My brother was anxious to know what quickstep they played, and
if it was "Havelock's Quick March"; but our friend said it was not a
quickstep at all, but something more like a hornpipe. Was it the College
or the Sailor's Hornpipe? It was neither, was the reply, as it had to be
played slowly, for the people danced to it while they marched in the
procession, and occasionally twirled their partners round; and then
after some further ceremonies they separated and all the people began to
dance both in the streets and through the houses, going in at one door
and out at another, if there was one, tumbling about and knocking things
over, and then out in the street again, and if not satisfied with their
partners, changing them, and off again, this kind of enjoyment lasting
for hours. Sometimes, if a man-of-war happened to be in the
neighbourhood, the sailors came, who were the best dancers of the lot,
as they danced with each other and threw their legs about in a most
astonishing fashion, a practice they were accustomed to when aboard
ship.
There were also shows and sometimes a circus, and the crowds that came
from the country were astonishing. Now and then there was a bit of a
row, when some of them had "a drop o' drink," but the police were about,
and not afraid to stop their games by making free use of their staves;
this, however, was the shady side of the great "Flurry" day.
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