natural or paper flowers) is brought in, and the Mayqueen is conducted to it with ceremony.

The little host or hostess should crown the Queen, reciting if desired-the following lines:

"Maiden, we hail thee as Queen of the May! Our love bring as tribute and bow to thy sway. On no canopied throne do we place our fair Queen, And no false-hearted countries around her are seen. But over our hearts, oh, long may she reign, And only true subjects be found in her train! When in the dear home which your infancy knew Or when with your comrades though loving and true, How little you dreamed of this glorious hour When subjects bend low to acknowledge your power. Your power is the power of a virtuous mind, The power of a heart, ever gentle and kind; No cold, glittering bauble I bring to you now— An emblem more fitting I place on your brow. 'Tis a garland of roses, though spotless, I ween, It is not more pure than the heart of our Queen."

If the hostess be the one chosen for May-queen, her mother or some older person may crown her and recite the lines. The Christian name may be substituted for the word "maiden." It seems more personal.

The first act of the May-queen must be to choose her court. The announcement of the ceremony is made by her herald-a boy with a trumpet from which hangs a square of Turkey red surrounded with gilt paperfringe and bearing on it three fleurs de lis of the same. material. A large basket is then brought in, from which the Queen takes wreaths of spring (paper) flowers, with which she crowns each little girl who bows before her. The child is called by the name of the flower composing the wreath. To each boy is given a posy

for his hat or coat, and a short stick with bunches of ribbons at one end. With a flourish of a trumpet, the herald proclaims the name of each one, who then advances.

The dance about the May-pole is then in order. The Queen is treated with every honour, and her subjects dance "before her"-or she may join them, as she pleases.

The morris-dance is one of the most ancient of English dances around the May-pole. Shakespeare refers to "a morris for May Day." It chiefly consisted in "capering" and skipping to the sound of lively music, but its chief characteristics were the bells tied about the ankles or knees, and wreaths or posies in the hats, and all carried short sticks tied with bunches of ribbons. These last were substituted for the swords that were anciently carried by the Moors-from whom the dance was derived.

The girls' costumes naturally lend themselves picturesquely to the pretty scene, but that of the boys will owe much to garters trimmed with folly-bells, beribboned wands, and posy-crowned hats. The bells, too, make merry music in the dance.

Dancers dressed to represent Maid Marian, Will Scarlet, Robin Hood, Friar Tuck, and the Fool or Jester belong to the traditions of May Day, and “merry milkmaids," who danced with their pails filled with flowers upon their heads, had a recognised part in the festivities. All of which may add to the interest and fun of a modern May-Day celebration.

To the accompaniment of some gay or prettily accented music the dances may then follow the pretty and graceful old custom of "plaiting the May-pole."

An even number of dancers take the ends of the

ribbons-half of them holding them in the right hand and half in the left, as they face each other in couples. As the signal to begin is given, each dancer steps daintily in time to the music past the person facing him, passing under the ribbon, and then allows the next person met with to pass under the ribbon he holds-and so tripping along and thus plaiting the ribbons about the pole until it is covered for about two feet, whereupon the order of dancing is reversed and the ribbons are thus unwound.

It will be the more effective if the dancers join in singing some appropriate words in time to the music, though this, of course, could not be expected of very little ones.

If it be desired to give favours, "May-baskets" of pink cardboard tied with ribbons and filled with pink bonbons would be appropriate.

This festal entertainment would be vastly more charming out of doors, but our May is too capricious for us to be able to count upon her smiles.

JUNE

A JUNE PARTY

To a certain small maiden Providence had been so kind as to send a birthday in June, and added yet one more grace to the gift in making a radiant day for its celebration.

Of course the party had to be out of doors, and as roses ran riot in the garden, and acres of daisy-strewn meadows stretched in every direction beyond the grounds, it was determined to give to the entertainment a more festal character by using in the games, decorations, and table appointments as many of the lovely blossoms as possible.

The piazza, made to look as much like a room as

practicable, was charming with bowls and vases of roses wherever they could be accommodated, while daisychains were hung from post to post. Here the guests were received.

Hammocks were swung under the trees, rugs stretched upon the grass, with cushions and hassocks in plenty. There were swings, a tennis-court, croquet ground, a putting-clock, and a "gaily caparisoned" donkeywith red-worsted tassels galore-to fall back upon for amusement, should the games begin to pall. A large Japanese umbrella sheltered a table in one corner of the grounds, where a discreet person presided over a bowl of lemonade to which a few cupfuls of fresh strawberry juice were added, while slices of lemon and large, ripe berries floated upon the surface.

Under the trees in a remote part of the grounds little tables were spread, each with its centrepiece of roses and daisies-where the simple little feast was to be spread.

A soap-bubble contest in the tennis-court opened the "ball"-using the net as a barrier between opposing sides. The girls made the bubbles and the boys tried to blow them over the net, which was resisted by the opposing side. The side which could count more bubbles over the barrier won the game, and the prizes— tiny bonbonnières covered with paper rose-petals and furnished with stem and leaves (for the girls), and boxes of the chocolates "Marguerites" (for the boys). Of course, the winning side offered "consolation" bonbons to their late enemies. The contest then took another form, and the one who blew the largest bubble received a little globe of gold-fish-which looked like a bubble.

A flower-hunt was then proposed, and the children

were told that they must hunt for their flowers-those belonging to the month in which they were born, leaving any others which they might find. It was explained to them that in the olden time when superstition ruled the lives of people, the birth-month flower was either worn fresh, or its dried leaves were sewed in a tiny bag and worn about the neck as a safety-charm. From an old English calendar of flowers it was found that the January flower was the snowdrop, February the primrose, March the violet, April the daisy, May the hawthorne, June the rose, July the poppy, August the water-lily, September the morning-glory, October the hop, November the chrysanthemum, December the holly.

Changing the September flower to goldenrod, as more appropriate to our land, and giving asters to October, the children were sent upon their quest, each with a little basket in which to collect them.

Paper flowers-artificial ones- -or cards upon which the flowers were painted, were hidden everywhere about the grounds. When the children returned with their trophies, flushed but triumphant, the treasures were examined, counted, and the prizes awarded-which were an artificial rosebush and a daisy-bush, all abloom, set in flower-pots, the one covered with pink paper frills, the other with pale-green, tied about with ribbons matching in shade. These were bonbon boxes, and the covers were lifted off by taking hold of the bushes. The ribbon-trimmed baskets filled with the birthflowers were valued as souvenirs by the rest.

After the activity of the hunt, a restful game was proposed, and they were invited to return to the piazza -where preparations for a contest in "floral conundrums" had been made during their absence. Article