The people of Merrymount, whom Hawthorne calls the "crew of Comus," celebrate the marriage of a youth and a maiden (Edgar and Edith). They dance around a maypole and are described as resembling forest creatures. Their festivities are interrupted by the arrival of John Endicott and his Puritan followers. Endicott orders for the people of Merrymount to be whipped. Stricken by the newlyweds, he spares them but orders they be put in more conservative clothing. He also orders the youth cut his hair in the "pumpkin shell" style in order to show the Puritan's strictness.