Hawthorn

Hawthorn blossom was once the universal expression of delight at the return of summer and was the choice for May Day garlands. Any servant who could bring in a branch of hawthorn blossom on May Day received a dish of cream for breakfast and, in Northamptonshire, a blossoming branch was planted outside the home of the prettiest girl in each village. Unfortunately, since the calendar revisions of 1752, when May Day was brought forward 13 days, the hawthorn is rarely in blossom by this day. Many country villagers believed that the hawthorn flowers still bore the smell of the Great Plague of London and in most countries in England it is thought unlucky to bring it into the house.