Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-26

| celved into the bosom of the living prin
| ciple of things. as it acts and exists among
the woods and fields
| Precisely as in Wordsworth's time, out
| side the
| cuNBBRIAN COTTAGES
| you will find the shade of sycamores an6
| tall ''fir through which the winds sing
| when other trees are leahess;'' little
| orchard; an ample herb bed; near rill
\ or spring spout, with its ceaseless win
| pie: comely garden; comfortable stone
out-bulIdings for grain and for winter
housing of the COWS and the tiny but
hardy Cumbrisn sheep; and always the
shed for the hives Of bees which distil
from the mountain heath the darkest, but
ever the sweetest, honey in the world
Their interiors are no less characteristic.
Standing in the door Of any one, your eyes
may again trace, in the antiques of uten-
sis and furnishings, complete museum of
rustic household evolution from the stone
age TO our own age of BrumMagem and
brass; for you will find the quern, old as
Aryan life, the ancient Celtic neither or
drinking cup, the rudest and earliest make
of spinning wheel with delft of the first
English kilns varied by many faulty bits
of ''WedgewooG, brought here from Stat
fordshire By hawking gypsies; and min
gled with these, various tawdry household
ornaments and utensils of the present time.
CUNBRIAN PEASANTS
are, as rule, ''house-proud: and in years
of wandering among the lowly of European
countries have never come upon any rus
tic folk the interior Of whose habitations
were such shining examples of homely COM
fort and reStfulneSs. There are, of course,
exceptions. Now and then you will find
settlements like Watendlath, hid among the
fells between Borrowdale and Thirlmere,
where may be seen all the sodden
squalor occasionally met among the Scot
fish west coast crofters and n the Irish
west coast fishing villages, Their houses
are dark and dirty, the floors uneven, the
furniture crazy, the men clad in ragged
fuStian and the women in coarse wool and
wooden clogs. These are sheepherders un-
der a later sort of feudalism. In every such
case the history is that their fathers before
them sold their little estates" to the en-
croaching land grabbers, and their children
are consequently to-day in precisely the
wretched serfdom wrought by landlordism
in the Scottish highlands and in Ireland.
But with the habitationS of statesmen"
the interiors are charming. The floors are
usually of the same huge states as those
covering the roof; they are scrubbed and
cleaned until they shine like dusky mir
rors; frequently you will find them, partic-
ularIy near the door and fireplace, deco
rated with white, ochre and vermilion chalk
in figures and scroll work embodying
strange fancleS IN rustic art.
THE LIVING ROOM
or 'fire-house" as it is called is always
very large for q cottage, often from
but with the richest of old polished beams
in the ceiling. Indeed, old oak may be
found in profusion. The long solid table
with benches at the side where the STATES
man, " his family and all servants sit to-
gcther at meals; the ''long settle'' or two
ward long seat at one side of the fireplace,
and the ''sconce" or bench on the other
under which the nights fuel. called IAN
eden, is placed the chairs, huge and high
and requiring strong arm to move them:
the high, narrow, Sprawling-legged bureaus;
the many iron or brass bound chests; the
beds huge and strong enough to hold giants,
for these Cumbrians are often tremendous
in statue; are all of oak, curiouslv carved
and often wondrously polished. All this is
sometimes varied by pieces of mahogany
almost as unique as can be found among
the peasant homes of Brittany From this
large. clean ''tire-house" or living room,
there are in all directions inviting vistas
through wide, low, doors, and cosy stone
''leantos,' . perhaps each built in different
century, to tiny-paned windows, spiayed 1
like turret-windows, white with inner cur
tains, and in summer, ablaze with outer
bud and blossom.
THE DIALECT OF THE DISTRICT.
which l can only touch upon, is very Gu
rious, and contains many pure Celtic,
Morse. old English and foreign words.
The atflx ''ment' is in constant use, pro-
viding added quantity or emphasis. Dirt
mentn thus becomes a collection of dirt,
and ''shamementn increased contempt in
the expression of shame. A bull ''beels,'
instead Of bellows. Anything crooked is
CANNED sad, is heavy and sad
all its name implies. y road is a ''vad;'
and Young pig, instead of boy, is called
IN 'urchin." A ''haddery'' day is driz-
cling day. A dancing night IS q ''tansy:"
no doubt from the German tanz. One
whose actions make him a byword is a
"bysen," and short, thick-set man is a
'botchy." To few is to fare, or to ar
range. DALI is the eNpletive form of
The Deyilr' but 'donnet" is the devil
himself, or one no better than the devil |
When one is over-tired from labor he is
''thewed." To "Saunter'' is not to struggle |
or daily, but to mediate; and if you are |
'boggart-owned'' you are destined or fated !
to be given over TO some evil spirit. Bad. !
Offering boys are "Driving-sneevils,' |
hat is, OF no more account than if |
driving snails; and poor ''bandylan'' is |
IN unfortunate lass ''banned from the |
and or driven from home fellowship. |
A Cope is 4 jockey dealing in worthless |
horses: "baggin'' is food; and the singing
Iinny'' is 4 hot cake baked for tea. Arriv- |
ne at ones house is landing hoame'' A
Scrowmolly o. eggs is dish OF scrambled |
Eggs. Ii You accidentally overheard your
lcasant host speaking of you to his wife as
terrible or fearful sonsy mon. = it
would only mean a compliment: but if he
spoke of YOU as ''bonny pistol'' YOU
'ould understand yourself to be regarded rs
IN arrant hnaye.
Village and home life are very simple
md uneventful. Each little community is
efficient unto itself because of the I'M
,roken custom of never ''hiving off, The |
'ounger shoots of the family grow up be-
ide the old. Entire valleys are found
PEoPLED BY STATESMEN
# the same family and name, pronounced
cquirement, physical popularity or loca-
ion of habitation, such as Jock the Russ
er'' (wrestler), ''Padish-tnop (porridge-
ub) Ben, or ''Dicll o tn Rigg," providing
mble distinction. Courtship is carried on
n primitive and vigorous way that would
hook modern declicacy, but all manner of
aatingS remain firm and true. Marriages
rovide extraordinary festivals, and, after
he feast, numberless useful offerings from
riends are made TO the bride, who receives
watched' from decease to burial, and
unerals furnish subdued diversions with
eroic feasts. Candlemas, Curling Sun
ay when friends pelt each other with
cas-, Good Friday, ''Powsowdy night"
christmas time, and all christenings are
celebrated. Leaping, wrest-
ny and running are the principal amuse-
lentS of the youths and men, who excel |
hose of other English provincial districts: |