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Rural Sports of Old England. 
BY FRANK S. FINN. 
Number Y. 
To those of us who live in a cold climate, 
May Day means but little more than a num¬ 
ber of little girls in thin white dresses with 
low necks and short sleeves, and heads un¬ 
covered, save for a wreath of artificial flow¬ 
ers; and these little youngsters go shivering 
through the streets and laying the founda¬ 
tions of colds, pneumonia and, oftentimes, 
consumption. 
But in England it has been well-styled: 
"“the maddest, merriest day,” and no people 
tiave enjoyed it more than the rural popu¬ 
lation. There, the day comes when there 
as seasonable weather to enjoy its many 
customs, ceremonies, pastimes and merry- 
anakings. 
In the olden days of “Merry England,” 
the lads and lassies left their homes in 
towns and villages, and accompanied by 
anusic, went to the woodlands to obtain the 
4 ‘May,” or blossomed branches of trees, 
which they bound with wreaths of flowers, 
:and went back to their homes at sunrise, 
where they decorated doors and lattices 
with their woodland trophies. 
Of course, the village May Pole was the 
center of attraction of the day, while the 
dance around it was counted to be one of 
the pleasantest pleasures in ail the year. 
I wish I had space to copy, entire, an 
account of how the story of “Robin Hood” 
was enacted on this day, and all in the 
green wood, too, for it must have been a 
rare and a grand sight with all the people 
appropriately costumed, with the lovely 
maid Marian, the skillful Robin, the jovial 
Friar Tuck, the archers with their bows 
and arrows, and the foresters with their 
horns. And, think how large must have 
been the size of the May Pole, when it took 
eight strong oxen to draw it to its place. 
These animals must have looked gay, for 
we are told they were decorated with scarfs, 
ribbons and flowers of diverse colors, and 
the tips of their horns were embellished 
with gold. Who of my girl readers would 
not wish to impersonate the sweet maid 
Marian? The account says: “She was 
elegantly habited in a watchet colored tunic 
reaching to the ground; over which she 
wore a white line rochet with loose sleeves 
fringed with silver and very neatly plrited; 
her girdle was of silver bandekin, fastened 
with a double bow on the left side; her 
long flaxen hair was divided into many 
ringlets, and flowed upon her shoulders; 
the top part of her head was covered with 
a net-work cowl of gold, upon which was 
placed a garland of silver, ornamented with 
blue violets. She was supported by tw© 
bride maidens, in sky colored rochets girt 
with crimson girdles, wearing garlands 
upon their heads, of blue and white violets.” 
There were dances, processions, ceremo¬ 
nies and trials of skill at archery. The best 
marksmen were selected for the characters 
of Robin Hood and Will Stukely, and to 
quote again: “these two excelled their 
comrades; and both of them lodged an 
arrow in the center circle of gold, so near 
to each other that the difference could not 
readily be decided, which occasioned them 
to shoot again, when Robin struck the gold 
a second time, and Stukely’s arrow was 
affixed upon the end of it. Robin was 
therefore adjudged conqueror, and the 
prize of honor, a garland of laurel, embel¬ 
lished with variegated ribbons, was put 
upon his head; and to Stukely was given a 
garland of ivy, because he was the second 
best performer in the contest.” 
These pageants closed with a general 
dance, around the May Pole, in which per¬ 
formers and spectators each took an equal 
part. 
The milkmaids used to be among the nec¬ 
essary personages in the olden times; and 
on the first of May they had their celebra¬ 
tion. Their pageant was made of flowers 
and solid silver plate. On a damask bed, 
this was carried on the head of a skillful 
porter; and the milkmaids, accompanied 
by a fiddler, ranged themselves before every 
customer’s door and gave a short dance, as 
an intimation that they would like to be 
remembered with small donations of 
money. 
The chimney sweeps—some of them, 
poor little fellows, who had such hard 
work all the year round, cleaning and 
cleansing the chimneys from the dirty soot— 
