258 ON SURREY HILLS. 



eating and drinking. Of woodcock I remember 

 they used to say, "Birds thet wus always suckin'' 

 stuff out o' pools an* dykes could not be good for 

 much. Frogs did that, an' Frenchmen fed on frogs." 

 The connection between woodcocks and frogs I 

 always failed to discover, beyond the fact that 

 both got their living in moist places. I can re- 

 member also the account that was brought home 

 of the cooking and serving up of one particular 

 pair that had been so presented ; and the very 

 wording of the note of thanks the gentleman wrote 

 in acknowledgment of "the luxuries so kindly for- 

 warded." The note was thought much of, and 

 religiously treasured, as having been "writ by the 

 squire's own hand." The manner of the bird's cook- 

 ing was also told in strict confidence by the squire's 

 cook. I recall it all as though it had happened 

 only yesterday, and the expression of thankfulness, 

 echoed by all at our tea-table, that none of them 

 had " got to eat such frenchified muck as that." 

 And then the climax was reached when one told 

 how tomatoes or, as they called them, " love-apples," 

 were freely eaten by the same gentleman, cooked 

 as vegetables, and also raw as fruit, freshly plucked 



