COUNTRY ESSAYS. 



Sometimes a gate has to be opened, and one or other must 

 drive into the field ; sometimes by waiting in a more open space 

 it is just possible for the coming vehicle to graze by. When 

 the great man of the country drives in them he has outriders 

 to clear the way for him. This narrow roadway gives the his- 

 tory of locomotion in Devon. Originally these lanes would 

 only be traversed by foot-passengers and beasts of burden, the 

 predecessors of the pack-horses, laden with " crooks " of faggots 

 or furze, so often met in them at the present day. Then came 

 the broadest view on the subject of transport our forefathers 

 could hold. The curious narrow wain, without wheels, consist- 

 ing of a rough body, drawn on two thick shafts which rest on 

 the ground behind, came into vogue. Specimens of it may 

 still be seen in use on the hill farms. 



Amongst the minor embarrassments of these old lanes is 

 meeting an infuriated ox running a-muck. If you are not pre- 

 pared to scale the steep banks at a moment's notice, you should 

 be ready-witted enough to provide yourself beforehand with a 

 straw. It is a west-country superstition that even if you meet 

 his satanic majesty you can cut him in half with a straw. We 

 hesitate about giving another receipt, as we never came to such 

 close quarters as to give us the opportunity of trying its efficacy. 

 It is of little use to ladies, who are most likely to be caught in 

 the plight we have fancied, still here it is. You have only to 

 spit over his horns, whether it be ox or devil, and he will in- 

 stantly disappear ! 



There is another bit of Devon folk-lore we may as well men- 

 tion, for a traveller in these intricate lanes will often have the 

 chance of putting it into practice. If you lose your way, take off 

 your coat, and having turned it inside out, put it on again. 

 You will immediately find the right track. It may easily be 

 conjectured that the proverb, " It is a long lane which has no 

 turning," could never have been coined in Devonshire, although 

 that other equally true one, of marriage being like a lane, from 



