Before putting his lips to the liquor which was brought for them, Dennis
drank in a loud voice the health of Lord George Gordon, President of the
Great Protestant Association; which toast Hugh pledged likewise, with
corresponding enthusiasm. A fiddler who was present, and who appeared
to act as the appointed minstrel of the company, forthwith struck up a
Scotch reel; and that in tones so invigorating, that Hugh and his friend
(who had both been drinking before) rose from their seats as by previous
concert, and, to the great admiration of the assembled guests, performed
an extemporaneous No-Popery Dance.
Chapter 39
The applause which the performance of Hugh and his new friend elicited
from the company at The Boot, had not yet subsided, and the two dancers
were still panting from their exertions, which had been of a rather
extreme and violent character, when the party was reinforced by the
arrival of some more guests, who, being a detachment of United Bulldogs,
were received with very flattering marks of distinction and respect.
The leader of this small party--for, including himself, they were but
three in number--was our old acquaintance, Mr Tappertit, who seemed,
physically speaking, to have grown smaller with years (particularly as
to his legs, which were stupendously little), but who, in a moral point
of view, in personal dignity and self-esteem, had swelled into a giant.
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