GROWTH UNDER STORMY SKIES. 189 



Here the population in 1831 was 392. It has now dwindled 

 to one-fourth of that number. 



The village lies in a beautiful gorge, and the wrecked 

 roofs and dismantled walls of the stone cottages give it the 

 appearance of some Alpine village which has suffered from an 

 avalanche. Nothing worthy of the name of farming is to 

 be seen on the land, all laid down to grass. Sport alone 

 seemed to absorb the energies of the governing classes. The 

 vicarage was an empty house and the church was served by 

 the Vicar of Shipham. The school had also been closed, 

 and on the death of the present generation of squatters every 

 bit of land reverts to the Squire, which means that in time 

 this beautiful little gorge will be emptied of life. 



The curate of one of the villages, a fine type of the Church 

 militant, a major who had taken Holy Orders, said to me : 

 " I know far better than the inspectors how these rooms are 

 overcrowded, for I am called to these cottages at night, and 

 I rarely rise from the floor with dry knees. Dirt lies for ever 

 entombed between the stone flags. We do not allow this 

 scandalous kind of thing in India." 



Not all sporting villages by any means were like Row- 

 berrow. Some were extremely tidy and well preserved. 

 Such a one was the village of Hascombe in Surrey, noted 

 for its beautiful beeches, which I visited in 1912. Game 

 preserving seemed to be the most thriving pursuit, judging 

 by the ill-cultivated fields, the number of pheasants to be 

 seen, and the luxurious motors disgorging their " guns." 



The entire parish was owned by one man. The wages of 

 the labourers, I found, were 133. a week. 



So dear were the necessities of life here that any one above 

 the rank of a labourer who could command the services 

 of a horse and trap, drove to Guildford, eight miles away. 

 But the married labourer remained tied to his cottage, 

 manacled by low wages, and squeezed by high prices. His 

 mind, though, was well looked after. There is a beautiful 

 little church here, as there generally is in such villages ; 

 and the churchyard is kept like a gentleman's lawn, to which 

 the labourer contributes his bones. He is provided with a 

 model village institute and the Morning Post to enlighten 





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