But, on allowance day, those who visited the great house farm were peculiarly excited and noisy.

While on their way, they would make the dense old woods, for miles around, reverberate with their wild notes.

These were not always merry because they were wild.

On the contrary, they were mostly of a plaintive cast, and told a tale of grief and sorrow.

In the most boisterous outbursts of rapturous sentiment, there was ever a tinge of deep melancholy.