WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 109 



leaves no room for the growth of such feelings, and 

 the art and mystery of the craft loses its charm ; the 

 harness bells, too, are disappearing ; hardly one team 

 in twenty carries them now. 



Those who labour in the fields seem to have far 

 fewer holidays than the workers in towns. The latter 

 issue from factory and warehouse at Easter, and rush 

 gladly into the country ; at Whitsuntide, too, they 

 enjoy another recess. But the farmer and the labourer 

 work on much the same the closing of banks and 

 factories in no way interfering with the tilling of the 

 earth or the tending of cattle. In May the plough- 

 boys still remember King Charles, and on what they 

 call " shick-shack day " search for oak apples and 

 the young leaves of the oak to place with a spray 

 of ash in their hats or buttonholes : the ash spray 

 must have even leaves ; an odd number is not correct. 

 To wear these green emblems was thought imperative 

 even within the last twenty years, and scarcely a 

 labourer could be seen without them. The elder men 

 would tell you, as if it had been a grave calamity, 

 that they could recollect a year when the spring was 

 so backward that not an oak leaf or oak apple could 

 be found by the most careful search for the purpose. 

 The custom has fallen much into disuse lately : the 

 carters, however, still attach the ash and oak leaves 

 to the heads of their horses on this particular day. 



Many village clubs or friendly societies meet in the 

 spring, others in autumn. The day is sometimes fixed 

 by the date of the ancient feast. The club and fete 



