266 HEIiSTON FTJERY DAY. 



I may say Maypoles were not rare in Cornwall. We had 

 one in Penzance and the Corporation maintained it. There was 

 another at Treryn, near the Logan Eock. I have seen one 

 myself at Landrake, and I doubt not there were a score of them 

 in divers places. 



The peculiarity of the Helston Furry, which as yet I have 

 failed to trace elsewhere (though I think it not improbable we 

 might trace the custom in some other remote places) is the 

 dancing in and out of the houses. This would seem to be very 

 primitive and characteristically Cornish. Once a year at least 

 peoples houses were not their own, and " an Englishman's house 

 is his castle " would not apply, yet I regard it as one of the many 

 instances of clan life in old Cornwall. Now and then people 

 were to be reminded that there was a common fellowship in the 

 clan, and they must not shut their doors to their neighbours. 



The Decorating the houses with boughs is a survival of a very 

 common May custom once observed even in London itself. 



The actual dating of the Helston Festival is difficult. 

 It is possible the people of the Meneage found Helston a 

 convenient spot for a May festival, amid a rich fertile region 

 abounding with gardens. However, the tradition of its origin 

 as commemorating some great deliverance, either from the plague 

 symbolised by S. Michael the patron overcoming the plague 

 demon, or delivering from foreign foe in the Middle Ages, may 

 not be unfounded. Helston is said to have been the chief place 

 of Kirrier from the days of Alfred. It was mentioned in 

 Doomsday, and incorporated by King John, and made a coinage 

 town by Edward I. It was also incorporated in 1336. So it is 

 possible that the custom as we have it now dates far back in 

 the Middle Ages. 



The only light we can have of the time before which it 

 must have prevailed, is the Helston Furry Wong, which with its 

 mysterious allusions and quaint merriment, I should suppose 

 belonged to the age of Elizabeth. The best point for dating 

 this is the defiant allusion to the Spaniards. 



" Wtere are those Spaniards 



" That make so great a boast O ! 

 " They shall eat the grey goose feather 



" And we will eat the roast !" 



