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Article OLDEN HOLIDAY CUSTOMS. ← Page 6 of 11 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Olden Holiday Customs.
staves at cocks securely tied to a post . A foreigner gives his impression of thc cause of these barbarities , by writing , that " the English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday , upon which they run mad , and kill their poor cocks . " The origin of cockthrowing is uncertain . It was practised at Heston , in Middlesexas late as 1791 . Cock-fihtinga parallel atrocityis
, g , , accounted for according to history . Themistoeles , marching against the Persians , beheld two of these determined warriors in the heat of battle , ancl thereupon pointed out to his Athenian soldiery their indomitable courage . The Athenians were victorious ; and Themistoeles gave order that an annual cock-fight should be held in commemoration of the encounter they had
witnessed . No record , however , of the sport occurs in this country before the year 1191 , A far more genial game was in use at Kingston , Teddington , Twickenham , and the neighbourhood , on Shrove Tuesday , there termed Foot-ball day . The whole lower class of population were engaged at foot-ball , which , though free from the imputation of cruelty , appears to have
been otherwise objectionable , since every window in these parishes was nailed up for the occasion . It has been now discontinued for several years . With St . Valentine ' s day our theme is changed . Its modern observances , though of late degenerated , are too well known to need comment . On this day , according to an old proverb , birds begin to choose then- mates . The oft-quoted bard alludes to this saying when he writes , —
" St . Valentine is past—Begin these wood-birds but to couple now ? " The folloAving lines are worth quoting , in description of the amatory epistolary performances executed on St . Valentine ' s day : — " Now each fond youth who e ' er essayed
An effort in the tinkling trade Resumes to-day—and writes and blots About true love and true love ' s knots : And opens veins in ladies' hearts , ( Or steels ' em ) with two criss-cross darts . There must be two—Stuck through and through
His own ; and to secure ' em better , He doubles up his single letter—Type of his state ( Perchance a hostage To double fate )—For single postage ; Emblem of his ancl my cupidity , With p ' raps like happy end—stupidity . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Olden Holiday Customs.
staves at cocks securely tied to a post . A foreigner gives his impression of thc cause of these barbarities , by writing , that " the English eat a certain cake on Shrove Tuesday , upon which they run mad , and kill their poor cocks . " The origin of cockthrowing is uncertain . It was practised at Heston , in Middlesexas late as 1791 . Cock-fihtinga parallel atrocityis
, g , , accounted for according to history . Themistoeles , marching against the Persians , beheld two of these determined warriors in the heat of battle , ancl thereupon pointed out to his Athenian soldiery their indomitable courage . The Athenians were victorious ; and Themistoeles gave order that an annual cock-fight should be held in commemoration of the encounter they had
witnessed . No record , however , of the sport occurs in this country before the year 1191 , A far more genial game was in use at Kingston , Teddington , Twickenham , and the neighbourhood , on Shrove Tuesday , there termed Foot-ball day . The whole lower class of population were engaged at foot-ball , which , though free from the imputation of cruelty , appears to have
been otherwise objectionable , since every window in these parishes was nailed up for the occasion . It has been now discontinued for several years . With St . Valentine ' s day our theme is changed . Its modern observances , though of late degenerated , are too well known to need comment . On this day , according to an old proverb , birds begin to choose then- mates . The oft-quoted bard alludes to this saying when he writes , —
" St . Valentine is past—Begin these wood-birds but to couple now ? " The folloAving lines are worth quoting , in description of the amatory epistolary performances executed on St . Valentine ' s day : — " Now each fond youth who e ' er essayed
An effort in the tinkling trade Resumes to-day—and writes and blots About true love and true love ' s knots : And opens veins in ladies' hearts , ( Or steels ' em ) with two criss-cross darts . There must be two—Stuck through and through
His own ; and to secure ' em better , He doubles up his single letter—Type of his state ( Perchance a hostage To double fate )—For single postage ; Emblem of his ancl my cupidity , With p ' raps like happy end—stupidity . "