the extraordinary development of so scientific a game from such rude
and simple beginnings.

The floors of the houses and churches of old England consisted
simply of the hard, dry earth, which the people covered with rushes;
and once a year there was a great ceremony called "Rush-bearing,"
when the inhabitants of each village or town went in procession to
the church to strew the floor with newly-cut rushes. The company
went to a neighbouring marsh and cut the rushes, binding them in
long bundles, and decorating them with ribands and flowers. Then a
procession was formed, every one bearing a bundle of rushes; and
with music, drums, and ringing of bells they marched to the church,
and strewed the floor with their honoured burdens. Long after the
rushes ceased to be used in churches the ceremony was continued, and
I have witnessed a rush-bearing procession such as I have described.
There was a rush-cart with a large pile of decorated rush-sheaves,
and some characters from the May-day games were introduced. A queen
sat under a canopy of rushes, a few morris-dancers performed their
antics, and a jester amused the spectators with his quaint sayings.
A village feast, followed by dancing round a May-pole, generally
formed the conclusion of the day's festivities. In 1884 this
pleasant custom was revived at Grasmere in the Lake district, when
the children of the village carried out a "rush-bearing" after the
manner of their forefathers, and the village green again resounded
with songs of joy.

I fear that our ancestors were not always very cleanly people; they
seldom washed their floors, and therefore they were obliged to adopt
some device to hide their uncleanliness. The old rushes were not
taken away before the new ones were brought in; hence the lowest