Traditions twirl on despite Puritans’ efforts to do away with rural fun (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Traditions twirl on despite Puritans’ efforts to do away with rural fun

11:22am Friday 1st May 2009

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THERE is no doubt that May 1 was formerly one of the most significant dates in the rural calendar. At the time of Merrie England it was marked by a host of colourful celebrations. They ranged from maypole dancing to parades of May Queens by way of sporting contests and parties with joyful music, singing, feasting and drinking, not to mention fairs and markets.

Workers were given the day off to join the festivities and in short, a good and merry time was had by all.

Such was the attraction of May Day that in 1978 international socialists attempted to hijack the date as International Labour Day with parades of tanks in Russia and marches of left-wing solidarity in other countries. England’s Labour Government joined that kind of fun by declaring the date a Bank Holiday as a sympathetic political gesture for the workers but it appears that the idea was not too popular. Ordinary people – the workers – much preferred their maypole dancing and partying to the idea of making political capital out of the date or organising protests.

However, there were other attempts to kill the rustic fun of this date. In 1644, for example, maypole dancing was forbidden by the Puritans because they considered it to be a pagan festival, but many villagers steadfastly refused to destroy their maypoles.

There are lovely stories of battles to save the maypoles. At Sinnington, near Pickering, for example, in 1701, a band of Puritans, known as Broadbrims due to the style of their hats, invaded Sinnington during maypole dancing. They set about violently trying to destroy the pole and its ribbons, and to disrupt the party atmosphere. Other groups of Puritans did likewise at Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside and Slingsby.

However, the local lads managed to beat them off and it was said that at Slingsby there was “a great dordum of a fight”.

Today, maypole dancing has returned to its former glory in many villages in this region. In most cases maypole dancing is not performed on May Day but upon the nearest Saturday or Sunday, often with schoolchildren being the dancers.

I have a record of maypoles in Foston, Staithes, Roxy, Slingsby, Sinnington, Langton near Malton, Masham, West Burton, Bolton-on- Swale, Appleton Wiske, Crakehall, Whitby, Robin Hood’s Bay, Coneysthorpe, Welburn, Clifton near York, Thorpe and Burnsall in Wharfedale, Skinningrove, Ovington near Richmond, Otley, Aldborough near Boroughbridge with the daddy of them all being at Barwick-in-Elmet near Leeds.

At 86 feet high, this is the tallest in the country and requires a crane and a great deal of manpower to erect it. I am sure there are other maypoles elsewhere within this region. In many cases, morris dancing and the election of a May Queen accompanies the maypole dances.

One very popular game when I was a child in Eskdale was known as May Gosling. It was rather like the April Fool pranks played on April 1 because children played jokes upon each other, and anyone who fell victim to a joke was known as a May Gosling. Rather like April Fool jokes, the pranks had to be perpetrated before noon. I cannot recall the demise of that sport but I have never heard of modern children playing at being a May Gosling.

Maybe there is a modern rule against such joyful things?

Other May Day events that appear to have vanished include Birch Twig Day when birch twigs were cut and taken indoors to ward off witches, and Yellowhammer Day, when youths would chase those lovely birds and kill them, believing they had drunk the devil’s blood. It was also Cattle Anointing Day when farmers anointed their cattle to keep away evil spirits.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian were regarded in some areas as Lord and Lady of the May, and so May 1 also became known as Robin Hood’s Day.

There were other celebrations including the famous World Dock Pudding Championship at Hebden Bridge. Puddings are made from the leaves of young sweet dock along with nettles, onions and oatmeal; they are fried and served with potatoes. The championship determines whose dock puddings are the best.

One of my favourites is the annual Lying Contest Day held in the Lake District. Men compete to determine who can tell the biggest whopper and one story says a Bishop of Carlisle once tried to stop the fun.

He told the audience he had never told a lie – and promptly won first prize.

THERE is concern that our butterfly population is dwindling at an alarming rate because numbers are at the lowest for about quarter of a century. Many species that were once common sightings in our gardens and countryside can no longer been seen and records show that one species, the high brown fritillary, is almost extinct. Others such as orange tips and small tortoiseshells have also declined dramatically.

The main cause of the problem is the weather. The two previous summers have been cool and wet, a combination that produces dire problems for butterflies. Persistent rain, for example, prevents them flying so they cannot meet mates or reach nectar-bearing flowers, but sunshine is also vital because it creates the necessary energy levels within the insects.

An added factor is their loss of suitable habitat coupled with intensified farming techniques and changes in the way we manage the countryside – and even our gardens.

Many species require a special habitat, often comprising plants we may consider as weeds or pests – destruction of such growths drastically affects the survival of butterflies.

For example, the colourful peacock with eye-like patterns on its wings relies heavily upon the stinging nettle for survival while the caterpillars of large whites and small whites are notorious for their love of cabbages.

We can do a lot to maintain suitable habitats, such as keeping a small patch of nettles, but there is nothing we can do about the weather.

Areader living in Ryedale has asked about the meaning of the word hag, pointing out that several place-names make use of that word.

Once upon a time there was even a rural character known as a hagman.

It is probably rather confusing because the word can mean several things. Perhaps the best known is its association with ugly old women of former times, although a hagman was a woodman whose task was to fell trees or cut up pieces of timber.

That gives a clue to another meaning.

Lots of maps show areas known as hags. These refer to woodland, often a concentration of deciduous trees growing on a rough cliff or hillside with rocks and boulders aplenty.

Thus the word has a strong association with timber. To haggle meant to chop or cut wood unevenly, but of course it also means to argue or dispute something. I have also heard the word haggle used to describe a sudden hailstorm.

Hag can also refer to a wild and boggy piece of land or even a cliff, not necessarily covered with trees. A moss-hag was a rough boggy area whilst a peat hag referred to peat bogs, and the word was also used to describe a thick white fog or mist, often accompanied by a severe frost.

In addition we have hag-worms (adders), hagberry (a tree known as the bird cherry), hag-clog (a chopping block) and hag-snars that are the stubs of felled trees or bushes that have been cut down.

Someone who was hag-ridden was usually under the spell of a witch or else suffering from nightmares.

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