Authors, English -- 19th century -- Biography; Jefferies, Richard, 1848-1887
They are notoriously late to arrive, and eager to return home
on the hayfield. The children help both in haymaking and reaping. In
spring and autumn they hoe and do other piecework. On pasture farms they
beat clots or pick up stones out of the way of the mowers' scythes.
Occasionally, but rarely now, they milk. In winter they wear gaiters,
which give the ankles a most ungainly appearance. Those who go out to
service get very low wages at first from their extreme awkwardness, but
generally quickly rise. As dairymaids they get very good wages indeed.
Dairymaids are scarce and valuable. A dairymaid who can be trusted to
take charge of a dairy will sometimes get L20 besides her board
(liberal) and sundry perquisites. These often save money, marry
bailiffs, and help their husbands to start a farm.
In the education provided for children Wiltshire compares favourably
with other counties. Long before the passing of the recent Act in
reference to education the clergy had established schools in almost
every parish, and their exertions have enabled the greater number of
places to come up to the standard required by the Act, without the
assistance of a School Board. The great difficulty is the distance
children have to walk to school, from the sparseness of population and
the number of outlying hamlets. This difficulty is felt equally by the
farmers, who, in the majority of cases, find themselves situated far
from a good school. In only one place has anything like a cry for
education arisen, and that is on the extreme northern edge of the
country. The Vice-Chairman of the Swindon Chamber of Agriculture
recently stated that only one-half of the entire population of Inglesham
could read and write. It subsequently appeared that the parish of
Inglesham was very sparsely populated, and that a variety of
circumstances had prevented vigorous efforts being made. The children,
however, could attend schools in adjoining parishes, not farther than
two miles, a distance which they frequently walk in other parts of the
country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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