In Aberdeen the May Game had a similar history. In 1508 the Abbot and the Prior gave way to Robyne Hood and Little Jonne. In May of that year it was ordained that ‘al personis that ar abill within this burghe sal be reddy with their arrayment made in grene and yallow, bowis, arrowis, and all other convenient things according thairto to pass with Robin Huyd and Litile Jonne all times convenient thairto, quhair thai be the saidis Robyne and Litile Jonne.�?/FONT>
The cult of Robin Hood is ancient and widespread. The Earl of Huntingdon in the reign of Richard I of England is the most celebrated Robin Hood of history, but he was merely a Robin Hood, not the Robin Hood. In The Medieval Stage, Sir Edmund Chambers suggests that the Robin Hood of the May Game was introduced into Britain from France through the fete du mai at a fairly early date, and was subsequently confused with the outlaw of Sherwood Forest.
Miss Margaret Murray points out that one of the many names of the witch-god, the god of fertility, is Robin; that Robin is, in fact, almost a generic name for the Devil, who in many of the witch-trials is described as wearing a hood, whence ‘Robin with a Hood�?or ‘Robin Hood�? that in the May Day ceremonies, he was always accompanied by twelve companions—‘very suggestive of a Grandmaster and his coven�? that their chosen colour was green—the fairies�?colour—and that they had special dances reminiscent of the witch-dances; whilst the animosity of Robin Hood to the Church, which is emphasised in all the stories and legends of the hero, goes, she holds, to corroborate the theory of his identification with the god of the witches.
‘The connection between Robin Goodfellow (alias Puck) and Robin Hood.�?She adds, ‘has been noted by many writers, though it is not yet explained.�?/FONT>
In 1555, the excesses that accompanied the May Game led to its abolition by Act of Parliament, it being ‘stature and ordanit�?that ‘in all times cumming na maner of persoun be chosen Robert Hude nor Lytill Johne Abbot Unreason Queen of Maij nor utherwyse, nouther in Burgh nor to landwart in ony tyme to cum,�?while ‘ony wemen or uthers about simmer treis singand�?were threatened with the ‘cuckstulis.�?/FONT>
The suppression of the Game led to riots and prosecutions. In 1562, a burgess, the bellman, and the swescher (drummer) were brought to trial in Aberdeen ‘for passing throw the rewis (streets) of the town be open voice, to convene the haill communitie to pass to the wood to bring in symmer upon the first Sonday of May.�?nbsp; They were sentenced to appear ‘Within the paroche kirk, and thair, in presens of the congregacion, grant thair offence, as done throw ignorance and upoun their kneis ask God and the congregacion forgifness.�?nbsp; Three years later, the Magistrates made proclamation through the city, forbidding, under severe penalties, any convention of the citizens for the election of Robin Hood, Little John, Abbot of Unreason, or Queen of May. In defiance of the ban, however, a number of craftsmen, preceded by a minstrel, marched through the Gallowgate on the ensuing Sunday. The ringleaders were imprisoned and temporarily deprived of their corporate privileges.
In the Kirk-session Register of Perth, May 2, 1580, we find: ‘The Assembly (Presbytery) ordain an Act to be made by the minister concerning the discharging of all passing to the Dragon Hole superstitiously; and the same to be published on Sunday next out of the pulpit, and thereafter to be given to the Bailies at the market-cross.�?/FONT>
‘Because the assembly of ministers and elders understand that the resort to the Dragon-Hole as well by young men and women with their pipes and drums striking before them thro�?this town, had raised no small slander to this congregation, nor without suspicion of filthiness following thereupon; the said Assembly, for avoiding thereof in times coming, have with the consent of the Magistrates of t his town statute and ordained that no person neither man not woman, of this congregation, resort or repair hereafter to the Dragon Hole, as they have done in times bye-gone, namely, in the month of May, nor shall pass thro�?the town with the piping and stirling of drums, as heretofore they have done, under the pain of twenty shillings (1s. 8d. sterling) to the poor, to every person, as well man as women, as shall be found guilty ; also that the6y shall make their public repentance upon ane Sabbath day in the presence of the people.�?/FONT>
‘Thus,�?says Miss Mill, ‘the May Play sank from its position as a municipally controlled and subsidised folk play to that of a surreptitious game practised by prentice lads and farm labourers.�?/FONT>
Traces of the May Play are to be found in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Ayr, Dumfries, Dumbarton, Haddington, Peebles, Arbuthnot, Cranston, Linton and Lasswade.
In Edinburgh the observance of May Day was never entirely abandoned. Long after the Reformation, sick people were brought to Arthur’s Seat before dawn to bask in the beneficent rays of the ‘new sun,�?while others went on pilgrimage to the healing-well of Our Lady of Loretto, at Musselburgh. In the early nineteenth century, says Chambers, the area gates of the Edinburgh houses would open about 4 a.m. and the servant lasses would emerge all in their best attire. They were joined by the prentice lads, and, together with other enthusiasts, young and old, flocked through the King’s Park to Arthur’s Seat, where a maypole was erected. The proceedings began at daybreak, when the bakers and other craftsmen began to dance round the maypole to the music of pipes, tabours, and fifes. At six o’clock the gentry began to put in an appearance, and soon afterwards the servant lasses left to prepare breakfast. By eight o’clock the fun was all over.
There is still a considerable amount of activity on Arthur’s Seat on the first of May. A faithful few continue to ascent its steep slopes to welcome the rising sun, and in recent years it has become customary to hold a short religious service on the summit. Below, band of young girls are out to ‘meet the dew,�?and to ‘wish a wish�?at St. Anton’s Well.
The ancient rites were, naturally, far better preserved in the rural areas. Writing in 1939, Mr. John James Millar says that he has often talked with ‘grey-haired sires who knew the past�?and who recollected the bonfires that used to blaze upon the ridge of the Mid-Scottish Ochils; and ‘well do I recall the Firsts o�?May,�?he goes on, ‘when companies of laughing girls went trooping along the country highways in the early morning, seeking to bathe their faces on the dewy grass, even so that they might glean beauty for the year! Later they would return with baskets of woodland flowers and garlands of wild gean and willow catkins for the crowning of the Queen.�?/FONT>
‘A right regal ceremony this letter was. A holiday had been declared in school and district. Folks young and old, gently and simple, formed in processional order and, with instrumental music and singing, accompanied the gaily-decorated retinue towards the village green.�?/FONT>
‘Then there was the Crowning of the Queen and, later, the dancing round the merry Maypole while plaited ribbons of many colours fluttered in the breeze and feet tripped lightly on the green sward. Inter-parish rivals met in friendly contests of sport and athletics. It was a day—and night—given over to mirth, jollity, and kindly communal sentiment, never far from Nature’s heart.�?/FONT>
Whilst here and there the festival has died out within living memory, in other places it has taken on a new lease of life, and each year brings fresh evidence that the ‘feast of summer come again�?is growing in favour with the people, with the complete approval of the Kirk.
[The above information is taken from The Silver Bough - A four-volume study of the national and local festivals of Scotland by F. Marian McNeill, Volume Two, A CALENDAR OF SCOTTISH NATIONAL FESTIVALS - Candlemas to Harvest Home, Chapter VII and Chapter VIII.]
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
First 