may-day.
may-day was celebrated with a gaiety and poetical grace far beyond all other festivals. it had come down from the pagan times with all its arcadian beauty, and seemed to belong to those seasons more than to any christian occasions. it is one that the poets have all combined to lavish their most delicious strains upon. the time of the year was itself so inspiring,—with all its newness of feeling, its buds and blossoms and smiling skies. it seemed just the chosen period for heaven and earth and youth to mingle their gladness together. there is no festivity that is so totally gone! washington irving in his very interesting account of his visit to newstead abbey, takes the opportunity to say, that he had been accused by the critics of describing in his sketch book popular manners and customs that had gone by, but that he had found those very customs existing in that neighbourhood. that those who doubted the accuracy of his statements must go north of the trent. that he found may-poles standing in the old-fashioned villages, and that a band of plough-bullocks even came to the abbey while he was there.
washington irving certainly seemed most agreeably impressed with the primitive air of that part of nottinghamshire, and it is interesting to see the effect which places most familiar to you produce on the minds of strangers of taste and poetical feeling. his delight at finding himself in old sherwood, the haunt of robin[422] hood; in hearing the bells of mansfield at a distance; and his remarking the names of wagstaff, hardstaff, beardall, as names abounding about the forest, naturally suggesting the character of those who first bore them—names so common to our eyes as never to have awakened any such idea;—all this is very agreeable; but let no lover of ancient customs go thither on the strength of washington irving’s report, unless he means to travel much farther north of the trent than newstead. there is certainly a may-pole standing in the village of linby near newstead, and there is one in the village of farnsfield near southwell; but i have been endeavouring to recollect any others for twenty miles round and cannot do it, and though garlands are generally hung on these poles on may-day, wreathed by the hands of some fair damsel who has a lingering affection for the olden times, and carried up by some adventurous lad; alas! the dance beneath it, where is it? in the dales of derbyshire, may-poles are more frequent, but the dancing i never saw. in my own recollection, the appearance of morris-dancers, guisers, plough-bullocks, and christmas carollers, has become more and more rare, and to find them we must go into the retired hamlets of staffordshire, and the dales of yorkshire and lancashire.
one would have thought that the may-day fête would have outlasted all others, except it were christmas, on the strength of the poetical wealth of heart and fancy woven with it through our literature. every writer of any taste and fancy has referred with enthusiasm to may-day. chaucer, spenser, shakspeare, fletcher, milton, browne, herrick, and all our later poets, have sung of it with all their hearts. chaucer, in palamon and arcite, describes arcite going to the woods for garlands on may morning, according to the old custom. he
is risen, and looketh on the merry day;
and for to do his observance to may,
remembering on the point of his desire,
he on the courser, starting as the fire,
is risen to the fieldés him to playe;
out of the court were it a mile or tway:
and to the grove of which that i you told,
by aventine his way began to hold,[423]
to maken him a garland of the greves,
were it of woodbine, or of hawthorn leaves,
and loud he sung, against the sunny sheen:
“o may, with all thy flowers and thy green,
right welcome be thou, fairé, freshé may;
i hope that i some green here getten may.”
and from his courser with a lusty heart,
into the grove full hastily he start,
and in a path he roamed up and down.
milton has many beautiful glances at it, and shakspeare touches on it in a hundred places, as in “the midsummer night’s dream:”
if thou lovest me then,
steal forth thy father’s house to-morrow night;
and in a wood, a league without the town,
where i did meet thee once with helena,
to do observance to a morn of may,
there will i stay for thee.
the european observance of this custom is principally derived from the romans, who have left traces of it in all the countries they subdued. it was their festival of flora. it was the time in which they sacrificed to maia; and in spain, where this custom seems to remain much as they left it, the village-queen still is called maia. but we have traces of it as it existed amongst the saxons, whose barons at this time going to their wittenagemote, or assembly of wise men, left their peasantry to a sort of saturnalia, in which they chose a king, who chose his queen. he wore an oaken, and she a hawthorn wreath; and together they gave laws to the rustic sports, during those sweet days of freedom. the may-pole too, or the column of may, was the grand standard of justice amongst these people, in the ey-commons, or fields of may: and the garland hung on its top, was the signal for convening the people. here it was that the people, if they saw cause, deposed or punished their governors, their barons and kings. it was one of the most ancient customs, which, says brande, has by repetition been from year to year perpetuated.
but we have traces also of its mode of celebration among our druid ancestors, for it is certainly one of the old customs of the world, having come down from the earliest ages of paganism[424] through various channels. dr. clarke in his travels, vol. ii. p. 229, has shewn that the custom of blowing horns on this day, still continued at oxford, cambridge, london, and other places, is derived from a festival of diana. these ancient customs of the country did not escape the notice of erasmus when in england, nor the ceremony of placing a deer’s head upon the altar of st. paul’s church, which was built upon the site of a temple of diana, by ethelbert, king of kent. mr. johnson, in his “indian field sports,” also states the curious circumstance, that the hindoos hold a vernal feast called bhuvizah, on the 9th of baisach, exclusively for such as keep horned cattle for use or profit, when they erect a pole and adorn it with garlands; and perform much the same rites as used to be adopted by the english on the first of may. thus it appears how ancient and how widely spread was this custom; and its celebration by the druids and celts points it out as belonging to the worship of the sun. in ireland and the highlands of scotland, the people still kindle fires on the tops of their mountains on this day, called beal fires, and the festival then celebrated beltane, or bealtane. the practice is to be traced in the mountainous and uncultivated parts of cumberland, amongst the cheviots, and in many parts of scotland. mr. pennant says—“on the first of may, in the highlands of scotland, the herdsmen of every district hold their beltein. they cut a square trench in the ground, leaving the turf in the middle. on that they make a fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal, and milk, and bring, besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky; for each of the company must contribute something. the rite begins with spilling some of the caudle on the ground, by way of libation. on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, on which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds; or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them. each person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and flinging it over his shoulder, says—“this i give to thee; preserve thou my sheep: this i give to thee; preserve thou my horses:” and so on. after that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals—“this i give to thee o fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee o hooded crow! this to[425] thee eagle! when the ceremony is over they dine on the caudle, etc. etc.”
something of this kind is retained in northumberland, in the syllabub prepared for the may-feast, which is made of warm milk from the cow, sweet cake, and wine; and a kind of divination is practised by fishing with a ladle for a wedding-ring, which is dropped into it for the purpose of prognosticating who shall be first married. this divination of the wedding-ring is practised in the midland counties on christmas-eve; and they have a peculiar kind of tall pots made expressly for this purpose, called posset-pots. i have myself fished for the ring on many a merry christmas-eve.
one cannot avoid seeing in these ceremonies their most ancient origin and consequently wide-spread adoption. the throwing over the shoulder offerings to good and evil powers is exactly that of all savage nations, the effect of one uniform tradition. the american indians, indeed, seldom propitiate the good, but are very careful to appease, or prevent the evil manitou. these notions have, no doubt, everywhere contributed to connect ideas of the presence and power of spiritual and fairy creatures, and the extraordinary license of witchcraft on this night and day. we cannot avoid thinking of the wizard rites of the blocksburg in germany, made so familiar by go?the; and we see the reason why all houses were defended by forest boughs, gathered with peculiar ceremonies, and worn by the young on may-eve, in almost every european country.
what then were the exact ceremonies of may-day? the romans celebrated the feast of flora in this manner. the young people went to the woods, and brought back a quantity of boughs, with which they adorned their houses. women ran through the streets, and had the privilege of insulting every one who came in their way. and here may we not see the custom, still continued in france, though fallen into desuetude here, of the epousées (brides) of the month of may? the epousées are the little daughters of the common people, dressed in their best, and placed on a chair, or bank, in the streets and public walks, on the first sunday in may. other little girls, the brides’ companions, stand near with plates, and tease the passengers for some money for their epousées.
[426]
like the romans, then, our ancestors celebrated may-day as a festival of the young. the youth of both sexes rose shortly after midnight, and went to some neighbouring wood, attended by songs and music, and breaking green branches from the trees, adorned themselves with wreaths and crowns of flowers. they returned home at the rising of the sun, and made their windows and doors gay with garlands. in the villages they danced during the day round the may-pole, which was hung to the very top with wreaths and garlands, and afterwards remained the whole year untouched, except by the seasons,—a fading emblem and consecrated offering to the goddess of flowers. at night the villagers lighted up fires, and indulged in revellings, after the roman fashion. in this country they added the pageant of robin hood and maid marian, with friar tuck, will stutely, and others of their merry company; the dragon and the hobby-horse,—all of which may be found fully described in strutt’s queenhoo-hall.
spenser and herrick give very graphic pictures of these popular festivities, which i shall here transcribe; and first, spenser from the shepherds’ calendar.
young folke now flocken in everywhere
to gather may buskets,[27] and smelling brere;
and home they hasten the posts to dight,
and all the kirk pillars, ere daylight:
with hawthorne buds, and sweet eglantine,
and garlands of roses, and sops-in-wine.
sicker this morrow, no longer agoe,
i sawe a shole of shepherds outgoe
with singing and shouting, and jolly chere;
before them rode a lustie tabrere,
that to the many a hornpipe played,
wherto they dauncen, eche one with his mayd.
to see these folks make such jovisaunce
made my heart after the pipe to daunce.
tho to the greene-wood they speeden hem all,
to fetchen home may with their musicall,
and home they bringen, in a royall throne,
crowned as king, and his queen attone
was lady flora, on whome did attend
a fayre flock of faeries, and a fresh band
of lovely nymphs. o that i were there
to helpen the ladies their may-bush beer!
[27] bushes.
[427]
herrick’s poem is in the form of a lover inviting his sweetheart to go out a may-gathering.
corinna’s going a-maying.
get up, get up for shame: the blooming morn
upon her wings presents the god unshorn:
see how aurora throws her fair
fresh-quilted colours through the air:
get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
the dew bespangling herb and tree.
each flower has wept and bowed towards the east
above an hour ago, yet you not dressed:
nay, not so much as out of bed
when all the birds have matins said,
and sung their thankful hymns; ’tis sin,
nay, profanation to keep in;
when as a thousand virgins on this day
spring sooner than the lark to fetch in may!
rise and put on your foliage, and be seen
to come forth like the spring time, fresh and green,
and sweet as flora. take no care
for jewels for your crown, or hair;
fear not, the leaves will strew
gems in abundance upon you:
besides, the childhood of the day has kept,
against you come, some orient pearls unwept.
come and receive them, while the light
hangs on the dew-locks of the night,
and titan, on the eastern hill
retires himself, or else stands still
till you come forth. wash, dress, be brief in praying;
few beads are best when once we go a-maying!
come, my corinna, come, and coming mark
how each field turns a street, each street a park,
made green and trimmed with trees; see how
devotion gives each house a bough,
a branch; each porch, and door, ere this,
an ark, a tabernacle is,
made up of whitethorn, neatly interwove,
as if here were those cooler shades of love.
can such delights be in the street,
and open fields, and we not see ’t?[428]
come, we’ll abroad, and let’s obey
the proclamation made for may;
and sin no more, as we have done, by staying;
but my corinna, come, let’s go a-maying!
there’s not a budding boy or girl, this day,
but is got up and gone to bring in may:
a deal of youth, ere this, is come
back, and with whitethorn laden home:
some have despatched their cakes and cream,
before that we have left to dream;
and some have wept, and wooed, and plighted troth,
and chose their priest, ere we can cast off sloth.
many a green gown has been given;
many a kiss both odd and even;
many a glance too has been sent
from out the eye, love’s firmament;
many a jest told, of the key’s betraying
this night, and locks picked; yet we’re not a-maying!
come, let us go while we are in our prime,
and take the harmless folly of the time;
we shall grow old apace, and die
before we know our liberty:
our life is short, and our days run
as fast away as does the sun:
and as a vapour or a drop of rain,
once lost can ne’er be formed again:
so when, or you or i are made
a fable, song, or fleeting shade;
all love, all liking, all delight,
lie down with us in endless night,
then, while time serves, and we are but decaying,
come, my corinna, come, let’s go a-maying!
such were the festivities of youth and nature to which our monarchs, especially henry viii., elizabeth, and james, used to go forth and participate. in the reign of the maiden queen, pageant seemed to arrive at its greatest height, and the may-day festivities were celebrated in their fullest manner; and so they continued, attracting the attention of the royal and noble, as well as the vulgar, till the close of the reign of james i. in “the progresses of queen elizabeth,” vol. iv. part i., is this entry: “may 8th, 1602. on may-day, the queen went a-maying to sir rich. buckley’s, at lewisham, some three or four miles off greenwich.” this may be supposed to be one of those scenes represented in[429] mr. leslie’s magnificent picture of may-day, in which elizabeth is a conspicuous object. it is recorded by chambers that henry viii. made a grand procession, with his queen katherine and many lords and ladies, from greenwich to shooter’s hill, where they were met by a robin hood pageant. in henry vi.’s time, the aldermen and sheriffs of london went to the bishop of london’s wood, in the parish of stebenheath, and there had a worshipful dinner for themselves and other comers; and lydgate the poet, a monk of bury, sent them by a pursuivant “a joyful commendation of that season, containing sixteen stanzas in metre royall.”
in april, 1644, there was an ordinance of the two houses of parliament for taking down all and singular may-poles; and in 1654, the moderate intelligencer says—“this day was more observed by people’s going a-maying, than for divers years past, and indeed much sin committed by wicked meetings, with fighting, drunkenness, ribaldry and the like. great resort came to hyde park; many hundred of rich coaches, and gallants in rich attire, but most shameful powdered-hair men, and painted and spotted women.” and this before my lord protector! so that the old spirit was rising up again from beneath the influence of puritanism; and the restoration was again the signal for hoisting the may-poles. in hone’s everyday book, and in that valuable miscellany, time’s telescope, many particulars of the rearing again the great may-pole in the strand, and of the latest may-pole standing in london, may be found.
old aubrey says, that in holland they had their may-booms before their doors, but that he did not recollect seeing a may-pole in france. yet nothing is more certain than the custom of the french of planting tall trees in their villages at this time, and of adorning their houses with boughs, and of planting a shrub of some pleasant kind under the window, or by the door of their sweethearts, before day-break, on a may-morning. aubrey complains himself bitterly of the people taking up great trees in the forest of woodstock to plant before their doors; and john evelyn as bitterly laments the havoc made in the woods in his time. they are safe from such depredations now. yet in different parts of england still, till within these few years, lingered vestiges of this once great[430] day. at horncastle in lincolnshire, the young people used to come marching up to the may-pole with wands wreathed with cowslips, which they there struck together in a wild enthusiasm, and scattered in a shower around them. at padstow in cornwall, they have, or had lately, the procession of the hobby-horse. at oxford on may-day, at four o’clock in the morning, they ascend to the top of the tower of magdalen college, and used to sing a requiem for the soul of henry vii., the founder, which was afterwards changed to a concert of vocal and instrumental music, consisting of several merry catches, and a concluding peal of the bells. the clerks and choristers, with the rest of the performers, afterwards breakfasted on a side of lamb. at arthur’s seat, at edinburgh, they make a grand assembly of young people about sunrise, to gather may-dew, and dance. in huntingdonshire, a correspondent of time’s telescope says, that the children still exhibit garlands. they suspend a sort of crown of hoops, wreathed and ornamented with flowers, ribbons, handkerchiefs, necklaces, silver spoons, and whatever finery can be procured, at a considerable height above the road, by a rope extending from chimney to chimney of the cottages, while they attempt to throw their balls over it from side to side, singing, and begging halfpence from the passengers. a may-lady, or doll, or larger figure, sometimes makes an appendage in some side nook. the money collected is afterwards spent in a tea-drinking, with cakes, etc. may-garlands with dolls are carried at northampton by the neighbouring villagers, and at other places. at great gransden in cambridgeshire, at hitchin, and elsewhere, they make a lord and lady of may. at night, the farmers’ young servants go and cut hawthorn, singing what they call the night-song. they leave a bough at each house, according to the number of young persons in it. on the evening of may-day, and the following evening, they go round to every house where they left a bush, singing the may-song. one has a handkerchief on a long wand for a flag, with which he keeps off the crowd. the rest have ribbons in their hats. the may-song consists of sixteen verses, of a very religious cast. at penzance, and in wales, they keep up may dances and other peculiar ceremonies.
i have been more particular in detailing the rites and customs of this festivity, because, once more popular than any, they are[431] now become more disused. there have been more attempts to revive the celebration of may-day, from its supposed congeniality to the spirit of youth, than that of any other festivity, but all in vain. the times, and the spirit of the times, are changed.
