THE SOUTHDOWN SHEPHERD 



THE shepherd came down the hill carrying his great- 

 coat slung at his back upon his crook, and balanced by 

 the long handle projecting in front. He was very ready 

 and pleased to show his crook, which, however, was not 

 so symmetrical in shape as those which are represented 

 upon canvas. Nor was the handle straight ; it was a 

 rough stick the first, evidently, that had come to hand. 



As there were no hedges or copses near his walks, he 

 had to be content with this bent wand till he could get 

 a better. The iron crook itself he said was made by a 

 blacksmith in a village below. A good crook was often 

 made from the barrel of an old single-barrel gun, such as 

 in their decadence are turned over to the bird-keepers. 



About a foot of the barrel being sawn off at the muzzle 

 end, there was a tube at once to fit the staff into, while 

 the crook was formed by hammering the tough metal 

 into a curve upon the anvil. So the gun the very 

 symbol of destruction was beaten into the pastoral 

 crook, the emblem and implement of peace. These 

 crooks of village workmanship are now subject to com- 

 petition from the numbers offered for sale at the shops 

 at the market towns, where scores of them are hung up 

 on show, all exactly alike, made to pattern, as if stamped 

 out by machinery. 



Each village-made crook had an individuality, that of 

 the blacksmith somewhat rude, perhaps, but distinctive 



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