CHILDHOOD AT COATE FARM 35 



ha-ha where the beehives stood and the ants nested is 

 gone, the summer-house is gone. But the martins still 

 nest under the eaves ; there is still some lavender in the 

 garden ; and in the early June mornings — and in Jefferies' 

 books — it is easy to see how sweet and fit a home it must 

 have been made by James Jefferies in the middle of last 

 century. 



In the farmyard stood the common pump of the village, 

 which made the place the hub of the universe, James 

 Jefferies himself being fond of talk, and, as an old hay- 

 maker says, ' didn't bustle about like some of 'em.' 



The land attached to the farmhouse was very little — 

 about forty acres, all of it grass, feeding about eight cows 

 and not employing more than one labourer except at 

 the haymaking. Most of the land lay close round the 

 house : two fields opposite, called locally Little and 

 Great * Axe ' or 'Auks,' but by Jefferies ' Hawkes ' ; 

 and three immediately behind, bounded on the south 

 by the Reservoir — the Home Field, nearest the road to 

 Day House, the Brook Field, between that and the stream, 

 and a little corner piece beyond called Little Home Field. 

 This little piece was a warm, rich corner where there was 

 always a partridge or two, and Richard loved its oaks. 

 But right away from the house, beyond the Reservoir, 

 and on the very edge of Burderop — and now gathered into 

 that estate — was another small field known as * The 

 Hodson Ground.' It had goodly double hedges, and, 

 being so near the preserves, partook of some of their 

 advantages, and served as an invaluable outwork for 

 Jefferies when he began to loaf about with a gun. The 

 trains between Swindon and Marlborough did not, in those 

 days, burst in among the pheasants of Burderop, and the 

 quiet of the field was complete. 



This house and the fields were a good place for one to 

 live in who was to become part of that country-side. That, 

 and liberty for six days in the week, and James Luckett 

 Jefferies for his father, was in Richard's favour. Then, 

 too, there was his great-uncle's mill and its vast wheel by 



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