The Court Leet is still held 113 



place if it be stock, to the yards ; if corn, the cloth is 

 cleared of all but the wine, and the sale proceeds there 

 and then. In either case the sherry and the cigars go 

 round persons being employed to press them freely upon 

 all ; and altogether a very jovial afternoon is spent. Some 

 of the company do not separate till long after the con- 

 clusion of the sale : the American or colonial agent perhaps 

 stays a night at the farmstead. In the house itself there 

 is all this time yet more liberal hospitality proffered : it is 

 quite open-house hospitality, master and mistress vying 

 in their efforts to make every one feel at home. These 

 gatherings do much to promote a friendly spirit in the 

 neighbourhood. 



In the summer the farmer is too much occupied to 

 think of amusement. It is a curious fact that very few 

 really downright country people care for fishing; a gun 

 and a horse are as necessary as air and light, but the rod 

 is not a favourite. There seems to be greater enthusiasm 

 than ever about horses ; whether people bet or not, they 

 talk and think and read more of horses than they ever did 

 before. 



In this locality Clerk's Ale, which used to be rather an 

 event, is quite extinct. The Court Leet is still held, but 

 partakes slightly of the nature of a harmless farce. The 

 lord of the manor's court is no terror now. A number of 

 gentlemen, more for the custom's sake than anything, sit 

 in solemn conclave to decide whether or no an old pollard 

 tree may be cut down, how much an old woman shall pay 

 in quit-rent for her hovel, or whether there was or was not 

 a gateway in a certain hedge seventy years ago. However, 

 it brings neighbours together, and causes the inevitable 

 sherry to circulate briskly. 



The long summer days begin very early at Wick. 



I 



