Dick o' the Fens; A Tale of the Great Eastern Swamp, by George Manville
Fenn.
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A number of the actors in this tale speak in a broad Lincolnshire
Fenland dialect, which may make it a little hard for some readers. Some
of the more unusual words are annotated in square brackets.
The Squire sees the gradually encroaching bog and marsh in his land, and
realises that with drainage he could reclaim this as good farm land. On
the other hand some of the locals would rather see the fen remain, along
with their various occupations, and the wonderful and fragile wet-land
natural history. When digging begins there are a number of nasty
incidents--torching of houses, malicious woundings of horses and cows,
gunshot wounds to humans, and even murders.
A constable is called in, and takes a dislike to Dick, the Squire's son,
and to his friend Tom. He tries to pin the blame on them. At times
even Dick's father is inclined to think that way, too. But eventually
the culprit is found. There are the tense moments typical of this
author, and you will perhaps learn a lot about fenland natural history.
A good read, and better still to listen to it. NH
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DICK O' THE FENS; A TALE OF THE GREAT EASTERN SWAMP, BY GEORGE MANVILLE
FENN.