Say I died true.
My love was false, but I was firm
From my hour of birth;
Upon my buried body lie
Lightly, gentle earth."

Among further funeral customs may be mentioned that of carrying a
garland of flowers and sweet herbs before a maiden's coffin, and
afterwards suspending it in the church. Nichols, in his "History of
Lancashire" (vol. ii. pt. i. 382), speaking of Waltham in Framland
Hundred, says: "In this church under every arch a garland is suspended,
one of which is customarily placed there whenever any young unmarried
woman dies." It is to this custom Gay feelingly alludes:--


"To her sweet mem'ry flowing garlands strung,
On her now empty seat aloft were hung."

Indeed, in all the ceremonial observances of life, from the cradle to
the grave, flowers have formed a prominent feature, the symbolical
meaning long attached to them explaining their selection on different
occasions.


Footnotes:

1. See "Flower-lore," p. 147.

2. "The Ceremonial Use of Flowers."