The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1891-06-18


FIVE .huNpREo YEARS AGO.
| Dsns Il ~ wlsssE f.sslnAss 4 rA.3 ~.
nkot9 Psried-
Every season has IL pleasure fot
boys, and the constant change that they
bring y one of the greatest delights "
beYhcods days
All Of M, as We grow older, have IN
our memory pictures Of by-gone times
that are somehow more than usually
vivid, the cglofs Of some not blurrin8
| BY time A. others do One, to look back
| Upon which always filed My1es' heart
III after years with an indefnable
pleasure, was the recollection Of stand
Ing with others Of his fellow sqnires In
the crisp brown autumn grass Of the
paddock, while the russet leaves
whirled and drifted from the trees and
the hedges beyond, and shooting with
the long-bow 1t wild-fowi, which, when
the east wind was straining, few low
overhead TO pitch to the lake in the for
hidden precincts Of the deer park be-
yond the brow of the hill More than
once brace or SO Of these wild-fowl
shot in their southwark fight BY the
lads, and cooked by fat, good-natured
Mother Joan, graced the rude mess
table Of the squires In the long hall,
and even the toughest and fshiest
drake, SO 1t was the fruit of their skill,
had SAVIOR that somehow or other the
daintiest fare lacked in after years.
Then fall passed and winter came,
bleak, cold and dreary. Not winter as
we know 1t nowadays, with warm fires
and bright lights to make the long
nights sweet and cheerful with COM
fort, but winter in all its grimness and
Bternness. In the great cold btone-
walled castles Of those days the only
fire and the only light were those from
the huge blazing logs that roared and
cracked in the great open stone fire.
place, around which the folks gathered,
sheltering their faces as best they
could from the searching heat, and
cloaking their shoulders from the bit
ing cold, for at the farther end of the
room, where giant shadows swayed and
bowed and danced huge and black
against the high walls, the white frost
glistened In the moonlight ON the stone
pavements, and the breath went up like
smoke.
There were no cheerful lights and no
books to read, but at the best only rude
stories and jests, recited by some stroll
ing hummer or minstrel to the listen
ing circle gathered around the blaze,
welcoming the coarse, gross jests and
coarser, grosser songs with roars of
boisterous laughter.
Yet bleak and dreary as was the
winter in those days, and cold and Bit
ing as was the frost in the cherries
windy halls and corridors of the castle,
it was not without its joys to the young
lads; for then, as now, boys could find
pleasure even in slushy weather, when
the sodden snow is fit for nothing bnt
to make snowballs of.
Twice that bitter winter the moat
was frozen over, and the lads, making
themselves skates of marrow-bones,
which they bought from the hall cook
at groat pair, went Swimming over
the smooth surface, red-cheeked and
shouting, while the crow and jackdaws
looked down ut them from the bleak
gray walls.
Then at Yule-tide, which was. some
what of rude semblance to the Merry
Christmas season of our day, great
feast was held in the hall, and all the
castle folk were fed in the presence Of
the earl and the countess. Oxen and
sheep were roasted whole; huge suet
buildings, made of barley meal sweet
ened with honey and stuffed with
plums, were boiled in great caldrons
in the open courtyard; whole
barrels of ale and malmsey were
preached, and all the folks, gentle and
simple, were hidden to the feast After
ward the minstrels danced and played
rude play, and in the evening miracle
show was performed on raised plat
form in the north hall
For week. afterward the castle was
fed upon the remains of the good things
left from that great feast, until every
one grew to loathe fine victuals and
longed for honest beef and mustard
again.
Then at last in that constant change
the winter was gone, and even the lads
who had enjoyed its passing were glad
when the winds blew warm once more,
and the grass showed green in sunny
places, and the leader of the wild-fowl
blew his horn, as they who in the fall
had flown to the south flew arrow-like
northward again; when the buds swelled
and the leaves burst forth once more,
and crocuses and then daffodils CLEANED
in the green grass, like. sparks and
flames of gold.
With the spring came the outdoor
sports of the season; amongst others
that of ball-for boys were boys, and
played at ball even in those far-away
days-a game called trap-ball. Even
yet in some parts of England it is played
just as it was in Myles Falworth's day,
and enjoyed just as Myles and his
friends enjoyed it.-Howard Pyle, in
Harper's Young People.