Essex.
At Saffron-Walden, and in the village of Debden, an old May-day song (almost identical with that given under Berkshire, [which see]) is sung by the little girls, who go about in parties, carrying garlands from door to door.
The garlands which the girls carry are sometimes large and handsome, and a doll is usually placed in the middle, dressed in white, according to certain traditional regulations.—Illustrated London News, June 6th, 1857, p. 553.