An Old English Home and Its DependenciesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
An Old English Home and Its Dependencies
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
England -- Social life and customs
Anent sheep jumping hedges, I may venture here to tell a tale of a
certain old rogue who went by the name of Tup-Harry. This is how he got
his nickname. Harry was a small farmer, and he had a neighbour with
better means, and a better farm than his own. One very dry season Harry
had come to the end of his grass for a flock of sheep he possessed.
His neighbour had, however, got a fine field of mangel-wurzel. Harry
looked over the hedge--a hedge furnished with outstanding slates--and
greatly longed for these mangels for his sheep; but he did not relish
running the risk of being caught taking them. So he went in the evening
into his field that was bare of grass, put his head against the hedge,
bent his back, and called "Tup! Tup! Tup!" whereupon up ran his old
ram, jumped on his back, went on to the hedge, and over into the
mangel field, and all the flock in Indian file scampered after him
over the back of Harry. Very early in the morning the rogue went into
the devastated mangel field, put his head against the hedge, bent his
back, called "Tup! Tup! Tup!" and up came the ram, ran over his back
on to the hedge, and returned to the barren quarter again, followed in
Indian file by all the flock. That was done several times, and no signs
appeared anywhere of the hedge being broken through, or of a padlocked
gate having been opened. At last one night the farmer who was robbed
hid himself, and saw the whole proceeding. Tup-Harry did not try that
trick on again.
[Illustration: DEVONSHIRE HEDGES]
[Illustration: UNDERGROUND RIGHTS]
CHAPTER XIV.
For how far down below the surface the rights of the lord of the manor
extend, has not I believe as yet been determined, so we may presume
that it goes down as far as man can dig and sink his shafts. In a
good number of counties in England there is nothing underground worth
bringing up, and consequently such rights are not of much value. It is
quite otherwise where there is mineral wealth, and it is from the coal
or the copper or the tin that lies deep underground that the wealth of
some of our landed proprietors comes. But there is this consolation
for such as have nothing of great importance below the surface, that
those who are deriving their large incomes from the beds or veins deep
underground are exhausting their patrimony; coal and metal will not
recover themselves as the surface soil will.
It has been my lot to live where the underground industry was great,
in Yorkshire where were coal-mines, and on the borders of Cornwall
where were once great copper and tin mines; also in my youth manganese
was extracted out of the rock on my paternal inheritance. I have had
a good deal to do with those who have worked underground, and so may
be allowed here to give some reminiscences connected with mining and
quarrying.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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