9 
7 
much the same way, surely we should not 
begrudge those in foreign climes and 
in former days, from doing the same; and 
when they wished to. A traveler in Ireland 
speaks of this ceremony at mid-summer, 
and says the rural people lit fires in honor 
of the son. I think he must have misunder¬ 
stood in honor of the saint —St. John—for 
son. He describes the affair as follows: 
‘‘Exactly at midnight the fires began to 
appear; and, going up to the leads of the 
house, which had a widely extended view, 
I saw, on a radius of thirty miles around, 
the fires burning on every eminence which 
the country afforded. I had farther satis¬ 
faction in learning from undoubted author¬ 
ity, that the people danced around these 
fires, and at the close went through them, 
and made their sons and daughters, to¬ 
gether with their cattle, pass through the 
fire, and the whole was concluded with re¬ 
ligious solemnity.” 
Besides the bonfires and the dancing, we 
are told by one well versed in such matters, 
that in England, “Every man’s door was 
shaded with green birch, long fennel, St. 
John’s Wort and white lilies, ornamented 
with garlands of dowers. The citizens had 
also lamps of glass with oil burning in them 
all night, and some of them hung out 
branches of iron curiously wrought, con¬ 
taining hundreds of lamps lighted at once, 
which made a very brilliant appearance.” 
Perhaps torch-light processions and mod¬ 
ern illuminations had their origin in these 
primitive affairs. 
And although the following may not 
come under the head of “rural sports,” it 
will not be amiss to quote it here as it is, or 
was, applicable to the times under consid¬ 
eration: “Any unmarried woman fasting 
on Mid-summer Eve, and at midnight lay¬ 
ing a cloth, all clean and neat, with bread, 
cheese and ale, and sitting down, as if 
going to eat—the street door being leftopen- 
the person whom she is afterwards to mar¬ 
ry will come into the room and drink to 
her by bowing, afterwards fill the glass, 
make another bow and retire.” 
Feats of activity and endurance were 
much in vogue at mid-summer time, which 
brought the muscles into full play and 
made the men tougher and stronger. 
Wrestling was a favorite and popular 
amusement, and I think it would remain so 
still had it not become associated with 
prize-fighting and other brutal exhibitions. 
That this was not always so, may be in 
ferred from a monument to a gentleman, 
Sir Thomas Parkyns, in an English church¬ 
yard, and whose memory some of the best 
people thought it no disgrace to honor. He 
trained many of his neighbors and servants 
in an art that was once deemed so manly; 
but on account of its abuse, fell into ill- 
repute; and when he died his will provided 
money for wrestling to take place on the 
grounds where he had won so many vic¬ 
tories himself. 
“The Races”—which the rural population 
have always held to with great tenacity, 
ocurred near the end of June, and were 
looked forward to with as great anticipa¬ 
tions of pleasure and delight as our agricul¬ 
tural fairs of the present day are, to our 
rural population. The sports usually con¬ 
sisted of horse, pony and donkey racing, 
wheel-barrow racing, jumping in sacks, 
jingling matches—whatever they were— 
and foot racing. The most of these still 
remain and add attractions to fairs on both 
sides of the water; but they had no base 
ball matches or bicycle races; for which 
they are to be congratulated or commiser¬ 
ated; yet, there were some more useful 
enjoyments which gave a stimulous to 
those who worked on farms and which 
proved of practical benefit in some of their 
daily occupations. One of these was a 
ploughing match, and prizes were given to 
the plough-boy who made the best furrow, 
and to the one who made the second best. 
Now-a-days it would seem the tests are 
made as to how much work the cattle 
can do on the farm, and not how much the 
men and boys can accomplish. Wouldn’t 
it be a good idea to make a division in these 
tests ? An uncle of mine tells me he has 
often attended these races, and never did 
he see any intoxication or disorder to mar 
the festivities. The sports wound up with a 
“grand ball.” We suppose it wasja grand 
one, for that is usually the way the'posters 
announcing these dancing entertainments 
are headed. 
The scholars of Eton College had their 
