Oldal 52 [52]
KO
DRE: TAMES "RIVER ELANTATJON :BELT
zt — tm — — -- ae —
For dessert, pound cake, mince pie, lemon pudding, raspberry puffs,
jelly, amber-colored and purple with sylabubs, blanc mange, one
couleur de rose, like the light of Aurora’s cheek, the other typical
of innocence and in Russia of morning, snow white. Champagne,
sparkling like wit, in cranelike glasses. A contemplative mind
will observe light, volatile particles ascending with accelerative
velocity. Ambitious, evanescent aspirants, they hasten to the top
only to expire. Madeira and Malaga also revolve in their proper
orbits; cloth removed.
‘Third course: Apples, red and green—the red grow at
Tedington. Almonds, raisins, olives (de gustibus non dis¬
putandum ), sweetmeats, brandy peaches, and cheese (old English).
“The sun now sinking in the west, it grows dim crepuscular;
candles are lit, healths drunk, easy slipshod dialogues, an occasional
cross-fire of puns and concerts, ‘a moment there and gone forever,
interspersed with diagonal glances across the table, a sweet, sur¬
reptitious meeting of the eyes.’
A pretty picture of those good old days!
In 1852, [edington again changed hands, becoming the prop¬
erty of Colonel Richard Baylor, of Essex County. About this time
the plantation was considered one of the very finest on James River,
and contained about its original five thousand acres of land with
a river front of nearly three miles. Hundreds of slaves tilled the
broad, fertile fields. It is said that during harvest nearly three
hundred men would be at work in the wheat fields. A hundred
or more dusky “cradlers’” cut a swath of yellow, heavy-headed,
breast-high wheat. A binder followed each “‘cradler,” gathering
up the wheat into sheaves, a crowd of young darkies stacked the
wheat, and were followed by a long line of the older men
(shockers) who gathered the heavy, golden sheaves, and built them
into substantial shocks, in straight lines across the fields. ‘The over¬
seer rode along, giving orders, or speaking words of encourage¬
ment to the harvest gang. The plantation owner was on horse¬
back or in the carriage, perhaps, with some visitor or, maybe, some
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