Page:Under the greenwood tree (1872 Volume 1).pdf/93

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CHRISTMAS MORNING.
79

The music on Christmas mornings was frequently below the standard of church-performances at other times. The boys were sleepy from the heavy exertions of the night; the men were slightly wearied; and now, in addition to these constant reasons, there was a dampness in the atmosphere that still farther aggravated the evil. Their strings, from the recent long exposure to the night air, rose whole semitones, and snapped with a loud twang at the most silent moment; which necessitated more retiring than ever to the back of the gallery, and made the gallery throats quite husky with the quantity of coughing and hemming required for tuning in. The vicar looked cross.

When the singing was in progress, there was suddenly discovered to be a strong and shrill reinforcement from some point, ultimately found to be the school-girls' aisle.

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