The Household of Sir Thomas More Author:Richard Garnett, Anne Manning Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: end; and, albeit, as Jacky one day angrilie remarked, when she had beene teazing him, " Bess, thy witt is stupidnesse ;" yet, for one who talks soe much at rando... more »m, no one can be more keene when she chooseth. Father sayd of her, half fondly, half apologeticallie to Erasmus, " Her wit has a fine subtletie that eludes you almoste before you have time to recognize it for what it really is." To which, Erasmus readilie assented, adding, that it had ye rare meritt of playing less on persons than things, and never on bodilie defects. Hum !—I wonder if they ever sayd as much in favour of me. I know, indeede, Erasmus calls me a forward girl. Alas ! that may be taken in two senses. Grievous work, overnighte, with ye churning. Nought wd persuade 'Gillian but that ye creame was bewitched by Gammer Gurney, who was dis- satisfyde last Friday with her dole, and hobbled away mumping and cursing. At alle events, ye butter wd not come ; but mother was resolute not to have soe much goode creame wasted ; soe sent for Bess and me, Daisy and Mercy Giggs, and insisted on our churning in turn till ye buttercame, if we sate up all nighte for't. 'Twas a hard saying; and mighte have hampered her like as Jephtha his rash vow: howbeit, soe soone as she had left us, we turned it into a froliok, and sang Chevy Chase from end to end, to beguile time; ne'erthelesse, the butter wd not come ; soe then we grew sober, and, at ye instance of sweete Mercy, chaunted ye 119th Psalme; and, by the time we had attayned to "Lucerna pedibus," I heard ye buttermilk separating and splashing in righte earnest. 'Twas neare midnighte, however ; and Daisy had fallen asleep on ye dresser. Gillian will ne'er be convinced but that our Latin brake the spell. Erasmus went to Richmond this morning with Polus (for so he Latinizes ...« less