100 ©6©Wild Life in a Southern County. 
Now it is a chance whether they come round or 
not. 
A more popular pastime with the young men, and 
perhaps more profitable, is the formation of a brass 
band. They practise vigorously before Christmas, 
and sometimes attain considerable proficiency. At 
the proper season they visit the farms in the evening, 
and as the houses are far apart, so that only a few 
can be called at in the hours available after work, it 
takes them some time to perambulate the parish. So 
that for two or three weeks about the end of the old 
and the beginning of the new year, if one chances to 
be out at night, every now and then comes the un- 
wonted note of a distant trumpet sounding over the 
fields. The custom has grown frequent of recent 
years, and these bands collect a good deal of money. 
The ringers from the church come too, with their 
hand-bells and ring pleasant tunes—which, however, 
on bells are always plaintive—standing on the crisp 
frozen grass of the green before the window. They 
are well rewarded, for bells are great favourites with 
all country people. 
What is more pleasant than the jingling of the 
tiny bells on the harness of the cart-horses? You 
may hear the team coming with a load of straw on 
the waggon three furlongs distant; then step out to 
the road, and watch the massive yet shapely creatures 
pull the heavy weight up the hill, their glossy quarters 
scarcely straining, but heads held high showing the 
