CHAP. XXVIII.

Of the Feast of Sheep-shearing; an ancient Custom. THE Feast of Sheep-sheering, is generally a Time of Mirth and Joy, and more than ordinary Hospitality; indeed it is but little observed in these Northern Parts, but in the Southern it is pretty common. For on the Day they begin to sheer their Sheep, they provide a plentiful Dinner for the Sheerers, and for their Friends who come to visit them on that Occasion; a Table also, if the Weather permit, is spread in the open Village, for the young People and Children.

After what Manner soever this Custom reach'd us, it is certain it may boast of great Antiquity. It is mention'd in the Second Book of Samuel, as a Feast of great Magnificence, both for Grandeur of Entertainment and Greatness of Company. No less a Person than Absalom the King's Son was the Master of this Feast, and no less Persons were the Guests than the King's Sons, the Brethren of Absalom; nay it was a Feast that might enter

tain the King himself, or surely the King would never have been so importun'd, never would have receiv'd the Compliment so kindly. For 'tis said, It came to pass after two full Years, that Absalom had Sheep-sheerers in Baalhazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the King's Sons. And Absalom came to the King, and said, Behold, now thy Servant hath Sheep-sheerers, let the King, I beseech thee, and his Servants, go with thy Servant. And the King said, Nay, my Son, let us not all go, lest we be chargeable unto thee. Of this kind also was the Feast which Nabal made for his Sheerers, when David was driven to straits in the Wilderness, and sent his Servants to ask a Present of him. He calls the Day it was held on, a good Day; that is, a Day of plentiful Eating and Drinking. And therefore Nabal answer'd the Servants of David, Shall I then take my Bread and my Water, and my flesh that I have killed for my Sheerers, and give it unto Men, whom I know not whence they be? And further, it is said in the same Chapter, that so grand and magnificent was this Feast, that he had a Feast in his House, like the Feast of a King. We find also in the Book of Genesis, that Laban

went

went to sheer his Sheep, in which Time Jacob made his Escape, which Laban heard not of till the third Day. Of such great Antiquity then is this Custom, and tho' its Antiquity is not of such force as to palliate Luxury and Profuseness in these Entertainments: yet no doubt it will vindicate the Harmlessness of a moderate Feast upon this Occasion.

OBSERVATIONS ON CHAP. XXVIJI.

THE Author of the Convivial Antiquities tells us, that the Pastoral Life was anciently accounted an honourable one, particularly amongst the Jews and the Romans*. Mr. Bourne has given us Instances from the Old Testament of the festive Entertainments of the former on this Occasion; Pliny and

* Apud Latinos oves tondere, ut et sementem facere omnino non fuit licitum, priusquam Catulatio, hoc est, ex Cane sacrum fieret: ut Gyraldus testatur de Diis Gentium. Ex his ergò omnibus constat illam ovium tonsuram (quam luna decrescente à veteribus fieri fuisse solitam M. Varro testatur: de tempore autem oves lavandi atque tondendi vide Plin. lib. 18. c. 17.) magna cum festivitate, lætitia atque conviviis fuisse celebratam; id quod mirum non est. -Nam in Animalibus primum non sine causa putant oves assumptas, & propter Utilitatem & propter Placiditatem: Maximè enim hæ natura quietæ & aptissimæ ad vitam hominum, Ad cibum enim lac, & caseum adhibitum; ad Corpus restitum et pelles attulerunt. Itaque cum in illis tot præsertim numero tondendis plurimùm pastoribus atque famulis esset laboris exantlandum, justa profectò de causa Patresfamiliâs atque Domini illos conviviali hujusmodi lætitia recreare rursus atque exhilarare voluerunt.

Antiquit. Conviv. p. 62.

Varro may be consulted for the Manner of celebrating this Feast among the latter. The washing and shearing of Sheep was attended among them with great Mirth and Festivity: Indeed the Value of the Covering of this very useful Animal must have always made the shearing Time, in all pastoral Nations, a Kind of Harvest Home.

There is a beautiful Description of this Festivity in Dyer's Fleece, at the End of the first Book:

"At shearing Time, along the lively Vales,
"Rural Festivities are often heard:

"Beneath each blooming Arbor all is Joy
"And lusty Merriment: While on the Grass
"The mingled Youth in gaudy Circles sport,
"We think the golden Age again return'd,

"And all the fabled Dryades in Dance.

Leering they bound along, with laughing Air,
"To the shrill Pipe, and deep remurm'ring Cords
"Of th' ancient Harp, or Tabor's hollow Sound:
"While th' Old apart, upon a Bank reclin❜d,
"Attend the tuneful Carol, softly mixt

"With ev'ry Murmur of the sliding Wave,
"And ev'ry Warble of the feather'd Choir;
"Music of Paradise! which still is heard,
"When the Heart listens; still the Views appear
"Of the first happy Garden, when Content
"To Nature's flow'ry Scenes directs the Sight.

"With light fantastic Toe, the Nymphs

"Thither assembled, thither ev'ry Swain;

"And o'er the dimpled Stream a thousand Flow'rs,
"Pale Lilies, Roses, Vielets and Pinks,

"Mixt with the Greens of Burnet, Mint and Thyme,
"And Trefoil, sprinkled with their sportive Arms.
"Such Custom holds along th' irriguous Vales,

"From

From Wreakin's Brow to rocky Dolvoryn,

"Sabrina's early Haunt.

"The jolly Chear

"Spread on a mossy Bank, untouch'd abides

"Till cease the Rites: And now the

"Is gaily circled, and the jolly Chear

mossy Bank

Dispers'd in copious Measure: Early Fruits,
“And those of frugal Store, in Husk or Rind;
Steep'd Grain, and curdled Milk with dulcet Cream
"Soft temper'd, in full Merriment they quaff,
"And cast about their Gibes; and some apace
"Whistle to Roundelays: Their little ones
"Look on delighted; while the Mountain Woods
"And winding Vallies, with the various Notes

"

Of Pipe, Sheep, Kine, and Birds and liquid Brooks
"Unite their Echoes: Near at Hand

"The wide majestic Wave of Severn slowly rolls
"Along the deep divided Glebe: The Flood
"And trading Bark with low contracted Sail,
"Linger among the Reeds and copsy Banks
"To listen and to view the joyous Scene.".

Thus also of the washing and shearing Sheep in Thomson's Summer:

"In one diffusive Band

"They drive the troubled Flocks, by many a Dog
"Compell'd, to where the mazy-running Brook
"Forms a deep Pool; this Bank abrupt and high,
"And that fair spreading in a pebbled Shore.
"Urg'd to the Giddy Brink, much is the Toil,
"The Clamour much of Men, and Boys and Dogs,
"Ere the soft fearful People to the Flood
"Commit their woolly Sides; and oft the Swain
"On some impatient seizing, hurls them in:

"Embolden'd then, nor hesitating more,

« Fast,