MAIDen'S GaRLaNDS

It is bewildering the amount of information and ‘good finds’ one can make by cruising around the net – pinterest is certainly bad news and have to keep telling myself that while I’m ‘pinning’ – I’m not playing!  It’s hard to stop sometimes, so many wonderful ideas, but a few days ago I was surfing the net and came across the past custom of making a special garland for the funeral of a young ‘chaste’ woman.  These were known as ‘Maiden’s Garlands’ – and were a symbol of purity which started as a circle of flowers and then evolved into a bell-shaped structure of wicker which was decorated with flowers and rosettes.  Sometimes a handkerchief or glove would be hung with the garland, which was carried ahead of the funeral and then sometimes buried with the deceased but often hung in the church. 

A few of these garlands still survive - the oldest said to have been made in 1680 and displayed in a Yorkshire Church.  The ritual seems to have died out but there was one made in 1995, hanging in Derbyshire.  Examples have been found hanging in Churches in France as well.

 ‘These funerary decorations were the last, fragile mementos of a deceased, unmarried girl’s life and their use dates back at least to the 16^th century.  Also known as Virgin’s Crowns or Crants (from the German), Maidens’ Garlands were made from paper, ribbons, fragments of best frocks, silk and shells and usually had a centrepiece made from paper cut into the shape of a glove, kerchief or collar, sometimes with a written epitaph.  They symbolised the young girl’s purity and lamented a life unfulfilled by marriage and motherhood.’

 http://nillyhall-maidinkent.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/on-saturday-happened-upon-box-full-of.html

It seems such a poignant custom and I can imagine young girls sitting around creating a special memorial to a friend.  They are precious.