190 THE RECTORY AND ITS BIRDS 



now to be got on many farms at all, and what is to 

 be got on others is much bruised and broken by the 

 threshing machines, which are in such general use. 

 Yet, delightfully warm in winter and cool in summer 

 the exact opposite of a roof of slate it gives a 

 sense of comfort, of cosiness, of hospitality, of homeli- 

 ness, of home to any building which it shelters. It 

 is hardly too much to say that no cottage which is 

 unthatched, whatever its other merits, can well be 

 beautiful ; no cottage which is thatched, however 

 humble in itself, can well be altogether ugly. 

 Happily, the thatched cottage still predominates in 

 most of the villages of Dorset, and lingers even in 

 the middle of some of the smaller towns, giving to 

 each an idyllic charm. Nor is it so perishable, and 

 therefore so expensive, as it is often thought. I 

 was struck, last autumn, by a great range of farm 

 buildings on the property of Lord Peel at Eyemouth, 

 near Sandy, all of them thatched with reed pulled by 

 the hand, which was evidently of considerable age 

 and yet in perfect condition, and all glowing warmly, 

 a sun almost in themselves, beneath the rays of the 

 setting sun. I made inquiries as to their history 

 and age, and Lord Peel tells me that, since his 

 tenant came into the farm, some thirty years ago, 

 nothing has been done nor has required to be done 



