New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-28
MAYS FLOWER AND JEWEL
ROMANTIC LEGENDS AND PRETTY
sUPERsTITIONs.
THE HAWTHORN AND THE EMERALD ARE SUP
posrn To nerNo GOOD LUCK TO THOSE

THE HAWTHORN AND THE EMERALD ARE SUP
POSED TO BRING GOOD LUCK TO THOSE
BORN IN THE FIFTH MONTH.
or all the twelve months OF the year there Is
none more promising than the month of May. the
..awthorn wild and pink, Is the calendar mower;
the deepening green emerald the lucky stone for
Nav The larkspur. with purpng spikes; the
dandelion like yellow dots In green veil covering
the face of Mother Nature lilacs. white and
lavender: the tiny lily Of the valley, hiding be-
meath wide. protecting leaves, and the myrtle,
which ballad-singers love 80 we'll all strain TOT
official honors though In vain Hawthorn has
won its peculiar place In the poets fancy and In
England and America It IL caressed alike
In Millions 'L'Allegro' he wrote how Every
shepherd tells his tale under the hawthorn IN the
dale" the same promising spirit In the shepnerd
boy as in the inconstant May. Tennyson sang
briefly. THE thorn Will blow in tufts Of rosy
tinted snow" The English hawthorn has fra
GRANGE that the American hawthorn lacks. IL Is
probable the hawthorn gains Its scientnc appel
lation Crategus. meaning 1.-The strong. from
its generous equipment Of thorns. Hawthorn
simply means "hedgethorn.
Shakespeare must have had encounter with
the innumerable swords Of the thorn when he had
Orlando hang "odes upon hawthorns and eesies
on brambles" Anyhow. Orlando put his verses
where they could not blow away.
Again. the great bard announced the coming OF
spring by saying when wheat Is green anu ha"-
thorn buds appear" Tennyson says that when
the white plhmes Of King Arthurs court went a.
Maying they mo ,ked the May" Ii has It's roman
tic legend The story is that when Joseph OF
Arimathea went over to preach the Gospe ID
Britain he struck his staff into the ground at
Glastonbury to declare his purpose OF ABIDING
there. and from this grew a hawthorn tree
which biossomed al each Chrtstmastide II became
famous and venerated and was called "The hoy
Thorn" The story has at least this mucn loun-
dalton, that there a hawthorn at Giaston-
bury hundreds OF years ago which did bear a sec
ond crop OF flowers In December, ana so mignt pe
POLITICALLY regarded haillng the anniversary OF
the Saviour's birth. The original tree long since
disappeared, but many shoots had been taken from
Il and planted Of which was In blossom ABOUT
the Christmas Day Of 1881. 49,
Another and pleasing superstition about THIS
plant is given in this old piece OF proverbal lore;
The fair maid who the first OF May
Goes to the fields at break OF day, -
And battles in dew from the hawthorn tree,
VIII ever after handsome be.
May has sometimes been called the unluckest
month In the twelve. There are fewer weddings
during May than in any other month Those of
practical and philosophical turn Of mind VIII ex-
plain this fact by arguing that most brides-to-pe
would prefer waiting one more month, when the
roses are in bloom; but in this day OF modern
florists that alone would scarcely anect
statistics The superstitious girl would rather