Indeed, whatever may have been the real state of morality among the ancient Scotch and Irish--and it is quite probable that it has been unfairly depicted by casual and prejudiced observers--the ancient custom of bundling, which has been handed down from earliest times, has not greatly contaminated their descendants of the present day. For, whatever their national vices, the Scotch and Irish of our day maintain a character for chastity superior to that of many of their more fortunate and more civilized neighbors. Bundling, as now practiced in these kingdoms, is merely a matter arising from the ignorance, or the poverty of the inhabitants; and, while not salutary in its moral or physical influence, is, at all events, less abused than we might reasonably expect. In regard to WALES. We learn from Woodward's admirable history of that kingdom, the following facts concerning the domestic habits of its people in the twelfth century: "At night a bed of rushes was laid down along one side of the room, covered with a coarse kind of cloth, made in the country, called _brychan_; and all the household lay down on this bed in common, without changing their dresses. The fire was kept burning through the night, and the sleepers maintained their warmth by lying closely; and when, by the hardness of their couch, one side was wearied, they would get up and sit by the fire awhile, and then lie down again on the other side. It is to this custom of promiscuous sleeping, that some of the worst habits of the Welsh at the present day may be ascribed; and from the same custom which their forefathers, the ancient Britons, practiced, arose Cæsar's supposition that they were polyandrous polygamists." These habits, which were a matter of necessity with the ancient Welsh, have become converted, by the lapse of time, among their descendants of the present day, into an amatory custom precisely similar to that practiced formerly in New England.[6]