tina_, and May-eve _neen na Baal tina_, that is, the day and eve of
Baal’s fire, from its having been in ancient times consecrated to the
god Beal, or Belus; whence also the month of May is termed in Irish _Mi
na Beal tine_. May-day is the favourite festival of the mummers. They
consist of a number, varying according to circumstances, of the girls
and young men of the village or neighborhood, usually selected for their
good looks, or their proficiency--the females in the dance, the youths
in hurling and other athletic exercises. They march in procession, two
abreast, and in three divisions: the young men in the van and the rear,
dressed in white or other gay-coloured jackets or vests, and decorated
with ribbons on their hats and sleeves. The young women are dressed also
in light-coloured garments, and two of them bear each a holly-bush, on
which are hung several new hurling balls, the May-day present of the
girls to the youths of the village. The bush is decorated with a
profusion of long ribbons, or paper cut in imitation, which adds greatly
to the gay and joyous, yet strictly rural, appearance of the whole. The
procession is always preceded by music, sometimes of the bagpipe, but
more commonly of a military fife, with the addition of a drum or
tambourine. A clown is of course in attendance: he wears a frightful
mask, and bears a long pole, with shreds of cloth nailed to the end of
it, like a mop, which ever and anon he dips in a pool of water or
puddle, and besprinkles such of the crowd as press upon his companions,
much to the delight of the younger spectators. The mummers during the
day parade the neighbouring villages, or go from one gentleman’s seat to
another, dancing before the mansion house, and receiving money. The
evening of course terminates with drinking.--_Fairy Legends and
Traditions of the South of Ireland_, 1825.
COUNTY DOWN.
On the first of May from time immemorial, until the year 1798, a large
pole was planted in the market-place at Maghera, and a procession of May
boys, leaded by a mock king and queen, paraded the neighbourhood,
dressed in shirts over their clothes, and ornamented with ribbons of
various colours. This practice was revived in 1813, and the May-boys
collected about £17 at the different places where they called: this
defrayed the expense of a public dinner next day. Circumstances,
however, occurred soon after which induced one of the neighbouring
magistrates to come into the town and cut down the pole, which had been
planted in the market-place.--Mason, _Stat. Acc. of Ireland_, 1814, vol.
i. p. 593.
COUNTY DUBLIN.
On the first day of May in Dublin and its vicinity it is customary for
young men and boys to go a few miles out of town in the morning, for the
purpose of cutting a _May-bush_. This is generally a white-thorn, of
about four or five feet high, and they carry it to the street or place
of their residence, in the centre of which they dig a hole, and having
planted the bush, they go round to every house and collect money. They
then buy a pound or more of candles, and fasten them to various parts of
the tree or bush in such a manner as to avoid burning it. Another
portion of “the collection” is expended in the purchase of a heap of
turf sufficient for a large fire, and, if the funds will allow, an old
tar-barrel. Formerly it was not considered complete without having a
horse’s skull and other bones to burn in the fire. The depôts for these
bones were the tanners’ yards in a part of the suburbs, called
Kilmainham; and on May morning groups of boys drag loads of bones to
their several destinations. This practice gave rise to a threat, yet
made use of--“I will drag you like a horse’s head to the bone-fire.”
About dusk, when no more money can be collected, the bush is trimmed,
the turf and bones are made ready to set on fire, the candles are all
lighted, the bush fully illuminated, and the boys, giving three huzzas,
begin to dance and jump round it. After an hour or so the heap of turf
and bones is set fire to, and when the candles are burnt out the bush is
taken up and thrown into the flames. They continue playing about until
the fire is burnt out, each then returns to his home, and so ends their
May-day.
About two or three miles from Dublin on the great Northern road is a
village called Finglass. A high pole is decorated with garlands, and
visitors come in from different parts of the country, and dance round it
to whatever music chance may have conducted there. The best male and
female dancers are chosen king and queen, and placed on chairs. When the
dancing is over they are carried by some of the party to an adjacent
public-house, where they regale themselves with ham, beef, whisky-punch,
ale, cakes, and porter, after which they generally have a dance indoors,
and then disperse. There is an old song relating to the above custom,
beginning
“Ye lads and lasses all, to-day,
To Finglass let us haste away,
With hearts so light and dresses gay,
To dance around the maypole.”--
_Every Day Book_, vol. ii. p. 595.
On May-day also, or on the preceding night, women put a stocking filled
with yarrow under their pillow, and recite the following lines:--
“Good morrow, good yarrow, good morrow to thee;
I hope ’gain [by] the morrow my lover to see,
And that he may be married to me;
The colour of his hair, and the clothes he does wear;
And if he be for me may his face be turned to me;
And if he be not, dark and surly he may be,
And his back be turned to me.”--
_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. iv. p. 505.
MAY 2.] ST. HELEN’S DAY--ROWAN-TREE DAY.
YORKSHIRE.
From the following passage in Atkinson’s _Cleveland Glossary_ (p. 417),
it would appear that this is known in that district as St. Helen’s Day;
although the feast, properly so called, is held on August 18th (which
see). The transfer seems to have originated in the fact that the
Invention (or Discovery) of the Cross was due to St. Helen, who was thus
connected with the feast kept on May 3rd under that title.
At Cleveland, Yorkshire, the 2nd of May, St. Helen’s Day, is Rowan-tree
day, or Rowan-tree Witch-day, and on that day even yet with some the
method of proceeding is for some member of the household or family to go
the first thing in the morning, with no thought of any particular
rowan-tree--rather, I believe, it might be said, till some rowan-tree is
fallen in with of which no previous knowledge had been possessed by the
seeker. From this tree a supply of branches is taken, and (a different
path homewards having been taken, by the strict observers, from that by
which they went) on reaching home twigs are stuck over every door of
every house in the homestead, and scrupulously left there until they
fall out of themselves. A piece is also always borne about by many in
their pockets or purses, as a prophylactic against witching. Not so very
long since either the farmers used to have whipstocks of rowan-tree
wood--rowan-tree-gads they were called,--and it was held that, thus
supplied, they were safe against having their draught fixed, or their
horses made restive by a witch. If ever a draught came to a
standstill--there being in such cases no rowan-tree-gad in the driver’s
hands, of course--then the nearest witchwood-tree was resorted to, and a
stick cut to flog the horses on with, to the discomfiture of the
malevolent witch who had caused the stoppage.
SCOTLAND.
On May 2nd, the eve of the Invention of the Holy Cross, it is customary
in Aberdeenshire to form crosses of twigs of the rowan-tree and to place
them over the doors and windows as a protection against evil
spirits.--_N. & Q. 3rd S._ vol. ii. p. 483.
MAY 3.] THE HIGHLANDS.
Pennant, in his _Tour in Scotland_ (1790, vol. i. p. 111) says that a
Highlander never begins anything of consequence on the day of the week
on which the 3rd of May falls, which he styles _La Sheachanna na
bleanagh_, or the dismal day.
MAY 8.] APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL.
CORNWALL.
The most remarkable observance of antiquity remaining in this county is
the “Furry festival” which has been celebrated from time immemorial on
the 8th of May. At Helston the day used to be ushered in very early in
the morning by the music of drums and kettles, and other pleasant
sounds, the accompaniments of a song:--
“Robin Hood and Little John,
They both are gone to the fair, O;
And we will to the merry greenwood,
To see what they do there, O.
And for to chase, O,
To chase the buck and doe
With Hal-an-tow,
Jolly rumble, O.
And we were up as soon as any day, O
And for to fetch the summer home,
The summer and the may, O,
For the summer is a come, O,
And winter is a go, O.
Where are those Spaniards
That make so great a boast, O?
They shall eat the grey goose-feather,
And we will eat the roast, O.
In every land, O,
The land that ere we go,
With Hal-an-tow, &c.,
And we were up, &c.
As for St. George, O,
St. George he was a knight, O,
Of all the kings in Christendom,
King George is the right, O.
In every land, O,
The land that ere we go
With Hal-an-tow, &c.
God bless Aunt Mary Moses,
With all her power and might, O;
And send us peace in merry England,
Both day and night, O.”
It was a general holiday: so strict, indeed, used the observance of this
jubilee to be held that if any person chanced to be found at work, he
was instantly seized, set astride on a pole, and hurried on men’s
shoulders to the river, where he was sentenced to leap over a wide
space, which if he failed in attempting he of course fell into the
water. There was always, however, a ready compromise of compounding for
a leap. About nine o’clock the revellers appeared before the
grammar-school, and demanded a holiday for the school-boys, after which
they collected money from house to house. They then used to _fadé_ into
the country (_fadé_ being an old English word for to go), and about the
middle of the day returned with flowers and oak-branches in their hats
and caps, and spent the rest of the day until dusk in dancing through
the streets to the sound of the fiddle, playing a particular tune; and
threaded the houses as they chose--claiming a right to go through any
person’s house, in at one door and out of the other. In the afternoon
the ladies and gentlemen visited some farmhouse in the neighbourhood;
whence, after regaling themselves with syllabubs, they returned, after
the fashion of the vulgar, to the town, dancing as briskly the
_fadé-dance_, and entering the houses as unceremoniously. In later times
a select party only made their progress through the streets very late
in the evening, and having quickly vanished from the scene, reappeared
in the ballroom. Here meeting their friends, they went through the usual
routine of dancing till supper; after which they all _faddéd_ it out of
the room, breaking off by degrees to their respective houses. At present
this custom is fast falling into disuse, and the day is only celebrated
by a few of the lower classes.
Murray, in his _Handbook for Cornwall_, 1865, p. 301, says that the
furry festival is in commemoration of the following curious legend:--A
block of granite, which for many years had lain in the yard of the Angel
Inn, was in the year 1783 broken up and used as a part of the building
materials for the assembly-room. This stone, says the legend, was
originally placed at the mouth of hell, from which it was one day
carried away by the devil as he issued forth in a frolicsome mood on an
excursion into Cornwall. Here he traversed the country, playing with his
pebble; but it chanced that St. Michael (who figures conspicuously in
the town arms and is the patron saint of the town) crossed his path; a
combat immediately ensued, and the devil, being worsted, dropped the
_Hell’s stone_ in his flight; hence the name of the town.
There have been many opinions regarding the meaning and derivation of
the word _furry_. Polwhele says (_History of Cornwall_, 1826, vol. ii.
p. 41) that _furry_ is derived from _fer_, a fair: a derivation which
seems probable from the expression in the _furry-song_. “_They both are
gone to the fair, O_.” Some think that the word in question is derived
from the Greek φερω, to bear. The rites of the _furry_ correspond most
intimately with the ανθες φορεα, a Sicilian festival, so named απο τε
φερειν ανθεα, or from _carrying flowers_, in commemoration of the rape
of Proserpine, whom Pluto stole as she was gathering flowers--“herself a
fairer flower!” Others derive the word _furry_ from the Cornish
_furrier_, a thief, from the green spoils they brought home from the
woods.--See Potter’s _Antiquities_, vol. i., and _Gent. Mag._ vol. lx.
pp. 520, 873, 1100.
MAY 10.] WHITSUNDAY.
In the Catholic times of England it was usual to dramatise the descent
of the Holy Ghost, which this festival commemorates,--a custom we find
alluded to in Barnaby Googe’s translation of _Naogeorgus_:
“On Whit-sunday whyte pigeons tame in strings from heaven flie,
And one that framed is of wood still hangeth in the skie.
Thou seest how they with idols play, and teach the people too;
None otherwise than little gyrls with puppets used to do.”
In an old _Computus_, anno 1509, of St. Patrick’s, Dublin, we find
iv^{s.} vii^{d.} paid to those playing with the great and little angel
and the dragon; iii^{s.} paid for little cords employed about the Holy
Ghost; iv^{s.} vi^{d.} for making the angel (_thurificantis_) censing,
and ii^{s.} ii^{d.} for cords of it--all on the feast of
Pentecost.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 685.
Whitsunday is observed as a _Scarlet Day_ in the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge.--_Kalendar of the English Church_, 1865, p. 73.
The origin of the term Whitsunday has been warmly contested by various
writers, and still seems to be an undecided question. For an interesting
article on this subject, see _N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. i. pp. 401-403.
Consult also _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. ii. p. 154; _3rd S._ vol. vii. p.
479; _4th S._ vol. xi. p. 437. Dr. Neale’s _Church Festivals and their
Household Words._--_The Prayer Book Interleaved_ (Champion and
Beaumont).
_Whitsun Ale._--Ale was so prevalent a drink amongst us in old times, as
to become a part of the name of various festal meetings, as Leet-ale,
Lamb-ale, Bride-ale (bridal), and, as we see, Whitsun-ale. It was the
custom of our ancestors to have parochial meetings every Whitsuntide,
usually in some barn near the church, consisting of a kind of picnic, as
each parishioner brought what victuals he could spare. The ale, which
had been brewed pretty strong for the occasion, was sold by the
churchwardens, and from its profits a fund arose for the repair of the
church.--See _Book of Days_, vol. i. p. 637; also Brand, _Pop. Antiq._
1849, vol. i. pp. 276, 283.
CORNWALL.
Whitsuntide is observed at Polperro by a custom of the young people
going in droves into the country to partake of milk and cream.--_N. & Q.
1st S._ vol. xii. p. 298.
Carew in his _Survey of Cornwall_ (p. 68), speaking of the church ale,
says that “two young men of the parish are yerely chosen by their last
foregoers to be wardens, who, dividing the task, make collection among
the parishioners of whatsoever provision it pleaseth them voluntarily to
bestow. This they employ in brewing, baking, and other acates
[provisions] against Whitsuntide; upon which holy-days the neighbours
meet at the church-house, and there merrily feed on their owne victuals,
contributing some petty portion to the stock, which, by many smalls,
groweth to a meetly greatness; for there is entertayned a kind of
emulation between these wardens, who, by his graciousness in gathering
and good husbandry in expending, can best advance the churche’s profit.
Besides, the neighbour parishes at those times lovingly visit each one
another and this way frankly spend their money together. The afternoones
are consumed in such exercises as olde and yong folke (having leisure)
doe accustomably weare out the time withall. When the feast is ended,
the wardens yeeld in their account to the parishioners, and such money
as exceedeth the disbursement is layd up in store, to defray any
extraordinary charges arising in the parish or imposed on them for the
good of the country or the prince’s service, neither of which commonly
gripe so much but that somewhat still remayneth to cover the purse’s
bottom.” This custom is falling into desuetude, if it be not already
discontinued.--See _N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. xii. 298.
CUMBERLAND.
At this season, and also at Martinmas, are held _hirings_ for farmers’
servants. Those who offer their services stand in a body in the
market-place, and to distinguish themselves hold a bit of straw or green
branch in their mouths. When the market is over the girls begin to file
off, and gently pace the streets with a view of gaining admirers, while
the young men, with similar designs, follow them, and, having eyed the
lasses, each picks up a sweetheart, whom they conduct to a dancing-room,
and treat with punch and cake. Here they spend their afternoon, and part
of their half-year’s wages, in drinking and dancing, unless, as it
frequently happens, a girl becomes the subject of contention, when the
harmony of the meeting is interrupted, and the candidates for her
affection settle the dispute by blows without further ceremony. Whoever
wins the victory secures the maid for the present, but she is sometimes
finally won by the vanquished pugilist. When the diversions of the day
are concluded, the servants generally return to their homes, where they
pass about a week before they enter on their respective
services.--Britton and Brayley, _Beauties of England and Wales_, 1803,
vol. iii. p. 243.
ESSEX.
Heybridge Church, near Maldon, was formerly strewn with rushes, and
round the pews, in holes made apparently for the purpose, were placed
small twigs just budding.--_N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. i. p. 471.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
At St. Briavels, after divine service, formerly, pieces of bread and
cheese were distributed to the congregation at church. To defray the
expenses, every householder in the parish paid a penny to the
churchwardens, and this was said to be for the liberty of cutting and
taking the wood in Hudnalls. According to tradition, the privilege was
obtained of some Earl of Hereford, then lord of the Forest of Dean, at
the instance of his lady, upon the same hard terms that Lady Godiva
obtained the privileges for the citizens of Coventry.--Rudder, _History
of Gloucestershire_, 1779, p. 307. See _N. & Q. 2nd S._ vol. x. p. 184.
A remnant of the old customs of Whitsuntide is retained at the noble old
church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, which is annually strewn with
rushes in accordance with ancient practice.--See Edwards, _Old English
Customs and Charities_, pp. 216, 217.
A custom existed at Wickham for the lord of the manor to give a certain
quantity of malt to brew ale to be given away at Whitsuntide, and a
certain quantity of flour to make cakes. Every one who kept a cow sent
curd; others, plums, sugar and flour. A contribution of sixpence from
each person was levied for furnishing an entertainment, to which every
poor person of the parish who came was presented with a quart of ale, a
cake, a piece of cheese, and a cheesecake.--Rudder, _History of
Gloucestershire_, 1779, p. 817.
HAMPSHIRE.
At Monk Sherborne, near Basingstoke, both the Priory and parish churches
were decorated with birch on Whitsunday.--_N. & Q. 4th S._ vol. ii. p.
190.
HEREFORDSHIRE.
On Whitsunday, says a correspondent of _N. & Q._ (_4th S._ vol. i. p.
551), I was in the church of King’s Pion, near Hereford, and was struck
with what seemed to me a novel style of church decoration. Every pew
corner and “point of vantage” was ornamented with a sprig of birch, the
light green leaves of which contrasted well with the sombreness of the
woodwork. No other flower or foliage was to be seen in the church.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
Miss Baker (_Glossary of Northamptonshire Words_, 1854, vol. ii. p. 433)
describes the celebration of a Whitsun-ale early in the present century
in a barn at King’s Sutton, fitted up for the entertainment, in which
the lord, as the principal, carried a mace made of silk, finely plaited
with ribbons, and filled with spices and perfumes for such of the
company to smell as desired it; six morris dancers were among the
performers.
In a Whitsun-ale, last kept at Greatworth in 1785, the fool, in a motley
garb, with a gridiron painted, or worked with a needle, on his back,
carried a stick with a bladder, and a calf’s tail. Majordomo and his
lady as Queen of May, and my lord’s morris (six in number) were in this
procession. They danced round a garlanded maypole. A banquet was served
in a barn, and all those who misconducted themselves were obliged to
ride a wooden horse, and if still more unruly were put into the stocks,
which was termed being my lord’s organist.--_Glossary, &c._, p. 434.
NORTHUMBERLAND.
An unchartered Whitsun Tryste Fair is still held annually on Whitsunbank
Hill, near Wooler.--_N. & Q. 5th S._ vol. i. p. 402.
OXFORDSHIRE.
A custom formerly prevailed amongst the people of Burford to hunt deer
in Wychwood Forest. An original letter, in the possession of the
corporation, dated 1593, directs the inhabitants to forbear the hunting
for that year, on account of the plague that was then raging, and states
an order that should be given to the keepers of the forest, to deliver
to the bailiffs two bucks in lieu of the hunting; which privilege, was
not, however, to be prejudiced in future by its remittance on that
occasion.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._ 1849, vol. i. p. 284.
SOMERSETSHIRE.
Collinson, in his _History of Somersetshire_ (vol. iii. p. 620),
speaking of Yatton, says that, “John Lane of this parish, gentleman,
left half an acre of ground, called the Groves, to the poor for ever,
reserving a quantity of the grass for the strewing church on
Whitsunday.”
IRELAND.
The Irish kept the feast of Whitsuntide with milk food, as among the
Hebrews; and a breakfast composed of cake, bread, and a liquor made by
hot water poured on wheaten bran.--_Every Day Book_, vol. i. p. 685.
At Holy Island, as regularly as the season of Whitsuntide comes, a
concourse of people is assembled to perform penance. They make two
hundred and eighty rounds, the circumference of some being a mile,
others half a mile, till they are gradually diminished to a circuit of
the church of St. Mary. A detailed and probably much exaggerated account
of the scene upon this occasion will be found in Hardy’s _Holy Wells of
Ireland_, 1836, p. 29.
MAY 11.] WHITSUN MONDAY.
CHESHIRE.
The Whitsun Mysteries were acted at Chester, seven or eight on each day
during the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Whitsun week. The drapers,
for instance, exhibited the “Creation;” the tanners took the “Fall of
Lucifer;” the water-carriers of the Dee reproduced the “Deluge;” the
cooks had the “Harrowing of Hell.” The performers were carried from one
station to another by means of a movable scaffold, a huge and ponderous
machine mounted on wheels, gaily decorated with flags, and divided into
two compartments, the upper of which formed the stage, and the lower,
defended from vulgar curiosity by coarse canvas draperies, answered the
purposes of the green-room. The performers began at the Abbey gates,
where they were witnessed by the high dignitaries of the Church; they
then proceeded to the High Cross, where the Mayor and the civic magnates
were assembled; and so on, through the city, until their motley history
of God and His dealings with man had been played out. The production of
these pageants was costly; each mystery has been set down at fifteen or
twenty pounds, present money. The dresses were obtained from the
churches, until, this practice being denounced as scandalous, the guilds
had then to provide the costume and other properties.--See _Edinburgh
Essays_, 1856; also _Book of Days_, vol. i. pp. 633-637.
DERBYSHIRE.
Derby having for many centuries been celebrated for its ale, which
Camden says was made here in such perfection, that wine must be very
good to deserve a preference, and Fuller remarks, “Never was the wine of
Falernum better known to the Romans than the canary of Derby is to the
English,” it is not a matter of surprise to find some remnants of the
Whitsun-ales in the neighbourhood. In a manuscript in the Bodleian
Library is a record of the Whitsun-ales at Elvaston and Ockbrook, from
which it appears that they were formerly required to brew four ales of a
quarter of malt each. Every inhabitant of Ockbrook was obliged to be
present at each ale; every husband and his wife to pay twopence, and
every cottager one penny; the inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and
Ambaston to receive all the profits and advantages arising from the ales
to the use and behalf of the church at Elvaston. The inhabitants of
Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston to brew eight ales, each inhabitant
to be present as before, or to send their money.--_Jour. of the Arch.
Assoc._ 1852, vol. vii. p. 206.
HAMPSHIRE.
At St. Mary’s College, Winchester, the _Dulce Domum_ is sung on the
evening preceding the Whitsun holidays; the masters, scholars, and
choristers, attended by a band of music, walk in procession round the
courts of the College, singing it.--Brand, _Pop. Antiq._, 1849, vol. i.
p. 452. See _Gent. Mag._, 1811, vol. lxxxi. p. 503.
LANCASHIRE.