Padstow May Song

[ Roud 305 ; Ballad Index K086 ; DT CORNMAY ; Mudcat 71906 , 167755 ; trad.]

Alasdair Clayre: 100 Folk Songs and New Songs

A 1945 BBC original recording of the Padstow May Day Song sung by a crowd with accordion and drum has been included in the Alan Lomax collection CD World Library of Folk and Primitive Music: England. The liner notes say:

When the town clock of Padstow strikes midnight on April 30^th, there begins a ceremony which is one of the most remarkable pagan survivals in England. Between 12 and 2 a.m. the hobby horse committee walk through streets and gardens singing the May Day Song. Then, next day, the hobby horse dancer appears. He wears a six-foot hoop skirt, painted shiny black and reaching to the ground. This hoop rests on his shoulders, and his head is covered in a conical black mask on which a sinister face is painted in black and white.

At about 11 a.m. this rather terrifying creature emerges from the Golden Lion Inn, accompanied by the “Old ’Oss Committee,” generally in sailor costume, an orchestra of drums and accordions, a man with a box for voluntary collections, and the teaser, who dances nimbly in front of the horse, directing his movements with the manipulation of a phallic club. All day this strange procession roves through Padstow, singing:

Unite and unite, and let us all unite
For summer is a-comin’ today.
And whither we are going we all will unite
In the merry morning of May.

The hoss visits the sick. Children come shyly to touch the skirt for luck. Young married women, caught up under the hoss’s shirt, will, according to old Padstonians, give birth within the year. And then, every so often, the surging dance rhythm ceases with a sudden bang of the drum. The hoss bows down motionless to the ground, and, while the teaser makes caressing movements with his symbolic club, the crowd sings a solemn dirge, in which some scholars have found a garbled reference to the Norse goddess, Freya, and her long ship.

Oh where is King George? Oh where is he O?
He’s out in the longboat, all on the salt sea O.
Up flies the kite, down falls the lark O.
Aunt Ursula Birdwood she has an old ewe,
And she died in her own park O.

With a thwack of the club and a crash of the drums the hoss suddenly leaps up, revived; and the singing throng moves on beneath the springtime blossoms.

Folklorists Alan Lomax and Peter Kennedy and filmmaker George Pickow collected footage at Padstow in 1951, producing a pioneering work in the use of sound, low-light photography, and conversational presentation of narrative:

This Cornish May Carol sung by a hobbyhorse party and townspeople of Padstow was also included on the anthology Songs of Ceremony (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 9; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970). The album’s booklet commented in a lengthy essay:

“Oss Oss, Wee Oss” is the cry that goes up from a “united” body of Padstow townspeople. (“Wee Oss” is thought to mean ”Our Horse”). The horse is in fact a fearsome-looking object resembling the body-decorations of Australian aborigines and the masks of certain African ceremonies. A man inside the horse-mask carries on his shoulders a heavy hoop about 6 feet in diameter which is covered with a black-painted canvas skirt. A black and white and red painted mask with a tall-pointed hood conceals the man’s face. Fastened to the hoop are a hobby-horse head and tail. The horse is preceded by a sailor carrying a painted club, who is known as “The Teaser”.

On May Eve when the church clock strikes twelve, the horse comes out of his winter stable for the first time. Coming out of the public house, followed by his “Ossy Choir” it follows a traditional route through the streets and gardens, stopping outside certain houses to sing special verses of “The Night Song”:

Rise up Mrs. … we wish you well and fine
For summer is a-come unto day
You have a shilling in your purse and I wish it were in mine
In the merry morning of May

Rise up Mr. …, and gold be your ring
And give to us a cup of ale and the merrier we will sing

Rise up Miss … all in your smock of silk
And all your body under as white as any milk

Rise up Mr. … and joy you betide
And bright be that bonny bride that lays by your side

Rise up Master … and reach out your hand
And you shall have a lively lass and a 1,000 pounds in hand

Just as it is getting light the young men of Padstow go out and “steal” greenery from the squire’s plantations and decorate the town. A Maypole stands in the main square from which flags are strung out in all directions. At about ten o’clock not only does one horse perambulate the town with his accompanying Teaser and musicians but there is a rival horse, known as “The Blue Ribbon” with its own rather more respectable accompanying team.

Later in the morning accordions strike up and, as the horse and teaser dance and sway, the townspeople sing The Day Song. Occasionally the horse makes for a young unmarried girl and catches her under his ‘skirt’. Formerly the horse was covered in wet tar and the carrier kept a bag of soot under the skirt to squirt over her. The girl, so caught, would say, “be married by Christmas!”

Formerly the horse used to go to a small hamlet about a mile out of the town and be submerged or “drink” from a pool and the spectators were sprinkled, but this part of the ceremony has been discontinued since about thirty years ago. As the Oss party returned they sang a much longer song performed to the slower tune. The horse lay down on the ground as though dead and verses, resembling the Helston Hal-an-Tow, were sung.

Nowadays this death sequence is repeated at frequent intervals during the procession through the town and each time after the song about St. George and Ursula Birdhood, the teaser bangs the club against the horse and it leaps up with renewed energy to sing the “Unite” verses.

There has been much speculation about Aunt Ursula and her old ewe. On previous years, “The Teaser” has not been dressed as a sailor but as a “Man-Woman”, or man dressed as a woman and like “The Old Tup” in other parts of the country the horse itself may well have started as an old ewe (see The Ram of Derby).

To delve deeper into the mention of Ursula is to become involved in the work of Oskar Schlade, friend of the Grimm brothers, who studied the legends of St. Ursula and concluded that the British princess was a Christianised form of the Earth-mother worshipped as the goddess of fertility by the European. Schlade saw traces of this in the civic processions of the middle ages, which still survive, such as the plough and ship-drawing festivals in Britain and the continent (the “Up Helly-aa” in Shetland being an example).

At Minehead, a little further along the coast from Padstow, the local hobby horse is shaped like a ship and is known as “The Sailor’s Horse”. The mention of the “building of a ship” at Padstow may bear out the theory that at one time the so-called Hobby Horse was a ship.

Lucy Broadwood in The Journal of the Folk Song Society No. 20, p. 330 details the finds of Oskar Schlade and that of a Lithuanian, Leopold von Schroeder. She traces the common elements in folk rites and processions: St. George or the earlier pagan forms, the Old Woman, the waggon or ship laden with good things; the attendants with clubs or rods; the throwing of soot or blackening of faces; the immersing in water; the rude jest, songs and the quete (collecting). Padstow is a place connected with well-worship. In fact there is a St. George’s Well as well as other “holy” wells in the vicinity. The name Padstow may well derive from the word “pid”, implying roots of water as well as estuary.

In [Austria], in the area around Innsbruck, on Shrove Tuesday youths called “Hutler”, armed with whips and dirty brooms accompany the “Fastnachtsrösslein”, horse and rider, and chase the spectators. “Hutler” means “hoodener” and implies that they are both “hatted” and “protectors”. (Robin Hood we regard as a guardian.) In parts of Kent in Southern England there were formerly hooden horses who went round the houses looking like the Welsh “Mari Lwyd” or the Midland “Old Tup”. Hoodening may possibly derive from Woden who always appeared as a hat-wearer. “Birdhood” may thus refer to the hood formerly worn by the Teaser at Padstow.

In Brittany “Le Cheval Mallet”, a wooden horse wreathed in flowers, dances round the may-tree and the “batonnier” sings a ceremonial song. At Padstow the may tree was sometimes as high as 90 feet and was erected by the local ship-wrights to the accompaniment of pistol-firing.

A similar Carol called “The Old May Song” was at one time sung at Swinton, near Manchester. It was printed in Chambers, Book of Days and contains six verses with an almost identical tune […].

A second carol sung at Swinton, known as “The New May Carol”, ad ornate verses about the beauties of nature, and was sung to a tune very like the “St. George and Aunt Ursula” verses of the Padstow Day Song.

Another recording from the Padstow May festivities by Peter Kennedy can be found on the Saydisc LP All Round England & Back Again. Unfortunately, the sleeve notes don’t say when this recording took place. And the Hobby Horse Party sang The Padstow May Song on 4 June 1965 in an EFDSS sponsored concert at the Royal Festival Hall. This was published in the same year on the EMI/HMV LP Folksound of Britain.

Steeleye Span: Padstow (Flutterby FLUT 3)

Padstow / The First House in Connaught / Sailor’s Bonnet
Steeleye Span

Flutterby FLUT 3 (single, p/s, UK, April 1989)

Steeleye Span recorded Padstow in 1989 for their album Tempted and Tried. It was also released as a single with the reels The First House in Connaught / Sailor’s Bonnet. The album sleeve notes commented:

The Cornish village of Padstow celebrates May Day each year with an extraordinary festival. There are two hobby horses (the red or old ’oss and the blue or temperance ’oss) that dance through the streets led by a “teaser” surrounded by the whole village and onlookers. All day they dance with short breaks for refreshments with mesmeric drums beating the winter out and the spring in.

At least four live recordings of Padstow with several Steeleye Span line-ups are or were available:

from the Beck Theatre on 16 September 1989 on the video A 20^th Anniversary Celebration,
from Steeleye Span’s 1991 tour on the CD Tonight’s the Night... Live,
from St. David’s Hall, Cardiff on 6 December 1994 on the video 25 Live: The Classic Twenty Fifth Anniversary Tour Concert,
from the Roses Theatre Tewkesbury on 20 April 2004 on the Park DVD The 35^th Anniversary World Tour 2004.

A further live recording from the Maddy Prior, Family & Friends Christmas tour of 1999 was released on the CD Ballads and Candles.

Lisa Knapp sang the Padstow May Song on her 2017 CD Till April Is Dead. She noted:

[…] I had the pleasure of visiting Padstow to see the May Day Obby Oss’s parade around the town accompanied by troupes of accordionists and drummers and a great chorus of townsfolk singing their May Song, powerful stuff! There is some extraordinary Pathe footage of this tradition from 1932 and 1953 and I have some footage of my own trip [on 1 May 2012] up on the great tubes of you which also plays out the end of my version here. It was actually Malcolm Taylor, long time head librarian at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, who first showed me a documentary about this before I’d ever heard of it. I was so struck to see anything like this existing in England and I think seeing that is a huge reason as to why I am still mystified by these things. So, thanks Malcolm.

The Gigspanner Big Band sang The Padstow May Song on their 2022 album with Raynor Winn, Saltlines. They noted:

A very well known song from Cornwall, traditionally performed throughout the first day of May in Padstow, And for the advancing young men referred to in the song, we play a traditional French tune, Void le mois de Mai.

Robin Laing sang his own Spring Song in 1989 on his Greentrax album Edinburgh Skyline. He noted:

One of the most powerful experiences I had while living in Cornwall was to go to the Padstow May Day. This song is based on the Song of Life from that celebration.

Lady Maisery and Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith sang Tony Deane’s Following the Old Oss and the Padstow May Song on their May 2026 album Wakefire. They noted:

In Padstow, Cornwall, the ancient need to welcome the summer in on May 1^st is celebrated by processing with two Osses (hobby horses) around the town.

Lyrics

The Padstow May Night Song (unaccompanied)

Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is a-come unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May.

I warn you young men everyone
For summer is a-come unto day,
To go to the green-wood and fetch your May home
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Mr. —— and joy you betide
For summer is a-come unto day,
And bright is your bride that lies by your side,
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Mrs. —— and gold be your ring,
For summer is a-come unto day,
And give to us a cup of ale the merrier we shall sing,
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Miss —— all in your gown of green
For summer is a-come unto day,
You are as fine a lady as wait upon the Queen,
In the merry morning of May.

Now fare you well, and we bid you all good cheer,
For summer is a-come unto day,
We call once more unto your house before another year,
In the merry morning of May.

The Padstow May Day Song

Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is a-come unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Mr. —— I know you well afine,
For summer is a-come unto day,
You have a shilling in your purse and I wish it was in mine
In the merry morning of May.

All out of your beds,
For summer is a-come unto day,
Your chamber shall be strewed with the white rose and the red,
In the merry morning of May.

Where are the young men that here now should dance,
For summer is a-come unto day,
Some they are in England and some they are in France
In the merry morning of May.

Where are the maidens that here now should sing
For summer is a-come unto day,
They are in the meadows the flowers gathering,
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Mr. —— with your sword by your side,
For summer is a-come unto day,
Your steed is in the stable awaiting for to ride
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Miss —— and strew all your flowers,
For summer is a-come unto day,
It is but a while ago since we have strewed ours
In the merry morning of May.

O! where is St. George,
O, where is he O?
He is out in his long-boat all on the salt sea O.
Up flies the kite and down falls the lark O,
Aunt Ursula Birdhood she had an old ewe
And she died in her own park O.

With the merry ring, adieu the merry spring,
For summer is a-come unto day,
How happy is the little bird that merrily doth sing
In the merry morning of May.

The young men of Padstow might if they would,
For summer is a-come unto day,
They might have built a ship and gilded her with gold
In the merry morning of May.

The young women of Padstow might if they would,
For summer is a-come unto day,
They might have made a garland with the white rose and the red,
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Mr. —— and reach me your hand,
For summer is a-come unto day,
And you shall have a lively lass with a thousand pounds in hand
In the merry morning of May.

Arise up Miss —— all in your cloak of silk,
For summer is a-come unto day,
And all your body under as white as any milk,
In the merry morning of May.

With the merry ring, adieu the merry spring,
For summer is a-come unto day,
How happy is the little bird that merrily doth sing
In the merry morning of May.

Now fare you well and bid you all good cheer,
For summer is a-come unto day,
We call no more unto your house before another year
In the merry morning of May.

Steeleye Span sing Padstow

Unite and unite, and let us all unite
For summer is a-come unto day.
And whither we are going we all will unite,
In the merry morning of May.

The young men of Padstow, they might if they would,
For summer is a-come unto day.
They might have built a ship and gilded it with gold
In the merry morning of May.

The young women of Padstow, they might if they would,
For summer is a-come unto day.
They might have built a garland with the white rose and the red
In the merry morning of May.

Rise up, Mrs Johnson, all in your gown of green
For summer is a-come unto day.
You are as fine a lady as waits upon the Queen
In the merry morning of May.

Oh where is King George? Oh where is he O?
He’s out in his longboat, all on the salt sea O.
Up flies the kite, down falls the lark O.
Aunt Ursula Birdhood, she has an old ewe,
And she died in her own park O.

With the merry ring and with the joyful spring,
For summer is a-come unto day.
How happy are the little birds and the merrier we shall sing
In the merry morning of May.

Oh where are the young men that now do advance
For summer is a-come unto day.
Some they are in England and some they are in France
In the merry morning of May.

Lisa Knapp sings the Padstow May Song

Unite and unite, and let us all unite
For summer is a-come unto day.
And whither we are going we all will unite,
In the merry morning of May.

With the merry ring, adieu the merry spring,
For summer is a-come unto day,
How happy is the little bird that merrily doth sing
In the merry morning of May.

O rise up Mrs Lean all in your gown of green
For summer is a-come unto day,
You are as fine a lady as waits upon the Queen,
In the merry morning of May.

O rise up Mrs. Bling and gold be your ring,
For summer is a-come unto day,
How happy is the little bird that merrily doth sing
In the merry morning of May.

Unite and unite, and let us all unite
For summer is a-come unto day.
And whither we are going we all will unite,
In the merry morning of May.

O where is St George? O where is he O?
He’s out in his long-boat all on the salt sea O.
Up flies the kite, down falls the lark O.
Aunt Ursula Birdhood, she has an old ewe,
And she died in her own park O.

O fare you well I bid you all good cheer,
For summer is a-come unto day,
We’ll call once more unto your house before another year,
In the merry morning of May.

Links

Compare to this Tony Deane’s song Following the Old ’Oss as sung by e.g. Tony Rose, and Dave Webber’s song Hail! Hail! The First of May.