HAWTHORN. 67 
HAWTHORN. 
The Hawthorn, or white Thorn, was among the 
Greeks a symbol of the conjugal union ; its blos- 
somed boughs were carried about at their wedding 
festivities, and the new-married couple were even 
lighted to the bridal chamber with torches of its 
wood. 
Among the Turks a branch of the Hawthorn ex- 
presses the wish of a lover to receive a kiss from the 
object of his affection. 
In England, where the hedges, principally formed 
of Hawthorn, give such beauty and diversity to our 
landscapes, and where the air is perfumed during 
the season of flowering by the aromatic fragrance of 
its blossom, this shrub held a distinguished place 
among the May-day sports of our ancestors. From 
its flowering in that month, it received the name of 
May, by which it is still more frequently called than 
by its proper appellation. 
Stow tells us that, on May-day, in the morning, 
