* * *
Dainty is the frock I wear,
Bright the gauze upon my hair:
Since my love is coy with me,
I’ll be coy, and will not care!
[1] A great number of these little poems exist. They are traditional, and are used for fortune-telling. On the Eve of Ascension Day all those who wish to have their fortunes told place some little trinket into a bowl containing seven different kinds of flowers and water from seven springs. The bowl is left open to the stars until dawn, when the party assemble and select a child who cannot tell where the sun rises to take the trinkets out as the verses are repeated. The owner of the token takes the verse preceding its being brought out as his or her fortune. [↑]