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Description
For
Puritans, and others, a description of an English
Maypole is :-
A pole which stands all the year, or for May
week, and is permanently fixed to the ground. It
can be painted or unpainted, and may have
Garlands and other forms of decoration attached.
Its shaft, traditionally wood, can now be of
metal, or plastic. It is often topped by a
weather vane. It usually stands in a public
space, a three road junction, and/or a village
green. It may, or may not, have dancing or other
events performed at its base.
History Up to the
Millennium
English
Maypoles are mentioned in historical accounts as
early as the 14th Century, Chaucer (1345-1400)
mentions the Maypole in Cornhill in the City of
London, and one in Pendleton, now in Greater
Manchester is mentioned in a Will of 1373.
Maypoles were attacked by the Puritans and in
1652 the Parliament banned Maypoles, imposing
quite severe fines if they were not destroyed,
and many early descriptions of Maypoles are by
Puritans who attacked Maypoles as early as the
later years of Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th
Century.
It is a mistake to presume that the Puritans
disliked Maypoles because they were surviving
symbols of Pagan religion. The Puritans regarded
them, in fact, as symbols of Royalty, as Papist
or that dancing by young people "at the
Maypole" interfered with attendance at
Sunday Church services. Maypoles were used as a
focus for dancing, as they were a village
landmark, village halls being scarce in the past.
Names of some places could be derived from what
we would recognise as a Maypole, Whitstable is
white pillar or pole (from the old word stapol).
Barnstable in Devon, bearded pole, could have had
its top knot left on like those of today in
Cornwall. Names including "tree"
indicate a pillar or pole in a village held by
"Tippa" (Tiptree in Essex),
"Cofa" (Coventry), "Daffa"
(Daventry) and "Oswald" (Oswestry)
probably derives from a pole which could have
marked a meeting place of a Hundred or Wapentake.
"Tippa", "Cofa",
"Daffa" and "Oswald" being
Old English personal names.
The oldest place name similar to these dates
from around AD 900 and is thought to mean a pole
(stang) at a triangular or spear shaped meeting
place. At the centre of this town there is still
a triangular Market "Square" with edges
which curve like a spear head and many of the
shops and houses still occupy plots of the
Medieval cottages. "Riding the Stang"
is still part of the 20 year festivities at Corby
Pole Fair in Northamptonshire, and Majstang is
the Swedish name for Maypole.
Even though these references span back some 500,
even 1000 years, no one has ever actually stated
what an English Maypole is. The 1652 Parliament
would have been thought to have defined it for
its Act of Suppression but it did not. It has
been a case of a Maypole, is a Maypole, is a
Maypole ---- or is it?
Well it was until around 1900 when Ribbon Dancing
which derived from art (not folk art) sources was
imposed on the Country, and has caused endless
confusion since.
Meanwhile however, in 1660, when King Charles II
was restored to the English Throne and as the
influence of the Puritans declined, many Maypoles
were re-erected. This included one raised in the
Strand by friends of General Monk for the entry
of the King to London on the 29th May.
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