Maiden's garland

A maiden's garland, dated 1953, displayed in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbots Ann, Hampshire.

A maiden's garland, also known as a virgin's crown, crants or crantsey, is a crown-shaped garland used as a funeral memento for, usually female, virgins.[1][2] They are generally made of paper flowers, rosettes and ribbons fixed to a wooden frame.[3][4] Many are also adorned with white paper gloves, and may be inscribed with verses of poetry and the name of the deceased.[3][5][6] The garlands are carried before, or on, the coffin during the funeral procession and afterwards displayed in the church.[6][7] W.R. Bullen, writing in The Tablet in 1926, reports that the "practice of carrying garlands at a maiden's funeral was common in England, Wales and Scotland before the Reformation and after it for two hundred years or more, but the custom has now almost entirely fallen into disuse."[8] Shakespeare refers to the custom in his play, Hamlet, when describing the burial of Ophelia:

her death was doubtful,
 and, but that great command o'ersways the order,
 she should in ground unsanctified have lodged
 till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers,
 shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her;
 yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants,
 her maiden strewments, and the bringing home of bell and burial.[9]

The oldest surviving garland was made in 1680 and is displayed at St Mary's Church, Beverley, Yorkshire.[1] The largest collection of garlands (43, ranging between 1740-1973) is held at the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbots Ann, Hampshire, and the most recent example was made in 1995 at Holy Trinity Church, Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire.[4][10] Examples have also been found in France: Edward J.G. Forse, writing in 1938, observed: "The paper rosettes and wreaths at Abbots Ann I found paralleled in August 1919 at Montsoreau, near Saumur, and in July 1932 at La Malène on the river Tarn."[11]

Etymology

The name crants, used most commonly in Derbyshire and the north, is believed to be derived from late Old Norse krans (/krans/) or Old High German kranz (/kʁants/), both meaning "wreath".[1][2] Samuel Johnson, in Notes to Shakespeare, Volume 3: The Tragedies (1765), wrote: "I have been informed by an anonymous correspondent, that crants is the German word for garlands, and I suppose it was retained by us from the Saxons. To carry garlands before the bier of a maiden, and to hang them over her grave, is still the practice in rural parishes."[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Morris, R. (2003). "The "Innocent and Touching Custom" of maidens' garlands: A field report". Folklore 114 (3): 355. doi:10.1080/0015587032000145388.
  2. 1 2 Morris, Rosie (2011). "Maidens' Garlands: A Funeral Custom of Post-Reformation England". In King, Chris; Sayer, Duncan. The Archaeology of Post-Medieval Religion. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 271–282. ISBN 978-1-8438369-3-3.
  3. 1 2 Lockie, Rosemary (15 November 2009). "Maidens' Funeral Garlands, Holy Trinity Church, Ashford". GENUKI. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 Bunting, Julie (15 November 2009). "Take a Look At: Maidens' Garlands and Memorials". GENUKI. First published 25 June 2001, The Peak Advertiser (Bakewell) p.13. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  5. ↑ Andrews, Ann (20 July 2013). "Funeral Garlands in Matlock Church". The Andrews Pages. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Church history and the architecture of Holy Trinity Church, Ashford in the Water". Holy Trinity Parish Church. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Crantses". St. Giles, Matlock. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Bullen, W.R. (10 April 1926). "Virgins' Garlands". The Tablet. London. p. 7. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  9. ↑ Shakespeare, Hamlet Act V, Scene i, Lines 249-256
  10. ↑ King, Pamela J. "The Virgins' Crown". St. Mary's Church, Abbotts Ann. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  11. ↑ Forse, Edward J.G. (1938). "III: "THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD" Rarities not absolutely unique!". Ceremonial Curiosities and Queer Sights in Foreign Churches. London: The Faith Press. Retrieved 28 February 2014. line feed character in |chapter= at position 33 (help)
  12. ↑ Johnson, Samuel (1765). Notes to Shakespeare, Volume 3: The Tragedies.

External links

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