102 Wild Life in a Southern County 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE FARMHOUSE — TRADITIONS — HUNTING PICTURES — THE FARMER'S 

 YEAR — SPORT — THE AUCTION FESTIVAL — A SUMMER'S DAT — BEAUIT 

 OF WHEAT. 



The stream, after leaving the village and the wash-pool, 

 rushes swiftly down the descending slope, and then enter- 

 ing the meadows, quickly loses its original impetuous 

 character. Not much more than a mile from the village 

 it flows placidly through meads and pastures, a broad, 

 deep brook, thickly fringed with green flags bearing here 

 and there large yellow flowers. By some old thatched 

 cattle-sheds and rick-yards, overshadowed with elm-trees, 

 a strong bay or dam crosses it, forcing the water into a 

 pond for the cattle, and answering the occasional purpose 

 of a ford ; for the labourers in their heavy boots walk over 

 the bay, though the current rises to the instep. They call 

 these sheds, some few hundred yards from the farmhouse, 

 the ' Lower Pen.' Wick Farm — almost every village has 

 its outlying ' wick ' — stands alone in the fields. It is an 

 ancient rambling building, the present form of which is 

 the result of successive additions at different dates, and in 

 various styles. 



When a homestead, like this, has been owned and 

 occupied by the same family for six or seven generations, 

 it seems to possess a distinct personality of its own. A 

 history grows up round about it ; memories of the past 



