some uncouth rhymes, which the parson, who had joined us, informed me had been handed down from days of yore. The villagers doffed their hats to the squire as he passed, giving him the good wishes of the season with every appearance of heartfelt sincerity, and were invited by him to the hall, to take something to keep out the cold of the weather; and I heard blessings uttered by several of the poor, which convinced me that, in the midst of his enjoyments, the worthy old cavalier had not forgotten the true Christmas virtue of charity.

From "The Sketch Book," by WASHINGTON IRVING.

Identity. Sameness, the fact of its being the same.

Burden. The verse repeated in a song, the chorus.

man, husbandman, grazier, poet, more skilful in all than thriving in any vocation," was born about 1527, and died in 1580. His best known work is A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry.

Achievements. Feats, things done.
Amateurs. Those who practise any
art from the love of it, and not
for pay.

Coeval. Of the same age.
Antique. Old-fashioned.
Grayish.
Swiftness.

Grandee. A nobleman. The Spanish
noblemen were said to be very
proud of their rank.
Master Simon was distantly related
to the Bracebridges. "He was a
tight brisk little man, with the air
of an arrant old bachelor. His
nose was shaped like the bill of
a parrot, his face slightly pitted Grizzled.
with the smallpox. He was Celerity.
evidently the wit of the family." Erudite. Learned.
Herrick, Robert (1591-1674). A Ule. Yule, Christmas.
clergyman and poet, who flour-
ished under the Stuarts. His
chief work is Hesperides, a col-
lection of brief bright lyrics.
Tusser, Thomas, "successively a
musician, schoolmaster, serving-

Uncouth. Clumsy. The "uncouth
rhymes" which the children re-
peated were:-

"Ule! Ule!

Three puddings in a pule
Crack nuts and cry 'Ule"".

COMPOSITION. Describe Washington Irving's visit to

English church on Christmas Day.

LESSON 38.

WINTER.

WHEN icicles hang by the wall,

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,

And Tom bears logs into the hall,

an

And milk comes frozen home i' the pail;
When blood is nipt, and ways be foul,

Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-whoo!

Tu-whit! tu-whoo! a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow,

5

10

And coughing drowns the parson's saw,

And birds sit brooding in the snow,

And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-whoo!

Tu-whit! tu-whoo! a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

From SHAKSPEARE'S "Love's Labour's Lost".

Blows his nail. Why?
Owl.

The lines extracted are in-
troduced thus: "Will you hear
the dialogue that the two learned
men have compiled in praise of
the owl and the cuckoo?
This side is . . . Winter, this

the Spring; the one maintained by the owl, the other by the cuckoo."

Staring owl. Why staring?
Joan. The kitchen-maid.

15

COMPOSITION.-Describe (1) the enjoyments, and (2) the

drawbacks of winter.

LESSON 39.

THE SHEPHERD IN WINTER.

WHEN red hath set the beamless sun,
Through heavy vapours dank and dun;
When the tired ploughman, dry and warm,
Hears, half asleep, the rising storm

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Hurling the hail, and sleeted rain,

Against the casement's tinkling pane;

The sounds that drive wild deer, and fox,

To shelter in the brake and rocks,
Are warnings which the shepherd ask
To dismal and to dangerous task.
Oft he looks forth, and hopes, in vain,
The blast may sink in mellowing rain;
Till, dark above, and white below,
Decided drives the flaky snow,
And forth the hardy swain must go.
Long, with dejected look and whine,
To leave the hearth his dogs repine;
Whistling, and cheering them to aid,
Around his back he wreathes the plaid;
His flock he gathers, and he guides
To open downs, and mountain sides,
Where, fiercest though the tempest blow
Least deeply lies the drift below.

The blast, that whistles o'er the fells,

Stiffens his locks to icicles;

Oft he looks back, while, streaming far,

His cottage window seems a star,-
Loses its feeble gleam,-and then

Turns patient to the blast again,

And, facing to the tempest's sweep,

Drives through the gloom his lagging sheep.
If fails his heart, if his limbs fail,

Benumbing death is in the gale;

His paths, his landmarks-all unknown,
Close to the hut, no more his own,
Close to the aid he sought in vain,
The morn may find the stiffened swain:
His widow sees, at dawning pale,
His orphans raise their feeble wail;

And close beside him, in the snow,
Poor Yarrow, partner of their woe,
Couches upon his master's breast,
And licks his cheek, to break his rest.

Beamless sun. Why beamless?
Dank. Moist, damp.
Dun. A dull brown colour.
Tinkling pane. Why tinkling?
The shepherd ask. Warn the
shepherd that he must under-
take.

Hopes. If the storm should change
to rain it will not harm the
sheep, and the shepherd may
stay by his fireside. If, how-
ever, it should change to snow
he must venture forth.

40

SIR WALTER SCOTT. Dejected. Downcast, miserable. The plaid. Scott is writing of the shepherds of his own country. Open downs. The danger to sheep in a snowstorm is being buried in the wreaths; and these will not form on "open downs". Fells. Hills. Benumbing death. People caught in snowstorms often feel drowsy. If they do not shake off the drowsiness they sleep to wake

no more.

COMPOSITION.-Describe the experiences of a shepherd or of a sailor on a stormy night.

LESSON 40.

THE ESCAPE OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.

PART I.

THEY went to the presence chamber, where almost immediately entered supper, and the Lady of the castle. The queen endured her presence with great fortitude and equanimity, until her patience was disturbed by a new form, which had hitherto made no part of the ceremonial of the castle. When the other attendant had retired, Randal entered, bearing the keys of the castle fastened upon a chain, and, announcing that the watch was set, and the gates locked, delivered the keys with all reverence to the Lady of Lochleven.

The queen and her ladies exchanged with each other a look of disappointment, anger, and vexation; and Mary said aloud, "We cannot regret the smallness