OLD HOLIDAY AMUSEMENTS. 
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soil,— the olive, the grape-vine, and corn ; the olive- 
tree was to be beaten but once ; the scattered grape in 
the vintage was not to be gathered ; and in the field 
where the corn grew, “ clean riddance ” was not to be 
made, the corners were to be left unreaped, and even 
the forgotten sheaf was not to be fetched away by the 
owner, but to be left for the “ poor and the stranger, 
the fatherless and the widow,” This was not simply de- 
clared once, as an act of mercy, but enjoined and con- 
firmed by ordinances thrice repeated, and impressed 
with particular solemnity ; “ I am the Lord thy God,” 
I have given thee all, and I command unreserved obe- 
dience to this my appointment. 
Revolving in our minds, as we old-mannered people 
often do, the forms, rites, and usages of earlier days, 
we occasionally regret that fashions by gradual neglect 
have passed away, and can never be revived, to give 
that feeling of pleasure which a natural growth seemed 
to have inspired. Some, though probably of pagan 
origin, were innocent and harmless practices ; the may- 
pole, with all its flowery wreaths, so often surrounded 
by the dance and the song, is now but seldom seen, 
where we have known it, especially in the lace-making 
counties, the evening and almost sole recreation, after 
long hours of unhealthy occupation, for happy groups of 
“Those pale maids who weave their threads with bone 
and it gave these poor villagers a transient glow of 
health, seen then alone ; but it is gone with the rest, 
and we grieve to think how little remains that poverty 
and innocence can partake of. Others were of monkish 
introduction, yet seemed to keep in remembrance the 
revolutions of seasons and events, which, though re- 
corded elsewhere, had become the types of written 
things. Yet one of them in the irration of the moment 
I have at times wished, selfishly enough perhaps, con- 
signed to oblivion with monks and monkish deeds. 
“ Christmassing,” as we call it, the decorating our 
churches, houses, and market meats with evergreens, 
is yet retained among us; and we growers of such 
things annually contribute more than we wish for the 
