Virgins' Crown, Church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbotts Ann - geograph

A maiden's garland, also known as a virgin's crown, crants or crantsey, is a crown-shaped garland used as a funeral memento for, usually female, virgins. They are generally made of paper flowers, rosettes and ribbons fixed to a wooden frame. Many are also adorned with white paper gloves, and may be inscribed with verses of poetry and the name of the deceased. The garlands are carried before, or on, the

coffin A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation. Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...

during the funeral procession and afterwards displayed in the church. W. R. Bullen, writing in '' The Tablet'' in 1926, reports that the "practice of carrying garlands at a maiden's funeral was common in England, Wales and Scotland before the Reformation and after it for two hundred years or more, but the custom has now almost entirely fallen into disuse." Shakespeare refers to the custom in his play '' Hamlet'', when describing the burial of Ophelia: The oldest surviving garland was made in 1680 and is hung in the Priests' room at St Mary's Church Beverley, Yorkshire. The largest collection of garlands (43, ranging between 1740 and 1973) is held at the parish church of St Mary the Virgin,

Abbots Ann Abbotts Ann is a village in the parish of the same name, approximately south-west of Andover, Hampshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census, including Little Ann and Red Post Bridge, was 2,566. History The village nam ...

, Hampshire, and the most recent example was made in 1995 at Holy Trinity Church, Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire. The parish church of Holy Trinity, Minsterley, houses an internationally famous collection of maiden's garlands. Examples have also been found in France: Edward J. G. Forse, writing in 1938, observed: "The paper rosettes and wreaths at Abbotts Ann I found paralleled in August 1919 at

Montsoreau Montsoreau () is a commune of the Loire Valley in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast and from Paris. The village is listed among '' The Most Beautiful Villages of France'' (french: Les Plus ...

, near Saumur, and in July 1932 at La Malène on the river Tarn." There is a collection of garlands on display in Old St Stephen's church in Robin Hood's Bay, including a list of the ladies who have had them at their funerals. The latest date on the list is that of Eleanor Mennell who died in 1955 aged 90. It is not clear whether her garland is one of the ones on display or not.

Etymology

The name ''crants'', used most commonly in Derbyshire and the north, is believed to be derived from late Old Norse ''krans'' () or Old High German ''kranz'' (), both meaning "wreath".

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, in ''Notes to Shakespeare, Volume 3: The Tragedies'' (1765), wrote: "I have been informed by an anonymous correspondent, that ''crants'' is the German word for ''garlands'', and I suppose it was retained by us from the Saxons. To carry ''garlands'' before the bier of a maiden, and to hang them over her grave, is still the practice in rural parishes."

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External links

*{{Cite web, url=http://www.maidensgarlands.com, title=Maidens' Garlands, work=Website of Rosie Morris Handicrafts Christian religious objects Crowns (headgear) English traditions Folk art Funerals in the United Kingdom Monuments and memorials

Etymology

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References

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