1842 SURVEY LIFE IN SOUTH WALES 55 



this pious duty as long as his mother lived and his sister 

 remained unmarried. 



Of an eminently social temperament, he made 

 acquaintances easily wherever he went, and these 

 chance acquaintanceships sometimes ripened into life- 

 long friendships. In one family circle we find him 

 reading aloud Shakespeare, or Scottish ballads, or a 

 good novel ; in another he takes part, heart and soul, 

 in singing glees and madrigals ; in a third he joins in 

 dancing and all kinds of merriment. After being some 

 little time at a station he knew everybody worth know- 

 ing all round him, and sometimes had difficulty in 

 satisfying the demands for his company. The appear- 

 ance of a pleasant, conversational, and merry-hearted 

 stranger was sometimes an extraordinary boon to a 

 country district in the days before railways. His 

 doings and sayings, his goings-out and comings-in, 

 were a source of the deepest interest to gossips who 

 longed for some new event in their little world. If he 

 dined at a house noted for its conviviality, there would 

 be solemn head-shakings and expressions of regret 

 that one so young should have been led into such 

 courses. If he spent an evening now and then in a 

 family where there were two or three daughters, it was 

 supposed that he could have but one object there. 

 Curiosity was at once aroused to discover which of the 

 ladies he had chosen, and curiosity soon gave way to 

 certainty as the report of an engagement was rapidly 

 circulated through the parish. 



In South Wales Ramsay had early experience of 

 these manifestations of public interest in his affairs. 

 He was naturally fond of female society. His conver- 

 sational powers, his literary taste, and his lively 

 humour found there a congenial stimulus. And while 



