76 



Here, as elsewhere, most of the travelling used to be performed 

 on horseback. A man and his wife often rode to market together 

 on the same horse, the woman sitting behind on a pillion. But 

 the dalesmen were by no means particular about the appearance 

 of their turn-out : a piece of turf dried and cut into the proper 

 shape, was frequently used for a saddle. In other cases, what was 

 called a "pad" was used, which was made of straw. Sometimes, 

 on market-days, after business was over, such of the farmers as 

 were convivially disposed, stayed on at the public-house holding 

 "crack" and drinking until a late hour. While a spree of this 

 kind was going on, the hungry horses have been known to break 

 loose in the stable, and by the time their riders were ready to 

 go home, saddles and bridles were all eaten, and the roystering 

 old farmers had to ride home bareback. 



Ploughing was attended with hard labour to the ploughman, and 

 it required at least three men, and as many horses, to work one 

 plough. The horses were yoked one before another, and it was 

 one man's work to drive them ; a second man had to hold the 

 plough-beam down, to prevent the plough from slipping out ; the 

 third man had to guide the plough, which required by far the most 

 skill. If this man was not very expert, or if the land was difficult 

 to turn over, the services of a fourth man were required, who, with 

 a pick and spade, turned up places which could not be done by 

 the plough. Not much skill or labour was bestowed on making a 

 plough. It was nothing unusual for a tree to be growing in the 

 morning, to be cut down during the day, and made into a plough 

 with which a good stroke of work was done before night. 



The dalesmen of the olden time worked much harder, though 

 perhaps not so regularly as their descendants of the present day. 

 Their hours of labour were much longer, and a great part of what 

 was their hardest work, is now performed by machinery. Though 

 ignorant and unpolished, they were honest and hospitable, and 

 possessed good natural abilities. A hundred years ago, the division 

 of labour was nowhere so systematically carried out as it is now, 

 and in remote places like our dales, many a farmer, in addition to 

 the cultivation of his land, followed, with more or less success, 



