FLOWERS OF HISTORY. 449 



The hawthorn is associated also with the Royal 

 House of England, and was the badge of the 

 Tudors. On the authority of Miss Strickland, this 

 was its origin. When the body of Richard III., who 

 was slain at Redmore Heath, was plundered of its 

 armour and ornaments, the crown was hidden by a 

 soldier in a hawthorn bush. It was soon found and 

 carried back to Lord Stanley, who placed it on the 

 head of his son-in-law, saluting him by the title of 

 Henry VII., whilst the victorious army sang the " Te 

 Deum." In memory of this event it is said that the 

 House of Tudor assumed as a device a crown in a 

 bush of fruiting hawthorn. There is an old 

 proverb : — 



Cleave to the crown, though it hang in a bush, 

 which appears to allude to this tradition. 



Stow gives an account of King Henry VIII. 

 and Queen Katherine riding a-Maying from Green- 

 wich to the high ground of Shooter's Hill, accom- 

 panied by many lords and ladies, but we doubt if this 

 had any relation to the tradition above quoted. In 

 all the old May-day customs gathering the hawthorn 

 had a prominent place. Brand, in his " Antiquities," 1 

 gives a long account of the customs in vogue on May- 

 day, and their supposed relationship to the ancient 

 floralia, and subsequent association with Robin 



1 Brand, "Antiquities," vol. i., pp. 212 to 270. 

 2 G 



