A Tour in a Phaeton through the Eastern Counties ... With sixteen ... illustrations, etc

Front matter

a Sour Gbrougb tbe Eastern Counties printed by SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON C'KOXTON HEATH [See sage A TOUR IN A PHAETON Œbrougfo tbe Eastern Counties BY JAMES JOHN H1SSHY AUTHOR OF 'AN OLD-FASHIONED JOURNEY' (A DRIVE THROUGH ENGLAND* 'ON THE BOX SEAT' 'a HOLIDAY ON THE ROAD* ETC. WITH SIXTEEN FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR AND A MAP LONDON RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET in «5rb'man* to i)fv Jtt'-jr-ih* tlir gluten 1889 [Ail rights reserved} TO MY MOTHER AND TO THE FONDLY CHERISHED MEMORY OF MY LOVING WIFE ' "Ebougb loat to slijbt, to memory Scar ■Cbou ever wilt remain : "Œbi3 onlv bopc rn? bcatt can cbeer - "Œbe bopc to meet again' Sign of thc Falgatt Inn. (See page 203.) P R E F A C E. The title of this volume so clearly expresses its purport, that, save for custom's sake, a preface is scarcely needful.

The following pages contain the simple record of a delightful summer outing, a ' cruise on wheels ' through the three counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. The scenic and other attractions of this eastern portion of England are, I think, too little known. True, I cannot promise those who follow us in our pleasant journey either mountains or waterfalls, but all things else that go to make up the beauty of the land I can ; ruined abbeys and ancient churches fraught with interest for the ecclesiologist and antiquary ; romantic homes of the olden days — many of these moated still — all abounding in past memories and historic associa tions ; old-time coaching hostelries wherein our port wine-loving forefathers made merry ; old-fashioned oddly built country towns ; picturesque hamlets ; pleasant pastoral scenes varied by wild wind-swept heaths and gorse-sprinkled commons ; and, if I cannot show my readers lakes, I can introduce them to the Land of the Broads, the quiet beauties of which artists seem only recently to have discovered.

The roads we found to be on the whole excellent ; better indeed than we have found them else where in England (the extent of ground covered being considered) ; moreover — an important moreover for the comfort of the driving tourist — the inns on the way are good, above the average of country inns. With so much to interest and delight us, little wonder that we most thoroughly enjoyed our expedition, and that we returned home with a very pleasant impression of the scenic and other attractions of this neglected corner of England. Of the illustrations I have only to remark that I trust they will lend an added interest to the account of our wanderings out of the beaten tourist track. I have to express my thanks to Mr. Pearson for the care he has taken in reproducing them. J* J* H. 1889. TAGE I CONTENTS.

Chapter I

The Pleasures and Advantages of Driving Tours — An Ideal Holiday — Untravelled England — Speed, the Curse of our Century — Rural Inns — The Country as seen from the Road and the Rail — ' The Highlands of Essex ' — A little-visited Land — A Country of Old-time Buildings and Historic Spots — Our Programme — Highways and Byways — The Langdon Hills — How Guide-books are sometimes compiled — A Grand Prospect — The Opinion of an Experienced Traveller

Chapter II

A Forsaken Church — East Horndon — The resting-place of Queen Anne Boleyn's Head — Relics— Herongate — An old Coaching Inn — Chat with an Ostler — A Wayside Memorial — A Fine Sign— The Pleasures of Photography — Ingatestone — The Scene of ' Lady Audley's Secret '— Margaretting — A Unique Brass — A Quaint Signboard 19

Chapter III

We come across a Character — Origin of the Names of Places- Guide-books at fault — The 'Good Woman' — An old half-timbered Hostelry — Roadside England — The Love of the Country — Borehanl — A Fine Altar-tomb — The Ancient Craftsman and the Modern Workman — An Old English Farmstead — The Farm of the Future — Cottage Gardens — Witham — At the Sign of the White Hart — The Kindness of Country People — How to discover Objects of Interest — A Fruitless Expedition- ' Ghosts not kept here ' ... X FAGE

Chapter IV

An Ancient Hall— Fine Cedars— A terra incognita— Country Lanes and By-ways — A Quaint little Church and its History — Puzzling Inscriptions — Curious Names — Tiptree Heath — A Tradition of Dick Turpin— Layer Marney Tower— A Grand Building — A Sixteenth-century Mansion — Friends on the Road — A Notable Structure— A Fine Prospect of River, Land, and Sea ......... 5"

Chapter V

Layer Marney Church — Old Altar-tombs — An Ancient Will — An English Earthquake — Rooms once occupied by Famous People — An Historic Farmhouse— A Primitive Letter Box — A Ford on the Road — A Ruined Church — An Ancient Coaching Hostelry — The Old-fashioned Inn — Inn Signs — Relics of the Past — A Country Church with Tenth-century Frescoes — Walls six yards thick ! — St. Botolph's Priory — A Curious Church Tower ......... 76

Chapter VI

A Wayside Inn — Higham — A Pretty Village — Picturesque Houses — The Land of Constable — In the Gloaming — An Old-time Hostel— Guide Books— Hadleigh— A Quaint Old Town — An ' Ave Maria ' Bell — An interesting Church — Ancient Weights and Measures — Curious Chests — A Conceit in Words — Epitaphs ........ 97

Chapter VII

A Wayside Memorial— Hintlesham — Tombstone Inscriptions — A Hilly Road — Ipswich — A Famous Inn — An interesting Old House— An Old-time Interior — An Ancient Hostel — Rushmere Heath — A Sea of Gorse — Kesgrave Church — The Burial-place of the Queen of the Gipsies — The Red Lion of Martlesham — A Toy River — Woodbridge — A curious Relic — The Pleasant Deben— Tidal Mills— Seckford Hall-AHomc of the Past . . . . . . . . . .115 CONTEXTS. XI

Chapter VIII. Fage

Rural Pictures -The Beauty of Age in Buildings— Wickham Market — A Curious Bell— Provincialisms and Folk-lore- Country Characters— A Decayed Coaching Inn— A Windmill Land — Saxmundham — A Picturesque Village— Poetical Business Effusions— The Trials of a Farmer's Life — Bramfield — An Interesting Church and Curious Tower — A fine Sculptured Monument— An Old Fresco— A Quaint Epitaph— Ancient Armour . . . . . . . . . . .136

Chapter IX

Halesworth — Quaint Houses and Curious Carvings — Many Religions and little Religion — Verses by a local Schoolmaster — Provincial Papers — A singular Sign — Chat with a Miller — A lonely Church — Bungay — Commercial Travellers — An old Stronghold — A fine Prospect — Anglers — The Faculty of Artistic Sight — Mettingham Church and Castle — Trespassing — A Peal of Silver Bells — Barsham — The Reason of Round Church Towers — A Tradition— Haunted Houses . . 1 59

Chapter X

Wet Weather — Inn full— Beccles — A Fortunate Town — The Waveney Valley — Thatched Churches — Haddiscoe — A Dutchlike Landscape — St. Olave's — A Riverside Hotel — Painters and Scenery — Fritton Church and Broad — A Quiet Spot — Belated — Old Yarmouth Houses and Rows — A Good-natured Landlord — ' Holy Stones ' 179

Chapter XI

The tameless Ocean — Caister Castle — Ormesby — Martham — A grand Old Church — The Land of the Broads — A new Holiday Ground — National Parks — The Cash Value of Scenery — An Old Sign — Stalham — A Water Expedition — Norfolk Wherries — Puzzling Inscriptions — An Ancient Hamlet — A desolate-looking Country — North Walsham — The Silver Key — An Ancient Market Cross —Antingham — Gunton Park — Picturesque Roadside England . . . . . 1 FAGE 217 237

Chapter XII

Cromer— Flint Building— A Wasting Shore— The Poorer Classes —Along the Norfolk Coast— Old Fishing Villages— A Bygone Relic— The Gift of Age— A Hilly Road— The Glamour of the Unknown — Ingworth Church — An Ancient Hour-glass Holder— An Old Clerk and his Story— Aylsham— An Old Posting House — Country Shops — Chat with a Farmer — A Rose Garden in a Churchyard — Lightning Conductors .

Chapter XIII

A Wooded Country — A Gipsy Encampment — Cawston Church — A Grand Carved Roof — The ' Plough-light ' Gallery — A Fine Rood Screen — The Saint who cured the Gout — An Interesting Fresco — A Curiosity — Sail Church — Hard Times — The Cottager's Want — Ancient Brasses — Birds in Church — Reepham — Names not always pronounced as spelt — Two Churches in one Churchyard — A Quaint Tomb to a Crusader

Chapter XIV

Bawdeswell — Deserted Highways — The Country from the Box Seat — A Rebus — A Sudden Storm — East Dereham — Facts in Paintings — A House of MDIL' — Architectural Scenery — Cowper's Grave — A Pious Theft — St. Withburga's Well — A Coloured Windmill — A curious Church Tower — A Ford on the Way — Watton — The Scene of the Tragedy of the ' Babes in the Wood ' — A Steam Dog-cart — Another Rebus — The Beauties of Wet Weather ....... 256

Chapter XV

Stormy Weather and Stony Roads— Over Croxton Heath — The Making of a Highwayman — Thetford — An Old-time Hostel — Ancient Earthworks — On the Wrong Road — The Charms of the Unknown — A Relic ofthe Coaching Age — A Gipsies' Encampment — An extraordinary Photographic Result — Ingham —'Trespassers will be Persecuted ' !— The Pleasures of Photography 2/4 CONTENTS. XIII 308 327

Chapter XVI. Pac

F. Bury St. Edmunds — Mr. Pickwick a Personality — At the Sign of the Angel — An Old-fashioned Host — English-grown Tobacco — St. Edmund's Ruined Abbey — Curious Relics — The Monks of old — ' For England's Ancient Liberties ' — An Embalmed Warrior— The Abbot's Bridge — A Lock of Mary Tudor's Hair — A Gruesome Volume — A Splendid Norman Tower — Origin of Gothic Architecture — A Magnificent Church — Flint Buildings— A Wonderful Roof— A Ghastly Tomb — Old Brasses and New Ones — A Quaint Epitaph .... 290

Chapter XVII

A Pleasant Country — Old Toll-gates — The Homes of the People — The Modern and the Last Century Traveller — Home Travel — Ruskin on Railways — A Picturesque Village — An Old Tudor Mansion — An Ancient Moated Manor House — The Beauty of Old Buildings— An Ideal Hostelry— The Coaching Inns of the Past — A Prosperous Farmer — One Result of Agricultural Depression — A Holiday in a Farmhouse

Chapter XVIII

Sudbury— The Head of Archbishop Simon— A Gruesome Sight —Quaint Tombstones— The Restorer again— An aged Clerk — Old-fashioned Farming— Spoiling Scenery— Iron Buildings — Past-time Customs — A Round Church — Halstead — An Old Warrior's Shield— Names of Places on Maps— A Charming Village— Thatched Cottages— A half-timbered Home .

Chapter XIX

Rural Inns— A Clever Conceit in Words— An Old Water-mill— A Picture through a Photograph— Braintree— A Homelike Land— The Pleasures of the Road— A Day's Drive across Country— Great and Little Leigh— A Village 'Store'— A Unique Wooden Effigy — An Old Tudor Gateway — Old Mansions and Modern Farmsteads PACK

Chapter XX

Scenic Surprises— An Inviting Road— A Ruined Windmill — Rooks —Little Waltham— Broomfield— An Old Friend— Rain versus Dust— Writtle —Picturesque Essex— Curious Mist Effect—Nearly an Accident — Chipping Ongar — An Old Saxon Wooden Church— A Pleasant Footpath — Names of Places— An Edifying Conversation — Clerk-hunting .... 360

Chapter XXI

The Oldest Church in England — Across Country — English Scenery — Through Epping Forest — Drivers Asleep — Chingford — The Royal Forest Hotel — Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge — Upstairs on Horseback — The Genus Tripper — To-day and the Long Ago — Home Again — Pleasant Memories ofthe Past 376

Chapter XXII

On the Road — Hints upon Driving Tours ..... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Croxton Heath Frontispiece Evening in Essex To face page 30 An Old-time Farmstead „ 46 Layer Marney Tower, Essex „ 68 n An Old Essex Mii.i „ 84 In the Land of Constable ,, 100 On the Suffolk Coast ,, 132 A Sixteenth-Century Home .-...„ 160 An English Holland ,, 187 Barton Broad, Norfolk „ 20S On the Lone Norfolk Coast ., 225 A Ruined Windmill in the Fens . 25S An Angler's Inn „ 280 A Suffolk Landscape „ 310 A Moated Manor House *. Kentwell Hall, Suffolk „ 318 Greenstead Church, Essex „ 370 Sign of the Falcate Inn vi Ancient Hour-glass Holder, Ingworth Church XVI Carving on Old House at Halesworth .... 1 Map of Route ' . . End of Book Ancient Hour-glass Holder. Ingwoi'th Church. (See p. 228.) Carving on Old House at Halesworth. A TOUR IN A PHAETON.

Chapter I

The Pleasures and Advantages of Driving Tours — An Ideal Holiday — Untravelled England — Speed, the Curse of our Century — Rural Inns — The Country as seen from the Road and the Rail — ' The Highlands of Essex ' — A little-visited Land — A Countiy of Old-time Buildings and Historic Spots — Our Programme — Highways and Byways — The Langdon Hills — How Guide-books are sometimes compiled — A Grand Prospect — The, Opinion of an Experienced Traveller. Of all the various ways of spending a summer holiday, of all the many modes of travel, where pleasure, not speed, is the chief consideration, com mend to me a driving tour, with all its charming in dependence and the exceptional opportunities it affords of leisurely seeing and thoroughly compre hending the rare charms of our beautiful English scenery — scenery of its kind unequalled in the world.

The fortunate traveller by road, how enviable is his lot ! He is delivered from the bondage of time tables, the pleasure of his outing is never marred by weary waiting at dismal junctions, or hurried rushing to catch certain trains — or miss them, as the case may be. Haste and bustle form no part or parcel of his programme : his is rather a quiet, restful progress ; being master of his own time, he can rise and breakfast when he likes, can start on his day's journey just when he chooses ; he knows nothing of the worry of luggage, for his belongings always go with him, he leaves his hotel door in his own carriage and arrives at his night's destination in like manner. Having full control over his conveyance, he can stop at any spot by the way that may take his fancy, he can loiter or make haste, just as his inclination at the time may dictate — in fine, he travels in the truest sense of the word, he is not simply conveyed from place to place, as is a passenger by railway.

An ideal way of spending a summer holiday this surely ? Storing one's mind with a gallery of lovely landscapes and beauty-spots, never to be forgotten ; acquiring at the same time an intimate knowledge of the rare charms of rural England ; gathering pleasant experiences each day, and gaining health and strength besides. What a happy combination of good things ! One of the most attractive features of such a journey is its perfect freedom. The driving tourist, if he be wise, will be careful not to bind himself by any precise or pre-arranged plans, but will hold him self untrammelled to wander whither he will ; thus may he explore by-country lanes leading to out-of the-way unfrequented spots, and perchance discover for himself many an odd nook and corner undreamed THE CHARM OF THE UNKNOWN. 3 of by the guide-book compiler, and never visited by the genus ' tripper.' All the more delightful these for being unknown and unfamed, for is there not a kind of fascination about a quaint or a picturesque spot that we discover for ourselves ? and, moreover, does not such a spot, come upon un awares, charm us the more by its very freshness ?

No small matter this, in these days of personally conducted tours, when scenery is catalogued auction fashion, and all things described, even as to the best point of view, so that the ordinary tourist, armed with his faithful handbook, is fully posted up in, and duly prepared for, all he has to see, and often by anticipating too much he experiences disappointment, instead of having a pleasant surprise. Indeed, one of the special charms of road travel is the constant coming upon the unknown, the delightful state of expectancy in which the mind is ever kept, the con tinual wondering what new beauty the next bend in the way will reveal. Not the least of the pleasures of a driving tour are the unexpected ones. Though so thoroughly enjoyable, I do not con sider that our form of outing is by any means an expensive one.

The fortunate possessors of horses must keep them somewhere, and they do not cost so very much more on the road than ' eating' their heads off' doing nothing in their stables at home, whilst perchance their owners are absent at some fashionable watering-place, repeating their life in London second-hand by the sea, or it may be rushing about restlessly here and there, as fast as railway and steamer will carry them, spending much, travel- B ling far and seeing little. ' La rapidite, voila le reve de notre siecle,' says Theophile Gautier. ' We can not travel fast enough, we must get quickly through the country — comprehend nothing, admire nothing, only arrive quickly.' Or as our own countryman, Matthew Arnold, has it : We see all sights from pole to pole, And glance and nod, and bustle by. And never once possess our soul Before we die.

Even if, to take such a charming holiday as the one we took, it be necessary to hire a horse and con veyance, it must be remembered that the cost of hiring would include all travelling expenses ; one gets, too, such a continuous enjoyment from an outing of this kind, such a constant change of scene is brought before one, the mind is always so pleasantly occupied with the many varying and interesting experiences, that ennui is a thing impossible ; then the exhilarating effect of being out so long in the fresh bracing country air is a pleasure in itself and as health-giving as delightful, and, having so much to see and do, there is no further expenditure needful for amuse ment or for fashionable dress. Still again, the charges at the country inns, where the tourist proper is unknown, are, as a rule, most reasonable ; indeed oftentimes so well have we fared, such willing attention have we received, so moderate has been our bill, that I have even frequently felt a compunction in paying so little for so much.

I presume that the rent, rates, and taxes of these rural inns are triflino compared with what the landlords of the grander COUNTRY ODOURS. 5 though less comfortable hotels of fashionable watering-places have to pay, who have besides only a limited season in which to make their profit ; this may account for the difference in the charges ; pro bably also ' mine host ' in the country places does his marketing to better advantage. It was in the pleasant month of June that we took the journey herein related ; a month, speaking gene rally, of blue skies, of fleecy summer clouds and softened sunshine, for then there is no disagreeable glare of light, nor is the heat too great for outdoor enjoyment. A time it is when the country is at its fairest and freshest, a time when the trees are look ing their leafiest, the grass its greenest ; wild flowers then, too, everywhere abound, brightening the land with their glowing colours and making gay the hedgerows with their many tints ; nor is the eye alone delighted, for the sweet breath of the summer air is laden with countless perfumes — it may be that the scent of new-mown hay is borne upon the breeze, or of a bean-field, or of lime trees, or of the hawthorn in blossom ; then the delicate odour of the honeysuckle and the rose is as frequent as it is welcome ; or again perchance it is the resinous fragrance of pine trees, or the more powerful perfume of clover or ofthe gorse that greets the wanderer.

In June, too, the birds seem to sing their sweetest and gladdest songs, and, no slight consideration for the holiday maker, the days are delightfully long. Why, just when the country is in the prime of its purity and beauty, a veritable Arcadia, bursting into bud and blossom — why it is that just then every one should elect to remain in town and leave all this wonderful loveliness, these glorious fresh and spreading landscapes, these leafy woods, rippling streams, flower-strewn meadows, unseen, uncared for, passes my comprehension. Who would gaze upon crowds, dusty streets, and smoke-stained houses, when he could refresh his eyes with the soft verdure of the fields and the luxuriant foliage of the young summer full of grace and tender beauty ? Certainly not I. And here let me remark that he who has never travelled through rural England by road or footpath in the green and sunny month of June, knows little ofthe supreme loveliness of his own land.

Having decided to take our holiday, and having determined, as on previous occasions, that a driving tour through some portion of Great Britain would be the most enjoyable manner of spending it, the only further matter necessary to be considered was, what portion it should be. A map was consulted, and after some discussion we selected the three counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, as the scene of our perambulations. Unless I am greatly mistaken, the majority of Englishmen are under the impression that this corner of their land is wholly flat and mostly uninteresting. How it may appear from the railway I cannot say, never having so traversed it, but driving along the old high roads and rural lanes we found the scenery to be exceedingly beautiful, the country pleasantly undulating, hilly even in places ; indeed, during por tions of our journey the brake was not only needful, but in constant requisition — so much for preconceived THE 'HIGHLANDS OF ESSEX: 7 ideas.

The reality was certainly different from our ex pectations. Considering that Essex has been termed the flattest of English counties, we were agreeably surprised by its diversity of surface ; though level and doubtless monotonously uninteresting in parts, it is not fair to judge of the whole by a portion. The tourist whose knowledge of this county is confined to a rush by rail through it, or what may be seen from on board a Thames steamer, would assuredly change his notions if he followed on our track. Our first day's stage, I may here remark, took us to the Langdon Hills, the ' Highlands of Essex' (of which more anon), and we left that county by a steep hill on the top of which was a prominent notice board with the following warning ' To bicyclists. — This hill is DANGEROUS.' The scenery of the eastern counties is strangely neglected, possibly because it has been so much and unjustly maligned ; at any rate, it is out of fashion for the time, with the exception of the Broad district and the fringe of tripper-haunted watering-places round the coast (if these can be fairly classed as scenery).

The regular tourist is therefore a stranger in the land, for he only goes where his guide-books direct him, and these are wonderfully slow to discover ' fresh woods and pastures new,' and perhaps it is a very good thing that it should be so. On no previous journey have we come upon more charming wayside pictures and pastoral peeps than on the present one, our sketch-book has never been in more frequent re quisition, and as Lord Beaconsfield justly remarks ' pastoral scenery never palls. The eye may become weary of mountains and the more stupendous effects of nature ; but meadow and woodland never lose their charm.' I think that perhaps we were the more delighted by the picturesque ' bits ' we came ever and again upon, because we were hardly prepared for so much sylvan beauty in a land generally presumed to be devoid of scenic attractions.

Nor must the human aspect of the landscape be forgotten, for man has studded it with the works of his hands. You cannot travel far in Eastern England without coming upon some historic spot ; some an cient building suggestive of old romance around whose walls bygone memories linger, fraught with interest for the antiquary as well as delightful to the eye of the artist. The country abounds in human associations, in relics of the picturesque and never returning past, with all the added charm they give to even the most beautiful scenery. Taking full ad vantage of our free and independent mode of travel, the only thing definite that we decided upon before starting was to drive to Yarmouth on the east coast, thence northward on to Cromer through the district ofthe Broads, returning home somehow through the centre of the three counties, the exact route to be decided upon each day as we proceeded.

The weather was kindly disposed ; we were favoured with a fine sunshiny morning on which to commence our wanderings, so we started in the best of spirits, for was not our holiday all unspent before us ? and what pleasing previsions we indulged in as we drove along, of the many good things that we knew were in store for us ! THE REAL COUNTRY. 9 How delightful is the first day in the country to those just escaped from the din of dusty streets, from the smoky and unbeautiful surroundings of our over grown cities ! Doubly enchanting the country seemed to us after our long entanglement amongst the mean and straggling outskirts of Eastern London. What a relief it was to exchange the noise of the thronged thoroughfares for the quiet peacefulness of the rural roads, where green hedges and shady trees take the place of houses, and pleasant footpaths that of pave ments, and where cabs, 'buses, and tramways are unknown !

How light and pure the air seemed after the close smoke-laden atmosphere of town ! Well do I remember the little thrill of pleasure that went through us when, after reaching the real country, we came upon the first genuine old-fashioned farmstead with its high-pitched gables, its great red-tiled roof, bent with age, and splashed as with gold and silver where the lichens had made their home. An ancient homestead it was, with great elms behind and quite a colony of out-buildings scattered around, a grand bit of building though only a farmhouse. I verily believe that our hearts beat just a trifle faster when, as we journeyed on, we came upon an old wooden windmill, weather-stained and time-toned, repaired here and there in a happy makeshift man ner, old, strained and battered, still bravely working on, its sails slowly revolving round and round, and to complete the picture the white-headed miller himself, looking out at us from an odd slit of a window in the side of his rickety but picturesque structure.

Then the first half-timbered cottage we came upon, how charming it seemed, with its tiny garden full of homely flowers, gay of colour and sweet of perfume, its leaden lattice windows (all religiously closed, by the way) and its plastered front, painted every imaginable hue by the sun and rain of for gotten years ! Perhaps, however, the greatest charm to the town-tired Londoner of his first day in the country is the sylvan quietude, so peace-bestowing and rest giving, a quietude deepened rather than broken by the gladsome songs of birds, the distant lowing of cattle, the slumberous rustling of leaves stirred by the breeze, or the chime of some far-away church clock, softened and mellowed by distance. Then, as we progressed, our journey became in truth one never-ending picture : we drove on in a delicious day-dream, drinking in the sweetness and beauty of the sunny landscape, made fairer still by the happy homes of men, telling as they did of human oc cupancy.

How light-hearted we felt that day : how we rejoiced within ourselves that we had for a time escaped from the monotonous routine and conven tionalities of town life ! How we congratulated ourselves that we were not slaves to fashion, bound to remain in town just when the country was in the height of its summer glory ! To us, devoted lovers of the country as we are, what attractions could crowded London possibly offer in exchange for our free roving existence, our healthy out-of-door Bohemian sort of life, with the OUR FIRST DAY'S STAGE. 11 mild excitement of exploring an unknown part of the world, even though such were a portion of our own country ? I believe there are few who ap preciate the charms of the country side more than your hard-worked Londoner just escaped from office or professional employment.

He who lives all the year round in the midst of natural beauties seldom values his advantages. The effect on the mind of even the fairest scenes is wonderfully enhanced by contrast with less lovely surroundings. As I have before stated, our first day's stage took us to the Langdon Hills, a spot seemingly much out of the world ; so primitive the village of that name, so unsophisticated the people, we felt that both it and they might be leagues away in some untravelled corner of the distant shires — a spot that might be miles from anywhere. In fact, the whole place gave us a strange seeling of remoteness, a very real feeling, yet one hardly to be described in words or analysed. So did the slumberous calm, the old-world tranquillity of the place, impress us, we could scarcely realise that only that morning we had been in the midst of the hurry and bustle of the greatest city of this eager money-making century, so great was the contrast of the feverish activity and rush of modern London life with the dreamy and soothing atmosphere of the spot, so far removed did we seem ' from noise and smoke of town ' and ' from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.' Somehow — I have never yet been able to define to my satisfaction exactly how it is— but somehow, when travelling by road, upon arriving at any spot, one feels so much further away from the rest of the world than when one has arrived at the selfsame place by the speedy railway.