PICNICS AND WATER-PARTIES
Many things contribute to draw people into the country and away from
town in the month of September; therefore there is a far larger number
in each and every neighbourhood inclined for a picnic or a water-party
than in the three previous months, June, July, and August.
Picnic parties are sometimes invitation parties, and on other occasions
contribution parties, or parties which partake in a measure of the
character of both.
=Picnics by Motor-Car and Picnics by Rail.=--Almost every county has its
show place, or its ruins, its ruined abbey or its castle, its romantic
scenery, and its fine views, its hills or its dales, its waterfalls or
its glens. The southern and western counties are as rich in these
respects as the eastern counties are barren.
When a picnic party is to proceed to its destination by rail, a saloon
carriage is engaged beforehand, and arrangement is made at the nearest
hotel to supply the party with luncheon at from 5_s._ to 10_s._ per
head, according to the style of luncheon required; or hampers of
provisions are taken under the charge of one or two men-servants.
If the picnic party proceeds by road, a coach is the favourite mode of
conveyance, whether driven by the owner or hired for the occasion. This
is a more sociable way of going to a picnic than dividing the party into
detachments and conveying them in separate carriages. This is sometimes
unavoidable, and if the party is assembled for a start, it occasions no
little discussion as to how the party should be divided and conveyed in
the various carriages, and it takes no little tact to arrange this in a
satisfactory manner--to overrule objections, and to make things work
smoothly. Again, the members of a picnic party occasionally find their
way to the place of rendezvous independently of each other; but,
although this plan saves trouble, it does not promote sociability, and
parties of four or six are apt to clique together during the day,
instead of making themselves generally agreeable. The provision question
is a very important one, and the heads of a picnic party should arrange
in concert what each is to bring in the way of fish, flesh, fowl, fruit,
and wine.
The services of one or two men-servants at a large picnic party are
generally required to arrange the table, to open the wine, and last, but
not least, to collect and repack the articles used in the way of plate,
china, or glass.
=A picnic luncheon in September= is not always the _al fresco_ spread
under the greenwood tree that it is in July, and oftener than not is
held in the best parlour of a rustic inn, or, by permission, in a barn
or shed, when the weather is not favourable for camping out.
Usually, when a large picnic party is arranged and got up by some three
or four ladies and gentlemen, they divide the expenses of the
entertainment between themselves, and determine how many shall be
invited, each having the privilege of inviting a certain number. Other
picnics are got up on a different system, each person contributing a
share towards the general expenses; but these gatherings are not so
sociable as are the invitation picnics.
Invitation picnics where everything is done _en prince_ are extremely
enjoyable and friendly affairs; they are big luncheons, given
out-of-doors instead of indoors, at a distance instead of at home. But
even these are not more pleasant than those well-arranged little
picnics given by officers in country quarters, when the regimental coach
conveys a favoured few to some favourite spot.
=Water-Parties.=--There are many ways of arranging a water-party at
yachting stations and at all riverside places. At yachting stations, for
instance, a sailing yacht is hired to convey a party of from eighteen to
twenty-five to some point of interest on the coast, in which case
luncheon and tea are provided at an hotel in the vicinity of the place
where the party have landed, and the expenses are equally divided. Not
unfrequently, on the return journey, the yacht is becalmed, and does not
reach its destination until between two and three the following morning.
If it happens to be a fine moonlight night, this prolongation of a
water-party is an additional source of enjoyment; but if there is no
moon as well as no wind, and the calm betokens a storm, it is the
reverse of pleasant. But these little _contretemps_, when they do occur,
rather lend a zest to the day's pleasure, and are something to talk
about afterwards.
Water-parties are often given by owners of yachts. These are invitation
parties, and luncheon, tea, and sometimes dinner, are served on board,
and the party land and stroll about, but return to the yacht to be
entertained.
Picnic and water-parties in general include as many gentlemen as ladies,
whether they are invitation or contribution parties, although sometimes
a majority of ladies is unavoidable. Ryde is a favourite station for
water-parties, as the island itself, as well as the opposite coast,
offer innumerable points of interest for picnicing, and many are able to
combine the pleasures of the yacht with those of the launch in one and
the same water-party; thus a party sails from Ryde to Yarmouth, Isle of
Wight, and then proceeds in a steam, or other, launch to Alum Bay.
Launch parties are immensely popular, both on the river and on the
coast. Some picnic on board, and others on shore, as they feel disposed.
=Canoe-parties= on coast and river are also popular with both ladies and
gentlemen, and here again the useful launch is brought into requisition
to convey the party home, as an hour and a half to two hours is an
average time to paddle a canoe; after that time the party land either on
the rocks or on the shore, and light a fire and boil the kettle for tea.
If the tea-drinking and the after-tea ramble are unduly prolonged there
is a chance, if on the coast, of the steam-launch running out of coal,
and of the party having to return home in their own canoes considerably
later than was expected, and not a little fatigued.