of May, as a whole, is certainly
the month of flowers in the woods and fields. Autumn is the gayest
season of the garden, but Spring and early Summer give us the prettiest
of the wild-flowers.

"Among the changing months May stands confest
The sweetest, and in fairest colours drest."

That fine weather is not quite to be relied upon for May-day, even in
the Old Style, some of the old May-day customs seem to suggest. In the
Isle of Man it was the custom not only to have a "Queen of May," but
also a "Queen of Winter." The May Queen was, as elsewhere, some pretty
and popular damsel, gaily dressed, and with a retinue of maids of
honour. The Winter Queen was a man or boy dressed in woman's clothes of
the warmest kind--"woollen hood, fur tippet," &c. Fiddles and flutes
were played before the May Queen and her followers, whilst the Queen of
Winter and her troop marched to the sound of the tongs and cleaver. The
rival companies met on a common and had a mock battle, symbolizing the
struggle of Winter and Summer for supremacy. If the Queen of Winter's
forces contrived to capture the Queen of May, her floral majesty had to
be ransomed by payment of the expenses of the day's festivity.

Whether the Queen of Winter conquered in bad weather, and her fairer
rival when the season was warm and the flowers abundant, we are not
told.

This ceremony was probably learnt from the Danes and Norwegians, who
were long masters of the Isle of Man. _Olaus Magnus_, speaking of the
May-day customs of the Goths and Southern Swedes, says, "The captain of
one band hath the name and appearance of Winter, is clothed in skins of
beasts, and he and his band armed with fire-forks. They fling about
ashes, by way of prolonging the reign of Winter; while another band,
whose captain is called Florro, represents Spring, with green boughs
such as the season affords. These parties skirmish in sport, and the
mimic contest concludes with a general feast."

A few years ago in the Isle of Man the hillsides blazed with bonfires
and resounded to horns on the 11th of May (May-eve, Old Style). "May
flowers" were put at the doors of houses and cattle-sheds, and these
were not hawthorn blossoms, but the flowers of the kingcup, or marsh
marigold. Crosses made of sprays of mountain ash were worn the same
night, and they, the bonfires and May flowers, were reckoned charms
against "wizards, witches, enchanters, and mountain hags."

At Helston, in Cornwall, May-d