The Rose at Midsummer.
The gathering of a rose on midsummer eve was once superstitiously associated with the choice of a husband. The custom is stated to be a relic of Druidical times, and is thus mentioned in the Connoisseur, No. 50:—
"Our maid Betty tells me, that if I go backward, without speaking a word, into the garden, upon midsummer eve, and gather a rose, and keep it in a clean sheet of paper without looking at it until Christmas day, it will be as fresh as in June; and if I then stick it in my bosom, he that is to be my husband will come and take it out."
Another custom was to gather the rose and seal it up while the clock was striking twelve at mid-day.