Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-01-18
ROGER DE COYERLEY
ne HAD NO GRANDFATHER, BUT HAS
BEEN MADE IMMORTAL.
When and where the Nebieman Lived
HE Ancestry, Customs OF His
Day. style of Dress. Sc.

space Is penetrated by the searching rays
Of light.
Just now the social horizon OF Rich
nond Is flushed with the roseate hue OF
tho daybreak Of the Sir Roger de
Coverley, and IN this the brief In
term before It's hour Of meridian and
zenith Of glory such as choose TO bask
In its rays arc most OPPORTUNITY enlighten-
ing their ignorance upon the various
phases Of this peculiar solar system.
When and whore go great O parsonage as
Sir Roger lived. his ancestry. the customs
OF his day, the style OF dress, and T" be-
hayior." TO say naught Of the wonderful
dance which bears his stately name. and
other dances OF the stately DAYS Of yore, "
suggested thereby. ere accounted impor-
tant among the topics OF timely IN
terest.p
The same industrious innocent who look
ed long upon an ancient atlas 70 md the
exact geographical position of the riyer
Styx may go searching through the gene
illogical table of the nobility OF England as
recorded about the year 1909 for some clue
20 the ancestry Of Sir Roger de Coverley,
20 il may DO we'll TO state clearly the au-
thenticated knowledge as TO his origin.
SIR RooEB FOUNDING.
That be was founding Is known as
positive fact of bis history. But. being q
Founding of the imagination Of Addison
and Steel, as one of inspired creation he
has long since been forgiven his iack OF q
grandfather, and as toster-child OF the
Tsttler and Spectator psrtskes OF their i'm
mortality. -,
As TO his lofty title, which he. wears with
such an air Of grandee to the manner
born" IL was bestowed upon him az the
first and the noblcst of long limo OF ma
lures noblemen."
His critics as well as his creators have
possessed the peculiar gift of infuslng the
warm blood Of life into his veins where bis
contemporaries have been nourished by
ink alone.
See what Hazltt thinks of Sir Roger de
Coverley. Saws he:
"Who is there that can forget or be in
sensible TO the Inimitable, nameless gracos,
and various traits of nature and OF old
English character in ito his unpretend-
ing virtues and amiable weaknesses-to his
modesty, generosity hospitality, and eccen-
trio whims-to the respect OF his neighnors
and the affection Of his domestlcs-to his
waywsrd. hopeless passion for his fair enc:
my the widow, in which there 10 more OF
real romance and true delicacy than IN
thousand tables of knight-errantryE"
THROUOH hLAbhEo.
Then Thackeray, ever inclined to the
severe. how mild. how gentle he is here:
What would Sir Roger de Coverley be
without his follies and his charming little
brain-cracksg II the good knight did not
call out to the people sleeping IN church
and say amen with such delightful POM
posity II be did not make speech in the
hssiZe Court, dbropos des bottles, and merely
70 show his dignity TO Mr. Spectator; II ne
did not mistake Madam Doll Tearsheet for
a lady Of quality in Temple Garden; If he
were wiser than he is: If he had not his
humor 10 salt his life, and were but mere
English gentleman and game preserver. OF
what worth were he to us We love him
for his vanities as much as for his virtues.
What is ridiculous is delightful in him.
We are so fond of him because we laugh at
him So"
ITIsA PRIM DANCE.
So much for the personnel of him, for
whom that quaintest, freshest, and Oldest
OF country dances is named.
There always seems some distinct kinship
between the Sir Roger de Coyerley and the
minuet, while really there is little save that
of having reigned over the same age of folly.
As two pictures they NAV hang in memo
ry's hall as companion pieces. but in the
same frame neyerl
stately" belongs to the minuet;
"prim" to the Sir Roger de Coverley. The
former unconsciously carries with 1T i'm
pressions Of the grand salons, courtiers
and fine ladies stiff with splendor,
regal with jewels, laces, and brocades
wstteaus and 'broidered stomachers, desig-
mated the garbs their highnesses wore, and
excrucating elegance marked their mlena
The Sir Roger de Coverley, more prim
than precise, speaks TO us of the good,
kindly country-folk of old England. with
their genuine and ingenious methods of
innocent mirth. a sweet-faced Mistress
Prue in q smart frock with nosegay In
her hand, might lead of" in the simple
figures with young Squire Bracsgirdle,
well-mannered young gentleman with "a
very tolerable periwig."
We must conceive of its being danced
with perfect propriety at some rural inn
with perhaps the creaking sign of the
garter" or the ram" hanging from it.
to which some of its goodlie companie
have journeyed in fly" while my lady
arrives in post-chariot. 1t was the GENIAL
day of coffee-houses, and of the May-pole,
which would rise with its garlands and
wreaths in the Strand in London. And so,
We towns-folk of Richmond, who would in
time 50 short revive the days ss well as the
dance of Sir Roger de Coverley, bear .ye
well in mind that it is simple country
dance that you would reproduce, some
what of an old-time cotillon.
FRooKs, CARS, AND HOOPS.
BE sure you that IL is frock that you
wear, with bib and tucker, reticule and
mittens as accessories. A nosegay of mari
colds and columbin would be most SEEM
Nv 10 bear in the hand, while surmounting
the chignon must be placed some manner
Of head-gear, in modern designation a. leap.
for such becometh the modesty, of q gem
tlewoman. 1t would seem that hoops
were the latest fashion of that day from
the following extract from a letter to Sir
ssSince your withdrawing from this place
the fair sex are run into great extrava-
gances, Their petticoats, which began TO
heave and swell before you left us, are now
blown up into a most enormous concern,
and rise every day more and more; in short,
sir, since our women know themselves 70
be out Of the eye of the Spectator they will
be kept within no compass.
You praised them little too soon for
the modesty of their head-dresses, for as
the humor of q sick person IL often driven
out of one limb into another their super
fully of ornaments, instead OF being en-
tirely banished, seems only fallen from
their heads TO their bodies. What they
have lost in height they make. up IN
and contrary to all rules OF archi-
lecture widen the foundations at the same
time that they shorten the superstructure."
Some might do well TO fashion their
frocks by these most minutely
set down proportions.
BOW TO YOUR PARTNER.
On this all-important occasion. when the
new world Is to watch the old world tread
the Sir Roger de Coyerley in its very
own way, dare not 10 forget and "bow to
your partner" You must drop q curtsy
10 your corner or salute your opposite;
wink not, but oggle at the pretty pink
lassies, and he who unwisely in
dulges too much in strong waters will
then be "in bis cups" Also. ye dancers
Of the sterner sex, with your curled and
powdered periwigs, il is with an air OF
having once bowled along in @ gig from
Elton that you must must bear yourselves,
and look the smart fop and frequenter Of
the fee-houses in uncommonly fine
stocks or neckerchiefs and broidered
Be ye also equal TO the
wits Of your day-whig OF Tory-making
tender love passages TO Sophia, Belinda.
OF Lady Harriet as you dance.
When 50 vast an interest is taken IN such
an event thore are certain consultations
which the oyer-conscientious will seek in
such folly and in proving the
art of dancing one of the oldest as well as