THE QUEEN OF MAY. 
139 
on the throne of flowers. Then the music again 
sounded, and the light-footed dancers whirled round 
the dizzy maze, now joined by the jolly old English 
squire, who made the earth shake again beneath the 
tread of his heavy top-boots. A few bottles of the 
choicest wine had been brought from the cellars of the 
hall, and the corks were drawn by a servant in old- 
fashioned livery, and, amid loud huzzas, the healths 
of the King and Queen of May were drank by the 
happy villagers. Another dance, in which the queen 
and her lover joined, being over, the squire and his 
family retired through the ancient iron gates of the 
lodge, and were soon lost in the long avenue which 
led to the hall, leaving the merry villagers to end their 
May-day game among themselves. They selected a 
new May queen, by cutting a quantity of sprigs from 
a rosebush, amid which only one bud was placed ; 
this, together with the sprays which contained only 
leaves, was concealed in the palm of the hand, while 
the stalks or stems only were left visible, and she who 
was fortunate enough to draw out the losebud, was 
proclaimed Queen of the May, and placed upon the 
flowery throne which her sovereign sister had just 
abdicated. 
