029 
wuight of a man, thou, indeed, tlio inhabitants must liave had a 
hard time of it. We have already seen King Canute at his wits’- 
end under such circumstances, when the lusty Brithmer came to his 
assistance, and piloted him across the Fen; but once let the ice be 
sufliciently solid to bear his weight, and the Fen-man, hrstening on 
his skates, was as free as the birds of the air, and almost as rapid in 
his motions. Nor have his descendants of the present day suffered 
the art to fall into decay, the Fens of Cambridgeshire being noted 
for producing some of the fastest skaters in England. In the 
charming little novel by C. MacFarlane, entitled the ‘Camp of 
Kefuge, before referred to, the men of Holland are represented as 
coming, trooping across the Fens, to join Hereward, mounted on 
stilts, and by way of expressing their devotion to the victorious 
Lord of Brunn, and their confidence in him as a leader like 
desperate invadei-s, who are determined to conquer or to die, and 
burn their ships to cut off any chance of retreat— so these 
amphibious men cast away the stilts which formed their only 
means of locomotion. In the song already quoted, * the 
“stilt-makers” are enumerated amongst those who would suffer 
disaster from the draining of the Fens ; and, whilst regretting that 
the prediction should have proved only too true, and that this 
graceful mode of getting across country should have degenerated 
into the familiar “jumping-pole,” wo have still cause for con- 
gratulation that in skating, at least, the Fen-mon have not lost their 
cunning. 
After the drainage of the Fens, several large sheets of water, 
called “ Meres ” were left. Of these the principal were, Sohanq 
Earasoy, Irundle, Ugg, and Wliittlesea Meres, and the numerous 
pieces of water in the East and West Fens : these are now all 
drained. Whittlesea Mere, the most extensive, was drained in 
1851 and 1852; and, by this means, some three thousand acres of 
land were brought into cultivation ; and now rich crops of golden 
corn are produced, where, thirty years ago, the harvest was restricted 
to the wild-fowler, the fisherman, and the reed-cutter, f 
* Antea p. 616. 
t For a very interesting account of the draining of Whittlesea Mere, as 
well as much information in Fen matters, see two articles, entitled “Fen 
and Mere,” by Cuthbert Bede, in ‘Leisure Hour’ for 1S77 (pp. 296 and 331, 
and note at p. 607 of the same volume). ’ 
