There is the mill, where the tenants were required to grind their
grain, subject to the lord's moultre. The inn, too, opposite the
church, is a genuine specimen of a village alehouse, with its sign
of "The Rising Sun," significant of the landlord's good ale, "always
rising never to set," "cheering the heart it never saddens."
Up the village is a large spring; near it stood an ancient elm tree,
about which the lazy wives of the village gathered in groups to gossip
on the characters of their absent neighbours. The well still flows as
usual, but the picturesque old tree is gone; its place is, however,
occupied by a young one planted by Mr. Weston.
Another rendezvous of the fair sex was the Battling Tree on the Low
Green; but those frequenting this were of a more thrifty class; for
on the butt of the tree they were in the habit of battling or beating
their homespun webs after immersing them in the water.
Near the Battling Tree are the Butts, where the young men were wont
to practise archery and athletic games, such as running, wrestling,
throwing geayvelock, &c. They consist of two mounds about 100 yards
apart; upon these were erected temporary marks to shoot at. To the
practice on these butts we may attribute the skill of the yeomanry as
marksmen in times gone by. Every village green had its butts, and the
villagers were required by the lord of the manor to practise, so that
they might be able to contend with the Scots in case of an invasion, or
border foray. In some places the mounds have been levelled away but the
name still retained. They are to be found at Reagill near the school,
and also at Maulds Meaburn. Time, however, has made great revolutions.
These customs are now laid aside, being no longer required, and the
houses in which the actors dwelt have undergone alterations more than
once, especially Low Row, which was rebuilt in 1860, on the site of
the old house seen in the sketch. The previous house bears the date
of [ ] and was built by John Hall, a rather noteworthy character.
When the building was in progress he was so struck with its symmetry
that he kept stepping back and back, remarking at every step that it
was "farther off an' finer"--"spacious and uniform," till he stepped
backwards over into the beck; where, no doubt, his admiration was
cooled.
[Illustration: OLD HOUSE AT LOW ROW, CROSBY.]
During his life he made himself a monument, unknown to himself--which
will bear his name, for centuries perhaps--by planting a clump of trees
on an elevated piece of ground on Meaburn Moor; a landmark to all the
north of Westmorland, and known to every one as "Johnny Haa' Trees."