The record-union., 1891-04-26

through which the winds sing when other
trees are leafiess," little orchard, an am
pie herb-bed a near rill or spring-spout
with its ceaseless Wimple, a comedy gar
den, comfortable stone outbuiIdings for
grain and for winter housing of the cows
and the tiny but hardy Cumbrian 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
anyone, your eyes may again trace in the
antique of utensils 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 Wedge
wood" brought here from Staffordshire
by hawking gipsies, and mingled with
| these various tawdry household Orna-
ments and utensils of the present time.
Cumb1ian peasants are, as rule,
'house- proud, !" and in years ofwandering
among the lowly of European countries
have never come upon any rustic folk the
interior of whose habitations were such
shining examples of homely comfort and
| restfulneSS. There are, of course, eXcep-
tionS. Now and then you will find set
| Elements like Watendlath hid among the
| fellS between BorroWdale and Thirlmere,
| where may be seen all the sodden squalor
occasionally met among the Scottish west
coast crofters and In the Irish west-coast
fishing villages. Their houses are dark
and dirty, the floors uneven, the flrni-
ture crazy, the men clad in ragged fustian
and the women in coarse wool and wood
en- clogs. These are sheep-herders under
later sort of feudalism. In every such
tln IctA hot fIni,. fnfI fIx,,.e,
fore them sold their little estates to
the encroaching land-grabbers, and their
children are consequently to-day in pre-
cisely the wretched serfdom wrought by
landlordism in the Scottish Highlands
and in Ireland. But with the habitations
of Statesmen" the interiors are charm
ing. The floors are usually of the same
huge states as those covering the roof.
They are scrubbed and cleaned until they
| shine like dusky mirrors. Frequently
! you will find them, particularly near the
door and fireplace, decorated with white,
ochre and vermilion chalk in figures and
scroll work embodying strange fancies in
rustic art. The living-room or fire
house," as it is called, is always very large
for cottage, often from eighteen to
twenty-five feet square, low, but with the
richest of old and polished beams in the
ceiling. Indeed old oak may be found in
profusion. The long, solid table with
DeIcuSS dI the sue where the STATES
man" his family and all servants sit to-
gether at meals, the ''long settle'' or
two-yard long seat at one side of the fire
place, and the "sconce'' or bench on the
other, under which the nights fuel, called
IAN elden," is placed; the chairs, huge
and high, and requiring a 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 Cum
! brians are often tremendous in stature
are all Of oak, curiously carved and often
wondrously polished. All this is some
times varied by pieces of mahogany al
most as unique as can be found among
| the peasant homes of Brittany. From this
! large, clean ''fire-house" or iving-room,
there are in all directions inviting vistas
through wide, low doors and cosy stone
''leantoS," perhaps each built in a differ
ent century, to tiny-paned windows,
| Splayed like turret windows, white with
| inner curtains, and in summer ablaZe
with outer bud and blossom.
The dialect of the district, which can
! only touch upon, is very curious, and
contains many pure Celtic, Morse, old
! English and foreign words. The affix
''ment' is in constant use, providing
added quantity or emphasis. "Dirtment''
thus becomes a collection of dirt, and
''shamement' increased contempt in the
expression of shame. A bull "beels'' in
stead of bellows. Anything crooked is
CANNED" Sad" is heavy, and a "sad-
cake" is one made without rising"
and is all its name implies. a road is a
''wad;" and young. pig, instead of a
! boy, is called an "urchin." A ''haddery''
| day is a driZzling day. A dancing night
is ''tansy," no doubt from the German
tGnz. One whose actions make him by
word is ''bysen," and short, thick-set
man is "botchy." ''To few" is to fare,
or to arrange. DAP is the expietive
form of 1.-THE Devil" 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
straggle or daily, but to mediate; and il
| you are 'boggart-owned" you are des-
! tined or fated to be given over to some
evil spirit. Bad, lettering boys are 'driv-
! ing sneevils," that is, of no more ac-
count than if driving snails; and poor
! "bandylan''isa an unfortunate lass banned
from the land,'' or driven from home fell
| lowship, "A cope' is a jockey dealing in
worthless horses; "baggin" is food; and
the singing hinny'' is hot cake bake ed
for tea. Arriving at ones house is ''land-
ing hoame." a ''scrowmolly o. eggs'' is
a dish of scrambled eggs. If you acci-
IDENTIFY overheard your peasant host speak
ing of you to his wife as terrible" OF
fearful sonsy mon," it would only mean
a compliment; but if he spoke of you as g
'bonny pistol" you could understand
yourself to be regarded as an arrani
| knave.
Village and home life are very simple
and uneyentful. Each little community
is sufficient unto itself, because of the un.
| broken custom of never ''hiying of. u
| The younger shoots of the family grow
up beside the old. Entire valleys are
found peopled by Statesmen" of the
same family and name, pronounced ac-
quirement, physical popularity, or loca.
ton of habitation, such as Jock the
ridge tub Ben," or "Dick o. th' Rigg,'
providing ample distinction. Courtshir
is carried on in a primitive and vigorous
way that would shock modern delicacy
but all manner of matings remain firm
and true. Marriages provide eXtraordina
ry festivals, and, after the feast, number
less useful offerings from friends are
made TO the bride who receives them sit
ting In state. The dead are watched
from decease to burial, and funerals fur.
nish subdued diversions with heroic
feasts. Candlemas, Curling Sunday
when friends pelt each other with peas
Good Friday, "Powsowdy night" Christ
mas time and all christenings are bolster
ously celebrated. Leaping. wrestling anc
running are the principal amusement!
Of the youths and men, who excel those
of other English provincial districts
while the ancient custom Of "rush-bear
ing" which will be described in a future
article, is still here in vogue. The Sc
verely pious peasantry seem to be extra
ordinarily superstitious, and the Cum
brians are no exception. Every crag
dale or lake has its respective demon
while the universal spook is the "bogle.'
1t is a ghost, goblin, witch, warlock, o.
bedeviling what-not. But the "bogle'' i.
a great comfort to the old women; a Ger
| tain corrective for "haddering,, children