Great Britain -- Description and travel; Great Britain -- Rural conditions
From the top of the hill I was not a little surprised to see, in every
part of the valley that my eye could reach, a due, a large portion of
fields of Swedish turnips, all looking extremely well. I had found the
turnips, of both sorts, by no means bad, from Salt Hill to Newbury; but
from Newbury through Burghclere, Highclere, Uphusband, and Tangley, I
had seen but few. At and about Ludgarshall and Everley, I had seen
hardly any. But when I came, this morning, to Milton Hill farm, I saw a
very large field of what appeared to me to be fine Swedish turnips. In
the valley, however, I found them much finer, and the fields were very
beautiful objects, forming, as their colour did, so great a contrast
with that of the fallows and the stubbles, which latter are, this year,
singularly clean and bright.
Having gotten to the bottom of the hill, I proceeded on to the village
of Milton. I left Easton away at my right, and I did not go up to Watton
Rivers where the river Avon rises, and which lies just close to the
South-west corner of Marlborough Forest, and at about 5 or 6 miles from
the town of Marlborough. Lower down the river, as I thought, there lived
a friend, who was a great farmer, and whom I intended to call on. It
being my way, however, always to begin making enquiries soon enough, I
asked the pig-driver where this friend lived; and, to my surprise, I
found that he lived in the parish of Milton. After riding up to the
church, as being the centre of the village, I went on towards the house
of my friend, which lay on my road down the valley. I have many, many
times witnessed agreeable surprise; but I do not know, that I ever in
the whole course of my life, saw people so much surprised and pleased as
this farmer and his family were at seeing me. People often _tell_ you,
that they are _glad to see_ you; and in general they speak truth. I take
pretty good care not to approach any house, with the smallest appearance
of a design to eat or drink in it, unless I be _quite sure_ of a cordial
reception; but my friend at Fifield (it is in Milton parish) and all his
family really seemed to be delighted beyond all expression.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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