In those thinly inhabited districts a peasant often has several miles to
walk after the hours of labor, to visit his mistress; those who have
reciprocally entertained the _belle passion_ will easily imagine that
before the lovers grow tired of each other's company the night will be
far enough advanced; nor is it surprising that a tender-hearted damsel
should be disinclined to turn her lover out over bogs and mountains
until the dawn of day. The fact is, that under such circumstances she
admits a _consors lecti_, but not in _nudatum corpus_. In a lonely Welsh
hut this bedding has not the alarm of ceremony; from sitting, or perhaps
lying, on the hearth, they have only to shift their quarters to a heap
of straw or fern covered with two or three blankets in a neighboring
corner. The practice only takes place with _this view of
accommodation_."
Still another glimpse of this favorite Welsh custom is presented by a
tourist in 1807.[10] He says:
"One evening, at an inn where we halted, we heard a considerable bustle
in the kitchen, and, upon enquiry, I was let into a secret worth
knowing. The landlord had been scolding one of his maids, a very pretty,
plump little girl, for not having done her work; and the reason which
she alleged for her idleness was, that her master having locked the
street door at night, had prevented her lover enjoying the rights and
delights of _bundling_, an amatory indulgence which, considering that it
is sanctioned by custom, may be regarded as somewhat singular, although
it is not exclusively of Welsh growth.
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