s, among whom
he was habitually considered rather a young fellow, and he was a master
of the revels among the children; so that there was not a more popular
being in the sphere in which he moved than Mr. Simon Bracebridge. Of
late years he had resided almost entirely with the Squire, to whom he
had become a factotum, and whom he particularly delighted by jumping
with his humour in respect to old times, and by having a scrap of an old
song to suit every occasion. We had presently a specimen of his
last-mentioned talent; for no sooner was supper removed, and spiced
wines and other beverages peculiar to the season introduced, than Master
Simon was called on for a good old Christmas song. He bethought himself
for a moment, and then, with a sparkle of the eye, and a voice that was
by no means bad, excepting that it ran occasionally into a falsetto,
like the notes of a split reed, he quavered forth a quaint old ditty,--

Now Christmas is come,
Let us beat up the drum,
And call all our neighbours together;
And when they appear,
Let us make them such cheer,
As will keep out the wind and the weather, etc.

The supper had disposed every one to gaiety, and an old harper was
summoned from the servants' hall, where he had been strumming all the
evening, and to all appearance comforting himself with some of the
Squire's home-brewed. He was a kind of hanger-on, I was told, of the
establishment, and though ostensibly a resident of the village, was
oftener to be found in the Squire's kitchen than his own home, the old
gentleman being fond of the sound of "harp in hall."

[Illustration]

The dance, like most dances after supper, was a merry one; some of the
older folks joined in it, and the Squire himself figured down several
couples with a partner with whom he affirmed he had danced at every
Christmas for nearly half-a-century. Master Simon, who seemed to be a
kind of connecting link between the old times and the new, and to be
withal a little antiquated in the taste of his accomplishments,
evidently piqued himself on his dancing, and was endeavouring to gain
credit by the heel and toe, rigadoon, and other graces of the ancient
school; but he had unluckily assorted himself with a little romping
girl from boarding-school, who, by her wild vivacity, kept him
continually on the stretch, and defeated all his sober attempts at
elegance;--such are the ill-assorted match