46 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 



characters and persons, and which were mostly 

 continued by their offspring. These consisted of 

 a great variety of names of cunning or ferocious 

 birds and beasts, as well as some others, the 

 meaning of which is now unknown. There were 

 among them the Hawk, Glead, Falcon, Fox, Wolf, 

 Bloodhound, Greyhound, Raven, Crow, Gorfoot, 

 Crowfoot, &c., &c. 



The farmers of the neighbourhood, at the early 

 period which I have been describing, always 

 appeared to me to be not of so intelligent a cast 

 as the poor labouring men. Their minds being 

 more exclusively occupied with the management 

 of their farms, they read but little. They were 

 mostly of a kind and hospitable disposition, and 

 well-intentioned, plain, plodding men, who went 

 jogging on in their several occupations as their 

 fathers had done before them. 



The next advance in society were the Lairds, 

 who lived upon their own lands. I have always, 

 through life, been of opinion that there is no 

 business of any kind that can be compared to 

 that of a man who farms his own land. It 

 appears to me that every earthly pleasure, with 

 health, is within his reach. But numbers of 

 these men were grossly ignorant, and in exact 

 proportion to that ignorance they were sure 

 to be offensively proud. This led them to 

 attempt appearing above their station, which 

 hastened them on to their ruin; but, indeed, this 

 disposition and this kind of conduct invariably 

 leads to such results. There were many of these 

 lairds on Tyneside ; as well as many who held 

 their lands on the tenure of "suit and service," 

 and were nearly on the same level as the lairds. 



