Robert Herrick. To Dianeme. A Ceremony in Gloucester.

TO DIANEME.  A CEREMONY IN GLOUCESTER.
by Robert Herrick

I'LL to thee a simnel bring,
'Gainst thou go'st a-mothering :
So that when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give me.

    Simnel, a cake, originally made of fine flour, eaten at
Mid-Lent.
    A-mothering, visiting relations in Mid-Lent, but see
Note.

[Note, p.279:

  686.   'Gainst  thou  go'st  a-mothering.   The
  Epistle for Mid-Lent Sunday was from Galat. iv. 21,
  etc., and contained the words : “ Jerusalem, quæ est
  Mater nostra”.  On that Sunday people made offering
  at their Mother Church.   After the Reformation the
  natural mother was substituted for the spiritual, and
  the day was set apart for visiting relations.   Excel-
  lent simnel cakes  (Low Lat., siminellus, fine flour)
  are still made in the North, where the current deri-
  vation of the word is from Sim and Nell !  ]

Source:
Herrick, Robert. Works of Robert Herrick. vol II.
Alfred Pollard, ed.
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1891. 43.

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