70 



caps, with broad ribbons and borders, and flounces 

 in imitation of the Squire's lady ; and others, 

 plain, clean , and tidy. 



There was a very plentiful dinner, set on tables 

 under a clump of trees ; and the good farmer 

 seemed to feel real delight in making his hard- 

 working labourers eat heartily. Two fiddlers 

 were playing all the time, to enliven them ; and 

 the ale and cider were abundantly circulated. 

 When the repast was finished, the more active 

 sports began ; and nothing could be prettier 

 than the different groups of dancers, or more 

 laughable than the attempts to jump through a 

 ring, and hop in a sack. 



Under the trees, most of the older people sat 

 comfortably, talking ; though some, excited by 

 the general joy, took part in the dance, and 

 others presided at a wrestling match. Each of 

 those men who had been more particularly en- 

 gaged in getting in the harvest, had his hat 

 ornamented with a large bunch of wheat ; but 

 the leader, or captain of the sports, was actually 

 crowned with a whole sheaf. He was carried 

 round the tables on the shoulders of his comrades, 

 and the sports began by dancing round him in a 

 general ring ; at last he gave the signal, when 

 they suddenly separated, and each fixed on his 

 favourite damsel. 



Dame Moreland gave us some nice syllabub ; 



