Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

"in my opinion, ducks would look just as well, and indeed somewhat better; for their size would be more in proportion to the water, and they would certainly be the more profitable tenants. And," I continued, taking her hand, as my years entitled me to do, without declaring myself a suitor for it, "you and your sister should persuade your papa to let you keep poultry, and look after it yourselves; and then you would be entitled to the profits of it, and such an employment would bring the roses into your cheeks, and be better for you than sitting all the day long with a book before you." She coldly withdrew her hand, and said her mamma never suffered her to go into the farm-yard; and indeed her time was so fully taken up with her studies, that she could very seldom find leisure, even for a few morning calls. We now returned to the house, and separated in order to dress for dinner; but as I knew that a very few minutes would suffice for the alterations I should make in my appearance, I wandered forth again by myself, and had the good luck, at some little distance from the house, to fall in with the cows milking, the horses getting unharnessed, the calves and pigs coming in for their suppers, and all the other branches of rural economy which afford so much pleasure to a lover of nature and simplicity. I was obliged, however, to leave these cheering sights, and return to the house, where I found dinner served up with a strange mixture of fine dishes and bad cookery. I mentioned, by way of conversation, how agreeably I had been amused in my solitary ramble. "Ah! what you found us out then?" said mine host: "Well, I must say, that I like, as for myself, to be near what is going on; but my good lady there, thinks that the farther any thing of business is from a house, the better."-"Yes, indeed," replied the lady, who was the daughter of a tallow chandler in Warwick Lane; " I should fancy every thing smelt of the cow-yard (shop I thought she was going to say) if it was any nearer. I cannot bear even the dairy-maid to come near me." Now, for my own part, I have a great liking to dairy-maids, and I thought at the moment Mrs. Clayfield made this speech, that I had much rather be waited upon by a pretty neat girl of that description than by the clumsy-fisted ploughman, who acted as butler in a tawdry livery, whilst the boy who had been all the morning frightening the

crows away, stamped round the table after him in hob-nailed shoes, and a similar masquerade habit of blue and pompadour.

The evening dragged heavily on, in the same dull affectation of gentility. Instead of the songs of birds, and the fragrance of the meadows and hedgerows, I was entertained with a miserable attempt at a bravura, by one of the misses, and with a portfolio full of wretched daubs meant to represent flowers, by the other. Nor could I divert my ennui by making any discoveries from the windows, as one of them looked only on the swampy lawn, and the other, which commanded a lovely view of the sun setting over rich woods, was blocked up with a shewy painted blind, representing an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, because the cattle could come close up to it, and Mrs. Clayfield said that she could not bear to be stared at by great ox-eyes, thus unconsciously giving us a literal translation of Homer's celebrated epithet :

« βοωπις πότνια Ηρη."

As I could see pride and folly enough in London, and be attending to my business at the same time, I felt no inclination to remain any longer than I could help among persons whose manners were in such decided opposition to their pursuits, or rather to what their pursuits ought to be. I accordingly took my leave the next morning; but am sorry to add, that in almost all the country visits I have paid since, I have had the same causes for dissatisfaction:

"Whence comes this change, ungracious, irksome, cold?

Whence the new grandeur that mine eyes behold?
The widening distance which I daily see,-
Has wealth done this?

Leaving this question to be answered by Mr. Ricardo, or Mr. Heathfield, or any other gentleman who may be in the habit of calculating for the good of the nation, I will proceed to say, that hopeless of finding any such thing as good old English manners left in the land, I had given up even the search after them, when behold, by mere chance, I was enabled to witness a scene which brought all the simplicity and hospitality of the last century again before my eyes. But I must be a little more circumstantial, if I mean to impart, as is my wish, the same pleasure to my readers, which filled my own breast, at the happy sight of innocent enjoyment and perfect familiarity, linked to propriety and respect by the simple chain

[ocr errors]

of affection and gratitude. Be it known, then, that I was called into Suffolk this autumn by business, which occasioned me to remain some days at the ancient town of Bury St. Edmund's. Poring one morning over the interesting remains of architectural magnificence and ecclesiastical wealth, which are to be found in the Abbey-grounds, I was interrupted in my meditations by the hearty greetings of an old acquaintance, who was, I found, settled in the neighbourhood. When he heard how short a stay I was going to make in the place, he declared he would not lose sight of me; and that I should accompany him and his wife, that very afternoon, on a little jaunt into the country. My dear friend," said I, " you must excuse me, the country is now London all over; and I am quite tired of seeing dinners at farm-houses as dull as city feasts: for when I am in the country, I like to be countrified; and wish for nothing better than eggs and bacon at one o'clock, and a stroll round the fields, and a sillabub at milking-time."- "Well then," he replied, "if that be your notion of rural felicity, you must not say another word about the matter, for you must go to the Horkey; it will suit you exactly." At the word HORKEY, Bloomfield, the "Farmer's Boy," rushed irresistibly into my mind, and with him all the images of rural life so early imprinted on it, so often recalled by the fidelity and beauty of his descriptions. My hopes revived. "Well," said I, "though I have forsworn visiting in the country, I have made no resolution against a Horkey. I will go with you, at any rate, and see what it is like."-" Oh, as for that matter," said my friend's wife, "I can tell you beforehand, that you must not expect to see it like one of your fine parties in town."—" If I did," I replied, you may rely upon it you would not find me intruding myself among the company."-" Nay," said she, "I am sure you would be welcome in any case. I only meant to say, that you must take things as you find them; quite in a plain old-fashioned way.".

[ocr errors]

Just what I have been looking for in vain for the last five and twenty years," said I," and amply shall I be repaid at last, if I find any thing like the harvesthomes and sheep-shearings that used to fill me with delight when I was a boy in Yorkshire."

Well, then, to the Horkey we set off, about four o'clock, in a large body, and with an agreeable variety of equipage

and cattle, from the well-built gig, and blood-horse, to the humble tax-cart, with

"Old Dobbin, and the founder'd mare."

Comparisons, however, or jealousies of any kind, were discarded from the very beginning of this happy meeting: the half-starved little Shetland pony, with the sagacity which those born so far north are peculiarly gifted with, seemed to smell out that he was going to a place where good things were to be had; and trotted on accordingly in cheerful emulation of the well-paced road-horse, who threw his legs out at the rate of twelve miles an hour; and even a solitary donkey, which had been pressed into the service by a lame carpenter, as if anxious to clear his whole race from the reproach of slowness and obstinacy, kept up with the pony-chaise, without stimulus of goad or thong.

We soon came within sight of the farm-house; and a goodly sight it was! It stood in a spacious square yard, one side of which was completely fenced in by a phalanx of stacks, the abundant produce of five hundred acres of the best land in Suffolk, and the joyful foundation of the hearty welcome that awaited us. The other side was sheltered from the cold blasts of the north by a range of excellent out-houses, among which was ample stabling, stored with provender for the quadrupeds who conveyed the bipeds to the feast. Behind the house, an extensive garden and orchard displayed their treasures, rich in autumnal beauty; and in front was a large kennel, from which a fine Newfoundland dog rushed out at our approach, with impetuous joy, as far as his chain would allow him, to fawn upon such of the guests as chose to venture within his reach, as if he also would say " Welcome to the HORKEY!"

At a little distance from the house, and near the stacks which their activity had secured from weather and mischance, stood the harvest-men, and labourers, at the head of whom was a venerable bald-headed old man, whose superior skill and experience in the field had procured him the title of my lord, and the honour of precedence at the feast. This part of the company had skilfully stationed themselves, so that they could beguile the time while supper

was preparing, with alternately watching the arrival of the parlourguests, and the preparations that were going on in the kitchen, the door of which stood wide open, and exhibited

a most attractive scene of culinary bustle.

Our party happened to be the first that arrived. We were welcomed as people used to welcome their visitors fifty years ago: I, as a stranger, received a double share of attention, and the cheering sounds of " You must be kind enough to take us as you find us, sir; we are all in a plain way here;" again greeted my ears. We were ushered into a room that looked into the garden, and against the windows of which the honey-suckle climbed, and wafted to us the lingering fragrance which it retains to a late period in the autumn, long after the beauty of its blossoms is past. The chairs were wedged in as close to each other as any lady of fashion could wish to see them at her first as sembly; and at each end of the room stood a large table, one of which was set out with the tea-equipage in all its ancient glory, and the other with decanters and glasses, and a profusion of cakes, the manufacture of the females of the family, who handed them round to us themselves, along with port and home-made wines, immediately on our arrival.

The guests now began to throng in very thickly; and great was the rejoicing when it was discovered that any one had brought a friend or two with him more than was expected. A little girl, the youngest treasure of our hostess,

who had been sent for from school expressly to share in the festivities of the Horkey, and whose countenance was in itself a herald of joy, rushed into the room, all buoyant with delight, to tell us that her uncle James was coming in, and had brought seven more with him. This was indeed matter of exultation, and the grandmother, a fine tall old lady, whose dignity of gait was not to be impaired by the stick which a rheumatic complaint obliged her to use, emphatically exclaimed, with a beautiful mixture of devotion and hospitality, "So much the better! they are welcome! there are plenty of stacks, thank God! and there is plenty of every thing for all that come!" Away flew the little girl again for more good tidings, but she returned in a minute, with a momentary cloud of disappointment over her features the seven was reduced to six; she had counted her uncle twice over. Still, however, we were called upon to be glad that there were six; and we had so many similar occasions for rejoicing over unexpected additions to the party,

that we soon began to be so far fashionable as to find every seat engaged, and one room overflowing into another.

Our hostess had been about a year and a half a widow. The more active departments of the farm were managed for her by her son-in-law; and the two families resided under the same roof, in full amity and confidence. The married daughter now took her seat at the tea-table, and dispensed with her own hand the cups

"That cheer, but not inebriate,"

in all the perfection that good tea, boiling water, a thing not always to be met with at fashionable routs, and thick cream, an article entirely unattainable at places of that description, could impart to them. The younger branches, meanwhile, handed about the cakes and bread and butter, with an unremitting and even affectionate attention, which left not a single individual of all the large party overlooked; and whilst I contrasted their respectful behaviour to their elders, with the selfish and insolent deportment which young people in higher circles assume towards those whom they consider as too old, or too insignificant to minister to their vanity, I could not help thinking, old bachelor as I am, that if the fates should insist upon my marrying, I would rather choose my wife at a Horkey in Suffolk, than a ball at Almack's. I then, by a natural association of ideas, turned my eyes towards the tea-table, and gratified them with an admiring survey of the pretty features, the sweet countenance, and modest attire of the youthful matron who did its honours so well; and who was too intent on watching the wishes of her guests, to be discomposed by the strictness of my scrutiny, which she had, in fact, not even leisure to observe, and would most certainly never have thought, had she been ever so unoccupied, of endeavouring to attract.

The time between tea and supper was agreeably filled up with a walk round the well-cultivated garden, the goodly stacks, and the commodious yard, all illuminated with the silver radiance of the harvest-moon, just then rising in full beauty and unclouded lustre. Nor were the dairy, in all its pride of cleanliness and coolness, and its full bowls of cream, overlooked by us, any more than the kitchen, where the roast and the boiled were contending which should send forth the most

savoury steams to the olfactories of the rustics who kept alternately coming in to scorch themselves in the blaze of a crackling wood fire, and retiring to the door again to cool themselves,

"Quench'd in the cold beams of the watery moon."

As supper was served exactly at seven, the interval thus employed did not, my readers will imagine, appear very tedious to any of us. Three rooms were now thrown open; one for the guests, another for the younger branches of the family, and a third for the household servants, the harvest-men, and labourers. The fare was, I believe, the same at each table; I shall therefore content myself with describing that which was placed immediately under my own eyes. At the top and bottom of the table was that standing article in Suffolk-a boiled batter-pudding, solid enough in composition, and of sufficient dimensions, to act as a good foundation for the viands that were to follow. With each of these puddings appeared a sauce-boat full of gravy, an indispensable appendage; and as if Pope's illustration of somewhat more than enough, in the account of Sir Balaam's manner of living

"And, lo! two puddings smoked upon the board," were not in a case like the present sufficient exemplification of plenty, a third pudding was added, in the form of a baked one, equal in size to both the others, as if the cook felt that her powers

-" could no farther go,"

and therefore

"To make a third she join'd the former two."

At the upper end of the table was a smoking round of boiled beef; at the lower a noble boiled leg of mutton, which might have disputed the prize with my Lord Somerville's legs, or the Duke of Bedford's legs, or any other cattle-fancier's, noble or ignoble. Be low the boiled beef stood a fine piece of roast beef, no way disdaining its near proximity to one of the same family; and an equally good understanding seemed to prevail at the bottom of the table between the boiled leg of mutton and a roasted quarter of lamb. These excellent articles, with a profusion of fine vegetables of different kinds, formed the savoury part of the feast; for neither poultry, nor any sort of made-dishes, were deemed advisable at such a period as this; not only on account of the additional time it would have taken in preparing them, but also the delay which they would have caused in the carving..

And here I must remark, that both my worthy friend, who had taken the head of the table, and who was himself the very personification of cheerfulness and good-humour, and his colleague at the bottom, seemed determined to deserve the meed of excellence in carving, according to the test laid down by the modern Apicius, Dr. Kitchener, who sagaciously observes on this subject, "For my part I hold him to be the best carver who satisfies the greatest number of guests in the least portion of time." And certainly, in the present case, no small number were satisfied in a very short period, through the attention and promptness of their worthy presidents, with the substantials; and no sooner were they done with, than they were succeeded by another course, of plum puddings and rice puddings, and fruit pies; and the cheerful countenances of the mistresses of the feast appeared between whiles, with an irradiating influence on their guests, to ask if they were all happy and comfortable, and to hope they had every thing they wanted, and that all was to their liking; for these worthy women retained so much of genuine old-fashioned hospitality, that they would not even sit down themselves, but went about from room_to room, to see that plenty and comfort prevailed in each. After sitting some time over very excellent port and made afforded, we were invited to join our wines, and all the fruits that the season forces, and make a general muster-and now began the Horkey in all its attractions, a scene every way worthy of the pen of Burns and the pencil of Wilkie. The room in which we assembled was spacious, though not lofty, and was that part of the dwelling which is peculiarly known among farmers in this county, as well as the more northern ones, by the appellation of the house; round the walls benches were placed for the labourers and helpers, all dressed in clean smock-frocks; among them my lord and the village butcher were treated with peculiar marks of respect. At the end nearest to the door, some urchins had edged themselves in, happy enough at being allowed, on any terms, to make their first appearance at a Horkey; and at the upper end some of the wealthy farmers were content to take their places, quite satisfied with the slight distinction of drinking out of glass instead of horn, as the rank was formerly marked, at the tables of our ancestors, by the salt in the middle, as a boundary;

nor did those who, in this instance, might be considered as sitting above it, shew any undue sense of superiority over the parties who were ranged below. Within this outer circle another was formed with chairs round a table of

polished oak, which reflected the jovial faces of those who sat round it, wherever there was a space sufficiently clear from the huge flaggons of ale, an enormous bowl of punch, bottles, decanters, horns and glasses, with which its centre was covered. This inner circle consisted of the ladies and gentlemen of the party, as far as any distinction of that kind could be said to exist in an assemblage altogether so well behaved, so respectable, and so good-humoured. Among them was an artist and his wife from London, who had been brought as spectators under the auspices of my friend; and, to say the truth, as the gentleman had the reputation of being a genius, and the lady an authoress, I had some apprehensions that the simplicity and native wit of the conversation would be contaminated by the technicalities of art, or the cant of periodical criticism. Fortunately, however, the artist proved

ners.

to be as modest as I have since found him to be ingenious, and the same love of nature which is exhibited in his works was now manifested in his silent, yet speaking enjoyment of the scene before him; and more fortunately still, the lady had been brought up herself in the country, and had contrived to cultivate her mind early in life, without impairing the simplicity of her manNext to her sat the wife of my friend, whose figure and carriage would have graced a drawing-room; nor must my worthy friend himself be forgotten; with one consent he was called upon to preside at this table, as he had done at the other, and he complied with his accustomed good humour; but when he had taken his seat a few minutes, he suddenly rose, crying out " No, no ; I don't like this, why we half of us turn our backs on some of the handsomest fellows in the room," at the same time pulling two or three of them forward in their smock-frocks, grinning from ear to ear. It was found, however, that no better arrangement could be made; his objection was therefore overruled, he resumed his seat, my lord went round with "the flowing can," and the vocal part of the amusement commenced with a general chorus to the health of the mistress of the house,

in the following strain, which I shall give in the rich Suffolk twang, which, throughout the whole evening, gave added raciness to the poetry of the different songs :

"Now harvist is indid, and supper is past,

Let's drink to the mistress a full-flowing glass;

She be a good woman, she provide us good cheer, So here's to her health, lads, and drink half your beer."

A graceful pause ensued, during which the swains most obediently followed my lord's directions, and drank half their beer: they then proceeded through another stanza of good wishes and grateful acknowledgements, their mistress smiling most cordially upon them all the time, and then again paused, and made a finish of their draught. The next vocal performance was a solo by the village butcher, who gave us in no bad style Dibdin's excellent song

"When clouds obscure the labouring moon,"

and as he quavered out the burthen of it

"Lash'd to the helm, when seas o'erwhelm,

I thinks on thee, my love,"

I could not refrain from lifting my glass to my lips in silent tribute to the memory of a man whose muse, prolific as she was chaste, has given fifteen hundred songs peculiarly to the wooden walls and thatched roofs of his native country; nor, among them all, can one be found to raise a blush on the cheek of modesty, or one be read without exciting some patriotic, virtuous, or tender feeling. The butcher's song of course deserved a full cup; and immediately afterwards an undeniable reason for another was set forth in full chorus :— "Here's a health to the man of the house, The best good man in the land ; And he that dares this toast deny, Before his face I here defy,

So take the glass in your hand.” A slight shade of sorrow spread itself over the countenance of the widowed mistress of the house, at the remembrance of her husband, which this tribute awakened. She would not, however, let it damp the cheerfulness of the scene, but smiled affectionately on her son-in-law, who succeeded to the compliment, and who seemed every way deserving both of his comfortable establishment and his pretty wife.

And now was the advice of Hamlet"suit the action to the word, and the word to the action," most admirably set forth in the next verse:

« НазадПродовжити »