 Pairs of boys and girls (or men and women) stood, alternately, around the base of the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon.When the music started, they would weave in and around each other, boys going one way, girls going the other, until the ribbons were woven together tightly around the pole and the merrymakers all met at its base.The phallic symbolism of the maypole and the nature of some of the dances, have, throughout history, rarely been openly acknowledged, but are obvious.