“See where she sits upon the grassie greene, A seemly sight! Yclad in scarlet, like a mayden queene, And ermines white. Upon her head a crimson coronet, With Daffodils and Damask Roses set: Bay-leaves betweene, And Primroses greene Embellished the sweete Violet.”--_Spenser._ The coronation of the rustic queen concluded the out-door festivities of May-day, although her majesty’s duties would not appear to have been fulfilled until she reached her home. “Then all the rest in sorrow, And she in sweet content, Gave over till the morrow, And homeward straight they went; But she of all the rest Was hindered by the way, For every youth that met her Must kiss the Queen of May!” At Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, there existed, till the beginning of the present century, a ceremony which evidently derived its origin from the Roman Floralia. On the morning of May-day, a train of youths collected themselves at a place still known as the May-bank. From thence, with wands enwreathed with Cowslips they walked in procession to the may-pole, situated at the west end of the town, and adorned on that morning with every variety of wild flowers. Here, with loud shouts, they struck together their wands, and, scattering around the Cowslips, testified their thankfulness for the bounteous promise of spring. Aubrey (MS., 1686), tells us that in his day “at Woodstock in Oxon they every May-eve goe into the parke, and fetch away a number of Haw-thorne-trees, which they set before their dores.” In Huntingdonshire, fifty years ago, the village swains were accustomed, at sunrise, to place a branch of May in blossom before the door of anyone they wished to honour. In Tuscany the expression, _Appiccare il maio ad una porta_, has passed into a proverb, and means to lay siege to a maiden’s heart and make love to her. In the vicinity of Valenciennes, branches of Birch or Hornbeam are placed by rural swains at the doors of their sweethearts; thorny branches at the portals of prudes; and Elder boughs at the doors of flirts. In the villages of Provence, on May-day, they select a May Queen. Crowned with a wreath, and adorned with garlands of Roses, she is carried through the streets, mounted on a platform, her companions soliciting and receiving the offerings of the towns-people. In olden times it was customary even among the French nobility to present May to friends and neighbours, or as it was called, _esmayer_. Sometimes this presenting of May was regarded as a challenge. The custom of planting a May-tree in French towns subsisted until the 17th century: in 1610, one was planted in the court of the Louvre. In some parts of Spain the name of _Maia_ is given to the May Queen (selected generally as being the handsomest lass of the village), who, decorated with garlands of flowers, leads the dances in which the young people spend the day. The villagers in other provinces declare their love by planting, during the preceding night,