Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 243, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1918 — May Festivities [ARTICLE]

May Festivities

The May of merrie England, before the Puritan blight fell upon the land, is a thing of joyous memory. It recalls the maypole with its attendant maidens dancing about it, doing homage to their queen of the May. Even Puritanism did not entirely put an end to these celebrations, for the May festival survived here and there, and was even transplanted to New England by certain recalcitrants, as the chronicles of Morton at Merrymount testify. May festivals have been held In many New England towns all the way down toward the present and the custom has not yet wholly died out