144 A GARDEN DIARY 



Yet hark ! what sound is that ? Surely it is not 

 the luncheon bell ? How exceedingly incon- 

 venient ! Well, our invasion must be postponed 

 for the moment. After all, as Peter Plymley 

 wrote to his brother Abraham, " It is three 

 centuries since an English pig has fallen in a 

 fair battle upon English ground " ; so, though 

 this particular struggle is coming off not on 

 English but Irish ground, it is not likely to be 

 all over before this afternoon. 



