112 The ' Wick: 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE FARMHOUSE TRADITIONS HUNTING PICTURES 



THE FARMER'S YEAR SPORT THE AUCTION FES- 

 TIVAL A SUMMER'S DAT BEAUTY OF WHEAT. 



THE stream, after leaving the village and the wash- 

 pool, rushes swiftly down the descending slope, and 

 then entering the meadows, quickly loses its original 

 impetuous character. Not much more than a mile 

 from the village it flows placidly through meads and 

 pastures, a broad, deep brook, thickly fringed with 

 green flags bearing here and there large yellow 

 flowers. By some old thatched cattle-sheds and 

 rick-yards, overshadowed with elm trees, a strong 

 bay or dam crosses it, forcing the water into a pond 

 for the cattle, and answering the occasional purpose 

 of a ford ; for the laborers in their heavy boots walk 

 over the bay, though the current rises to the instep. 

 They call these sheds, some few hundred yards from 

 the farmhouse, the 'Lower Pen.' Wick Farm al- 

 most every vill age has its outlying ' wick ' stands 

 alone in the fields. It is an ancient, rambling build- 

 ing, the present form of which is the result of suc- 

 cessive additions at different dates, and in various 

 styles. 



When a homestead, like this, has been owned and 

 occupied by the same family for six or seven genera- 



