OLD CORNISH HEDGES 49 



thick turf and furze and bracken and woody ivy 

 covering it in the same way in the same old places. 

 This made him think it must be very, very old. 



It seemed to me that his life, although a long one, 

 was but a short period to measure by in such a case, 

 that if he could have consulted his father and grand- 

 father and his remoter ancestors back to the time 

 when the last Cornish king was cast out by William 

 the Bastard, they would all have given the same 

 testimony and said that the hedge was very old when 

 they knew it. 



