_May-dew._--Every one has heard of the virtues of "May-dew," but perhaps
the complex superstition following may be less generally known. A
respectable tradesman's wife in this town (Launceston) tells me that the
poor people here say that a swelling in the neck may be cured by the
patient's going _before sunrise_, on the 1st of May, to the grave of the
last young man who has been buried in the church-yard, and applying the
dew, gathered by passing the hand _three times_ from the {475} head to the
foot of the grave, to the part affected by the ailment.[2] This was told me
yesterday in reply to a question, whether the custom of gathering "May-dew"
is still prevailing here. I may as well add, that the common notion of
improving the complexion by washing the face with the early dew in the
fields on the 1st of May extensively prevails in these parts; and they say
that a child who is weak in the back may be cured by drawing him over the
grass wet with the morning dew. The experiment must be thrice performed,
that is, on the mornings of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of May. I find no
allusion to these specific applications of "May-dew" in Ellis's _Brand_.