Chapter V: May-Day Ceremonies and Superstitions

Mock battle between summer and winter. The vernal equinox. Joy on the
return of Spring. Bell-ringing and horn-blowing. Midnight gathering
of wild flowers and green branches of trees. May-day garlands and
decorations. Rush-bearing in Lancashire. Well dressing in
Derbyshire. The Roman Floralia. May-poles denounced by the
Puritans. King James I. at Hoghton Tower, Lancashire. Speech about
"libertie to piping and honest recreation." Whitsun-ales and Morris
dances. Washington Irving's first sight of a May-pole at Chester.
Modern May-day ceremonies in Cheshire. Gathering hawthorn blossom.
The _Mimosa catechu_, or sacred thorn of India, sprung from the
lightning. The Glastonbury thorn. Singular superstition respecting
it. Children's love of wild flowers. May-day dew good for ladies'
complexions. May-day dew, the milk of the Aryan heavenly cows
(clouds), believed to increase the milk of their earthly
prototypes. Page 83