y,
although all Madrid was _en fete_. It was the triumph of the people, and
their heirlooms do not take the form of priceless embroideries.

In former days the receptions at the Palace were known as _besamanos_
(to kiss hand). On Holy Thursday the Royal Family and all the Court
visit seven churches on foot--at least, that is the correct number,
though sometimes not strictly adhered to. As no vehicular traffic is
allowed on that day or on Good Friday, the streets where the royal
procession pass are swept and laid with fresh sand. The ladies are in
gala costume, and drag their trains behind them, all wearing the
national mantilla. All Madrid also visits its seven or less number of
churches, passing without obeisance before the high altars, on which
there is no Host,--as the people will tell you _su Majestad_ is
dead,--and after the _funcion_ is over there is a general parade in the
Puerta del Sol and the Carrera de San Geronimo, to show off the smart
costumes of the ladies, while the officers sit in chairs outside the
Government offices and smoke, admiring the prospect.

CHAPTER VII

POPULAR AMUSEMENTS

Nothing strikes one so much in studying the popular customs and
pleasures of Spain as the antiquity of them all. Constantly one finds
one's self back in prehistoric times, and to date only from the days
when Spain was a Roman province is almost modernity. No one can travel
through Spain, or spend any time there, without becoming aware that,
however many other forms of recreation there may be, two are universal
and all-absorbing in their hold on the widely differing
provinces--dancing and the bull-ring. In the Basque Provinces, the
national game of _pelota_, a species of tennis, played without rackets,
is still kept up, and is jealously cultivated in the larger towns, such
as Vitoria, San Sebastian, and Bilbao. In Madrid at the present time it
is played in large courts built on purpose, and attracts many strangers.
To view it, however, as a national sport, one should see it in some of
the mountain villages, where it is still the great recreation for
Sundays and religious _fiestas_. The working-classes also play at
throwing the hammer or crowbar. This is more especially the case in the
Northern provinces, where the workmen are a sound, healthy, and sober
race, enjoying simple and healthy amusements, and affording an excellent
example to those of countries considering themselves much more highly
civilised.

Pig