Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1843-03-04

are mingled the loud snappings of fingers, the
clappings of hands, and the beating Of feet.
And then to see the councnances of those 81 no
are the occupants Of the floor There is n Ian
guage in their looks which cannot be mistaken
They have for the most unrescrvcdy resigned
themselves TO the pleasure of the occasion and
their enjoyment is as visible in their countc.
nance as the sun is in the armament As the
evening advances, the company, aided by the
inspretIon of copous draughts of"mcuntain
dew" increase in the vivacity of their spnils,
and in the energy with which they perform the
physical evolutions Characteristic of Scottish
dancing. The four or five fiddles struck up IN
some coruer of the place, and made more musi-
cal by the agency Of whskcy, participate in the
mcrrmcnt of those whose feet are responding
to their soul-inspircd strains. BY and by the
hllarlty becomes so uncomfortable, and wlthal
so general, that all regard for regularity, either
in the music of tbc dders or the movements
of the dancers, vanishcs entirely. The Apollos
continue to produce sounds, but they have cea-
sed to discourse music. The parties occupy
ing the floor continue to move about, but they
place has the appearance of mob without
any define object in view. The sound of the
violin has died away: the 6ddlers are asleep,
The more orderly ofthe company begin to take
their departure for their respective homes O.
theirs follow without knowing why. 1t is now
three OF four, or it may be five in the morning;
and the only remains Of the late company are
a young man who has sprained his anclc in the
dance, laying in a corner, until friend brings
horse, from house at some distance, To take
him home and fiddler in the opposite corner,
who, having resolutely declined 10 be awaken
ed by either the shaking or prickng of friends,
has been left to sleep away to his hearts con-
tent. Judging from the desperate energy with
which he is snoring, and the rapidty with
which the nasal sounds succeed each other,
you are justified in concluding that there is no
prospect of an immediate termination 70 his
sumbers.
IF the weather be fine, the guests at penny
wedding usually al iourn when they become a
litle excited, from the barn or other clubhouse
in which the dancing commenced, in the open
mir There, on the green sward, with no other
covering than the sky, do they "trip The light
/ fantastic toe" until the moon and stars have
sunk into invisibilty before the splendors of the
| rising sun. The penny wedding at which the
writer of this article was present, afforded an
! instance of this. IL was un fine summer 5
eve that he proceeded to the spot at which the
wedding to take place and as beautiful 4
summers morn as ever dawned on our meridian,
| succeeded that beautiful eve. The dancing on
the occasion was kept up I'LL later hour than
had ever been known. Probably the reason
was that, having taken the green swnrd and the
open air earlier than usual, and there being con-
scquently fewer facilities for qnafiing Yotatjon,
of whskey, the guests were better able To pro
tract the merriment on the occasion. But
Whatever may have been the cause, the dane.
ing was continued until halfpas five in the
morning-the lovely warbings of the lark min
Cling with, and almost drowning, the faint and
feeble sounds send forth by the exhausted tid
dlers.
II ought to be mentioned that penny wed
ding requires the most active preparation for it
during the previous eight days. Nor do the
duties of the occasion cease with the wedding
day-whch, as before stated, is almost invarl
able on Thursday. On the two following
days the happy pair are expected too keep oPer
house TO such of their friends as may be plea
sed to call on them. The fragments that re
mained after the marriage-ieasi, constitute eX
cellent materials for treating their friends wh'
honor the married couple with call. Ther
comes Sunday, and with it the churching-
which is a very different matter in the rura
districts OF Scotland, from what 1t is elsewhere
} As in thinly peopled districts, all persons ar
known to each other, the circumstance, espe
cially in the case of the bride, of being expose
: for nearly two hours To the gaze OF every on
( in the church, Just as if the married peoPl
> were ppir OF wild beasts-is one of ver
trying kind. Perhaps it is to her the most rr,
: ing ordeal she has to go through IN connexi
e with her marriage, What, t,,owover, chee
: her n7durlng the immerG, ency, is tue conside
alton that it is the la'' incident ofthe scene; al
Y that after IT T,er, she " I'll settle down in h
If new reiau'n of a married woman
n f'nny weddings are looked forward to wi
Y, the deepest interest hy all the unmarried ynllI