f festivity that it is
in England, the whole day being taken up with religious services of
some kind; but the first day of the year is given up entirely to
pleasure and happy re-unions. For the children it is the day of days.
Before the sun has risen they congregate in the village streets, and
set out in the dark and cold of the frosty morning in noisy groups, on
expeditions into the surrounding country, with bags on their shoulders,
in which they collect the kindly "calenigs," or New Year's gifts,
prepared for them in every farm and homestead. 'Tis a merry gathering,
indeed, the tramp through the frost and snow under the bright stars in
the early morning, adding the charm of novelty and mystery to the usual
delight of an expedition.

Ann and Morva had cut the generous hunches of barley bread and cheese
overnight, and well it was that they were thus prepared, for before the
hens and turkeys had flown down from their roosting-place, and before
the cows had risen from their warm beds of straw in the beudy, or the
sheep had begun to shake off the snow which had fallen on their fleeces
in the night, fresh young voices were heard in the farmyard singing the
old refrain familiar to generations of Welsh children:

"Calenig i fi, calenig i'r ffon,
Calenig i fytta ar hyd y ffordd.
Un waith, dwywaith, tair!"

_Translation._

"A gift for me and a gift for my staff,
And a gift to eat as I trudge along.
Once, twice, thrice!"

It is a peremptory demand, sung in a chanting kind of monotone, and
very seldom refused. A boy is chosen to knock at the farm door and
rouse the inmates, it being considered unlucky for the household if a
girl first crosses the threshold.

The family at Garthowen had risen hurriedly, and with smiling faces had
opened the door to the children. Bags were filled, greetings were
interchanged, and the happy troop were sent on their way rejoicing,
shouting as they went, "A happy New Year to you all!"

When the bread and cheese had come to an end, Ebben Owens had
distributed pennies from a large canvas bag which he had filled for the
occasion; and in the afternoon, when the calls were becoming less
frequent, he sat under the open chimney with an almost empty bag.

Suddenly the doorway was darkened by a portly figure in black. A
genial face glowing from the frosty air, a voice of peculiar
mellowness, which always added a musical charm of its own both to
singing and conversation; a c