The Hobby Horse of Padstow May Day
A record in The Hawthorn Archive, preserving folklore with its place, type and source context attached.
Padstow’s May Day celebrations in Cornwall are closely associated with the ‘Obby ‘Oss, a costumed hobby-horse figure carried through the town amid music and crowds. The celebration is an example of a living calendar custom rather than a story preserved only in books.
Interpretations of its origins have varied, and claims that it directly preserves an ancient pagan rite go beyond what the surviving evidence can securely demonstrate. The modern custom has its own documented history and continuing local meaning.
Place: Padstow, Cornwall. Type: seasonal folk custom. Evidence: documented community practice. Source trail: Padstow May Day community records; Folklore Society discussions of English calendar customs; historical studies of Cornish May celebrations.