tude. Woe be to the unlucky wight, who 
nUay chance to ride through the town dur¬ 
ing the introductory part of this custom. 
No sooner does he appear, than a thousand 
aims are taken at him and his horse or car¬ 
riage, and the poor belated rider ‘sees, or 
dreams he sees (if ignorant of the practice) 
the inhabitants of a whole town raised to 
oppose his single progress, without being 
able to form the most distant idea of their 
motives for so doing. At Ludlow there is 
a custom as equally foolish—that of pulling 
a rope. This last must be the same as the 
exercise called, “The Tug of War,” witness¬ 
ed at so many of our athletic exhibitions. 
“Grigglings” are almost as odd rustic 
sports as the name by which they were 
called. “Griggles” are nothing more, nor 
less than small apples which are left pretty 
abundantly upon the trees by the farmers, 
with an understanding that the urchins 
will have mercy on the boughs which, if 
left entirely bare, would suffer. Then come 
the boys in search of what they consider to 
be no more than their own right, that is, 
these same griggles; and, to secure the 
same is called “going a griggling.” Up 
go the youngsters into the trees, almost as 
daring and having as firm a hold on the 
branches. When the trees are denuded of 
every particle of fruit, a shout is sent up 
and some slight remarks made as to the 
quantity and quality of the “leavings.’ 
From this, one is led to suppose that the 
fruit-growers do not make use of any kinds 
of apples for cider and defied apple pies. In 
our land, the young people, who acted in 
such a manner, would be deemed thieves, 
and treated as such; but in England, they 
must suppose the little fellows are doipg 
them quite a favor, as the hostess or daugh¬ 
ter presents them with a slice of bread and 
cheese, or a little piece of money to reward 
them for their work and trouble. 
Sometimes the harvest does not end until 
September; so it will not be out of place to 
insert some more of the customs relative to 
that season, here, which—for want of room 
—we had to omit in our last article. 
“Largess” seems to be a most necessary 
accompaniment to all these festivities; this 
is the gift of money—more frequently 
asked for than given gratuitously—and 
which goes to purchase the always-to-be- 
remembered supper. After the supper has 
received full justice, away go the eaters 
outside the house and give vent to the shrill 
and peculiar cry of largess. 
“The men and boys form a circle by tak¬ 
ing hold of hands, and one of the party 
standing in the centre, having a large stone 
or earthen pitcher of horkey ale placed near 
him on the ground, with a horn or tin sort 
of a trumpet in his hand, makes a signal, 
and ‘halloo!’ then ‘lar-r-r-r-r-r-ge-ess’ is 
given as long and as loud as the lungs will 
allow, at the same time elevating their 
hands as high as they can, and still keeping- 
hold. The person in the center blows the 
horn one continued blast as long as the 
cry is sounded. This is done three times, 
and immediately followed by three whoops; 
and then the glass, commonly a horn one, 
of spirit-stirring ale, freely circles. Then 
comes the shout, three times three.” Some¬ 
thing like our “hip! hip! hurra—tiger!!!” 
A return to the table was next in order, 
and though I regret to write it, for it is 
something one cannot approve of, still as 
a faithful chronicler of the times it must 
be penned—the pipes were lit and glasses 
drained. Then came a sort of masquerade 
party, oras it was styled, a “disguising en¬ 
tertainment.” This show occasiQned many 
a hearty laugh and was carried out thus: 
“One of the party habited in a long cloak, 
and disguised as a female, is taken with a 
violent attack of the toothache, and the 
doctor is sent for. He soon makes his ap¬ 
pearance, mounted on the back of one of 
the other men, as a horse, having in his 
hands a common milking stool, which he 
bears upon, so as to enable him to ,keep his 
back in nearly a horizontal position. The 
doctor brings with him his tongs,, which he 
uses for the purpose of extracting the tooth; 
this is a piece of. tobacco pipe adapted to 
the occasion, and placed in the mputh. A 
fainting lit takes place, from the violence 
of the operation, and the bellows are used 
as a means of causing a reviving hope. At 
this time, the lord of the harvest accompa¬ 
nied by his lady, (the person is so called 
who goes second in the reap, each some¬ 
times wearing a sort of disguise) with two 
plates in his hand, enters the parlor where 
