RAMBLES ABOUT NEWMARKET 209 



no-work-to-do brigade went to improve the 

 occasion for themselves ? They tore or dug 

 out every blessed root as soon as the elderly 

 party left with his specimens, and cooked the 

 lot. Their idea of vegetable goodness was being 

 good to eat, which the fern most distinctly was 

 not. That historiette has ever been a warning 

 to me not to give away the runs or pitches of 

 scarce animals, birds, fishes, flowers, butterflies, 

 beetles, and the rest, so no more from yours 

 truly about this special decoration. 



Newmarket's more remote suburbs on the 

 Suffolk side, parts seven to more miles from 

 Jockey Club headquarters, are unknown to the 

 majority of its dwellers, not to mention visitors. 

 Wild, strange land, this terra incognita for many 

 Newmarketeers, lies handy to the east end of 

 the Heath, some of it so poor that it seems 

 nearly good for nothing except growing firs, 

 rabbits, and plovers. The soil is sandy and 

 poor in places, saturation level is only two feet 

 down or so ; trees generally are stunted, though 

 some do better ; and the impression it gives is 

 that those who tried to do anything with it were 

 sorry they ever took the job in hand. Many 

 traces are there of unsuccessful effort in this 

 direction. 



A stranger seeking directions for skirmishing 

 in these regions must be much struck (till he 

 understands the derivation) by the peculiarly 

 heraldic nature of certain points. As example, 

 here are a few which the wayfarer between 

 Kennett and Mildenhall may be told to make 

 for : " Cavenham Plough," ''Tuddenham Anchor," 

 '' Barton Bull." These sound like village names 

 or parishes, with their ancient appellations done 



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