ABSTRACT
This chapter explores literary responses to the customs associated with May Day alongside antiquarian material in order to present the beginnings of an account of the variety of attitudes to folklore expressed by Romantic-era writers. It outlines the variety of approaches to folklore in Romantic-era literature using a range of different folkloric practices would not only be a vast undertaking but would also make it more dif cult to see where writers differ or converge. The chapter begins to particularize the encounter between literature and folklore. It introduces a new term to describe the space in which folklore operates the common sphere. Centring on May Day, the chapter examines the relationships between the development of folklore studies and the growing emphasis on folkloric material in the literary image of rural England. Few of the original May Day songs survive from the Romantic era, though many from the Victorian period do.
