> Botanicals were also used to help choose between a slew of suitors. One game involved girls naming chestnuts after men and then roasting them on a fire: ‘If a

> Botanicals were also used to help choose between a slew of suitors. One game involved girls naming chestnuts after men and then roasting them on a fire: ‘If a nut cracked and jumped away from her then the suitor with that name would not be true; the one that stayed and was burnt alongside the chestnut with her name would remain true and they would consequently marry.’ My guess is that games of chance involving potential mates have always been a popular activity when a bunch of young single women got together. I doubt they took it any more seriously back then than they do now.