第71章 THE SKETCH BOOK(5)

From these and other anecdotes that followed, the crusaderappeared to be the favorite hero of ghost stories throughout thevicinity. His picture, which hung up in the hall, was thought by theservants to have something supernatural about it; for they remarkedthat, in whatever part of the hall you went, the eyes of the warriorwere still fixed on you. The old porter's wife, too, at the lodge, whohad been born and brought up in the family, and was a great gossipamong the maid servants, affirmed, that in her young days she hadoften heard say, that on Midsummer eve, when it was well known allkinds of ghosts, goblins, and fairies become visible and walkabroad, the crusader used to mount his horse, come down from hispicture, ride about the house, down the avenue, and so to the churchto visit the tomb; on which occasion the church door most civillyswung open of itself; not that he needed it; for he rode throughclosed gates and even stone walls, and had been seen by one of thedairy maids to pass between two bars of the great park gate, makinghimself as thin as a sheet of paper.

All these superstitions I found had been very much countenanced bythe squire, who, though not superstitious himself, was very fond ofseeing others so. He listened to every goblin tale of theneighboring gossips with infinite gravity, and held the porter'swife in high favor on account of her talent for the marvellous. He washimself a great reader of old legends and romances, and often lamentedthat he could not believe in them; for a superstitious person, hethought, must live in a kind of fairy land.

Whilst we were all attention to the parson's stories, our earswere suddenly assailed by a burst of heterogeneous sounds from thehall, in which were mingled something like the clang of rudeminstrelsy, with the uproar of many small voices and girlish laughter.

The door suddenly flew open, and a train came trooping into theroom, that might almost have been mistaken for the breaking up ofthe court of Fairy. That indefatigable spirit, Master Simon, in thefaithful discharge of his duties as lord of misrule, had conceived theidea of a Christmas mummery or masking; and having called in to hisassistance the Oxonian and the young officer, who were equally ripefor any thing that should occasion romping and merriment, they hadcarried it into instant effect. The old housekeeper had beenconsulted; the antique clothes-presses and wardrobes rummaged, andmade to yield up the relics of finery that had not seen the lightfor several generations; the younger part of the company had beenprivately convened from the parlor and hall, and the whole had beenbedizened out, into a burlesque imitation of an antique mask.** Maskings or mummeries were favorite sports at Christmas in oldtimes; and the wardrobes at halls and manor-houses were often laidunder contribution to furnish dresses and fantastic disguisings. Istrongly suspect Master Simon to have taken the idea of his from BenJonson's Masque of Christmas.

Master Simon led the van, as "Ancient Christmas," quaintlyapparelled in a ruff, a short cloak, which had very much the aspect ofone of the old housekeeper's petticoats, and a hat that might haveserved for a village steeple, and must indubitably have figured in thedays of the Covenanters. From under this his nose curved boldly forth,flushed with a frost-bitten bloom, that seemed the very trophy of aDecember blast. He was accompanied by the blue-eyed romp, dished up as"Dame Mince Pie," in the venerable magnificence of a faded brocade,long stomacher, peaked hat, and high-heeled shoes. The young officerappeared as Robin Hood, in a sporting dress of Kendal green, and aforaging cap with a gold tassel.