EASTER EGGS. 



193 



in very rich combinations of colours. On Easter 

 day it was a custom among the Roman Catholics 



to carry these pretty eggs to the priests to church ; 

 there they were blessed and sprinkled with holy 

 water ; after this they were taken home. " On 

 that day, at dinner, the cloth is adorned with 

 sweet herbs and flowers, and the first thing that 

 is eaten are these blessed eggs, which are painted 

 by the nuns of Amelia, a small city about thirty 

 miles from Rome. The common sort of these 

 eggs are all of one colour, as yellow, blue, red, or 

 purple, which are sold in the streets till Ascension- 

 day, or Whitsuntide." 



