excerpt from 'An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Peasantry of Cumberland; and Observations on the Style and Genius of the [poet Robert Anderson]' pp. l–li (182 words)
excerpt from 'An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Peasantry of Cumberland; and Observations on the Style and Genius of the [poet Robert Anderson]' pp. l–li (182 words)
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A “Merry-night” is, as its name imports, a night dedicated to mirth and festivity, and always takes place at some country ale-house, during the Christmas holidays. It is generally attended by a numerous company of lads and lasses, the pride and flower of the neighbouring villages, for whose entertainment the landlord takes care to provide pies of different kinds, music, and a competent quantity of ale, whisky, gin, and rum. The dancing commences early in the evening, and continues, with unabating spirit, till after midnight. The music, if it be not able to produce the wonderful effects attributed to the strains of Orpheus, has always sufficient powers to move the muscular limbs of an athletic ploughman, and urge him to acts of agility, that often bring his head in contact with the ceiling, or beams of the dancing-room―a feat that never fails to give celebrity to a country performer. At the conclusion of a jig, the fiddler makes his instrument squeak out two notes that say, or are understood to say, “Kiss her”―a command which the rustic youth immediately obeys[.] |
| appears in search results as | excerpt from 'An Essay on the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Peasantry of Cumberland; and Observations on the Style and Genius of the [poet Robert Anderson]' pp. l–li (182 words) |
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