MORRIS-DANCE
In Henry VIII. (v. 4. 15) when the Porter is angry at the crowds that have made their way into the palace yard, and calls for "a dozen crab-tree staves" to drive them out, a man says to him:—
"Pray, sir, be patient: 't is as much impossible—
Unless we sweep 'em from the door with cannons—
To scatter 'em, as 't is to make 'em sleep
On May-day morning; which will never be."
Of course the day was a holiday in the Stratford school, and we may be sure that William made the most of it.
An important feature in the May-day games in Shakespeare's time was the Morris-Dance, in which a group of characters associated with the stories of Robin Hood were the chief actors. These were Robin himself; his faithful companion, Little John; Friar Tuck, to whom Drayton alludes as
"Tuck the merry friar which many a sermon made