FARMING AND FOXHUNTING 



his way, a Miss Lucy Choules, but we can very 

 well imagine that he would be chivalrous enough to 

 do so. 



It must have been Michaelmas 1892 that the 

 next move came in my early training. Arrange- 

 ments were made for me to take service with John 

 Lawrence, of Idstone ; a nice quiet man was John 

 Lawrence. I think the post was called improver 

 pupil. All the Lawrences were farmers of the old 

 school ; they and their father before them farmed 

 at Idstone for many years. It is interesting and 

 fitting to see that their nephew, Richard, is now 

 again in occupation. 



There is no doubt that a good experience in 

 arable farming could be obtained at Idstone, and 

 I do not think I altogether neglected the opportunity. 

 The social side was sound and good and always 

 church on a Sunday morning. The Vicar of 

 Ashbury at the time was a bachelor and a new- 

 comer, I believe. In any case he formed a new 

 idea of bringing law and order into the church 

 during the hours of service by introducing a new 

 verger, whose duty it was to act when occasion 

 demanded. I remember one Sunday evening one 

 or two young men were not giving much attention 

 to the Vicar's deliberations, consequently he stopped 

 short and called upon the verger to put them out ! 

 Dabney, the verger, walked up the aisle to carry out 

 his duty. However, there was nothing doing, the 

 young men definitely declined to go. Eventually 

 the order rang out, " Go back to your seat, Dabney," 

 and the service proceeded. 



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