NORTHUMBERLAND 



immediately concerned with his illustrations, having 

 called the class to order, he proceeded to the black- 

 board to chalk up an arithmetical problem the solution 

 of which might peradventure keep them quiet for a 

 little. But the absorption of his faculties in the 

 magnum opus was apparently so complete that when 

 he moved from the front of the board instead of the 

 expected figures there was revealed to the delight of 

 his tormentors the proportions of a noble trout. A 

 bull trout, my friends used to say it was meant for, 

 the salmo eriox being a regular autumn visitor to the 

 waters of Wear and therefore an item in its Hterature. 

 There was a great raid by the Education Commis- 

 sioners about this time on derelict grammar schools, 

 to the eventual extinction of many. It so happened 

 that the commissioner who inspected this part of 

 England was a family friend of ours and had some rare 

 stories to tell of the humours that accompanied their 

 deplorable conditions, including more than one case, 

 I remember, where the headmaster, happy in his small 

 fixed endowment, secretly paid a solitary scholar to 

 absent himself. I remember well that our angling 

 pedagogue on the Wear and his establishment caused 

 the aforesaid commissioner immense entertainment, 

 and stood out even in the treasure-house of oddities 

 that his duties had incidentally provided and so richly 

 stored. 



We occasionally undertook a pilgrimage across the 

 moors to the head-waters of the Tees, taking a pony 

 along to carry our traps. Crossing over from St. 

 John's, Weardale, and thence dropping down into 

 Teesdale and the Rokeby country at Middleton, 



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