Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 May 1878 — The May-Pole in England. [ARTICLE]

The May-Pole in England.

Great wore the doings in old time around the May-pole, for which the tallest tree was selected. It was drawn to its place by as many as thirty or forty yoke of oxen, their horns decorated with llowers, followed by all the lads and lassies of the village. The pole was wound or painted with gay colors, and trimmed with garlands, bright handkerchiefs, and ribbon streamers from top to bottom*With great ceremonies and shouts of joy it was lifted to its place by ropes and pulleys, and set up firmly in the ground; and then the people joined hands' and danced around it. The whole day was given up to merriment, every one dressed in holiday clothes, doors and windows were adorned with green boughs and flowers, the bells rang, processions of people in grotesque dresses were arranged, and tho famous Morris dancers performed. in this dance the people assumed certain characters. There was always Robin Hood, the great hero of the rustics; Maid Marian, the Queen, with gilt crown on her head; Friar Tuck; a fool, with his fool's-cap and bells: and, above all, the hobby-horse. This animal was made of pasteboard, painted a sort of pink color, and propelled by a man inside, who made him perforin various tricks not common to horses, sueh as threading a needle and holding a ladle in his mouth for pennies. The various characters labored to support their parts. The friar gave solemn advice, the Queen imitated ladylike manners, the fool joked and made fun, and the horse pranced in true horsey style. This Morris dance is supposed to have been brought in early times from Spain, where the Moors danced it. and where it still survives as the “ fandango.” In other places, wreaths were made on hoops, with a gayly dressed doll in the middle of each, and carried about by girls, the little owners singing a ballad which hatl been sung since tho'lSnie of Queen Bess —and expecting a shower of pennies, of course. . All this May-day merriment came to an end when our grim Puritan fathers had. power in England. Dancing around the May-pole looked to them like heathen adoration of an idol. Parliament made a law against it, and all tho May-poles in the island were laid in the dust. The common people had their turn, when, a few years later, under a new King, the proliibitory law was repealed, and a new May-pole, the highest ever in England (134 feet), was sot up in the Strand, London, with great pomp. But the English people were fast outgrowing tho sport, and the customs have been dying out ever since. Now, a very few May-poles iii obscure villages are all that can bo found. —Olive Thome, in St. Nicholas for May.