At this time there was no place of worship nearer than Port Hope, where the marriage ceremony could be legally performed.  According to the Colonial law, if a magistrate resides more than eighteen miles from a church, he is empowered to marry parties applying to him for that purpose, after three written notices have been put up in the most public places in the township, with the names and residences of the parties for at least a fortnight previous to the marriage.  I witnessed several of these marriages during my stay in Darlington, some of which were highly amusing.

One morning a near neighbour presented himself and a very pretty young woman, as candidates for matrimony.  He was an American by birth, and a shrewd, clever, sensible person.  After the ceremony, the bridegroom invited me to partake of the wedding-dinner, and I went.

The dinner was very good, though not served exactly in the English fashion.  We, however, managed to enjoy ourselves very much.  After tea, dancing commenced, to the music of two fiddles, when country-dances, reels, and French fours were all performed with much spirit.  The music was very good, the dancing but indifferent.  I could not help thinking

 “How ill the motion with the music suits,
  So Orpheus fiddled, and so danced the brutes.”

During the pauses between the dances; some lady or gentleman would favour the company with a song.  Then plays—­as they are called—­were introduced; such as hunt the slipper, cross questions and crooked answers, ladies’ toilette, and several others of the same kind, in which forfeits had to be redeemed by the parties making mistakes in the game—­a procedure of course productive of much noise, kissing, and laughter.  Refreshments were handed round in great profusion, and the entertainment wound up with a dance, which, I believe, is of purely American origin.  A chair is placed in the middle of the room, on which a young lady is seated; the company then join hands, and dance round her, singing these elegant lines:—­

“There was a young woman sat down to sleep,
 Sat down to sleep, sat down to sleep;
 There was a young woman sat down to sleep,
 Heigh-ho!—­heigh-ho!—­heigh-ho!

“There was a young man to keep her awake,
 To keep her awake, to keep her awake;
 There was a young man to keep her awake,
 Heigh-ho!—­heigh-ho!—­heigh ho!

“John R----- his name shall be,
His name shall be, his name shall be;
John R----- his name shall be,
Heigh-ho!—­heigh-ho!—­heigh-ho!

The gentleman named walks up to the lady, salutes her, raises her from the chair, and seats himself in her stead, the rest dancing round, and singing as before, only substituting the gentleman, and naming the lady who is to release the gentleman in the same way, till all the ladies and gentlemen have been seated in their turn.

As soon as this queer species of Mazurka was concluded, the company broke up, seemingly well pleased with their entertainment.  The introduction of English manners and customs during the last quarter of a century has tended greatly to improve society.  It is now only amongst the lower orders that parties of this kind would be tolerated.