I must not, however, omit a description of the noisy instrument whose no less sounding name I have just mentioned. It is general in most parts of Spain at this season, though never used at any other. A slender shoot of reed (Arundo Donax) is fixed in the centre of a piece of parchment, without perforating the skin, which, softened by moisture, is tied, like a drum-head, round the mouth of a large earthen jar. The parchment, when dry, acquires a great tension, and the reed being slightly covered with wax, allows the clenched hand to glide up and down, producing a deep hollow sound of the same kind as that which proceeds from the tambourine when rubbed with the middle finger.
The church service on Christmas Eve begins at ten in the night, and lasts till five in the morning. This custom is observed at every church in the town; nor does their number, or the unseasonableness of the hour, leave the service unattended in any. The music at the Cathedral is excellent. It is at present confined to part of the Latin prayers, but was, till within a few years, used in a species of dramatic interludes in the vulgar tongue, which were sung, not acted, at certain intervals of the service. These pieces had the name of Villancicos, from Villano, a clown; shepherds and shepherdesses being the interlocutors in these pastorals. The words, printed at the expense of the Chapter, were distributed to the public, who still regret the loss of the wit and humour of the Swains of Bethlehem.
The custom of the country requires a formal call between Christmas and Twelfth-day, on all one’s acquaintance; and tables are placed in the house squares, or Patios, to receive the cards of the visiters. Presents of sweetmeats are common between friends; and patients send to their medical attendants the established acknowledgment of a turkey; so that Doctors in great practice open a kind of public market for the disposal of their poultry. These turkeys are driven in flocks by gipseys, who patiently walk in the rear of the ungovernable phalanxes, from several parts of Old Castile, and chiefly from Salamanca. The march which they perform is of no less than four hundred miles, and lasts about one half of the year. The turkeys, which are bought from the farmers mere chickens, acquire their full growth, like your fashionables, in travelling, and seeing the world.
LETTER X.
Madrid, 1807.
My removal to this capital has been sudden and unexpected. My friend Leandro, from whom I am become inseparable, was advised by his physicians to seek relief from a growing melancholy—the effect of a mortal aversion to his professional duties, and to the intolerant religious system with which they are connected—in the freedom and dissipation of the court; and I found it impossible to tear myself from him.
The journey from Seville to Madrid, a distance of about two hundred and sixty English miles, is usually performed in heavy carriages drawn by six mules, in the space of from ten to eleven days. A party of four persons is formed by the coachman, (Mayoral) who fixes the day and hour for setting out, arranges the length of the stages, prescribes the time for getting up in the morning, and even takes care that every passenger attends mass on a Sunday, or any other church festival during the journey. As it was, however, of importance not to delay my friend’s removal from Seville, we chose the more expensive conveyance by posting, and having obtained a passport, set off in an open and half foundered chaise—the usual vehicles till within thirty miles of Madrid.
You will form some idea of our police and government, from the circumstance of our being obliged to take our passport, not for Madrid, but Salamanca, in order thus to smuggle ourselves into the capital. The minister of Gracia y Justicia, or home department, Caballero, one of the most willing and odious instruments of our arbitrary court, being annoyed by the multitude of place-hunters, whom we denominate Pretendientes, who flocked to Madrid from the provinces; has lately issued an order forbidding all persons whatever, to come to the capital, unless they previously obtain a royal license. To await the King’s pleasure would have exposed us to great inconvenience, and probably to a positive denial. But as the minister’s order was now two or three months old, a period at which our court-laws begin to grow obsolete, and we did not mean to trouble his excellency; we trusted to luck and our purse, as to any little obstacles which might arise from the interference of inferior officers.