Lola Montez : $b An adventuress of the 'fortiesD'Auvergne, Edmund B. (Edmund Basil)
History
Lola Montez : $b An adventuress of the 'forties
D'Auvergne, Edmund B. (Edmund Basil)
Montez, Lola, 1818-1861
"And off they started in a jog-trot, which must have shaken every bone
in his reverence's body, keeping chorus all the time of 'Jump along
quickly,' until they were obliged to stop for laughing.
"They invariably (continues Lola) suit these extempore chants to the
weight and character of their burden. I remember to have been
exceedingly amused one day at the merry chant of my human horses as
they started off on the run.
"'She's not heavy,
Cabbada [take care]!
Little baba [missie],
Cabbada!
Carry her swiftly,
Cabbada!
Pretty baba,
Cabbada!'
"And so they went on, singing and extemporising for the whole hour and
a half's journey. It is quite a common custom to give them four annas
(or English sixpence) apiece at the end of every stage, when fresh
horses [_sic_] are put under the burden; but a gentleman of my
acquaintance, who had been carried too slowly, as he thought, only
gave them two annas apiece. The consequence was that during the next
stage the men not only went faster, but they made him laugh with their
characteristic song, the whole burden of which was: 'He has only given
them two annas, because they went slowly; let us make haste, and get
along quickly, and then we shall get eight annas, and have a good
supper.'"
The burden of the European's life in India at this period is voiced in
"Marois'" poem, _The Long, Long, Indian Day_. It was the empire of
_ennui_. A strongly puritanical tone, too, was observable in certain
influential circles, and the clergy frequently discountenanced and
condemned the poor efforts at relaxation made by officers and their wives.
Dances and amateur theatricals were often the subject of censure from the
pulpit. So the men fell back on brandy pawnee, loo, and tiger-shooting.
The women were worse off. To the Honourable Emily Eden we are indebted for
some vivid pictures of Anglo-Indian society during the viceroyalty of her
brother, Lord Auckland (1836-1842). They enable us to realise Lola's
emotions and manner of life during her second visit to India. Miss Eden's
compassionate interest was excited by
"a number of young ladies just come out by the last ships, looking so
fresh and English, and longing to amuse themselves--and it must be
such a bore at that age to be shut up for twenty-three hours out of
the twenty-four; and the one hour that they are out is only an airing
just where the roads are watered. They have no gardens, no villages,
no poor people, no schools, no poultry to look after--none of the
occupations of young people. Very few of them are at ease with their
parents; and, in short, it is a melancholy sight to see a new young
arrival."
Another passage runs:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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