KOTES. 



s 



So Collins : 



"To fair Fidele's grassy tomb 



Soft maids and village hinds shall bring 

 Each opening sweet, of earliest bloom. 



And rifle all the breathing Spring." — Dirge in Cymheline. 



" Gay describes the strewing of flowers upon the graves : 



' Upon her grave the Rosemary they threw, 

 The daisy, butter'd-flow'r, and endive blue.' 



" He adds the custom, still used in the south of England, of 

 fencing the grave with osiers, &c. ; and glances at clerical 

 economy, for which there is oftentimes too much occasion, 

 in the two last lines : 



* With wicker rods we fenc'd her tomb around, 

 To ward from man and beast the hallow'd ground ; 

 liest her new grave the Parson's cattle raze, 

 For both his horse and cow the churchyard graze.'" — Brand. 



" Independently of the religious comfort which is imparted 

 in ouv burial service, we sometimes see certain gratifications 

 which are derived from immaterial circumstances ; and, how- 

 ever trivial they may appear, are not to be judged improper 

 as long as they are perfectly innocent. Of this kind may be 

 deemed the practice in some country villages of throwing 

 flowers into the grave." — The Female Mentor, Land. 1798, 

 vol. ii. p. 205, 206. 



" The grave of the deceased is constantly overspread with 

 plucked flowers for a week or two after the funeral. It is 

 very common to dress the graves on Whitsunday and other 

 festivals, when flowers are to be procured : and the frequency 

 of this observance is a good deal afiected by the respect in 



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