An Old Eope-walk. 65 



a capital trade : his hands are never idle. Milk-tins, 

 pots, pans, &c., constantl}' need mending ; he travels 

 from door to door, and ma}' be seen sitting on a stool 

 in tlie eart-honse in the fiirmyard, tinkering on his 

 small portable anvil, with two or three cottagers' 

 children — sturd}', yelloAv-haired 3'oungsters — in- 

 tentl}' watching the mj' ster}^ of the craft. 



In despite of machine-sewn boots and their cheap- 

 ness, the village cob])ler is still an institution, and 

 has a considerable number of patrons. The laborers 

 working in the fields need a boot that will keep out 

 the damp, and for that .purpose it must be hand- 

 sewn : the cobbler, having lived among them all his 

 life, understands what is wanted better than the 

 artisan of the cities, and knows how to stud the 

 soles with nails and cover toe and heel with plates 

 till the huge boot is literally iron-clad. Even the 

 children wear boots which for their size are equally 

 heavy : many of the working farmers also send 

 theirs to be repaired. The only thing to be remem- 

 bered in deaUng with a village cobbler is, if you 

 want a pair of boots, to order them six months 

 beforehand, or you will be disappointed. The busi- 

 ness occupies him about as long as it takes a ship- 

 wright to build a ship. 



Under the trees of the lane that connects one part 

 of the village with another stands a wooden post, once 

 stout, now decaying ; and opposite it at some distance 

 the remnants of a second. This was a rope-walk, but 

 has long since fallen into disuse ; the tendency' of the 

 age having for a long time been to centralize indus- 

 tr}^ of all kinds. It is true that of late 3'ears many 

 manufacturers have found it profitable to remove 



