132 THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. 



be invited; and when all were assembled on the 

 spacious lawn, my uncle appeared, made a little con- 

 gratulatory speech, and distributed drams to the 

 seniors, and cake to all comers. Healths were drunk, 

 and hearty Yule greetings exchanged ; and then two — 

 perhaps three — sets of players were arranged ; goals 

 were set, and the play began. Our uncle and father 

 looked on and watched with interest the progress of 

 the game. When goals were changed, there was sure 

 to be another round of drams, to keep up the spirit 

 and energies of the players, and because, as my uncle 

 would say to his well-pleased audience, "every day 

 was not Yule-day;" and so the game went on fast 

 and furious till close upon the dinner hour — three 

 o'clock — when light failed. 



The Yule dinner was as ponderously substantial an 

 affair as the breakfast. My uncle always had a choice 

 bullock well fatted and slaughtered for the Yule festivi- 

 ties, as also the best wether that his flock could produce ; 

 so there was no lack of fresh meat at this season; 

 and somehow he never seemed pleased at those times 

 unless he saw not only ample but lavish abundance on 

 his table. Dinner usually consisted of soup, fish, 

 roast-beef, boiled mutton, plum-pudding, apple-pie, 

 tarts, jellies, and creams, followed by a dessert of 

 fruit — oranges, apples, figs, plums, raisins and almonds, 

 which — the dessert I mean — we youngsters relished 

 most of all, as we never saw or tasted those delicacies 

 except at Yule-time. The brief interval between 

 dinner and tea was all the rest we had during the 



