Some Observations Upon the Civilization of the Western Barbarians, Particularly of the English: made during the residence of some years in those parts.Swazey, John B.
Philosophy
Some Observations Upon the Civilization of the Western Barbarians, Particularly of the English: made during the residence of some years in those parts.
Swazey, John B.
England -- Social life and customs
In the warm weather, the English Barbarians find great amusement in
crowding to the Sea. Here, little houses placed on wheels are trundled
into the waves. From these, women, men, and children wade, and plash
and dive into the water. The women, and even children, often swim
very well--the men nearly all. The two sexes bathe quite near, or
together, in full sight of the people on the shore. Here, on the
sands, thousands are walking, sitting, and lounging about, amusing
themselves in the idlest sports. The men in the water are, with the
exception of a mere loin-cloth, naked. The women, though tolerably
covered, yet so carelessly that, with the motions of the bath and
waves, they are sufficiently exposed! In these sea-bathing places you
will see Barbarian life in all its rudeness, and love of boisterous
fun and frolic. The men, and women, and children, abandon themselves
to eating, drinking, bathing in the sea-water; to sports and games; to
dancing, sight-seeing, and _match-making_. The last is the pursuit of
husband-catching, which the free-and-easy life at the sea-side greatly
facilitates.
Boat-races--sailing boats, and boats rowed or paddled--take place
at these sea-side places, and are greatly admired. They are
unobjectionable, and natural to a maritime tribe.
A strange feature is to see women go fearlessly into boats, and,
hustled with the men, enjoy the excitement of the wind and wave,
to witness these races, or merely for the frolic--but women are
everywhere!
The Cattle Shows are characteristic. Here, fat cattle, sheep, fat
swine, fine horses, poultry, tools used in tillage, fruit and
vegetables, are shown; and the best receive prizes. Only a few of the
High-Castes attend these, and then merely as a form. The real support
comes from the farmers; and from the _Lower-Castes_. These crowd to
the show, paying at the doors, merely for frolic and fun. Open to late
hours at night, with music, lights, and places for eating and drinking,
the mixed crowd of men and women delight in the hustling, crowding. The
usual beer and other drinks are ready; the usual giggling of women,
surging, and elbowing, and pushing about! One wonders much, whether the
fat animals are not more respectable than the animals which crowd about
them! But I can hardly fairly judge of the real _character_ of the
crowds, for they are too novel and too offensive to the habits of our
Flowery Land. It is certain, however, that the Barbaric element always
perverts the most useful things; and a Cattle Show must be debased and
turned aside from its proper objects. What have the women and men, who
push and surge about the brutes, of interest in the thing? Nothing.
They may know and care for sheep, when _roasted_, or for fat swine,
when in the shape of a _rasher_ [fri-ie-tz].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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