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A maiden's garland, dated 1953, displayed in the church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbotts Ann, Hampshire.

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.^[1]^[2] They are generally made of paper flowers, rosettes and ribbons fixed to a wooden frame.^[3]^[4] Many are also adorned with white paper gloves, and may be inscribed with verses of poetry and the name of the deceased.^[3]^[5]^[6]

Practice

The garlands are carried before, or on, the coffin during the funeral procession and afterwards displayed in the church.^[6]^[7] 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."^[8] Shakespeare refers to the custom in his play Hamlet, when describing the burial of Ophelia:

here she is allow'd her virgin crants,
her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
of bell and burial.^[9]

Surviving examples

The oldest surviving garland was made in 1680 and is hung in the Priests' room at St Mary's Church^[10] Beverley, Yorkshire.^[1] The largest collection of garlands (43, ranging between 1740 and 1973) is held at the parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Abbots Ann, Hampshire, and the most recent example was made in 1995 at Holy Trinity Church, Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire.^[4]^[11] 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, near Saumur, and in July 1932 at La Malène on the river Tarn."^[12] 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.^[13]

Etymology

The name crants, used most commonly in Derbyshire and the north, is believed to be derived from late Old Norse krans (/krans/ [kʰʁ̥ɑnˀs]) or Old High German kranz (/kʁants/), both meaning "wreath".^[1]^[2] Samuel Johnson, 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."^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Morris, R. (2003). "The "Innocent and Touching Custom" of maidens' garlands: A field report". Folklore. 114 (3): 355–387. doi:10.1080/0015587032000145388. S2CID 162295903.
^ ^a ^b Morris, Rosie (2011). "Maidens' Garlands: A Funeral Custom of Post-Reformation England". In King, Chris; Sayer, Duncan (eds.). The Archaeology of Post-Medieval Religion. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. pp. 271–282. ISBN 978-1-8438369-3-3.
^ ^a ^b Lockie, Rosemary (15 November 2009). "Maidens' Funeral Garlands, Holy Trinity Church, Ashford". GENUKI. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b Bunting, Julie (15 November 2009). "Take a Look At: Maidens' Garlands and Memorials". GENUKI. First published 25 June 2001, The Peak Advertiser (Bakewell) p.13. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ Andrews, Ann (20 July 2013). "Funeral Garlands in Matlock Church". The Andrews Pages. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Church history and the architecture of Holy Trinity Church, Ashford in the Water". Holy Trinity Parish Church. 13 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ "The Crantses". St. Giles, Matlock. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ Bullen, W.R. (10 April 1926). "Virgins' Garlands". The Tablet. London. p. 7. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ Shakespeare, Hamlet Act V, Scene i, Lines 249–256
^ This is an anteroom which is not generally open for public viewing. It can be accessed on church open days
^ King, Pamela J. "The Virgins' Crown". St. Mary's Church, Abbotts Ann. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
^ Forse, Edward J. G. (1938). "III: "THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD": Rarities not absolutely unique!". Ceremonial Curiosities and Queer Sights in Foreign Churches. London: The Faith Press. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ The list contains 167 names of which 17 are groups of sisters
^ Johnson, Samuel (1765). Notes to Shakespeare, Volume 3: The Tragedies.