The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1860-10-04

'"hu pfo"u' '"N "'"''oF UclIiY ONcf,
and having washed well their throats
in whiskcy--for they are exceedingly
fond ofdrnk of any sort--thcy com
mence the dance. In this art they are
wonderful plohcients, for they can
dance hours without intormission. A
row ofmen occupy one side ofthc house
from end to end, and row of women
stand opposite The fiddler strikes up
some riotous and ranting tune, the
dancers begin they skip, thcp frisi,
they fling, they leap with tho greatest
agility, assuming every position and
attitude. Some lean forward, and are
intent examining the skipping and
friskil gof their feet; somc lean back
ward andh their Q, es fixed on the
ceiling Of the house for haitian hour,
One man is leaning Sideways, and
with sidelons glance is graciously ad-
miring the trisking of his feet; every
one, in fact, has some peculiar postures
they continue without rceing, for half
an hour, humping and pclting ut it,
till perspiration streams to the ground
and mist asccnds in clouds, or, rs Burns
would have said, till illia body sweat
and reek IT, During the haIfhour they
must dance without reeling, every one
is trying his utlaosl in cutting as many
strange capers rs possible, and ever
and anon all roar out: Good luck to
thee, lad! Good luck to thee, laSs"-
The lad ard the lass who have such Il
shower Of good luclis' hailed upon
them are OF course the bridegroom and
bride. All the Shetlandcrs address
each other, without distinction, in the
Quaker style, by thous and thecs, and
by every other familiarity used by that
innocent body people.
There is another circumstance about
the dance that strikes the stranger
very much. All the dancers have
shoes made Of cow-hidc, with the hairy
side out; and thus some have black feet,
some white feet, some red feet and
some speckled feet. These shoes they
call rivlans. Whenever they intend
to reel, one ofthem takes the lead and
all the rest follow, or perhaps the tid.
dlcr gives intimation that it is time ior
them to do so by making discordant
and hdcous sound on the bass string Of
his fiddle. They do not reel for half
an hoar, but run twice or thrice found
the house. and then set to the dance
ag"in with reioublcd fury.
A correspondent says;
Burns must have seen something sim,
liar to the Shetland mode Of dancing
before lie described the dance Of the
witches. | never fully understood Or
saw the force Of that until | witnessed
Shetland weddings. 1t is no uncom.
mon thing for neig ghbors, who have been
invited to the marriage, to dress in dis
guise, and participate in the festivities
of the evening. The usual way they
disguise themselves is by rolling the
body up in straw rope and backing
the face. These masiers have usually
all the privileges Of biddcn guests, and
are treated with great civility. At the
end o every dance every man must kiss
his female partner.
Sometimes the men dance by them
selves, as the women cannot hold out
t, such long and furious exercise; and
when they finish their dance, they do
not kiss, but they hug each other to
such Il degree rs to create disgust III
those who have been unaccustomcd to
such Il habit. When they are overpow-
cred with tcasting and mirth. all of them
sleep on the floor, without any distinc-
ton or regularity, like so many pigs,
huddIcd together in the utmost conius.
ion They rise sometime next day, to
renew their mrth and feasting, which,
indeed, continues for some days, Gus
tom, however, now on the wane.-
There is one thing worthy of observa'
ton about all Shetland marriawe wes-I
never knew real, original, native man
OF Shctlaud who married woman OF
am other county or country. On the
other hand, u Shetland woman often
gcts married to men Of other countries
throughout the kingdom, and her pa
rents are exceedingly fond Of such ex-
traneot matches. Thus the Shetland
women have n better chance Of getting
married than any other women Of Great
Britain.
The present census has revealed some
items of interest i'll the internal histo-
ry of the country. In upper Aroos-
took, Nc, there is II family OF twenty
seven children, all living at home, and
the mother but forty years ofage. In
Van Buren, county, Iowa, the census