Rutting

“ If a Lute was left in the mighty chasm, its remains might be there still. But how could an infant be said to leave or abandon a Lute? Would he not try, so well as our memory serves, to first get it into his mouth? Would not his chubby hands, quite stout enough for destructive arts, tear the strings apart and feed the music to the nearest cat? Would it be a lute at all when ultimately relinquished? And if the babe derived pleasure from ill-treated and squalling strings, why should he leave the lute behind? As well say that the suckling abandoned there a fishing-rod! ”

“ Rutledge, with an almost imperceptible compression of the lips, as, bending forward, he startled the eager horses with a galling lash of the whip.
Grace was quite white with alarm as we reached the village.
"Mr. Rutledge, why do you drive so frightfully fast? I am terrified to death." ”

“ Ruction, ructions; fighting, squabbling, a fight, a row. It is a memory of the Insurrection of 1798, which was commonly called the 'Ruction.' Rue-rub; when a person incautiously scratches an itchy spot so as to break the skin: that is rue-rub. (Derry.) From rue, regret or sorrow. Rury; a rough hastily-made cake or bannock. (Morris: Monaghan.) Rut; the smallest bonnive in a litter. ”

“ Ruth knew her road well, and as soon as she turned into the highway that led to the county seat she let her horse out, and they fairly flew. She passed a number of men, riding all of them toward the court-house, but she dashed by them too rapidly for them to speak to her or to recognize her in the dark. As she came near the village the riders increased in numbers, so she drew in her horse and turned into a by-lane which skirted the back of the court-green and led near the lawyers’ offices. ”

“ Six or seven times at least, the horse, painfully dragging us the whole way by the strain of every nerve and sinew, got stuck in the mud, and was to be flogged till he plunged out of it. More than once we tottered upon ridges of incrusted mud, when a very little matter would have turned us over. I say nothing about Rutland—I abhor and disdain a pun—but we did nothing but cross ruts to avoid puddles, and cross them back again to avoid stones, and the ruts were all so deep as to leave but one semicircle of the wheel visible. ”

“ A judge, joking a young barrister, said, "If you and I were turned into a horse and an ass, which would you prefer to be?"—"The ass, to be sure," replied the barrister. "I've heard of an ass being made a judge, but a horse never." ”

“ So she sang and he said, ‘Nay, thou hast achieved nought.’ Whereupon she threw the lute from her hand in anger and said, ‘We have done our best: if thou have aught, favour us with it.’ Quoth he, ‘Bring me a lute which no hand has touched.’ So I bade the servant bring him a new lute and he tuned it and preluding in a mode I knew not, sang the following verses:
Across the middle dusk of night a maid fares swift and straight, Who knows the visitation-tides, to where her love doth wait. ”

“ If the horse falls down, it is not yours that breaks its knees; if the shafts suddenly snap asunder, they are not yours that are damaged. And you need not be imposed on, unless you are flat enough to ask cabby his fare, and then it serves you right. ”

“ The now soiled and torn broadcloth, even upon its spare ebon rack, still held the Judge’s outline in its creases. Ludicrously pitiful the picture, and the crowd swayed and murmured.
The Judge rose to his feet. He was thinking of green fields and boyish days, of the clear brook beyond the pasture, of the pair of honest black feet that had timed their pace to his. ”

“ How to get out of the old rut without twisting off the wheel, or snapping the shafts, or breaking the horse's leg, is a question not more appropriate to every teamster than to every Christian worker. Having once got out of the old rut, the next thing is to keep out. There is nothing more killing than ecclesiastical humdrum. ”

“ There is no sparing the rod and spoiling the child, and when the master wishes to punish one of them, the small offender is held on his back, with his legs up in the air, and receives so many cuts on the soles of his feet, and while the punishment lasts he howls piteously. ”

“ If it shall happen to any gentleman that his horse fayleth him, or himself be unarmed in such wise as he cannot conveniently accomplish the whole courses, then it shall be lawful for his felowe to finish up the courses. ”

“ Along the course at a brisk trot had come a sweatered figure, with cap pulled low, a man of lined and battered visage, who seemed to trot with a purpose, and yet with a purpose not to be discerned, for none pursued him and he appeared to pursue no one. ”

“ If any of them be injured, you shall be dealt with according to the regular punishments.
'When the horses or cattle are seeking one another, or when your followers, male or female, abscond, presume not to leave the ranks to pursue them. But let them be carefully returned. I will reward you (among the people) who return them according to their value. But if you leave your places to pursue them, or if you who find them do not restore them, you shall be dealt with according to the regular punishments. ”

“ A violent blow on the shoulder, evidently intended for the head, made him stagger for a few moments; but he held the papers tight, and suddenly darting to the opposite side of the road, jumped over the hedge. ”

“ At a word of command, given by the proprietor of the gander, the pulling, properly so called, commences. Each villain as he passes under the rope, makes a grab at the throat of the devoted bird—the end and object of the tourney being to pull off his head. ”

“ Should your decision upon the question I have proposed be favorable, your consent to accompany me in my ride will be understood as a signal that you have accepted my graver suit. If your conclusion is adverse to my hopes, you can signify the same to me in a letter, to be handed me when I ask for you. This course will spare us both embarrassment—perhaps pain. ”

“ The enraged major stormed and accused the servants of stealing it, which only produced a tumult and a storm of denials from them all. “Now,” cried the major, “is an excellent opportunity to test the seeing powers of Ruth. Bring her in at once and let her try if she can find my pouch-belt.” Accordingly a tumbler was filled with water, and Mrs. W. placing it on her left hand made passes over it with her right. ”

“ The word rue is doubtless of the same root as 'ruth,' and to rue is to be sorry for, to have remorse. Ruth is the English equivalent of the Latin ruta, and in early English appeared as 'rude.' As regret is [Pg 151] always more or less a mark of repentance, it was the most natural thing in the world for the herb of ruth, or sorrow, to become the herb of repentance ”

“ But with a running martingale, the rider, in order to reward the horse for bringing his head into proper position, would have to slacken out the reins with a promptness that would be seldom attainable, and with an entire disregard of control over the animal. ”

“ Now, if you trample on any one, or upset a light vehicle, though you risk, and perhaps break, your own bones, yet you are liable for damages; and this fact is so well known that a suit will be promptly begun against you. ”

“ When a man contemptuously rushes against the hands or legs of any person of a higher caste, or of a teacher, or mounts the horse, elephant, coach, etc., of the king, he shall have one of his legs and one of his hands cut off or pay a fine of 700 panas. ”

“ As an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory, the instructor should first of all show her pupil how the trot is correctly executed, either without a skirt or with one pinned back, so that the position of her legs may be seen. ”

“ I grant that, when the legs alone are not sufficiently powerful, as a means of conduct, to impose upon the horse, by my will, the position of equilibrium, so as to paralyze movements of revolt originating in the animal's will, I employ the spurs. ”

“ But eight years are too many to permit it to skip, when the bridgeheads (if the figure may be changed) at each end are no stronger than they are here, and when the seer first denies, then admits, then denies again, that what took place in this time would make 'a great deal' of difference in what he saw. ”

“ The effect of this style of cutting is, if one be thrown, to transform one into a flattered or libelous likeness of Lilian Russell in her naval uniform, prepared to scamper away from one's horse, and from any other creatures with eyes, but with one's bones unbroken and one's face unscathed by being dragged and pounded over the road, or by being kicked. ”

“ Rutler removed the cloak which enveloped the face of the adventurer, who saw a man kneeling beside him and threatening him with a dagger. The night was clear; the chevalier could distinguish perfectly the features of the colonel; they were absolutely unknown to him.
"My lord! remember your promise," said Rutler, who did not evince the slightest surprise when the face of the adventurer was seen.
"How! he does not perceive his mistake," thought the astonished chevalier. ”

“ While valour, then, bids us take our fences as they come, discretion teaches us that each should be accomplished in the manner most suitable to its peculiar requirements. When a bank offers foothold, and we see the possibility of dividing a large leap by two, we should pull back to a trot, and give our horse a hint that he will do well to spring on and off the obstacle in accordance with a motion of our hand. ”

“ Where the horse shows a disposition to resist, the groom who attends upon it, if present, should be allowed to handle the mouth, the judge being content to look and form his opinion from what he sees. ”

“ Now the judge became excited; however, he stepped forward and shouted into his ear: "Did you sell your cow to these six men?" The man, on his part, bent forward, yelling into the judge's ear, "Oh, psh—a—aw!" ”

“ A low wave of astonished voices went whispering over the courtroom, from back to front, but the judge, ignoring the two revolvers which still lay on the table fifteen feet away, and the livid face of the man from whose pockets they had been drawn, rapped sharply with his gavel. ”

“ Whereas, failing in her first duty, she hath by that failure failed in all; for whoso, clinging to a rope, severeth it above his hands, must fall; it being no defense to claim that the rest of the rope is sound, neither any deliverance from his peril, as he shall find. ”

“ Her horse was a stout, well-shaped animal. Master Rupert lifted her down amid her shrieks—the sight of him frightened her; but he treated her gently, laughed, kissed her, and gave her money. Then he jumped on the horse, sitting sideways like a woman ”

“ To one who fences or has used the broad sword a feeling for oppositional line should come as second nature. A long sweeping stroke must be parried or opposed frankly; the riposte must also be parried. A bout is a picturesque composition of two men and two minds in which unity of the whole and of the parts is preserved by the balance of opposed measures. The analogy is appropriate. The artist stands off brush in hand [pg 51] and fights his subject to a finish, the force of one stroke neutralizing and parrying another. ”

“ Such fretting and fuming brutes are not fit to ride, and should be put through a course of breaking lessons, preferably with the long reins, and be punished by being compelled to rein back, walk and halt at word of command. If it is inconvenient to have them properly broken, they should be driven in harness at a walk, and be kept standing about as much as possible to teach them obedience. ”

“ I shall never come to the Parsonage if you talk to me about it. We don't have time for duty at Rutledge now-a-days. Oh! Mrs. Arnold, it seems like a different place. Why don't you come and see how fine the house looks. There's to be a masquerade on the Fourth. You should come and see how beautifully it will be decorated, and how pretty all our dresses will be. ”

“ That is to say, Ruth got out of the feather-bed, and had Turk carry it up-stairs, while she took the handkerchief and the marble-bag off from the Judge, and the postage-stamp and the red crinkly paper off from Mrs. "Judge," and put these things in her pocket. ”

“ There is, in German, a very interesting word which illustrates 180 this fact to an extent which it would be difficult to parallel completely in English. By the side of the verb reiten, ‘to ride,’ a noun ritter exists, of which the original meaning was merely a rider. Like our word ‘beggar,’ this ritter was specialised in meaning, and applied to one who rides habitually and as a profession, i.e. a warrior who fights on horseback. ”

“ When, from restlessness, a horse endeavors to break away, the curb-reins should be taken, one in each hand, and every time he attempts to run, a sharp pull should be made upon his mouth by means of these reins ”

“ Every rider shall, immediately after each heat is run, be obliged to come to the ending post with his horse, mare, or gelding, then and there to alight, and not before, and there to weigh to the satisfaction of the judges appointed for that purpose. ”

“ It will be seen, therefore, that positive rules cannot be laid down as to either the size, make, shape, or material of the finger-guards; as each individual must be suited according to the peculiar nature of his own fingers, be they callous or tender, strong or weak, clumsy or dexterous. ”

“ One man should stand at the rump, on the left side, to push him when the legs are drawn up together; and one man should hold him steadily by the head, standing in front of him; and as soon as the horse is down, that man should throw himself on the neck, and incline the nose upward, by lifting the halter ”