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with to make themselves fair for the remainder of the year. This
old custom is still extant in the north of England and in some
districts of Scotland. Robert Fergusson has told how the Scotch
lassies swarmed at daybreak on Arthur’s S e a t :
On May-day in a fairy ring,
We’ve seen them round St. Anthon’s spring
Frae grass the caller dew-draps wring,
To wet their ein,
And water clear as crystal spring.
To synd them clean.”
In Ross-shire the lassies pluck sprigs of Ivy, with the May-
dew on them, that have not been touched by steel.
_ It was deemed important that flowers for May garlands and
posies should be plucked before the sun rose on May-day morning;
and if perchance, Cuckoo-buds were included in the composition
of a wreath, it was destroyed directly the discovery was made, and
removed immediately from a posie.
In the May-day sports on the village green, it was customary
to choose as May Queen either the best dancer or the prettiest
girl, who, at sundown was crowned with a floral chaplet—
See where she sits upon the grassie greene,
A seemly sight !
Yclad in scarlet, like a mayden queene,
And ermines white.
Upon her head a crimson coronet,
With Daffodils and Damask Roses se t:
Bay-leaves betweene,
And Primroses greene
Embellished the sweete Violet.—Spenser.
The coronation of the rustic queen concluded the out-door
festivities of May-day, although her majesty’s duties would not
appear to have been fulfilled until she reached her home.
“ Then all the rest in sorrow,
And she in sweet content,
Gave over till the morrow,
And homeward straight they went;
But she of all the rest
Was hindered by the way,
For every youth that met her
Must kiss the Queen of May !”
At Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, there existed, till the beginning
of the present century, a ceremony which evidently derived its
origin from the Roman Floralia. On the morning of May-day a
tram of youths collected themselves at a place still known as the
May-bank. From thence, with wands enwreathed with Cowslips
they walked m procession to the may-pole, situated at the west
end of the town, and adorned on that morning with every variety of
wild flowers. Here, with loud shouts, they struck together their
wands, and, scattering around the Cowslips, testified their thankfulness
for the bounteous promise of spring.
Aubrey (MS., 1686), tells us that in his day “ at Woodstock in
Cxon they every May-eve goe into the parke, and fetch away a
number of Haw-thorne-trees, which they set before their dores.”
In Huntingdonshire, fifty years ago, the village swains were
accustomed, at sunrise, to place a branch of May in blossom before
the door of anyone they wished to honour. In Tuscany the expression,
Appiccare il maio ad una porta, has passed into a proverb, and
means to lay siege to a maiden’s heart and make love to her. In
the vicinity of Valenciennes, branches of Birch or Hornbeam are
placed by rural swains at the doors of their sweethearts ; thorny
branches at the portals of prudes ; and Elder boughs at the doors
of flirts. In the villages of Provence, on May-day, they select a
May Queen. Crowned with a wreath, and adorned with garlands
of Roses, she is carried through the streets, mounted on a platform,
her companions soliciting and receiving the offerings of the
towns-people. In olden times it was customary even among the
French nobility to present May to friends and neighbours, or as it
was called, esmayer. Sometimes this presenting of May was
regarded as a challenge. The custom of planting a May-tree in
French towns subsisted until the 17th century: in 1610, one was
planted in the court of the Louvre. In some parts of Spain the
name of Maia is given to the May Queen (selected generally as
being the handsomest lass of the village), who, decorated with
garlands of flowers, leads the dances in which the young people
spend the day. The villagers in other provinces declare their love
by planting, during the preceding night, a large bough or a sapling,
decked with flowers, before the doors of their sweethearts. In
Greece, bunches of flowers are suspended over the doors of most
houses ; and in the rural districts, the peasants bedeck themselves
with flowers, and carry garlands and posies of wild flowers.
In some parts of Italy, in the May-day rejoicings, a May-tree
or a branch in blossom and adorned with fruit and ribbands, plays
a conspicuous part : this is called the Maggio, and is probably a
reminiscence of the old Grecian Eiresione.
Of the flowers specially dedicated to May, first and foremost
is the Hawthorn blossom. In some parts of England the Convallaria
is known as May L ily. The Germans call it Mai blume, a name
they also apply to the Hepática and Kingcup. In Devon and
Cornwall the Lilac is known as May-flower, and much virtue is
thought to be attached to a spray of the narrow-leaf Elm gathered
on May morning.
In Asia Minor the annual festival of flowers used to commence
on the 28th of April, when the houses and tables were covered
with flowers, and every one going into the streets wore a floral
crown. In Germany, France, and Italy, the fête of the flowers, or
the fête of spring, commences also towards the end of April, and
terminates at Midsummer. Athenians, on an early day in spring,
every year crowned with flowers all children who had reached their