“Not to speak of the High Jumps, Flat Races, &c., it was no ordinary treat to see lasses running with all their might to have some pieces of cloths for their prizes. An event like this induced the ladies and gentlemen in the Grand Stand to rise from their seats and take a clearer view of the scene. Many were (I think) halting between two opinions—either to look at the sports or listen to the charming music. Would that there were ten eyes and ears to each! But impossibility is impossibility.
“One of the actors, well-nigh approaching to a British Grenadier, tumbled during the High Jumps on the ground, and was a victor of not even a ridiculous prize.
“The scene went on amidst the hurrahs and applauses of the spectators: among them the always-the-same Allangbas,[1] and the never-to-be-polished vulgar. But afterwards nature—either disgusted at, or fatigued by, the event—for a while interrupted the scene by her somewhat violent inundations: but subsequently being appeased she again charmed us with her usual smiles. With her well-prepared instruments she was ready to depict in the most masterly language the proceedings of the day.
[1] The Timnehs are here meant.
‘Who can paint
Like nature? Can imagination boast,
Amid its gay creation, hues like hers?’
“All those successes of the actors were the results of the like energy which ‘built,’ observes Harris, ‘the mountain pyramids of Egypt—which reared the Chinese wall—by which Alexander conquered the old world—Columbus discovered the new—and Newton elaborated the system of the universe.’
“The scene of action commanded, like the Acropolis of Athens, a most picturesque sight opposite the sea. The fairy landscape, viewed in conjunction with the stately and commodious houses by which it was adorned, and the trees already in full bloom which cast their shades on the undulating and glittering waves of the sluggish and ceaseless sea during ebb tide, formed an unrivalled spot for the pencil of the artist. How delightful would it have been to see a Boswell ready to describe in the most sparkling language the proceedings of this auspicious day. The effusions of a poet would have been excessive and Byronian delineations tremendous—for the sight was delightful; the gentlemen were masterpieces of nature; and the ladies each a belle ideal of symmetrical beauty. What topics were touched upon by the grandees on this occasion were so momentous that, like Elsie,
‘Their words fell from their lips
Like roses from the lips of Angelo: and Angels
Might stoop to pick them up!’
“Donkeys were not a whit behind the spectators and contenders; they created their own excitement. On the backs of these heady brutes were to be seen two lads who endeavoured with all their wits to ride them, but all in vain! Although guided by some gentlemen who willingly lent them a helping hand, they were tumbled on the ground as many times as they attempted to ride. The consequence was that a universal roar of laughter ran through the whole spot.
“Besides this there was another interesting sight. A greasy pole, having at the end a leg of mutton, was offered to him who would scale it to its top. The attempts were fruitless. The pole, finding no Alexander, stood like the Gordian knot, and set at the utmost defiance men of magnanimity, those possessing massive bodies and Herculean prowess. Thus the scene proceeded; and, in reality, the Rubicon remained uncrossed.