the Maypole

The Maypole in the Strand was erected in the 16th century on the green near the junction with Catherine Street, future site of St. Mary le Strand. It was demolished in 1644 by order of the Puritans, as "one of the "last remnants of vile heathenism, round which people in holiday times used to dance, quite ignorant of its original intent and meaning." Following the Restoration of 1660 and as a prelude to the upcoming coronation of Charles II, a new Maypole 41 metres high was erected in its place on 14 April 1661.

By 1713 the Maypole was decayed and unstable: according to John Strype, only the bottom twenty feet were still standing. It was pulled down and a new one erected further to the west, nearly opposite to Somerset House, on the 4th of July, 1713. This in turn was taken down in 1718 and purchased by Sir Isaac Newton for a friend in Wanstead, who used it to support what was then the largest telescope in Europe.

[The Maypole in the Strand]

In the high Street near unto the Strand, sometime stood a Cross of Stone, against the Bishop of Coventry or Chester his House, whereof I read, that in the Year 1294. and divers other times, the Justices Itinerants sate without London, at the Stone Cross overagainst the Bishop of Coventry's House: and sometime they sate in the Bishop's House, which was hard by the Strand, [as is aforesaid.]

At or near which Cross in the Strand, stood, till of late, a Maypole, commonly called the Maypole in the Strand. Near to which is erected a Stone Building over a Spring, designed at first to supply the Neighbourhood with Water: but now of little Use.]

Here in the Strand, by the Act of Parliament 12^o. Regin. ANNÆ, for building fifty new Churches, in the broad Place, where the Maypole stood, and the Watch House, was so much of the vacant, or waste Piece of Ground to be granted for a Church, as contained in length from East to West, 138 Foot, and in Breadth from North to South sixty Foot, should be vested in Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury, John Archbishop of York, Simon Lord Harcourt, Lord Chancellor, &c. appointed by Letters Patents, dated the 27th of September 1712. to be Commissioners to execute the Powers in the Act 9 Regin. ANNÆ, for building fifty new Churches, and in their Heirs and Assigns for ever; such new Church after it is erected and finished, shall be deemed one of the fifty Churches to be built.

…

The which Church being now built, the aforesaid memorable Maypole, reckoned somewhat incommodious standing near on the West thereof, was bought by Sir Isaac Newton, Kt. the great Mathematician. And April, 1718. carried away upon a Carriage through London unto Wansted, to the Rector, Mr. Pound, who obtained Leave of Sir Richard Child, Bar. (now Lord Castlemain) to set it up in his Park at Wansted House, in a Place of Advantage, for the better Use of a fine Telescope to be raised on it: which is 125 Foot long: and was given to the Royal Society by Monsieur Hugon, a Member thereof, as was mentioned before.

The Maypole [from Chapter XIV, St. Mary-le-Strand, the Maypole, &c.]

"Fairly we marched on, till our approach
Within the spacious passage of the Strand
Objected to our sight a summer broach
Yelep'd a Maypole, which, in all our land,
No city, town, nor street can parallel;
Ner can the lofty spire of Clerkenwell—
Although we have the advantage of a rock—
Perch up more high his turning weather-cock."

It is said by all the antiquaries who have written on the subject of London topography, that the present church of St. Mary-le-Strand covers the site of the spot on which in the olden time was set up the Maypole which the sour-visaged Puritans pulled down as dangerous to the morals of youth. ...

The Maypole, to which we have already referred as formerly standing on the site of the church of St. Mary-le-Strand, was called by the Puritans one of the "last remnants of vile heathenism, round which people in holiday times used to dance, quite ignorant of its original intent and meaning." Each May morning, as our readers are doubtless aware, it was customary to deck these poles with wreaths of flowers, round which the people danced pretty nearly the whole day. A severe blow was given to these merry-makings by the Puritans, and in 1644 a Parliamentary ordinance swept them all away, including this very famous one, which, according to old Stow, stood 100 feet high. On the Restoration, however, a new and loftier one was set up amid much ceremony and rejoicing. From a tract printed at the time, entitled "The Citie's Loyaltie Displayed," we learn that this Maypole was 134 feet high, and was erected upon the cost of the parishioners there adjacent, and the gracious consent of his sacred Majesty, with the illustrious Prince the Duke of York. "This tree was a most choice and remarkable piece; 'twas made below bridge and brought in two parts up to Scotland Yard, near the king's palace, and from thence it was conveyed, April 14, 1661, to the Strand, to be erected. It was brought with a streamer flourishing before it, drums beating all the way, and other sorts of musick. It was supposed to be so long that landsmen could not possibly raise it. Prince James, Duke of York, Lord High Admiral of England, commanded twelve seamen off aboard ship to come and officiate the business; whereupon they came, and brought their cables, pullies, and other tackling, and six great anchors. After these were brought three crowns, borne by three men bareheaded, and a streamer displaying all the way before them, drums beating and other musick playing, numerous multitudes of people thronging the streets, with great shouts and acclamations, all day long. The Maypole then being joined together and looped about with bands of iron, the crown and cane, with the king's arms richly gilded, was placed on the head of it; a large hoop, like a balcony, was about the middle of it. Then, amid sounds of trumpets and drums, and loud cheerings, and the shouts of the people, the Maypole, 'far more glorious, bigger, and higher than ever any one that stood before it,' was raised upright, which highly did please the Merrie Monarch and the illustrious Prince, Duke of York; and the little children did much rejoice, and ancient people did clap their hands, saying golden days began to appear." A party of morris-dancers now came forward, "finely decked with purple scarfs, in their half-shirts, with a tabor and a pipe, the ancient music, and danced round about the Maypole."

The setting up of this Maypole is said to have been the deed of a blacksmith, John Clarges, who lived hard by, and whose daughter Anne had been so fortunate in her matrimonial career as to secure for her husband no less a celebrated person than General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, in the reign of Charles II., when courtiers and princes did not always look to the highest rank for their wives. With her is connected a story which may best be told, perhaps, by a brief outline of a certain cause celèbre in which her name figures prominently:—

"During the trial of an action for trespass between William Sherwin, plaintiff, and Sir Walter Clarges, Baronet, defendant, at the bar of King's Bench, in November, 1700, the following circumstance occurred:—The plaintiff, as heir and representative of Thomas Monk, Esq., elder brother of George, Duke of Albemarle, claimed the manor of Sutton, in Yorkshire, and other lands in Newton, Eaton Bridge, and Shipton, as heir-at-law to the said duke, against the defendant, to whom they had been left by his only son and successor, Christopher, the second duke, who died without issue in 1688."

In the course of the trial some very curious particulars were disclosed with respect to the family of Anne Clarges, the wife of George, the first Duke of Albemarle. "It appeared that she was daughter of John Clarges, a farrier in the Savoy, who was farrier to the duke, then Colonel Monk. She was married in 1632, in the church of St. Lawrence Pountney, to Thomas Ratford, son of another man of the same name, who had been a farrier and a servant in the employment of Prince Charles, and resident in the Mews (no doubt the King's Mews at Charing Cross). She had a daughter who was born in 1634, and who died at four years old. She lived with her husband at the 'Three Spanish Gipsies,' in the New Exchange, in the Strand, and sold such things as washballs, powder, and gloves, and also taught girls plain work. About 1647 she was acting as sempstress to Colonel Monk, and used to carry him his linen. In 1648 her father and mother died, and in the following year she and her husband 'fell out and parted,' but no certificate from any parish register could be produced to prove his burial. However, in 1652, she was married at the church of St. George, Southwark, to General George Monk, and was delivered in the following year of a son, Christopher, who, as stated above, became, or at all events was called, the second duke, and who died in 1688. Several witnesses were brought forward to swear that they had seen Thomas Ratford, her Grace's first husband, alive as lately as January, 1669–70, many years after her marriage with the first duke and the birth of the second. In opposition to this evidence, it was alleged that all along, during the lives of Dukes George and Christopher, this matter was never questioned; that the latter was universally received as the son of the former; and further, that the matter had been thrice already tried at the bar of the King's Bench, and the defendant had gained three verdicts. A witness swore that he owed Ratford five or six pounds, which he had never demanded; and a man who had married a cousin of the Duke of Albemarle had been told by his wife that Ratford died five or six years before the duke married. In summing up, Lord Chief Justice Holt told the jury, 'If you are certain that Duke Christopher was born while Thomas Ratford was living, you must find for the plaintiff. If you believe that he was born after Ratford was dead, or that nothing appears what became of him after Duke George married his wife, you must find for the defendant.' In the end a verdict was given for the defendant, who was only son to Sir Thomas Clarges, Knight, brother of the duchess, and who was created a baronet in 1674."

Newcastle Street, at the north-east corner of the church of St. Mary-le-Strand, was formerly called Maypole Alley, but early in the last century was changed to its present name, after John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, the then owner of the property, and the name has been transferred to another place not far off. At the junction of Drury Lane and Wych Street, on the north side, close to the Olympic Theatre, is a narrow court, which is now known as Maypole Alley, near which stood the forge of John Clarges, the blacksmith, alluded to above as having set up the Maypole at the time of the Restoration.

As all earthly glories are doomed in time to fade, so this gaily-bedecked Maypole, after standing for upwards of fifty years, had become so decayed in the ground, that it was deemed necessary to replace it by a new one. Accordingly, it was removed in 1713, and a new one erected in its place a little further to the west, nearly opposite to Somerset House, where now stands a drinking fountain. It was set up on the 4th of July in that year, with great joy and festivity, but it was destined to be short-lived. When this latter Maypole was taken down in its turn, Sir Isaac Newton, who lived near Leicester Fields, bought it from the parishioners, and sent it as a present to his friend, the Rev. Mr. Pound, at Wanstead in Essex, who obtained leave from his squire, Lord Castlemaine, to erect it in Wanstead Park, for the support of what then was the largest telescope in Europe, being 125 feet in length. It was constructed by Huygens, and presented by him to the Royal Society, of which he was a member. It had not long stood in the park, when one morning some amusing verses were found affixed to the Maypole, alluding to its change of position and employment. They are given by Pennant as follows:—

"Once I adorned the Strand,
But now have found
My way to Pound
On Baron Newton's land;
Where my aspiring head aloft is reared,
T' observe the motions of th' ethereal Lord.
Here sometimes raised a machine by my side,
Through which is seen the sparkling milky tide;
Here oft I'm scented with a balmy dew,
A pleasant blessing which the Strand ne'er knew.
There stood I only to receive abuse,
But here converted to a nobler use;
So that with me all passengers will say,
'I'm better far than when the Pole of May.'"

Of the old cross in the Strand, Mr. Newton tells us, in his "London in the Olden Time," that it was mutilated at the time of the Reformation, and that it stood for some years headless, and was eventually taken down in the reign of Charles II. He identifies its site with that of the Maypole, already mentioned.

Allen, in his "History of London," says that "opposite to Chester Inn" (which, by the way, appears to have been the same building that was afterwards called "Strand Inn," and which stood where now is the east end of Somerset House) "stood an ancient cross, at which the judges occasionally used to sit to administer justice outside the City walls."

The origin of the judges administering justice in public is of very remote antiquity, as is evident from the frequent allusion to the custom made in Holy Scripture, where judges are spoken of as sitting "in the gate;" and the reason of so public a situation being chosen, says Herbert, in his "Inns of Court," was on two accounts: "that their proceedings might be generally seen, and that none might go out of the common way to seek for justice."

Maypole (The), in the Strand, stood on the site of the present church of St Mary-le-Strand.

What's not destroy*d by Time's devouring Hand?
Where's Troy, and where's the May-Pole in the Strand?
Pease, cabbages and turnips once grew, where
Now stands New Bond Street, and a newer Square;
Such Piles of buildings now rise up and down,
London itself seems going out of town.
Bramston's Art of Politicks, 8vo, 1731.

I cannot omit to mention any new thing that comes up amongst us, though never so trivial: here [1634] is one Captain Bailey;¹ he hath been a sea captain, but now lives on the land about this city, where he tries experiments. He hath erected, according to his ability, some four hackney-coaches, put his men in livery, and appointed them to stand at the Maypole in the Strand, giving them instructions at what rates to carry men into several parts of the town, where all day they may be had. Other hackney-men seeing this way, they flocked to the same place, and perform their journeys at the same rate; so that sometimes there is twenty of them together, which disperse up and down, that they and others are to be had everywhere, as watermen are to be had by the water-side.—Garrard to the Earl of Strafford, vol. i. p. 227.

February 11, 1659–1660.—The Butchers at the Maypole in the Strand, rang a peal with their knives when they were going to sacrifice their Rump.—Pepys.

Let me declare to you the manner in general of that stately cedar erected in the Strand, 134 foot high, commonly called the Maypole, upon the cost of the parishioners there adjacent, and the gracious consent of his sacred Majesty [Charles II.], with the illustrious prince the Duke of York. This tree was a most choice and remarkable piece; 'twas made below bridge and brought in two parts up to Scotland Yard, and from thence it was conveyed, April 14 [1661], to the Strand to be erected. It was brought with a streamer flourishing before it, drums beating all the way, and other sorts of music; it was supposed to be so long, that landsmen [as carpenters] could not possibly raise it. Prince James, the Duke of York, Lord High Admiral of England, commanded twelve seamen off aboard to come and officiate the business, whereupon they came and brought their cables, pullies, and other tacklins, with six great anchors. The Maypole then being joined together, and hoopt about with bands of iron, the crown and vane, with the King's arms richly gilded, was placed on the head of it, a large top like a balcony was about the middle of it. This being done the trumpets did sound, and in four hours space it was advanced upright, after which, being established fast in the ground, six drums did beat, and the trumpets did sound; again great shouts and acclamations the people give, that it did ring throughout all the Strand. After that came a Morrice dance, finely deckt, with purple scarfs in their half-shirts, with a tabor and pipe, the ancient wind music, and danced round about the Maypole and after that danced the rounds of their liberty [Duchy of Lancaster]. It is placed as near hand as they could guess in the very same pit where the former stood, but far more glorious, bigger and higher, than ever any one that stood before it; and the seamen themselves do confess that it could not be built higher, nor is there such a one in Europe beside, which highly doth please his Majesty and the Duke of York. Little children did much rejoice, and ancient people did clap their hands, saying "golden days begin to appear."—The Citie's Loyalty Displayed, 4to, 1661.

At the North end of it [St. Mary le Strand] a Maypole lately stood, put up by a Farrier to commemorate his daughter's good fortune of arriving to the dignity of Dutchess of Albemarle, by being married to General Monk when he was but a private gentleman.—William Stow's Remarks on London, 1722, p. 46.

Maypoles now [at the Restoration of Charles II.] were sett up in every cross-way: and at the Strand, near Drury Lane, was set up the most prodigious one for height, that perhaps was ever seen; ... that w^ch remaines (being broken with a high wind, I think about 1672) is but two parts of three of the whole height from the ground, besides what is in the earth.—Aubrey's Anecdotes, vol. iii. p. 457.

This being grown old and decayed, was, anno 1717, obtained by Sir Isaac Newton, Knt., of the parish, and being taken down, was carried away through the City in a carriage of timber [April, 1718], unto Wansted in Essex, and by the leave of Sir Richard Child, Bart., Lord Castlemain, granted to the Rev. Mr. Pound, rector of that parish, was reared up and placed in his park there, the use whereof is for the raising of a telescope, the largest in the world, given by a French gentleman [Monsieur Hugon] to the Royal Society.—Strype, B. iv. pp. 104, 106.

Further on (p. 112) Strype says that of it there was "nothing standing but the lower part, which is about twenty foot high," when Newton procured its removal

Where the tall Maypole once o'erlooked the Strand,

now stands St Mary-le-Strand Church [which see].

There is a Maypole Alley out of Craven Buildings.

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¹ "The same I take it who had been in Raleigh's last expedition to Guiana."—Oldys, in Gough, vol i. p. 685.