The Magdalen tower on May morning

1 May · Magdalen College, Oxford

Still kept

On May Day the choristers of Magdalen College gathered at the top of the college tower to usher in the spring. Chalmers, the university’s historian, traced the custom to a requiem mass once sung on the tower every year for the soul of Henry VII, later changed for a few pieces of music, for which the rectory of Slimbridge in Gloucestershire paid ten pounds a year. The choir still sings from the tower at dawn on 1 May, watched by crowds on the bridge below.

on May Day the choristers assemble on the top to usher in the spring

From Brand's Popular Antiquities, vol. 1, pp. 213-214. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

The Hitchin Mayers No longer kept HertfordshireA letter from Hitchin in 1823 told Hone how, soon after three on May morning, townspeople and labourers paraded the streets singing the Mayers' Song and fixed large branches of may to the doors of nearly every respectable house.
The Cadi and the May garland No longer kept WalesA correspondent told Hone that labouring people in Wales still kept the May dance, and for a fortnight beforehand the talk of the village was who would dance, who would carry the garland and who would be the Cadi.
The milkmaids’ garland No longer kept LondonOn May Day the London milkmaids went round their customers' houses in their best clothes, dancing to a fiddle or pipe and tabor for the annual present.
Washing in the May dew on Arthur’s Seat Still kept MidlothianChambers found that almost the only May Day habit left in his day was for young women to go out early and wash their faces in the dew, which was held to make them fair.
O’Donoghue’s white horse Lore and belief MunsterFrom Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland, Hone gives the belief that at first light on May morning the princely O'Donoghue rides his white horse over the waters of Killarney.
The snail on the slate Lore and belief StirlingshireRobert Kier's letter from Falkirk said that in Scotland no one would marry in May.
The sweeps’ garland and Jack-in-the-green Still kept LondonMay Day was the great festival of London's chimney sweeps.
Mrs Montagu’s dinner for the sweeps No longer kept LondonEvery May Day Elizabeth Montagu, the bluestocking hostess, gave a dinner for the chimney sweeps of London at her house in Portman Square.
Henry VIII goes a-Maying on Shooter’s Hill No longer kept Kent, LondonStow wrote that on May morning every Londoner who could walked out into the meadows and woods to enjoy the flowers and the birdsong.
May music at Penzance No longer kept CornwallA Penzance man told Hone that on May Eve young men and women sat up at a public house until midnight, then went round the town with fiddles and drums calling out the rest of their party.
May Fair in Piccadilly No longer kept LondonThe fair that gave Mayfair its name was held near Piccadilly through the month of May.
The May mummers of Ireland No longer kept MunsterHone quotes the Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, just published, on the Irish mummers, whose proper festival was May Day.
The great shaft of Cornhill No longer kept LondonSt Andrew Undershaft takes its name from the great maypole that was set up every May morning in the street outside its south door, taller than the church steeple.
The Strand maypole No longer kept LondonParliament ordered every maypole in England and Wales taken down in 1644.
The Queen of the May Still kept EnglandIn the old May games the fairest girl of the village was crowned Queen of the May.
The Debden May garland No longer kept EssexOn May morning little girls in the parish of Debden went from house to house with garlands of different sizes, the large ones with a doll dressed in white in the middle, singing a carol that began with rambling all the night.
Robin Hood and the Abbot of Unreason No longer kept Midlothian, ScotlandIn Scotland the Robin Hood games were played with great spirit, above all at Edinburgh, together with the burlesque of the Abbot of Unreason and a Queen of May.
Dr Parr’s maypole at Hatton No longer kept WarwickshireSamuel Parr, the great Greek scholar and parson of Hatton near Warwick, was a keen patron of the May games.
The Paddington May-dance No longer kept London, MiddlesexHone remembered Jack-o'-the-Greens, figures dressed out in ribbons and flowers from the village May games, coming into the London suburbs to dance.
The Dublin May bush No longer kept LeinsterOn May morning young men and boys of Dublin went a few miles out of town to cut a May bush, a whitethorn four or five feet high, and planted it in the middle of their street.
The Finglas maypole No longer kept LeinsterA Dublin correspondent told Hone that Finglas, a village two or three miles out on the great northern road, was the only place near the city where May Day was still kept in the old style.
Birch for a sweetheart, alder for a scold No longer kept CheshireIn Cheshire young men used to put birch boughs over their sweethearts' doors on May Day, and marked the house of a scold with an alder bough.
The liars’ contest at Temple Sowerby No longer kept WestmorlandAt Temple Sowerby in Westmorland, time out of mind, people gathered on the green on May Day to hold a contest in the noble art of lying.
The Kingsthorpe garlands at Northampton No longer kept NorthamptonshireA Northampton correspondent told Hone in 1826 that on May morning girls from Kingsthorpe and the other villages round came into the town carrying May garlands from house to house, to show, as the townspeople said, what flowers were in season, and were given a trifle at each door.
The master sweeps’ May-day dinner No longer kept LondonOn 1 May 1826 the new United Society of Master Chimney Sweepers gave its apprentices a dinner at the Eyre Arms in St John's Wood instead of letting them go about the streets for money, and handbills warned householders not to give to the sweeps' May-day collections.
Dining with Duke Humphrey No longer kept LondonIn old St Paul's stood the tomb of Sir John Beauchamp, which the ignorant called the tomb of Humphrey, the good Duke of Gloucester, though he lay at St Albans.
The printers’ May feast at Stationers’ Hall No longer kept LondonRandle Holme wrote in 1688 that the journeymen printers, with the letter founders and ink makers, held a general feast every year at Stationers' Hall on or about May Day, paid for by half a crown from each guest.
Beltane fair at Peebles Still kept PeeblesshireRobert Kier of Falkirk wrote that in Scotland the first day of May was once called Beltane, a season of boisterous mirth, and that the town of Peebles still held a fair called the Beltane fair.
May Day at Lynn No longer kept NorfolkA correspondent told Hone that at Lynn the children raced to be first up on May morning, and those out early sometimes nailed up the doors of sleepy friends through the latch.
Cheese rolling at Randwick Still kept GloucestershireC.
May goslings at Skipton No longer kept YorkshireAt Skipton in Craven the children kept May Day as a second April Fools' Day, making their companions May goslings, or geese.
The whalers’ May garland No longer keptThe ship's surgeon of the Neptune of London described to Hone how the whalers of the Greenland and Davis Strait fishery kept May Day at sea.
The Maidens’ Portion at Sutton Coldfield No longer kept WarwickshireJohn Herman, the Sutton-born Bishop of Exeter under Henry VIII (better known as Bishop Vesey), did much for his native town, and left money whose interest was to be shared every year among four poor maidens of good character, born or long living in Sutton, who had married in the past year.
The Raine’s school bride No longer kept LondonA correspondent told Hone that every May Day a girl from Raine's charity school at St George in the East, near London, was chosen to be married.
Cows’ horns on May night at Oxford No longer kept OxfordshireAubrey noted that the boys of Oxford blew cows' horns and hollow canes all through the night before May Day.
May branches at Eton No longer kept BuckinghamshireA manuscript account of Eton School in 1560 says that on the day of St Philip and St James, 1 May, the boys who wished might rise at four o'clock, if the weather was fair and the master allowed it, to gather May branches, provided they could do it without wetting their feet.
The poor May Lady at Cambridge No longer kept CambridgeshireAt Cambridge on May Day children dressed up a doll in a grotesque fashion and called it the May Lady.
Fishing for the ring in the May syllabub No longer kept NorthumberlandHutchinson's History of Northumberland describes a syllabub made for the May feast from milk warm from the cow, sweet cakes and wine.
Sycamore boughs at the Cornish door No longer kept CornwallBorlase, the historian of Cornwall, wrote that the Cornish still decked their doors and porches on the first of May with green boughs of sycamore and hawthorn.
Pennant’s Beltein in the Highlands No longer kept HighlandsPennant found that on the first of May the herdsmen of every Highland village held their Beltein.
The Dragon Hole on Kinnoull Hill No longer kept PerthshireHigh in a steep rock on the face of Kinnoull Hill above Perth was a cave, very hard and dangerous to reach, called the Dragon Hole.
First across the Barvas river Lore and belief Outer HebridesMartin Martin found that the people of Barvas in Lewis sent a man across the Barvas river very early every first of May.
Stir-about for the first day of summer No longer kept LeinsterSir Henry Piers wrote in 1682 that the Irish of Westmeath counted May Day the first day of summer and always had one formal dish at their meal that day, stir-about or hasty pudding, flour and milk boiled thick.
Driving the cattle through the May fires No longer kept Connacht, MunsterGeneral Vallancey wrote in 1772 that in Munster and Connaught the poorest cottager who owned a cow and a wisp of straw still drove his cattle through fire on the first of May, to keep them free of disease for the year.
A dish of cream for the hawthorn No longer kept SuffolkIn most Suffolk farmhouses it was an old custom that any servant who could bring in a branch of hawthorn in full blossom on the first of May earned a dish of cream for breakfast.
Whitethorn over the door against witches Lore and belief EnglandReginald Scot, in his Discovery of Witchcraft, recorded that people hung in their entries, among other things, hawthorn gathered on May Day to keep witches away.
Rise up, maidens No longer kept NorthumberlandBrand was more than once woken early on May morning in Newcastle by a woman singing in the streets with several garlands in her hands, which he believed she sold to anyone who would buy.
The Headington garlands No longer kept OxfordshireL.
Guarding the bedwen No longer kept WalesIn Wales the maypole was called the bedwen, the word for a birch tree, because Owen's Welsh dictionary says it was always made of birch.
May gads on Maypole Hill at Horncastle No longer kept LincolnshireStukeley recorded in 1724 that there was a Maypole Hill near Horncastle in Lincolnshire.
The Queen of May and the Queen of Winter No longer kept Isle of ManWaldron wrote that in almost every large parish of the Isle of Man May was ushered in with a mock battle.
The battle on Rochester bridge No longer kept KentIreland's Views of the Medway tells of a yearly May Day fight on Rochester bridge between the boys of Frindsbury and the boys of the neighbouring town of Strood.
No fire given out on May Day Lore and belief IrelandCamden, writing of the manners of the Irish, said they counted any woman who came to fetch fire on May Day a witch.
Parish garlands in the Oxford churches No longer kept OxfordshireOn May Day the young maids of every Oxford parish carried their parish garland of flowers about the streets and afterwards hung it up in their church.
Dipping Day in Cornwall No longer kept CornwallIn Cornwall May Day was Dipping Day, when boys armed with buckets, cans and syringes soaked anyone they met.
May-day garlands at Sevenoaks No longer kept KentThe children of Sevenoaks carried May boughs and garlands from door to door, calling "May-day, garland-day!" for a few pence.
Dray horses in ribbons on May Day No longer kept YorkshireOn May Day the Midland Railway's Sheffield dray horses paraded at the Wicker goods station with ribbons in their manes and tails and polished brass, and prizes went to the best-groomed.
Why the whitethorn is called May Lore and belief EnglandThe whitethorn took the name May because, before the change of the calendar, it flowered about the feast of St Philip and St James on the first day of May.
The May ball for the newly married No longer kept Ireland, MunsterOn May Day the young men of each district in the south of Ireland went in procession in ribbons and garlands, their leader carrying a pole with a double hoop and a gilt ball hanging in it.
Horns and music to the May woods No longer kept EnglandYoung people of both sexes got up a little after midnight on May Day and walked to a nearby wood with music and the blowing of horns.
The maypole left untouched all year No longer kept EnglandThe rest of May Day was spent dancing round the maypole, set up in some convenient part of the village.
Twenty yoke of oxen for the maypole No longer kept EnglandThe maypole was hauled home from the wood by twenty or forty yoke of oxen, each ox with a nosegay of flowers tied on the tip of its horns.
Porches of woven whitethorn on May morning No longer kept EnglandOn May morning every porch and door was turned into a green arbour of whitethorn woven into the frame, and young people who had gone out early came home laden with the blossom.
A health to the May-pole garlands No longer kept EnglandOnce the May-pole was set up, the company drank to the garlands of flowers hung round it and to the girls whose hands had made them.
Lambs weaned at Philip and Jacob No longer kept Essex, SuffolkIn Essex and Suffolk the lambs were taken from the ewes on the feast of St Philip and St James, 1 May, by farmers who wanted to milk them.
Robin Hood’s bower at Abingdon No longer kept BerkshireIn 1566 the churchwardens of St Helen's, Abingdon, paid eighteen pence for putting up Robin Hood's bower.
Latimer gives place to Robin Hood No longer kept EnglandWhen Bishop Latimer came to preach in a country town on a holiday, he found the church locked because the parish had gone out to gather for Robin Hood.
The milkmaids’ cow with gilded horns No longer kept LondonSome London milkmaids went round their customers on May Day with a cow instead of the usual pyramid of borrowed silver plate.
A show of ladies in Hyde Park on May Day No longer kept LondonThe London season was reckoned to begin on the first of May, when fashionable society crowded into Hyde Park, the Mall and Spring Garden.
May branches at the doors in Thaxted No longer kept EssexOn May morning the girls of Thaxted went round waving branches before the doors of the townspeople.
The Lady of the May doll No longer kept EnglandOn May Day children in a few out-of-the-way places went about with a finely dressed doll they called the Lady of the May, and little imitation maypoles.
The May Day herd goes out to the common No longer kept EnglandMay morning was the day the herdsman blew his horn and the village cows, fed all winter in the straw yard, were driven out onto the common grass.
My lord and my lady at Baldock No longer kept HertfordshireOn May morning the poor women of Baldock dressed up straw and rag effigies of a lord and lady in their husbands' and their own Sunday clothes and sat them side by side outside the cottage door.
Thread my needle round Baldock on May Day No longer kept HertfordshireOn May Day the children of Baldock were out with the sun, carrying hooped garlands of flowers and ribbons on staves from door to door, led by a flag made of a silk handkerchief hung from an ash bough.
Rowan boughs at the Borrowdale Beltein No longer kept CumberlandUntil a few years before 1772 the people about the Borrowdale wad mines kept up the Beltein on the first of May, and those who took part brought boughs of the mountain ash with them.
Betwixt two Beltein fires Lore and belief Highlands, Inner Hebrides, Inverness-shireA Highland saying held that someone caught between two cunning people was betwixt two Beltein fires.
Dancing sunwise round the Moray Beltein No longer kept MorayOn the first of May the herdsmen of several farms in Moray gathered dry wood, lit it and danced three times sunwise round the pile.
Ribbons for the waggoner’s team in May No longer kept EnglandIn May it was the custom for travellers by stage waggon to give the waggoner a ribbon at every inn to trim his horses.
The hobby horse on May Day at St Mary’s, Reading No longer kept BerkshireIn 1557, in the brief return of the old ways under Queen Mary, the parish of St Mary in Reading paid minstrels and a hobby horse to perform on May Day.
Horses for the Kings of Cologne on May Day No longer kept BerkshireOn May Day 1499 the parish of St Laurence in Reading paid for fodder for the horses of the Kings of Cologne, the three Wise Men of its King play.
The brown-meal cake at the Beltane fire No longer kept GlamorganIn South Glamorgan the May fire was built by nine men who had emptied their pockets of all money and metal, from sticks of nine kinds of tree, and lit by rubbing two pieces of oak together.
Summer against Winter on May Day in South Wales No longer kept South WalesIn South Wales May Day was not complete without a mock battle between Summer and Winter.
Rosemary at the maidens’ windows on May morning No longer kept WalesUntil about forty years before Trevelyan wrote, young Welshmen decked a large bunch of rosemary with white ribbons on May Day morning and set it at the bedroom window of the girl they admired.

The Magdalen tower on May morning

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