BIRDS IN A VILLAGE 105 



cart was excited to an extraordinary degree; 

 never had I heard such a noise I And no wonder, 

 since the man was driving a heavy, springless farm 

 cart in the most reckless manner, urging his two 

 huge horses to a fast trot, then a gallop, up and 

 down hill along those rough gully-like roads, he 

 standing up in his cart and roaring out "Auld 

 Lang Syne," at the top of a voice of tremendous 

 power. He was probably tipsy, but it was not 

 a bad voice, and the old familiar tune and words 

 had an extraordinary effect in that still atmos- 

 phere. He passed my cottage, standing up, his 

 legs wide apart, his cap on the back of his head, 

 a big broad-chested young man, lashing his horses, 

 and then for about two minutes or longer the 

 thunder of the cart and the roaring song came 

 back fainter, until it faded away in the distance. 

 At that still hour of the day the children were 

 all at school on the further side of the village; 

 the men away in the fields; the women shut up 

 in their cottages, perhaps sleeping. It seemed to 

 me that I was the only person in the village who 

 had witnessed and heard the passing of the big- 

 voiced man and cart. But it was not so. At all 

 events, next day, the whole village, men, women 



