_To the Editor._
Sir,--In the autumn it is customary at Templecoomb, a small village in
Somersetshire, and its neighbourhood, for the steward of the manor to
give a feast, called the “Wood feast,” to farmers and other consumers
that buy their wood for hurdles, rick-fasts in thatching, poles, spikes,
and sundry other uses.
When the lots are drawn in the copses, and each person has paid down his
money, the feast is provided “of the best,” and few attend it but go
home with the hilarity which good cheer inspires. This annual treat has
its uses; for the very recollection of the meeting of old friends and
keeping of old customs gives an impetus to industry which generally
secures for his lordship his tenants’ _Wood money_--most excellent fuel
for the consumption of the nobility.