a poem called " The Fleece " the rite is 

 prettily described : — 



" With light fantastic toe, the nymphs 

 Thither assembled, thither every swain ; 

 And o'er the dimpled stream a thousand flowers, 

 Pale lilies, roses, violets and pinks, 

 Mix'd with the greens of bouret, mint and thyme. 

 And trefoil, sprinkled with their sportive arms, 

 Such custom holds along th' irriguous vales, 

 From Wreken's brow to rocky Dolvoryn, 

 Sabrina's early haunt." 



A peculiar reverence was attached 

 to the garlands woven for festival oc- 

 casions, and the Romans, particularly, 

 considered it a grave breach of decorum 

 to wear such garlands in public. In- 

 deed, such indecorous use of these 

 sacred garlands was punished, and on 

 one occasion Lucius Fulvius, a banker, 

 having been convicted at the time of 

 the Second Punic War of looking from 

 his balcony with a chaplet of roses on 

 his head, was thrown into prison, under 

 orders from the Senate, and kept there 

 sixteen years, until the close of the war. 

 29 



