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of that order which fortunately does not often emerge among men.' 

 Mary was afterwards married to a respectable yeoman of the 

 district, by whom she had a large family, and, according to the 

 poet Southey, became "fat and good-looking." One of her grand- 

 sons is at the present time the owner of the " Fish Inn," Buttermere. 

 Merry nights, similar to the one at which the Beauty of Butter- 

 mere was present, may be worth describing. The hard-working 

 inhabitants of the northern counties of England in those days 

 seldom indulged in taking holiday except at Christmas time, and then 

 all work was thrown aside from Christmas Day till Twelfth Night. 

 On the eve and early morning of Christmas Day, the village fiddler 

 went from house to house playing each of the inmates a tune and 

 wishing them a merry Christmas. On New Year's Day the 

 musician again went his round in the same manner to enliven the 

 villagers with his inspiriting airs, and towards the close of the festive 

 season, the fiddler once more went his round, but on this occasion 

 it was to collect subscriptions by way of a benefit. These subcrip- 

 tions, as a rule, were freely given ; he in return gave invitations to 

 his subscribers to attend his merry night at a time appointed at the 

 village inn. At the fiddler's merry night dancing was naturally the 

 order : step dances, consisting of hornpipes, jigs, reels, etc., were 

 kept up with great animation, the fiddler on that night providing 

 the music gratis; and in addition to this, the guests were allowed an 

 unlimited supply of bread and cheese and Christmas ale. If there 

 happened to be more than one inn in the village, the dance was 

 given in turn at each inn in the place. But nearly all the inns in 

 country places had during Christmas time their annual merry night, 

 at which times the greatest mirth and hilarity prevailed. For 

 graphic descriptions of scenes which took place at their festive 

 gatherings in the old times, we need only refer to some of the songs 

 of Robert Anderson, and other Cumberland bards. The following 

 verses from " The Bleckell Murry Neet," will give an idea of the 

 energy at times displayed : — 



The dogger of Dawston's a famish top hero, 

 And bangs aw the player fwok twenty to yen ; 



He stamped wid his fit an' he shouted an' roystered, 

 Till the sweat it ran off at his varra chin end. 



