io8 WITH THE WOODLANDERS. 



is any truth in country traditions and in some of 

 these there is very much. 



Where in one place the water, after flowing 

 through the park-lands of a noble mansion, made its 

 exit again by the highroad, it was through the 

 remains of a ruined bridge. The principal arch 

 had caved in, and one end of the bridge had fallen, 

 so that the water forced itself through the fallen 

 masses of brickwork just where it could, and then 

 rippled on as before. This at one time was no 

 doubt a chace, and the fens and meres surrounding 

 it provided an ample store of fish and fowl for the 

 religious establishments that once overlooked the 

 whole of this valley. History repeats itself, and 

 others have recently been built near the old ones. 

 A short distance across country a new religious 

 house has been established, and the vesper-bell is 

 heard as of old, its tones floating over the waters 

 that surround its bell-towers. 



When I saw this district forty years ago, it was 

 far wilder than it is now ; yet a good deal of it 

 remains in its primitive state still. But the wild- 

 fowl no longer come in their seasons to cover the 

 face of the waters as they once did. There were 



