154 OLD ENGLISH VILLAGE LIFE. 



features typical of country life in general, and what are also 

 (hose special and characteristic features, which give to each 

 parish its own peculiar distinction. 



Can such a wide and general purpose be served by 

 the special study of the life of these two parishes, Barrow 

 and Twyford, which seem to be so remote and detached 

 from the main currents of our national life ? It is my 

 belief that it can, and, the Muse of History inspiring 

 me, I set out, with greater boldness, towards what, I trust, 

 will be a partial achievement of that object. Go with me, 

 then, to the country district which is under review, and try to 

 understand, in the first place, its geographical bearings. It is a 

 tract of agricultural land 4,100 acres in extent, and the river Trent 

 between Swarkestone and Potlac in South Derbyshire is the 

 southern boundary. Ingleby, Foremark and part of Repton 

 lie facing us across this dividing line. Findern, with the 

 dependency of Potlac, is the western fringe. Mickleover and 

 Normanton look down from their heights in the north upon the 

 broad moor of Sinfin as it slopes gently to the Trent Valley, 

 in which the villages and hamlets lie. Osmaston, Alvaston, 

 Chellaston and Swarkestone meet us along the boundary line 

 of the east, which becomes somewhat vague and indeterminate 

 as it crosses the wide moor. We lie, then, with our many 

 broad acres, and our scattered homesteads and village groups, 

 behind this ring-fence of well-known names. No part of the 

 district is more than six miles, by the nearest route, from 

 Derby. We are near the town, and yet sufficiently remote to 

 escape the danger of absorption. These six miles are, in fact, 

 a real and effective barrier, and they help to explain why, with 

 a strong centralising movement, drawing men's minds away 

 from the soil, and from the homes where they were reared, we 

 are still able to live our own life with few gaps in the ranks, 

 and to work out our own problems as typical country-dwellers. 



And now let me ask you, after this description, to step across 

 this ring-fence upon the ground selected for the construction of 

 the story. You will find there two villages, standing at the 



