148 NATURE IN DOWNLAND 



It has been remarked of the modern writer, Jules 

 Janin, that when all the good work he has produced 

 has been forgotten by the world, he will still be re- 

 membered by his unconsciously humorous description 

 of the lobster as " the Cardinal of the Sea." A fate of 

 that kind has befallen Burton, who is remembered only 

 as the author of an exceedingly ridiculous saying. He 

 affirms that oxen, pigs, and women are long-legged in 

 this county, and speculating as to the reason, asks : 

 " May it be from the difficulty of pulling the feet out 

 of so much mud by the strength of the ankle that 

 the muscles get stretched, as it were, and the bones 

 lengthened ? " 



Of the Sussex manner of speaking and singing, 

 Dr. Burton wrote : " They raise their voices to a sharp 

 pitch, and moreover deliver all their words fluently and 

 in a sort of sing-song. . . . The more shrill-toned they 

 may be, the more valued they are : and in church they 

 sing psalms by preference, not set to the old simple 

 tune, but as if in tragic chorus, changing about with 

 strophe and antistrophe and stanza, with good measure, 

 but yet there is something offensive to my ears, when 

 they bellow to excess and bleat out some goatish noise 

 with all their might." 



The description is true of to-day, only the goatish 

 noise, which is offensive to most ears, is not now heard 

 so much in church, where indeed the Sussex peasant 

 is not often seen : you hear it in the ale-house and the 

 cottage. 



