At the village of Holne, situated on one of the spurs of Dartmoor, is a field of about two acres, the property of the parish, and called the Ploy (play) Field. In the centre of this stands a granite pillar (Menhir) six or seven feet high. On May-morning before daybreak the young men of the village used to assemble there, and then proceed to the moor, where they selected a ram lamb (doubtless with the consent of the owner), and after running it down, brought it in triumph to the Ploy Field, fastened it to the pillar, cut its throat, and then roasted it whole, skin, wool, &c. At midday a struggle took place, at the risk of cut hands, for a slice, it being supposed to confer luck for the ensuing year on the fortunate devourer. As an act of gallantry the young men sometimes fought their way through the crowd to get a slice for the chosen amongst the young women, all of whom, in their best dresses, attended the Ram Feast, as it was called. Dancing, wrestling, and other games, assisted by copious libations of cider during the afternoon, prolonged the festivity till midnight.--_N. & Q. 1st S._ vol. vii. p. 353. In some places it is customary for the children to carry about from house to house two dolls, a large and a small one--beautifully dressed and decorated with flowers. This custom has existed at Torquay from time immemorial. ESSEX. At Saffron-Walden, and in the village of Debden, an old May-day song (almost identical with that given under BERKSHIRE, which see) is sung by the little girls, who go about in parties, carrying garlands from door to door. The garlands which the girls carry are sometimes large and handsome, and a doll is usually placed in the middle, dressed in white, according to certain traditional regulations.--_Illustrated London News_, June 6th, 1857, p. 553. GLOUCESTERSHIRE. In the village of Randwick, hard by the Stroud cloth-mills, at the appointed daybreak, three cheeses were carried upon a litter, festooned and garlanded with blossoms, down to the churchyard, and rolled thrice mystically round the sacred building; being subsequently carried back in the same way upon the litter in triumphal procession, to be cut up on the village-green and distributed piecemeal among the bystanders.--_Household Words_, 1859, vol. xix. p. 515. In this county the children sing the following song as they dance round the Maypole: “Round the Maypole, trit-trit-trot! See what a Maypole we have got; Fine and gay. Trip away, Happy is our new May-day.”-- _Aunt Judy’s Magazine_, 1874, No. xcvii. p. 436. HAMPSHIRE. In the village of Burley, one of the most beautiful villages of the New Forest, a maypole is erected, a fête is given to the school-children, and a May-queen is chosen by lot; a floral crown surmounts the pole, and garlands of flowers hang about the shaft. HERTFORDSHIRE.