112 The ' Wiek. 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE FARMHOUSE TRADITIONS HUNTING PICTURES — ■ 



THE farmer's year SPORT THE AUCTION FES- 

 TIVAL A summer's day BEAUTY OF WHEAT. 



The stream, after leaving the village and the wash-*^ 

 pool, rushes swiftly down the descending slope, and 

 then entering the meadows, quickly loses its original 

 impetuous character. Not much more than a mile 

 from the village it flows placidl}' through meads and 

 pastures, a broad, deep brook, thickly fringed with 

 green flags bearing here and there large yellow 

 flowers. By some old thatched cattle-sheds and 

 rick-yards, overshadowed with elm trees, a strong 

 bay or dam crosses it, forcing the water into a pond 

 for the cattle, and answering the occasional purpose 

 of a ford ; for the laborers in their heavy boots walk 

 over the baj^ though the current rises to the instep. 

 They call these sheds, some few hundred yards from 

 the farmhouse, the 'Lower Pen.' Wick Farm — al- 

 most every village has its outl^'ing ' wick ' — stands 

 alone in the fields. It is an ancient, rambhng build- 

 ing, the present form of which is the result of suc- 

 cessive additions at difterent dates, and in various 

 styles. 



When a homestead, like this, has been owned and 

 occupied by the same family for six or seven genera- 



