192 



THE HAWTHORN. 



went every man with his bow and arrows shooting 

 to the wood, and so repaired again to the court, 

 every man with a green bough in his cap ; and at 

 his returning, many hearing of his going a-May- 

 ing were desirous to see him shoot ; for at that 

 time his Grace shot as strong and as great a 

 length as any of his guard." During the Great 

 Rebellion, the Parliament ordered that all and 

 singular May-poles be taken down." When 

 Charles II. ascended the throne, the famous 

 May-pole of the Strand* was restored with great 

 pomp and rejoicing, amidst multitudes of people, 

 whose shouts and acclamations were heard from 

 time to tim.e throughout the whole day. When 

 this pole had ceased to be the centre of the merry 

 May-day circles, and the interest with which it 

 was originally regarded had faded away, it was 

 given to Sir Isaac Newton, and by his directions 

 removed to Wanstead, to support the then largest 

 telescope in the world, f 



Of late years the celebrity of the Hawthorn 

 as the symbol of May-day festivities has greatly 

 declined. In London, the number of those, 



" That do the fair and living trees neglect, 

 Yet the dead timber prize," 



is so vastly increased, that the May -bush swells 

 its gems" and " salutes the welcome sun" without 

 exciting a passing thought. The only class who, 

 now-a-days, 



With due honour usher in the May," 



^ " Amidst the area wide they took their stand, 



W^here the tall May-pole once overlooked the Strand." 



Pope. 



t Knight's London, vol. i. p. 174. 



