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Last Update: 2 June, 2008 9:38 AM

28/05/2007
'OSS, OSS, WEE OSS' - MAY DAY IN PADSTOW

Travel
Author: Gary Baker

TO PADSTONIANS, May Day is more important than Christmas, New Year and Easter combined. What else would bring locals home from all over the world simply to spend a day in their village?

For May Day is about the 'Obby 'Oss - and don't they enjoy it!

For too long than I care to remember - way before celebrity chef Rick Stein became the symbol of Padstow - I have always wanted to find out what this pegan festival that celebrates someone dressed in a costume dancing around the streets was all about.

So it was about time that I went to Padstow and found out what the 'Obby 'Oss stuff was all about.

What it is not, very surprisingly, is loads of men going out, getting completely blotto and causing havoc. What actually occurs is a very local tradition, so much so that, if an outsider should you wear a necktie to indicate which side of the famous divide they supported, then fear for your safety!

The twenty-something man in the pub by the harbour, with a rainbow-coloured bobble hat on, drinking his cider in the late afternoon heat made sure his point was heeded.

Thankfully, this May Day the sun and heat shone down on the little fishing port where boats still sail out of the harbour (pictured below), onto the river and into the end of the Bristol Channel.

And we went on a 'quiet' year. Only around 50,000 people turned up for the festival this time around because May Day fell on a Tuesday. Normally, when it is on a Bank Holiday or a weekend, expect in the region of 100,000 to 120,000 people to throng through the streets of this tiny village.

My friend and I caught the ferry over to Rock, the small village on the other side of Padstow, to have an evening meal and were told that, when May Day gets very, very busy, people from Rock travel over the water only to travel back as quickly because they simply cannot get into the village.

Sounds incredible but, quite frankly, it is very believable.

May Day actually starts on April 31 at midnight (pictured left) when everyone in the town gathers to welcome in the first day of the summer.

Crowds of people follow an 'Oss around the town, waking people up and telling them, as many do on New Year's Eve, that a new era has dawned, in this case it is summer.

And it is relentless - but triumphantly enjoyable.

The next day, if you can wake up in time that is, the 'Obby 'Oss REALLY comes alive. It starts at around 7am with the children of Padstow dancing through the streets before finishing their event at the Maypole in the main town square.

I crawled out of bed in the simple, very adaquate but very overpriced (£105 per double room) Custom House Hotel right on the harbour, at around 10am. By then, the children had done their thing, and the first of the many adult 'Oss dances had begun.

The tradition is this.

The 'Oss is a man wearing a huge circular black plastic cape that falls to the floor and what can only be described as a dragon's mask.

He/she flays around while a 'Teaser', who can be anyone from Padstow, runs around in front to take the Michael.

And, while accordians and drums reign out the same tune, everyone sings the traditional hymn - time and time again.

The first verse of that is:

'Unite and unite and let us all unite
For summer is acoming again
And wither we are going, we will all unite
In the merry morning of May'

The hymn goes on for several verses afterwards and is pretty infectious.

One thing to remember, though if you go to the 'Obby 'Oss is to take your walking shoes because Padstow has some tough gradients amongst their incredible houses. Also, if you wish to follow them more than just once, the 'Osses go out from their 'stables' three times during the day.

The Red 'Oss is 'stabled' at the Golden Lion pub in the village - it is not too difficult to find - while the Blue 'Oss is the Padstow Institute. The crowds gather in front of both places at least half-an-hour before they come out into the open, trotting and spinning down the road after being summoned with a chorus of 'Oss, Oss, Wee Oss'.

There is quite a rivalry between the two sets of supporters. All over the town in the lead-up to the day, the red team will put their posters up telling people to come and 'Unite' with them while the same happens with the blue 'Oss camp.

You side as you will but it is all only a bit of fun. The whole day seems to be about Padstonians and Cornish people getting together and re-connecting their traditions in the way that Welsh people do so at theri Eisteddford.

But what enjoyment it is! The night we arrived, we went into the Harbour Inn, just 10 yards away from our hotel, for a beer and saw the landlord taking the pictures off the walls simply because the place would be too crowded that night and he feared his pics would be destroyed. It's a Padstow tradition, apparently.

We ate well over those couple of days and had an incredible meal of fresh seafood in the Harbour Inn, before hake and chips in Rick Stein's chippy on the harbour for £7.50 minimum. That was in a cardboard box as well. Thing is, the fish was caught that morning (no doubt about that either), and was a fresh as a daisy. Be warned, though, if you want to dine at Rick's main restaurant in the village. The prices reflect that of a Michelin Star celebrity chef although, without doubt, the food must be marvellous. It is also so popular that there is a SIX MONTH waiting list to get a table.

As the day wears through to the afternoon, both Osses stride with their supporters to Padstow's main square where the brightly decorated Maypole stands (pictured left ). There, the accordians ring out as the two Osses meet head-to-head to celebrate the summer arriving.

And as the darkness descends on May Day, the 'Osses die at their respective stables. The Teaser puts down their rattle and the man under the Oss gets out of his costume for the last time.

Next day, Padstow was again this little fishing village, with no hotdog stands, the fairs vanished overnight and the tourists were leaving as well. So May Day was finished?

Not quite. As we discovered before leaving, May 1 is for the tourists, Padstonians celebrate long and hard on May 2. That may not involve the Oss celebrations but that is their private enjoyment.

Having been there now, I can understand why May Day in Padstow is like all the other festive days rolled into one. It is a tradition that I hope to return again in the years to come and enjoy this absolutely mad British day.

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