264 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LINNAEUS 



southernmost coast of Sweden. Ho knew his country now 

 from end to end. 1 Trelleborg was then not so much a 

 town as a gathering of merchants round a market-place. 

 It has now 2,000 inhabitants. From here he went to 

 Skanor on June 22, and Falsterbo, a still smaller town 

 than Skanor, both on a sort of amphibious point of land 

 half land, half sandbank. In the midst of two clumps 

 of trees are seen the two spires of these ancient towns, 

 once rich and powerful, now mere villages. Falsterbo is 

 the larger now ; it has 800 inhabitants, while Skanor 

 has but 400. A local saying is, ' At the time Christ let 

 himself be born, stood Lund and Skanor in fairest 

 growth.' The church of Skanor has a scaled spire, and 

 a crypt under the choir like Lund Cathedral ; it is said 

 to be the most ancient church in SkSne. It is deeply 

 imbedded in the sand. It was the Midsummer Waka, 

 St. John's Eve ; the youths and maidens were assembled 

 in the market-place arranging flowers for the festival ; 

 though it rained the whole night through, the rain 

 could not hinder these young people from having their 

 maypole dances, nor the elders from gorging themselves 

 with flummery, the habit of the peasants of SkSne. 



' The church door stood open from early dawn till 

 sunset. People came hither from great distances (and 

 formerly much folk from Denmark), laying their money 

 upon the chest. Some came laden with small boxes of 

 coin, sent by those who were too sick to come, and in 

 good faith offered them. This was going on before, 



1 The fishing-village of Smygge is the extreme southerly point 

 of Sweden. 



