dancing about, and dealing a blow with his bauble. Next came Will Scarlet, Stukely, and Little John, all
proper men and tall, attired in Lincoln green, like Robin Hood, and similarly equipped. Like him, too, they
were all foresters of Bowland, owning service to the bow-bearer, Mr. Parker of Browsholme hall; and the
representative of Little John, who was six feet and a half high, and stout in proportion, was Lawrence
Blackrod, Mr. Parker's head keeper. After the foresters came Tom the Piper, a wandering minstrel, habited for
the occasion in a blue doublet, with sleeves of the same colour, turned up with yellow, red hose, and brown
buskins, red bonnet, and green surcoat lined with yellow. Beside the piper was another minstrel, similarly
attired, and provided with a tabor. Lastly came one of the main features of the pageant, and which, together
with the Fool, contributed most materially to the amusement of the spectators. This was the Hobby-horse. The
hue of this, spirited charger was a pinkish white, and his housings were of crimson cloth hanging to the
ground, so as to conceal the rider's real legs, though a pair of sham ones dangled at the side. His bit was of
gold, and his bridle red morocco leather, while his rider was very sumptuously arrayed in a purple mantle,
bordered with gold, with a rich cap of the same regal hue on his head, encircled with gold, and having a red
feather stuck in it. The hobby-horse had a plume of nodding feathers on his head, and careered from side to
side, now rearing in front, now kicking behind, now prancing, now gently ambling, and in short indulging in
playful fancies and vagaries, such as horse never indulged in before, to the imminent danger, it seemed, of his
rider, and to the huge delight of the beholders. Nor must it be omitted, as it was matter of great wonderment to
the lookers-on, that by some legerdemain contrivance the rider of the hobby-horse had a couple of daggers
stuck in his cheeks, while from his steed's bridle hung a silver ladle, which he held now and then to the crowd,
and in which, when he did so, a few coins were sure to rattle. After the hobby-horse came the May-pole, not
the tall pole so called and which was already planted in the green, but a stout staff elevated some six feet
above the head of the bearer, with a coronal of flowers atop, and four long garlands hanging down, each held
by a morris-dancer. Then came the May Queen's gentleman usher, a fantastic personage in habiliments of blue
guarded with white, and holding a long willow wand in his hand. After the usher came the main troop of
morris-dancers--the men attired in a graceful costume, which set off their light active figures to advantage,
consisting of a slashed-jerkin of black and white velvet, with cut sleeves left open so as to reveal the snowy
shirt beneath, white hose, and shoes of black Spanish leather with large roses. Ribands were every where in
their dresses--ribands and tinsel adorned their caps, ribands crossed their hose, and ribands were tied round
their arms. In either hand they held a long white handkerchief knotted with ribands. The female
morris-dancers were habited in white, decorated like the dresses of the men; they had ribands and wreaths of
flowers round their heads, bows in their hair, and in their hands long white knotted kerchiefs.
In the rear of the performers in the pageant came the rush-cart drawn by a team of eight stout horses, with
their manes and tails tied with ribands, their collars fringed with red and yellow worsted, and hung with bells,
which jingled blithely at every movement, and their heads decked with flowers. The cart itself consisted of an
enormous pile of rushes, banded and twisted together, rising to a considerable height, and terminated in a
sharp ridge, like the point of a Gothic window. The sides and top were decorated with flowers and ribands,
and there were eaves in front and at the back, and on the space within them, which was covered with white
paper, were strings of gaudy flowers, embedded in moss, amongst which were suspended all the ornaments
and finery that could be collected for the occasion: to wit, flagons of silver, spoons, ladles, chains, watches,
and bracelets, so as to make a brave and resplendent show. The wonder was how articles of so much value
would be trusted forth on such an occasion; but nothing was ever lost. On the top of the rush-cart, and
bestriding its sharp ridges, sat half a dozen men, habited somewhat like the morris-dancers, in garments
bedecked with tinsel and ribands, holding garlands formed by hoops, decorated with flowers, and attached to
poles ornamented with silver paper, cut into various figures and devices, and diminishing gradually in size as
they rose to a point, where they were crowned with wreaths of daffodils.
A large crowd of rustics, of all ages, accompanied the morris-dancers and rush-cart.
This gay troop having come to a halt, as described, before the cottage, the gentleman-usher entered it, and,
tapping against the inner door with his wand, took off his cap as soon as it was opened, and bowing
deferentially to the ground, said he was come to invite the Queen of May to join the pageant, and that it only
CHAPTER I. 60