Foxholme Hall, and Other TalesKingston, William Henry Giles
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Foxholme Hall, and Other Tales
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Adventure stories; Boys -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction
Thus spoke the great Duke of Wellington. Bony answered in a similar,
only in a somewhat more abusive strain, when, throwing the sheaths of
their swords on the floor, they commenced a furious and deadly combat.
At length Napoleon was slain; but, somewhat outraging our school notions
of history, Julius Caesar rushed forward to avenge his death. He,
however, got more than he expected, and was soon laid alongside Bony.
One hero after another rushed forward, but all were finally slain, and
the Iron Duke remained master of the field. He, however, overcome by
fatigue and numberless wounds, sunk down at last, and died also. Now a
new character appeared at the door, in the person of a doctor, with a
long nose and a stick, which he held constantly to it. Having explained
who he was and what he would do, or rather what very few things he
couldn't do, he produced a huge snuff-box from his pocket, and first
approached the slain hero of Waterloo, saying,--
"Take some of my sniff-snuff,
Up thy riff-ruff,
And rise up, brave Duke of Wellington."
Up jumped the Duke with wonderful agility, and began dancing about right
merrily. The same words produced a similar effect on all the late
combatants, and, the doctor helping them up, they were all soon dancing
and jumping about as merrily as the Duke. This amusement was of short
duration, and a moral was taught us as to the brevity of all worldly
happiness, for suddenly, the door bursting open, in rushed a huge figure
like a moving holly-bush, but it had a head and arms and legs. It was
of an allegorical character, intended to represent Time; but, instead of
a scythe, the arms held a broom, by lustily plying which, he speedily
swept all the heroes and the great doctor off the stage. These mummers,
as they are called in that part of the country, always used to excite my
warmest admiration. We used to call them jiggery-mummers at Foxholme,
because they danced or jigged in the peculiar fashion I have described.
They are a remnant of the morris-dancers of olden days. They were
generally called on to repeat this play in the servants' hall, and often
in my younger days did I steal down to witness the exhibition. This
closed the public amusements of the evening. The evening of that holy
day at Foxholme was always spent in a quiet, though in a cheerful way.
Sir Hugh would have preferred having the mummers perform on another day,
but the custom was so ancient, and the people were so opposed to the
notion of a change, that he permitted it to exist till he could induce
them to choose of their own accord another day. We spent a very
pleasant, happy evening, and we knew that for the next day Master Peter
had prepared all sorts of games for our amusement. Little Hugh had been
with his mother watching the mummers, and highly amused, giving way to
shouts of hearty laughter. Then he ran off to Julia, while Lady Worsley
was attending to some of her guests; next he attached himself for a time
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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