416 Rev. J. W. Dunn on the Ancient Vill of Warkworth. 



excisemen from time to time tried to put a stop to this selling 

 of liquor without a license, but the herd, until very recently, 

 continued triumphant. 



It is an amusing sight to watch these village cattle on their 

 setting out and returning from the moor, a portion of which, 

 in earlier days their very own, is now rented by the inhabit- 

 ants. Indeed, so far as I know, the only thing which at all 

 resembles it is found in the account given by Sir Francis 

 Head of the pigs and swineherd of Nassau, in his " Bubbles 

 from the Brunnens." 



The houses of WarkAvorth, with few exceptions, have no 

 available access to their premises from behind. The herd, 

 therefore, in the season of summer, at a fixed hour, begins his 

 progress each morning at the bottom of the town-street, and 

 at his accustomed signal, there issue from the front doors or 

 passages of the houses in rotation, the cows, for whose well- 

 being he is responsible during the bright long day. At 

 milking time he drives them gently home, and each animal, 

 knowing -its own doorway, steps in, or waits for admittance, 

 as the case may be, with lowing eagerness for further atten- 

 tion. 



This want of double entry is much to be regretted, as it is 

 by no means conducive to the cleanly appearance of our 

 village. 



In earlier times, our people must have had in many things 

 odd ways, and truly, so primitive in their simplicity, that 

 they would startle us if practiced now. As an instance, some 

 years ago, a frugal housewife lost a pig, stolen or strayed. On 

 the following Sunday, after service, the sexton, mounting a 

 conspicuous gravestone, proclaimed the loss, and offered a 

 suitable reward for the recovery of the missing grunter. This 

 incongruous proclamation occurred, I believe, about the period 

 of a somewhat eccentric vicar, of whom too little has been re- 

 membered. It is said of him that he was so much respected 

 that it was the custom for his parishioners to form tAvo lines 

 along the churchyard path, through which he made triumph- 

 ant progress on his way to church each Sunday. As he grew 

 older, and his eyes became dim, he was subject to mistakes in 

 the service. He was also impatient of correction as will 

 shortly appear. 



One morning, in reading the Psalms, he turned over two 

 leaves and went on. The clerk below him, for it was in the 

 days of three-deckers, saw the mistake, and in a gentle voice 

 exclaimed " You're wrong sir ! " ^* Never you mind," said the 



