Why does #OakAppleDay matter? Personally, it isn& #39;t the political aspect that interest me but the extraordinary folkloric resonances. It& #39;s a sort of feast day of English folklore, a festival for folklorists https://twitter.com/drfrancisyoung/status/1266253976187494400">https://twitter.com/drfrancis...

In the first place, the Restoration was perceived and received by many as a return of mythical & #39;Merry England& #39;, an end to Puritan proscription of folk culture

The fact that the day fell in May meant that it became associated with Maypoles, a particular target of the Puritans and symbol of anti-Puritan resistance. And perhaps also a fitting symbol of Charles II...

And then there& #39;s the strange, primal symbolism of the King in the oak tree; the recursive symbolism of a symbol of England becoming the means whereby England is preserved; the King of the greenwood saving the King... The resonances just go on and on...

Although celebrations of Oak Apple Day carried on for a while after the excision of the special service from the Prayer Book in 1859, the Church thereby withdrew from engagement with folk culture. The Puritans, in effect, won

It& #39;s interesting how the Gunpowder Plot commemorations (also removed from Church in 1859) proved much more resilient