cheerful songs of the peasantry, at the conclusion of their labours. The following lines from Italy, a Poem,' contain a brief, but pretty sketch of the • Vintage at Como:'

Along the shores, among the hills 'tis now
The hey-day of the Vintage; all abroad,
But most the young and of the gentler sex,
Busy in gathering; all among the vines,
Some on the ladder, and some underneath,
Filling their baskets of green wicker-work,
While many a canzonet and frolic laugh

Come through the leaves; the vines in light festoons
From tree to tree, the trees in avenues,

And every avenue a covered walk

Hung with black clusters. "Tis enough to make
The sad man merry, the benevolent one

Melt into tears-so general is the joy!

While up and down the cliffs, over the lake,

Wains oxen-drawn, and panniered mules are seen,
Laden with grapes, and dropping rosy wine.

October is the principal month for brewing beer, whence the name applied to very strong beer of OLD OCTOBER. In this month also is the great potatoe harvest. The corn harvest being over, the stonepickers go out again.

The sowing of wheat is generally completed in this month: when the weather is too wet for this occupation, the farmer ploughs up the stubble fields for winter fallows. Acorns are sown at this season, and the planting of forest and fruit trees takes place.

The interesting scenery of this month, as displayed in the various colours assumed by the fading leaves of trees and shrubs, as well as the general character of autumn, are admirably described by an anonymous poet.

STANZAS written in a PARK in SURREY, OCTOBER 1820.

The earlier frosts had long begun

Their work on ev'ry tenderer tree,

And nearly banished, one by one,
Blithe summer's tints of greenery;

For every bough's extremity

Turned slowly to an alien hue;
The ashes faded to a yellow,
The limes became all sickly sallow,
And tawney-red the hawthorns grew.
The beeches' gloss fled fast away,

And left them brown as iron ore;
And e'en the old oak's outer spray
Marks of this nightly searing bore;
And yester eve, the frequent shower
Shrouded the moon in wat'ry gloom,
And drenched the branches drooping low;
And now, a more relentless foe!
Hoarse wind of AUTUMN, thou art come!

By the loud uproar of the din,

Poured thro' yon swaying avanue;
Whose arching elms, to one within,
Appear some huge cathedral view;
And by those flickering leaves that strew
The late uncumbered tracks of deer-
And by that tossing pine, which fast
Stoops like some drifting shallop's mast,
Hoarse wind of Autumn, thou art here!

See how the deer are crowding round
Yon group of patriarchal oaks,
Whose wide-extended limbs rebound

Against the blast's assiduous strokes :
The dappled herd, with anxious looks,
And heads all earthward bending, move,
To pry where auburn acorns rest
New shaken from their cups above,—
And glean a rich autumnal feast.

Aye, wind of Autumn, wild and rude

Thou com'st to rend, with ruthless hand,

The sickening foliage of the wood;
For all that Spring, with nurture bland,
Of mild and tepid breezes fanned,
And fed with balmy dew and shower,
And all that Summer's sunny sky
Disclosed in rich maturity,
Must sink before thy wasting power.

Thy hands are busy, noisy blast,

In stripping each discoloured tree Of shoals of leaves which flutter past— Their ruin this, but sport to thee. And though thy violence we see,

Now tearing down a load, and now,
But what would fill an infant's hand;
Yet ere thou goest, each tree shall stand
With trunk unveiled, and leafless bough.
Yet no-the oak and beech shall still

Hold to the south some garland sere,
Nor lose these hard-kept honours till
The winter-wind, thy wild compeer,
Roar still more loudly in the ear.
And see, the holly stands secure,

It scorns you both, defies your bluster,
Nor loses leaf, nor coral cluster,

Unless for Christmas garniture.

Like leaves from some deciduous tree,
Since youthful fancies fall away,

Oh, may I like yon holly be,

And gain those stabler tastes, which stay,
Nor, as life's seasons change, decay!
May I accomplishments possess,

To make me-like the holly bow'r-
Retain a cheering leafiness,

Yea, even in age's wintry hour.

NOUEMBER.

Remarkable Days

In NOVEMBER 1823.

1.-ALL SAINTS.

IN the early ages of Christianity the word saint was applied to all believers, as is evident in the use of it by Saint Paul and Saint Luke; but the term was afterwards restricted to such as excelled in Christian virtues.-For some rural customs on this day, see T.T. for 1814, pp. 278-9. See also our last volume, p. 90.

Hallowe'en is the eve of this day, on which many D d

superstitious ceremonies are still observed in distant parts of the United Kingdom. The provincial proverb of To speak puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas,' is thus explained: About the feast of All Saints, the poor people in Staffordshire, and probably in Warwickshire, go from parish to parish a souling, as they call it; i. e. begging and puling (or singing small) for soul-cakes, or any good thing to make them merry.

2.-ALL SOuls.

In Catholic countries, on the eve and day of All Souls, the churches are hung with black; the tombs are opened; a coffin covered with black, and surrounded with wax lights, is placed in the nave of the church; and in one corner, figures in wood, representing the souls of the deceased, are halfway plunged into the flames.

5.-KING WILLIAM LANDED.

The glorious revolution of 1688 is commemorated on this day, when the throne of England became vested in the illustrious House of Orange. Although King William landed on the 5th of November, as is specified in the prayers of the Church for that day, the almanacks still continue the mistake of marking it as the fourth.

5.-POWDEr plot.

This day is kept to commemorate the diabolical attempt of the Papists to blow up the Parliament House. The best account of this nefarious transaction is detailed in Hume's History of England, vol. vi, pp. 33-38 (8vo edition, 1802).-See also T.T. for 1814, p. 280.

6. SAINT LEONARD.

Leonard, or Lienard, was a French nobleman of great reputation in the court of Clovis I; he was instructed in divinity by Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, and afterwards made Bishop of Limosin. Several miraculous stories are told of him by the monks, not

worth relating. He died about the year 559, and has always been implored by prisoners as their guardian saint.

9.-LORD MAYOR'S DAY.

The word mayor, if we adopt the etymology of Verstegan, comes from the antient English maier, able or potent, of the verb may or tan. King Richard I, A.D. 1189, first changed the bailiffs of London into Mayors; by whose example others were afterwards appointed.-See T.T. for 1818, p. 278, and for 1821, p. 269, for some pleasing lines on this day. A minute description of the Lord Mayor's Show, as it was managed in the year 1575, will be found in T.T. for 1820, p. 274.

11.-SAINT MARTIN.

He was a native of Hungary, and for some time followed the life of a soldier; but afterwards took orders, and was made Bishop of Tours in France, in which see he continued for twenty-six years. Martin died about the year 397, much lamented, and highly esteemed for his virtues. For some lines on this day, see T.T. for 1821, p. 271.

In some parts of England, the fine open weather which is occasionally experienced at the commencement of this month,—the last, lingering look of Autumn,-is termed St. Martin's little Summer.

*12. 1381.-ORDER OF FOOLS INSTITUTED. On St. Cunibert's day, Adolphus, Count of Cleves, in conjunction with the Count de Meurs and thirtyfive noblemen of Cleves, instituted this order under the appellation of' d' Order van't Geeken Gesellschap.' The original patent of creation was formerly preserved in the archives of Cleves, which, however, were totally destroyed by the French revolutionists upon their first irruption into Germany; and the only genuine copy of it which now exists, and of which, for the information of the curious, we have subjoined