A song to welcome in the May!\u00a0 The earliest known printed version is from 1846, though the custom was referred to at least as early as 1790, in The Gentleman’s Magazine<\/b> (quoted by Charles Kightly in The Customs & Ceremonies of Britain<\/b>, Thames & Hudson, 1986):<\/p>\n
“In the morning, very early, some troublesome rogues go round the streets with drums or other noisy instruments, disturbing their sober neighbours and singing parts of a song, the whole of which nobody now recollects, and of which I know no more than that there is a mention in it of the grey goose quill and of going to “the green wood to bring home the summer and the May-O”: and, accordingly, hawthorne flowering branches are worn in hats.”<\/i><\/p>\n
In the book “The Curiosities of Ale and Beer”, (by John Bickerdyke, 1889 – still available in print today) the song is described as a part of celebration at Helston, Cornwall, called “Furry Day”<\/a>; young men and maidens go off very early in the morning for a breakfast and then return around 7 o’clock bearing green branches and wearing flowers, dancing in the streets to the tune of the Furry Dance, then breaking into the song “Hal-An-Tow” around 8 o’clock.\u00a0You can read futher on this Mudcat page<\/a>. \u00a0What’s more, check out this link!<\/a><\/p>\n Jos. Morneault<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And you might really enjoy this YouTube Link! A classic Watersons performance!
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