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soon be swept away before the advancing tide of nineteenth 

 century civilisation. It was a usual practice for those wanting 

 engagements in farm service to "stand the market" with a straw 

 either stuck in their hats or in their mouths, — the straw, no doubt, 

 being a symbol of agriculture. Anderson, the Cumberland bard, 

 put these lines into the mouth of one of his worthies : — 



At Carel I stuid wid a strea i' my mouth, 



An' they tuik me, nea doubt, for a promisin' youth. 



The modern rustic is far too refined to do that. The custom of 

 exposing a straw has now nearly, if not entirely, passed away. 



In the olden time almost every village had some annual gathering 

 or merry-making almost peculiar to itself. The famous " Bleckell 

 Murry-Neet" was known far and near. Almost every little village 

 had its tansy about Christmas time, which were occasions of great 

 mirth. Mr. G. Coward has supplied me with some interesting 

 details in connection with the Melmerby Round, a great gatiiering 

 which has now ceased to have existence. Melmerby folk to this 

 day are pastoral in occupation, intercourse, and habits, and on 

 Melmerby Green — one of the finest in England — they used to 

 have great sport in the early part of this century. On Old Mid- 

 summer Day, the 5lh of July, this village commenced its annual 

 two-days' sports, which consisted of wrestling, leaping, foot-racing, 

 dog-trailing, and a cock-fight now and then by way of variety. As 

 many as four-score have contended for the wrestling prize at 

 Melmerby Round, which was invariably attended by a large 

 concourse of spectators. Being held at a season of the year when 

 the days were longest and when the country wore its prettiest 

 aspect, the old Cumberland sport was, probably, never seen under 

 more favourable circumstances than at these sports a hundred 

 years ago. Langwathby also had its Round, which was continued 

 down to as late as the year 1870. The history of Langwathby 

 Round, like that of the village itself, is lost in the dim mists of 

 antiquity. The list of champions contains the names of some 

 remarkable men, amongst them that of John Holme, king of Mar- 

 dale, who won the wresthng in the year 1824. In 1826 it was 



