72 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



Nothing can be uglier than the generality of the 

 northern villages, and it really seems as if man 

 tried all he could to mar the beauty of the land- 

 scape when he sets up his dwelling-house here. 

 The farm-houses are in general low, built of wood, 

 painted either a flaming red colour, or else miser- 

 ably dilapidated, and the roof or thatch scarcely 

 ever in repair. The out-houses, cow-houses, 

 barns, granaries, etc., are all huddled together, 

 stuck here, there, and everywhere, without the 

 slightest order ; and those offices which in general 

 we endeavour in England to keep as much out of 

 sight as possible, always in the most conspicuous 

 place, often right in front of the parlour window. 

 Quickiock was no exception to the general rule. 

 There is a little more fashion about the gentle- 

 men's houses, some of which for neatness of build- 

 ing and the taste in which the grounds are laid 

 out, would equal any in England ; but even here the 

 condition and position of the outhouses often spoils 

 the effect. The country around Quickiock in the 

 summer is perhaps as beautiful as any in Lapland, 

 for the village lies in a valley on the banks of a 

 magnificent river, surrounded on all sides by 

 forests and fells. But there is as much difference 

 between Quickiock in its winter dress and Quick- 

 iock in its summer dress as there is between a 

 withered old French dowager in her morning 



