tive to our wants. We remained here two nights. We were obliged to be home by Saturday, in order to open the ball early on Monday morning, September 2nd, which we did at an early hour; but of this another time. I must end my letter by telling you our proceedings on Friday. About six or seven miles lower down the Wye, and near the village of Glasbury, is situated the "Three Cocks," an inn known to fishermen far and near. The landlord has a right of fishing some distance up the Llyfni brook and some portion of the Wye. This he preserves; but any gentleman who puts up at the "Three Cocks" has a card to fish gratis. As G. S. wanted to sketch a mill at Erwood, I took advantage of the coach from Builth to ride to this inn, leaving him to follow at his leisure. I did not fish the Wye, as I always prefer brooks when I can get them. I fished up the Llyfni, and had pretty good sport, bagging in all 66, viz., 4 trout, 6 chub, and 56 lastspring. It is a pretty brook, but not so good as the Edw, nor does it hold so many good trout. We had to retrace our steps to Abergavenny to take the coach home; but instead of going through Hay we took a shorter cut by Llanigon, and crossed a portion of the Black Mountain, near Crasswall. When we arrived at the top we rested awhile, and looked back. Oh! what a lovely view-we could see the course of the Wye for miles; the high Begwns in Radnorshire appeared in the distance, at our feet lay a most beautiful valley, rich with the golden appearance of harvest. The sun shone forth out of a cloud, and as it glanced over the yellow fields it brought to my memory Thomson's lines the sudden sun By fiis effulgent gilds the illumined field, I was nearly forgetting to tell you that G. S. left his luckless umbrella at the inn at Erwood; when you go there ask for it; it is at your service. Such is the account of a short ramble, a very pleasant fortnight I had, and I look back on it with pleasure. Believe me my dear Piscator, THE JESTER. BY ROBERT H. BROWN. Yours ever, C. L. E. The character of the jester appears to have been introduced at a very remote age. To contribute to the hilarity and amusement of a feudal aristocracy, whose minds were left without exercise in the times of peace, and the hours devoted to a cessation from hunting pastimes to be the instrument of the untimely sports and insults of a partially civilized household-the bye-word of the rustic simpleton of the village the poor jester dragged on a feverish existence, looking habitually for, and guarding instinctively against, some new assault or degradation on his infirmities. The jester, even at the present age, is within the memory of living witnesses. Nor, if we are to believe the histories of those unfortunate individuals, was their condition much ameliorated in the last century by the more cultivated, improved, and lettered superiority of their masters. But the miseries of their own lives were not the only evils and repugnance with which certain grades of society were afflicted. As often is the case with individuals that suffer from some derangement of the mental organs, their prejudices were stronger than those of ordinary men, consequently their passions more dangerous. The wild excesses into which they ran were punished with physical brutality, while the harmless acts of their imbecility were made the scoff of the thoughtless and unfeeling spectator. The jester has been renowned for his effective conversational retort, his ready wit and satirical sallies. But if we inquire more immediately into the truth of these characteristics, we shall find them to have lived more in the pen of the poet and historian than in the lives of the individuals themselves. Like the manners, customs, homes, and scenes of our ancestors, that have become mellowed by time, upon which we are apt to look and dwell with more of the ideal and romantic than we should have done had we lived in the palmy days of their existence, so the leading traits in the character of the jester have been borrowed a good deal from the romance of feudalism, and been dressed up with very partial and elaborate ideality for the purpose of garnishing the pages of a story, or introducing the felicitious humour and caprices of the author. Sir Walter Scott's jester, pourtrayed to such advantage in one of the best of his novels," Ivanhoe," appears to me to have been suggested by the more perfect character in Shakspear's "King Lear." But to suppose that either of them is depicted with truthfulness would be taxing the credulity of sensible minds. There is little doubt that they both exceed the bona fide qualities of the jester's character. That the eccentricities of impaired sensibility should lead to extravagant speech we may readily suppose. That from being continually subject to the insolent sayings of those it was his fate to come in contact with should give him a ready repartee we may also credit; but, even under this provocation, the retaliation was oftener vox et præterea nihil. That his infirmities were made the abuse of his fellow-creatures-that he experienced neglect and unkindness, when he should have had protection and an asylum, is condemnable. The following anecdotes were related to me some years ago; and, as they referred to a locality and people with whom I was familiar, they have, perhaps, been impressed upon my mind more lastingly than they otherwise would have been. Although they may possess but little interest, I will, at least, venture to say that they are a more truthful example of the traits of the jester than many I have noticed in biographies of characters of this description. On the site of an abbey in the West Riding of Yorkshire, said by tradition to have been a resort of the famous Robin Hood, stands an elegant mansion, belonging to a family still enjoying the dignity and distinction of high ancestral honours. The grounds, the woods, the waters, the situation, combined, form a beautiful compact scenery. The hospitable and generous qualities of the present proprietor have been justly acknowledged by many who have experienced his kindness in throwing open these grounds for the enjoyment and inspection of the public. Numerous parties of pleasure frequent the old abbey grounds in the summer season; and, in truth, I believe few places in the West Riding can boast more agreeable and romantic inducements as a resort of this description. More than half a century ago the representative of the family was a man of eccentric habits, though of honourable and aristocratic integrity in his intercourse with the world. He upheld the dignity of his name and family with the splendour that had ever characterised the home of his fathers. His establishment of equipages and servants was marked by all the ostentation that distinguished the aristocracy of that period. Amongst the rest of his household was numbered the jester. In this individual were personified the imbecilities and excesses inseparable from an infirm mental organization, and the humiliating circumstances of his condition. Such examples of aberrations of mind at this day in any person would subject him to a commission de lunatico inquirendo; and would, in all probability, result in lodging him in the safe custody of the authorities provided in such cases. I will not trespass on the patience of the reader with further remarks, but simply give the anecdotes illustrative of what I have already written. The fellow-servants of the jester, to obviate the trouble their duties entailed upon them, would frequently send the jester with small commissions to and from the village. On one occasion he was sent to purchase a quantity of candles. As he was returning, a shower of rain fell, and drenched the thin paper covering with which these commodities were bound. The unfortunate jester, who had very often experienced censure for similar misfortunes, as soon as he got home, acting under the impulse of fear, slunk with the wet candles to a retired room in the house, and, in his extreme simplicity, hung them separately and carefully on a string round the fire. He was shortly afterwards met by one of the domestics, who inquired for the candles; upon which he related the accident that had befallen them in the rain, and how he had hung them up to dry. When the candles were sought for, of course there was only the cotton wick of each remaining. This example sufficiently proves the impotency of the reasoning faculties, even in the most common-place matters of daily life. Being one day loitering by the side of a village pool, that had lately been inundated by the rain, a gentleman rode by his side, and asked him if there was a good bottom to the water, that he might ride through to the opposite road. The jester replied that there was. Upon which the squire rode his horse into the middle of the pool, and finding himself sinking over the saddle, shouted to his guide, who was rolling on the adjoining turf, convulsed with laughter "Knave! I thought you said there was a bottom to the water?" "Yea," replied the half-witted one, "but thou hasn't half-way reached it yet!" This anecdote, without much varying the conclusions one might form of the jester's sanity by the one previously related, will show that the disposition for mischief was somewhat predominant. When guests were staying at the house, it was the custom, after dinner, to introduce the jester into the room, to sustain the conviviality of the party. It happened, on an event of this description, that one of the visitors had a large nose. As the jester was often very personal in his remarks, he was desired by the host, beforehand, not to allude in any way to the personal appearance of his guests, more particularly to the gentleman with the large nose. Dinner being over, the jester was announced. He thrust his head within the door, and, glancing round the table, quickly distinguished the gentleman with the nose. Drawing his face something into the shape that the clown in a pantomine is allowed to assume, he cried aloud-"What a nose!-if a body dare but mention a nose!" The abashed stranger, who was very sensitive on allusion to this distinguishing feature, is said to have been troubled with a nervous affection whenever he afterwards mixed with society. A gentleman made the jester a gift of half-a-crown, which the latter carefully secreted in an old clock case that stood in a remote corner of the house. He then entrusted a fellow-servant with the knowledge of his treasure's hiding-place. This person appears to have had a disposition to trifle with the trust the jester reposed in him. Taking the half-crown from the clock case, he substituted a few pennies, which were perhaps rather larger than coin of the same value in circulation at the present day. The jester, who went to inspect the safety of his money several times in the day, though a good deal surprised at discovering the half-crown gone, was delighted at the substitution, numerically and diametrically considered so much larger-he had no notion that his prize could decrease in value, it had increased in number, size, and weight so much. In ecstasies, he conveyed the intelli. gence to the one that shared his confidence, who professed an equal degree of surprise. Whether or not the poor jester recovered the value of his money does not appear; it was a matter of honesty or dishonesty on the part of the other-which was the prevailing disposition in this instance we are not told. The tragical events which followed, and finally terminated in the death of the jester, must have left an indelible impression upon the minds of those interested in the career of that person. That our social system should have been stained by such inhuman traits at the close of the eighteenth century is not more to be wondered at than reprehended. Whether it was the effects of a passionate revenge, or in the simplicity of a more than infantile imbecility, that the incidents of the following anecdote were committed, I will leave it to the mind of the reader to consider. Amongst the workmen employed upon the estate was a wheelwright or joiner. This person often indulged in satirical attacks, both verbally and practically, on the condition of the unfortunate jester. As may be supposed, a strong prejudice was formed in the mind of the latter against his persecutor. He would avoid him as much as possible, and when circumstances brought them together, the interview was sure to end in some act demonstrative of the animose feeling with which he looked upon the latter. The wheelwright, one day, after B B dinner laid his head on a block of wood and fell asleep. The jester, by accident, discovered his friend in this happy state of unconsciousness, and immediately set about devising means by which he might retaliate for previous provocations and assaults that he had so frequently endured at the carpenter's will. Looking about the place, he perceived a hatchet lying on the ground. This weapon he took into his hands, and passing his fingers across the edge to try its sharp ness, he smiled approvingly over his victim. With the hatchet raised above his head, concentrating his strength into one blow, he struck at the neck of the carpenter, and, though he did not sever the head from the body, the incision was sufficient to cause instantaneous death. Not having accomplished the task to his entire satisfaction, he took up another sharp-edged tool, used by the joiner in his avocation, and cut the head completely away from the body. He then took the head into his hands, and placing it within an old box, fastened it up. Triumphing in his guilt, he returned to the house, and told the servants that " He had served the wheelwright out; when he awoke he would have to seek a long time for his head!" Blood was on his hands, and an alarm was raised in the minds of the domestics; they hastened to the scene of this horrible murder. There their fears were indeed too fully realized. The headless body of the carpenter lay still bleeding upon the ground. The jester, under the plea of non compos mentis, escaped the punishment of the law; nor does it appear that he was put under any sort of restraint or confinement for the crime his insanity or his evil passions, or a combination of both, had led him to commit. Some time afterwards there was a festival at the hall. It was the celebration of some great family event; and the servants, of course, joined in the conviviality. The tide of mirth became more violent as the hours grew later in the day. Accelerated by wine and other exciting drinks, the boisterous sounds of merriment were beginning to give indications of a different nature from the harmonious and agreeable characteristics the entertainment had previously borne. Amongst the rest of the freaks that were indulged in by the servants, was one to be performed by the jester upon the back of a favourite ass, which was introduced for the purpose into the servants' hall. The patient animal submitted to the rude humour of his persecutors with all the docility peculiar to his nature. The jester was placed upon the donkey's back with his face towards the tail, and in that position the poor beast was driven round the place. Wearying of this amusement, they sought for some greater performance to give zest to their inebriety. The door was opened which communicated with the cellars. The donkey, and the clown still keeping his seat, were conducted to the top of the flight of stairs. In this state the servants attempted to make the beast descend the steps, but the latter was not willing this time to indulge their caprices. One person, however, who appears to have been more thoughtless or intoxicated than the rest, rushing forward, pushed the donkey and his rider headlong down the steps. The consequences were fatal; the jester did not survive this freak; he was lifted from the cellar floor a corpse! |