CHAP. II.] THE FIKST D^Y. 375 



sently have a light supper, and to bed. Come, sirs, lay the 

 cloth, and bring what you have presently,- and let the gentle- 

 man's bed be made ready in the mean time, in my father 

 Walton's chamber. 1 Now, sir, here is rny service to you ; 

 and once more welcome ! 



Fiat. I, marry sir, this glass of good sack has refreshed 

 me. And I'll make as bold with your meat, for the trot 

 has got me a good stomach. 



Pise. Come, sir, fall to then, you see my little supper is 

 always ready when I come home ; and I'll make no stranger 

 of you. 



Fiat. That your meal is so soon ready, is a sign your 

 servants know your certain hours, sir. I confess I did not 

 expect it so soon ; but now 'tis here, you shall see I will 

 make myself no stranger. 



Pise. Much good do your heart ! and I thank you for 

 that friendly word. And now, sir, my service to you in a 

 cup of More-Lands ale; 2 for you are now in the More- 

 Lands, but within a spit and a stride of the Peak. Fill my 

 friend his glass. 



Fiat. Believe me, you have good ale in the More-Lands : 

 far better than that at Ash bourn. 



Pise. That it may soon be : for Ashbourn has, which is a 

 kind of a riddle, always in it the best malt, and the worst 

 ale in England. 3 Come, take away, and bring us some 

 pipes, and a bottle of ale, and go to your own suppers. 

 Are you for this diet, sir ? 



1 Beresford Hall, like many of the residences of our ancient gentry, has 

 degenerated into a decayed farm-house ; and, what is believed to have been 

 " my father Walton's chamber," with its fine carved oak mantel, reaching 

 to the ceiling, and yet displaying the family escutcheon, has been converted 

 into a cheese-room ! K. C. 



" The Staffordshire hills, which, from a gradual ascent run through the 

 heart of England, like the Apennines in Italy, in a continued ridge, rising 

 gradually higher and higher into Scotland, under different names, are here 

 called Moorlands ; then Peak, then Blackstone Edge, then Craven, then 

 Stanmore ; and then, parting into two horns, are called the Cheviots. By 

 a "spit and a stride" is perhaps to be understood that undefined distance, 

 described by other writers as a "bowshot" or a "stone's cast." Ib. 



3 This was probably so in Cotton's time, but since then the tables are 

 turned. Ashbourn, ale is now famous throughout the Northern and 

 Midland counties, and is not surpassed for strength, purity, and flavour, 

 even by Nottingham ale. ED. 



