236 THE BRIGHTON ROAD 



same as ever, have recently been very largely rebuilt, 

 much to the sorrow of those who love the picturesque. 

 They were thatched, for the most part, or tiled, or 

 roofed with stone slabs. A living-room with yawning 

 fireplace and capacious settle was the chief feature of 

 them. The floor was covered with red bricks. When 

 the settle was drawn up to the cheerful blaze the 

 interior was cosy. But many of the most picturesque 

 cottages were damp and insanitary, and although they 

 pleased the artist to look at, it by no means followed 

 that they would have contented him to live in. 



Outside, in the garden, grew homely flowers and 

 useful vegetables, and perhaps by the gnarled apple- 

 tree there stood in the sun a row of bee-hives. Sussex 

 superstition declared that they might, indeed, be 

 purchased, but not for silver : 



If you wish your bees to thrive, 



Gold must be paid for ev'ry hive ; 



For when they're bought with other money, 



There will be neither swarm nor honey. 



The year was one long round of superstitious customs 

 and observances, and it is not without them, even 

 now. But superstition is shy and not visible on the 

 surface. 



In January began the round, for from Christmas 

 Eve to Twelfth Day was the proper time for " worsting," 

 that is ' wassailing ' the orchards, but more 

 particularly the apple-trees. The country-folk would 

 gather round the trees and chant in chorus, rapping 

 the trunks the while with sticks : 



Stand fast root, bear well top ; 



Pray, good God, send us a howling crop 



Ev'ry twig, apples big ; 



Ev'ry bough, apples enow' ; 



Hats full, caps full, 



Full quarters, sacks full. 



These wassailing folk were generally known as 

 " howlers " ; " doubtless rightly," says a Sussex 

 archaeologist, " for real old Sussex music is in a minor 

 key, and can hardly be distinguished from howling." 



