TIIF, STATK <[ Till' 1!OAI>S. 



(Y;iM>r, has introduced the figure of a Devonshire pack-horse bend- 

 ing under the ' swagging load ' of the high-piled crooks as an 

 emblem of care toiling along the narrow and rugged path of life. 

 The force and point of the imagery must be lost to those who have 

 never seen (and, as in an instance which came under my own 

 knowledge, never heard of) this unique specimen of provincial 

 agricultural machinery. The crooks are formed of two poles, 1 about 

 ten feet long, bent, when green, into the required curve, and when 

 dried in that shape are connected by horizontal bars. A pair of 

 crooks, thus completed, is slung over the pack-saddle one ' swing- 

 ing on each side to make the balance true.' The short crooks, or 

 rrnlm, are slung in a similar manner. These are of stouter fabric, 

 and angular shape, and are used for carrying logs of wood and other 

 heavy materials. The dung-pots, as the name implies, were also 

 much in use in past times, for the removal of dung and other 

 manure from the farmyard to the fallow or plough lands. The 

 s//Wtf, or sledge, may also still occasionally be seen in the hay or 

 corn fields, sometimes without, and in other cases mounted on low 

 wheels, rudely but substantially formed of thick plank, such as 

 might have brought the ancient Koinan's harvest load to the barn 

 some twenty centuries ago." 2 



1 Willow saplings, crooked and 

 dried in the required form. Mrs. 

 l>r;iy says the crooks are called by 

 tin 1 country people "Devil's tooth- 

 picks." A correspondent informs us 

 that the queer old crook-packs repre- 

 sented in our illustration are still in 

 use in North Devon. lie adds : "The 

 pack-horses were so accustomed to 

 their position when travelling in line 

 (when going in double file) and so 

 jealous of their respective places, that 

 i! one got wrong and took another's 

 place, the animal interfered with 

 would strike at the offender with his 

 crooks." 



- Howe's * Perambulation of Dart- 

 moor,' pp. 87, S, !>. The primitive 

 contrivance (Mr. Howe further oh- 

 |) lor hanging the g:itrs of the 



moorland crofts and commons may 

 also be seen in this neighbourhood. 

 No iron hinge of any kind, nor gate- 

 post, is employed. An oblong moor- 

 stone block, in which a socket is 

 drilled, is built into the wall, from 

 which it projects sufficiently to re- 

 ceive the back-stanchion of the gate, 

 while a corresponding socket is sunk 

 in a similar stone fixed in the ground 

 below, unless a natural rock should 

 be found in situ, suitable for the pur- 

 pose, which is frequently the case. 

 The gate, thus secured, swings freely, 

 swivel-like, in these sockets; and thus, 

 from materials on the spot, without 

 the assistance of iron, a simple, dura- 

 ble, and eflicient hinge is formed by 

 the rural engineer. P. 89. 



o 2 



