His practical
application of scraps of literature, however, had caused him to be
looked upon as a prodigy of book knowledge by all the grooms,
huntsmen, and small sportsmen of the neighborhood.
While we were talking we heard the distant tolling of the village
bell, and I was told that the squire was a little particular in having
his household at church on a Christmas morning; considering it a day
of pouring out of thanks and rejoicing; for, as old Tusser observed,
"At Christmas be merry, and thankful withal,
And feast thy poor neighbors, the great with the small."
"If you are disposed to go to church," said Frank Bracebridge, "I
can promise you a specimen of my cousin Simon's musical
achievements. As the church is destitute of an organ, he has formed
a band from the village amateurs, and established a musical club for
their improvement; he has also sorted a choir, as he sorted my
father's pack of hounds, according to the directions of Jervaise
Markham, in his Country Contentments; for the bass he has sought out
all the 'deep, solemn mouths,' and for the tenor the 'loud-ringing
mouths,' among the country bumpkins; and for 'sweet mouths,' he has
culled with curious taste among the prettiest lasses in the
neighborhood; though these last, he affirms, are the most difficult to
keep in tune; your pretty female singer being exceedingly wayward
and capricious, and very liable to accident.
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