8 
SEE©- TIME AH© HARVEST 
sacks, had been doing in that direction. 
The secret is revealed and the mystery 
made clear. They must have been coming 
from the Cornish wrestling. It is said that 
the first celebration occured in July 1801, 
when, according to the will of the founder, 
a band of virgins, all dressed in white, 
with four matrons and a company of musi¬ 
cians commenced the ceremony by walking 
in pairs to the summit of the hill, where 
they danced and chanted a hymn—strange 
mixture—composed for the purpose, round 
the mausoleum, in imitation of druids 
around the cromlecs of the departed brave. 
Ten guineas were expended in a dinner at 
the town, of which six of the principal in¬ 
habitants partook—what would a fair or 
festival be without something to eat ? Some 
idea of the joyous scene may be conceived 
by perusing an account of a looker-on in 
Cornwall. 
“Early in the morning, the roads were 
lined with horses and vehicles of every de¬ 
scription, while thousands of travelers on 
foot poured in from all quarters till noon, 
when the assembly formed. The wrestlers 
entered the ring, the troop of virgins, dress¬ 
ed in white, advanced with solemn steps 
to the notes of harmony; the spectators 
ranged themselves along the hills. At 
length, the Mayor of St. Ives appeared in 
his robes of state. The signal was given, 
the flags were displayed in waving splen¬ 
dor from the towers of the eastle; the sight 
was grand. Here, the wrestlers exerted 
their sinewy strength: there the rowers in 
their various dresses of blue, white and 
red, urged the gilded prows of their boats 
through the sparkling waves—the dashing 
of oars—the songs of the virgins—all joined 
to enliven the picture. The ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen of Penyance, returned to an elegant 
dinner at the Union hotel, and a splendid 
ball concluded the evening entertainments.” 
As far back as 1826, there used to be a 
sort of sport called a “Bacon and bean 
feast,” because these edibles were provided. 
It appears to have been on account of the 
election of a monk mayor. There was a 
procession, where all the insignia of office 
was burlesqued, by substituting vegetables 
for the same. Much rough music, horse 
play and liquor drinking, were indulged 
m. It is to be hoped the custom is now 
obsolete. 
The following may not come under the 
head of “England” or “Rustic Sports,” but 
it is a custom not generally known, and as 
it is so beautiful, it should not be omitted. 
It is a festival celebrated at Hamburg, 
called the “feast of cherries,” in which 
troops of children parade the streets with 
greer^boughs, ornamented with cherries, to 
commemorate a victory obtained in the 
following manner: In 1482, the Hussites 
threatened the city of Hamburg with an 
immediate destruction, when one of the 
citizens named Wolf, proposed that all the 
children of the city, from seven to fourteen 
years of age, should be clad in mourning 
and sent as supplicants to the enemy. The 
chief of the Hussites was so touched with 
this spectacle, that he received the young 
supplicants, regaled them with cherries and 
other fruits and promised them to spare 
the city. The children returned, crowned 
with leaves, holding cherries and crying 
“Victory”—and, hence, the “feast of cher¬ 
ries” is an annual commemoration of hu¬ 
mane feelings. 
THE LIBERTY BELL. 
1.—PHILADELPHIA, 1776. 
Squarely prim and stoutly built, 
Free from glitter and^roril gilt, 
Plain,—from lintel up to roof-tree and to belfry 
bare and brown— 
Stands the Hall that hot July,— 
While the folk throng anxious by,— 
Where the Continental Congress meets within the 
Quaker town. 
Hark! a stir, a sudden shout, 
And a boy comes rushing out, 
Signaling to where his grandsire in the belfry, 
waiting, stands;— 
“Ring!” he cries; “the deed is done! 
Ring! they’ve signed, and freedom’s won!” 
And the ringer grasps the bell-rope with his strong 
and sturdy hands; 
While the Bell, with joyous note 
Clanging from its brazen throat, 
Rings the tidings all-exultant,—peals the news to 
shore and sea: 
“Man is Man—a slave no longer: 
Truth and Right than Might are stronger _ 
Praise to God! We're free: We're free!" 
