CHAPTER III 



Christmas at Kilvington Old Customs First Visit to London 

 The Great Exhibition Lord Dundreary The Colleen Bawn 

 Early Education Life at Cundale Parsonage The first 

 Ironclads I armour-plate the Nautilus " A Coursing 

 Match " Cruelty of Boys Mr Gray beats us The Making 

 of Fairyland A Cold-water Cure How we celebrated the 

 Prince of Wales 's Wedding 



OUR first pony was a smart little grey called 

 Jacky, but he was far too much of a handful 

 for a boy of eight or nine, and after he had 

 bolted with me several times and projected me into 

 hedges and other unpleasant places my sister obtained 

 the monopoly of him for a year or so. 



Christmas time was really great in those days : Christ- 

 mas Eve, with the yule-log, yule cakes and frumenty : the 

 " waits," of course ; Christmas morning, with the children 

 at the back door singing out : 



I wish you a Merry Kesmas and a Happy New Year, 

 A pocket full of money and a barrel full of beer, 

 And a good fat pig as '11 fet you all t' year. 



Please will you give me my Christmas Box ? 



We used to be provided with copious coppers to dispense 

 on those occasions. 



Then there was church, and Tommy Ware would 

 announce " the hymn for Kes-mas Day ! " 



All Christmas week was a festive time, and you could 

 not go to any farm-house without being expected to eat 

 cake and drink home-made wine, or, if you were older, 

 gin and water. How strange it seems, but whisky was 

 almost unknown then ! 



There were always mummers or, as they were called, 



45 



