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scarce, the leaves of the yellow Iris were used. At the church of
St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, Rushes are strewn every Whitsuntide.
The parish of Middleton-Cheney, Northamptonshire, has a benefaction
to provide hay for strewing the Church in summer, the
rector providing straw in the winter. In Prussia Holcus odoratus is
considered Holy Grass, and is used for strewing purposes. The
Rush-bearings which are still held in Westmoreland, and were until
quite recently general in Cheshire, would appear to be a relic of the
custom of the Dedication F east. At these Rush-bearings young men
and women carry garlands in procession through the village to the
Church, which they enter and decorate with their floral tributes.
Besides giving the Church a fresh strewing every feast day, it was
in olden times customary to deck it with boughs and flowers ; and
as the flowers used at festivals were originally selected because they
happened to be in bloom then, so in time they came to be associated
therewith.
Cn P a lm S u n d a y , it was customary for the congregation to
carry Palm branches in procession, and deposit them on the altar
of the Church to be blessed, after which they were again distributed
to the people. Various substitutes forthe Eastern Palm were used
in England, but the most popular was the Sallow, because its lithe
green wands, full of sap, and covered with golden catkins, were at
that season of the year the things most full of life and blossom.
Yew branches were also employed for Palm, and some Churches
were decked with boughs of Box.
White Broom and white flowers of all descriptions are
applicable to the great festival of E a s t e r , as well as purple Basque
flowers and golden Daffodils. The peasants of Bavaria weave
garlands of the fragrant Coltsfoot {Nardosmia fragvans) on Easter
Day, and cast them into the fire. In R o g a t io n W e e k processions
perambulated the parishes with the Holy Cross and Litanies, to
mark the boundaries and to invoke the blessing of God on the
crops : on this occasion maidens made themselves garlands and
nosegays of the Rogation-flower, Polygala vulgaris, called also the
Cross-, Gang-, and Procession-flower.
Cn A s c e n s io n D a y it is customary in Switzerland to suspend
wreaths of Edelweiss over porches and windows,—this flower
of the Alps being, like the Amaranth, considered an emblem of
immortality, and peculiarly appropriate to the festival.
M a y D a y , in olden times, was the anniversary of all others
which was associated with floral ceremonies. In the early morn
all ranks of people went out a-Maying, returning laden with Hawthorn
blossoms and May flowers, to decorate churches and houses.
Shakspeare notices how, in his day, every one was astir betimes :—
“ ’Tis as much improbable,
Unless we swept them from the door with cannons,
To scatter ’em, as ’tis to make ’em sleep
On May-day morning.”
It being also the festival of SS . P h i l i p a n d J a m e s , the feast partook
somewhat of a religious character. The people not only turned
the streets into leafy avenues, and their door-ways into green
arbours, and set up a May-pole decked with ribands and garlands,
and an arbour besides for Maid Marian to sit in, to witness the
sports, but the floral decorations extended likewise into the Church.
We learn from Aubrey that the young maids of every parish
carried about garlands of flowers, which they afterwards hung up
in their Churches ; and Spenser sings how, at sunrise—
“ Youth’s folke now flocken in everywhere
• To gather May-buskets and smelling Brere ;
And home they hasten the postes to dight
And all the Kirke pillours ere day light
With Hawthorn buds and sweete Eglantine,
And girlonds of Roses, and Soppes-in-wine.”
The beautiful milk-white Hawthorn blossom is essentially the
flower of the season, but in some parts of England the L ily of the
Valley is considered as “ The L ily of the May.” In Cornwall
and Devon Lilac is esteemed the May-flower, and special virtues
are attached to sprays of Iv y plucked at day-break with the dew
on fihem. In Germany the Kingcup, L ily of the Valley, and
Hepática are severally called Mai-hlume.
W h i t s u n t i d e flowers in England are Lilies of the Valley and
Guelder Roses, but according to Chaucer (‘ Romaunt of the Rose ’)
Love bids his pupil—
“ Have hatte of floures fresh as May,
Chapelett of Roses of Whit-Sunday,
For sich array ne costeth but lite.”
The Germans call Broom Pentecost-bloom, and the Peony the
Pentecost Rose. The Italians call Whitsunday Pasqua Rosata,
Roses being then in flower.
To T r i n i t y S u n d a y belong the Herb-Trinity or Pansy and
the Trefoil. On S t . B a r n a b a s D a y , as on S t . P a u l ’ s D a y , the
churches were decked with Box, Woodruff, Lavender, and Roses,
and the officiating Priests wore garlands of Roses on their heads.
On R o y a l O a k D a y (May 29th), in celebration of the restoration
of King Charles II., and to commemorate his concealment in an
aged Oak at Boscobel, gilded Oak-leaves and Apples are worn, and
Oak-branches are hung over doorways and windows. From this
incident in the life of Charles II,, the Oak derives its title of Royal.
“ Blest Charles then to an Oak his safety owes ;
The Royal Oak, which now in song shall live.
Until it reach to Heaven with its boughs;
Boughs that for loyalty shall garlands give.”
On C o r p u s C h r i s t i D a y it was formerly the custom in
unreformed England to strew the streets through which the procession
passed with flowers, and to decorate the church with Rose
and other garlands. In North Wales a relic of these ceremonies