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Folklore Village invites you to...
A Virtual May Festival
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English May Festivals and Maypole Dances have a long history at Folklore Village. Unfortunately, our May programing is cancelled this year due to COVID-19. But that doesn't mean we can't still celebrate this season and be together in spirit!
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Dancers weave around the May Pole in 1985.
Jane Farwell is in the foreground, on the left.
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In this newsletter you will explore a "museum" of memories from past Folklore Village May celebrations, learn about the history of English
May Festivals and English folklore in America, and get some fun ideas
for May traditions to try at home.
Join us as we mark this special time of spring turning to summer...!
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Folklore Village Museum
May Festival Collection
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Festival Invitations
Today we have digital marketing. But Folklore Villagers of yesteryear made their mailings
by hand, and they put a lot of love and hard work into doing it! Browse a few invitations from
the past.
Click on the images below to view the contents of the invitations at full size.
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1982 May Festival invitation featuring flower crown detail
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1976 May Festival invitation
ca. 1970s
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1983 May Festival invitation featuring dried plant detail
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Dick Atlee
started coming to Folklore Village in the late 1960s. He hitchhiked his way from Madison for dances and socials. Dick eventually moved out to Folklore Village and helped Jane Farwell take care of the property and run the programs in those early years. Dick was kind enough
to be interviewed for this newsletter, and you can hear a few excerpt from the stories he told by clicking on the photos below.
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Dancers grasp rapper swords at a recent Festival of Christmas and Midwinter Traditions.
Click the photo
to listen to Dick Atlee talk about the origins of the flexible metal "swords" these dancers use. Dick tells a funny story about a time he tried to take a bag of these swords on a plane!
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Children plait the ribbons at a recent Maypole Dance.
We no longer put on a full English May Festival at Folklore Village, but our Maypole Dance is a popular annual event. Local children come to decorate the pole with flowers and watch the ribbons braid and un-braid as they dance.
Click the photo
to listen to Dick Atlee talk about harvesting a tree each year to make the maypole.
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History of the English May
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The times of seasonal change are special in many cultures.
There is great risk and also great reward associated with Nature's cycles, and her transitions are a time when people in many cultures believe that the boundary between our world and the supernatural world is particularly thin. Seasonal changes therefore mark a "time out of time" when certain rituals must be completed and when people feel particularly drawn to get close to nature and to put on masks, both physical and performative. The English May has its origins in this deeply-rooted drive to mark seasonal change.
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Many of the English May traditions that have been practiced at Folklore Village come from a region in Southwest England called Cornwall.
The people of Cornwall are relatively isolated at the tip of a peninsula that sticks out into the Celtic Sea. There, they developed a unique Cornish culture and language.
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The dancing that goes along with English May celebrations, like
Morris dancing and sword dancing
, can be traced back to villages and communities across England. Morris dancers wear costumes bedecked with bells and use sticks and handkerchiefs when they dance.
Morris dancers perform dances that often tell stories, and their dances are meant to be performed as public spectacles in a town square;
they are often accompanied by a "fool" who introduces the dances and gets the crowd riled up.
Click here
to watch a performance by Morris dancers from Abingdon, England.
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Morris dancers perform at a
Folklore Village May Festival in 1987.
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English folklorist Cecil Sharp (1859-1924)
saw Morris dancing practiced less and less in his native England and sought to document and revive it in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sharp wrote several books describing the costumes, props, and dance figures that made up Morris dancing, focusing on the dance as he encountered it in the midland and northern counties of England. He also detailed the local folk customs surrounding Morris dancing.
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English Folklore in America
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As WWI ravaged Europe, Cecil Sharp sailed to the United States to direct Shakespeare productions and instruct in English country dancing on the East Coast.
There he met John C. and Olive Dame Campbell, important figures in the folk revival and folk school movement in Southern Appalachia. The Campbells told Sharp how the inhabitants of Appalachia still sung the songs their ancestors had brought from England and Scotland generations before. Sharp was fascinated, and made several trips to Appalachia collecting folk songs and ballads with fellow British folklorist Maud Karpeles.
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Cecil Sharp documenting folk songs at a home in
Appalachia with Maud Karpeles (right).
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Cecil Sharp's work made a lasting impact on community and school recreation programs in the US through his teaching of English country dance.
It is largely owing to Sharp's legacy that English dance and Maytime traditions have made the journey from the seaside villages of Cornwall and the misty hamlets of the English North into many American homes and communities. These customs marking the Earth's journey into a new season are now practiced each year as living traditions all over the United States, and also here at Folklore Village!
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Cornish Immigration to Wisconsin
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Jane Farwell first experienced maypole dances as a young student in Madison in the 1920s and 30s.
There, an annual spring field day brought together maypole dancing teams from area schools. Back home in Jane's own corner of Iowa County, Wisc., many people could trace their roots to the British Isles. However, there isn't much evidence that the English May traditions that eventually came to Folklore Village were practiced independently by local English immigrants and their descendants.
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Nevertheless,
the people of Cornwall in particular have had a strong impact on this region of Wisconsin.
Nearby Mineral Point was a hub of Cornish immigration to the United States. Many of the buildings in Mineral Point show distinct Cornish architecture and many restaurants still serve traditional Cornish foods, like
pasty
and tea biscuits.
Cornish Fest
is held annually in Mineral Point to celebrate this transatlantic connection.
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Lead miners at work in Wisconsin, ca. 1900.
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Reenactors portray 19th century Cornish immigrants at the Pendarvis Historical Site.
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Cornwall is known for its mining industry. An informational webpage for Mineral Point's Cornish Fest notes that "[i]t is said that wherever in the world there is a hole in the ground, a Cornishman can be found at the bottom of it."
The Cornish immigrants who traveled to Wisconsin in the 1820s and 30s came to mine lead ore.
The Farwell property was at one time mining land. The remains of surface lead mines can still be found on our prairies!
Wisconsin's state imagery is filled with nods to immigrant laborers from Cornwall. The state flag depicts a miner--perhaps a Cornish prospector. The state mascot, the badger, also refers to these immigrants, who would burrow into the Earth in search of valuable ore and who also often lived in shelters and homes carved into the rock. You can visit the open-air museum at
Pendarvis
to see how early Cornish settlers lived!
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What Makes a May Festival?
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Folklore Village's book
A Festival of the English May
lists a number of elements that make for a lovely May celebration. Below are a few excerpts from the book to get you inspired!
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Jack-In-The-Green
"On the way to the woods or during a procession merrymakers encounter Jack-In-The-Green, a leaf-clad figure who may dance, recite poetry, or beg for money.
He is the mystical Green Man who may have been the embodiment of an ancient tree spirit.
To create Jack-In-The-Green, encase 'Jack' in a chicken wire frame hung from straps or cords over his shoulders. Cover the frame solidly with leaves so the person inside is completely disguised."
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Garland Making
"...[T]he revellers spend the morning making garlands and baskets, decorating the pole, covering doorways with magic greens, strewing scented herbs throughout the home and making flowered thrones for the Lord and Lady of May. Villagers who are in disfavor with the garland makers will find nettles on their doorsills. Morning is a good time to make the effigy of winter...for the evening bonfire."
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English Maypole
"Traditional English maypoles are decorated with rope garlands and encircled by one or two hanging wreaths. The wreaths are made of strong, flexible boughs such as birch or aspen...Bundles of greens and flowers are fastened to the circle of boughs and short ribbons are hung from the finished wreaths."
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An 'Obby 'Oss at Folklore Village in 1987.
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"From behind the crowd suddenly appears the terrifying 'Obby 'Oss led by a teaser who is dressed in whites and wears a bright bandanna. The 'Oss cavorts about the green to the tune of the Padstow Morning Song and the cries of ''Oss, 'Oss, wee, 'Oss!' He quivers and sinks to his death when the teaser taps him on the head and the music changes to the Day Song. He gradually comes to life again as the teaser slides his life-giving club under the skirt. The 'Oss returns the club then renews his magical dancing and swaying until he finds
a suitable blushing maiden. He sweeps the breathless girl beneath his swirling skirt, dances with her for a time, then releases her
to ponder the mysteries of May."
Click here
to watch a short film by American folklorist Alan Lomax about the 'Obby 'Oss festival in 1950s Cornwall.
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Bonfire Activities
"As the crowd begins to gather a large fire circle is cut in the sod. In the circle are placed nine kinds of wood. Several men attempt to start the fire with a plank and wimble, or bow-drill. A poorly starting fire indicates that one of the firemakers is guilty of a terrible crime.
Fathers take their children in arms and jump over the fire for luck. Women wishing to secure a husband or a safe delivery in childbirth also jump the flames. Cattle can be driven between two fires to make them productive or rid them of evil spirits.
A dreary effigy of winter or of the old year is brought in with great ceremony and tossed on the flames. Torches are then lit from the fire and carried around the field to rid the land of evil and bring abundant crops.
May celebrants then take hands and circle the fire sunwise three times. The evening is concluded with appropriate songs and dances around the dying embers."
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May Day Activities for You!
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So we've learned a lot about the origins of English May Festivals and their place here at Folklore Village... But folklore doesn't mean much if it just sits flat on a screen--folklore is meant to be practiced and passed on!
So now it's your turn.
Below are some resources that will help you put together your own May Festival, right at home!
We'd love to hear how your May celebrations go. From now until May 8, we will be taking submissions of photos, videos, and stories showing how you've celebrated the May season. And then on May 9, the would-be date of this year's Maypole Dance, we'll be sending out a special briefing showing what our community members have been up to!
Send your submissions to
programs@folklorevillage.org
by May 8 to show off your stuff!
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Sing/Play Along to the Padstow
Morning and Day Songs
These songs are traditionally sung in Padstow, Cornwall, as May Festival revelers parade through the streets and as they gather to dance with the 'Obby 'Oss. Maria Terres and Amy McFarland of
Rare Privilege
have kindly recorded these songs on fiddle and concertina so that you can sing along! Click the links below.
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Craft a May Garland from Flowers
in Your Neighborhood
A May garland or flower basket can look any way you choose--the important part is celebrating nature through a beautiful floral display! If you want to get really fancy, here are some ideas for garlands from
A Festival of the English May
:
Wands: peeled willows tipped or wound with flowers and ribbons
Crowns: single circles of flowers or greens
Globes: two intersecting circles of greens hanging from a willow staff
Cowslip Balls: flower bunches tied with a ribbon or string and pressed toward the knot to make a ball
May dolls representing the Lord and Lady of May are elaborately dressed and hung inside crowns or globes.
Decorate your home with May garlands, or
wash your hands
and leave some on the doorstep of a neighbor to send May greetings!
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Do a May Dance
Click here
for instructions on how to dance a sword dance from Flamborough, collected by Cecil Sharp in 1910. When danced it looks something like
this.
Folklore Village is currently working with an English dance caller to create an instructional video on May dances for solo dancers and small groups. Stay tuned!
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Cook a May Feast
It's no secret that delicious food is a big part of the experience at Folklore Village. So why not celebrate the May holiday and reminisce about our Folklore Village community with some celebratory foods?
Click here
for some popular Maytime recipes from
A Festival of the English May
to get started!
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Click here
to download a printable coloring page of the Wakefield Schoolhouse! The Schoolhouse was the hub of all Folklore Village activity before Farwell Hall was built, and May Festival-goers often set up the maypole near the Schoolhouse. Color in this picture and draw your own maypole and dancers!
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Did you enjoy this newsletter?
Donate to Folklore Village
so we can keep bringing you high-quality virtual programing even while we are closed!
about the role Folklore Village has played in her life
and the importance of supporting our work now.
May greetings and warm wishes for good health
from all of us at Folklore Village.
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