THE SOCIAL SIDE OF GARDENS 



ornaments worn were of pearl and diamond. Silver 

 lamps were set upon the stone balustrades, and the 

 night culminated in a dance representing Apollo and 

 the nine Muses given on one of the terraces before 

 a dark background of box and ilex. 



The love of the out-of-doors as a place for social 

 enjoyment was by no means confined to the rich or to 

 the aristocracy. Hardly a village but had its tree- 

 grown common, where young and old met for the day's 

 relaxation after working hours, the old to gossip, the 

 young for trials of strength and dancing. May-day in 

 an English village of the "spacious times" must have 

 been a scene worth remembering. The May-pole, reared 

 in the center of the green, was crowned with a garland of 

 spring flowers and wreathed in greenery. From it 

 radiated the long flower-trimmed ribbons to be held by 

 the fairest maids of the country round as they went 

 through the intricate paces of their dance, keeping time 

 to ballads sung by the merry circle of young men in 

 their best holiday dress, who, at a given moment, 

 joined in the dance and swept their sweethearts away 

 with garlands flung about their necks amid the laughter 

 and rough jesting of the jolly crowd. 



Following this came the wrestling matches, the single 

 stick bouts, the foot-races, and jumping matches. Prizes 

 of casks of ale, butts full of malmsey, fat pigs, silver pieces 

 and horses bridled with silver bits were offered, and the 

 interest in these events was so intense that the defeat of 



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