Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-21
MAYPOLES AND DANCES
oLD-T1ME MAY-DAY CUSTOM HAS
PASSED AWAY.
Some Simple Verse That Always Ac-
companied the Merry Making
Defeating the Pole.
From the Boston Transcript,

When Washington Irving visited Eng
land, there was nothing, he said, winch
gave him more unalloyed delight than the
sight of the Maypole. 1t was peep into
Arcadia which refreshed his Utmost soul,
he declared, and thereupon he made plea
for holidays and festivities which tended to
awaken poetic ideas in the minds of the
people, and redeem them from the eVer-1n-
creasing artflciality Of the age. Like
Wordsworth, he believed that the world
was too much with us, and nation must
lose a larger proportion of It's creative
power. as we'll as its best qualities, whsh
out of touch with nature. And 1t may not
be wholly amiss to say here that the peo-
pie who have given to the world the nnesI
poetry are the people who have in the past
been most addicted to rural sports ana
the festivities of the month of May. Inc
Maypole is essentially English, although
adopted by other nations, and the Rosy
footed May never found so enthusiastic
welcome in any land as in merrie England.
In the nebulouS days of those mysterious
despots. the Druids. the first May day was
national festival, which partook of re-
ligious character, and as such was ceie-
brated by the Celts of Britain and Gaul. AT
the same time the Teuton worshfpers OF
Thor were solemnly winding up hill in pro-
cession, bearing torchlights In honor OF
Ostara, the goddess of spring, OF Whom
they invoked protection from those demons
of darkness and malignity-the cruel
Jotans Centuries rolled the Druids out of
sight. but May was dear to the heart OF
England, and the people continued to wei
come 1t with demonstrations of JOY as In
nOcent as they were universal. 1t was the
Anglo-Saxon princess, Walpurga, who left
her fathers house in England to carry 10
the spiritual darkness of Germany bet
ter light and hope, and in honor OF this
sanity princess, Walpurgs Night. which
hot ha ny,1 Mnrtd doll ~ va CO II
fled. is celebrated to this day in the month
of May among the Germans.
Rollicking Verse.
That the accessories of May day sports
were altogether made up of natural objects,
easily to be obtained in any rural district
Maypoles, Mayboughs, garlands, bowers
and maces-not only rendered the celebra-
ton of May the most innocent of pastimes,
but gave it permanence among the COM
mon folk which wthstood the attractions
of other games. Chaucer and Spenser had
sung it and idealized it, and Corinna, i'm
mortalized by Herrick, was but type
which every swain beheld in the fair dam
sci who was his bright particular star
among women. The simple verse, sung to
Saxon tune:
Gentlemen and ladies,
We wish you a happy May:
We come to show you Il garland.
was the honest expression of popular senti-
ment, and the Maypole was cherished for
the same reason
II am Sir Maypole that's my name
Men, May and mirth give me the same
was the song of wholesome jollity which
the prentice and the chimney sweep
thought 1t their duty to make the most Of
nor was 1t strange that into this merry
making there sometimes crept a feeling OF
piety, as is shown in the song
Remember us poor Mayors all,
For thus do begin
To leau lives In righteousness,
Or else die in sin, "
which savors much of the Christmas carol.
And so it happened that May day festivi-
ties in London We're quite as general and
as enthusiastic as in the most rural dis
tricts of England. That there was great
variety of celebration in the different viii
lagos and country places was a natural
and Interesting eature. In that terra Gotta
incognita of England, known the Black
country, a spot most rich in folklore, and
without chronicler for an indefinite
period, the festivals of May possessed the
charm of being utterly unlike the celebra-
lions of any other part OF the kiGgd nm.
AS the dawn ushered in the first day OF the
beloved month a Waterman mounted high
tower and by the blowing of a horn an
nounced the suspicious arrival Then the
bell ringers took up the proclamation and
rang the glad tidings until the first haw-
thorn bush was set up on the most conspic-
uous spot in the village, and adorned with
ribbons and garlands, around which the
villagers danced and sang verses which
undeniably contained more truth than
poetry, such
Use May while that You NAV
For May hath hut his time:
When all the fruit is gone 1t is
Too late the tree to climb"
Dedication Ceremonies.