1797-] 
‘Yound the weathercock for fome time, he 
defcended by the fame means, in fafety, 
contrary to the expectations of the 
townfmen, who had gazed at him with 
fenfations of anxiety and horror. 
J now found myfelf within a few miles 
of the fea, of which, froma rifing ground 
near LourH, I had a clear profpeét, and 
one day obferved about fifty fail of col- 
liers on their pafflage from Newcafile to 
London. J made a little excurfion in 
order to vifit a few parithes a little to the 
WE. of Louth, and partly in that diftrid, 
called the Woups. Thisis a level open 
country, with a deep, rich, loamy foil ; 
farms are fmall,_houfes moftly colleéted 
in {mall villages, and are wretched clay 
huts, withour gables, and covered with 
firaw. Here, as well as about Lourn, 
the land is moftly in common fields, 
which precludes any good mode of huf- 
bandry from being adopted, fhould the 
farmers fee the neceility thereof; moft 
of thofe, however, with whom I con- 
verfed, were obitinately prejudiced in 
favour of old fyftems. Lands, in common 
fields, are kept in perpetual tillage: a 
village, or townfhip, moftly has three 
fields, one of which lies fallow, another 
3s fown with wheat or barley, and another 
with barley or oats, in rotation. I noticed 
fome farmers laying their manure upon 
the fallows zow, which, I was informed, 
was to continue above the furface, ex- 
pofed tothe fun and air, till the wheat feed 
time—the coniequence of this practice is 
obvious. The real value of land is not 
fo well known here as in the more nor- 
thern counties; I faw land let for 16s. an 
acre, which is intrinfically worth 3es, 
under judicious management. Farther in 
the Wolds great numbers of fheep are 
bred and fed; the farmers, however, 
complain of that ufeful animal being very 
fubjeét to fatal diforders in thefe parts. 
Parifhes here are generally fmall!, and 
churches equally fo. At the village of 
Overington, it is remarkable, that there 
are two diftinét parifh churches erected 
in the fame church-yard. . 
Walking one day near a farm-houfe, 
in’the vicinity of Louth, I noticed a 
perfon bufy in fpreading fomething 
black on the ground, and going nearer, 
to fee what he was doing, was much fur- 
prifed to find, that he had configned his 
dunghill to the flames, and was then 
preparing it for that purpofe; I had 
before heard, that the icarcity of fuel in 
Lincolnthire, fometimes obliged perfons 
to burn cows’ dung, although I could 
fcarcely credit the report. The ufe of 
“Pour of England.—Louth, Alford. 
431 
that fort of fuel is, however, very com- 
mon in thefe parts, but not fo much fo 
as formerly ; and the farmers begin to 
acknowledge, that it is more profitable 
to lay their dunghills upon their grounds, 
than to burnthem. ‘The dung is firft 
{pread about two inches thick, en dry 
ground: when a little hardened, it 1s 
cut.into flags of about a foot fquare, and 
fet up edgewife, one againft another, till 
they are perfeétly dry, and then put up 
in ftacks for ufe, as we do peat and turf 
in Cumberland. The roads in this coun- 
try, particularly towards the fea-coaft, 
are very bad in winter ; and good mate- 
rials for repairing them are expenfive and 
difficult to procure. Canals, however, 
to the fea, might be cut at an eafy coft, 
which would introduce a conftant fupply 
of coals into the country, from the fhip- 
pane 
June 4, went from LoutH to AL- 
FORD, in Lincolnfhire. fourteen miles. 
The roads made with coke or chalk, and 
muft be bad in winter. The foil partly 
chalky, and partly a deep ftrong fertile 
clay. The country, in general, is very 
productive, ‘but it is principally fo in 
pafture for faeep and cattle, which are 
univerfally of the large Lincolnthire 
breed. The furface has fome gentle 
{wells ; {mall traéts of woodland appear, 
as do a number of trees on hedge-rows. 
This is all a farming country; popula- 
tion fmall, miferable thatched clay huts, 
rents extremely low, and farms middle 
fized. A farmer, of the name of Grant, 
in this neighbourhood, who, in the for- 
mer part of his life, was a common wag- 
goner, feeing the opportunity a f{pirited 
farmer might have of excelling his 
neighbours in this country, turned his 
{peculations that way, and with the af- 
fiftance of a {mall capital, added to his 
honeft induftry, has now acquired a for- 
tune rated at 20,0001. ‘This is, in ap- 
pearance, a delightful country, but be- 
ing very fubjeét to fogs from. the fea, 
and there being generally a want of good 
water, agues are very frequent, and 
often attack a ftranger, after a fhort re- 
fidence in the place. 
ALFORD ftands on a plain, is a petty 
market town, containing 850 inkabi- 
tants; buildings of brick, and moftly 
thatched with reeds, as is a part of the 
church, From Alford I had a pleafant 
walk of three miles to the village of 
Willoughby, where I dined with the 
Rev. Mr. Bowyer, a gentleman who, 
fome time ago, inftituted {chools of in- 
duftry, in all this part of the county, 
a ie 2 for 
