Bundling; Its Origin, Progress and Decline in America Part 3

The foregoing version is evidently not complete, several verses having been left out on account of their containing _more truth than poetry_, but these may be supplied from a ma.n.u.script copy, evidently made from memory, with considerable variations from the printed copy, which by no means improve it, though the schoolmaster did his best, and probably saved for us a very complete version of the ballad as it pa.s.sed from mouth to mouth before the printed copy was made.

It was transcribed from a volume of ma.n.u.script ballads in the handwriting of Israel Perkins, of Connecticut, written in 1786, when he was eighteen years old, and teaching school.

THE Wh.o.r.e ON THE SNOW CRUST.

1. Adam at first was formed of dust, As we find on record; And did receive a wife cal'd Eve, By a creative word.

2. From Adam's side a crooked bride, We find complete in form; Ordained that they in bed might lay And keep each other warm.

3. To court indeed they had no need, She was his wife at first, And she was made to be his aid, Whose origin was dust.

4. This new made pair full happy were, And happy might remained, If his help meet had never eat The fruit that was restrained.

5. Tho' Adam's wife destroyed his life In manner that is awfull; Yet marriage now we all allow [To] Be both just and lawfull.

6. And now a days there is two ways, Which of the two is write To lie between sheets sweet and clean Or sit up all the night.

7. But some suppose bundling in clothes The good and wise doth vex; Then let me know which way to go To court the fairer s.e.x.

8. Whether they must be hug'd and buss'd When setting up all night; Or whether [they] in bed may lay, Which doth reason invite?

9. Nature's request is, give me rest, Our bodies seek repose; Night is the time, and 'tis no crime To bundle in our cloaths.

10. Since in a bed, a man and maid May bundle and be chaste: It doth no good to burn up wood It is a needless waste.

11. Let coat and shift be turned adrift, And breeches take their flight, An honest man and virgin can Lie quiet all the night.

12. But if there be dishonesty Implanted in the mind, Breeches nor smocks, nor scarce padlocks The rage of l.u.s.t can bind.

13. Cate, Nance and Sue proved just and true, Tho' bundling did practise; But Ruth beguil'd and proved with child, Who bundling did despise.

14. Wh.o.r.es will be wh.o.r.es, and on the floor Where many has been laid, To set and smoke and ashes poke, Wont keep awake a maid.

15. b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are not at all times got In feather beds we know; The strumpet's oath convinces both Oft times it is not so.

16. One whorish dame, I fear to name Lest I should give offence, But in this town she was took down Not more than eight months sence.

17. She was the first, that on snow crust, I ever knew to gender I'll hint no more about this wh.o.r.e For fear I should offend her.

18. 'Twas on the snow when Sol was low, And was in Capricorn, A child was got, and it will not Be long ere it is born.

19. Now unto those that do oppose The bundling traid, I say Perhaps there's more got on the floor, Than any other way.

20. In ancient books no knowledge is Of these things to be got; Whether young men did bundle then, Or whether they did not.

21. Sence ancient book says wife they took, It dont say how they courted; Whether young men did bundle then, Or by the fire sported.

[But some do hold in times of old, That those about to wed, Spent not the night, nor yet the light, By fire, or in the bed.]

22. They only meant to say they sent A man to choose a bride; Isaac was so, but let me know, If any one beside.

23. Men don't pretend to trust a friend To choose him sheep or cows; Much more a wife whom all his life He does expect to house.

24. Sence it doth stand each one in hand To happyfy his life; I would advise each to be wise, And choose a prudent wife.

25. Sence bundling is not a thing That judgment will procure; Go on young men and bundle then, But keep your bodies pure.

Since this work went to press we have been favored, by one of our antiquarian friends in Ma.s.sachusetts, with a copy of another poetical blast against the practice of bundling. It was written in the latter part of the last, or the first decade of the present century, by a learned and distinguished clergyman settled in Bristol county, Ma.s.sachusetts, who was a graduate of Harvard University, and a doctor of divinity. The original ma.n.u.script from which our copy is made, is very carefully written out, with corrections apparently of a later date, and now undoubtedly appears for the first time in printed form.

A POEM AGAINST BUNDLING._Dedicated to ye Youth of both s.e.xes_.

1. Hail giddy youth, inclined to mirth, To guilty amours p.r.o.ne, Come blush with me, to think and see How shameless you are grown.

2. 'Tis not amiss to court and kiss, Nor friendship do we blame, But bundling in, women with men, Upon the bed of shame;

3. And there to lay till break of day, And think it is no sin, Because a smock and petticoat Have chance to lie between.

4. Such rank disgrace and scandal base, All modest youth will shun, For 'twill infest, like plague or pest, And you will be undone.

5. Let boars and swine lie down and twine, And grunt, and sleep, and snore, But modest girls should not wear tails Nor bristles any more.

6. Let rams the sheep mount up and leap, Without restraint or blame, But will young men act just like them; Oh, 'tis a burning shame!

7. It is not strange that horses range Unfettered to the last, But youthful l.u.s.ts in fetters must Be chained to virtue fast.

8. Dogs and b.i.t.c.hes wear no breeches, Clothing for man was made, Yet men and women strip to their linen, And tumble into bed.

9. Yes, brutal youth, it is the truth, Your modesty is gone, And could you blush, you'd think as much, And curse what you have done.

10. To have done so some years ago, Was counted more disgrace Than 'tis of late to propagate A spurious b.a.s.t.a.r.d race.

11. Quit human kind and herd with swine, Confess yourself an wh.o.r.e; Go fill the stye, there live and die, Or never bundle more.

12. Shall gentlemen with ladies join To practice like the brutes, Then let them keep with cattle and sheep, And fodder on their fruits.

13. This cursed course is one great source Of matches undesigned, Quarrels and strife twixt man and wife, And b.a.s.t.a.r.ds of their kind.

14. But in excuse of this abuse It oftentimes is said, Father and mother did no other Than strip and go to bed.

15. But grant some did as you have said, Yet do they not repent, And wish that you may never do What they so much lament?

16. A stupid a.s.s can't be more base Than are those guilty youth Who fill with smart a parent's heart, And turn it into mirth.

17. Others do plead hard for the bed, Their health and weariness, So drunkards will drink down their swill, And call it no excess.