CHAPTER III. 



EDINBURGH YOUTHFUL STUDIES AND AMUSEMENTS POLITICS THB 

 THEATRES OF THE TIME. 



[My mother's next visit was to the house of her uncle, 

 William Charters, in Edinburgh. From thence she was 

 enabled to partake of the advantages of a dancing-school 

 of the period. 



THEY sent me to Strange's dancing school. Strange 

 himself was exactly like a figure on the stage ; tall 

 and thin, he wore a powdered wig, with cannons at 

 the ears, and a pigtail. Ruffles at the breast and 

 wrists, white waistcoat, black silk or velvet shorts, 

 white silk stockings, large silver buckles, and a pale 

 blue coat completed his costume. He had a little 

 fiddle on which he played, called a kit. My first 

 lesson was how to walk and make a curtsey. "Young 

 lady, if you visit the queen you must make three 

 curtsies, lower and lower and lower as you approach 

 her. So o o," leading me on and making me 

 curtsey. " Now, if the queen were to ask you to 

 eat a bit of mutton with her, what would you say ? " 



