50 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



the enclosed hill pastures are fringed with 

 shaggy underwood and bosky dells, vestiges of 

 primitive forests. In limestone caverns and 

 recesses of the hills, remains of bears, wild 

 boars, and wolves are found ; while on one 

 of the fells there still roams a herd of wild 

 Red Deer. 



A century ago, a large proportion of the land 

 in Cumbria was owned by these 'Statesmen, 

 the farms ranging in value from £40 to £50 a 

 year. Many of them were held by one family 

 for generations ; but too often, as they descended 

 from father to son, they became heavily burdened 

 with charges to the younger members. Mort- 

 gages and interest accumulated until the case 

 of the 'Statesman became hopeless, and he was 

 glad to find a purchaser for his little demesne. 

 A series of bad seasons, loss of stock, or a pro- 

 longed winter, would not unfrequently prove 

 the last straw ; or it sometimes happened that 

 the yeoman's family became too large to be 

 sustained by the estate. The natural result 

 was that the small holdings were gradually 

 merged in the larger ones, until now the 

 process of assimilation may be said to be com- 

 plete. The few that have survived have done 



