Bring me the bells, the rattle bring, And bring the hobby I bestrode, When pleased, in many a sportive ring, Around the room I jovial rode. Shenstone.Ode to Memory, Verse 8.
We set them a cock-horse and made them play. Bridal Song.Appendix to General Preface to Scotts Novels, Chap. V. end of No. 2; and see Burtons Anat. of Melanc. 271. ed. 1849, citing Valerius Maximus, Chap. VIII. Book 8.
[Dr. Samuel Clarke (ob. 1729) frequently amused himself in a private room of his house, in leaping over the tables and chairs.Dr. Warton on the line in Pope, supra.
To be capable of deriving amusement from trivial circumstances, indicates a heart at ease, and may generally be regarded as the concomitant of virtue.Encycl. Brit., Title Clarke.]