Poetry > Ballads in the Cumberland dialect

NOTES.
place at some country ale-house, during the holidays
of Christmas,—a season in which every Cumbrian
peasant refuses to be governed by the cold and nig¬
gardly maxims of economy and thrift. That the
guests might want nothing to cheer their hearts, the
landlord of the house is careful to replenish his cellar
with ale and spirits, as well as to provide bread and
cheese, pipes and tobacco, cards and music.
The young women, who are particularly fond of
these diversions, and who are introduced to them by
some friend, relation, or lover, have pies placed before
them; and that girl must be modest indeed who refuses
to taste of a luxury when it is within her reach. The
) company are divided into different parties, according
! to their different propensities, and to the different
amusements to which they are attached. They whose
J ruling passion is card-playing, seat themselves in some
) apartment where they can obtain a comfortable fire
* and a commodious table. The sweethearters retire to
i some snug sequestered comer, where, unseen by any
j| licentious eye, and unheard by any idle ear, they can
\ breathe the vows and speak the soft language of love.
? They who are fond of dancing, enjoy their diversion
i in the house-loft, to which they ascend by means of
stone steps or a ladder. Its walls are generally very
low, but as there is no ceiling, a very tall person may
stand erect under its roof. The dancers exhibit speci¬
mens of agility rather than skill; and though their
heads have often stubborn rencounters with the beams
and rafters of the building, they are seldom forsaken
by either their spirits or their elasticity.
The music is that of the fiddle; and if it be not so
powerful as the minstrelsy of old times, which gave
i motion to stocks, trees, and stones, it may be truly
, said of it—and which is certainly no little praise—
| that it gives activity, if not grace, to the big, unwieldy
I limbs of a Cumbrian clown.
At the conclusion of a jig, the fiddler makes his
| instrument squeak out two notes that say, or are