THE COMBES 183 



ambition of the country come the muscle and physical 

 vigour of the country essentials to the city's sustained 

 prosperity. London must be renewed from outside. 

 She devours her own brood within a few genera- 

 tions, and her pure-bred children have neither a long 

 line of ancestors nor many descendants. It is to 

 the Devon combes and like domains that earth must 

 look for lineages and count to find her raw material 

 when man's work calls for doing. From lusty child- 

 hood under the open sky and all winds that blow, 

 from simple fare and endless toil, come forth the 

 sons of labour to the siren song of cities. With- 

 out them our towns must quickly turn to ruins, 

 and our centres of civilisation be habitable no more. 

 Brain-power the streets may breed, but muscle-power 

 they cannot, for thews and sinews are built in 

 Nature's country workshops. And muscle shall still 

 be venerated ; muscle shall continue a factor in 

 affairs ; the spade, pickaxe, sledge shall endure as a 

 working triad while there is earth to shift or sweeten, 

 stone to break, and metal to bend to the use of man. 



