106 THE ISLE OF AXHOLME 



long title, so well is the history of each bit of land 

 known in the parish. Disputes about boundaries are 

 rare, though there is no survey and no marks beyond 

 the furrow which the last man to plough strikes up. 

 Some of the land is rented, 305. to 403. an acre being 

 paid, and the holding of many of the farmers is made 

 up of strips that he owns, some in freehold, some in 

 copyhold, together with others which he rents from 

 tradespeople who have invested their savings in land, 

 though the total area in one man's hands rarely 

 exceeds 40 or 50 acres. But despite the smallness of 

 the holdings and the drawbacks due to the divisions 

 and the scattering, we were informed that the farmers 

 were all reasonably prosperous, and the look of the 

 little homesteads and houses and of the men with 

 whom we conversed all conveyed the same impression. 

 It was not always so. If we turn to Mr. Druce's 

 report as Sub-Commissioner to the Royal Commission 

 on Agricultural Depression, we find that about 1882 

 the farmers in the Isle of Axholme were practically 

 bankrupt. The land was nearly all mortgaged, the 

 farmers were at the end of their resources and could 

 not pay the interest due, the farming only went on 

 because the mortgagees were advised they could not sell 

 the land if they foreclosed. The mortgagees were 

 wisely advised ; they acted the part of landlords and 

 forbore to press for their interest until better times 

 came round, so that the small holders of the Isle of 

 Axholme were able to live on through the depression 

 when their fellows in South Lincoln went under almost 

 completely. Much of this result must have been due 

 to the solidarity of local interests, for the mortgages 

 appear to have been held locally by neighbours who 

 knew the farmers intimately and could give them credit 

 on account of their character. The interest of the Isle 



