BEAUTY OF THATCH 193 



slopes, the clean-cut edges, the gentle curves of the 

 thatch, heaving, as it were, of its own accord, to 

 canopy the upper windows which rise above the 

 "plate"; and, better still, the embrace which, as 

 with the encircling arms of a mother, it gives to the 

 deep-planted, half-hidden, dormer window in the 

 middle of the roof, nestling snugly within it, and, 

 by its very look, inviting to peacefulness and repose. 

 Note, too, the change of colouring in the whole, as 

 time goes on ; the rich golden russet tint, beautiful 

 as the locks of Ceres, when the work is just com- 

 pleted ; the warm brown of the succeeding years ; 

 the emerald green, the symptom of advancing age, 

 when lichens and moss have begun to gather thick 

 upon it ; and, " last scene of all, which ends " its 

 quiet, uneventful "history," when the winds and 

 rain have worked their will upon it, the rounded 

 meandering ridges and the sinuous deep-cut furrows 

 which, like the waters of a troubled sea, ruffle its 

 once smooth surface. 



Most beautiful of all, perhaps, and not seen to 

 perfection unless some trouble is taken about it, 

 is a newly thatched roof, when, after a heavy April 

 shower, the bright April sun peers down suddenly 

 full upon it. Get a ladder and gaze upward along 

 the slope of the thatch, keeping your eye as close 



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