WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 79 



is also made in the village. I spell " steale " by con- 

 jecture, and according to pronunciation. It is used 

 also of a rake : instead of a rake-handle they say 

 rake-steale. Having made the mops, the women go 

 round with them to the farmhouses of the district, 

 knowing their regular customers who prefer to buy 

 of them, not only as a little help to the poor, but 

 because the mops are really very strongly made. 



In the meadows of the vale the waters of the same 

 stream irrigate numerous scattered withy-beds, pollard 

 willow trees, and tall willow poles growing thickly in 

 the hedges by the brook. The most suitable of these 

 poles are purchased from the farmers by the willow 

 handicraftsmen of the village up here, to be split into 

 thin flexible strips and plaited or woven into various 

 articles. These strips are made into ladies' work- 

 baskets and endless knick-knacks. The flexibility of 

 the willow is surprising when reduced to these narrow 

 pieces, scarcely thicker than stout paper. This in- 

 dustry used to keep many hands employed. There 

 were willow-looms in the village, and to show their 

 dexterity the weavers sometimes made a shirt of wil- 

 low of course only as a curiosity. The development 

 of straw-weaving greatly interfered with this business ; 

 and now it is followed by a few only, who are chiefly 

 engaged in preparing the raw material to go elsewhere. 



From the ash woods on the slopes and the copses of 

 the fields large ash poles are brought, which one or two 

 old men in the place spend their time splitting up for 

 " flakes "a " flake " being a frame of light wood, 



