The Power of Music / In which is shown, by a variety of pleasing and instructive anecdotes, the effects it has on man and animals.

by Anonymous

THE POWER OF MUSIC ON ANIMALS, IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND.

The style of driving an ox-team in Devonshire is remarkable, indeed, cannot pass unnoticed by a stranger. The language, though in a great degree peculiar to the country, does not arrest the attention, but the tone, or rather tune, in which it is delivered. It resembles, with great exactness, the chantings, or recitative of the cathedral service. The plowboy chants the counter-tenor, with unabated ardour, through the day; the plowman, throwing in, at intervals, his hoarser notes. It is understood that this chanting march, which may sometimes be heard at a considerable distance, encourages and animates the team, like the music of a marching army, or the song of the rowers.