We had now come in full view of the old family mansion,
partly thrown in deep shadow, and partly lit up by the cold moonshine. It was
an irregular building of some magnitude, and seemed to be of the architecture
of different periods. One wing was evidently very ancient, with heavy
stone-shafted bow windows jutting out and overrun with ivy, from among the
foliage of which the small diamond-shaped panes of glass glittered with the
moonbeams. The rest of the house was in the French taste of Charles the
Second's time, having been repaired and altered, as my friend told me, by one
of his ancestors, who returned with that monarch at the Restoration. The
grounds about the house were laid out in the old formal manner of artificial
flower-beds, clipped shrubberies, raised terraces, and heavy stone balustrades,
ornamented with urns, a leaden statue or two, and a jet of water. The old
gentleman, I was told, was extremely careful to preserve this obsolete finery
in all its original state. He admired this fashion in gardening; it had an air
of magnificence, was courtly and noble, and befitting good old family style.
The boasted imitation of nature in modern gardening had sprung up with modern
republican notions, but did not suit a monarchical government; it smacked of
the levelling system.—I could not help smiling at this introduction of politics
into gardening, though I expressed some apprehension that I should find the old
gentleman rather intolerant in his creed.—Frank assured me, however, that it
was almost the only instance in which he had ever heard his father meddle with
politics; and he believed that he had got this notion from a member of
parliament who once passed a few weeks with him. The Squire was glad of any
argument to defend his clipped yew-trees and formal terraces, which had been
occasionally attacked by modern landscape-gardeners.
As we approached the house, we heard the sound of music, and
now and then a burst of laughter from one end of the building. This,
Bracebridge said, must proceed from the servants' hall, where a great deal of
revelry was permitted, and even encouraged, by the Squire throughout the twelve
days of Christmas, provided everything was done conformably to ancient usage.
Here were kept up the old games of hoodman blind, shoe the wild mare, hot
cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple, and snapdragon: the Yule log and
Christmas candle were regularly burnt, and the mistletoe, with its white
berries, hung up, to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids.
Washington Irving, from Old Christmas
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