FIRST LITERARY EFFORTS 211 



familiarly as in Ireland, the fowls seem to take their place. It is noth- 

 ing uncommon for them to penetrate even upstairs; for we were once 

 ourselves much puzzled to account for the singular phenomenon of 

 finding an egg upon the bed, which happened twice or we might have 

 thought it put there by accident. It was subsequently explained to us 

 that some persons thought it lucky for the fowls to lay there : the 

 abundance of fleas was no longer a mystery. The bed in the parlour 

 before mentioned serves, besides its ostensible use, as a secret cup- 

 board, where delicacies may be secured from the junior members of 

 the family. I have been informed by an acquaintance whose veracity I 

 can rely on (and indeed I should otherwise find no difficulty in believ- 

 ing it) that one day, being asked to take some bread and cheese in a 

 respectable farmhouse, the wheat bread (a luxury) was procured from 

 some mysterious part of the bed, either between the blankets or under 

 the mattress, which my informant could not exactly ascertain. The 

 only assistants in the labours of the farm, besides the sons and daugh- 

 ters, is generally a female servant, whose duties are multifarious and 

 laborious, including driving the horses while ploughing and in haytime, 

 and much other out-of-door work. If you enter the house in the 

 morning, you will probably see a huge brass pan on the fire filled with 

 curdled milk for making cheese. Into this the mistress dips her red 

 and not particularly clean arm up to the elbow, stirring it round most 

 vigorously. Meals seem to be prepared solely for the men, as you sel- 

 dom see the women sit down to table with them. They will either wait 

 till the others have done or take their dinner on their laps by the fire. 

 The breakfast consists of hasty-pudding or oatmeal porridge, or cheese 

 with thin oatmeal cakes or barley bread, which are plentifully supplied 

 at all meals, and a basin of milk for each person; for dinner there is 

 perhaps the same, with the addition of a huge dish of potatoes, which 

 they frequently break into their basin of milk or eat with their cheese; 

 and for supper, often milk with flummery or " siccan " (pronounced 

 shiccan). As this is a peculiar and favourite Welsh dish, I will de- 

 scribe its composition. The oat bran with some of the meal left in it 

 is soaked for several days in water till the acetous fermentation com- 

 mences; it is then strained off, producing a thin, starchy liquid. When 

 wanted for use this is boiled, and soon becomes nearly of the consist- 

 ence and texture of blancmange, of a fine light brown colour and a 

 peculiar acid taste which, though at first disagreeable to most persons, 

 becomes quite pleasant with use. This is a dish in high repute with all 

 real Welshmen. Each person is provided with a basin of new milk, 

 cold, and a spoon, and a large dish of hot flummery is set on the table, 

 each person helping himself to as much as he likes (and that is often 

 a great deal), putting it in his basin of milk; and it is, I have no doubt, 

 very wholesome and nourishing food. I must mention that the women, 

 both in the morning and evening (and frequently at dinner too), treat 



