278 BRITISH RURAL LIFE AND LABOUR. 



if Picturesqueness is pre-eminently the external charac- 

 teristic of the cottages of Devon, into which quality the red 

 cob of the walls enters largely. But the old red cob dwell- 

 ings of the Devonshire peasantry are passing away, and are 

 giving place to buildings whose external aspect is very- 

 various. The variety, however, is increased by the exist- 

 ence of the cob-built houses, which, though they are dis- 

 appearing, are going slowly. Slate roofs spotted with 

 yellow lichen from which stand up red-brick chimneys 

 sometimes surmount white or yellowish white walls ; or the 

 roof may be of bright red tiles surmounting walls of yellowish 

 white ; and though the chimney be also red in colour, a 

 curl of blue smoke will perhaps afford the necessary contrast. 

 The old-fashioned thatch roof still surmounts various de- 

 scriptions of buildings sometimes bare brick walls, the red 

 of which is set off, when the dwelling is new, by the inter- 

 lineation of white mortar ; or the thatch may surmount 

 white- washed or yellow- washed cob, or plastered brick, and 

 be plain in style, or crown, neatly and prettily, the gabled 

 projections of the building. Green moss and yellow- 

 blossoming '- stonecrop ' will often add external prettiness 

 to the roof, but they are suggestive of dampness and dis- 

 comfort within ; and though trailing plants add a charm 

 to external walls, they take from the too-limited light of 

 the small windows. Cottages in Devonshire, as elsewhere 

 throughout the West of England, are, on the whole, improv- 

 ing ; and are better than they were eight years ago, though 

 there is still too much of the old and evil state of things 

 existing." l 



An appreciable amount of evidence reached us from 

 a number of sources confirming this general view one 

 correspondent alleging that 



" All the new residences are great improvements, both 

 in reference to the size and number of the rooms." 



He added that 



- The landed proprietors as a class are well disposed at 

 the present time to promote improvement in the construc- 

 tion of the labourers' cottages." 



In the adjoining county of Somerset we found that 

 there was evidence of improvement in its farm labourers' 

 cottages. Once more disregarding the continuance in 

 some places yet, of the species of peasant dwellings 

 already described and condemned, let us proceed to 

 1 " Peasant Life in the West of England." 



