The French wars
were succeeded by that of the American Revolution, and not before the
close of that struggle, may the custom of bundling be said to have
received its deathblow, and even then it _died hard_.
Its final disuse was brought about by a variety of causes, among which
may be named the improved condition of the people after the Revolution,
enabling many to live in larger and better warmed houses, and in the
very few places where the ministers dared to touch the subject in the
pulpit, as in Dedham, already referred to, a decided effect was
produced, but it was confined to the neighborhood, having very little
effect on the general custom. Probably no single thing tended so much to
break up the practice as the publication of a song, or ballad, in an
almanac, about 1785.
This ballad described in a free and easy style the various plans adopted
by those who bundled, and rather more than hinted at the results in
certain cases. Being published in an almanac, it had a much larger
circulation than could have been obtained for it in any other way (tract
societies not being then in vogue), and the descriptions were so _pat_,
that each one who saw them was disposed to apply them in a joking way to
any other who was known to practice bundling; and the result was, such a
general storm of banter and ridicule that no girl had the courage to
stand against it, and continue to admit her lovers to her bed.
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