ANOTHER TALE OF ARCADY. 49 



of them belonged to the " 'Statesman " class, 

 and both owned and farmed their holdings. 

 Many of these had been held by one family 

 for generations, for the 'Statesman was essen- 

 tially conservative, and the world went slowly 

 then. 



The old-fashioned yeoman followed the most 

 primitive methods of agriculture. He lived 

 along the sides of the dales, a mountain stream 

 rushing through his rich meadows immediately 

 below. His house and barns, built primarily 

 with a view to shelter, were composed of rocks 

 and boulders from the fell slopes, and were more 

 like productions of nature than of art. The 

 homesteads were generally planted at the base of 

 the mountains, as there the soil is richest and 

 deepest. The valley bottoms make productive 

 meadows ; and although the fell sheep often 

 graze them far into summer, they yield abundant 

 crops of hay in July. In these remote dales, 

 however, the summer months are often wet ones, 

 and the hay harvest is much delayed. Taking 

 our stand by the margin of the valley stream, 

 we have, first, the meadow slip, then the 

 " intacks " or fell-side pasture, the " grassing 

 heads," and, finally, the mountains. Many of 



