In this dance the people assumed certain characters. There was always
Robin Hood, the great hero of the rustics; Maid Marian, the queen, with
gilt crown on her head; Friar Tuck; a fool, with his fool's-cap and
bells; and, above all, the hobby-horse. This animal was made of
pasteboard, painted a sort of pink color, and propelled by a man
inside, who made him perform various tricks not common to horses, such
as threading a needle and holding a ladle in his mouth for pennies.
The various characters labored to support their parts. The friar gave
solemn advice, the queen imitated lady-like manners, the fool joked and
made fun, and the horse pranced in true horsey style.
This Morris dance is supposed to have been brought in early times from
Spain, where the Moors danced it, and where it still survives as the
"fandango."
All this May-day merriment came to an end when our grim Puritan fathers
had power in England. Dancing around the May-pole looked to them like
heathen adoration of an idol. Parliament made a law against it, and all
the May-poles in the island were laid in the dust. The common people
had their turn, when, a few years later, under a new king, the
prohibitory law was repealed and a new May-pole, the highest ever in
England (one hundred and thirty-four feet), was set up in the Strand,
London, with great pomp.
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