AN IMPRESSION OF AXE EDGE 121 



farmers are not less attached to tlicir rude homes and 

 httle hlc.'ik holding's than others, and tliou^'h they abuse 

 the huidlord or his a^^ent because they cannot have the 

 land for nothing, they appear to be fairly well satisfied 

 with their lot. I sometimes thought they were even 

 too well contented and wanted to know why they did 

 not tr>' to grow a few cabbages or potatoes in some 

 sheltered nook for the house; some said it was useless 

 to attempt it on account of the May and June frosts, 

 and others said that the owners objected to the ground 

 being broken up! I also asked several farmers why 

 they did not cut bracken, which was plentiful enough, 

 to serve as bedding for the cows, since they could not 

 get straw. They answered that occasionally a farmer 

 did so, but it was not the custom and they thought the 

 cows did just as well without any bedding at all ! 



I pitied the cows but perhaps they were right; it may 

 well be that the domestic animals, like their masters, 

 have become adapted during many generations to a 

 starvation land, to lie in winter on a hard cold stone 

 floor and to keep alive on tlie smallest amount of food 

 of the poorest kind, and yet to flourish in a way and 

 yield milk. 



But though they appear to be a contented, they are 

 not a happy-looking or a lively people. They have 

 colourless faces and for good looks or brightness or 

 intelligence compare badly with the inhabitants of the 

 adjoining districts and with the people of England 

 generally, north and south. The children are naturally 

 more attractive than tlie adults; they have the bright- 



