She gives us her figs, and she gives us a smile—­
    Heaven send her a husband!—­
    And a boy to be danced on his grandfather’s knee,
    And a girl like herself all the joy of her mother,
    Who may one day present her with just such another. 
      Thus we carry our Crow-song to door after door,
    Alternately chanting we ramble along,
    And we treat all who give, or give not, with a song.

Swallow-singing, or Chelidonising, as the Greek term is, was another method of collecting eleemosynary gifts, which took place in the month Boedromion, or August.

      The Swallow, the Swallow is here,
    With his back so black, and his belly so white,
      He brings on the pride of the year,
    With the gay months of love, and the days of delight. 
    Come bring out your good humming stuff,
    Of the nice tit-bits let the Swallow partake;
    And a slice of the right Boedromion cake. 
    So give, and give quickly,—­
    Or we’ll pull down the door from its hinges: 
    Or we’ll steal young madam away! 
    But see! we’re a merry boy’s party,
    And the Swallow, the Swallow is here!

These songs resemble those of our own ancient mummers, who to this day, in honour of Bishop Blaize, the Saint of Woolcombers, go about chanting on the eves of their holidays.[65] A custom long existed in this country to elect a Boy-Bishop in almost every parish;[66] the Montem at Eton still prevails for the Boy-Captain; and there is a closer connexion, perhaps, between the custom which produced the “Songs of the Crow and the Swallow,” and our Northern mummeries, than may be at first suspected.  The Pagan Saturnalia, which the Swallow song by its pleasant menaces resembles, were afterwards disguised in the forms adopted by the early Christians; and such are the remains of the Roman Catholic religion, in which the people were long indulged in their old taste for mockery and mummery.  I must add in connexion with our main inquiry, that our own ancient beggars had their songs, in their old cant language, some of which are as old as the Elizabethan period, and many are fancifully characteristic of their habits and their feelings.

INTRODUCERS OF EXOTIC FLOWERS, FRUITS, ETC.

There has been a class of men whose patriotic affection, or whose general benevolence, have been usually defrauded of the gratitude their country owes them:  these have been the introducers of new flowers, new plants, and new roots into Europe; the greater part which we now enjoy was drawn from the luxuriant climates of Asia, and the profusion which now covers our land originated in the most anxious nursing, and were the gifts of individuals.  Monuments are reared, and medals struck, to commemorate events and names, which are less deserving our regard than those who have transplanted into the colder gardens of the North the rich fruits, the beautiful flowers, and the succulent pulse and roots of more favoured spots; and carrying into their own country, as it were, another Nature, they have, as old Gerard well expresses it, “laboured with the soil to make it fit for the plants, and with the plants to make them delight in the soil.”