e is a drag-hunt to start from beside his
father's in the course of the day. In this ring, with his legs stretched
in a most lordly manner, sits, upon a deal chair, Mat himself, with
his hat on, basking in the enjoyment of unlimited authority. His dress
consists of a black coat, considerably in want of repair, transferred to
his shoulders through the means of a clothes-broker in the county-town;
a white cravat, round a large stuffing, having that part which comes in
contact with the chin somewhat streaked with brown--a black waistcoat,
with one or two "tooth-an'-egg" metal buttons sewed on where the
original had fallen off--black corduroy inexpressibles, twice dyed, and
sheep's-gray stockings. In his hand is a large, broad ruler, the emblem
of his power, the woful instrument of executive justice, and the signal
of terror to all within his jurisdiction. In a corner below is a pile
of turf, where on entering, every boy throws his two sods, with a hitch
from under his left arm. He then comes up to the master, catches his
forelock with finger and thumb, and bobs down his head, by way of making
him a bow, and goes to his seat. Along the walls on the ground is a
series of round stones, some of them capped with a straw collar or
hassock, on which the boys sit; others have bosses, and many of
them hobs--a light but compact kind of boggy substance found in the
mountains. On these several of them sit; the greater number of them,
however, have no seats whatever, but squat themselves down, without
compunction, on the hard floor. Hung about, on wooden pegs driven into
the walls, are the shapeless yellow "caubeens" of such as can boast the
luxury of a hat, or caps made of goat or hare's skin, the latter having
the ears of the animal rising ludicrously over the temples, or cocked
out at the sides, and the scut either before or behind, according to the
taste or the humor of the wearer. The floor, which is only swept every
Saturday, is strewed over with tops of quills, pens, pieces of broken
slate, and tattered leaves of "Reading made Easy," or fragments of old
copies. In one corner is a knot engaged at "Fox and Geese," or the "Walls
of Troy" on their slates; in another, a pair of them are "fighting
bottles," which consists in striking the bottoms together, and he whose
bottle breaks first, of course, loses. Behind the master is a third set,
playing "heads and points"--a game of pins. Some are more industriously
employed in writing their