Then followed the Queen of
the May, walking by herself,--a rustic beauty, hight Gillian
Greenford,--fancifully and prettily arrayed for the occasion, and
attended, at a little distance, by Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck,
the Hobby-horse, and a band of morrice-dancers. Then came the crowd,
pellmell, laughing, shouting, and huzzaing,--most of the young men and
women bearing green branches of birch and other trees in their hands.

The spot selected for the May-pole was a piece of green sward in the
centre of the village, surrounded by picturesque habitations, and
having, on one side of it, the ancient Cross. The latter, however, was
but the remnant of the antique structure, the cross having been robbed
of its upper angular bar, and otherwise mutilated, at the time of the
Reformation, and it was now nothing more than a high wooden pillar,
partly cased with lead to protect it from the weather, and supported by
four great spurs.

Arrived at the green, the wain was brought to a halt; the crowd forming
a vast circle round it, so as not to interfere with the proceedings. The
pole was then taken out, reared aloft, and so much activity was
displayed, so many eager hands assisted, that in an inconceivably short
space of time it was firmly planted in the ground; whence it shot up
like the central mast of a man-of-war, far overtopping the roofs of the
adjoining houses, and looking very gay indeed, with its floral crown
a-top, and its kerchiefs and streamers fluttering in the breeze.

Loud and reiterated shouts broke from the assemblage on the
satisfactory completion of the ceremony, the church bells pealed
merrily, and the minstrels played their most enlivening strains. The
rushes were strewn on the ground at the foot of the May-pole, and
arbours were formed, with marvellous celerity, in different parts of the
green, with the branches of the trees. At the same time, the ancient
Cross was decorated with boughs and garlands. The whole scene offered as
pretty and cheerful a sight as could be desired; but there was one
beholder, as will presently appear, who viewed it in a different light.

It now came to the Queen of the May's turn to advance to the pole, and
stationing herself beneath it, the morrice-dancers and the rest of the
mummers formed a ring round her, and, taking hands, footed it merrily to
the tune of "Green Sleeves."

Long before this, Jocelyn and his attendant had come up, and both were
so much interested that the