"Fontinalia festus erat dies Romae, quo in fontes
coronas projiciebant, puteosque coronabant, ut a quibus pellucidos
liquores at restinguendam sitim acciperent, iisdem gratiam referre hoc
situ viderentur."

A pretty survival of this festival has long been observed in the
well-dressing of Tissington on Ascension Day, when the wells are most
beautifully decorated with leaves and flowers, arranged in fanciful
devices, interwoven into certain symbols and texts. This floral rite is
thus described in "The Fleece":--

"With light fantastic toe, the nymphs
Thither assembled, thither every swain;
And o'er the dimpled stream a thousand flowers,
Pale lilies, roses, violets and pinks,
Mix'd with the greens of bouret, mint, and thyme,
And trefoil, sprinkled with their sportive arms,
Such custom holds along th' irriguous vales,
From Wreken's brow to rocky Dolvoryn,
Sabrina's early haunt."

With this usage may be compared one performed by the fishermen of
Weymouth, who on the first of May put out to sea for the purpose of
scattering garlands of flowers on the waves, as a propitiatory offering
to obtain food for the hungry. "This link," according to Miss Lambert,
"is but another link in the chain that connects us with the yet more
primitive practice of the Red Indian, who secures passage across the
Lake Superior, or down the Mississippi, by gifts of precious tobacco,
which he wafts to the great spirit of the Flood on the bosom of its
waters."