of great beauty were said
to rise from the seas, and, sitting upon the foam-lashed rocks, played
upon their harps music of sweetest sound. American collectors to-day pay
large sums for genuine Irish harps, which differ somewhat in size and
form from those upon which Welsh maidens played. There are still a few
such ancient instruments to be met with in Ireland and Wales.

Of minor instruments there is not much to say--all are intensely
interesting when they carry with them memories of former owners, for
they are veritable mementoes of home amusements, pleasures, and
delights.

XVI

PLAY AND SPORT

CHAPTER XVI

PLAY AND SPORT

Dolls--Toys--Old games--Outdoor amusements--Relics of sport.

It would appear that there have been amusements at all periods of the
world's history, and that everywhere work and play have gone hand in
hand together. The occupations of the nursery have been an intermixture
of lessons and play; amusements, although not always of an elevating or
educative character, have for the most part tended to develop and form
the mind, as well as strengthen the body. Recreation has played an
important part in the upbringing of child and man, and when absent the
advance has been retarded. The youth of all ages has found time for
games and sports, which have enlivened the duties of manhood and
womanhood by physical and mental pleasures. Even as age creeps on, men
and women lessen the monotony of daily toil by indulging in indoor games
and outside sports, suitable to their age and inclinations. As few games
can be played or sport engaged in without accessories, it is not
surprising that many relics of the play and sport of past generations
are to be met with.

Some of the appliances and apparatus which were acquired in the pursuit
of these pleasures have become of antiquarian value, for many of them
are curious and represent amusements almost forgotten. Others tell of
the steady survival of the oldest games and amusements, but show the
developments and alterations which have gone on in the methods of
playing or in the appliances which have been invented to enhance the
interest in those delights. These changes are seen more especially in
sports and games of skill. As an instance, we may take one of the great
manly sports, that of hunting game, a custom surviving from days when
this England of ours was a wild and uncultivated forest and swamp, full
of strange birds and many wild animals r