om one
place to another by means of a scaffold--a huge and ponderous machine
mounted on wheels, gayly decorated with flags, and divided into two
compartments--the upper of which formed the stage, and the lower,
defended from vulgar curiosity by coarse canvas draperies, answered the
purposes of a green-room. To each craft in the city a separate mystery
was allotted. Thus, the drapers exhibited the "Creation," the tanners
took the "Fall of Lucifer," the water-carriers of the Dee acted the
"Deluge," etc. The production, too, of these pageants was extremely
costly; indeed, each one has been set down at fifteen or twenty pounds
sterling. An allusion to this custom is made in the "Two Gentlemen of
Verona" (iv. 4), where Julia says:

"At Pentecost,
When all our pageants of delight were play'd,
Our youth got me to play the woman's part,
And I was trimm'd in Madam Julia's gown."

[661] "Encyclopaedia of Antiquities," 1843, vol. ii. p. 653.

The morris-dance, too, was formerly a common accompaniment to the
Whitsun ales, a practice which is still kept up in many parts of the
country. In "Henry V." (ii. 4), the Dauphin thus alludes to it:

"I say, 'tis meet we all go forth,
To view the sick and feeble parts of France:
And let us do it with no show of fear;
No, with no more than if we heard that England
Were busied with a Whitsun morris-dance."

And once more, in the "Winter's Tale" (iv. 4), Perdita says to Florizel:

"Methinks I play as I have seen them do
In Whitsun pastorals."

A custom formerly kept up in connection with Whitsuntide was the
"Whitsun ale." Ale was so prevalent a drink among us in olden times as
to become a part of the name of various festal meetings, as Leet ale,
Lamb ale, Bride ale (bridal), and, as we see, Whitsun ale. Thus our
ancestors were in the habit of holding parochial meetings every
Whitsuntide, usually in some barn near the church, consisting of a kind
of picnic, as each parishioner brought what victuals he could spare. The
ale, which had been brewed pretty strong for the occasion, was sold by
the churchwardens, and from its profits a fund arose for the repair of
the church.[662] These meetings are referred to by Shakespeare in
"Pericles" (i. 1):

"It hath been sung at festivals,
On ember-eves and holy-ales."

[662] See "British Popular Customs," p. 278; Brand's "Pop.
Antiq.," 1849, vol. i.