Russell and Carol - hayle and hearty

Russell gave me some lovely old books about Cornwall for my birthday, and I was struck by a reference in The Story of Cornwall by A.K. Hamilton Jenkin (March 1938) to Sycamore being part of the May traditions...

The coming of May was also celebrated with many interesting customs. On May Day boys and girls would go out early in the morning to cut the green boughs of sycamore, which in Cornwall is generally know as "may". They would either bring these back to town, or take them to the farmhouses, where, as a reward, they would be given a breakfast of bread and cream.

and

Formerly the festivities of Furry Day started about six o'clock in the morning, when a party of men and women would go forth into the country to gather sycamore boughs and such flowers as they could beg or "borrow" from the neighbouring gardens.  Bearing these, they returned once mor to own, where the doorways of the houses were already decorated with similar greenery.

I'd always understood the May tree to be either Blackthorn or Hawthorn so did some research which turned up some interesting remarks - there seems to be a difference of opinion as to how long Sycamore's have been here and whether they were an introduction and how widespread they were before about 1700 - but there are references to a connection at least with Helston, sycamore and May:

From Sycamore Lore - Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) plant lore - Great Britain and Ireland

In Cornwall sycamore played an important part of the customs associated with 1 May and Furry, or Flora, Day (8 May). Davey (1909) provides the following account: 'On the first of May young people went into the country calling at farmhouses en route, where they were refreshed with milk, cream, and junket. They then proceeded to gather 'May' or sycamore branches, out of which they made whistles and peweeps, by deftly removing circular pieces of bark. With these as instruments of music, the party returned to the town, bearing aloft huge branches of `May'. Although this old custom has long died out, most country boys still know how to make the whistles and peweeps. In the neighbourhood of Helston old folk continue to speak of Flora Day as Faddy Day, and those who go into the country for branches of sycamore or `May' as having gone a faddying'. As a result sycamore was locally known as the: whistle-tree, peweep-tree, faddy-tree or May. Between the first two dances a folk play, known as the Hal-an-Tow, is performed. At least some of the participants in this play carry large sycamore branches, and the 'houses and public buildings are decorated with branches of sycamore and beech, flowers, and evergreens' (Hole, 1976).

Making whistles certainly sounds more like sycamore than blackthorn or hawthorn.

Found a brilliant site about how to make May Whistles

This site is about the traditional Cornish folk custom of making May Whistles to ring in the Summer on Mayday (1st of May). As a child I was shown how to make May Whistles by my Cornish Grandfather. Sadly so many of out traditional customs have been lost, I feel that it is our duty that we all ensure that these skills and traditions are passed on.

Simply I want to spark curiosity in the natural world and our accent traditions. Most importantly I want to pass on this knowledge.

If you make these Whistles or remember them from your childhood especially in reference to May Day I would love to hear from you. You can contact me via my website

Currently Im collating stories and regional customs of May Whistles from all over Britain and one day I plan to publish them.

Click to embiggen my May Whistles making leaflet. Please use my leaflet as a teaching aid. Children must be supervised when using a penknife.

Found another mention on Wikipedia from a contemporary account of 1881

The following is from a contemporary description of the events themselves in 1881 collected by Robert Hunt in 'Popular Romances of the West of England Online Transcript of the original

The May Horns procession in 2008 revival of the West Cornwall May Day Celebrations in Penzance

THE first of May is inaugurated with much uproar. As soon as the clock has told of midnight, a loud blast on tin trumpets proclaims the advent of May. This is long continued. At daybreak, with their "tintarrems," they proceed to the country, and strip the sycamore-trees (called May-trees) of all their young branches, to make whistles. With these shrill musical instruments they return home. Young men and women devote May-day to junketing and picnics. It was a custom at Penzance, and probably at many other Cornish towns, when the author was a boy, for a number of young people to sit up until twelve o'clock, and then to march round the town with violins and fifes, and summon their friends to the Maying. When all were gathered, they went into the country, and were welcomed at the farmhouses at which they called, with some refreshment in the shape of rum and milk, junket, or something of that sort. They then gathered the "May," which included the young branches of any tree in blossom or fresh leaf. The branches of the sycamore were especially cut for the purpose of making the "May-music." This was done by cutting a circle through the bark to the wood a few inches from the end of the branch. The, bark was wetted and carefully beaten until it was loosened and could be slid off from the wood. The wood was cut angularly at the end, so as to form a mouth-piece, and a slit was made in both the bark and the wood, so that when the bark was replaced a whistle was formed. Prepared with a sufficient number of May whistles, all the party returned to the town, the band playing, whistles blowing, and the young people singing some appropriate song.

Just wondering - does anyone else know anything about this? Are all references to "may" in Cornwall references to Sycamore and not blackthorn or hawthorn?