SELBORNE COMMON 199 



well until they quitted it ; and some of these declare 

 that they would not return even if some generous 

 person were to offer them a cottage rent free. The 

 appearance of the people, too, may be considered 

 in this connection. Mary Russell Mitford exclaims in 

 one of her village sketches that there was not a pretty 

 face in the country side. The want of comeliness 

 which is so noticeable in the southern parts of Berk- 

 shire is not confined to that county. The people of 

 Berkshire and Hampshire, of the blonde type, are very 

 much alike. But there are degrees ; and if you want 

 to see, I will not say a handsome, nor a pretty, but 

 a passably fresh and pleasant face among the cottagers, 

 you must go out of Selborne to some neighbouring 

 village to look for it. 



But this question does not now concern us. The 

 best of Selborne is the common on the hill all the 

 better for the steep hill which must be climbed to 

 get to it, since that difficult way prevents the people 

 from making too free use of it, and regarding it as a 

 sort of back-yard or waste place to throw their rubbish 

 on. It is a perpetual joy to the children. One morn- 

 ing in October I met there some youngsters gathering 

 kindling wood, and feasting at the same time on wild 

 fruits the sloes were just then at their best. They 

 told me that they had only recently come to live in 

 Selborne from Farringdon, their native village. " And 

 which place do you like best ? " I asked. " Selborne ! " 

 they shouted in a breath, and indeed appeared sur- 



