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THE OLD-FASHIONED COUNTRY DANCE—THE CHARIVARI (SHIVAREE)—THE OLD
'SORREL"—THE SPELLING SCHOOL—THE SINGING SCHOOL—POP CORN, NUTS AND
APPLES.
THE old-fashioned country dance was a very
friendly means of amusement, everyone present
being of the same social standing. It almost
invariably took place in the evening, after the wind-up of a logging bee,
a raising bee, a husking bee, or a wedding, and usually lasted till the
break of day. Often surprise parties were gotten up, the young folks going
in sleigh-loads distances of five or ten miles to some friend's house,
where they knew they would be made welcome, to have a dance. Nowadays the
young people are generally dressed in their best attire, but in the olden
time the folks were not so particular about their appearance, the men from
the logging field often dancing in their shirt sleeves with the country
lasses in their linsey-woolsey or striped woollen dresses. These dances in
the olden time were usually called "sprees," and well
they might be, for whiskey, wine and cider being freely supplied by the
host, the young men very frequently became over merry from its effects.
Often a dance was held in houses where there was only space enough to
.move around, but, as there were no carpets to take up, the furniture was
soon put to one side to make room. After the people became better
circumstanced and more stylish, there was an annual ball held in the
ballroom, over the driving-shed of the country tavern. This was usually a
"swell" affair. In the olden time, just the same as now, the girls
indulged in petty coquetries and the gentlemen in flirtations, and between
the dances the couples could be seen sitting around in the shady places
exchanging loving glances and whispered nothings, the girl, perhaps,
sitting on her sweetheart's knee, for they made no show of affectation,
everything being done in the spirit of true rustic simplicity. Music was
furnished by some noted local musician, who generally played the fiddle by
ear, a collection being taken up among the young men to pay him for his
services. Above the noise of the dancing and the scraping sound of the
fiddle could be heard the voice of the caller-off, as he shouted out:
"Salute your partners," "Grand chain,"' Promenade all," etc. Waltzing not
being popular, was very little known in the early days, the square dances
being most in vogue, and amongst them being such dances as "The Soldier's
Joy," "Money Musk," "Old Dan Tucker," "Pop Goes the Weasel," etc., many of
which are still popular. The different kind of reels were the fashion,
viz., the Scotch reel, the Irish reel, the four-hand reel, the eight-hand
reel, etc., also jigs and hornpipes. Fagan, the poet, describes the
different kinds of dances as follows:
With decent Irish jigs we beat the floor,
And
practised hands would dance the old French four.
With jig and reel we
made the shanty ring,
And those who could not dance would lilt or sing.
The name of polka then was never heard,
And only Jews would wear a
lengthy beard.
But times are changed, and every year is worse,
And
beardless boys, like Irish jigs, are scarce."
The Charivari (Shivaree).
Usually, when one of the boys in the neighborhood got
married, a number of the young men would gather of an evening and serenade
the young married couple. The musical instruments used were tin horns,
strings of horse-bells, cow-bells, the horse-fiddle, tin pans, copper
kettles, and anything and everything else they could find that would make
noise enough. They would keep quite still until they got close up to the
house, when all of a sudden the most unearthly music would strike on the
ear of the guests.
There would be heard the shooting of guns, the grating of the
horse-fiddle, the ringing of bells, the beating of tin pans and copper
kettles, etc., together making the most discordant possible noise. They
would keep up this horrible din till late in the night, unless the
bridegroom came forth and gave them money or invited them in to partake of
refreshments.
If the wedding party refused to treat them, they would often keep up the
racket for three or four nights in succession. Occasionally some of the
wedding party would resist the intrusion, and altercations would take
place, which not unfrequently resulted fatally. In such cases the crime
was generally condoned, nothing was done to the perpetrator, the law
considering that a man who was killed at a charivari was a wanton
trespasser who deserved his fate.
If the match happened to be an extremely objectionable one in the
estimation of the neighbors, as, for instance, the marriage of an old man
of eighty to a girl of sixteen, the boys would sometimes carry their
depredations further than a mere serenade. They have been known to get on
the roof of the house, place a board over the chimney, and smoke the
wedding party out.
If they carried their depredations too far, information was often laid
against them by the offended party, and they were summonsed before the
country squire, who usually imposed a fine on them by way of punishment.
Although the charivari was a rough game, it was one of the social
diversions of the young people in the early days, and without these
diversions it was considered that life would have been dreary indeed. This
form of sport has, however, almost died out, law- abiding people nowadays
being opposed to such unlawful proceedings.
A description of the horse-fiddle might be interesting
and instructive, as it is known only to the young people of the present
day by name. A wooden wheel, three or four inches in diameter, with a
number of slanting teeth cut into it, was placed between two pieces of
hoard held in place bys wooden rod, which went through a hole through the
wheel and boards, and extending a foot or two on both sides, served as a
handle for twirling it. Another piece of flexible board was fitted in
between the two boards in such a way that as the end which touched the
cogs of the wheel was displaced by the turning of the wheel it made a
rattling noise which could be heard half a mile away.
NOTE. —Mrs. Moody says the charivari originated among
the French of Lower Canada.
The "Old Sorrel."
The enforcement of the moral law was very strictly
insisted upon in the olden times. Those found guilty of infringement of
the law had quick, summary justice dealt out to them by the people
themselves, without the aid of judge or jury. The usual way of disposing
of offending persons was to give them a rough ride on the "old sorrel,"
or, in other words, to give them a coating of tar and feathers and set
them astride of a fence rail. Usually, once was sufficient, for, after
plucking out the feathers and making himself presentable, the culprit
would quickly decamp for parts unknown. This was the way they treated some
of the Mormon apostles who went through the country fifty or sixty years
ago trying to get converts to a system of religion which advocated
polygamy, or a plurality of wives. The "tarring and feathering" process
consisted in divesting the culprit of his clothing and covering him all
over with tar made from the pitch got from the pine trees, and then
rolling him in feathers, which made him resemble a bird more than a human
being.
NOTE—The term, "Old Sorrel," was not used by the people
generally.
The Spelling School.
Spelling schools were very common in the early days.
The young people in the different school sections would meet on certain
appointed evenings in the winter to have a match. Sometimes the match
would be between different schools. Great throngs would gather to witness
the contest, which always created a great deal of rivalry. The old people
as well as the young took a great interest in these matches. It certainly
was a good way to teach the young people the art of spelling, for, besides
the gain in educational advantages, it afforded the means of enlightened
amusement and diversion.
A captain was invariably chosen for each side, and he
selected the spellers in turn, according to his knowledge of their
proficiency. Many of the young folks, as a result of these matches, became
expert spellers, and could often correct college-bred men in their
orthography. The lists of words in the old spelling-books were almost as
familiar to some of the boys and girls as were the letters of the
alphabet. In order to spell down opponents it was necessary to hunt up the
most obsolete and difficult words possible, and even then some of the
spellers were almost invulnerable, unless they became worried or excited
and forgot themselves for the time being. When they did misspell a word,
they usually recognized their mistake as soon as they had made it and
acknowledged the correction.
The Singing School.
Another valuable means of recreation and improvement
was the singing school. The singing master was usually a young farmer, or
some one selected from a near-by town, who, having had the benefit of some
musical instruction, and being gifted with a good strong voice and a fair
ear for music, took upon himself the duty of teaching the young people in
the rural districts the art of singing by note, and in that way adding to
his income. He generally had a class for three or four evenings during the
week, and drove around in a cutter to his different appointments in the
school houses and churches of the district. His efforts in drilling the
young men and maidens in the musical art were not as a rule productive of
very great results, for the majority of his pupils at the end of his term
of lessons knew very little more about principles of harmony and the
reading of music by note than they did at the beginning. How- ever, they
had their money's worth in the fun and enjoyment of a not unhealthy
employment of the mind. Usually these classes were patronized only by the
younger class of people, and in the absence of the old folks the former
made good use of their term of liberty, and although the singing master
brought all the dignity and authority of his position to bear upon his
work, he at times found it no easy matter to keep the young people under
control. The singing master was quite usually a most imposing personage,
as he stood on the platform and with a piece of chalk in hand, drew the
musical staff on the blackboard, putting the notes here and there as he
saw fit, with the necessary flats and sharps at the beginning, or bit his
tuning fork, and listened to its vibrations as he sang out, "Do, re, mi,
fa, sol," and started the choir of singers off on some piece of music,
flourishing his baton in the air as he beat time for the singers.
An entertainment was generally given at the end of his
term of lessons, the receipts of which were handed to the singing master,
the fees from the scholars not always being sufficient to remunerate him
for his services. Fifty and sixty years ago, before the days of coal oil
lamps, the young people carried candles and candlesticks with them to
singing school, the girls vieing with each other as to who could bring the
prettiest candlestick.
Pop Corn, Nuts and Apples.
During the long winter evenings the children would
frequently gather before the fireplace and amuse themselves by popping
corn and cracking nuts. The "pop" corn is a variety of corn with a small
ear and small kernel, and i raised only for the purpose of popping. In the
fall of the year it is taken off of the stalk, the husks pulled back and
tied in a loop at one end of the ear; a number of ears are then bundled
together and hung up till winter to dry. A small handful of corn after
being shelled is put into a frying pan or spider, covered up and held over
the hot coals in the fireplace. After constant shaking for a minute or
two, the kernels swell and burst and till up the pan with white feathery
particles. The nuts, which were gathered in the autumn and spread out to
dry in the shed or loft, are brought in. With hammers, flat-irons or
stones they are divested of their shells and the meaty particles extracted
and eaten. By way of variety there was always a pan or basket of apples
for all to help themselves to—in fact, a basket of apples was generally
left specially on the table for eating, it being a common custom to
partake of some fruit before retiring for the night.
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