192 LONGSHORE MEMORIES 
dwellings, if the owners of these could read at all,, 
would be a large-lettered Bible and an almanac of the 
plainest form. If this predicted future events, or 
pretended to do it, so much the more was it appreci- 
ated. In lonely homes, often cut off for weeks and 
months together from their nearest neighbours, when 
the waters were out and the land was drowned, 
their position was at times an unenviable one, and 
under the most favourable circumstances their lot, in 
the light of the present day, would appear unendurable 
to many Yet these served God and did their duty, 
deriving as much, and perhaps more satisfaction there- 
from than do the more highly-favoured ones of their 
class to-day. 
The simple arts of reading and writing were 
highly valued ; those mothers and fathers who could 
read and write taught their own children and those 
of their less gifted neighbours during the long winter 
evenings. A man or woman who could read a six- 
weeks-old newspaper to the neighbours, and write a 
letter for them at intervals, few and far between, was 
much looked up to and respected. A book, especially 
if it was illustrated, would be lent for miles round ; 
and when, through constant wear and tear, it be- 
gan to go, it was stitched and pasted in wonderful 
fashion. 
