The Shepherd's Memory. 97 
recalls 42s books, the fields; for he, in the nature of 
things, has to linger over them and study every letter : 
sheep are slow. 
When the hedges are grubbed and the grass grows 
where the hawthorn flowered, still the shepherd can 
point out to you where the trees stood—here an oak 
and here an ash. On the hills he has often little to 
do but ponder deeply, sitting on the turf of the slope, 
while the sheep graze in the hollow, waiting for hours 
as they eat their way. Therefore by degrees a habit 
of observation grows upon him—always in reference 
to his charge; and if he walks across the parish off 
duty he still cannot choose but notice how the crops 
are coming on, and where there is most ‘keep.’ The 
shepherd has been the last of all to abandon the old 
custom of long service. While the labourers are 
restless, there may still be found not a few instances 
of shepherds whose whole lives have been spent upon 
one farm. Thus, from the habit of observation and 
the lapse of years, they often become local authorities ; 
and when a dispute of boundaries or water rights or 
right of way arises, the question is frequently finally 
decided by the evidence of such a man. 
Every now and then a difficulty happens in refer- 
ence to the old green lanes and bridle-tracks which 
once crossed the country in every direction, but get 
fewer in number year by year. Sometimes it is de- 
sired to enclose a section of such a track to round off 
an estate : sometimes a path has grown into a valuable 
H 
