78 TROLLING IN STAFFORDSHIRE. 



park was seen, broken into little hills and vallies, 

 and covered with noble forest trees, over the tops 

 of which the turrets of the old hall occasionally 

 met the eye and added to the beauty of the scene. 

 Numerous deer and cattle were quietly grazing 

 here and there, while some of the latter might be 

 seen cooling themselves in the shallow water at the 

 end of the pond. Swallows sported about, and a 

 solitary heron might be discovered on the decayed 

 branch of a gigantic oak, waiting for our departure 

 to seek his food in the watery element. 



To the left of us, the peaceful cottage of John 

 Porter offered a pretty picture. A rude verandah 

 encircled it, which Mary, in her happier days, had 

 ornamented with climbing plants of various sorts. 

 Some of these covered a part of the thatched roof, 

 and had interspersed themselves with house-leek, 

 tufts of grass, and patches of green moss. The 

 cottage was sheltered by a noble wood of beech 

 and hollies, and standing on the sloping green near 

 it, an enormous old pollard might be seen, its dead 

 and decaying branches producing an effect which 

 every lover of those venerable ruins would delight 

 in. Against it birds of prey and various kinds of 

 vermin had been nailed, either in terrorem, or to 

 shew his mistress, when she passed by, that her 

 gamekeeper had not been neglectful of his duty. 

 Against this tree, John Porter had, for many a 

 year been in the habit of exercising himself with 



