six o'clock
Nor were there wanting on this occasion some vivid glances that were burthened , as they passed aslant , their fair faces , with pithier feelings than those that originated from a simple desire of victory . If truth must be told , baleful flashes , unmeasured both in number and expression , were exchanged in a spirit of true defiance between the interested and contending parties , as the close of the contest approached . At length , by the proclamation of the reelers , the great body of the competitors were thrown out , and they consequently gave up the contest . It was now six o'clock , and the first sound of seven o'clock by Captain Millar 's bell was to close the proceedings , and enable the reelers to proclaim the victor . Only four names now remained to battle it out to the last ; to wit , a country farmer 's daughter , named Betty Aikins , Dora M'Mahon , Hanna Cavanagh , and a servant-girl belonging to another neighbor , named Peggy Bailly . This ruck , as they say on the turf , was pretty well up together , but all the rest nowhere . And now , to continue the metaphor , as is the case at Goodwood or the Curragh , the whole interest was centered upon these four .