Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 2 1884.djvu/199

Rh While the mother was absent the prisoners entered her house and placed the lad naked on a hot shovel under the impression that this would break the charm. The poor little thing was severely burned, and is in a precarious condition.—Daily Telegraph, 19th May, 1884.

Overlooking.—At Bridgwater, on Saturday, a woman named Thomas was fined 1l. for assaulting a man named Winter. She pleaded that she was "overlooked" by the complainant, and that "the only cure for that was to draw blood."—Echo, 19th May, 1884.

The May-pole at Bream.—A new May-pole was erected on May-day. The sports which were to have taken place for the benefit of the juveniles of the village had to be abandoned owing to the late hour at which the proceedings came to an end.

May Dew.—The old custom of "Maying" was indulged in by a few of the young people of Hawick. Like the "May-pole Dance," the idea of rubbing the face in the morning dew, whereby twelve months of rosy cheeks may be secured, is gradually dying out. Year by year the devotees of "May morning" are becoming less and less, and it may reasonably be predicted the next generation will know little of the secret of how rosy cheeks were sought for on early May mornings.—Hawick Advertiser, 3rd May.

May Queen at Chelsea.—The May Queen elected by the students of Whiteland's College, Chelsea, received from Mr. Ruskin a gold cross and thirty-six volumes of his works.

May Queen at Knutsford.—The old custom of crowning the May Queen was performed at Knutsford, in the presence of some thousands of spectators. The picturesque ceremony was enhanced in interest by the circumstance that Lord Tennyson had written Mr. Lever, of Culcheth Hall, Cheshire, a warm, sympathetic letter, expressing his hope that the Knutsford people might long continue their time-honoured festival. The prettiest child in the village was crowned Queen of the May.

May Day in Shrewsbury.—Although the weather was hardly such as the poets universally associate with "blithe May-day," still the annual festival was not passed by without some notice in this town. At three o'clock several members of the Corporation visited the Corporation yard in Coleham, and inspected "the live and dead stock,