VILLAGE CHARACTERS.
"If there's a hole in a' your coats,
I rede ye tent it;
A chiel's amang ye takin' notes,
And, faith, he'll prent it."
R. BURNS.
Every village seems to possess its share of quaint, curious people; but
I cannot help thinking that our little hamlet has a more varied
assortment of oddities than is usually to be met with in so small
a place.
First of all there is the man whom nobody ever sees. Although he has
lived in robust health for the past twenty years in the very centre of
the hamlet, his face is unknown to half the inhabitants. Twice only has
the writer set eyes on him. When a political contest is proceeding, he
becomes comparatively bold; at such times he has even been met with in
the bar of the village "public," where he has been known to sit
discussing the chances of the candidates like any ordinary being. But an
election is absolutely necessary if this strange individual is to be
drawn out of his hiding-place. The only other occasion on which we have
set eyes on him was on a lovely summer's evening, just after sunset: we
observed him peeping at us over a hedge, for all the world like the
"Spectator" when he was staying with Sir Roger de Coverley. He is
supposed to come out at sunset, like the foxes and the bats, and has
been seen in the distance on bright moonlight nights striding over the
Cotswold uplands. If any one approach him, he hurries away in the
opposite direction; yet he is not queer in the head, but strong and in
the prime of life.
Then there is that very common character "the village impostor." After
having been turned away by half a dozen different farmers, because he
never did a stroke of work, he manages to get on the sick-list at the
"great house." Long after his ailment has been cured he will be seen
daily going up to the manor house for his allowance of meat; somehow or
other he "can't get a job nohow." The fact is, he has got the name of
being an idle scoundrel, and no farmer will take him on. It is some time
before you are able to find him out; for as he goes decidedly lame as he
passes you in the village street, he generally manages to persuade you
that he is very ill. Like a fool, you take compassion on him, and give
him an ounce of "baccy" and half a crown. For some months he hangs about
where he thinks you will be passing, craving a pipe of tobacco; until
one day, when you are having a talk with some other honest toiler, he
will give you a hint that you are being imposed on.
When a loafer of this sort finds that he can get nothing more out of
you, he moves his family and goods to some other part of the country; he
then begins the old game with somebody else, borrowing a sovereign off
you for the expense of moving. As for gratitude, he never thinks of it.
The other day a man with a "game leg," who was, in spite of his
lameness, a good example of "the village impostor," in taking his
departure from our hamlet, gave out "that there was no thanks due to the
big 'ouse for the benefits he had received, for it was writ in the
_manor parchments_ as how he was to have meat three times a week and
blankets at Christmas as long as he was out of work."
It is so difficult to discriminate between the good and the bad amongst
the poor, and it is impossible not to feel pity for a man who has
nothing but the workhouse to look forward to, even if he has come down
in the world through his own folly. To those who are living in luxury
the conditions under which the poorer classes earn their daily bread,
and the wretched prospect which old age or ill health presents to them,
must ever offer scope for deep reflection and compassion.
At the same time it must be remembered that in spite of "hard times"
and "low prices," as affecting the farmers, the agricultural labourer is
better off to-day than he has ever been in past times. Food is very much
cheaper and wages are higher. The farmers seem to be more liberal in bad
times than in good. It is the same in all kinds of business. Except
injustice there is no more hardening influence in the affairs of life
than success. It seems often to dry up the milk of human kindness in the
breast, and make us selfish and grasping.
In the good times of farming there was doubtless much cause for
discontent amongst the Cotswold labourers. The profits derived from
farming were then quite large. The tendency of the age, however, was to
treat the labouring man as a mere machine, instead of his being allowed
to share in the general prosperity. ("Hinc illae lacrymae.") Now things
are changed. Long-suffering farmers are in many cases paying wages out
of their fast diminishing capital. Many of them would rather lose money
than cut down the wages.
Then again agricultural labourers who are unable to find work go off to
the coal mines and big towns; some go into the army; others emigrate. So
that the distress is not so apparent in this district as the badness of
the times would lead one to expect.
The Cotswold women obtain employment in the fields at certain seasons of
the year; though poorly paid, they are usually more conscientious and
hard-working than the men.
Most of the cottages are kept scrupulously clean; they have an air of
homely comfort which calls forth the admiration of all strangers. The
children, too, when they go to church on Sundays, are dressed with a
neatness and good taste that are simply astonishing when one recalls the
income of a labourer on the Cotswolds--seldom, alas! averaging more than
fourteen shillings a week. A boy of twelve years of age is able to keep
himself, earning about five shillings per week. Cheerful and manly
little chaps they are. To watch a boy of fourteen years managing a
couple of great strong cart-horses, either at the plough or with the
waggons, is a sight to gladden the heart of man.
It is unfortunate that there are not more orchards attached to the
gardens on the Cotswolds. The reader will doubtless remember Dr.
Johnson's advice to his friends, always to have a good orchard attached
to their houses. "For," said he, "I once knew a clergyman of small
income who brought up a family very reputably, which he chiefly fed on
_apple dumplings_."
Talking of clergymen, I am reminded of some stories a neighbour of
ours--an excellent fellow--lately told me about his parishioners on the
Cotswolds. One old man being asked why he liked the vicar, made answer
as follows: "Why, 'cos he be so _scratchy after souls_." The same man
lately said to the parson, "Sir, you be an hinstrument"; and being asked
what he meant, he added, "An hinstrument of good in this place."
This old-fashioned Cotswold man was very fond of reciting long passages
out of the Psalms: indeed, he knew half the Prayer-book by heart; and
one day the hearer, being rather wearied, exclaimed, "I must go now, for
it's my dinner-time." To whom replied the old man, "Oh! be off with
thee, then; thee thinks more of thee belly than thee God."
An old bedridden woman was visited by the parson, and the following
dialogue took place:--
"Well, Annie, how are you to-day?"
"O sir, I be so bad! My inside be that comical I don't know what to do
with he; he be all on the ebb and flow."
The same clergyman knew an old Cotswold labourer who wished to get rid
of the evil influence of the devil. So Hodge wrote a polite, though
firm, epistle, telling his Satanic Majesty he would have no more to do
with him. On being asked where he posted his letter, he replied: "A' dug
a hole i' the ground, and popped un in there. He got it right enough,
for he's left me alone from that day to this."
The Cotswold people are, like their country, healthy, bright, clean, and
old-fashioned; and the more educated and refined a man may happen to be,
the more in touch he will be with them--not because the peasants are
educated and refined, so much as because they are not _half_-educated
and _half_-refined, but simple, honest, god-fearing folk, who mind their
own business and have not sought out many inventions. I am referring now
to the labourers, because the farmers are a totally different class of
men. The latter are on the whole an excellent type of what John Bull
ought to be. The labouring class, however, still maintain the old
characteristics. A primitive people, as often as not they are "nature's
gentlemen."
In the simple matter of dress there is a striking resemblance between
the garb of these country people and that of the highly educated and
refined. It is an acknowledged principle, or rather, I should say, an
unwritten law, in these days--at all events as far as men are
concerned--that to be well dressed all that is required of us is _not to
be badly dressed_. Simplicity is a _sine quâ non_; and we are further
required to abstain from showing bad taste in the choice of shades and
colours, and to wear nothing that does not serve a purpose. To simple
country folk all these things come by nature. They never trouble their
heads about what clothes they shall wear. The result is, the eye is
seldom offended in old-fashioned country places by the latest inventions
of tailors and hatters and the ridiculous changes of fashion in which
the greater part of the civilised world is wont to delight. Here are to
be seen no hideous "checks," but plain, honest clothes of corduroy or
rough cloth in natural colours; no absurd little curly "billycocks," but
good, strong broad-brimmed hats of black beaver in winter to keep off
the rain, and of white straw in summer to keep off the heat. No white
satin ties, which always look dirty, such as one sees in London and
other great towns, but broad, old-fashioned scarves of many colours or
of blue "birdseye" mellowed by age. The fact is that simplicity--the
very essence of good taste--is apparent only in the garments of the
_best_-dressed and the _poorest_-dressed people in England. This is one
more proof of the truth of the old saying, "Simplicity is nature's first
step, and the last of art."
The greatest character we ever possessed in the village was undoubtedly
Tom Peregrine, the keeper.
"A man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again."
The eldest son of the principal tenant on the manor, and belonging to a
family of yeoman farmers who had been settled in the place for a hundred
years, he suddenly found that "he could not a-bear farming," and took up
his residence as "an independent gentleman" in a comfortable cottage at
the gate of the manor house. Then he started a "sack" business--a trade
which is often adopted in these parts by those who are in want of a
better. The business consists in buying up odds and ends of sacks, and
letting them out on hire at a handsome profit. He was always intensely
fond of shooting and fishing; indeed, the following description which
Sir Roger de Coverley gave the "Spectator" of a "plain country fellow
who rid before them," when they were on their way to the assizes, suits
him exactly. "He is a yeoman of about an hundred pounds a year; and
knocks down a dinner with his gun twice or thrice a week. He would be a
good neighbour if he did not destroy so many partridges: in short, he is
a very sensible man, shoots flying, and has been several times foreman
of the petty jury."
Perhaps with regard to the "shoots flying" the reservation should be
added, that should he have seen a covey of partridges "bathering" in a
ploughed field within convenient distance of a stone wall or thick
fence, he might not have been averse to knocking over a brace for supper
on the ground. And we had almost forgotten to explain that it was for
the manor-house table that he used to knock down a dinner with his gun
twice or thrice a week, and not his own--for, some years ago, he
persuaded the squire to take him into his service as gamekeeper. When we
came to take up our abode at the manor, we found that he was a sort of
standing dish on the place. Such a keen sportsman, it was explained, was
better in our service than kicking his heels about the village and on
his father's farm as an independent gentleman. And so this is how Tom
Peregrine came into our service. For my part I liked the man; he was so
delightfully mysterious. And the place would never have been the same
without him; for he became part and parcel with the trees and the fields
and every living thing. Nor would the woods and the path by the brook
and the breezy wolds ever have been quite the same if his quaint figure
had no longer appeared suddenly there. Many a time was I startled by the
sudden apparition of Tom Peregrine when out shooting on the hill; he
seemed to spring up from the ground like "Herne the Hunter"--
"Shaggy and lean and shrewd. With pointed ears
And tail cropped short, half lurcher and half cur,
His dog attends him."
The above lines of Cowper's exactly, describe the keeper's Irish
terrier; the dog was almost as deep and mysterious as the man himself.
When in the woods, Tom's attitude and gait would at times resemble the
movements of a cock pheasant: now stealing along for a few yards,
listening for the slightest sound of any animal stirring in the
underwood; now standing on tiptoe for a time, with bated breath. Did a
blackbird--that dusky sentinel of the woods--utter her characteristic
note of warning, he would whisper, "Hark!" Then, after due deliberation,
he would add, "'Tis a fox!" or, "There's a fox in the grove," and then
he would steal gently up to try to get a glimpse of reynard. He never
looked more natural than when carrying seven or eight brace of
partridges, four or five hares, and a lease of pheasants; it was a
labour of love to him to carry such a load back to the village after a
day's shooting. In his pockets alone he could stow away more game than
most men can conveniently carry on their backs.
He was the best hand at catching trout the country could produce. With a
rod and line he could pull them out on days when nobody else could get a
"rise." He could not understand dry-fly fishing, always using the
old-fashioned sunk fly. "Muddling work," he used to call the floating
method of fly fishing.
But Tom Peregrine was cleverer with the landing-net than with the rod.
Any trout he could reach with the net was promptly pulled out, if we
particularly wanted a fish. Then he would talk all day about any subject
under the sun: politics, art, Roman antiquities, literature, and every
form of sport were discussed with equal facility.
One day, when I was engaged in a slight controversy with his own
father, the keeper said to me: "I shouldn't take any notice whatever of
him"; then he added, with a sigh, "These Gloucestershire folk are
comical people."
"Ah! 'tis a wise son that knows his own father in Gloucestershire, isn't
it, Peregrine?" said I, putting the Shakespearian cart before the horse.
"Yes, it be, to be sure, to be sure," was the reply. "I can't make 'em
out nohow; they're funny folk in Gloucestershire."
He gave me the following account of the "chopping" of one of our foxes:
"I knew there was a fox in the grove; and there, sure enough, he was.
But when he went toward the 'bruk,' the hounds come along and _give him
the meeting_; and then they bowled him over. It were a very comical job;
I never see such a job in all my life. I knew it would be a case," he
added, with a chuckle.
The fact is, with that deadly aversion to all the vulpine race common to
all keepers, he dearly loved to see a fox killed, no matter how or
where; but to see one "chopped," without any of that "muddling round and
messing about," as he delighted to call a hunting run, seemed to him the
very acme of satisfaction and despatch.
And here it may be said that Tom Peregrine's name did not bely him. Not
only were the keen brown eye and the handsome aquiline beak marked
characteristics of his classic features, but in temperament and habit he
bore a singular resemblance to the king of all the falcons. Who more
delighted in striking down the partridge or the wild duck? What more
assiduous destroyer of ground game and vermin ever existed than Tom
Peregrine? There never was a man so happily named and so eminently
fitted to fulfil the destinies of a gamekeeper.
Who loves to trap the wily stoat?
Who loves the plover's piping note?
Who loves to wring the weasel's throat?
Tom Peregrine.
What time the wintry woods we walk,
No need have we of lure or hawk;
Have we not Tom to _tower_ and talk?
Tom Peregrine?
When to the withybed we spy,
A hungry hern or mallard fly,
"Bedad! we'll bag un by and by,"
Tom Peregrine.
"Creep _up wind_, sir, without a sound,
And bide thy time neath yonder 'mound,'
Then knock un over on the ground,"
Tom Peregrine.
And so one might go on _ad infinitum_.
A more amusing companion or keener fisherman never stepped. He had all
sorts of quaint Gloucestershire expressions, which rolled out one after
the other during a day's fishing or shooting. Then he was very fond of
reading amusing pieces at village entertainments, often copying the
broad Gloucestershire dialect; apparently he was not aware that his own
brogue smacked somewhat of Gloucestershire too. At home in his own house
he was most friendly and hospitable. If he could get you to "step in,"
he would offer you gooseberry, ginger, cowslip, and currant wine, sloe
gin, as well as the juice of the elder, the blackberry, the grape, and
countless other home-brewed vintages, which the good dames of
Gloucestershire pride themselves on preparing with such skill. Very
excellent some of these home-made drinks are.
The British farmer is remarkably fond of a lord. If you wanted to put
him into a good temper for a month, the best plan would be to ask a lord
to shoot over his land, and tell him privately to make a great point of
shaking the honest yeoman by the hand, and all that kind of thing. By
the bye, I was once told by a coachman that he was sure the Bicester
hounds were a first-rate pack, for he had seen in the papers that no
less than four lords hunted with them. There is little harm in this
extraordinarily widespread admiration for titles; it is common to all
nations. We can all love a lord, provided that he be a gentleman. The
gentlemen of England, whether titled or untitled, are in thought and
feeling a very high type of the human race. But the man I like best to
meet is he who either by natural insight or by the trained habit of his
mind is able to look upon all mortals with eyes unprejudiced by outward
show and circumstance, judging them by character alone. Such a man may
not be understood or be awarded the credit due to him as "lord of the
lion heart" and despiser of sycophants and cringers. The habit of mind,
nevertheless, is worth cultivating; it will be so very useful some day,
when mortal garments have been put off and the vast inequalities of
destiny adjusted, and we all stand unclothed before the Judge.
Tom Peregrine was not a "great frequenter of the church"; indeed, both
father and son often remarked to me that "'Twas a pity there was not a
chapel of ease put up in the hamlet, the village church being a full
mile away." However, when Tom was ailing from any cause or other he
immediately sent for the parson, and told him that he intended in future
to go to church regularly every Sunday. Shakespeare would have enquired
if he was troubled "about some act that had no relish of salvation
in't." "Thomas, he's a terrible coward [I here quote Mrs. Peregrine]. He
can't a-bear to have anything a-wrong with him; yet he don't mind
killing any animal." He made a tremendous fuss about a sore finger he
had at one time; and when the doctor exclaimed, like Romeo, "Courage,
man; the hurt cannot be much," Tom Peregrine replied, with much the same
humour as poor Mercutio: "No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as
a church door; but 'tis enough." I do not mean to infer that he quoted
Shakespeare, but he used words to the same effect. If asked whether he
had read Shakespeare, he might possibly have given the same reply as the
young woman in _High Life Below Stairs_:
"KITTY: Shikspur? Shikspur? Who wrote it? No, I never read Shikspur.
"LADY B.: _Then you have an immense pleasure to come_."
Let it be said, however, that in many respects Tom was an exceedingly
well-informed and clever man. The family of Peregrines were noted, like
Sir Roger de Coverley, for their great friendliness to foxes; and to
their credit let it be said that they have preserved them religiously
for very many years. I scarcely ever heard a word of complaint from
them. All honour to those who neither hunt nor care for hunting, yet who
put up with a large amount of damage to crops and fences, as well as
loss of poultry and ground game, and yet preserve the foxes for a sport
in which they do not themselves take part.
When conversing with me on the subject of preserving foxes, old Mr.
Peregrine would wax quite enthusiastic "You should put a barley rick in
the Conygers, and thatch it, and there would always be a fox." he would
remark. All this I hold to be distinctly creditable. For what is there
to prevent a farmer from pursuing a selfish policy and warning the whole
hunt off his land?
The village parson is quite a character. You do not often see the like
nowadays. An excellent man in every way, and having his duty at heart,
he is one of the few Tories of the old school that are left to us.
Ruling his parish with a rod of iron, he is loved and respected by most
of his flock. In the Parish Council, at the Board of Guardians, his word
is law. He seldom goes away from the village save for his annual
holiday, yet he knows all that is going on in the great metropolis, and
will tell you the latest bit of gossip from Belgravia. He has a good
property of his own in Somersetshire, but to his credit let it be said
that his affections are entirely centred in the little Cotswold village,
which he has ruled for a quarter of a century.
"Full loth were him to curse for his tithes,
But rather would be given out of doubt
Unto his poore parishens about
Of his off'ring, and eke of his substance.
He could in little thing have suffisance.
Wide was his parish and houses far asunder,
But he ne left not for no rain nor thunder
In sickness and in mischief to visit
The farthest in his parish much and lit,
Upon his feet, and in his hand a staff,
This noble ensample to his sheep he gaf,
That first he wrought and afterwards he taught."
CHAUCER.
Sermons are not so lengthy in our church as they were three hundred
years ago. Rudder mentions that a parson of the name of Winnington used
to preach here for two hours at a time, regularly turning the
hour-glass; for in those days hour-glasses were placed near the pulpit,
and the clergy used to vie with each other as to who could preach the
longest. I do not know if Mr. Barrow was ever surpassed in this respect.
History relates that he succeeded in emptying his church of the whole
congregation, including the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London--one man
only (an apprentice) remaining to the bitter end. Misguided laymen used
to amuse themselves in the same way. Fozbrooke mentions that one Will
Hulcote, a zealous lay preacher after the Reformation, used to mount the
pulpit in a velvet bonnet, a damask gown, and a gold chain. What an ass
he must have looked! This reminds me that at the age of twenty-four I
accepted the office of churchwarden of a certain country parish. I do
not recommend any of my readers to become churchwardens. You become a
sort of acting aide-de-camp to the parson, liable to be called out on
duty at a moment's notice. No; a young man might with some advantage to
others and credit to himself take upon himself the office of Parish
Councillor, Poor Law Guardian, Inspector of Lunatic Asylums, High
Sheriff, or even Public Hangman; but save, oh, save us from being
churchwardens! To be obliged to attend those terrible institutions
called "vestry meetings," and to receive each year an examination paper
from the archdeacon of the diocese propounding such questions as, "Do
you attend church regularly? If not, why not?" etc., etc., is the
natural destiny of the churchwarden, and is more than human nature can
stand: in short, my advice to those thinking of becoming churchwardens
is, "Don't," with a very big _D_.
According to the "Diary of Master William Silence," in the olden times a
pedlar would occasionally arrive at the church door during the sermon,
and proceed to advertise his wares at the top of his voice. Whereupon
the parson, speedily deserted by the female portion of his congregation
and by not a few of the other sex, was obliged to bring his discourse to
a somewhat inglorious conclusion.
We learn from the same work that the churchwardens were in the habit of
disbursing large sums for the destruction of foxes. When a fox was
marked to ground the church bell was rung as a signal, summoning every
man who owned a pickaxe, a gun, or a terrier dog, to lend a hand in
destroying him. We are talking of two or three hundred years ago, when
the stag was the animal usually hunted by hounds on the Cotswolds and in
other parts of England.
Our village is a favourite meet of the V.W.H. foxhounds. An amusing
story is told of a former tenant of the court house--a London gentleman,
who rented the place for a time. He is reported to have made a special
request to the master of the hounds, that when the meet was held at "the
Court," "his lordship" would make the fox pass in front of the
drawing-room windows, "For," said he, "I have several friends coming
from London to see the hunt."
In a hunting district such as this the owners and occupiers of the
various country houses are usually enthusiastic devotees of the chase.
The present holder of the "liberty" adjoining us is a fox-hunter of the
old school. An excellent sportsman and a wonderful judge of a horse, he
dines in pink the best part of the year, drives his four-in-hand with
some skill, and wears the old-fashioned low-crowned beaver hat.
We have many other interesting characters in our village; human nature
varies so delightfully that just as with faces so each individual
character has something to distinguish it from the rest of the world.
The old-fashioned autocratic farmer of the old school is there of
course, and a rare good specimen he is of a race that has almost
disappeared. Then we have the village lunatic, whose mania is "religious
enthusiasm." If you go to call on him, he will ask you "if you are
saved," and explain to you how his own salvation was brought about.
Unfortunately one of his hobbies is to keep fowls and pigs in his house
so that fleas are more or less numerous there, and your visits are
consequently few and far between.
The village "quack," who professes to cure every complaint under the
sun, either in mankind, horses, dogs, or anything else by means of
herbs, buttonholes you sometimes in the village street. If once he
starts talking, you know that you are "booked" for the day. He is rather
a "bore," and is uncommonly fond of quoting the Scriptures in support of
his theories. But there is something about the man one cannot help
liking. His wonderful infallibility in curing disease is set down by
himself to divine inspiration. Many a vision has he seen. Unfortunately
his doctrines, though excellent in theory, are seldom successful in
practice. An excellent prescription which I am informed completely cured
a man of indigestion is one of his mixtures "last thing at night" and
the first chapter of St. John carefully perused and digested on top.
I called on the old gentleman the other day, and persuaded him to give
me a short lecture. The following is the gist of what he said: "First of
all you must know that the elder is good for anything in the world, but
especially for swellings. If you put some of the leaves on your face,
they will cure toothache in five minutes. Then for the nerves there's
nothing like the berries of ivy. Yarrow makes a splendid ointment; and
be sure and remember Solomon's seal for bruises, and comfrey for 'hurts'
and broken bones. Camomile cures indigestion, and ash-tree buds make a
stout man thin. Soak some ash leaves in hot water, and you will have a
drink that is better than any tea, and destroys the 'gravel.'
Walnut-tree bark is a splendid emetic; and mountain flax, which grows
everywhere on the Cotswolds, is uncommon good for the 'innards.' 'Ettles
[nettles] is good for stings. Damp them and rub them on to a 'wapse'
sting, and they will take away the pain directly." On my suggesting that
stinging nettles were rather a desperate remedy, he assured me that
"they acted as a blister, and counteracted the 'wapse.' Now, I'll tell
you an uncommon good thing to preserve the teeth," he went on, "and that
is to _brush_ them once or twice a week. You buys a brush at the
chymists, you know; they makes them specially for it. Oh, 'tis a capital
good thing to cleanse the teeth occasionally!"
He wound up by telling me a story of a celebrated doctor who left a
sealed book not to be opened till after his death, when it was to be
sold at auction. It fetched six hundred pounds. The man who paid this
sum was horrified on opening it to find it only contained the following
excellent piece of advice: "Always remember to keep the feet warm and
the head cool."
As I said good-bye, and thanked him for his lecture, he said: "Those
doctors' chemicals destroy the 'innards.' And be sure and put down rue
for the heart; and burdock, 'tis splendid for the liver."
Nor must mention be omitted of old Isaac Sly, a half-witted labouring
fellow with a squint in one eye and blind of the other, who at first
sight might appear a bad man to meet on a dark night, but is harmless
enough when you know him; he haunts the lanes at certain seasons of the
year, carrying an enormous flag, and invariably greets you with the
intelligence that he will bring the flag up next Christmas the same as
usual, according to time-honoured custom. He is the last vestige of the
old wandering minstrels of bygone days, playing his inharmonious
concertina in the hall of the manor house regularly at Christmas and at
other festivals.
Nor must we forget dear, honest Mr. White, the kindest and most pompous
of men, who, after fulfilling his destiny as head butler in a great
establishment, and earning golden opinions from all sorts and conditions
of men, finally settled down to a quiet country life in a pretty cottage
in our village, where he is the life and soul of every convivial
gathering and beanfeast, carving a York ham or a sirloin with great
nicety and judgment. He has seen much of men and manners in his day, and
has a fund of information on all kinds of subjects. Having plenty of
leisure, he is a capital hand at finding the whereabouts of outlying
foxes; and once earned the eternal gratitude of the whole neighbourhood
by starting a fine greyhound fox, known as the "old customer," out of a
decayed and hollow tree that lay in an unfrequented spot by the river.
He poked him out with a long pole, and gave the "view holloa" just as
the hounds had drawn all the coverts "blank," and the people's faces
were as blank as the coverts; whereupon such a run was enjoyed as had
not been indulged in for many a long day.
But what of our miller--our good, honest gentleman farmer and
miller--now, alas! retired from active business? What can I say of him?
I show you a man worthy to sit amongst kings. A little garrulous and
inquisitive at times, yet a conqueror for all that in the battle
of-life, and one of whom it may in truth be said,
"And thus he bore without abuse
The grand old name of gentleman."
As to the morals of the Gloucestershire peasants in general, and of our
village in particular, it may be said that they are on the whole
excellent; in one respect only they are rather casual, not to say
prehistoric.
The following story gives one a very good idea of the casual nature of
hamlet morals:--
A parson--I do not know of which village, but it was somewhere in this
neighbourhood--paid a visit to a newly married man, to speak seriously
about the exceptionally premature arrival of an heir. "This is a
terrible affair," said the parson on entering the cottage. "Yaas; 'twere
a bad job to be sure," replied the man. "And what will yer take
to drink?"
Let it in justice be said that such episodes are the exception and not
the rule.
Among the characters to be met with in our Cotswold hamlet is the
village politician. Many a pleasant chat have we enjoyed in his snug
cottage, whilst the honest proprietor was having his cup of tea and
bread and butter after his work. Common sense he has to a remarkable
degree, and a good deal more knowledge than most people give him credit
for. He is a Radical of course; nine out of ten labourers are _at
heart_. And a very good case he makes out for his way of thinking, if
one can only put oneself in his place for a time. We have endeavoured to
convert him to our way of thinking, but the strong, reflective mind,
"Illi robur, et aes triplex
Circa pectus erat,"
is not to be persuaded. He will be true to "the colour"; this is his
final answer, even if your arguments overcome for the time being. And
you cannot help liking the man for his straightforward, self-reliant
nature; he is acting up to the standard he has set himself all
through life.
"This above all, to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
And how many there are in the byways of England acting up to this motto,
and leading the lives of heroes, though their reward is not to be
found here!
There is no nobler sight on this earth than to behold men of all ages
doing their duty to the best of their ability, in spite of manifold
hardships and many a bitter disappointment; cheerfully and manfully
confronting difficulties of all kinds, and training up children in the
fear and knowledge of God. If this is not nobleness, there is no such
thing on earth. And it is owing to the vast amount of real, genuine
Christianity that exists among these honest folk that life is rendered
on the whole so cheerful in these Cotswold villages. Many small faults
the peasants doubtless possess; such are inseparable from human nature.
The petty jealousies always to be found where men do congregate exist
here, and as long as the earth revolves they will continue to exist; but
underneath the rough, unpolished exterior there is a reef of gold, far
richer than the mines of South Africa will ever produce, and as immortal
as the souls in which it lies so deeply rooted and embedded.
For the best type of humanity we need not search in vain among the
humble cottages of the hamlets of England. There shall we find the
courageous, brave souls who "scorn delights and live laborious
days,"--men who estimate their fellows at their worth, and not according
to their social position. Blunt and difficult to lead, not out of
hardness of heart or obstinate pigheadedness, but as Burns has put it:
"For the glorious priviledge
Of being independant."
A few such are to be found in all our rural villages if one looks for
them; and if they are the exceptions to the general rule, it must also
be remembered that men with "character" are equally rare amongst the
upper and middle classes.
Talking of village politics, I shall never forget a meeting held at
Northleach a few years ago. It was at a time when the balance of parties
was so even that our Unionist member was returned by the bare majority
of three votes, only to be unseated a few weeks afterwards on a recount.
Northleach is a very Radical town, about six miles from my home; and
when I agreed to take the chair, I little knew what an unpleasant job I
had taken in hand. Our member for some reason or other was unable to
attend. I therefore found myself at 7.30 one evening facing two hundred
"red-hot" Radicals, with only one other speaker besides myself to keep
the ball a-rolling. My companion was one of those professional
politicians of the baser sort, who call themselves Unionists because it
pays better for the working-class politician--in just the same way as
ambitious young men among the upper classes sometimes become Radicals on
the strength of there being more opening for them on the "Liberal" side.
Well, this fellow bellowed away in the usual ranting style for about
three-quarters of an hour; his eloquence was great, but truth was "more
honoured in the breach than in the observance." So that when he sat
down, and my turn came, the audience, instead of being convinced, was
fairly rabid. I was very young at that time, and fearfully nervous;
added to which I was never much of a speaker, and, if interrupted at
all, usually lost the thread of my argument.
After a bit they began shouting, "Speak up." The more they shouted the
more mixed I got. When once the spirit of insubordination is roused in
these fellows, it spreads like wild-fire. The din became so great I
could not hear myself speak. In about five minutes there would have been
a row. Suddenly a bright idea occurred to me. "Listen to me," I shouted;
"as you won't hear me speak, perhaps you will allow me to sing you a
song." I had a fairly strong voice, and could go up a good height; so I
gave them "Tom Bowling." Directly I started you could have heard a pin
drop. They gave, me a fair hearing all through; and when, as a final
climax, I finished up with a prolonged B flat--a very loud and long
note, which sounded to me something between a "view holloa" and the
whistle of a penny steamboat, but which came in nicely as a sort of
_pièce de résistance_, fairly astonishing "Hodge"--their enthusiasm knew
no bounds. They cheered and cheered again. Hand shaking went on all
round, whilst the biggest Radical of the lot stood up and shouted, "You
be a little Liberal, I know, and the other blokes 'ave 'ired [hired]
you." Whether we won any votes that evening I am doubtful, but certain I
am that this meeting, which started so inauspiciously, was more
successful than many others in which I have taken part in a Radical
place, in spite of the fact that we left it amid a shower of stones from
the boys outside.
I do not think there is anything I dislike more than standing up to
address a village audience on the politics of the day. Unless you happen
to be a very taking speaker--which his greatest friends could not accuse
the present writer of being--agricultural labourers are a most
unsympathetic audience. They will sit solemnly through a long speech
without even winking an eye, and your best "hits" are passed by in
solemn silence. To the nervous speaker a little applause occasionally is
doubtless encouraging; but if you want to get it, you must put somebody
down among the audience, and pay them half a crown to make a noise.
I suppose no better fellow or more suitable candidate for a Cotswold
constituency ever walked than Colonel Chester Master, of the Abbey; yet
his efforts to win the seat under the new ballot act were always
unavailing, saving the occasion on which he got in by three votes, and
then was turned out again within a month. An unknown candidate from
London--I will not say a carpet-bagger--was able to beat the local
squire, entirely owing to the very fact that he was a stranger.
There is a good deal of chopping and changing about among the
agricultural voters, in spite of a general determination to be true to
the "yaller" colour or the "blue," as the case may be. As I passed down
the village street on the day on which our last election took place, I
enthusiastically exclaimed to a passer-by in whom I thought I recognised
one of our erstwhile firmest supporters, "We shall have our man in for a
certainty this time." "What--in the brook!" replied the turncoat, with a
glance at the stream, and not without humour, his face purple with
emotion. This was somewhat damping; but the hold of the paid social
agitator is very great in these country places, and it is scarcely
credible what extraordinary stories are circulated on the eve of an
election to influence the voters. At such times even loyalty is at a
discount At a Tory meeting a lecturer was showing a picture of
Gibraltar, and expatiating on the English victory in 1704, when Sir
George Rooke won this important stronghold from the Spaniards. "How
would you like any one to come and take your land away?" exclaimed a
Radical, with a great show of righteous indignation. And his sentiments
received the applause of all his friends.
In these matters, and in the spirit of independence generally, country
folk have much altered. No longer can it be said; as Addison quaintly
puts it in the _Spectator_, that "they are so used to be dazzled with
riches that they pay as much deference to the understanding of a man of
estate as of a man of learning; and are very hardly brought to regard
any truth, how important soever it may be, that is preached to them,
when they know there are several men of five hundred a year who do not
believe it."
In such-like matters the labourers now show a vast deal of common sense,
and the only wonder is that whilst paying but little deference either to
men of estate or men of learning, they yet allow themselves to be
"bamboozled" by the promises and claptrap of the paid agitator.
Narrow and ignorant as is the Toryism commonly displayed in country
districts, it is yet preferable, from the point of view of those whose
motto is _aequam memento_, etc., to the impossible Utopia which the
advanced Radicals invariably promise us and never effect.
A word now about the farmers of Gloucestershire.
It is often asked, How do the Cotswold farmers live in these bad times?
I suppose the only reply one can give is the old saw turned upside down:
They live as the fishes do in the sea; the great ones eat up the little
ones. The tendency, doubtless, in all kinds of trade is for the small
capitalists to go to the wall.
Some of the farmers in this district are yeoman princes, not only
possessing their own freeholds, but farming a thousand or fifteen
hundred acres in addition. Mr. Garne, of Aldsworth, is a fine specimen
of this class. He makes a speciality of the original pure-bred Cotswold
sheep, and his rams being famous, he is able to do very well, in spite
of the fact that there is little demand for the old breed of sheep, the
mutton being of poor quality and the wool coarse and rough. Mr. Garne
carries off all the prizes at "the Royal" and other shows with his
magnificent sheep. A cross between the Hampshire downs and the Cotswold
sheep has been found to give excellent mutton, as well as fine and silky
wool. The cross breed is gradually superseding the native sheep. Mr.
Hobbs, of Maiseyhampton, is famous for his Oxford downs. These sheep are
likewise superior to the Cotswold breed.
Barley does uncommonly well on the light limestone soil of these hills.
The brewers are glad to get Cotswold barley for malting purposes. Fine
sainfoin crops are grown, and black oats likewise do well. The shallow,
porous soil requires rain at least once a week throughout the spring and
summer. The better class of farmer on these hills does not have at all a
bad time even in these days. Very often they lead the lives of squires,
more especially in those hamlets where there is no landowner resident.
Hunting, shooting, coursing, and sometimes fishing are enjoyed by most
of these squireens, and they are a fine, independent class of
Englishman, who get more fun out of life than many richer men, They will
tell you with regard to the labourers that the following adage is still
to be depended upon:--
"Tis the same with common natures:
Use 'em kindly they rebel;
But be rough as nutmeg-graters,
And the rogues obey you well."
[Illustration: An Old Cottage. 087.png]