FIFTY YEARS OF A SHOWMAN'S LIFE 



legs for long, otherwise the proceedings would 

 have been more protracted than they were. In 

 those days there was an absolute craze for speechi- 

 fying at meal-time, and an old friend of mine 

 who used to give gorgeous repasts would, even 

 when they were within the privacy of his own 

 residence, insist upon a delivery of post-prandial 

 orations, on the ground, as he put it, that any- 

 thing was better than " sitting mumchance " ; a 

 fine old country-side phrase not to be met with 

 nowadays except in ancient books. 



I have heard of a parson, who, requested by 

 his host to give another toast, and discovering 

 no one round the table whose health had not been 

 honoured, proposed, with a view to finality in 

 the matter, " All people that on earth do dwell." 

 Such comprehensiveness then permitted him to 

 enjoy his port in quiet. 



Professional vocalization was not de rigueur on 

 these occasions, the assembled company much 

 preferring their own unaided efforts, and there 

 was a distinctive character about many of these 

 which certainly would have been lacking in any 

 paid contribution to the evening's harmony. In 

 those days music halls were negligible quantities, 

 so far as agriculture was concerned, nor did 

 farmers journey so frequently as now to town. 

 Hence, we were spared a repetition of the comic, 

 so-called, effusions of the lion comique of the period, 

 and we had something much better in their stead. 

 Hunting songs were always well to the fore the 

 special favourites being " A Southerly Wind and 

 a Cloudy Sky," "Old Towler," " We'll all go 

 a-hunting to-day," and, of course, " John Peel." 



58 



