IN THE STATE OF DENMARK 169 



your lawn tennis so sharp and hardly. But with us, 

 not so. But Anna goes much in her kitchen. The 

 Danish ladies go much in their kitchens." 



On this pronouncement followed the intervention 

 of an English matron, who had hitherto hovered, at 

 some disadvantage, on the outskirts of the round 

 game. We were not the Bristol young man, but 

 we were capable of being properly instructed. She 

 had lived for eighteen years in Denmark, and the 

 Danish ladies whom she was accustomed to mix with 

 did not spend their time in their kitchens. The 

 discussion raged. We sat by and devoured yawns 

 till it emerged somewhere near the topic of dances. 

 " Anna oil ways dance so nice." Her excellent mother 

 beamed upon us, and we followed up the subject. 

 A Danish ball seemed to be a somewhat serious 

 undertaking, a slow series of dances of half an hour's 

 duration each ; with a solid hot meal somewhere in 

 the middle of the proceedings. There is an original 

 chief partner for every dance, but turns may be 

 taken with sub-partners. On consideration, this 

 arrangement seems to have many capabilities and 

 advantages. Strangest of all, is the unwritten law 

 that girls may not wear black ball dresses, and 

 severest, too, in a country of fair-haired aristocrats 

 with short purses. It was the opinion of the English 

 matron that the Danish aristocracy had but a poor 

 reputation for dress, whether by day- or candlelight ; 

 they copied the English, which was gratifying, but the 

 result was not good. The Dane, upon this, played 

 the ace of trumps, by reciting as the glass of fashion 

 the Princess of AVales, " our goot Princess," she added 

 rapturously. A Gal way man has said that "if it 

 was even two cocks you saw fighting on the road, 

 your heart would take part with one of them." 

 Mine took part with the Dane. My cousin assures 



