Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1918-12-21

as the roads VIZ dTu fStgA4e Until 170S were
the Mount v9non kennels abolished and the dogs
sold.
Those were days when meals were ample. but
were not multiplied. Eating, when undertaken,
was no mere friv0lty, but serious business. This
Christmas dinner was at S:30 p. m. there had
been no lunch, and there was no supper to come
After dinner there were games-blind mans buff,
hunt the slipper, and the like-with much romping
and more or less kissing sprig Of mistletoe
was hung up in convenient place, and If girl
happened to be kissed under it by young man
she did not faint or call for help. In fact 1t
might be suspected that she did not seriously OBJ
ject.
Never, and nowhere, in this world were there
more capable ard expert makers of love than the
young men of Washington's day in old Virginia.
Nobody ever saw jollier fellows than they were.
II they loved fercely, they proved their sincerity
by marrying early; and. when one of them was
so unfortunate as to lose his wife, he would in
variably marry again. Marriage was considered
just about the most important duty Of life, and
the love affairs Of the gentlefolk were freely
confided even to the servants. Black Tom knew
that Mars James was "going after" Miss Salie
Lee and would talk the matter with his
young master. And it was the same way with
the girls.
So 1t may easily be imagined that on festive
occasion such as this Christmas celebration
good deal Of incidental love-making some Of it
serious enough, was accomplished. But the
Master Of the Revels, though he himself had been
sufficiently ardent in his youth. in later life
no eager sympathizer with such follies
Though Mr. Washington took no part in the
romps that followed the dinner, he heartily en-
joyed the fun. Occasionally he relished game
Of cards, and probably this Christmas evening
he INDUCED In some such amusement, in company
with the older people, while the young folks
scampered and romped. He played for money.
but the stakes were small.
There were two young people at Mount Vernon
in those days-the son and daughter Of Mrs.
Washington by her first husband. It is easy to
imagine the part they took in the romps on Christ
mas day. John and Martha their names were,
but everybody knew them as Jacky and Patsy.
Patsy died in 1913, when just budding into w0m-
anhood while her brother married young, and
had four children two OF whom. George and Mel.
lie Custis were adopted by Mr.. Washington. To
George he left the famous Arlington estate, oppo-
site the city Of Washington, which afterwards
fell by Inheritance to the wife Of Gen. Robert E.
Lee.
On Christmas eve there was a dance, to which
all the neighbors for many miles around were,
as a matter Of course, invited The party began
before eight, and was over by ten o'clock.
Young ladies' beauty in those times was not
spoiled by late hours. For music there was
single fiddle played by an old slave on the place
helped on the tune by pounding on the floor with
his big foot.
All the young ladies wore low.necked dresses,
making brave display Of pretty shoulders, and
the men were in kneehreeches and silk stockings
Mrs. Washington's gown. cut V-shaped and filled
in with n1ching, was Of French silk; but the
clothing lhe ordinarily wore was Of domestic
manufs RE. being woven ut Mount Vernon, where
no Il than sixteen negro women WERE kept
n