The Morning herald., 1875-10-30

to assemble for the purpose Of havinga good
time, the amusement consisting chiefly in
mt cracking, which is not only done for the
purpose Of eating them, but is often the
means of promoting the love affairs among
the young '.''''oaa''.s .ss--''.a.,fr..
Hence Burns rsust have had some founda-
ton for the following which we quote:
'"The auld guild wife's well horied nits
u Are round and round divided,
And mony lads and lasses' fates
Are there that night decided:
Some kindle, couthie, side by side, .F'
And burn the either trinity; '.a.
Some start ava VII saucy pride. ,,'
And jumps out owre the chimley
~ Flu high that night.
"Jean slips in wa VII tentie e'e;
Wha twas she wadr a tell;
But this is Jock, and this is me,
She says it to herself:
He bleezsd owre her, and she ewre him,
~ As they wad never mair part;
Till fluff he started up the lum,
And Jean had e'en a sair heart
To sect that night"
Brand, in his "Popular Antiquities" says
1t was formerly custom in Ireland, when
the young women would know whether
Their lovers were faithful, to place upon the
hearth three nuts, naming each one after
lover. If a nut should crack or jump, the
lover will prove untrue; if it blazes or burns
he has regard for the lady who thus en-
aeavors to test his affections, and
if the nuts named after the girl
and her lover burn together, the
young couple are booked for future exis-
tence in the world as man and wife. We
don't think any such customs are in vogue
now lit would be nice if it was so, as 1t would
be gratifying to the young people.
But how different here in America. Let
the most eausal observer visit our markets
to-day, and he will observe more than one
group Of boys walking up. and down the
streets in front of the market wagons they
don't seem to purchase anything, but occa-
sionally will stop before bag Of corn, and
perhaps the spokesman of the group will
address the vender of the said article with
something like the following: l.. u..
sinister is that corns How much is that
ere corn quart ,jist want a little for pigeons
yen know" t ,....
Then the seller will become Interested,
and begin to negotiate for a sale. While
doing so the willy questioner steps between
the owner of the corn, and his companions
avail themselves Of an, opportunity to
reach dowa and fill their pockets they
walk away whistling, and their leader says,
Mister jist gi' me cents worth of that
stuff, will you'" The disappointed farmer
assents, and the boy goes OFT, chuckling, af-
ter bis companions. This game is repeated
till sufficient quantity Of corn is procured
to enable them to run around the city and
''sliag" corn at windows, and yell out,
"Holly Eve, Holly Adam, open the door
and let EN- have them ~
But they want something more than corn,
80 small bands are organized to recsnnoitre
the city, and remove from dilatory grocery
mems dosrs, any empty barrels or boxes
that may be lying about; these are taken to
some vacant lot, and filed with shavings or
other conbustible matter, then when the |
time comes a match is applied, and there is |
Q "Sonare" It, however, is generally the |
fcene of the, exercises Of the |
evenings programme, which has been pre-
viouly arranged without regard to door, bells,
steps, and stray cats. Usually, where they
have select proceedings, a party of boys are
detailed to make cursory visit to the
truck farms and look ut the in
austrious husbandmen's stock of cabbage.
and If everything is favorable, to appro-
Priate as nany - can conveniently be car
ried, to add to the evenings dev0tions: to
make everything act in harmony, they are
authorized to make choice selection OF
Thomas cats; or, IN fact, any kind of cat
they can induce to follow tn, m, and con
sent to he made fast to some irate old codp-
RS door bell; this Is fun for the boys. but
he cats arc never known to submit to the
'ame treatment but once. r..
Now yowling cat, tied by the extremity
II its tail, to your door-bell and clawing VI
he air with all the strength that fright aai
niger can lend, has never been known to in
p1re kind-heartsdness in saap who has
altered thirty years with the Eout, and has
bunion on lis foot for every 1ngsr on his
and; the sad resal. 10 that when the cause
asccrtained the uRfortun tie feline like the
no which has been sung Of by one Of our
'kosfs, am,,.s i .1ily L,. ..5 rq.fa If,
yisrlr, 10 busted in the back" .r..
The Toys don't .buy(D the cabbage to
It; they only want to asce rtain the thick {
ess OF your doors and window shuttle and I
sen, they only move the front door steps /
way,to see how the house must have ap-
cared before II had any steps. &"1,''J u s
Sometimes party watch and follow an I
'quaintance whom they know to be on a
'vely mission to the house of some fair 5
lmse!, .nl while he is whilin. swiy lis | h
purs In happiness and bliss they arrangs
strong cord across his homeward path,
st low enough TO take him under the c1ctitl
me comss along;' then they linser patient Il
SoCut that dwelling until he doth appear, \
I'd follow slowly in the rear; he Is not d