The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-30

Hence the accounts OF 'Maylng Whlch Jney
have handed down to us, and which VIC must
take with due allowance for the untriendly
snirit of the chroniclers represent the cere-
ynonv as being conducted in a very unbe-
aon,ing manner 1t is even asserted by them,
4bot in the DAYS of Queen Elizabeth the
I,onno people of both sexes started out a-May-
inc on the evening previous, and after remain
inc in the fields and woods all night, returned
at at9dov-break with branches of green and gar
lands Of flowers. An old ballad, with which
come stern moralist of Cromwell's time has
evidently been tampering, is still to be heard
in some of the rural parishes of Essex and
Hertfordshire, commencing with the following
Stanzas:-
Remember us poor Mayors all,
And thus we do begin
To lead our lives in righteousness,
Or else we die in sin.
awe have been rambling all this night,
And almost all this day.
And now returned back again,
We have brought you branch of May"
In districts where this ballad is now sung on
the first of May 10y the children, doll dressed
in white. and STYLED the "Lady of the May,'
takes prominent part in the ceremonies, and
is supposed to be relic of those days when it
was employed on such occasions as a represen-
tative of the Virgin Mary.
Another essential feature of the early May
day festivities of England was
The May-POIe,
with which every town and village of any pre-
tensions was invariably and permanently fur
nished. It's customary height was equal to
that of the mast of vessel of hundred tons.
Upon this the merry people on May morning
were accustomed to hang garands Of flowers,
and then to dance around it almos. the entire
day. When the May-pOle happened to be
lacking in any neighbOrhOOd, the people would
-, i xr-hi haU
ing been divested of all its superfuous branches
was carried in triumph to the spot selected for
its future station, and there erected with due
ceremony and rejoicings.
The parish OF st. Andrew Undershaft, in
London, received its name from the celebrated
May pole which, in early times, overshadowed
its church spire. Stow relates that in his time
this pole was erected "every year on May day
in the morning, in the midst Of the street
before the south door of the church, which
shaft, when it was set on end, and fixed in
the ground, was higher than the church
steeple." During the remainder of the year
the pole was hung over the doors Of the
houses in the neighborhood. This celebrated
pole was destroyed in a Puritanical fit, as
early as the third year of the reign of Edward
vi, Immediately after sermon preached at
st. Pauls Cross, denunciatory of May games
of all sorts The indignant people of the
parish "sawed it in pieces, everie man taking
for his share as much as had layne over his
dOore and stal.''
In one of the earliest representations of a
May-pole, dating back to the time of Henry
VIII, it is pictured as being planted in grass
covered mound of earth, with the red-cross
banner of St. George affixed, together with a
white pniOn or streamer forked at the end,
and bearing for a motto the words-"A Merry
May" The shaft of the pole is also orna-
mented with alternate spiral lines of yellow
and black which was frequently the case with
the May-poles of those days. Sometimes the
three colors-red, white, and blue-were used
in decorating the pole, and access was had tC
the mound in which it was planted by several
stone steps. The shaft was, likewise, at times
set of with garlands arranged on hoops, with
small gilded pendants hanging therefrom Ii
Dutch picture, of the date of 1926, the pol,
Is represented as being surmounted with
flower-pot, containing a small tree, and al
array of variegated flags. Below this wer
garlands and pendants, as Just described
In early times the different parishes of Lon
don Wed earnestly with each other to excel il
the magnitude and decorations of their Nav
poles. But the institution was no less oh
noxious to Puritan eyes than the ceremony q
"bringing in the May" and consequently
when the Roundheads came into mower IL wa
ordained by the Parliament of l644 that "a
and singular May-poles that are or shall d
erected, shall be taken down." and so sever
was the penalty attached to disobedience. thf
the command was universally obeyed
With the restoration of the Stuarts the 4,
minion of the May-pole was resumed for
brief period. The most celebrated of all the,
in London was then erected in the Stran,
where it remained standing long after all II
others had disappeared. This happened
the year 1861 when the tallest of all the 0
London May-pOles, stately cedar, l34 feet
height, was placed in the most conspicuo
position in the Strand. 1t was carried
the spot with great rejoicings, am
the sound of music and the roll of drum
and to the accompaniment of flying flags. T
pole was erected by squad of seamen, {
tailed for the express purpose by the Duke
York; and among its decorations were tn
gilt crowns. In the year l7l7, however
had become so decayed by reason of its
that it was taken down, and the shaft v
purchased by Sir Isaac Newton, and by h
employed as a support to the great telesco
124 feet in length, which the French astro
mer Hugon had presented to the Ro
Society.
80 great have been the changes in the C
toms and manners of the English people d
ing the past century and half that the M
pole has at last passed out of existence wi
out the aid of legislation. In some rem
country parishes, one is occasionally $
seen standing; but even then it is peTver
to the support of a weather-cock, or to 50
other equally ignoble use. The same fate
befallen it on the Continent, save in lor
and primitive districts, where the old M
pole festivities still maintain foothold. Z
is especially the case in some sections of
varia. -. - -,
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