22 
INTRODUCTION. 
The twenty-ninth of May, the anniversary 
of the restoration of King Charles, is cele¬ 
brated at Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, with 
much rejoicing among the junior members of 
the community. Rising early in the morn¬ 
ing, they sally forth into the neighbouring 
woods, and break off large boughs from 
the oak trees, which they convey into the 
town, and fix them projecting from the win¬ 
dows. To these they suspend garlands of flow¬ 
ers, ornamented with birds’ eggs, which are 
cruelly taken from the nests found in the 
hedges around. Garlands are also suspended 
over the streets by cords passing from one 
window to another on the opposite side. Boys 
also deck their hats with a twig of the oak 
tree, the leaves of which they ornament with 
gold leaf. 
To pass, however, more immediately to the 
contents of this little work, we would observe, 
that the sentimental language of Flora is by 
no means of modern invention. “ The hiero¬ 
glyphics of the ancient Egyptians abound in 
floral symbols, and from hence we may sur¬ 
mise that the Greeks became accustomed to 
