74 NATUBE AND WOODCRAFT. 



Cumbria is far above the average, and most of 

 these are undoubtedly born of the agricultural 

 classes. The Registers of the country churches 

 prove this. Still, it is pleasing to be able to 

 record the fact that in the Dales, sooner or later, 

 those who have been wronged " are made 

 honest women of" by marriage. 



In the remote dales the farm servants are as 

 conservative as their masters. Not only in 

 politics, but in their whole surroundings. At 

 one time of the year the sledding of the peat 

 constitutes a considerable portion of their work. 

 Nothing but sticks and peat are used for 

 fuel ; and the peat has to be " graved," then 

 stacked, and finally brought from the moorlands 

 on sledges. This is done in autumn. Spring 

 is occupied in tending the mountain sheep, the 

 time of lambing being a particularly busy one. 

 The sheep-washing is also pleasant, and shear- 

 ing, a month later, brings quite an annual 

 festival. The "clipping," where the holdings 

 are essentially sheep-farms, is one of the great 

 events of the year. Before the days of dipping, 

 salving sheep came in late autumn, and brought 

 a time of terribly hard work. The process was 

 slow, and sometimes a thousand head had to 



