WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 115 



rushing. Across that an old tree trunk will probably 

 lie, and by grasping a bough as a handrail it is possible 

 to get over. But either way, by lane or footpath, 

 you are sure to get what the country folk call " watchet " 

 that is, wet. So that in winter the hamlet is prac- 

 tically isolated ; for even in moderately good weather 

 the lane is an inch or two deep in finely puddled adhesive 

 mud. It is so shaded by elms and thick hedges that 

 the dirt requires a length of time to dry, while the 

 passage of hundreds of sheep tread and puddle it as 

 only sheep can. 



In summer the place is lovely ; but then the in- 

 habitants are one and all busy in the fields, and have 

 little time for social intercourse or for travel into the 

 next parish. It is ten to one if you knock at a cottage 

 door you will find it locked if, indeed, you get so far 

 as that, a padlock being often on the garden gate. 

 Being so isolated, and apart from the current of 

 modern life and manners, the hamlet folk retain some- 

 thing of the old-fashioned way of thinking. They do 

 not believe their own superstitions with the implicit 

 credence of yore, but they have not yet forgotten 

 them. I have known women, for instance, who seriv 

 ously asserted that such-and-such an aged person 

 possessed a magic book which contained spells, and 

 enabled her to foresee some kinds of coming events. 

 The influence of the moon, so firm an article of faith 

 among their forefathers, is not altogether overlooked ; 

 and they watch for the new moon carefully. If the 

 crescent slopes, it will be wet weather ; but if the 



