ADVICE FOR LACKLAND 



credited to some little hamlet of Warwick- 

 shire; the posts and supporting arms being of 

 unhewn elm, and the roof a neat thatch of 

 wheat straw, which at the time of my visit was 

 gray and mossy. 



Has not somebody somewhere a cottage 

 home whose homeliness would be enforced 

 and beautified by such a cosey covered wicket 

 of thatch? 



Thatch, indeed, does not take on with us, 



and under our climate, that mellow mossiness 

 which beloffigs to it in Devonshire. Our winds 

 are too high and drying, and the sun too hot. 

 Still, a thatch properly laid will, with us, keep 

 its evenness for a great number of years; and 

 for the benefit of those living within easy reach 

 of the coast, I may say that nothing is better 

 for this purpose than the sedge (so called) 

 of the salt marshes 



87 



