3PoraP (^ercmoriic/'. 



Aubrey (MS., 1686), tells us that in his day " at Woodstock in 

 Oxon they every May-eve goe into the parke, and fetch away a 

 number of Maw-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 expres- 

 sion, Appiccare il inaio 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 plat- 

 form, 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 ConvaUaria 

 is known as May Lily. The Germans call it Mai blume, a name 

 they also apply to the Hepatica 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, w^hen 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 fete of the flowers, or 

 the fete 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 



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