duets, harmoniously chanted in parts, and rendered with the utmost pathos.  It cannot be said that Gloucestershire folk are endowed with a large amount of musical talent; neither their “ears” nor their vocal chords are ever anything great, but what they lack in quality they make up in quantity, and I have listened to as many as forty songs during one evening—­some of them most entertaining, others extremely dull.  The songs the labourer most delights in are those which are typical of the employment in which he happens to be engaged.  Some of the old ballads, handed down from father to son by oral tradition, are very excellent.  The following is a very good instance of this kind of song; when sung by the carter to a good rollicking tune, it goes with a rare ring, in spite of the fact that it lasts about a quarter of an hour.  There would be about a dozen verses, and the chorus is always sung twice at the end of each verse, first by the carter and then by the whole company.

“Now then, gentlemen, don’t delay harmony,” Farmer Peregrine keeps repeating in his old-fashioned, convivial way, and thus the ball is kept a-rolling half the night.

     JIM, THE CARTER LAD.

     “My name is Jim, the carter lad—­
        A jolly cock am I;
      I always am contented,
        Be the weather wet or dry. 
      I snap my finger at the snow,
        And whistle at the rain;
      I’ve braved the storm for many a day,
        And can do so again.”

      (Chorus.)

       “Crack, crack, goes my whip,
          I whistle and I sing,
        I sits upon my waggon,
          I’m as happy as a king. 
        My horse is always willing;
          As for me, I’m never sad: 
        There’s none can lead a jollier life
          Than Jim, the carter lad.”

“My father was a carrier
Many years ere I was born,
And used to rise at daybreak
And go his rounds each morn. 
He often took me with him,
Especially in the spring. 
I loved to sit upon the cart
And hear my father sing. 
Crack, crack, etc.”

“I never think of politics
Or anything so great;
I care not for their high-bred talk
About the Church and State. 
I act aright to man and man,
And that’s what makes me glad;
You’ll find there beats an honest heart
In Jim, the carter lad. 
Crack, crack, etc.”

“The girls, they all smile on me
As I go driving past. 
My horse is such a beauty,
And he jogs along so fast. 
We’ve travelled many a weary mile,
And happy days have had;
For none can lead a jollier life
Than Jim, the carter lad. 
Crack, crack, etc.”

“So now I’ll wish you all good night
It’s time I was away;
For I know my horse will weary
If I much longer stay. 
To see your smiling faces,
It makes my heart quite glad. 
I hope you’ll drink your kind applause
To Jim, the carter lad. 
Crack, crack, etc.”