M
ITALIAN SCENERY, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS. 39
P L A T E X X V .
A PIEDMONTESE DANCE.
THIS and the five follmving drawings were taken in Piedmont, clilefiy in parts bordering on
Lombardy. This represents a public-house, which seems to have formed a part of some ancient
building now in ruins. .Some of the guests are sitting at table, while others are dancing
to the sound of a lute.
The dance in the Piedmontese dialect is called la Córenla, and it is as great a favourite in
that country as the Tarantella at Naples, or the Trescone at Florence. The number of couples
is limited only by the extent of the room, and they generally hold each other by the hand. As
to the music, it's measure is detemiinate; but the tune may vary according to the idea of the
composer.
The Picdmontese are more fond of dancing than any other people of Italy, and derive this
taste from the French, whose manners and customs they adopt more than those of the Italians
in general.
The costume of the country people in Piedmont is by no means elegant, but the nearer you
approach Lombardy the dresses bccome more picturesque, as in this plate, in which brilliant
colours are predominant. The head-dress of the women has nothing extraordinary, except the
different fashion of arranging the handkerchief on the head, according to their own taste or
that of the village they hve in: their stockings in general are blue with red clocks; and their
sash, which is of considerable size, and of different colours, not only serves as a striking ornament
to their waist, but as a pocket for the handkerchief,