men and two young maids run at Old Wives Lees in Chilham yearly on
May 1st, and the same number at Sheldwich Lees on the Monday following,
by way of trial; and the two who prevail at each of those places run
for the £10 at _Old Wives Lees_ as above mentioned on May 19th.--Hasted,
_History of Kent_, vol ii. p. 787.
At Sevenoaks the children carry their tasteful boughs and garlands from
door to door. The boughs consist of a bunch of greenery and wild flowers
tied at the end of a stick, which is carried perpendicularly. The
garlands are formed of two hoops interlaced cross-wise, and covered with
blue and yellow flowers from the woods and hedges. Sometimes the
garlands are fastened at the end of a stick carried perpendicularly, and
sometimes hanging from the centre of a stick borne horizontally by two
children. Either way the effect is pleasing, and fully worth the few
pence which the appeal of “May-day, garland-day! please to remember the
May-bough!” makes one contribute.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. iii. p. 424.
LANCASHIRE.
In most places it is customary for each driver of a team to decorate his
horses with gaudy ribbons on May-day. In Liverpool and Birkenhead,
however, where some thousands of men are employed as carters, this
May-day dressing has grown into a most imposing institution. Every
driver of a team in and around the docks appears to enter into rivalry
with his neighbours, and the consequence is that most of the horses are
gaily dressed and expensively decorated. The drivers put on their new
suits, covered with white linen slops, and sport new whips in honour of
the occasion. Some of the embellishments for the horses are of a most
costly character; not a few are disposed in most admirable taste; and in
several instances they amount to actual art-exhibitions, since the carts
are filled with the articles in which their owners deal. Real and
artificial flowers are disposed in wreaths and other forms upon
different parts of the harness, and brilliant velvet cloths, worked in
silver and gold, are thrown over the loins of the horses; and if their
owners are of sufficient standing to bear coats-of-arms, these are
emblazoned upon the cloths, surrounded with many curious and artistic
devices. Not only are the men interested in these displays, but wives
and daughters, mistresses and servants, vie with each other as to who
shall produce the most gorgeous exhibition. A few years ago the
Corporation of Liverpool exhibited no fewer than one hundred and
sixty-six horses in the procession, the first cart containing all the
implements used by the scavenging department, most artistically
arranged. The railway companies, the brewers, the spirit-merchants, and
all the principal dock-carriers, &c., send their teams with samples of
produce to swell the procession. After parading the principal streets,
headed by bands of music and banners, the horses are taken home to their
respective stables, and public drinks are given to the carters by the
Corporation, the railway companies, and other extensive firms. The Mayor
and other members of the Corporation attend these annual feasts, and
after the repasts are ended the carters are usually addressed by some
popular speaker, and much good advice is frequently given them.--Harland
and Wilkinson, _Legends and Traditions of Lancashire_, 1873, p. 96.
In the _Life of Mrs. Pilkington_ (_Gent. Mag._ 1754, vol. xxiv. p. 354)
allusion seems made to this custom. The writer says, They took places in
the waggon, and quitted London early on May-morning; and it being the
custom in this month for the passengers to give the waggoner at every
inn a ribbon to adorn his team, she soon discovered the origin of the
proverb, “as fine as a horse;” for before they got to the end of their
journey the poor beasts were almost blinded by the tawdry party-coloured
flowing honours of their heads.
In connection with this custom may be mentioned one practised at
Gilmerton, in the parish of Liberton, county of Edinburgh. The carters
have friendly societies for the purpose of supporting each other in old
age or during ill-health, and with the view partly of securing a day’s
recreation, and partly of recruiting their numbers and funds, they have
an annual procession. Every man decorates his cart, horse, and ribbons,
and a regular procession is made, accompanied by a band of music. To
crown all there is an uncouth uproarious race with cart-horses on the
public road, which draws forth a crowd of Edinburgh idlers, and all ends
in a dinner, for which a fixed sum is paid.--_Stat. Acc. of Scotland_,
1845, vol. i. p. 12.
The maypole of Lostock, a village near Bolton, in Lancashire, is
probably the most ancient on record. It is mentioned in a charter by
which the town of West Halton was granted to the Abbey of Cockersand,
about the reign of King John. The pole, it appears, superseded a cross,
and formed one of the landmarks which defined the boundaries, and must
therefore have been a permanent and not an annual erection. The words of
the charter are, “De Lostockmepull, ubi crux sita fuit recta linea in
austro, usque ad crucem-super-le-Tunge.”--Dugd., _Monast. Anglic._ 1830,
vol. vi. p. ii. n. ii. p. 906; _Med. Ævi Kalend._ vol. i. p. 238.
LINCOLNSHIRE.
Formerly it was customary in some parts of this county to change
servants on May-day.--_Time’s Telescope_, 1823, p. 118.
A peculiar rustic ceremony used annually to be observed at Horncastle
towards the close of the last century. On the morning of May-day, when
the young people of the neighbourhood assembled to partake in the
amusements which ushered in the festival of the month, a train of youths
collected themselves at a place called the _May-bank_. From thence with
wands enwreathed with cowslips, they walked in procession to the
maypole, situated to the west end of the town, and adorned on that
morning with every variety in the gifts of Flora. Here, uniting in the
wild joy of young enthusiasm, they struck together their wands, and,
scattering around the cowslips, testified their thankfulness for that
bounty which, widely diffusing its riches, enabled them to return home
rejoicing at the promises of the opening year.--Weir, _Sketches of
Horncastle_.
Dr. Stukeley, in his _Itinerarium Curiosum_ (1724, p. 29), alluding to
this custom, says there is a maypole hill near Horncastle, where
probably stood an Hermes in Roman times. The boys annually keep up the
festival of the _Floralia_ on May-day, making a procession to this hill
with May-gads (as they call them) in their hands. This is a white willow
wand, the bark peeled off, tied round with cowslips. At night they have
a bonfire, and other merriment, which is really a sacrifice or religious
festival.
ISLE OF MAN.
May Day is ushered in with blowing of horns on the mountains, and with a
ceremony which, says Waldron, has something in the design of it pretty
enough. In almost all the great parishes they choose from among the
daughters of the most wealthy farmers a young maid for the _Queen of
May_. She is dressed in the gayest and best manner they can, and is
attended by about twenty others, who are called maids of honour. She has
also a young man, who is her captain, and has under his command a good
number of inferior officers. In opposition to her is the Queen of
Winter, who is a man dressed in woman’s clothes, with woollen hood,
fur-tippets, and loaded with the warmest and heaviest habits one upon
another. In the same manner are those, who represent her attendants,
drest; nor is she without a captain and troop for her defence. Both
being equipt as proper emblems of the Beauty of the Spring and the
Deformity of the Winter, they set forth from their respective quarters,
the one preceded by violins and flutes, the other with the rough music
of the tongs and the cleavers. Both parties march till they meet on a
common, and then their trains engage in a mock battle. If the Queen of
the Winter’s forces get the better, so as to take the Queen of May
prisoner, she is ransomed for as much as pays the expenses of the day.
After this ceremony Winter and her company retire, and divert themselves
in a barn, and the others remain on the green, where, having danced a
considerable time, they conclude the evening with a feast, the queen at
one table with her maids, the captain with his troop at another. There
are seldom less than fifty or sixty at each board.
For the seizure of her Majesty’s person that of one of her slippers
was substituted more recently, which was in like manner ransomed
to defray the expenses of the pageant. The procession of the
_Summer_--which was subsequently composed of little girls, and called
the _Maceboard_[47]--outlived that of its rival, the _Winter_, some
years, and now, like many other remnants of antiquity, has fallen into
disuse.--Train, _History of the Isle of Man_, 1845, vol. ii. p. 118;
Waldron, _Description of the Isle of Man_, p. 154.
[47] The _maceboard_ (probably a corruption of May sports) went from
door to door inquiring if the inmates would buy the queen’s favour,
which was composed of a small piece of ribbon.
MIDDLESEX.
London boasted several maypoles before the days of Puritanism. Many
parishes vied with each other in the height and adornment of their own.
One famed pole stood in Basing Lane, near St. Paul’s Cathedral, and was
in the time of Stow kept in the hostelry called Gerard’s Hall. “In the
high-roofed hall of this house,” says he, “sometime stood a large fir
pole, which reached to the roof thereof--a pole of forty feet long and
fifteen inches about, fabled to be the justing staff of Gerard the
Giant.” A carved wooden figure of this giant, pole in hand, stood over
the gate of this old inn until March 1852, when the whole building was
demolished for city improvements.--_Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 576. See
_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 612.