Sweeps' Day in Upper Lisson Street

A crowd has gathered to watch a Jack-in-the-Green procession, which is progressing along Upper Lisson Street, Paddington. The custom was part of May Day celebrations and involved a participant wearing an elaborate head-to-toe costume of leaf garlands. The costumes were usually pyramidal or conical in shape. Jack was particularly associated with chimney sweeps, although it is not clear why. In this painting a number of boy chimney sweeps are shown collecting money from the onlookers. As these events could be rowdy and anarchic affairs, Jack-in-the-Green was eventually replaced, during the Victorian period, by the more sedate May Queen tradition.