USA > South Carolina > A Contribution to the History of the Huguenots of South Carolina: Consisting of Pamphlets > Part 8
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Humble as he was, however, he produced fruit which was destined to be permanent. From the practice of singing in this class, confidence was ac- quired, and the church was no longer dumb. The humble foundation being laid, a better taste began to develop itself. But some of his tunes possessed startling merit, and in the psalmody of those
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churches tunes are still sung which were taught to the parents of the present generation by the obscure Burbidge.
All the objects which were hoped to result from . the founding of Pineville were now accomplished. The people were blessed with health, a school flourished and placed the means of a classical edu- cation within the reach of many who would other- wise have wanted that advantage, and a church was opened every Sunday for religious worship. Let us now devote a short time to the consideration of social and domestic life in Pineville.
The inhabitants were all planters. They met with- out any consciousness of social inequalities, and as there were no persons either above or beneath them, their manners were distinguished by the most per- fect simplicity and absence of every sort of affecta- tion. They were all cotton planters, and had, therefore, the same interests, the same wishes, the same hopes, the same fears. In process of time, by means of intermarriage they were all connected with each other, and related by blood, so that it was a community in which the most perfect unity of sentiment and of thought prevailed. Their habits of living were as simple as their manners. It was long before any enterprising person conceived the idea of opening a market, so that the planters were supplied from the produce of their farms. On a certain day in every week a calf was killed and
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distributed among a club of eight persons, who united for that purpose. In the early life of the village, he who killed the calf, having for his portion the head as well as the loin, entertained all the vil- lagers at his house and regaled them with calf's head soup. On another certain day, a lamb or a porker (called a shoat) was killed and divided among four families. Then eight or sixteen would unite for the purpose of killing and distributing a cow. Thus for three days in the week a supply of butcher's meat was furnished. The wants of the remaining days were furnished from the resources of the poultry houses of the planters. In the course of time a beef market was opened twice a week for the sale of that article. The veal, lamb, and pork were always furnished as we have described. The Santee River being near, it might have been expected that fish would frequently find its way to the table ; but the supply was meagre, and fish was always a rarity. An enterprising Yankee in the neighbor- hood would have made a good business by following the occupation of a fisherman. The bream of the Santee, taken from the neighborhood of Pineville, is one of the most delicious fish that is eaten.
Pineville was an isolated community. Situated about fifty miles from Charleston, in a part of the district remote from the great thoroughfares, and never frequented by wayfaring men, it was cut off from all social intercourse with people elsewhere.
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When the month of June found all the villagers assembled for the summer, their feelings were some- what analogous to those of persons who meet to- gether on board of a ship for the purpose of making a long voyage. All commerce with the external world seemed interdicted. Entertaining an indefin- able distrust of the climate of the country, they re- garded their village with a sort of superstitious affection, and viewed as a calamity any accident which might make it necessary to spend a single night elsewhere. The air was not to be changed. Whether for better or for worse, he who commenced the season by breathing the air of Pineville, must continue to do so ; or, if he left it, he should not return before autumn. It is not strange, therefore, that the sense of mutual dependence was intense.
And sweet and balmy is that Pineville air; in- viting repose, tranquillizing the troubled frame, and filling the mind with sweet and hopeful thoughts. When the lungs, vexed and harassed by the dust of the metropolis and the cruel east winds of the coast, inhale the soft and fragrant breath of the pines, how voluptuous is the sensation of rest, of perfect re- pose ! How great a blessing to suffering humanity has God thus deposited in the most gloomy and desolate-looking portion of his creation !
The habits of every house were alike. At sun- rise breakfast was served, and the planters went out to visit their plantations. Those who owned estates
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in the neighborhood did this every day ; others at intervais, greater or less, throughout the week. But whether he visited his plantation or not, the planter was generally on his horse, and inspected those plantations which were within an easy ride. Hunt- ing also afforded the means of passing the time. Deer and foxes abound in the neighborhood, and the Santee Swamp would sometimes furnish a still more exciting sport by offering wolves and bears to the hunters. After the morning's ride was over, the post-office or the village store was the general rendezvous and lounging-place. Here politics and crops were the never-failing topics of conversation.
At one o'clock dinner was served. One old lady, who died in 1848, never dined later than half-past twelve. A portion of the afternoon was always de- voted to sleep. Every piazza was furnished wtih long benches, and these formed the rude beds on which the gentlemen invariably indulged in the lux- ury of a siesta.
The siesta over, and whilst the sun was still high above the horizon, the kettle would bubble for the evening refection, and hot tea and cakes would be offered to refresh those whose heavy sleep rendered some refreshment necessary. This early meal, of course, indicated that supper would close the labors of the day. And now the active duties of the day being over, and every family having refreshed themselves with tea or coffee, social life commenced.
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Every one came to tea prepared either to make or receive visits.
Bonnets and hats were articles of female dress which were entirely ignored in the Pineville evening visits. In attire a simple elegance prevailed. Young ladies usually dressed in white; the aged were clad in graver colors. Visits were uncere- monious. The guests were received in the piazza. No one ever expected to be invited into the house, and persons might spend a season in social inter- course with the people, without seeing the interior of any house but their own. Sometimes chairs were offered to the visitors, but, more generally, the long benches with which the piazza was furnished were the only seats. No refreshments were offered or expected. But if any one asked for a glass of water, the experienced servant would hand a suffi- cient number of glasses of the pure element to satisfy every one present. For the water (got from wells) was cold, clear, insipid, and refreshing, and all seemed to sympathize in each other's thirst.
But though the visiting was done at night, and the piazza the reception room, the company did not sit in the dark. In front of the house a fire of light-wood formerly, in later times of pine-straw, was kept constantly burning. The reasons for this practice were manifold. It diffused a cheerful light over the otherwise dark and gloomy lot. The smoke, too, was supposed to be conducive to health ;
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and the light certainly attracted night-flies and moths from the inferior lights of the dwelling. Around these fires the children would sport. Each little fellow would take a pride in having a little fire of his own ; the larger and more daring would show their courage by leaping through the flames. Around its cheerful blaze time seemed to fly on golden wings. It was literally light to the dwelling, and a house without its yard fire appeared desolate and sorrow-stricken. It was the daily task of the hostler to collect materials sufficient to keep the light burning until bedtime. By ten o'clock social life was over, and the repose of sleep sought. Whilst the visitor was preparing to return home, the servant lit his lantern, and with this simple but necessary escort, she trod the streets of the village with as much security as the halls of her own mansion.
Hunting, riding, and social visiting were the several and separate amusements of the sexes in Pineville. The chief amusement of which they par- took, in common, was dancing. The languid city belle, who cannot conceive of the exertion necessary to a dance in summer, except, indeed, under the exhilarating influence of a watering-place, may stare ; but the unsophisticated youth of both sexes in Pineville regarded dancing as both proper and natural. The month of June would be devoted to feeling at home, and then, by way of making a
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start, the Fourth of July would be celebrated by a ball. This first taste would be followed by a desire for more. During the heat of summer, parties, simple and of short duration, would be arranged by the gentlemen-a certain number, in turn, bearing the moderate expense and acting as managers, so as to have one every fortnight. At these parties the company would assemble early, and by midnight all would be quiet. As summer would wane the pas- sion would increase. The public assemblies were found to be of too rare occurrence, and all sorts-of expedients would be resorted to for the purpose of getting up a dance. If a lady should put her patch- work quilt in the quilting frame, the young ladies would go in the evening to assist in the interesting occupation of quilting, and the young gentlemen would go to assist the latter in threading their nee- dles. The rest may easily be guessed. In a short time the quilting frame would disappear, and the young people would be found threading the mazes of the dance. Benevolent ladies, too, would be im- portuned, and not in vain, to throw open their rooms to the young people. Private parties would multiply, and the season would close with the Jockey Club ball ; and now, all courtships being brought to a conclusion, and frost having opened the doors of the prison-house, the village would pour out its inhabitants and become, during the winter months, like a city of the dead.
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Nothing can be imagined more simple or more fascinating than those Pineville balls. Bear in mind, reader, that we are discussing old Pineville as it existed prior to 1836. No love of display gov- erned the preparations ; no vain attempt to outshine a competitor in the world of fashion. Refresh- ments were provided of the simplest character, such only as the unusual exercise, and sitting beyond the usual hours of repose, would fairly warrant. Nothing to tempt a pampered appetite. Cards were usually provided to keep the elderly gentlemen quiet, and the music was only that which the gentlemen's ser- vants could produce. The company assembled early. No one ever thought of waiting until bed- time to dress for the ball ; a country-dance always commenced the entertainment. The lady who stood at the head of the dancers was entitled to call for the figure, and the old airs, Ca Ira, Moneymusk, Haste to the Wedding, and La Belle Catharine were popular and familiar in Pineville long after they had been forgotten, as dances, everywhere else. Ah, well do we remember with what an ex- ulting step would the young man, who had secured the girl of his choice, exhibit his powers of the poetry of motion, when his partner called for the sentimental air of La Belle Catharine. How proudly would he perform the pas seul on one side of the column, while his partner did the same on the other ; how gracefully would they unite at
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the head of the column, to cross hands ; how tri- umphantly would he lead her down the middle ; and when the strain was closing, and the leader commenced with his bow the prolonged rest on the final note, how full of sentiment, of grace, and of courtesy was the bow with which he would salute his fair lady ! But those are scenes to be lived over in thought. No untutored imagination can con- ceive them. They are gone forever. Even in Pineville they have become things which were. Time can never restore them ; but so long as an old Pineville heart beats, so long will be embalmed in the most fragrant memory, the recollection of a Pineville country-dance.
The staple dance of the evening was the cotillion. But as this so much resembles the modern quadrille, it needs no special description. And now, when a country-dance, and one or two cotillions, had gently stirred up the spirits of the dancers, the signal would be given for the exhilarating reel. A six-handed reel ! Come back for an instant, thou inexorable past, and bring again before me that most fasci- nating of movements! No lover now claims the hand of his beloved ; this is no scene for sentiment, for soft whisper, for the gentle pressure of the thrilling hand. No ; this is a dance. Your partner must be a lively, merry, laughter-loving girl ; brisk, active, animated. Let none venture on it but the genuine votaries of Terpsichore. There is no room
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for affected display. You must retain your self- possession, for the movement is brisk ; but with self-possession there is no fear of awkwardness. The reel is called ; the sets are formed, three couple in each, who generally agree to dance together. The music commences, and off they bound. In rapid succession, we have the chase, the hey, the figure of eight, right and left, cross hands, down the middle, grand round, cross again, and off the whole party darts again, to recommence the intoxi- cating reel. Has your glove come off ? then dance ungloved, for you have no time to put it on again ; the hands must move as briskly as the feet. And as your pace quickens with intense delight, hark how the fiddlers sympathize with your joy ! Their stamps become quicker, the music plays with accel- erated time, and bows and fingers move with a rapidity which Paganini might envy but could never hope to emulate. The powers of endurance are taxed to the uttermost, and set after set retire ex- hausted. The last set left generally contains some unlucky wight of middle age, who ventures once more to enjoy the luxury of the dance. Now, how wickedly do his young companions (his partner, the instigator) persevere ! How gayly do they strive, by keeping him on his feet, to punish his presump- tion in venturing among them. But they know not that men of a certain age possess powers of endur- ance beyond their tender years, and after a pro-
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tracted contest find that they have caught a tartar. The company look on, all parties deeply sympathiz- ing, and the young are, at last, obliged to acknowl- edge themselves vanquished.
The reel is the offspring of the genuine love of dancing. There are none of the auxiliary motives to learn its movements. No room for the gratifica- tion of vanity in the display of graceful motion ; no prurient fancy to be gratified by the privilege of encircling the waist of a handsome girl, and feeling her tresses kiss your cheek at every step she takes in the whirl of the voluptuous waltz, or in the lasciv- ious movements of the Schottisch, which we once heard a friend blunderingly, but happily, call a Sottise. It is a scene of perpetual motion and good humor. No solemn face may venture on it ; for laughter, gay and unconcerned, is its proper accom- paniment. No soft nothings can here be whispered, for the duties of the dance require your constant attention ; no graceful insouciance can be tolerated, for the comfort and happiness of others depend ab- solutely upon your own good behavior, no less than upon theirs. Many persons, thinking it too fatiguing, have fancied that the Virginia reel might be a happy substitute for it. But this is long and languid. It is like diluted spirits substituted for pure champagne. It languished, and, in the phrase of an indictment, languishingly did live, until, at last, it died of its own stupidity.
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The evening's entertainment was always con- cluded with the boulanger, a dance whose quiet movement seemed to come in appropriately, in order to permit the revellers to cool off, before exposure to the night air. It was a matter of no small im- portance to secure a proper partner for this dance, because, by an old custom, whoever last danced with a lady, had a prescriptive right to see her home. And this reminds us of another peculiarity of Pine- ville life, viz., that though every family kept a car- riage, nobody ever thought of returning from a ball by any other mode but on foot. No carriage was ever seen in the streets after dark. The servant, with the lantern, marshalled the way ; and the lady, escorted by her partner, was conducted to her home. And as the season drew towards a close, how interest- ing became these walks ! how many words of love were spoken ! how many hearts saddened by the dis- covery of the hopelessness of an attachment ! how many persons, now living, whose destinies depended upon these walks ! To many a dancer the boulan- ger was a season of consciousness, of apprehension, of delight reined in, of hope and of fear ; and there are numbers still living, in whose recollections a certain dance of this description will remain in- delibly fixed.
Besides regular and occasional dancing parties, riding parties would be got up to promote inter- course between the sexes; for you must know,
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gentle reader, that love became an epidemic in Pineville, just like the fever, and that its exacerba- tions were always greatest when the season was drawing to a close. The proprietor of a plantation in the neighborhood would invite the young people to drive there on some afternoon and partake of the luxuries of plantation life. Then every young man hastened to secure a partner for the drive; and at the appointed hour, each in his gig (for in in those days gigs were, and buggies were not), the happy party would set off, bound on enjoyment. The amusements on such occasions would be such as spontaneously suggested themselves, but all was apt to terminate in the dance. And sometimes it would happen, that the eager lover, grasping at his opportunity, would pop the question on the outward drive, and if refused, the luckless wight would have to endure the mortification of the homeward drive -tête-à-tête with her who had rejected the offer of his love. Oh, blessed be the healing hand of time, which can make the recollection of even such scenes a source of enjoyment !
The serenade is one of the most obvious modes of paying delicate attentions to a lady ; and those who possessed musical skill frequently had their talents put in requisition by young lovers. We almost always remarked, however, the observance of a sort of rigid impartiality in the performance of this attention. If a serenading party went out,
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every young lady came in for her share of the com- pliment ; the only distinction being observed was, that the best airs and the longest time were devoted to those for whose favor the entertainment was specially provided.
The season was always closed by the races and the Jockey Club ball. The St. Stephen's race- course, about half a mile from Pineville, is one of the oldest and best in the State. The track runs over a level surface, and within it is a large pond, which, being drained and kept clear of trees, affords from every point an undisturbed view of the horses throughout the race. After the settlement of Pine- ville, the races were established for the end of Oc- tober ; and as the season is then comparatively safe, lovers of sport would there meet from various parts of the country. The races, which at that time con- tinued two days, were ushered in by a dinner and concluded by a ball. About fifty years ago, dancers of both sexes drew lots for both places and partners, so that there was, for the first two sets at least, no liberty of choice ; but the practice was discontinued too early for us to have any knowledge of it but from tradition. The purses were altogether made up by a moderate subscription, as no money was taken at the gates; and though the subscription was general, the stakes were too moderate to tempt the cupidity of professional sportsmen ; so that, I believe, no horse of distinction ever appeared on
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the course between the years 1794 and 1836. Since that time, the club has been remodelled, the time of meeting changed to January, the subscription in- creased, and the club now ranks among the most respectable in the State.
Before we quit the subject of amusements in Pineville, it is meet that we conclude by showing one of their most natural issues. Let us take you, reader, to a wedding. The spirit of improvement has pervaded every portion of the State, and a country wedding differs now very little from one celebrated in the city. A Charleston pastry-cook provides the entertainment, and Brissenden's band the music. The company is invited to assemble at a late hour, and no one is expected to stay over to breakfast. But it was not so in days of yore. It was not so when we hailed as a resident of Craven County. The events of 1836 have entirely changed the aspect of society, and the difference between the period before and that since that epoch is as great as is generally perceived in the course of a century. Before the wedding, a visit to Charleston was in- dispensably necessary. The bride-elect could not think of getting married, without making in person the arrangement of her trousseau. Then, a visit to Charleston was, by no means, an every-day occur- rence. An annual visit was common; but there were many who let years pass over without seeing the metropolis. The preparatory visit being made,
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and all arrangements completed, the day would be fixed and invitations extended. Several days be- fore the wedding the bridesmaids would assemble at the house of the betrothed, and to them were committed all the preparations for the feast. The master of the house furnished the materials, and the busy and active fingers of the bridesmaids trans- formed them into cakes and confections, jellies, custards, tarts, and all other dainties which the occasion demanded. The master and mistress ap- peared, as it were, to retire from the management of the household, and leave every thing to the con- trol of those young friends who came to attend their companion to the sacrifice, and to prepare her for it. On the evening appointed the bridegroom (who has been denied the entrée to the house since the arrival of the bridesmaids) arrives, the invited guests follow, and, at the hour appointed, the happy couple stand before the priest and receive the nup- tial benediction. And, as soon as this is pro- nounced, the fiddles, which are in waiting, strike up the time-honored air of " A Health to the Bride." Friends and relatives crowd up to offer their con- gratulations and good wishes, and the poor bride is at last permitted to take her seat, sadly in doubt whether the ceremony itself or the congratulations upon it were the severer trial. Now the waiters appear with tea and coffee, followed up directly with wine, cake, and cordials, and this over, the dancing commences.
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The first groomsman opens the dance with the bride, the groom with the first bridesmaid, and, by a time-honored custom, the air is " Haste to the Wedding." After this the dancing continues until near midnight, when supper is announced, and the bride is led into supper by the first groomsman. The supper table is a bona-fide supper table, ar- ranged to hold all the guests. Considerable in- genuity is shown in devising a suitable form, so as to afford the greatest accommodation, and in deco- rating it. Towers of cake, wreaths, ornaments of every description, may be seen, while by their side an ample provision of turkeys, of ducks, of hams, of rice, and of bread, all showing that it is not a sham, nor designed to be treated as such ; wine, too, flows in abundance ; in fact, the only article which appears to be scarce is water. Toasts are drunk ; jokes fly about, and all are happy, except the parties most concerned, who feel that, though happy, it is too newly to be quite at rest.
After supper the bride disappears. She is no longer seen in the festive hall ; but the music is playing, and the dancing is proceeding, and one by one the bridesmaids drop in, looking very mysteri- ously, and the dancing proceeds, not the less bois- terous from being after supper, and by degrees the elderly folks drop off, and the groom becomes miss- ing, and the hours wear on apace, and the dance be- comes more languid, and by two or three o'clock in
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