WA ! F A RE RS I N A RC A D !

C H A RL E S VI N C E
“
A ! TH O R O F TH E S TRE E T OF F A CE S

H appy is E n glan d ! I c ou ld be c on te n t

To se e n o othe r ve rd ure th an its o wn .

! P P! T N A M S S O NS
’
. .

NE W ! O RK A ND L O ND O N

(L be RniC RC tD OC RCl “
‘ '
‘
Dress
1 92 2
 CO NTENTS
PA ! E

T HE ROA D
TH E TWO VA LLE ! S

O N C O M IN ! TO T H E D O WN S

T HE S E A F A RE R O F T HE D O WN S

TH E OL D M A N AN D D E A TH
E RD S RO M A N C E
’
SH E PH

! RE AT ROA D S

TH E SC H O L A R RO A D M A K E R

WA RR I O R TRE E S
TH E ROA D TO D I D L IN !

WIN T ER WOO D S
TH E MA P

TH E C O! N T R! B RE A K F A ST

T H E T H ! N D ER STO RM
T HE L I TT L E ST RE A M

T HE E ! I L E
SH EE P O N T HE D O WN S
[ vii ]
 C O NT E N TS

ROA D S OE WA R
TH E S P R IN ! RI V ER

TH E C O! N T R! ’
B ! S

TH E E NC H A NTE D F O R E ST

T H E F I S HERM E N OF AM B ERLE !
TH E MA! IC IA N OF TH E H I LL S
T H E AD V E N T ! RER S
TH E V I LL A ! E AT T HE WO RL D ’
S

WIN D O WS

[ viii
WAYFARERS I N ARCADY

[ I ]
WA ! F A RE RS I N A RC A D !

THE RO A D

E h ave trave ll e d ve ry far

n ot ,

No r e ve r h ave we go n e
To wh e re th e gre a t a dve n tu re s a re ,

No r P o r t D e s i re n o r C a l a bar
H ave w e e ve r l o o k e d up o n .

We by th e p l o u gh e d a n d tra n qu il fie l d ,
g o

B y th e wo o d s w h e re n o fe ars h i de .

Th e fo rge s a re s i l e n t n o w in th e w e a l d
Wh e re a m an n o mo re h as n e e d o f a S hiel d
O r a s wo rd u p on h is S id e .

B ut we fe e l the g all o p i n g wi n d
c an
Th e qu i c k co l d s tro k e s o f the ra in .

A n d i t m a tte rs n o t th a t we m u s t fin d,
B e fo re th e d a y i s fa r be h i n d,
A ro a d to th e L o n do n tra i n .

F o r the sk y th a t i s h i gh a bove H e l i con

I s as h i gh a bove ! o m s h all D own ,
A n d a ro a d i s a r o ad to trave l o n
O r w h e th e r i t st a r t fro m B a byl o n
O r o u t o f D ork in g town .

[3]
 THE TWO VA LL E! S

F t he two valleys o n e was l ong a n d n arrow ,

t he o t her like half o f a great b owl ; a n d t he

s ec on d valley si n ce i t looked t ow a rd s t he nort h
,

ea st while t he l ong valley looked towards t he

no rt h we st was t he firs t to b e filled by t he su n
-
,

light in the mo r n i ng a n d by t he S hadows in t he

eve n i ng Th ey O pened i nto t he same field a n d
.
,

o ther fields stretched dow n from them t o a farm

house buil t O f grey s t o n e a n d H in t s s mooth a n d
,

b lack a s i ce with a t e n foo t hedge O f box ro un d

,
-

i ts garde n a n d a deep square por c h o f yew at i t s

,

do o r.

S i n ce t hey were valleys i n t he ch alk h i lls t hey

were of a bea ut iful S hape l oo king a s though they
,

had bee n very carefu lly made by eye s a n d hands

that loved t rue a n d p u re li n e s F r o m year s e n d
.
’

t o year s e n d t heir tu rf was always S hort a n d

’

gree n a n d t hey were u n adorned alth ough in

, ,

summer t heir gree n was fai n tly dus t ed over with

t he red gold and t he pale gold of trefoil a n d rock
roses .

To t his cot t age wi t h t he b ox hedge and the yew

[5]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
po r ch came a young man tired a nd troubled a n d
, ,

m i santhrop ic H e may have been unhappy i n

.

l ove o r he may h ave been i n debt or he m ay

, ,

h ave eaten an d d runk too mu c h or more prob

, ,

ably s ince he h ad c ome to su c h a pl ac e he had

, ,

worked too hard and slept too l i t tle When he .

came away he had told his fr i en d s that he w a s

go i ng to spread his m i n d o u t i n the O pe n fo r the
w i nd a nd the sun to fres h en i t aga i n .

At the door he was re c e ived by the farmer s ’

w i fe a figu r e as square an d deep as the por c h

,

i tself a n d l ed upst ai rs to a l i ttle room whose

,

c asement w i n d ow open i ng under t he that c h

, ,

looked out a c ross the fie l ds to the two valleys .

The passage out si de was h u ng wi t h weddi ng

’
gro u ps o f the farmer s fam i ly a n d o f the royal
family i n demo c ra t i c ne igh bourl i ness and i n the
,

room it s elf was one p i cture so dark an d d i m that

,

i t looked as if it had bee n smoked Pee ri ng cl ose

.

the young man c o u ld s ee a very large s ilver fish

lyi ng i n the foreground of W ha t m ight have been
a lands c ape i n the style o f Pouss i n The la n d
.

l ady c onsidere d it to have been su ffi ci ently de

scr i bed wh en Sh e had said w i th pr id e that it was
”
a pa i nt i ng I n o i ls
. T h e young man was abou t
to make a j o ke about smoked fis h and fish in o il ,

but refle c t i ng that the la n dlady would probably

[6]
 THE TWO VA LL E ! S

not und e rst a nd i t he O pened t h e w i ndow i nstead

, ,

an d l ooke d out a c ross the fiel d s to t h e two valleys

. .

At th i s wi n d ow w i t h i ts b ro ad woo d en se a t
,

c ut i n the th ic kness of the wal l he w a s c ontent to ,

spend h i s days At n ight hi s m i n d st i ll worked

.
,

t rouble d a nd ove rstra i n ed a n d h e woke o ut of

,

puzzled une a sy dreams of w hich h e remembere d

only tha t he h ad been tryi ng to g et somet hi ng to
c ome righ t a n d alw ays it went wrong ; b u t h i s
days were li ke long sweet sleep K nee li ng on .

t ha t wooden seat and lean i ng from t h e wi ndow ,

where h is outstret c hed h and co u ld tou ch the

that c h above and the li vi ng roof o f the old yew
po rc h below he l et hi s mind s i nk into i dlen e ss
, ,

l ux ur i ously as the t i re d body w i ll s i nk i nto c oo l

,

w ater H e sank to t h at d epth wh e r e t h e mind i s

.

ba c k aga i n i n i ts first childh ood c ontent for ,

hou r s with no more t h an a mov i ng th i ng SO h e .

was happy wat c h i ng t h e smoke of h is pipe as it

,

c urled up in to the that c h o r t he top of an apple

,

tree as i t moved in t he wi nd o r the rain as it fel l

,

t h rough the st i ll summ er air o r t h e shadow of the

,

t all box hedg e a t ev e n i ng as i t c rept a c ross the

ga r den l i ke a t i de And if there were neither
.

ra i n n or sh adow nor w i nd to w a tch then he ,

looked a cross the fiel d s at the two valleys a nd ,

was c ontent w i th thei r empt in ess .

[7]
 WAYFARERS I N ARCADY
H e h ad watched them for a l ong t ime before he
— —
eve n thought SO idle was h e O f go i ng any
n earer to t hem Then o n e day h e wal ked ac ross
.

the fields and c l imbed the h ill i n w hi ch they lay ,

l i ste ni ng t o t he pleasant S oun d o f t h e gra s s h e a d s

as t hey tapped on hi s boots a nd l ooki ng at the ,

S imple a n d pure shape o f t he two valleys Afte r .

tha t he left hi s window un der the t hatch and

s pe n t his day s lying o n t he odoro us ages old -

t u rf o f t he c halk whic h is mo r e restfu l th an down

“ ”
a n d all t he verd u ro u s glooms Ther e through .
,

half closed eye s he looked o u t as h e thought at

-
, , ,

nothi ng and t hanked God for the emptine s s o f

,

t he t wo valleys where none c ame and nothing

,

had ever happened .

To him drows i ng there s l eep a n d wak i ng were

, ,

almost the same for ea c h was a great pea c e born

, ,

of the strength a n d ge n tle n ess of t hat an ci ent t u rf

on wh ich he lay Time w as no t Noth i ng i n
. .

those valleys c an ever have been other than it

w as .
—
There was nothing not hing as h e looked
round t hem whi c h co u ld tell him wh ether h e wa s
,

i n the present o r the p ast and he would wake ,

( th i s was after he had l istene d to S tO l lC S I n t he

‘

farm ki tc he n) wonde ri ng i n what c entury h e

was a n d look still half asleep for t he deer ste a l
, , ,

ers coming a c ross the hill from the chase beyon d ,

[8]
 TH E TWO VA LL E! S
or liste n for t he S ound of the malle t s o f the Nor
ma n s t o n ema s o n s b u ildi ng t he ch u r c h in t he
li t tle village acros s t he hill A n d o nc e he won
.

dered i f he heard very fai nt ly t he cries of men

, ,

and women o n t he c u rvi ng D own behi nd him as

they watched t he handful s o f t he ashe s o f the i r
dead laid on the dry chalk and t he black eart hen
,

pa n s placed over t hem a n d t he grea t barrows ,

less a n cien t on ly t han t he hill s heaped above , .

So he dreamed i n t ha t emp t y place u nt il o n e day

he no t i c ed i n t he t u rf a track n o broader t han a
,

c art wh eel a n d fai nt ly whi t e wi t h chalk H e

,
.

had lain close by i t fo r a lo ng ti me n o t mov ing , ,

a n d wonderi ng wha t i t c o u ld be when su d de nly ,

a rabb it dashe d dow n i t from behi n d him a n d h e

saw i t s sc ut go over t he valley s rim like a s hoot
’

ing star .

For t he first t ime he wake n ed t o t he liv i ng

,

th ings i n t ho s e two valleys H e wo u ld l i e very

.

st i ll to wat c h the rabbits t ravelling u p and down

by those l i ttle roads that their fee t had wh i tened ,

or play i ng tick dow n below o r comi ng out t o sit

,

in the sunlight a s t he s hadow bega n to creep ove r

the valley s rim A s his eyes o pe n ed the e m p ti
’
.
,

ness o f t he two valleys for wh ich he had blessed

,

t hem bega n to fill with livi ng things

,
He .

wat c hed each day for a flock Of s heep that came

[9]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
—
always by the same road h e had seen them
before unt h ink i ng a s he had see n t he flowers or
,

—
the c lou d s an d d r i ft ed up t hrough the valleys ,

sile nt as t he b l owi ng rai n H e woul d li sten now

.

’
fo r the shepherd s vo ic e c om i ng a cross t o him
high a n d stra nge as t he cal l of a b i rd and wa t ch ,

fo r hi s dog t ha t moved among the she ep like a

b i rd s shad ow o n t he t urf
’
.

E a c h d ay he wou ld see them st op i n t heir

wanderi ng o n the s i de of t he long va ll ey a nd pour ,

sudde n ly dow n i nt o i t gat h eri ng eagerly rou n d a

,

small hut Then they would drift away agai n

.
,

and when he went a c ross to se e why it was t h a t

they gat h ere d there h e found d r i nk i ng t rough s
,

round the h ut an d i ns ide i t a well .

I t w a s t h en t h at h e saw t he horseman H e too .

h ad h i s h our eac h d ay H e would come r i di ng

.
,

slowly ac ross the field s from the distant farm ,

a n d sit on a trough wh i le the horse tramp ing ,

round and round would pump the water up

,

from t he depths below the ch al k .

L ast o f all c ame t h e c ows an d t h e i r hour was

,

when the day beg a n to tu rn and th e valleys ,

seeme d to r i pen grow i ng go ld en a n d mel l ow i n

,

the sun ; and the ri m o f t he roun d ed valley was

marked with a foot of da rk shadow li ke t h e ,

p ai nt i ng round the r i m of a bowl .

[ I O ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
Wat c hi ng t hese roads a n d wo n dering how
,

mu c h older they must be than t he s treet s of t he

tow ns that he knew wat c hi ng them a nd the
,

creature s t ha t came by t hem regu lar as the sun , ,

in t heir unc rowded u nh u rryi ng life t he young

, ,

ma n fo rgot t hat des i re fo r e s cape a n d fo r l o meli

n e ss with which he had come a n d was happy ,

agai n wi t h the prese n t and t he companio nshi p

o f livi ng t hi ngs
.

O n hi s las t day he S a t above t he roun ded valley

until he saw the horsema n appear acro s s t he
field s The n he wal k ed dow n t o the well and
.

when t he h o rsema n came asked t ha t he might be

all owed t o p u mp u p t he wa t er t ha t day A t this .

the h or s ema n n ei t her s miled n o r l ooked su rprised

bu t no dded and s at hi s h o r s e while t he yo ung ,

ma n laid h is stre ngt h agai n st the long pole He .

pushed i t ro un d s lowly a n d laborio u sly a n d did

, ,

no t st o p u nt il he heard t he fir st of t he water b e
gi n to flow i nt o t he t ro ugh s The n as the horse
.
,

was fa st e n ed to t he p o le to finish t he work he ,

c limbed t he valley s s ide a n d taki ng o n e of t he

’

h un dred s of little s heep p a t h s a n d t readi ng c are

,

fu lly in i ts n arrow way he went by i t right round

,

t he two valleys a n d the curve of hillside wh i ch

separa t ed t hem u nt il he c ame t o a rabbit t ra c k
, ,

’
and follow ing t his we nt u p over the valley s r i m
[ 12 ]
 TH E TWO VA LL E! S

t o t he place where he u s ed t o sit All thi s he did

.

as a ma n perfo rm ing a ceremo ny and then , ,

feeli ng tha t by t hi s ac t he had made himself a

’
par t o f t he valley s life s ince he had s hared for a
,

mome n t i n i ts toil he we n t back by hi s ac cu s

,

tom e d way to t he farmh ou se where hi s bag

,

stood ready packed un der t he great porch o f

, ,

[ 13 ]
 ON C OM IN! TO THE D OWNS

V ER ! time tha t a ma n who loves the h i lls

re tu rns t o t hem he feel s as if fo r h i m a
, , ,

mira c le had been performed F ar away he has .

seen a strange loo k i n t he high clo u ds and then , ,

sud d enly he has known that t he hills were there ;

,

but j u st when that c hange came and how he first

knew the h i lls from the cl ou d s h e c a n n ever be
sure In th is way fo r eve ry t rave ll er who returns
.
,

to t h em the h i lls are ma d e afres h out of the sky

,
.

In wha t ever way he may c ome t here wil l always ,

be tha t mys t eri o u s momen t of t he i r change o r , ,

as it more truly seems to h i m of t h e i r birth ,

.

Bu t yo u do n ot c ome to t h e S outh D ow ns as
you come to o t her hills They do not grow o ut of
.

the cl o uds b u t r i se up before yo u above t he

,

c urve of the world And yet al t hough they are

.
,

alway s part of th i s e art h they are more di stant

, ,

mys t eri ous and aloof t han any of the other hi l l s

,
.

They have no h igh peaks nor fantast ic shapes ,

.

They have noth i ng but t h eir long unwaveri ng

l i ne stan di ng aga i nst the sky l i ke the un attain ,

[ s] I
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
a ble hor i zon o f t he se a It is this tha t makes
.

t h em more remote tha n all the hill s a n d you ,

draw near to them wo n dering alway s wha t i t

c a n be that l i es beyond They stand as some .
,

t i mes t h e se a sta n ds like a great green wall of

,

t h e Gods bu i lt t o keep me n from th ings too go od

for them t o find a n d the lit t le c h alk roads t hat
,

go up them are like t all a n d s le n der ladders fro m ,

which a ma n if he ever climbe d them would step

, ,

stra ight in to t he sky .

In ano t her thi ng als o t he D owns are d iff eren t

from t he hill s They do not cha nge Fo r t he
. .

u nchanging hills do indeed cha nge co n tin u ally

, ,
.

You have seen them in the sunsh i ne looking small

and d u sty an d far away ; a n d after ra in tall a n d ,

black and very near You have s ee n them tower

.

i ng awesome a n d beau t iful aga i nst a clear even

, ,

ing S ky a n d the n ext day d i m wi t h wra c k a n d

,

dwarfed by the grea t movi ng mountai n s o f t he

c l ou ds t ha t roll above t hem F or t he faces a n d .
!

the very s t a tu re of t he h i lls change a n d cha nge

agai n with the c hanges o f the sky B ut t he .

D ow n s d o n ot c hange There i s some t hi ng i n

.

their p u re and beautiful shape wh ic h i s stro nge r

tha n any storms an d than all the moods of the
sky Night and the clou d s alike rest very ge nt ly
.

on them They have a sweet n ess and gravi ty of

.

[ 16 ]
 ON COM IN G TO TH E D O WNS
t he i r own wh i ch Nature herself ca nno t al t er .

The skie s a n d the seas t he t rees a n d t he hill s

,

all t hese sh e ca n make t o reflec t all her moods .

B ut however her face may cha nge above t he

D own s the y remai n always t he s ame They do .

i n deed re s p on d t o t hose two n eed s wh i ch a man

feels more a n d more st rongly the older he grows .

They are s imple a n d t hey are su re .

In hi s de s crip t ion o f E g do n Moor Mr Hardy .

speaks o f a change i n t he h u ma n mi n d toward s

Na tu re H e believ es t ha t i t grows darker in
.

it se l f and s eek i ng alway s for sympathy i n Na

, ,

ture t o it s ow n mood s t ha t it tu r ns more a n d

,

more t owar ds wh a t i s mos t s ombre and mos t

bleak i n her He believes that i n the e nd we s hall
.

have grown as indifferent t o the grove s and t he

valleys to ,

D affodil s
Wi th the g reen world th e y live in ; a n d cl e ar rill s
T h at for th e mse lve s a coo li n g cove rt mak e ,

! a i n st th e h o t se aso n th e mid fo re st b ra k e
’
-
,

Ri c h wi th a sp ri n kli n g of fai r musk ro se bl oo ms

-
,

—
a s in d iff eren t to t he s e a s were t he earlier
ge n erat ion s t o the beau t y of t he hills B ut tha t .

t i me will n ever come so lo ng a s t here are me n who

try i n whatever way is give n t hem t o praise t he
, ,

S ussex D owns No man could love t hem a n d no t

.

keep in hi mself some sweet n ess an d s a n ity a nd a

2
[ I 7]
 WA YFAR ERS IN ARCADY
bel i ef i n g r a ci ous things In them t h ese antagon
.

i sms th at e l sewh e r e d iv id e t h e world have no

, ,

exi sten c e One ca nnot un der stan d when among

.
,

t h em why some men s hou ld love the val l eys

,

and s ome t h e hill s fo r on t h e ir he igh ts the vall eys

,

and t h e hill s m ee t There a r e no s h e l tere d a n d

.

ten d e d gard ens i n all Engla n d wh er e t h e flowe rs

b l oom as t h ey b l oom on t hi s open turf fe d by ,

t h e sout h west wi n d a n d t h e sa l t se a m i sts They

- - .

ar e sown as cl os e w i t h t h e pal e ro ck roses as i s -

th e sky wi t h sta rs a n d t h e ir poppy fie ld s a r e like

,

fl ame an d t h e ir grea t go r se s l opes likegold en ligh t

across t h e m il es An d wh e r e t he s e flowers bloom
.
,

a n d wh e r e t h e p l ough tu r ns t he e a rt h an d t he
c o r n i s sown a n d t h e ro ad r uns a n d the s h ee p
,

fee d among all t h es e t hi ngs t h at belong to t h e

,

qu i et an d s h e l tere d p l a c es of t he earth t h ere i s ,

al so su ch a sense of spa ci ous empt i ness i nb ah ,

ite d only by t h e ligh t a nd the w i n d as one w i l l ,

not fin d on t h e high est hi lls but on rf in t h e ,

’

sky .

He r e too i n t h at myster i ous t i me between day

a n d n igh t othe r t hi ngs meet al so whi c h elsewhe r e
must always be div id e d In t h at w a n i ng ligh t
.

one may won d er wh et h e r t h ey are i ndee d of the

earth and d o not be l ong al so to t h e se a a n d t h e
,

sky ; for all t ha t i s be a ut i fu l an d se r ene i n all thr ee

I 18 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
Toge th e r sta n d
T ill a ge a n d p asture an d d im fai ryl a n d ,

a n d yet a n o t her when he wro t e ,

The y a re a won d e rl an d wh e re sh ap e s we ll k n own

,
-
,

H a yi k
r c or h ome ste ad b ush o r tre e top se e n
,
-
,

F a r ofl , k forms of fae ri e
ta e n ot h i
t e r o wn .

But no o n e ha s ever s aid what it really is or ,

I ndeed come n earer to sayi ng i t t ha n a broad

rough ges t ure which i s all tha t t hose words are
, .

Indee d the wisest poet wa s h e who d i d not

attemp t to s ay more tha n c ould b e s aid i n very
plain an d s i mple wor d s an d who wrote , ,

A nd l g th e sk y th e li n e
a on of th e D own s
So n obl e a n d so b are .

For i t i s so tha t yo u remember t h em as so me ,

t h i ng s ingle a n d complete and very clear I t is

, , .

be c a us e t hey have t hi s s i mpl ici ty and their ,

c h angeless look a n d t ha t far remo t e line of t heir

, ,

summ it l i ke th e horizo n agai n s t t he Sky tha t c

,

they stand apar t from all o ther hills and seem

more s t eadfas t t ha n t hem all Wha t ever else o f .

beauty a n d mystery yo u have fo u n d i n t hem yo u ,

see th em always i n yo u r mind a s you saw t hem

wh e n you firs t c ame to t hem ri s i ng i n t heir lo ng ,

green rampart from t he weald a n d s hut t ing ,

away behind them ma ny t hi ng s F o r the mys .

[ 20 ]
 ON C OM IN G TO TH E D OWN S
tery o f t he hill s a s yo u come to t hem wat chi ng
,

t hem take bir t h fro m t he clo u ds is t he myst ery

,

of wha t t hey are ; b ut t he mys tery of t he D owns

is t he mys t ery o f wha t t hey hide
.

[ er ]
 TH E S E A F A R E R O F THE D O WN S

M ET the S ea C aptai n fo r t he first time o n e

even i ng after a day o f s t o rm when the wind
wa s blowi ng down the gap and o ut to s ea The .

water in the last grey reaches o f the r iver wa s

ruflle d and broken betwee n the w in d and t h e

i n c om i ng t id e and o n t he c liffs o n e it he r s i de o f
, ,

the gap you cou ld hear if yo u lay close i n the

, ,

turf the ch eerful so ng t hat the wi n d ma d e

, ,

b l owi ng t h rough t he fine gras s e s and wat c h t he

,

seagulls as t hey rose from t h e crumbli ng cliff

edge an d were c arr i ed away li ke sp i n d rift from
a wave .

Th e pa th to the top o f t h e h ea d land wen t

upwar d s through a valley behin d t he cres t of the
c l iff s an d was so s moot h and so green tha t it was
,

l i ke a great hollow o f water betwee n two waves .

It w a s empty ex c ept for a c lump of bugloss turn

i ng wi ne dark i n the late summer and the c halk ,

stones li k e p a t ch es of foam all up the valley

, ,

ma rki ng t h e path .

A l i ttle way up I c oul d see wh at looked li ke a

[ 03 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
mu ch larger ston e t ha n a ny o f t he res t bu t when ,

I c ame t o i t I foun d a s heep lyi ng on i t s back I t .

w a s lyi ng very s t ill a n d i t s four legs were s t i c k

,

ing stra igh t u p i nto t he air so t hat i t looked like a

great woode n toy of a sheep a n d no o n e wo u ld ,

have been s u rpri s ed to se e a l i ttle wheel at t he

end of ea c h o f i t s feet .

As I s t ood by it I s aw a man com ing down from

the h eadland He wore a big cloak a n d I
.
,

t h o ught i t mus t be the sh ep h erd al t hough h e ,

c arr i ed no c rook a n d h e did not walk as the s hep

herds do I wa it ed a n d t ogether we h elped th e
.
,

s h eep to i ts fee t aga in Then I looked a t h i m . .

’
I t w a s a s hepherd s cloak t hat he ha d a n d above ,

’
i t a sailor s so u wes t er The two t ogether a t
’
-
.
,

fir s t S ight gave him a com i cal air b ut thi s one

, ,

fo rgo t whe n o n e knew him a n d n ow I feel tha t ,

thi s mixed dress wh i ch he wore I n all seasons

, ,

was exac t ly righ t fo r t ha t strange pa th e ti c ,

ma n .

He t old me t he b est way to help u p sheep who ,

h ave rolled o n t heir ba c k s a n d t alked o f t he ,

staggers a n d the n he loo ked thro ugh the e n d of

,

the valley o ut t o se a A steamer wa s on her w ay

.

ac ros s to F ra n ce wi t h her smoke rolli ng far ahe ad

,

over the wat ers befo re t ha t da n ci ng no rt h wind .

F ar beyo n d t he s moke we c ou ld s ee a grea t s a i ling ]

[ 24 ]
 TH E S EAFARER O F THE D O WNS
sh i p goi ng dow n C ha nn el alo ng t he di s tant ro ad
o f the h or i zo n a n d n earer a t ha n d was a sm al ler
,

s hip mak ing up the c o a st The ma n looked at h er

.

fo r some t i me a n d s aid i n a cha nged sharp vo ic e

, , ,

t ha t sh e was c arryi ng to o m u ch sail .

I tu rned t hen to leave h i m looki ng u p a t th e ,

grea t curve o f tu rf above us which i n t ha t amber ,

c oloured ev e n i ng ligh t aft er the rai n had become ,

a deeper a n d almo st l u ce nt gree n .

“
I t s l i ke a wave I s a i d
’

, .

I t s like a wave he repea t ed

’

,
It h asn t .
’

—
s t art ed to break ye t but perhaps o n e day I t
”
will.

These were ou r las t word s He we n t down the .

valley a n d I we nt u p a n d over t he hea d la n d

, ,

th i nki ng of t his o dd ma n a nd the su dden cha nge

,

i n h i s vo ic e when he s p o ke o f the s hip a n d t hen ,

the n o t e t ha t was almo st fear when h e sa i d o f ,

t ha t great wave o f t u rf t hat s ome day i t might

break .

E ve ryone i n t he v illage called him the S ea

C ap t ai n and to ld me o f his clever n ess w i th
,

a n imals and especially with sheep wh ic h was we l l ,

known so t hat t he s hepherds themselves would

,

seek h i s advi c e B u t when I aske d o f his a dve n

.

t u res at s ea they said n o more than tha t he was

t he S ea C apta i n .

[ 25 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
I won d ered wh at tales he would tell of t h e se a ,

bu t he told none An d yet t he se a was always

.

c om i ng i nto h i s talk and seemed never ou t of hi s

,

.
—
m i n d He told me no tales and the n one n igh t , ,

a s we went down towa r ds t he se a by a road a ll ,

roofed and dark wi th trees tha t o n ce u pon a ,

t i me the s mugglers u sed he t old me o f a sto rm

,

when o n e of t he h a n d s fell from aloft c ras hi ng ,

w i t h his fa c e o n t he d eck a nd was p ic ked u p w it h

,

his j aw bro k en a nd hanging horri bly loo s e o n hi s

,

throat Perh ap s it was t he n ight and t ha t dark

.

road and t he s ound o f t he se a o n t he shi ngle as

,

we c ame n ear i t like mour n fu l fingers rak i ng

,

among the sto n es for somet h ing that they h a d

—
l ost perhaps i t was these which gave to t he
tale a mov ing and terr i ble real i ty as he described ,

’
the look o f h o rror i n the man s eye s a n d t he ,

awful noises t ha t he made ou t o f h is hang i ng

mouth like a sheep i n pai n Tha t was his o n ly
,
.

tale bu t i t wa s like all hi s talk o f t he sea through

, ,

wh i ch there seemed t o run in s pi t e o f h i m , ,

an o d d c u rrent of fear .
g

W h at t he fear was I c oul d not tell but I c am e ,

very soo n to the c onclusion that he m u s t have

l eft the sea fo r s ome fa u l t o f hi s own and th at ,

t hi s had made b i t t er all his memories .

It wa s only when his talk o f the sea m ixe d

[ 26 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN A RCA D Y
goi ng back to hi s own i nl a nd c ountry I c ould not ,

be s u re .

One d ay t he n ews c ame that he was d ead and ,

that if I would g o d own to h is co ttage there were

messages which he had left fo r me I we n t an d .
,

fo und t hat he had bee n ill o nly t wo days Before .

he d ied he had s aid t ha t he left his sea book s to

“ ”
me beggi ng tha t I wo uld have S ea C aptain
,

p ut o n h i s t omb .

There were on ly t hree o r fo u r books i n his

c ottage a n d t hey st ood o n a s helf i n t he kitchen
,

wi th t he ca n dlesticks I lift ed th em down

.
,

expecti ng t o fi nd his Nau t ical Almana c k a n d

S aili ng D irectio n s a n d h i s Lis t o f L ight s and
Ti d e Tables I nst ead to my su rpri s e I fo un d
.
, ,

tha t they were all vo l umes o f Marryat mu ch ,

mended a n d s o ile d and th eir wood c uts c o l

,

o u re d ro ughly w it h c h alk
— t he tales o f the se a
that b oys read fifty year s ago And that was .

al l
.

With the b ooks in my ha n d s a n d a fi r s t under

,

standi ng o f t he my s te ry o f the S ea C ap t a i n i n
my mi nd I we nt u p t o the V i carage There I
,
.

“ ’
foun d a woma n with th e Vi c ar t he C ap t ain s ,

” “
sister he said an d a d ded not that he was a
,

C apta in a t all .

Nor had ever been to sea th e woman s pok e

-

[ 28 ]
 TH E S EAFARER O F TH E D OWNS
“
as if sh e were ashamed t hough he was always ,

”
roma n ci ng abo ut i t .

I put t he book s d ow n o n t he table before her .

S he looked a t t hem a n d we n t on .

“
And he was ma d to go to se a until she
“
broke o ff a n d t hen he gave i t up But eve n
,
.

the n he s aid t ha t he mu st be near t he se a I ve .

’

hardly s ee n him for forty years He migh t have .

—
had t he farm a good farm a n d we re well to ,
’

“
do -
she looked at u s a little defiant ly b u t he
”
would c ome t o t he se a .

I said n oth ing for I was looki ng at the books

,

a nd wo n der i ng It might be i n one of t hem bu t

.
,

I do u bted i t .

“
D id h e ever tell you I looked at the Vic a r
, ,

the t ale o f a storm whe n a ma n fell on deck a n d

”
broke hi s j aw !
The Vi c ar shook his head bu t t he wo man gav e ,

a star t .

”
Bro ke hi s ! aw ! s he said .

”
Yes s a i d I ; s o t ha t it wa s hangi ng horri b ly
,

down a n d he was moa n i ng l i ke a s heep

,
.

“
And he sa i d tha t tha t happe n ed o n a
” “
ship ! S he spoke almost w i th awe To t hink .

tha t he remembered i t at all ] He ca n t have ’

bee n more than t e n at the t ime It wa s o n e of .

our farm ha n ds He fell o fi the ro of of t h e

.
‘

[ 29 ]
 WAYFARERS IN A RCA D Y
b arn To thi n k t ha t he sa i d i t happened on a
.

”
ship !
“
I am afraid i t mus t have been de li be r ate
de cei t The V ic ar was evide nt ly pain e d but —
t hen he had not h eard t he tale .

I said n oth i ng remember i ng how the S e a

,

C apta i n had t o ld it on t h at dark road under the

t r ees t o the so u nd o f t h e mournful sea as i t
, ,

c rep t a n d whi s pere d among the stones .

When the sister we n t away s he too k wi t h her

su c h thi ng s as t h e S ea C ap t a i n h ad l eft b u t t h e ,

books she said t ha t I migh t keep Th ere we r e .

ma n y t hings tha t sh e ha d not s aid an d t h at we ,

had not liked to a s k Ot h e r s had aske d t h em for

.
,

t he day after sh e had go n e t h e v i l l age was fu ll of

vague tales Yet sh e ca n have answered li ttl e o r
.

not hi ng The tal es were too vague Al l we k new

. .

was t h at someth i ng had c hange d the S ea C apta i n

whe n h e was still a boy t urni ng his delight at t h e
,

sea to fear so tha t t he sea had haunted him all h i s

,

life c ha ining h i m to her ye t always repuls i ng

,

him .

After his burial the v i llage was bitterly di

“ ”
v ide d S ome wo u ld have had S ea C aptain
.

put on h i s tombst o ne as he had desired The

,
.

others h el d that to se t up su c h a lie on holy

groun d would be blasphemy It was useless to .

[ 3 0 ]
 TH E SEAFARER O F TH E D OWNS
a rg u e that the very last man laid i n t hat church
yard though he had been a lazy dru n kard
, ,

neglecti ng h is wife and in difle re n t t o h is c h i ldre n ,

yet was des c r i bed o n hi s grav e as a tender h u s

ba n d a n d devoted father It was useless to.

arg u e fo r the V ic ar wa s on the side of th ose wh o

,

were for t he exa ct t rut h .

B u t if the S ea C ap t ai n s s pirit S hall ever v i s i t

’

t hat place agai n may he be s at i sfied to fi n d

, ,

beneath h i s name a n d t he date of h i s d eath ,

Thi s sou l h ath b e e n

Al o n e , o n a wid e Wid e
, se a .

[ 31 ]
 THE O L D M A N A ND D EA TH

N E s u mmer day d u ri ng t he War I walke d

, ,

t hro ugh a Su ssex village u nder t he D owns ,

a v illage SO un dist u rbed a n d s ere n e that i t

S eemed a s if t he h o t breat h of Wa r can never
hav e bl ow n t ha t way I walked through it
.
,

co unt i ng t he c o l ou red card s in the c o ttage win

d ow s wi t h t he names o f t hose who had gone to
the War ; and I wo ndered if there were any people
left in it for the pla c e was so stil l and emp ty and
, ,

so many had g o ne .

The wind was i n the ea s t and very faint ly it

, , ,

brought the s oun d o f guns fro m the F lemish

c oas t There i n t he weald t he s ou n d did not
.
,

seem to c ome out o f t he air at all but from ,

benea t h t he Down s I t was like a mu rm u r deep

.

wi t hi n t he ear t h as if t he dead lyi ng u nder their

, ,

barrow s and t he t re nc hes of their ancie n t c amps ,

had tu r n ed and mut t ered i n the ir S leep .

I followed the road through the V i llage and u p ,

t he hill behi n d i t a n d sitt ing there at t he to p

,

looked b ack acro ss t he q u iet roofs to the D owns .

3
[ 33 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN A RCA D Y
Th en I saw that an old man had been c limbing
t h e hi l l be hi nd m e He stopped two yards away
.

and be n t d own A rabbit lay o n the roa d c lose

.

under the e dge of the grass ; i t had been kil l e d

a nd r i ppe d O pen by a stoat T h e ol d man p ic ked .

I t up and part i ng the grasses at the hedge ro o ts

sl i pped i t in among them He look ed up and s aw .

me wat chi ng h i m .

“ ’
It ll be very well t here h e sa i d If I , .

’
was a rabb it I d rather l i e there an d feed that
rose than at the bo t tom of one of t he i r p ro fitle ss
s a n d hol es But t h ey w i ll go t o t h eir hole s if
-
.

”
t h ey can .

He sat d own near me and filled a p i pe so t ha t

I had time to l o ok at h i s fa c e a c heerfu l stro ng , ,

face well browned a n d wr i nkle d with th e

,

weather a fa c e you c o u l d se e that took pleasure

, , ,

i n feel i ng t h e w i n d and the rai n .

“
Th ere s a woman down t here he wen t on
’

,
’

( yo u c ou l d s e e her c himney if i t wasn t fo r the

ch urch sp i re) who h as j ust lost her son I we n t in .

’
l ast night to say a word or two Ah she sa id .
‘
,

to me if on ly I h ad h i m here a n d c ou l d put h i m
,
‘

i n the chur c hya r d where his father i s a n d k n ow

, ,

’ ’
he was safe t here I d be c o mfo rte d I t s not,
.

‘
knowing where he lies t hat s hard What ’
.
’

‘
matter ! sa i d I ; so lo ng as there s goo d ea rt h
’ ’

[ 34 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
The old man l oo ked a t me and nei t her in h is ,

eyes or vo i ce wa s an y s adness He spoke .

gravely ; t ha t was all .

“
Hi s mo t her 1s like t he res t he said ; s h e ,

’
m i sses i t t ha t S he didn t se e him at t he e n d lyi ng
o n the bed w here he was born Sh e mis s e s t he .

c omfo rt o f his grave to grieve over Bu t I like it .

bet t er as i t i s I feel the s u dde n e n d o f it l ess

. .

He j ust we nt away .

Wh en he c ome s in t o t he t alk I do n t h u sh my ’

voi c e and st op I t alk o f him j u st t he s ame as

.

before a n d t ell t he t ale s t hat he u s ed t o t ell when

,

he came home a n d la ugh over them ,

.

“
It sho cks some o f them They t hink I ve n o .
’

hear t be c ause t hey do n t se e me gr i eve B ut ’

.

there s no c omfort to me i n grievi ng as t here is

’

t o s ome H e j us t we n t away as he had gone

.

before and I like t o thi n k t hat he can still c ome

,

back .

“
The Vicar says I s ho u ld be comforted t e ,

m e mb e rin g th at he did hi s d u ty a n d t hat n ow

he s i n heaven Bu t I s ay t ha t I d ra t her t hi n k
’
.
’

that he s s t ill somewhere o n earth and t ha t o n e

’
,
”
d ay ye t he ll co me walki n g over t his hill again
’
.

The old ma n looked at me and smiled Then .

he g o t to hi s feet and I wi t h him ; and we walked

,

toge t her j u st a c ros s t he cre st o f the h i ll Away .

[ 36 ]
 TH E O L D MAN AN D DEAT H
b el ow i t the whi t e smoke of a t rai n was moving
above the hedges and wh e n it stopped I c ould
,

see the red sta t i on among the t rees We wat ch ed

.

long aft e r the t rai n had gone fo r we c ould se e the

,

lit t le dark figu res of pe o ple c ome o u t of the sta

t i on a n d move al o ng a few ya rds o f white road
before the hedge s hid t hem We watched unt il
.

they had all di s appeared unt il i t was certa in

,

that there were n o more to come The n very .

,

s lowly t he o ld ma n k no cked o ut hi s pipe i n the

,

palm of h i s hand and t u rning we n t back down

, ,

the h i ll .

[ 37 ]
 S H E P H ER D S RO M A N C E
’

I h e ard a me ss of me rry Sh e p h e rd s Si n g
A ! o yful so n g full of swe e t d e ligh t
.

H E PH E RD S changed whe n t hey la i d as id e

their p i pes Ne it her Theo c ri t us nor the
.

wri t ers of the M e diaav al and E l i zabethan C a rols

’
would have u nderstood Professor J ack s s Mad
S hep h erds To them the S hephe rds were t h e
.

merr i est of me n bu t t o us now that they have

, ,

c eased t o sing they are o f all men t he most

,

mys t erious We wonder how they fill t he i r

.

sile n ce s A s t hey s t and along the edges o f th e

.

hills ben t a little ov er t he i r c roo k s they are l i ke

, ,

grea t sol i tary b i rds Nor do t hey eve n wal k

.

l i ke other men They walk as if t hey were meant

.

a lway s to be st ill li ke statues j ust c o me to l i fe

,

an d movi ng fo r t he firs t time their joints of stone ,

or li ke t rees feeli ng t he i r way w it h t h e i r great

roots D o t hey wait l i ke an i mals in va c ant c on
.

ten t ! Or do t hey dream ! Of this worl d at ,

least they know th i ngs that we c annot Pe r

, .

haps t h ey a re the ric her men for h av i ng now n o

[ 39 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
p i pes to play and for s t andi ng i n sile n ce all day
,

on t he h i lls .

B u t th i s shepherd had he liv ed in the p i p i ng ,

t i mes had piped as merrily a s a ny o f them

, .

H e h ad on h im h is tab ard an d h is h a t ,

H is tar bo x h is p i p e , an d h is fla ga t ;
H is n ame was call e d !oll y ! o ll
,
y Wat .

He too had he lived i n o ther times had been a

, ,

jol ly jolly Wa t
, .

H e wa s a s mall ma n and al t hough i t was a ,

warm summer day h e wore a ma s sive overcoa t ,

that almost t ou c hed t he ground He stooped a .

lit t le and i t s eemed a s if his s houlders ben t

,

be n eath its we ight He had a plain ge n tle and .

, ,

wooden face t hat did no t cha nge B ut his eyes .

,

wh ic h were a very pale clear bl u e were alive as ,

h e t alked an d by t hem o n e k n ew whe n he was

,

laugh i ng He had also t wo s mall tobacco pipes

.
,

—very small fo r a ma n to smoke i n t he o pe n

ai r They were bo t h o ld a n d black o n e o f clay
.
,

a n d o n e of briar a n d he filled and smoked t hem,

alterna t ely .

He t alked like o t her men boas t i ng i n a gentle ,

a n d charmi ng way o f hi s possessions a n d t he

th ings t ha t he did H e t alked o f hi s grea t coat .

whic h he had bo ugh t marvellously cheap and

[ 40 ]
 ’
S H E P H ER D S R OMANCE

whi ch no rai n co u ld pe n etra t e He t old us how .

he had pai nt ed i t wi t h r u bber a n d peggi ng i t o u t ,

o n e n igh t had fill ed i t wi th water ; yet i n t he

,

mor n i ng i t wa s dry as a rush beneath He t alked .

o f hi s employers t elling us how they were wro ng

,

ab o ut t he sheep a n d he was right a n d of t he d ogs ,

he had bred and t he marve l lou s t hi ngs tha t they

did and o f his s heep a n d a n illne ss t hat they had
, ,

had wasti ng away a s he said like b utt er agai n st

, , ,

t he s un S o he t alked with hi s ge n tle woode n

.

face i n t he same way that other me n talk o f

,

t hemselves whe n they love their work ex c ep t ,

t ha t he s p o ke w it hout vain glory a n d wi th o u t

b it t er n ess even towards his empl oyers and t heir
mistake s In a l l h e said there was the Sweetness
.

o f the open a i r He talke d ; but we h a d n ot yet

.

to uc hed o n the th i ng that p i ped in hi s soul .

We made rea dy to leave him poi nt i ng o ut o ur ,

way along the D owns to a dis t ant hill where

s t ood a s oli t ary and w i thered thorn wh i ch was
“ ”
called the Sc rag In reply he a s ked us (filli ng
.

t hi s time the b ri ar) i f we knew C u n n i ng D ick s ’

hole whi c h not long s i n c e h a d been di sc overed

, , ,

in the s i de of the h il l wit h the t able a n d chair s till

i n it that D i c k had used A n d whe n we a s ked .

him who was Dic k hi s eyes showed hi s surprise ,

and h e answered tha t i t was Dic k T u rpin who ,

[ 41 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
h a d worked in t h ose parts The n he turned and .

poi nt ed a c ross t o the n ext ridge o f the D owns

where once t he mai n road had r un al o ng t he
—
summ i t a ro ad still broad and level b ut now
gree n with turf H e p o inted t o a woo d a n d
'

.
, ,

speak i ng as a man s peaks who had made grea t

d i s c over i es he s a i d t h at he k n ew over there i n
, ,

tha t wood of another of C u nn ing D ick s hole s

,
’
.

The hole itself he had n ever bee n able to fi n d ,

b ut his brot h e r o n e day had s ee n s t uck i n t he ,

t runk of a t ree the staple t o whic h D i c k m u st

,

have t i ed his horse ; and he h i m s elf had drawn

t hat staple out He had i t still And t he n
. .

“ ’
I ve read t wo h undred of C unn ing D ick s ’

”
books he sa id
,
.

We ha d been growi ng a little wea ry of his

gentle ambl i ng garrulity but at th i s we stopped
, ,
.

We ha d c ome sudde n ly o n a great bel i ef a n d we

'

looke d at h i m i n surprise and even in reverence .

’
He talke d on of D i c k s adventures the eyes i n , ,

h i s ki n d ly wooden face fu ll of exc i tement and a s

, ,

he ta l ke d we c oul d see h i m as he must often be ,

s i tt i ng by some c ottage fire in win ter even i ngs ,

and r ea di ng those l i t t le paper bound book s each -

,

“ ”
w i th i ts two penny coloured cover o f a high
-

—
wayman r eading t hem wi th the s imple com ,

p le t e fa i t h of a c h i ld .

[ 4 2 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
m ay ye t be wri t te n a n d he will re c eive them all
, ,

in pure a n d s imple faith a s from D ick s ow n

,
’

ha n d He may n ever fi n d t ha t Cu nni ng Hole

.

fo r whi c h he s eek s b ut t here are great d i s cover

,

ie s st ill for him to make F or surely some day

.

”
t he pe n ny dreadful will grow weary o f moder n
t ime s and t he d i s c overy of crime and the adora
,

tio n of grea t detect ives It will re tu r n again t o

.

the past t o the highroad a n d hors eme n t o

, ,

ge n ial rogue s and picaresque roman c e Then .

will he be happy .

He plays n o p ipe on the D owns a nd s i ngs no ,

so ngs b u t he is o f the company of Merry S hep

,

herds F or as he g o es his sl ow way beh i nd h is

.

sheep sweep ing the grass h eads with hi s c oat

, ,

or s t a n ds a n d looks acros s t he valley at t h e wood

where t he C u nn i ng H o le lie s hid what a grea t ,

fig u re o f a horseman gallops always down th e

roma nt i c h igh roa d of his S oul
-
.

[ 44 ]
 ! RE A T ROA D S

F all t he t hi ngs t ha t ma n ha s ever made t he

roads are t he great es t of hi s wo rk s o f u n
c o n scio us art ! o u ca nno t imagi n e the mos t
.

c o nt emp t ible o f ae s thet es h avi ng a road made

t ha t t hro ugh his window he m ight admire t he
gra c e wi t h whi ch it turned a corner ; an d yo u
may be sure of this t hat if h e d id it wo u ld be a
,

vai n thing a n d t ha t t he road si nc e i t was n o t

, ,

made to t ravel by woul d no t be wort h l oo king

,

a t Men have never made a roa d excep t for t he

.

good reason t ha t they wanted very m uc h to reach

some place ; a n d in doi ng it t hey have always
show n t hemselves i n diff eren t t o bea u t i fu l thi ngs
.

They break the hills ; they r u in the s treams .

They go o n t heir way caring for n othing but t heir

i nt en t t o ar rive and ye t n o t knowing what t hey
, ,

do t hey make t h e roads also beaut ifu l a n d

,

m ys t erio u s w i th a beauty and mys t ery which

,

endure lo ng after t heir p u rpo s e ha s bee n fu lfilled ,

a n d wh i ch be c ome a part o f the very magic of

th e ea r th
.

45 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
Wh erever the great roads pas s they bri ng
three noble th ings They bri ng memo ry Wh en
. .

the R omans b u il t a road fo r ma ny mile s along

t ha t high a n d level summi t which i s st ill called
High S treet t hey did i t o n ly beca us e t hey
,

tho ught tha t s o t hey could mo st ea s ily t ake t heir

l egi on s fro m Wi n dermere t o Penri t h Tha t r o ad .

was lo ng si n c e overgrow n wi t h t he o ld tu rf o f the

h i ll s a n d we go no rt hwards n ow by ot her ways
, .

B u t beneath t he tu rf t he road remai ns a ro ad ,

t ravelli ng n o lo nger to Pe n rith b ut back i nto t he

years I t serve s no p u rpose n ow but i t remains
.
, ,

e nn obli ng t he hills To t hem t he changi ng and

.

re t urn ing s eason s can not bri ng fo rgetfu l n es s .

There is t hi s road wi t hi n t heir tu rf keepi ng t he

past alive F o r th is also o n e can say o f the roads
.

tha t c anno t be sa i d o f any ot her of t he wo rk s of

me n They may be fo rgott e n b ut so lo ng a s t hey
.
,

are remembered they ca nno t al toge t her die

,
.

Citi es t hat have falle n i nto r u i ns are mo re de so

late t han empt in ess The flower s and t he gra ss e s
.

have c o me up like ha n d s out o f t he earth t o draw

t h em back to i t No o n e will eve r live i n t hem
.

ag a in I m agi n atI on itself ca n hardly reb u ild

.

them or believe t h a t me n ever c alled t hem home

,
.

—
B ut where ro a ds have bee n even t hough t hey
are cov ered w i th t he turf an d t h e wil d thi ngs
,

[ 46 ]
 ! R EA T R OADS
—
have re t urned t o live i n t hem there men can
still walk .

The s eco n d good t hi ng that the great roads

bri ng i s t hi s t ha t t hey g ive to al l the c ountry
,

which t hey cro s s an emp h as i s and firmness to

wha t ev er i s bea ut iful i n its shape Th ey make .

t he plain s more l evel ; they mark so tha t t he eye

,

c a n se e i t more clearly the bea u t i fu l d i p and

,

wav e o f t he la n d a t t he foot of the hills ; they

make mag n ifice n t t he great curve o f a hi lls id e .

A s t hey ca n e n noble an empty pla c e w i th mem

ory so also can t hey give grandeur to it s very
shape I t is so with t h ose great roads o f Nor t h
.

ern F ra n ce that go r ising a n d fall i ng r i s i ng and

,

falli ng across the ar c hes of the D own s Wh ere

,
.

those un swerving roads touch t ha t s moo t hly

rolli ng cou n try wi t h i ts even a n d gen t le curve s ,

i t is s u dde n ly c h anged They seem t o i ncrease

.

i t s very st a t ure to exal t it

,
.

L as t o f all t he great roads bri ng romance Not .

t he eye o nly b ut t he mi n d t ravel s by them ,

imagi n i ng ma ny thi ng s Never d oes it go so far

.

i n t o t he di st a nt mists a s whe n it follow s the way

o f t he whi t e roads . This i s t he i r fi n al para d ox
a n d mystery O n e k nows t ha t i t is by followi ng
.

t hem a n d no t by tu r n i ng aside tha t one will re ach

the u n disc overed place s .

[ 47 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
Wh a t i t i s t ha t gives to c er t ai n roads t his
e n chantme nt no o n e ca n t ell S ome have i t and .

some have i t no t and some may have it i n o n e

,
“

pla c e and not anot h er an d some may have i t

,

only at c erta i n ti mes O n e c anno t expla i n i t

. .

Yo u can o n ly say t h at of su ch a roa d yo u know

at on c e th a t i t w i ll take you to some place where
you w ish very m uch to be By t hi s you k now .

t h ese ro ads and i t i s the only th i ng really worth

,

h av i ng in a ro ad a n d t h ese are t h e only roa d s

,

wort h tr ave l ling by .

No o n e h as yet wr i t t en a boo k about t he in flu

e n ce o f the ro ad s on the c h ara c ters of t he na
t ions who make t h em o r i f you prefer it about
, , ,

the way i n wh ich t h e char a c ters o f nations are

made clear by t h e i r roa d s One c ould wr i te t he
.

book from e ither s tart ing po i nt an d from eac h it ,

would be true F or w e S h ow wh at we are by

.

wha t we make and th e th ings on c e made co m

, ,

p le t e d a n d n o t t o be change d are a perpet u al ,

influence u pon us The histo ry of E urope coul d

.

be told I n suc h a book ; and it would have a very

beautiful ch apte r ent i tle d The Par t Played by
He dges i n the D evel opment o f the E ngli s h
”
C haracter .

The wh ole differen c e between the E ngli s h and

F re n ch peoples 18 In t heir roads E ach s ta rted .

[ 48 ]
 ! R EA T R OADS
wi t h t he roads t ha t t he R oma ns left them an d ,

F rance st ill t ravel s by th o se road s ; but i n E ng

land me n n ow sear c h fo r t hem u n der the t urf o f
the Downs and tra c e across t he fiel d s the way
tha t t hey mu st h ave taken The fa i t h of the .

F rench mind i n reaso n ; its c ourage in following

id eas direc t to t heir concl u s ion ; i ts economy ; its
love o f l ight and o f good proport io n and of t he
, ,

—
c lassic in beauty all t h ese things are expressed
by those grea t roa d s l aid l i ke a sword across t he
c ou n try un swerv ing u n hedged ope n to the sun
, , , ,

wi th their poplars kept s pare a n d lea n by the

wi n ds All n oble th ings t he F re n ch ro ads have
.

—
but o n e t hey are w i thout e n chantment Th ey .

are too stra ight and too c o n fide nt T h ey lea d

onl y to t h at pla c e whose name i s o n t he map .

Al l th a t the F rench roads are t he E nglish

ro ad s are not They wander They go so ma ny
. .
,

o f them between great fl oweri ng wastefu l

, , ,

bea ut ifu l hedges ; a n d t he t rees rise o ut o f t he

hedge s s t re t chi ng magn ifi c e nt arm s fro m that
,

pleasant shel ter i n whi c h t hey live massive an d ,

l uxuria nt as if all the r ic hness o f the earth were

,

o n ly to giv e th e m stature and bea uty Those

l
.

roadside t rees an d the uncl i pped hedge s fu ll of

,

b i rds a n d the broad grass banks a n d t he di t ches

, ,

t h at are ways i de gar d ens of wil d flowers wh a t ,

4
[ 49 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN A RCA D Y
e l se c ou ld speak more cl early than t h ey o f t he
e a sy wasteful jolly c ontentment of the E nglish !
, ,

S ee i ng t h ese roads a ny fore igner m igh t say t hat

i ndeed th ey c ou ld belong o n ly to the people who
use so mu c h t h at wo rd wh ic h he c an no t t ra ns
late Walki ng by them als o as
they w i nd and wander seemi ng n ot t o k now
,

wh at way they will go yet all the t i me follow ing

,

the c u rves and l p e s of the earth until i n some,

my s ter i ous easy way o f the i r own they d o a t

—
l ast rea c h the place walk i ng by them so he ,

m igh t also c ome t o understand tha t t hi ng of

wh i ch he is mos t impatient s uspi ci ous and re
,

se n tful that strange s ense by wh i ch blunder i ng

, ,

o n wi thou t a ny l ight of reaso n the English in

, ,

t he end arr ive

,
.

Above all if he followed t he E nglish roads by

, ,

ways i de hedge and elm an d o ak a n d beech by all ,

the ir floweri ng c omfortable plea s ant wi n di ngs

, , ,

un t i l suddenly t h ey lift ed h i m o ut a n d u p to t he
O pe n turf of moor or hill o r D own not like t h os e
,

F re nc h roads poi n ti ng s traigh t as a sig n po st t o -

—
the next town but s till wan d er i ng as if they
,

—
sear c hed fo r someth ing over the h i lls and into
—
the sky then at las t perh aps h e would un der
s t an d the final and greatest puzz l e of the English
why it i s t h at out o f t his people not car i ng mu c h
,

[ 50 ]
 THE SC H OL AR RO A D M A K E R

E wa s killed b y a wa n deri ng bu lle t whe n

worki ng on a ro ad b ehi n d t he li n e s a n d ,

the s e are pa ss age s fr o m so m e o f hi s le tt er s He .

wrote a grea t deal fo r t ho ugh he had good c o m

,

rade s i n his L abo u r Battalio n t here were non e ,

to whom he co u ld t alk very m u ch a n d s o he was ,

always wri t i ng fo r t he c o mfor t a n d plea s ure of hi s

own mi n d I t left him c ont e nt i n t he mo not o ny
.

of a labo u r that had n o n e o f t he fierce m o me nt s

o f a s oldier s life tho ugh it bro ugh t him a
’

soldier s dea t h
’
.

H i s let t er s were wri tt en i n all s ort s o f O dd

pla c es whe n ever t he fa n cy to ok him a n d he had
,

five mi nut es leis u re by the ligh t o f a ca n dle

,

st ump a s he sprawled o n t he floor of hi s billet ,

o r as he lay at t he r o ad s ide r e stI n g ; a n d he spoke

-

”
of t hem always as his raw stuff t ha t s ome day ,

he wo u ld u s e They are fu ll of c heerfu l talk

.

abou t all t he books t ha t he wo u ld write aft er the

war but mo s t o f all abo ut hi s book o n roads
, .

And n ow t hat wander ing b u lle t h as brough t h im

[ 53 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
and t hem t o the dus t a n d there remain s not hing
,

o f it all bu t a grave i n F ra n ce and a box full of

“
raw stu ff and eager hope .

I seem n ow to have b ee n busy all my life

w i th ro ads There was a bi t o f ro ad tha t I u s ed
.

to love whe n I was a b oy I t wa s a c ro s s t he

.

valley fro m my home O n e e n d o f i t rose o ut o f

.

the woo d s a n d the o t her wen t over t he edge of

,

the hill I u s ed to play w i th that bit of road ; I

.

used to play a t send ing people up a n d dow n i t .

On c e yo u se nt them over yo u n ever knew j ust

how they woul d c ome back o r wha t they wo u ld
,

br i ng It was t h is t hat made it a fine game a

.
,

game of un e n di ng fanc i es I often think of it a s

.

I bend over t h ese roads .

“
A n d I o ft en remember how t he news of the
war first c ame to me I was i n t he nort h of
.

E ngland tha t August trampi ng alo ng the cre st

,

of the hi lls that are st i ll cal le d H igh S treet after

,

the road whic h the Ro mans buil t t here I n the .

l ate twi light I came down to an i nn at the head

of a lake I ha d bee n thi n ki ng o f the R oma n
.

legionaries wh o on c e upo n a time we n t that way ,

a n d feel ing t he u tter freedom and pea c e of i t all .

For I was alone all day wi t h t he tu rf a n d the wi nd

[ 54 ]
 TH E SC H O LAR RO A D M A KE R
a n d t he whi t e s ig n p ost s t hat u p there on the t op
-
,

o f t he hills S eemed to poi nt t o no p l aces on ear t h

bu t t o some dista nt places of t he sky In the i n n

.

I picked u p a paper t wo days old and rea d t he

declaratio n o f war .

“
There w as de s ti ny i n i t whe n they made me a
ro a dm ak e r .

Whe n I am cheerfu l I dream o f wri t i ng the

grea t es t b oo k o n road s t ha t wa s ever written .

Fo r I have do n e more t ha n t ramp t he ro ad s a n d

l ove t hem I have worked on t hem a n d ached
.

fo r t hem I shall g o t o R ome where all t he grea t

.

roads s t art ; and I shall wri t e of i t all i n a ho u se

t ha t I s ee (t ho ugh i t is s till un b u il t ) j ust un der
!

the edge o f the N o rth D ow ns wh ere the O lde st

road i n E ngland r u ns That i s h ow I dream
.

whe n I am c heerfu l ; a n d whe n I am sa d I t hi n k

t ha t I s hall die o n o n e of these road s a n d drop
i n t o a shell h o le .

We work too hard i n t he ope n air to d ream a t

night Whe n I lie down I tumble st raight i nto
.

deep sleep But s ome t imes I have a half dream

.

i n t he mo rni ngs before I am fu lly awake I t is

,
.

[ 55 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
a dream alway s o f the road that a t t he mome nt , ,

we are maki ng acro s s t hi s s hell broke n pi t ifu l

-
,

co un try ; b ut always a s I go along i t it be c ome s

th at wh ite ro ad over t he hill t ha t I knew when I
‘

was a b oy I know that they are t he same ro a ds

.

b ut I n ever s ee where t hey p m There is always

.

a bit o f dead gro un d be t ween t hem a n d I always ,

wake befo re I c o me to i t But beyo nd I se e t he

.

old road very clear go i ng ov er t he hill

,
.

I had rather a su cce ss wi t h t he ba tt ali on t he

other n igh t We were b ack i n camp It had
. .

bee n a day o f c on ti nu al r ai n awful t o work in

, ,

a n d t here had b ee n fairly heavy s helli ng t hat h ad

cut u p ou r wo rk We were S odden a n d di s co n
.

t e nt ed a n d c u rsed road s an d ro a dm ak in g and

prayed to b e i n t he t re n che s a n d s neered a t o u r
,

sel v e s b eca u se we were n o t real s oldier s It wa s .

t he n t ha t I broke i n a n d to ld t hem o f t he Ro ma n
road s a n d wha t awfu l lab ou r t hey were t o make
, ,

built i n st o n e acro ss t he hills a n d how t hose

,
‘

roads made t he E mpire I talk e d o f t ha t grea t

.

old road un der t he t ree s above Mickleham t hat

c rosse s E p so m D ow n s by t he racec o urse (they
all k n ew t ha t ) and I talked o f t hat road wh ich
yo u ca n still see a t Black s to n e E dge with the ,

[ 56 ]
 TH E SC H OLAR RO A D M A K E R
heavy flag s a s t he R omans laid them A n d I had .

them liste n i ng .

“
The n a ma n who had worked o n the Uganda
R ailway joi n ed i n a n d a navvy who had lai d
,

wood paveme nts i n Lo n do n a n d a nother man

,

wh o was worki ng whe n t he war came o n the n ew

, ,

road by the Ouse down t o t he se a Befo re we .

had do n e t alki ng we all knew t ha t ro a dm a kin g

was t he fine st work i n t he world .

“
I shall n ever s mell t he heavy s mell of damp
c lothes agai n witho ut t hi nki ng o f t ha t s ce n e ; and
how t h e man fro m E ast Africa s poke i n li tt le ,

unexpec t ed fla s he s o f t he wo n der o f h i s wo rk ;
,

a n d how the n avvy from L ond on l aid dow n the

law o f roads and wha t ever you migh t s ay o f
, ,

R oma n s t o n e wo u ld n o t allow tha t any roa d

,

was a real road un le ss i t were b u il t o f wo od .

I ofte n t hi nk o f what de Mus s e t wro t e t hat ,

i f a ma n de s pa i red o f bei ng a p o et he s h ou ld
shoulder h is pack and march i n t he ra n k s I t is .

when we march that I do all my t hi n ki ng With .

th i s perpetual work in the o pe n if I sit d ow n to

,

thi nk I fall asleep ; and t here i s n o thi n ki ng as we

work The n t he body t ake s p o s s es s ion o f t he
.

mind S ometimes a line o f a song o r t he last

.
,

[ 57 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
sen t e n ce I tho ugh t before we took u p tool s w il l ,

oc cu py it al l t he day It c an go no fu rther B u t
. .

whe n we are march i ng t h en i t c an roam Wh i le .

my body drones o n i n t he mud below it tr avels ,

on the poplar tops I have never known i t so

.

free . I have n ever before so dreamed a n d

planned a n d loved the d i stant and delightfu l
,

t h ing s a s n ow i n the pr i son ho u se o f th i s c on

-

”
c e n tra te d u nresti ng labour o f war .

When the ro adm ak e r was s ho t t he last of h i s

l e tt er s was s t ill in his pocket .

I ha d t h at dream of the two roads aga i n the

other n ight but i t was d ifferent W h ile always
,
.

befo re I have l ooke d fo rward to t he ol d road fro m

the road t h at we were mak ing t hi s t i me I was o n
,

t h a t o l d roa d an d go i ng up to t h e e dge of t he hi ll .

I was nearly at the top when I stopped to l ook

ba c k But the groun d wh ere the two jo in ed was
.

st i ll hid d en I m us t h ave cross ed i t before t h e

.

dream bega n I wo n der wha t had happened

.

”
th ere .

[ 58 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
make the shivering R oma n se n t ry long for P ro
ve n ce o r the warm Italia n pla in s bu t t ime and ,

the tu rf hav e ro u nded t he t renc hes and smoo thed

t he great camps as t ide s wa s h o ut sand c as t les .

The D owns st ill remai n imme n se and tranquil

,

a n d free a s t hey were before men c ame

, .

O nly t he tree s o f t he D owns seem to b e

tro u bled by t ha t dis t a n t pas t There i s a .

stra nge n e s s i n t hem as if t he s pirit o f t he a n cie n t

sold i ers of the D own s Briton a n d Ro man a n d
,

S axo n were s till a n i nfl u e n ce deep below the t urf

,

tha t feed s t heir roots The t ree s alo n e o f all t he

.

thi ng s o f t he Dow ns s eem to speak of remem

bered war s I co u ld believe t ha t t he Wa n deri ng
.

me n who drove t heir flocks acros s the D own s ,

a n d watched i n t he mor n i ng the mar s h fogs o f

the weald a n d listened a t n ight for t he bark of
,

t he wolve s and the men who climbed in t h e

,

darkne ss from the s helter of the fo rests and

prowl ed rou n d the R oma n camps s till no u rish ,

with their spirit s tho s e s tu n ted thorns t ha t

stand forlorn and twisted o n the D owns Th ey
, , . .

seem t o belo ng to an earlier more savage ra c e ,

than the great bee c hes wh ose roots i t may be

, , ,

have found t h e graves o f the legi o naries .

Wherever the bee c hes gr ow on the slopes of

the D ow ns they are cha nged They s eem t o have
.

I 60 l
 WARRI O R T R EE S
los t t he deep root ed st eadfa st c o n t e nt o f t he
-

t ree s o f t he weald a n d to hav e ga t hered waiting ,

for some o rder to c o me They fill the great.

v alleys like armie s i n close ra n ks expe c tan t

, , ,

a n d whe n t he wind moves amo ng them i t m igh t

be t he firs t st ep of a su d d e n adva n ce I n all th e .

c ombes alo ng t he D own s betwee n Adur an d

Arun are li tt le companie s o f t ree s that are gath
ered close t oge t her and s eem t o pres s i n agai n st
—
t he D ow n s a s the Br i ti s h warriors m u s t on c e
hav e crou ched below t he R oma n c amp s and ,

here a n d t here halfway up t he s lope s solitary

, ,

t ree s s eem to wait un til the t ime s hall come t o

take the nex t s tep u pwards .

Eve rywhere amo ng the t rees i s this strange

expe c ta n cy as if some day an e n cha nt me nt will
,

be broke n a n d t heir root s b e freed a n d t hey

, ,

themselv es be t ur n ed agai n i n to armed men wh o

will sweep u pwards a n d over t he grea t green
rampart wh i ch lies ab ove and on c e more look ,

s o ut hward s to the se a .

Alo ng that rampar t also where o nc e t he s en

t ries wa tc hed i t i s t he trees which s eem to have
,

kep t t he memo ry of the tre n ched and palisaded

camps I d o n o t t hi n k of vigilance a n d war when
.

I look a t t he s moothed o ut t renches o f D i t chling

or eve n t he deeper earthworks o f Wolsto n bury ,

[ 61 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
but at t ho s e s t range and s olitary c i rc le s of
b eeches i n which t he t rees grow so c lose togethe r
,

tha t on ly a flicker o f light s hows through t heir

bra n ches F ar away acros s t he D ow ns yo u see
.

the s e camp s of t ree s s tanding high and l o nely

,

a n d s elf su ffi cie n t in the empti n e ss of t he Downs

-
.

I t is only whe n you c ome n ear t hem t ha t you se e

t hem t o b e t r e e s I n the di st a n ce t hey are grey
.

a n d smooth a s st one They st a n d like fo rt res s

.

ro c ks The wi n ds c a n n ot st ir t hem
. .

Wh en t he encha nt me nt is lift ed i t will be they , ,

a n d n o t the o ld camp s o f tu rf whi c h will tu r n to

,

pali s ade s and gli t ter with t he spear heads an d

,

the helme ts a n d t he st r ong s hort swor d s of the

wai t i ng legi o nari es S o do t he trees seem s t ill to
.

keep t he mem o ry o f wars te n c ent u ries O ld and ,

t o draw u p from t he a n c i e nt graves t he s piri t of

buried so ldiers I wo n der if at nigh t whe n the
.
,

s h eep are gat h ered i n t o t heir fold s a n d men have

—
gone b a ck t o the weald all t hese trees the great
,

ci rc les of bee c hes like grey fo rts a n d t he solitary

,

thor n s a nd the l i ttle ha ngar s wai t i ng in shelte r

,

t o climb the D owns become t he toys o f the

-

c hildren of the god s and if this c an be t heir gre a t

,

nurse ry where i n the hours when me n a n d t he

, ,

sheep an d the flowers are asleep they come to ,

play at sold i ers !

62
 THE R OA D TO D I DL IN!

N a ma nn er of speaki ng I am now a n d alway s ,

s hall b e o n tha t road J ust as here a nd

,
.

there sometime s on t hi s road s o me t imes o n that

, ,

on old turf t ra c k s a n d be twee n the hou s es of d a rk

and busy stree ts o n e remembers tha t here u nder
, ,

one s feet i s a road t o a R oma n town so i n u m

’

, ,

expected place s do I wo n der if t h is o n wh i ch I ,

walk may n o t be part of t he road t o Di dl ing

,
.

All roa d s do not lead to Did li ng as t hey lea d to

R ome but for three m i nutes of o n e summer
,

eve n i ng we were o n a ro ad whic h went to t ha t

place an d nowhere e l se .

No o n e had ever s poken o f i t to us ; but o n e

morn i ng stopp i ng i n the ra i n by a ch alk quarry
, ,

halfway up the D owns w e found that n ame on ,

t he map The name i s st ill t h ere It i s not a n

. .

e lfin name wh ic h we h ave never been able to fi n d

agai n wh i ch c ame o n tha t o n e mo rning t o lead

,

us as t ray ei t her fo r our sorrow o r our happiness

, .

Th e name is t here and t h e pla c e as I bel i eve i s

, , ,

there a sol i d E ngli s h pla c e of s tone an d fl i nt re d

, ,

[ 63 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
ti les and brown that c h .
—
I t lies bu t what does
i t mat t er wh ere i t lies ! Anyo n e c an find it for
h imself o n the map .

Th ere a nd t he n st a n di ng by t h e qu arry
,

aga inst a haze ] bush whi le the w i nd shoo k the

rain drops in h eavy s h owers off the fu ll leave d -

bee ch trees we resolve d t o set o ut fo r Di dli ng

, .

We c l i mbed th e steep c hal k p a th and at the ,

summ i t turned westwards by the turf roa d Th e .

c louds lay c l ose above u s i n even and dark l i n e s

, ,

l ike enormous bla c k rafters a cross t h e sky W it h .

those clouds above and the tal l bee ch woo d s o n

e it her s i de t hrough whose bran ch es we c ould see
, ,

as t hrough l it tle w i n d ows fa r d own i nto t h e,

weal d it was as if we were walk i ng all t hi s day

,

in a great dark room I t was a room full of t h e

.

wi nd and the rain and from i t we looked out

,

always at a dista n t fa i ry wo rld F o r fro m under

, .

th e low c loud s we c ou ld see many mile s dis t a n t

, ,

h i ll s wh ere t h e sun s h one .

S o we tramped tow a rds Di dli ng Who ha d not .

been enc h anted op e n i ng h i s map to have come

, ,

suddenly o n s uch a name ; to h ave s e en it fo r the ,

first t ime when he was already on th e roa d ; to

,

have fo u nd t h at i t was no t ma ny m il es away !

D idling filled our day We talked of i t We. .

wo n dered wha t ma nn er o f place i t was We .

[ 64 ]
 TH E R OAD TO DID L IN G
j o ked a bo u t i t We made s uch rhymes to i t a s
.

t here were t o make and all d ay l ong w e drew

,

n earer to i t There wa s i n t ha t n ame s ome t hi ng

.

a t on ce so c omical a n d so roma nt ic so friendly ,

a n d so rem ot e so h o melike a n d yet so e lfin t ha t

, ,

we c ou ld not t ire o f it We had n ever heard of

.

D idli ng befo re B ut t hree h ou r s s i n ce we s hould

.

hav e la u ghed if a nyon e had S p o ke n of i t sayi ng , ,

There i s no su ch pla c e b ut if t here were wha t

, ,

” —
a st ra nge place i t m ust b e a n d now we s ho u ld
,

reach i t b y t ea t ime .

The rai n cam e a n d we nt We b e nt to i ts fie rce .

n e ss a n d t he n rai s ed ou r head s to wa t ch i ts
,

silver s quadrons go sweepi ng across half a

co u n t y The wi n d dried us a s soon a s t he rai n
.

had p assed F ar away now here now t here we

.
, ,

saw the s u n ligh t mi ngli ng w i th t he rai n b ut we ,

walked always un der t he dark l ow raft er s o f t he

c lo u d s ; a n d a t every st ep we ca m e n earer to
Di dl ing t ha t wai t ed t o welc ome u s a n d to la u gh
wit h u s .

A t midday we s a t down to ea t o n a fallen t ree

where a ro ad s oft wit h la st year s leave s a n d
,
’

black wi t h rai n we nt st eeply down t hro ugh t he

,

woods A n d a s we a t e we heard from tha t road

.

a voice s i ngi ng l o u dly a n d t ri u mpha nt ly I t

,
.

“ ”
sa ng O n t he ro ad to D idli ng a n d t he n li nger ,

5
[ 65 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
in g lyand softly as if not willi ng t o leave i t t he
, ,
”
vo ice repeated the name Di d e l l ing and th en - -
,

i t took up the s ong aga in ,

Th e o ld tur f road to D idli n g

a n d aga i n a n d in the same fo n d way

, ,
Did -c l
”
li ng,

So me ti me s you ll sp y
’

E lve s d an c i n g b y
To th e soun d of fidd le rs fi ddli n g fiddli n g fiddli n g , ,

B u t how ma ny t ime s the v o ice repea t ed t he wo rd

we could no t say for i t fell very l ow a n d the r e
,

w a s t o us a l ong silence before i t t o o k u p the

, ,

so ng again lo u dly b ut fu rt her away than befor e

, , ,

O n th e ro a d to D idli n g ,

D idli n g ,

Th e o ld tur f road to D idli n g ,

D idli n g
I f yo u h o ld y our e a r ,

P e rh ap s y ou ll h e ar
’

T h o se f a i ry fi dd le rs fi ddli n g , , fi ddli n g .

At tha t mome nt t he wi n d sudde n ly ca ught t he

we t t ree above us a n d shook it fiercely a n d when ,

i t had passe d the voi ce had go n e If there wa s .

more t o that song we c ould not hear it t hough we ,

listened for a long t i me .

Then we we n t o n o u r way t ry ing t o s ing t he

[ 66 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
Above us stoo d the bea u tifu l S hape o f t he D owns ,

serene a n d be nig n as t he figure of a n a ngel We .

turn e d t o t he righ t but b efo re we had gon e many

,

yards we st opped again t o co ns ider ou r way .

The road wa s clear b ut out i n t he weald where

, ,

eveni ng already bega n to st oop a n d s e tt le ge nt ly

over the field s wa s a st at io n a n d t he la st t rain
, ,

o f t he day By which ro ad s h ou ld we be su re t o
.

c atch it ! A t a ny ot her time thi s had been a

t r ivial choi ce b ut now wi t h D idli ng already
,

ri s ing am ong t he field s to welc o me us we stood ,

there ve ry s olem n ly l oo ki ng a t o u r wat c h e s .

Their hands were agai nst u s a n d we tu r n ed ,

abo u t We tu r n ed feeli ng tha t t here wa s s o me

.

t hing more t han t i m e which made us take t he

oth er road We were mea nt no t to e nt er D idli ng
.
,

th ough we had t ravelled t oward s i t t he w ho le

day t ho ugh we had t alked o f i t unt il already
,

we s eeme d t o k now i t like ou r ow n h ome .

We t ook t he ot her ro ad a n d l oo ki ng b ack we , ,

c ould se e only t he ge nt le s hape of t he Dow n s

ris ing ab ov e t he field s We had pa ss ed D idli ng
.

—
by We had n ot tro d i t s st ree t for i t c ou ld have
.

—
had bu t o n e n o r l o oked i n a t its W ln dO W S n or
, ,

kno c ked o n i ts d oo r s We had s een on ly t ha t o n e

.

gol d e n roof i n t he di s ta n ce a n d we had tu r n ed ,

a s i d e Y e t we we nt on o u r way s ati s fied an d

.
,

[ 68 ]
 TH E R OAD TO DID L IN!
eve n exal t ed I t wa s a s if we had i n deed e n tered
.

D idli ng a n d foun d it as lovely a n d as c omi c al as

we had desired .

We we nt o n b y t he darke n i ng ro ad a n d n ow i n ,

ou r co nt e nt we s a ng al ou d n early all the way ;

b ut i t wa s no l onger t he e lfin uns eiza b le S o ng of ,

D idli ng t ha t we t ried to s i ng We s a ng O f s imple

.

a n d ear t hly t hi ng s A bout t hi s t ime we k n ew

.
, ,

far away st eak a n d on i ons were b egi nn i ng to

,

prepare fo r ou r su pper a n d so we s a ng o f t he s e
, .

We s a ng o f them t o m ost of the tun e s t ha t we

k n ew a n d t hey s ee m ed to us i n t ha t s ple n did
, ,

mood to go eq u ally well wi t h them all wi t h —

,

tun e s of c om ic song s a n d o f a nt he m s o f m archi ng ,

s ong s a n d of l ov e song s We had n ever t h ough t

.

befo re o f S i ngi ng o f su ch t hi ng s no r had we ev er ,

b efo re s ung so carele s sly so unt iri ngly o r e n

,

joyed so m u ch to be s i ngi ng D idli ng wa s b ehi n d

.

us We had re nou nced i t b ut i ts i nfl u e n ce we nt

.
,

with us maki ng us happy ; a n d now we d oub ly

—
posses s t ha t c o mical r oma nt ic place as a pla c e
,

wh i ch we have foun d to b e all t ha t we de s ired ,

a n d a s a place which s ome day we shall see for

, ,

the first t ime .

[ 69 ]
 WI NTER WOO D S
T i s t he wi nt er wood s t ha t are ha unt ed Why
I
.

look fo r fairie s i n the s pri ng whe n t he buds

,

are gree n when the primros es fir st l igh t e n t he

,

l o ng wi nt er darkn ess a n d t he wood s are too fu l l

of t he b ea u ty of this wo rld fo r t he mi n d to pa s s
beyo n d i t ! If on e wo uld find t hem i t m u st be
beh in d t he bu r nt a n d s hrivell ed t a tt er s o f t he
beech leav es t ha t lie o n t h e dark b ough s o f D e
ce m b e r In the wood s of s p ring wha t more
.

wo u ld one h o pe or wish to fi n d t ha n the buds and

flowers o f t h is good life beginni ng ! B ut t he u n
cha ngi ng w i nter woods th a t are dead to t h i s
,

wo rl d are mo s t lik e an e nt ra n c e t o s o me world

,

beyon d I n t heir sile n ce t he m in d travels o u

.

ward s earchi ng fo r s tra nge place s wi th eye s tha t

, ,

lo o k a n d ear s tha t li s te n fo r th e en ch a nt ments of

a no t her worl d I t i s the n betwee n t he dead
.
,

brown leave s t h at o n e might a t a ny mom en t se e

,

the holly berry red o f fairy cap s o r look i n to

-
,

fa i ry fa c es through the c l o u dy wi n d ow s o f t he
white i ce at the edge o f t he dark pools .

[ 71 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
The silence o f t he wi nter wood s i s not t h e
sile n ce o f death a s i s c ommo n ly said b ut t he
, ,

sile n ce o f sus pe n se They are n ot woods where

.

everyth ing has happe n ed b u t where a nyt hi ng

might happe n ; a n d t here is th is great differe n ce
be tween t hem a n d t he woo ds o f su mmer tha t ,

the wood s of s u mmer are l ovelie st whe n you go

i nt o them an d the wo o d s of wi nt er whe n yo u
—
pa ss them by the woo d s o f su m mer a s yo u lie
i n t heir hear t a n d wa t ch t he wi n d s hake d own
t he sunligh t o u t o f t heir r ust li ng leaves the ,

woo ds of winter a s you march t oward s t hem

l ooki ng a t that dark a n d t u rre t ed wall which
t hey make agai nst t he s ky .

The s e wi nt er woo d s are not the fro s ted woods

which are as gay and bea ut ifu l a s the wo o d s of
s pri ng so t hat the heart s i ngs in t hem though
,

they are s ile n t b u t t he black wo o d s of t he grey

,

time the wo o d s tha t t hrow no s hadow s Non e

,
.

could walk towards t hem wi t h out t he h ope o f

findi ng s ome t hi ng st ra nge a n d bea ut ifu l wi t hi n .

They are o f gre at er st a tu re t ha n t he woods of

spri ng The s malles t c o p s e has t he mys t ery
.

and grande u r o f a fores t and a b el t o f t rees

,

against t he low winter ligh t is like a maj e st ic

entrance t o the sky They are not trees grow
.

i ng from t he eart h but pillar s holdi ng u p t he

,

[ 72 ]
 WI N T ER WOO DS
sky Their t ops tou c h its light They stan d l i ke
. .

S t o ne .

Somewhere in the hear t o f the s e winter wo o ds

are all the c as t les of roman c e beyond that dark ,

mi st o f t he c lose a n d n aked twig s whi c h hide s

t hem mo re s ec u rely than all the heavy greenery
o f s ummer . I t mu s t have bee n i n a wi nt er wood ,

a wood t ha t n ev er b u dded no r blo s somed ,

wh o se black b ra n che s grew cl os er a n d closer a n d ,

wh o se twigs wove be twee n t hem a darker a n d

darker mis t t ha t t he Pri n ce ss s lep t for a h un dred
,

year s All ro un d that e n cha nt ed wo o d were

.

single fir trees raven bla c k a s fir t ree s are i n t he

, ,

grey of winter aft er noo ns like s e nt i n el t owers on

,

the edge of mystery a n d from its dep t h s rose

,

the peak s o f so li t ary t rees st a n d ing l i ke pi n

n acle s o f r o ck agains t a l ow yellow sky which did

n o t cha nge Wi t hi n i t a t i ts very hear t was a

.
,

wood of lar c hes mo s t myst eri ous o f all t he t rees

, ,

fo r i n w i nter they are no t a woo d a t all unt il yo u

t o uch t hem bu t a grey cl ou d B eyo n d them was
,
.

a great brow n wall o f b eech leave s a n d w i thi n ,

tha t wall the sleepi ng palace lay a pala c e b u ilt ,

o f wood which thro u gh t hose h un dred years of

sleep had sl owly tu rn ed t o trees agai n ; b ut since

they too sleep in t ha t l ong wi nt er e n chantment ,

they p ut fo r t h no gree n leave s b u t o nly dark

[ 73 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
tw igs L ittle by lit t le the t all wi n dows drew
.

a cross themselves a lat t ice o f t heir ow n bran c hes ,

a nd the wood c arvi ng o f t he ro om s tu rned very

slowly i nto twis ted tree st em s a n d t he fa d ing
,

gol d upon them to withered leave s S o t he wood .

stood round the s leepi ng Princess fo r a h un dred

years black whe n all t he world abo ut i t was
,

gree n a n d st ill black whe n all the world was

,

whi t e wi t h fros t .

N o time i n all the year i s more bea ut ifu l t han

t h e e n d o f a wi nt er s day when t he m I ld st i ll n ess
’

i s t o u ched b y a n eveni ng frost a n d all t he t owns

,

lie h idd e n in mist a n d yo u walk beside t hose

sile n t woods wat c hi ng t hem tu r n to s to n e i n t he
dusk A t su c h a t ime t he t rees a n d b u shes o f
.

the g ar d ens that you pass a s you g o t owards t he

,

town have the fresh n ess an d t he maj e st y o f the

,

woods It i s the n i n t hat fros t y and darke n i ng

.
,

win ter air t ha t the s wee t breath and magic of

,

the country wh i ch i n t he su mmer wo u ld l ong

,

sin c e have left yo u come far with yo u a n d blow

, ,

a l i ttle way i n to t he very street s of the t own .

[ 74 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
name s are comic un til yo u k now t hem a n d aft er ,

Mo nt re u il and Arras a n d Am i e n s t hey were fo r ,

—
the firs t m ome nt c omic bro ad a n d bl unt and
,

—
comic as I rea d t hem Plump ton a n d Ifo rd an d
Gly n de all t he li tt le villages t ha t you l oo k dow n
,

o n fr o m t he h i ll s — b ut o n ly fo r a mome nt and
the n I wa s bac k am ong t hem agai n A n d there .

a c ro ss the wa n deri ng twisted Engli s h road s lay

tha t fai nt unswe rv ing li n e wh ich marked wh at
o n ce had bee n t he Roma n ro a d I t wa s like a .

sudde n s had ow throw n o n that peacefu l col

,

o u re d map by the s e great war r o ad s o f F ra nc e

,
.

The n I discovered what I had n ev er k nown

befo re t ha t a n old map 1s fu ll o f o dd wi n d ows
,

l i ttle o d d wi n d ow s o pe n i ng i n t o t he pas t A S I .

followed the ma ny way s I had gon e road by ,

ro ad n ame aft er familia r n ame al l acro ss from

,

t he s ilver bir c hes of Tilg ate t o the S even S i s ters

l ook ing o ut to se a t h os e w in dow s kept o pen ing
,

t o me Memo r i es o f li tt le th i ngs l ong forgott en

.

c ame o ut o f t he map to me They came a s .

s u dde n a s vivid as u n expec t ed as t ha t smell of

, ,

the se a i n t he wi n d .

We looked at t he map t oge t her fo r some t ime ,

rememberi ng t hi ng s The n t he man spoke . .

“ ”
! o u k now tha t St C risp ian s pee c h ! he sa id
.

“
abruptly It s abo u t the on ly t hing I lear n t at
.
’

[ 76 ]
 TH E MAP
s chool t hat I still remember n o t all o f it just the , ,

‘
b i t from Old me n fo rge t I rememb er how I .
’

cri ed over it a n d t ho ugh t I c ou ld n ev er lear n i t ,

a n d had i t driv e n i nto me wo rd b y wo rd a n d now ,

’
I co u ld n t forge t i t if I t ried Old men forget
’

a n d t he n t he Engli s h n a m e s like a dru m ro lling , ,

H arr y th e Ki n g B dford a n d E xe te r
, e ,

Wa rwi c k an d Talb o t Sali sb ury an d ! l o uce ste r

,

He sto pped a n d looked a t me .

“
Tha t map s fu ll of C risp ian s peeches he said
’

,
.

! o u ca n make t hem u p a s you go alo ng a n d all

”
as fi n e a s S hakespeare a n d he b ega n t o c ha n t, ,

M idh urst an d P e tworth A mb e rl e y P o y n i n g s

, , ,

H urstp i e rp o i n t B ra mb e r
,

A n d so he wen t o n in so norous iambics rolling ,

o ff t he n ames
—
until t ho se li tt le villages red
,

co t tages a n d dark beech trees und er the bare

—
D ow n s so u nded l i ke a ba t tle c ry of t h e names o f
grea t me n .

“
Tha t map s be tt er t ha n all t he songs he
’

,
“
s aid a n d if I d i d n t carry a map I t hi n k I d
,
’ ’

carry a railway g u ide The n I sh o uld hav e all .

Engla n d i n my po c ket What m o re d o yo u wa nt .

t o k now o f a ny pla c e tha n I ts n ame and how far

i t i s to go t here ! Bu t Engla n d is t oo big for any
one m a n Thi s i s my bit
. .

[ 77 1
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
He pu t hi s fi nger o n the map and mov i ng i t
alo ng the gras s t rack o n t he t o p o f t he hill s came
t o the two c rossed swords a b ove H o u n de an
Bo tt om and the d ate 1 26 4
,
.

“
We l ived a c ros s the valley from t here he ,

“
sa i d
. It s e emed very wonderfu l t he n t o have a
battlefield so near home We d look a t i t a c ross
.
’

th e wa t er mead ow s The s un u sed to se t j u st

'

-
.

over i t and tu rn i t all red I us ed to t hink t here

.

were always me n figh t i ng s o mewhere over there

wh ere t he sun se t I t made life exci ting and
.
, ,

whe n the s un had go n e ra t her fearfu l too One

,
.

never knew the n wha t might not c ome gallop i ng

down t he big road .

“It s eemed to be year s that I waited and

wa nt ed to see that battlefield a n d the n i n t he ,

e n d I saw i t and i t was not hing b ut a s l o pe o f

,

the h i ll s like a n y other wi th sheep feedi ng on i t

, ,
.

I co u ld have c ried Half t he c h a rm went o ut of

.

life whe n I saw those s heep There s eemed .

n othi ng left t o wonder abou t o r t o be afraid of ,

’
when i t bega n to get da rk Well I ve s een .
,

ba tt lefiel d s now .

“
I we nt over on the S omme w i th the names o f
—
t hat par t i n my h ead Wilm i ngt o n F ri s to n , ,

—
Beddi ngham an d Fi rle the la s t ti me I we nt
,

thro ugh F irle i t wa s Augu s t a n d there wa s a n o ld

[ 7 8 ]
 TH E MAP
lady in her garden du s ti ng her hollyho c ks When .

I wa s wo unded I crawled i nt o a tren ch a c halk ,

t ren c h and lay there I mus t have got light

, .

headed for I t ho ught I wa s down o n t h e sho r e

,

u nder t he cliff by C l i ff E nd a n d t he s ea w a s ,

—
c omi ng i n with a so u we s ter behi n d it t hat must
’

—
have bee n the g u ns a n d I co u ld no t ge t away .

I thi n k i n my frigh t I t ried to crawl u p the

t re nc h S ide a n d t hen I t ried to say those names
,

over agai n b ut they wou l d n ot c ome right u n t il ,

—
a t la st I go t Wilmi ngto n j ust tha t on e ; a n d I
said it over a nd over agai n s lowly w hen I felt , ,

I needed it You kn ow h ow men c l u t ch t hem

.

selve s some t imes when t hey have bee n hi t as if ,

they were afraid tha t they wou ld break i nt o

pieces My head fel t like that but tha t name
.
,

seemed to keep i t t oge t her Wilmingto n .

’

All t he ti me a s we talked you u n der s tand w e

, ,

were loo k i ng a t t he map together fo ll owi ng t he ,

ro ad s a n d t he ro ad s leadi ng o ur tho ugh t s We

, .

t alked of t he i nns t ha t we both k n ew a n d wha t ,

we had eat e n a n d drunk there We we nt by

t ho s e road s with g i ant stri des We v i s i te d ea ch .

v il l age like gods .

“ ’
You l l think i t absurd h e sa i d b ut I
, ,

alway s se e t hose v i llage s a s c a n dle flame s It

-
-
.

c ame to me like that o n e n igh t when there we re ,

[ 79 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
all so rts of s trange glares a n d coloured lights i n
the sky a n d sudde n b u rsts of fir ing Whe n I .

thought o f those q u ie t villages a n d t he nigh t ,

quite s ti ll all round t hem t hey s eemed like no

,

t hi ng so much as s t eady mell ow ca n dle flam e s

,
-
,

bur n i ng t here all al ong t he roads as you look

over t hem fr o m t he Dow ns .

“
S ome of t hem have b u r n t there unt o u ched
si nc e that la st bat tle They may b u r n o n fo r
.

—
c e n tur i es more a n d yet half a d ay of war wo u ld
,

s nuff t hem all o ut .

He s u ddenly ga t hered u p the map a n d t hr ust i t

i n to hi s po c ket ; a n d we got to o u r fee t .

M idh urst a n d P e tworth A mb e rl e y B ra mb e r

, , ,

Wil mi n g to n F ri sto n B e ddi n gh a m a n d ! l y n d e

, ,

He wa s cha nt i ng t he n ame s a s he we nt on hi s
way .

[ 80 ]
 THE C O ! NTR! B RE A KF A ST

H A TE V E R m ay b e t he fa s hi on i n tow n t he
b reakfa st par ty i s no c ount ry i nst i tut io n ;
a n d tha t n o d ou bt wa s why i t caused su ch exci t e
me nt i n t he v illage (t h ough t hi s we did n o t k now
un t il late r) wh e n we i nv it ed ou r s elv e s to b reakfas t .

A s we t ram ped d ust ily i n half a n ho u r aft er t he

,

app o i nt ed t ime ou r h ost e ss me t us i n t he middle

,

o f t he r o ad befo re her door S he wa s i n a s t a t e

.

o f grea t exci t eme nt a n d di st re s s If yo u lived i n

.

a village a n d had n ever before e nt erta i ned a

b reakfa st part y you would n ot have bee n tra n
q u il Imagi n e her liv ing al o ne with no o ne to
.
, ,

s hare her a nxie t ie s already pa st her yo ut h a n d

,

ab out to give her first breakfa s t part y .

S he had wai t ed ; a n d we did n o t come The .

t ea w as i n the p ot ; t he kett le lid dan c ed u po n t he

-

steam ; a n d st ill we d i d n ot c ome E veryt h ing .

—
wa s prepared t hat is to say everythi ng excep t
t he egg s S he m u st I t hi n k have looked fear
.
, ,

fu lly a t t hem many t ime s i n t hat half hour Fo r .

yo u ca n d o not hing w i th eggs i n advan c e There .

t hey lay cold a n d horribly un ready

,
.

6
[ 81 ]
 WAYFA RERS IN ARCADY
I h ave n ever heard of anyone be ing ha u nte d by
a n egg b u t I can conc e ive it a s a terrible th i ng
,
.

F o r there is an awfu l express i onless tranqu illi ty

about a n egg Even to t h e pro c ess of bo i l i ng i t i s
.

utterly in diff erent Bo i le d or r aw i t i s outwa rdl y

.

the same To anyone i n t h e nervous st a te of t ha t

.

good woman t hi s pe c ul i ar i n diff erence must hav e

be c ome ma dd en ing I c an i mag i ne her i n the en d
.

wi l dl y won d er i ng whether or no t sh e h a d bo il e d
them an d obsessed w i th a terr i b l e long i ng to
,

break t h em open and see .

It m u st h ave been about twenty five m i nut e s -

aft er t he breakfast ho u r t hat t he s igh t of those

eggs became more than sh e cou ld en d ure A n x .

ie ty c an make us all u tterly reckl ess S he c ou ld .

wa it n o l onger S he p u t t h em on to bo il We
. .

were no t i n s ight yet she put them on to bo il ;

,

and i mmed i ately a more terri ble anxiety su c

c e e de d to t h e first Would we come before t h ey
.

were boiled too hard !

! o u c a n understa nd n ow why s he met us i n t he
st reet Not until we were seate d and the eggs
.

c ra c ked and fou nd after all to be st i ll soft was

, , ,

pea c e aga i n i n that house .

Breakfast i s the meal a t which a nything might

happe n There i s n o d i sh of which yo u c a n say
.

before h and tha t i t wi ll be out of pla c e at break

[ 82 1
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
all Meredi t hia n young men I t i s possi b le to be .

c o n te nt wi t h fewer .

And t hen we had di s covered t he perfec t h o s t es s

for s u ch an occa s io n F rom t he m o me nt When
.

we stu m bled o ut o f t he m o r n i ng hea t dow n t he

s t airs i nt o the di n i ng roo m (i t was on e o f t hose
o ld ho us e s t ha t have every r o om o n a di ff erent

lev el ) unt il t he mome n t whe n we se t out o n the

road agai n she did no t cea s e t alki ng It was no t .

one o f t hose t reachero us mon o log u es wi t h sudden

pa us e s abr u p t a n d un s u spec t ed cha s m s t o e n
,

g u lf t he in atte n tI v e but a fresh viva c i ou s un

, , ,

s t ayi ng fl ood o f talk which n either got n o r aske d

for a n swer s It flowed a n d rippled over us We
. .

had c o me i n h u ngry a n d hot a n d we a t e i n t ran ,

q u illi t y beneat h i ts s hel t er a s one ca n sit cool , ,

dry a n d l ux u rio us ly l u lled by t he noise u n der the

, ,

arch o f a wa t erfall .

I n tow n we d o no t t alk t o o u r friend s o f all t he

prepara t io ns t ha t we m ight have made to e nt er
tai n them Tho ugh why we sho u ld not t alk to
.

them of t hese thi ngs I do n ot know I t i s the be st .

of na t ural go od manners the t rue warmt h o f ,

—
welcome t he mo s t del ic ate flatte ry t h u s to le t
,

o n e s gues t s share in the remini sc ence of all t he

’

a nxie t ies the preparations and the t h o ugh t fo r

, ,

t heir comi ng Th i s is a t on ce to make t hem a t

.

[ 84 ]
 TH E C OUNT R Y B REA K F A ST

h ome I t is mo s t ho spita b ly to ope n to t hem not

.

o n ly t he ro om s but t he very c u pboard s o f t he

house S o we were made welcome We heard of
. .

all tha t had bee n do n e a n d all t ha t had bee n s aid

,

—
i n t he prepara t i on of tha t breakfa s t h ow t he
table had bee n laid t he n ight befo re th a t all migh t
be ready fo r t he unt imely fea st a n d how t he ,

c u rio us n eigh b ou rs had dropped i n F or i t was .

a n eve nt wi t h out precede nt i n t ha t v illage Tea .

dri n ki ng s t here were i n ple nt y b ut no o n e had

,

ev er befo re giv e n a breakfa st part y There were .

no r u le s to fo ll ow a n d so t he n eighbo u r s c ame
, ,

fo r unle ss t hey saw t hey c ou ld n o t imagi n e h ow a

breakfa st party was got ready .

A t tha t poi n t I wa s di stu rbed fo r t he on ly t ime

’

i n my t ra n q u il ea t i ng o f eggs a n d bread a n d
b u t t er u nder t ha t s hel t eri ng t alk I wa s s e nt to
.

ge t t he ke tt le fro m t he h ob t hat my fou r t h c u p

migh t be filled .

I t is n ot to b e su pp o sed that wi t h all t his t alk

we were n egle ct ed o r left to s earch t he t able fo r
,

ourselves A nurse co u ld n o t have been more

.

watchfu l of o u r wa nts The cup s were almos t

.

take n from o u r lip s to be reple n i s hed The egg s .

were lifted from o u r plate s a n d ot her s p ut i n t heir

place almos t b efo re o u r s poo ns had do n e wi t h
them We wa n ted fo r n o t hi ng A n d as s he
. .

[ 85 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
talked a n d watched s he broke a p i ece o f t oast on
her pla t e fo r sh e h erself had breakfasted lo ng
,

befo re we came t ha t sh e m igh t g ive undiv i ded

at t e nt io n to o ur e nt erta inment W it h her e c
.

ce n tr i c ways her naive a n d a nx i o u s prepara

,

t ions her alert a n d h osp i table eye her un ceasing

, ,

talk I salut e her agai n as t he perfect hostess

,
.

E ve n her n e rvo us ness s o ca ndi dly co nfesse d had

, ,

b ut served to p ut u s at o u r ease.

S he wave d us farewell as s he had welc o med us ,

sta n di ng i n the middle o f t he road b efore her

door .
 THE TH ! ND ERS TO R M

T w as t he fu ll s u mmert ime a hazy a n d sti ll

,

day The hea t seemed to c o me not from t he

.

half hidde n s ky b ut fro m t he bu r n i ng wh i t e road ;

-

and t ho ugh i t wa s near n oo n t he D ow n s were

grey and very di st a nt Fo r by day eve n when
.
,

the air is clear t heir high li n e s eem s far away

, ,

mys t erio u s and t he world b eyo n d t hem s carcely

,

t o be a tt ai n ed There were n o clo u d s i n t he sky

.
,

bu t t here was no dep t h o f blue ei t her That hot .

grey s hadow t he su re war n i ng of a st orm which

, ,

i s fl ung by no t hing and doe s n o t move acro s s t he

earth like t he cool s hadow o f a clo u d b ut lie s
upon t he ligh t i ts elf had pa s sed be twee n t he
,

earth a n d t he sky The coolnes s o f t he tu rf wa s

.

go n e a n d all t he colo u rs seemed su cked from

,

o ut o f t he world O nly the road was fiery whi t e

. .

On su c h a day of grey heat the weight o f ma ny

year s s eems to press u pon the l i mbs .

A lit t le after it l eft the t own and before i t ,

O pened ou t o n i t s grea t c u rve above the valley

a nd t u rned t owa rd s the D owns the road s ank ,

[ 87 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
ve ry deeply be tween its ba n ks On th i s day
.

t h ey had t he hard lo o k of wall s They t hrew n o

.

s h a d ow b ut t hey seemed t o hold all the du st

,

of t he road and t o gat h er i nto t hem all the heat of

the sky O ut o f t hi s pri son the road lift e d o n to
.

the c urv ing s ho u lder of t he hill w ith all t he wate r

mead ow s o f t he broad valley be n eath F rom .

h ere we l o oke d s t raigh t acro ss a t the D ow ns and

saw t he li t tle chalk path ri s i ng up them I n t h e .

grey n e s s a n d heavy sile n ce t he on ly clear t h i ng

was t hat high chalk pa t h far a h ead By i t we .

knew t hat we s ho u ld come to o u r fi rst breat h of

c ool n ess a n d a su dde n sight of t he se a F o r there
.

was n o coolness at all in t he uns h aded s pace of

the wa t er mea d ows nor i n t h e d ul l a n d s t ill sur
-

face o f t he stream but o nly a h ope o f it beyon d

,

t h a t di st ant roa d
.

We c ro ssed t h e empty valley and c ame t o a

village where for the fir st t i me th ere we r e
, ,

shad ows in which t he eyes migh t cool themsel ves ,

broad s hadows u nder the beech trees a nd li ttl e

s h ad ows u n der the I vy l eaves o f t he churc h tower ,

a nd a shadow deep and dark as a grave w i t hin

, ,

the porch Thro ugh a si ngle ar c h of trees a c ross

.

t h e road we looked fo rward at t he del i ca t e l i ne

of t he D o wns F rom th is road the path t hat
.
,

h ad bee n o u r mark all acro s s the valley we nt u p ,

[ 88 ]
 TH E T H ! N DER STO R M
thro ugh t he tu rf I t s gli tt eri ng c halk surfa c e was
.

wi t h out d u s t a n d i n t he s moo t h a nd c alm face of

,

t he D own s there wa s no t cool n ess b ut a relief

, ,

from t he du st pal ] o f t he road a n d the weigh i ng

odo u r o f t he heat .

Already t he s hadow whi c h had law all morning

o n t he l igh t wa s growi ng deeper ; a n d t he v alley

now b ehi n d us wa s very dim The whole wo rld

’

,
.

t ha t had lai n all mor n i ng a s if dead be n ea t h t he

hea t s eemed to be cha ngi ng i nto a grey ghos t o f
,

i t self a gh ost t ha t wa s growi ng each mi nu te

, , ,

vagu er a n d mis t ier a n d t ha t prese nt ly would

,

di s solve a n d be blown away wi t h t he fir st breat h

of t he wi nd B ut t here wa s s t ill no win d though
.
,

once i n t he h ot s ile n ce a lo n ely fl ut ter wi t h a

, , ,

fa int s mell o f sal t to uc h ed o ur face s

,
.

O n t he cre s t o f t he D ow ns t he c halk path

disappeared i n t he tu rf as a st ream goes un der
,

gro un d a n d t here we came su dde nly o n the sea

,
.

Bel ow u s were lo ng empty valleys a n d t he la s t ,

bro ad reach o f the river d ul l a n d hard a s lea d, ,

and dark ho u se s a n d the masts O f ships at i ts

mo ut h a n d beyond these the se a grey l i ke the
, ,

land b ut wi t h a fai n t s c atter of the gold d ust of

the s un .

Away t o the ea s tward s where the sky w a s ,

growi ng darker ro lled t he s moke o f a gor s e fire

, .

[ 89 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
I was the only thi ng tha t moved i n all t he press
t

i ng s t illnes s Wit h in the smoke glowed bro ad

.

orange flames and w i thi n t hese flames other a nd

,

smaller flames red like holly berries S h a rp an d

, ,

c urled like holly leaves A t their v ic iou s t ouc h

.

each great gorse b u sh fell wit h o n e re nd ing ,

c rackle i n to grey as h es a n d was left a black and

, ,

tw i s ted s keleto n The smoke moved slowly

.

along the Down s a n d as i t rose disappeared i nto

,

th e greyness ab ove so t ha t from t ho s e great

,

bel lied c l o ud s o f s moke seemed t o have come t hat

sha d ow wh i ch filled t he whole c ir c le o f t he s ky ,

a n d those ora nge and red flames to be t he fires

be n ea th t he cauldron of t he storm .

I t came s tealthy and d i sguised u pon us from

beyo n d t he rolli ng smo k e It came wit h no crash
.

and parade o f i t s for c es There were n o c l ou d s in

.

t h e sky b ut on ly darkness No wi nd blew and

,
.
,

the fir s t s o u nd s o f th un der were l i ke the uni n

te n ded m ut tering a n d s hu ffle of a great crowd
str iv ing to move i n s i lence .

T h ese empty spa c es of t h e D owns a re w i th out

s h elter an d we w ai ted on the O pen turf Bel ow
,
.

us at the shal l ow he ad of a valley a flo c k of sheep

was gathered s o cl ose an d st i ll that in the grey
,

ligh t it was like a S lope o f t he d u n coloured t u rf-

.

T h en a t last t he s torm began t o take s hape above

[ 90 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
a n d sw ay i n t error before t he a nger of t he storm
a n d the D owns lay under i t s darkness a s easy
a n d u nt roubled a s a pool whe n a shadow passe s
over It .

The rai n fell a n d i t seemed a s if the worl d

, ,

which h ad bee n dissolvi ng un der the hea t i nto a

grey ghost wo u ld n ow be wa s hed away The n
,
.

the ram ceased ; t he heavy brow o f t he s ky lift ed ,

a n d t he st orm pa s sed ; b ut t ha t ho t o mi n o us
shadow s t ill lay o n t he ligh t o f t he day a n d some ,

where beyo n d ir u ns een t he storm wai t ed

, ,
.

I t had left t he world u tterly s pe nt The rai n .

had wa s hed from it the la s t s ig n of life The

la st colo u r wa s gone The bit t er red flame s .

of t he gor s e fire were q u e n ched i ts s moke had ,

di s appeared a n d t he dark s keleto ns o f t he gor s e

,

bushe s st ood up from the tu rf darker a n d m o re ,

gau nt tha n befo re The se a n o longer sparkled

.

fai nt ly no r s ho n e with tha t pale c lear ligh t I t

,
.

lay be n eath t he even grey sky as leaden a n d ,

motionless as t he la n d .

S o t he day pa ss ed weary a n d witho ut j oy

,
.

The day pa s sed a n d t he n igh t came ho t a n d sti ll , ,

be n eath a s ky where n o ligh t s s ho n e a n un s ee n ,

s ky tha t seemed so heavy was the n igh t as if i t

, , ,

’
might have bee n withi n ha n d s reach above o n e s ’

h ead .

[ 92 ]
 TH E T H ! N D ER STO R M
A t la st un der t he dark n ess t he s t orm c rept
, ,

st eal t hily away Su dde nly a si ngle st ar sho n e

.

ou t clear bea ut ifu l a n d di st a nt a n d at the s igh t

, , , ,

o f i t t he s ky s eemed s u dde n ly to lift. I t was as

if a wi n dow had b ee n o pe n ed i n a ho t room a n d
t he wind had blown i n .

[ 93 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
h e ad i n a c r u mb l e d b lac k c up of earth wa s th e
, ,

beg i n n I n g of t h e l i ttle stream a n d round t he ,

c up l ay mosses exqu i s i tely fine whose tendril s

, ,

floated away an d a t a touc h seemed to diss o lve .

Out of th i s c rad l e c up o f earth t h e l i ttle st ream

crept an d felt i ts way l i ke a blind kitten t aking
,

i ts firs t steps It spread hes i tatingly am ong t he

.

moss and grey pebbles a n d the n as i f frigh t e n e d , ,

to be abroad slipped under gro u n d again Bu t

, .

i t soon got c ourage and up i t came an d fell with

, ,

a splash i nto a li t tle brown poo] .

T h ere is no wo r d to d escribe t h at first c all of

the l i t t le s tream It was someth i ng l ike the
.

tinkle of glass and someth i ng like the ch i rr u p of

,

—
an i nsect but really l i ke n o t hing but i tself t ha t
,

first so u n d of n ew born water Nor is there a ny

-
.

l i ttle sound among t h e hills so beautifu l ex c ep t ,

perhap s the c lear r ing o f ti ny s t ones o n the

,

s c rees S o the little stream c ame to l ife a n d

.

started on i ts way .

A t first it flowe d ve ry c arefully Its wa t ers .

came most d el ic ately over the stones They .

seemed to fl i cker like a c and l e fl ame a n d to be as ,

easy t o snu ff out But soon i t c ut i ts na rrow

.

c han n el d eep and t he long grasses stret c hed

,

above it and its c ourage rose a n d i ts vo i ce grew

, ,

l ou d er T h en it fell over i ts fi rst ro c k W I th t h e

.

[ 96 ]
 TH E L I TT L E ST R EA M
deep soun d of full water That was t he se c on d .

call of the l i ttle stream It Was not only al ive .

now but glad to be al ive It felt i ts own

, .

stre ngth ; a n d suddenly i t went onwa r d faster

t han a ny feet c ould keep pa c e wi th i t .

A river i s always i nhuman Be a utiful or sad .

,

boi s terous o r lazy stately o r t errible o r a ny one

, ,

of a t housand diff ere nt thi ngs i t may be ; but i t

is always i n human F or its energy i s w i thou t
.

effort It flows on and ne it her knows n o r c ares

.
,

whither or why or how i t flows Bu t t ha t l i ttle

, ,
.

stream w a s ve ry human I t seemed t o love What .

i t was do i ng I co u ld se e i ts deligh t I c ould see

. .

i t s t retch i ng i ts s i lver sinews a s i t h u rried On ly .

to be mov i ng wa s it s d es i re It cared for n ot hi ng .

”
else ! F aster then faste r then faster t h en wa s
, , ,

i ts so ng It hurr i ed a nd spluttered It tr i ppe d

. .

and it t umbled It was up an d on again Its

. .

waters rushed alo ng the smooth ro c ks like boys

hurryi ng dow n a slide It pl u nged from pool t o .

poo l l i ke a d iver throwing up his heels It cared .

no t hing for t he t ranquil h i lls round it no r for the ,

stone s i n its cou rse nor the grass tufts on i t s

,
‘

banks ; and if it stopped in a qu i et er pool i t was

o nly for a moment before i t hurr i e d on from ro c k
t o hollow from grey pool to brow n At first we
,
.

had gone together it and I bu t now i t was w i t h

, ,

7
[ 97 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
me and far a h e ad of me an d tumb li ng behi n d
, ,

me all at the same ti me ; an d I k new the n tha t

,

we were near t h e en d of o ur compan i onsh i p .

Wit h a last plunge the little stream fell i nto o n e

of those beaut i fu l poo l s wh ic h a re ne i ther grey
nor gree n but a colour of the i r own a c ol o ur s ti ll
, ,

w i t h ou t a n ame the co lo u r o f perfe c t pur i ty

, .

There the little stream ended It flowe d o ut of .

that pool but it was c hanged It was a burn o r a

, .

be c k o r what you will but i t was no longer a

, ,

little stream It flowed o n with rap i ds and fall s

.
, ,

by st agnant b a c k waters where t he flies skated

-
,

and by greater pools wh ere men fished a n d

ba t he d It fl owed o n wi t h o ut effor t a n d it
.
,

nei t her knew nor cared whi t her o r h ow i t fl owed .

I t i s sa i d some t ime s o f t he hill s that they defy

time but they are merely i n diff ere nt to i t It i s
,
.

t h e rivers which defy t ime fo r t hey are always ,

ch a nging and always t he s ame ; t hey can be all

ages as they will They c a n ro llick i n yo uth a n d
.

ri pple pla c idly i n middle age a n d drag the ir steps ,

amo ng their st o ne s old a n d decrepit ; a n d they

,

c an d o these th ing s i n a ny o rder they will and ,

do them over an d over aga i n They c an be o ld .

befo re t hey leave the i r firs t valley a n d you ng ,

agai n t he momen t before they plunge i nto the

se a. B ut a l ittle st r e am c annot do these things .

[ 98 ]
 THE E! I LE

E had t he pea s an t s great a tt a c hme n t to hi s

’

soil To him Belg iu m wa s that acr e in

.

B rabant which was his garde n He was a tree .

t aken fro m t he earth Hi s patriotism was no t an .

i dea on wh i ch eve n i n ex i le he could feed the soul , .

S t i ll le ss wa s i t an aff a i r of governments or m e n .

It w a s fo r h i m home .

C
’
e st la d ouce foli e
e recolte r ce m
’
D q u o n se e ,

E t l ab surd
’
p assi on
D e p osse d e r ce q u o n a
’
i me .

It wa s l it erally of the ear t h .

He wa s a man of great ignoran c e a n d g rea t

c u ri osi t y
. Bo t h were s i ng u larly attr ac t ive Of .

Engla nd h e h a d known nothi ng at al l He s aw i t .

fo r the fi r st ti m e on a r ailway map a t Osten d

d ur i ng his flight a n d won d e red i f so sm all a p l a c e
,

c ould offer him any safety Yet even t h i s naive .

a stonishment d id not get the better of h i s thrifty

good sense He met E nglish soldiers as they
.

la nded and c hange d h i s Belgian for the ir E ngl i s h

,

[ 101 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
money s o that i n t he end he came to E ngla n d
,

wi t h a poun d s worth o f E ngli sh penn i es i n h is

’

bag .

Th e se a he had never seen befo re At any .

other t ime to have embarked o n i t woul d h ave

bee n a n awfu l adve n t u re B ut a t t hat mome n t
.

w i th the t erro r b ehind he wo u ld he said have , ,

se t ou t fo r America w it ho ut a t h ou ght Whe n he .

was s ettle d i n a n English sea side t own the first -

fresh wonder o f i t ret u r n ed to him The t ides .

we r e a perpetual marvel and he wo uld hardly ,

c red i t i t that the wi n d co uld make the wave s

t h o ugh the rumou r o f su ch thi ng s had rea c hed his
village He deligh t ed t o t alk o f all these wo n
.

ders I n deed all n a t ural scie n ce delighted him

. .

He co u ld no t hear e nough o f the ear t h and the

stars He was untravelle d b u t he had a c o n tinual
.

and eager c urI O S I ty He had that u pstand ing

.

quali t y of m i nd wh i ch i s n either s ile nt n o r over

come b u t remai ns alway s i n tereste d and c riti c al
,

before a ny n ew thi ng And s o whe n i n m i ddle

.
,

age he was rudely thr u st i n to t hi s firs t great

,

journey o f h i s life when he found himself with

,

h i s family a l i ttle money and a si ngle bag i n a n

, ,

unknow n c oun try he was n either abashed nor

,

fu mbl ing He carried h i mself as he should

. .

Th ere was someth i ng sing u larly engag i ng i n the

[ 1 02 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
spoke o f his village o f the character s and t he
,

field s a n d t he wood s t he lab o urs a n d the p l ays

, ,

—
of tha t li tt le place a n d o f h is deligh t i n them
’
al l unconsci ou sl y with t he poe t s s pee c h He ha d .

the poet s s peech be c a u se he had n ever lo st t he

’

eagerness of a child He l oved hi s t o o l s almost a s

.

living th ing s He p oss e ss ed hi s ho us e a s a child

.

wo uld po s se ss a toy h ou se He t alked o f all t ha t

.

i t c ont ai n ed like a child fon dl ing i ts toys And .

s o t h ough he did not k now I t t hat village h e

, ,

came a s he s p o ke like a place i n a book c lear , ,

de t ached complete tou c he d w it h h u m ou r a n d

, ,

en c han t ment .

There was h is fr i endship wi th the bu rgomas t er ,

t he great man o f t he village ; t here wa s the village

c on c ert where t he famo u s s i nger from Br u ssel s ,

spe n ding her h o liday i n t he coun t ry a n d singi ng

by grea t c o n descen s io n w as u napplauded while
, ,

t he village comedia n brou ght d ow n t he ho u se .

He ac t ed the li t tle sc ene o f t he gaping u n com p re

h e n sio n of the villagers c hang i ng to broad
delight .

There were the days that h e spent in the wi nter

wood s c u t ti ng fu el and h is happine ss i n t he mere
,

prese nc e o f the ear t h and the t rees There was .

tha t su mmer eve n ing when he heard an uns ee n

h orn far away i n t he s t ill n es s playi ng a mou r n
, ,

[ 1 04 ]
 TH E E! I LE
ful old h u n t i ng air and he climbed t o t he roof of
,

his house wi t h his o ch rin a and s i t ti ng there , ,

pl ayed i t b a c k t hrough t he dusk He described .

i t un t il you almost s melt t h e smoke o f t he eve n

ing going up from the fields .

But it was only his own so i l t h at wake n ed t he

po et in thi s exile who di d n ot know Ro ma n ce .

He marvelled at the se a bu t a t the woo d s a n d

,

fields a n d h i lls o f E nglan d he looked wi t h a n

u n seei ng eye They were not h i s home
. .

Ma ny men are in d olent i n m is fortu n e b ut he ,

rose br i skly to its O ppo rtun it ie s If he did n o t go .

travelling by his own choice he wo u ld a t lea s t ,

no t refuse it s benefits His c u r i osi t y a n d his

.

pleasu r e i n n ew thi ngs were his s upport Ye t a t .

hea rt he remained an exile It was o n ly as he .

worked i n a garden t h at he fel t himself o nce

agai n i n B raban t The n as he tu rned t he ear t h
.
, ,

he was n ear hi s home ; b ut t he t ho ught o f i t

troubled him always What would become of
.

that square grey house with the garde n a n d t he

,

c lump of osiers on i ts l i ttle eminence i n t he

,

Brabant pla i n ! They were more than worldly

goods They were h i s Belg iu m
. .

He was safe c ared for prosperou s b ut la

, , ,

”
d ouce fo lie drove him home He k n ew a t least .
,

wh en he se t o ut t hat hi s h ous e had not been

,

[ 1 05 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
d estroyed But how much more of t h e rest t ha t
.
,

—
he we nt to seek d i d he fi n d o f the v i llage and
all tha t pleasa n t company of whi ch he used t o
speak !
He m igh t have been less an ex i le if he had
stayed in E ngland and nearer t o h i s o ld home
, ,

talki ng a n d dream ing of i t a n d tur n i ng t he earth

,

in a n Engli s h garden .
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
word s words that men have killed by us i ng t hem
,

t oo m uc h o r by m I suS I n g t hem But many of

, .

them ge t no re st eve n in death for men wh o do ,

—
n o t k n ow that they are dea d s i n c e they never
—
reali s ed that they co u ld live d rag the i r c orpses
ab out a n d hang them up on t heir senten c es as ,

savages d ecorate their hut s w it h s calp s an d bones .

A n d we all take u p o u r pe ns an d order t h e ,

words o u t an d t u r n t hem an d tw i st t h em a n d
, ,

hus t le a n d pu s h t hem un t i l we have them where

,

we t hi n k t hat they should be We even play .

tricks with them and i n our assura n ce tell t hem

, , ,

t o mean t h i ngs t h at they n ever meant before .

And the s e words that we so lightly u se were l iv i ng

c en t uri es before us and wi l l be l iv i ng l ong after
,

—
we are gone long after wh at we d i d w i th t h em ,

whether good o r bad h as been fo rgotten They

, .

are livi ng things A ssocratro n s h ave gat h ere d

.

ab ou t t hem Great men h ave use d them an d

.
,

they have lived o n e n ri ched by t h at c ompa nion

ship They h ave memor i es fu lle r than the mem
.

o ry o f a n y man To those wh o h ave the ears

.

t hey s peak o f a thousand t h i ngs that they k now

a n d of a thousand pla c e s wh ere they have be en .

We p ic k up t hi s or tha t p i ece of stuff a nd say ,

Thi s was par t o f the dre ss o f Q u ee n E lizabe t h .

How stra nge to t hi n k t hat sh e ac tu ally wore it !

[ 1 08 ]
 S H EE P ON TH E D O WNS

I t makes o n e realise t ha t S h e wa s a living wom a n

”
more t han all t he his t o ry boOk s Or we look .

“
round a panelled room and murmur Wha t a , ,

funny o ld bed There were n o spr i ng mattresses

.

in t h ose days b u t how won d erful to th i nk t hat

,

Ch arle s I a ct ually slep t in it He must have

. .

looked o ut of t his window standing where we are

now before he wen t down t o breakfa s t b ut —
perh aps t hey didn t have b reakfa st t he n R eally
’
.

o n e wouldn t be s urprised t o see him c o me i n at

’

”
t h a t d oor O r we s t and in fron t o f a C rusader s
.
’

“
sword ! To t h ink th at perhap s t his bla c k m a rk i s
t he b l ood o f a m a n wh o died centuries ago This .

d oes make one feel the past I wi sh they d id not .

”
say we are not to tou c h .

But n o one ever th i nks i n th i s way of wor d s

or remembers how o ld t hey are o r treats them as ,

l iving t h ing s t hi ngs wh i ch are n o t fo rb i dde n to

,

h i m t o tou c h b ut wh ich he may us e and whi c h

, ,

u n i t e h i m wi t h ma ny c enturies and wit h grea t ,

men lo ng S i nce dea d No man has ever said to

.

“
another Si r t h a t wo r d you have j u st spoken
, ,

(t ho ugh you have not u sed i t i n quite the right

se n se ) gave mu ch deligh t t o Cha u c er You have .

only to see how he u sed i t here and us ed i t there ,

to know t hat he mu s t have loved t he very s oun d

”
of i t
. Or S peak t hat word with s ome rever
,

[ 1 09 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
e nc e You can see read i ng i t i n su ch a play t h at
.
, ,

i t was like a trumpet to Sh akespeare I t stirred .

h im t o the heart When he wrote i t dow n h e was

.

looki ng out a c ross all England a n d rememberi ng ,

h i s love for t h e fields an d woo d s and r iver of his

own home He saw men going o ut to die for h er
. .

He mus t have fel t for t h a t mome n t wh en he

,

wrote it as if hi s q u ill feathered a n arrow whi c h

,

h e was fit t i ng t o a l o ng bow D o n o t use t ha t .

word ignobly It may be a poor t h i ng to yo u b ut

.
,
”
it has l ive d greatly .

Though we do not speak in this way n or ,

remember the history of words ; n o r thi n k o f t hem

as u nit i ng u s to o u r pa st ; nor feel t ha t great me n
l ive in them as much as in the clo t he s they wore
,

o r the swor d s they c a rried o r the ro om s where

t h ey s l ept yet u n c ons c i ou sly we are u nder the
,

i nfl u ence of t h eir ri c h compa ni onships These .

i ndee d do c hange t hem S o t h a t no t on ly may

.

t h e s ame word mea n e nt irely differe nt t hi ng s a n d

we n ot feel i t s tra nge but t he very sou n d o f i t
,

be cha nged to o u r ears and ac c ordi ng to i ts , ,

mea n ing be noble o r mean beautifu l o r ugly

, , .

It i s on ly the very childi s h or very primit ive

m i nd wh ic h feels i t c omic t ha t o n e word sho u ld
mean two diff ere nt t hi ng s o r b e reminde d of the ,

one whe n he hears t he o t her .

[ 1 10 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
ch a ngi ng yet always the same dividing u ni ti ng , , ,

wa n dering on as gent l e an d un c on c erne d as a

,

cloud u n t i l they sl i p over the crest of a h i l l an d

,

are gone a s i f l i ke a c loud t he sun had d rawn

, , , .

t hem away And the grey s heep dogs pass i n

.
-

a n d o ut am o ng them mov i ng them th i s way an d,

th a t turn i ng t hem and gui d ing them all u n co n

, ,
!

s ci ous l ike l i ttle puffs of dark wind b l owi ng

,

t h rough the clouds .

On t hi s day t h at I have in mind we were c om

ing d own one of t h e deep c oombes above Fi rl e ,

wh ere the c halk pat h went betwee n ba n ks o f my

’
l ady s bedstraw and in t h e field s tha t filled t he
,

bottom of the h oll ow was a shepher d w i th h i s

flock The sheep were gathered in a dark pat ch
.
,

rather deep i n growt h and the shepherd stood ,

beyo n d a n o ld ma n who moved very stiff an d

,

slow Then his high ha rsh and as i t seeme d

.
, , ,

scar c ely h uman voi c e c ame up to us and su d ,

de n ly his d og had split th e flo c k as t he w i nd w i l l ,

sudde n ly split the cl ouds on a sto rmy day r ight

thro ugh to the sun .

S heep feed so qu i etly move so suddenly wh en ,

the dog moves and stop so abruptly wh e n he h a s

,

pa ss ed t hat they seem to have a very great

,

speed and t h i s c hange from ut ter peace t o fu

,

rio u s moveme n t and back to peace agai n i s as

, ,

[ 1 12 ]
 S H EE P ON TH E D O WNS

awe s ome a s t he s udde n co mi n g and goi n g o f t h e

Wind round a house o n a s till n ight The dog .

seems to run w i t h such savage ry the s h eep t o ,

—
fly wi t h su c h te rro r an d t hen t he d og i s s it t i ng
,

q u ietly on h i s haun ch es and the s heep are feed

,

ing again a s tho ugh thro ugh the whole day t hey
h a d n o t moved more tha n a s tep at a t ime nor ,

l ift ed the i r h eads from croppi ng I t i s l i ke t h e

.

beg i nn ing o f a s ud d e n t ragedy an d the st i ll n e ss

,

afterwards but the tragic ac t itself left out And

,
.

all the wh i le t h e master o f t he sh ow stood at the

back n o t mov i ng and we h eard the h ig h di st a n t
,

soun d of h i s vo i ce b ut no i ntelligible words .

The n he c ou nted hi s flo c k a nd the dog gat h

,

ered i t t oge t her agai n and it drift e d away unt il a

,

c urve of t he hi l l s id e hi d i t the d og m ovi ng l ik e a

,

s h ad ow o n t he turf a n d t he s heep like a wander

i ng cl ou d.

[ 1 13 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
I saw only t he yo u th of h is eye s and as he spoke , , ,

of his vivaciou s ha n ds .

“ ”
What am I do i ng sa i d h e i n t he wind and
, ,

t he r a i n ! I w at c h the tr00ps and the road I am .

”
a lover of roads and h e sm i le d Then he d rew
,
.

“ ”
h i mself up . I have work e d on the ro a ds he ,
“
sa i d I was of t hose wh o worked on the roa d that
,

saved F ra nc e ; an d at that h e c rossed h imself .

A bat t alion we n t by an d we two stoo d w a t ch

ing it As t h e last c ompany passed ove r the
.

ridge the ra i n blew down ag ai n a n d hid the men .

It c ame w i th the su dd enness of a d oor c los i ng

behin d them .

”
A few miles and the road en d s i s i t not so !
, ,

S aid the F ren c hman .

“ “ ’
Yes sa i d I
, B efo r e ve ry long they ll go
.

un d ergroun d .

“ ”
And yet he sa i d to l ook at it you woul d
, ,
”
think i t never en d ed that road ,
.

The rain gust had passe d an d the ri dge stoo d

u p against the low c lou d s I was th i nk i ng of .

t hose roa d s a cross the D owns that you see m a ny

miles away wh ite i n the g r een tu rf th a t seem to
, ,

end su dd enly at the Steps of the sky But the .

F ren c hman w a s think i ng of othe r things .

“
You migh t cross E urope by that roa d he ,

“
said . S u c h roads are great roa d s No on e .

[ 1 16 ]
 R OADS O F WA R
kn ows h ow fa r one may go by them ; even t he se a
ca nnot stop t hem Yo u r ol d roads i n Engla n d
.
,

a re t hey not after all ours ! The R omans ma d e

them fo r you They are t he ro ad s of Ga u l t h at
.

went on and c rossed E ngla n d as i f yo u r cha n nel

had not been there .

He raised hi s eyebrows as if he were wai t i n g t o

see what I shoul d say t o tha t .

“
But t h ere are o thers I said ; some t hat ,

were there even before yo u r ro adm ak e rs came

”
from Gaul . And I told him of the o ld turf roa d
from Wi n c hester to C an t erb u ry a n d then o f a
warm summer road lift i ng a n d falli ng over t he
feet of the D owns a rambli ng wi n di ng bea ut ifu l
, , ,

road wi th red v i llages a n d b eec h tree s a n d t ower

,

—
i ng hedges all flowe rs s u ch hedge s a s d o no t
g row i n Fr ance A S I t alked I co u ld almost s mel l
.

i ts cl e a n and ki n dly d ust .

T he Fr en c hma n wa s st ari ng u p t ha t st raight

ro ad as I talked Whe n I fini s hed he tu r n ed an d
.

looke d a t me an odd look th at was h alf amuse

,

ment h a l f surpr i se
,
.

“ —
Ah ir i s so tha t yo u t hink o f roads s a id ,

“
he ; bu t you m u s t un derstand tha t we have
!
suffered o n t he roads we F re n ch ,
.

He paused fo r a moment as if se a r c h i ng for ,

wha t he wante d to say .

[ 1 17 ]
 WAYFARER S IN ARCADY
I s aw only t he yo u th of h is eye s and as he spoke , , ,

of his vivacio u s hands .

“ ”
What am I do i ng sa i d he i n t he win d and
, ,

t he rai n ! I w a t c h the tr00ps and the road I am .

”
a lover of roads and h e sm i le d Then he d rew
,
.

“ ”
h i mself up . I have work e d on the ro a ds he ,
“
said I was of those wh o wo rked on the roa d that
,

saved F rance ; an d at t h at h e c rossed h i mself .

A ba t talion we n t by an d we two stood w a t ch

ing it As t h e l ast c ompany passed ove r t h e
.

ridge the ra i n blew down aga in a n d h id the men .

I t c ame w i th t he su dd enness of a doo r c los i ng

beh i nd them .

”
A few m i les and the road en d s i s i t not so !
, ,

said the F ren ch man .

“ “ ’
Yes sa i d I
,
Before ve ry long t hey ll go
.

un d ergrou n d .

“ ”
And ye t h e sa id to l ook a t i t you woul d
, ,
”
t hink i t never en d e d t h at road ,
.

The rain gust had passe d an d the ri dge stoo d

up aga i nst the low c lou d s I was t hi nk i ng of .

those roa d s a c ross the D owns tha t you see m a ny

m i les away wh i te i n the gree n tu rf t ha t seem to
, ,

end su dd enly at the Steps o f th e sky But t he .

F re nc hm a n was thinking of othe r things .

“
You might cross E urope by that roa d he ,

“
sa i d
. S u c h roads are great roa d s No on e .

[ 1 16 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
”
L ook h e went on ; they are to us what the
,

sea i s to you We have laid our bones at the roa d

.

s i de I c ou ld te l l you tal es of the roa d s Three

. .

gener a t ions of us h ave t al es to tel l of them .

“
When I was li ttle an d he was very ol d my ,

gra n d fath er use d to tell me a t ale of t he road

t he roa d from Brussels to C harleroi t he la st roa d ,

that the Great Army trave ll ed He wa s o nly a .

boy when he wen t by i t b ut it was in hi s memory

,

aft er h e had forgot t e n n early everyt hi ng else .

He would tell me how he left the road worn out , ,

a n d lay for the nigh t I n a fiel d ; an d all that night

h e h eard the a rmy h urry ing by o n tha t road .

‘
Li ke the no i se of a r iver i n flood he woul d say ,
’

a nd I c ou ld see h is old hands tremble like t he ‘

Is ere for that w a s the r i ver I k n ew I t is

’
-
.

always grey and tumbling He t old t he tale

—
.

al ways i n the same way for he was t he n a very

—
old man until I saw that road as half road half ,

rive r a s a roa d with a r iver pour i ng d own ir I

,
—
—
kn ew not wh at and men were struggling i n it ,

a s on c e I ha d seen a man struggle i n the Is ere

under the wh i te br i dges But that roa d haunt ed
.

me !
“
And my fat h er would tell h i s t ale of t he
roads They would talk toge t her he a n d o ld
.
,

gra n dfather and he would shake his h ead fo r

, ,

[ 1 18 ]
 R OADS O F WA R
the road he k n e w wa s from Met z t o Verd un He .

had s ee n the E mperor ride o ut o n t hat road from

Gravelotte on his way ba c k to Verdun an d when
, ,

—
h e saw h i s fa c e so he wo u ld tell the story h e —
‘
said I t is fin i shed All F rance believed t hen in
, .
’

B az a i ne but whe n he s aw t he E mperor s face

,
’

‘
t ha t day he sai d I t is finished A n d t hat wa s
, .
’

before R ez o nville was fought He wo u ld tell us .

of t hat ba tt le He wo u ld tell us how they fough t

.

for t ha t road the grea t road fro m Me t z to Ver

,

d un le st t he Pr us sia ns sho u ld cros s i t a n d cu t

,

t hem off fro m F rance a n d how i n t he aft er noon

,

t hey drove the Pr u s s ia n s back across t ha t ro ad ,

and had t hem beate n if on ly t hey had k now n , .

“
I f o n ly we had k n own he wo uld say sadly
‘ ’

, ,

and then h i s fa c e would grow eager Bu t F ren c h .

arm i es will go agai n by that r o ad from Ver d un

to Metz he wo u l d say D o not forge t yo u may
,
’
.
,

go w i th t hem And he wo u ld de s cribe a li t tle

.
’

wood w i th w i de clearings by t he roads i de where ,

they drove t he Germans o u t (I t was t here t hat .

h e killed hi s Germa n figh t i ng hand t o hand ) ,

.

He wo u ld descri b e i t v ery carefu lly t ha t I wh en ,

I wen t by t ha t road to cap t ure Me t z migh t know ,

i t aga i n .

“
And so when I shovelled t here o n t he road u p
to Verdu n I t hought o f th o se two and of their
,

[ H 9]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
tales of the ro ad s a nd o f t h e ir p ri de i n me c ou ld
, ,

they have seen me ; a n d I wou l d say Th i s is the ,

‘

’
road to Metz one must l ook beyon d Wh en all
, .

t h e wo rld spoke of Ve rd un I l ooke d beyon d I .

r emembe r e d th a t th i s also was the roa d to

hde tz f
’

He s topped a n d we stepped close in u nder the

,

wal l as a column o f po n derous hoo d ed motor

lorri es went t hrough t he v ill age an d over t he
r idge Th e F renchman wat c he d them with a
.

k i n dli ng eye unt i l the last had gone t hen he ,

turned t o me a n d s miled br us hi ng t he rain fro m

,

h i s beard .

“
Mons i e u r wi ll under st a n d he s aid why I
, ,

”
am a l over o f roads .

[ 1 20 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
t hi ng l iving a n d movi ng and ye t a t the same t ime
fixed i n a b eautifu l shape Tha t curve o f wate r
.

was as full a n d comple t e and un c ha ngi ng as a

great curve of t he gree n D owns o r t he line o f a ,

sta tue bu t i t moved more qu ic kly than the eye

,

c ould follow .

The s pring flood of the r i ver is n o t so beautiful

nor so mys t er i ous as the a u t u m n flood In the .

s t ill aut u mn the river i s a mirror o f lovely t hings .

It is deep bo s omed and the colour of o ld silver

-
.

It flows slowly so brimm i ng full t ha t it s c entre

,

seem s h igher tha n i ts low ba n ks I ts w illows a r e .

tur n ed to gold ; the gree n beeche s car ry gol d en

,
—
cres ts and everyt h ing t rees a n d fields hedges ,

a n d reeds al l the r i ch a nd c olo u red r i peness of

,

—
a utu mn is t hrown i nto i t s waters wit h not a l i ne
broke n n o r a co l our d immed At every bend of .

i t s wi n d i ng course its banks meet i n the refle c tion .

! o u s eem t o pa s s n o t al o ng your fam i liar r ive r ,

but from pool to hi dden poo l ; a n d as yo u e n ter

each yo u r way c lo s es myster i ously behi n d .

But t his spri ng floo d was a h u rrying of brown

and n aked water s in a brown world E veryth i ng .

was brown from th e earth stained river to the

,
-

ploughed fields d eep coloured with t he ra i ns an d ,

the branches o f the h igh trees It was th e l a st .

brow n look o f the world before t he gre e n came .

[ 1 22 ]
 TH E S P RIN G RI VER
Th e w i nds had drive n t he mists away i nto the far
'

d i stance and i n their p lac e w as the pale an d

,

wa n der ing s un l igh t of s pring comi ng goi ng and , , ,

c omi ng aga in a s t he wi n d b lew

,

To t he b are brow n bra n che s o f t he hedge s a few

briar leave s st ill cl ung yell ow a s parchme nt a n d
,

c rim s o n rimmed t he la st fo rgo tt e n flag s st ill

,

flyi ng fo r t he old year dead t hree mo n th s b efo re

, .

But i n t heir s hel t ered un der h o llow s t he gree n -

was already c om ing a n d all alo ng t he ri v er b a n ks

,

the bare will ow bra n c h e s were like s o ft b row n

mists w it h a gree n S hadow l u rki ng i n t hem .

Acro s s t hat brow n world t he wi n d gall o ped ,

carrying clo u ds a n d sun sh in e wi t h i t The .

clouds a s t hey pa s sed t ur n ed t heir b la c k faces

, ,

to the earth a n d t hrew back a wi nt er dark n es s

in t o t he emp t y branche s o f t he t ree s a n d t he ,

wa n deri ng suns hi n e lit o n t hose gree n sha dow s

a s they waited for t heir time .

B ut fo r t he mome nt t he world belo nged t o t he

h urryi ng r iver Its b a n k s a n d i ts tree s n o longer
.

h i d i t O n e c ou ld se e it far across t he field s I n

. .

the dis t a n ce were c u rve s a n d lo ng reache s which

no o n e seemed t o have k n own t o be there I n .

s ome places i t fl owed high a n d clear in ot her s i t ,

wa s a brown mist I n ot her s it had p ou red out

.
, ,

filled a field wi t h s ilver a n d t he n h u rried o n In .

[ 1 23 ]
 WAYFAR ER S IN ARCADY
a li ttle i t would sink and s in k aga i n benea t h t h e
red sand and deep green eaves of i ts banks and ,

the reeds would spring up a n d t h e w il low s and ,

the grasses bend ove r to hi de i ts wate rs ; and i t

would flow on easy an d un c on c erned a nd c are
, ,

noth i ng whether i t was S een o r h id de n .

B u t now i t w as i n front of all t he other thi ngs

of the worl d The rai n s ha d bro ught the new life
.

to i t while they s till wai t ed I t would be seen

, . .

And every l itt le st ream a n d every dit ch had the

same ambit ion They too were s wolle n with
.

i mpor t an c e and s u dde n waters F or a little t ime .

they too were r ivers They had lain muddy a n d .

stagnant L eaves an d bran c hes and al l the dead

.

t hi ng s of the banks had fallen i nto them a n d ,

stayed there ro t t i ng Their w a ters had grown .

ta i nted w i th n o power to c over the dead things

,

or t o sweep them away And t h en t h e ra i ns .

c ame and they were full of fie rce a n d liv i ng

,

waters Th ey had at las t the powe r to move a

. .
,

c urrent that c oul d bea t o n the banks a nd stri ke

up a song S o they went lapp i ng agai nst t h e
.
,

d ra i n p i pes as the rivers l a p ro u nd t h e i r br idges

, ,

sweepi ng i n su dd en mus ic al rushes again st th e

submerged tw igs wh i rl i ng i n gay ed di es and
,

li ttle danc i ng hollows of wat er To them al s o .

this sudden l i fe had come while the rest of th e

[ 1 24 ]
 THE C O ! NTR! B ! S
’

T was on t hi s day a warm day i n J u ly t ha t I

, ,

swo re t o abj u re from t ha t ti me forward all

suc h phrases as steam power petrol power and
-
,
-
,

ele c tri c powe r as phrases made by a mecha n ical

-
,

age t o its false glorifi c at ion as phrases mi su s i ng

,

a g r eat wo rd a n d harmfu l to whatever is bea u ti

,

fu l and truthfu l i n o ur speech .

C ons i der t he t h ings that we b urn to serve o ur

diff erent ends Of them all wood i s th e g reates t
. .

I t i s t he oldest b y some thousa nd s o f years t he

, ,

mos t k i ndly and the most beaut i fu l and me n by °

b urn i ng it have done wonderful th i ngs I t wa s .

by wood whe n they first s e t light to it that they

, ,

first raised themselves a li t tle above t he b eas t s

—
t here was power i n d eed l and to t his d ay t he
smell and sound of a wood fire fil l men w it h a
happi n e s s wh i c h t hey c annot expla in . Yet n o
o n e has ever s poken of woo d p ower Men have - .

called it a fu el from the b egi n n ing t o this day .

Why should petrol have a greater name ! L et us

”
keep that word power fo r the t h ing s that move
'

[ 1 27 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
th e so u ls of men and call a fuel a fue l h oweve r
,

fas t we may travel by i t S ome d ay wh en the .

,

world i s cured of ou r pa rt ic u lar fol li es a w i se ,

“ ”
C l lt
'

will pu t h is finger on t ha t wo rd power ,

a nd explai n o ur age by i t po i nt i ng out how w e ,

gave i t to al l the wrong th i ngs .

H av i ng t alked o f t hese fal se powers li ke t he

rest I saw sudde n ly t he folly and t h e vulga ri ty
,

an d t he fal sehood o f it on t his afternoon i n Ju ly ,

stand i ng by the main ro ad from S ali sbu ry to

Bl a ndfor d wh ic h goes by way of Ta rra nt H i nton ,

le av ing To ll ar d R oya l on t h e righ t a n d on t he

l eft Gussage St Mic h ae l Gussage A ll Sai nts a n d
.
, ,

W i mborne S t G i les pla c es which I hav e n ever

.
,

s e en bu t whose names upon t h e map en rich t he

,

c ountrys i de We had gone down by t h e s id e of a

.

Br i t i sh village under t he cres t of t h e D owns on

,

t h e i r sou t her n s lope where now o nly w i l d t ho r ns

,

grow a n d by t he chase where the d eer ste al e rs

,
-

used t o lie hid in the trees and across a fi eld ,

wh i ch of all t he Engl i sh fields I have eve r s e en

di d mos t deserve that ph rase p ai nte d w i th
”
deligh t Its rich a nd an ci ent turf t h at ca n
.
,

nev er h ave known the p l ough b l ossome d like , ,

t ri umph a nt yout h w i t h t hyme an d t r efo il a n d

,

ro ck rose s a n d it s wild st rawber ri es w ere i n fu ll

,

fru i t Pu rple and o ra nge b l oo d re d and t h e pal e

.
,
-

[ 1 28 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
aftern oo n a s we s tood be twee n the two road s
, ,

feeli ng t he i n fl u ence s which lived mys t e riously i n

tha t old t u rf came t he c ount ry bus lift i ng s l owly
, ,

over the fu ll c u rve of the white roa d It was . .

— —
drive n le t i t be sa id for the last t ime by p et rol
p ower B ut w ha t power had pet ro l ove r i t !
.

Up on its high roof se t round w i th a smal l i ron

,

rail i t s pa s se ngers stiflly sat on stools T h eir

, .

—
m u l t it u di nou s par c el s fo r i t was market day
lay round their feet and the ladder by which they
,

had cl i mbed was strapped to the bus s s i de Up ’

.

the short a n d ea s y h i ll i t c ame at a sta i d fou r or

, ,

i t may have bee n five miles a n hour and we

, ,

la ughed aloud with d elight to see i t for i t h ad ,

a n a i r that i s n ot to be des c r i be d of rust ic

a n d anc i e nt t hings It was a r evelat i on of the
.

e n d u ri ng spir i t tr i umphant ove r al l material

c ha nge .

Alo ng the road t here c ame a puff of dust to

ward s it a n d a motor bicycle went by In tha t
,
.

magic mome n t there would h ave been no sur

pri s e if t he bicy cl e h a d sud d enly stoppe d a nd a
ma s ked figure I n I ts sa d dle held up the d r iver of
the bus wi t h a p i stol Had the bus it self c ome
.

rolli ng a n d rumbl i ng along t he R oma n c auseway

i ns t ead o f t he modern road i t wou ld have seemed
—
,

more n a tu ral It was as if pe t rol power t he

.

[ 1 30 ]
 TH E COUNT R Y BU S ’

—
p h rase s h all b e used n o m o re i nst ead of sweep
ing us onwa r d i nto a glo ri ous fu ture o f liquid an d
el e c tric fuels had su d denly gone all ast r ay an d
,

c arr i ed us into p a st c ent uries Tom Jone s m ight

.

have haile d that bus from t h e roa d s i de as he ,

journeyed from Glou c ester to London and n ever ,

noticed t hat no horses drew i t Mr Wardle . .

might have enterta in ed l u n c heon party afte r

lun c heon party on its roof an d neve r real i se d
t h a t he sat above an i nternal combust i on engine .

F or i n that motor bu s still travelled the sp i r i t o f

all c ount ry c oa ch es as i t must have bee n s i n c e
roads were first made an d wheels t o run upon
them ; a n d nei t her st eam n or pe t rol nor any
su c h t h ing ha s had or ever ca n have any powe r
over i t.

S omeday airplanes will have taken the pla c e

of all t he buses but st i l l tha t in dom i table s p i rit
,

of the c ount ry ro ad will travel on whateve r

m ach i n e shall fly from S alisbu ry to B l andford ,

going by way of Tarrant H i nton an d leaving ,

Tolla r d R oyal on the r ight a nd o n the left Gus

sage St Mi c hael Gussage Al l S a i nts and Wi m
.
, ,

borne St G il es.

I c an see i t I t w i ll be su c h a n a n c i e nt comi c
.
, ,

r usti c th i ng lumberi ng above the road t hat st i ll

, ,

Tom Jones m igh t hail it w i t h o u t s u rpr i se o r ,

[ 131 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY

M r W a rdle unpa c k pigeon pie and l obsters sit

.

ti ng on i ts w i ngs
.

Turn ing we went back a c ross the R oman ro a d ,

wh ere already t he rabb i ts were s i t t i ng a t t heir

c a se in the eveni n g sun . We went solem nly and
w i th a strange content Wh en the b us had
.

crossed the hill and we h ad l aughe d at it we fel t

,

as if i n that brief mome nt we had slipped from

, ,

the power o f ti me an d s een the bor d erlan d s be

yon d F or wha t after all ca n Eter nit y be if it
.
, , ,

is not to h ave a l l t he new things w i tho u t l o sing

o r c hangi ng a ny of t h e o ld !

[ 1 32 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
road that wou l d l ead us to it Once i t was in a .

li t tle wood of d ea d fir trees s t and i ng fo rlorn o n

t he open D owns w i t h t h e trees so close tog ether
that one c ou l d s c ar c ely go i nto i t ; an d w i th in i t
was as dark a n d st i l l as a s h utte r ed room On c e .

it was i n a w a nton an d beau t ifu l l ane wh ich

started from nowh e r e on the side of W i ndove r
H i ll and w a s so deep in tall grasses an d so roofe d
,

an d ar ch ed w i th bus he s tha t it was less like a

roa d than a twist i ng gree n pipe lead ing down ,

and d own until we tho ught t hat it m u st t a k e us

at last i nto the very heart of an ci ent fore sts ,

I nto
! l oo m y s h a d e s se qu e ste re d d e e p
, ,

Wh e re no m a n we n t .

But in stead i t b rought us out to a pl ai n high

road And many t i me s we though t we must be
.

n ear i t when we were wa l k ing o n the D owns

where the great t rees have come u p from the
weald and s tan d along eac h s i de of th e old tu rf
,

ro ad so that you look always d ownwa r ds i nto

,

the woo d s among the ol ive trunks of th e be e ch e s

,

where the a i r i s l i ke st i ll green water a n d down ,

long low a is les of hazel bushes w it h little n u

c o l ou r ed Gothic w i ndows a t the end But t h e .

en ch anted forest was among none o f t hese .

[ 1 34 ]
 TH E E NC HANT ED F O R E ST

The n on e ho t day in su mmer when t he road

side hedges were grey wi t h dust and t he air wa s ,

shimmeri ng a n d t he chalk t ra c k up the D owns

,

wa s more dazzli ng i n the su n t han s now we ,

c limbed fro m the weald unt i l at last we saw t he

sea not cool and gree n an d fu ll of de ligh t bu t like
,

a grea t grey plai n w i th a hard gli t ter of gold

under t he su n So l ongi ng fo r cool n e ss a n d for
.
,

rest we t hrew o urselves down on the tu rf where a

,

li tt le wi n d m oved a n d l o s t all t he world bu t t he

,

grass head s n oddi ng above o u r faces and above

t hem t he s ky In that pla c e wh ere th e n eare st
.
,

t ree was mile s away a n d the t alles t bush was n o

t aller than a man I found t he e n cha nt ed fore st
, .

The su n was hot on my eyelids and I tu r n ed ,

over to es c ape it press i ng my face deep d own to

,

the grass roo t s where eve n on t hi s ho t day the

, ,

s un s ray s h ad no t p i er c ed and t here li ngere d

’

still a n odorou s dampness The grasses seemed .

t o ri s e e n orm o usly above me standi ng agai ns t ,

the sky I n that drow s y dream i ng hea t all o f

.
,

my body beyond my shoulder was asleep a n d

forgotten I l ived only i n one ear pressed deep
.
,

i nto the sweet mo i st tu rf l is ten i ng t o t he li tt le ,

sounds that ran soft ly t hrough it and one eye ,

be n ea t h a flicker ing l i d t h at peered t hrough t he

undergrowth I w as sun k deep i n t hi s li t tle
.

[ 1 35 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
forest where t he ants a n d spider s c a n find shade ,

l ooki ng u p at the s lender grass s tem s whi ch

seemed so tall that o n ly th os e wi t h wings co u ld
ever rea c h th eir n oddi ng head s .

I t was an a nt t h a t I saw first t ravelling ,

thro ugh the forest w it h a load a s large a s herself ,

to i ling up an d down over t he pa t hle s s t errib l e ,

ta ngle of the gree n grass blade s It wa s li ke a .

j ungle laced acro ss and a c ross wi t h creeper s it

wa s li k e t hat enchan t ed fo rest i n a R uss i a n faI ry
t ale which grew from a comb so t hat the wi t c h
was ca ught i n its twis ti ng bra n ches and figh t ,

as s h e woul d c ould n o t go on But the a n t

,
.

struggled u p and t umbled dow n n ever fo rsaki ng

,

her load s ometimes pushi ng it up before h er

, ,

some times moving ba c kwards a s sh e climbed ,

and d raw i ng i t after her I seemed a s I watched

.
,

h er on t hi s c ourageo u s jo u rney to be no bigger

,

than she I felt through her the awfu l t oi ls of

.
, ,

that j ungle bel ow t h e grass stems H igh above .

me a fly sat with d i amond w i ngs He co u ld fly .

above It al l ; i t h a d no to i ls fo r h im ; an d on an
other s tem nearl y at the t u ft ed head s at a snai l
, , .

Th e s l ender stem bent a little under h i s weight .

As I lo o ked u p a t him from the depth s below ,

wh ere I s t ood a n d the a n t s t ruggled I fel t for ,

h i m a n envy and a n admira t i o n su ch a s I had

[ 136 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
o ve r i ts undergrowth a s t he ant c l i mbed nor
, ,

t r ampl i ng i t down as i t walked but i n enormous

,

leaps that lift ed i t over glade a n d th ic ket and the

high t re e tops I ts last leap ca rr i e d i t r ight a c ross
.

the fa c e of the red sun and i t looke d a s if i t were

,

pass i ng clean out of the forest in to the sky but i t ,

c ame to earth c rouchi ng o n the ta ngled under

,

growth and t he s o ng b u r st out agai n filling all

,

the fores t with i t s n oise .

—
The n the so ng st opped su d denly stopped but ,

the grea t gree n thing st i ll crouched an d in the ,

awesome s i n i s ter si lence whic h followed t ha t

song I sta rt ed and sat up
, .

I w a s i n my own world agai n It w a s t here

.

unal te red a s wh en I had la i n dow n a n d all

, ,

aroun d w a s t h e c u rvi ng s u nli t tu rf .

I look e d d own at the turf where I sat A s i ngl e .

poppy was g rowing j ust with i n rea c h of my hand ,

a nd I saw a tiny sna i l at the top of a stem of

gr ass As I looked a grass h opper j u mped before
.

me and d i sappeared .

Away to t h e southwards w a s the g rey sea and ,

northward s were t he dark wood s o f t he weal d I .

t ho ught o f them as they might be in mon s trous ,

dream s with an u ndergrowth so t angled an d

,

th i ck tha t no man could force hi s way thro ugh

i t ; w i th b i rds as large as clo u d s s et t l ing o n t heir
[ 138 ]
 TH E E N C HAN T ED F O R E ST

bra n c hes wi t h strange crea t ure s i n shells slowly

,

cli mbi ng t heir trunks ; wi t h e no rmous gree n

dragons leap i ng t h rough t hem higher th a n their
t ree t ops and s ingi ng t errible t ri u mp h ant so ng s
,

th a t shook t hem as if th e had b ee n ree d s

i rr
.

[ 1 39 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
but now t hey are c h a nged It is as i f t h at l i ne .

whi c h t hey hold abov e t h e st ream we r e some

fairy root by wh ich t h ey were p la nte d a t th e
’
river s si d e d raw i ng up t hrough it t h e st ill con
,
- I

te n tm e n t of t he gra sses a n d t h e flow er s .

We used to m ee t t h em on S un d ay mo rn i ng s on
the F ish e rme n s Tr ai n to Ambe rley which
’

s tarted when L on d on h a d s ca r c ely begun to

wake a n d t he earl y st ill n e ss of V ic to ria w a s un
,

disturbed ex ce pt by t h e g a theri ng of t he se men

from t h e i r m a ny h om e s e ach s e tt i ng out fo r t h e
,

meadows of t h e A r un w i t h hi s ro d i n i ts ca s e a n d
a t h i s s i de h i s gr e at b a s ke t of which I have n eve r
,

been able to de te rm i ne e i t her go i ng or r e tu rn i ng

, ,

wh eth e r i t w a s ful l o r e mpty We alone carryi ng .

,

wal k i ng st ic ks were not of t he b rot h erh oo d

-
, .

From the S tat i on of Ambe rl ey we wou ld pou r

out w i th them i nto the road a li tt l e crowd al l ,

br i stli ng w i t h fish i ng ro d s li k e a d o ck s ide wi t h

,
-

masts An d then i n a mom e nt we wou ld be

.
, ,

alone They had tu r ned sud d en ly downward s

—
.

an d we ha d tu rne d up up b e n e at h a g r e a t h e dge
of privet hazel a n d cl em a t i s wal ki ng on turf tha t
, , ,

wa s a l l purp l e w i t h t hym e a n d giv i ng th a nks ,

th a t so few m e n even whe n t h ey ar e not fishe r

,

men w il l go up hill whe n t h ey ca n go d own

—
.
,

G iv i ng t ha nks I say fo r fis h e rm e n are st ill o n l y

[ 1 42 ]
 TH E F I SH E RM E N O F A M B ER L E!
men unt il t hey are dispersed alo ng t heir river
bank immob ile conte nt ed root ed deep i n the
, , ,

stream Tha t pa t h would t ake us u p unt i l far

.
,

away w e c ou ld feel t hat dim emp t i n ess wh ic h

,

was the s ea a n d behi n d us was som b re Pa rh am

,

wood with i ts l ong grey house half hidde n and , ,

i ts lake which s eemed on the edge of b rimmi ng

over a n d beyond it t he grey tower s of Am b e rley
, ,

and one cu rve of t he Aru n gleami ng among t he

meadows where u nseen the fishermen now sa t
, ,
.

S o i n solitude we we n t all day b y O pen tu rf ,

a n d twis t ed th o rn until at eve n ing we wo u ld fi n d

,

a road and turn agai n towards Amberl ey the

, ,

chill eas t and the com ing of n igh t behi n d us ,

wh il e in fro n t the sunset blazed like a noble fire

l i t to welcome the gods as they came home and ,

the meadows of Arun were a great pla in before

u s fu ll o f lo n el i ness and en c ha n tment
,
.

A n d t he n a t t he l as t tur n o f t he roa d ro un d a
,

sho u lder o f the D ow n s we would se e below us

, ,

no t go ds go ing home b ut all t he fis h erme n

,
.

They came climb i ng u p ve ry slowly out of the

, ,

deep fields and st epp i ng along t he ro ad and

, ,

a c ross the grey four spanned bridge of Arun

-
,

wit h su ch an a ir of ripe le i sure a n d contentmen t

as i s no t to be des c ribed The n they ga t hered
.

ro u nd t he door of the Bridge I nn A b ove t hem .

[ 1 43 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
— —
the tra i n wa i ted i n the st a t i on the i r tr ai n a s
i f i t would wa i t on un ti l the l ast a nd slowe st of
th e m h a d set down h is tankard and had c ome .

—
The r e i s no s ight i n the worl d not c ows as
they go i n to milki ng nor t he smoke of c ottage s
,

r i s ing i n the q uI e t an a t dusk no r c h i l d ren s leep

,

i ng when they are t i red w i t h h app i ness nor men

,

at ease w i t h their p i pes when they have ea t en

—
a t the en d of a ha r d day no s ight so fu ll of t he
ease o f th i s worl d of bodies sati s fied and m i nds
,

at pea c e a s t hat slow i ngather in g o f t he fish e r

,

me n of A m b erley o n a s u mmer eve n i ng .

[ 1 44 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
We struggled on for two hours leavi ng the ,

stream climb ing over turf tha t was c overed with

,

broke n boulders an d plo ughi ng our way up a

,

li tt le path of s c rees S o at las t we c ame t o th e

.

head o f t he pass where great ro c k s stood firm i n

the tu rf and t he mos s ; and there the world s ud
de n ly and splendidly c h a nged We met an d .

k n ew t he rain aga in It n o lo nger wrapped us

.

round grey sile n t a nd s t ifli ng but came a t u s

, , ,

with q u ic k cold stro kes tha t s tir r ed us like a so ng .

For the wind was beh i nd it He filled us W i t h .

life
.

H e is the grea t mag ici an of the hills Wi t ho u t .

h i m tha t day had been nothi ng b ut t he blank ,

u n cha ngi ng wetn ess of t h e s ky lyi ng on a dreary

sod d en ear t h Wi t h him blowi ng hi s u ns een l i fe
.
,

through i t all t he sky a n d t he earth were magic

,

ally cha nged E veryth ing in th o se wet hills and

.

the c loud s above them seem e d as he p a ssed , , ,

to t ake shape t o put on a strange half h uman

,
‘
-

l i fe to move as if it c ame from s ome othe r world

,

beyon d the h i lls ; a n d t hen as the w i nd fell i ts , ,

life we n t out .

We crossed t he pass a n d c limbed by a broken

,

path u p t he side of the v alley b eyond A c ross .

it we co u ld s ee the rai n mov ing alo ng the fa c e of

t he hill I t we nt i n slen d er s hadowy li n es one by
.
,

146 ]
 TH E MA G ICIAN O F TH E H I LL S
one that stopped and gathere d in the valley end
, ,

h idi ng the pass by which we had come They .

were like beautifu l h alf formed figure s o f n ight

-

c om i ng o ut o f the c lo u d s As t hey we n t so .

statel i ly by b ru shi ng t he ear t h a n d tu r n i ng it s

,

colo u r s grey t hey migh t have bee n t he gh os t s of

,

t he s unb eams .

The w i nd blew and t he gho sts pa ss ed ; and

,

other a n d stranger fo rms came up from t he

—
valley grea t lazy whi t e cl ou d s t ha t s eeme d to
fondle the h i l l s as they drift ed by them ; and a l i ne
of bla c k c loud w ith an edge st ra igh t as a swor d
, ,

a n d i n its d arkness a glow o f br o nze a cloud l i ke ,

,
Q
t he s in is t er h alf formed shape o f an invad i ng
-

army ; and c louds t hat p u shed grotesque h eads

a c ross t he hill s like m onst ers c omi ng out o f the
,

fairy t ales to burn whole v alleys w it h t he i r

b r eath .

A ll the c loud s and the rain and t he grea t b are

b ills were a s fu l l o f t he life o f t hat half wo rl d -

whi c h lies be twee n pla nts a n d men as are th e

woods a n d the streams i n t he o ld tales Bu t .

whe n t he wind p assed t heir life we nt o ut and t he ,

c louds a n d the rai n mel t ed once more i nto dismal

waters Then he returned gathering all the
.
,

c louds together a n d the grey regime n ts of ra i n

,

broke out of th em sweep i ng across the hill s

, ,

[ 147 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
whi le we bent to t h em push i ng s ightless t hrough
,

t heir rank s .

E ven the l i ttle p l ants of the h i lls id e we r e

c hanged by h i s c oming He blew t hrough t h em .
.

al so a breath from a fairy world The p al e .

r ushes m oved bea u tifu lly befo re him with a sud

d en glit t er like a li tt le wa t er t hrown thro ugh a
su n beam The b rown tu ft s of grass bent s to ic al
.

heads a n d let their ragged hairs go with h i s

,

b l as t like pa t ie nt horses and the bra c ken as h e

—
, ,

s ho o k i ts fronds be c ame su ddenly human a

c rowd of flu ste re d little pe o p l e ro c k ing and ,

gest ic ulati ng wi th fear b ran di sh i ng arms i n ,

c omical despa i r The n the w i n d passed ; t h e

.

c rowd had gone and i n i ts place were st i ll gra c e

, ,

fu l fern s gath e ring r a i n pearl s a t t h e tops of their

-

fro n ds .

—
I would no t ex c hange su ch a day full of th i s
stra nge half c om ic al half mag ic al li fe of t h e
-
,
-

c louds and the rain and the h i lls id e that c omes ,

a nd goes w i th the w i nd like a ripple or a s had ow

for all t he heat an d c olour o f a c lear sky a n d t h e ,

wi de sun d u s ty v i ew o f di stant hil ls

,
-
.

—
Bu t su dd enly it was now the late afte rnoon
th e sun c ame out At his touch all was c hange d
.

on c e more an d we w i th t he rest We came ba c k

,
.

to this comfortable earth We felt the w a rmt h .

,

[ 148 ]
 THE A D VE NT! RERS

H ER E were two of them little green fellows , ,

swi ngi ng b ravely above the dust of t he

road Peeri ng cl o se we co uld se e t ha t each hu ng
.

o n a silver thread wh ic h seemed a t tached to

nothi ng bu t t he grey air above One h ung his .

fu ll le ngt h The o t her had curled himself u p

. .

S ome t imes they twirled gi d dily The n they .

wo u ld drop a li tt le bu t neither seemed in a hurry

,

t o des c e n d They swu ng i n t he wi n d and wh e n

.
,

i t came with a s tro nger puff we wou ld se e them

fo r a momen t a t t he beginn i ng of a swift u pward
c u rve befo re they were lost agai ns t the gree n of
t he tree They s eemed to have been blow n i nto
.

space o r the u pper leaves b u t each time t hey ,

reappeared hanging tra n quilly above t he road

, .

S everal motor b i cyc les we n t by in a roar a n d

swirl o f dus t and ea ch time we st epped back
,

feeli ng sure that now the two adventurers had

bee n des t royed or had been whirled away o n a
more terrible jour n ey bu t each t ime as t he du st
, ,

settled we found t hem s t ill secure i n space

,
.

[ 15 1 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
Th ey and their i nv i s i b l e la dders we r e charme d ;
nor d i d they seem I n t h e leas t d i sturbed by these
devasta t i ng i nterruptions They took it all in .

the day s jou rney as they spun t heir way t o eart h

’
,

from the bran c hes of the o ak I t i s a b o ld t hi ng .

t o c ome down from t h a t peacefu l gree n world i n t o

the ve ry m id dle o f a ma i n road on a su mmer
afternoon but no doubt l i ke other t ravellers
, , ,

they wen t c h eerfu lly bei ng ignorant o f the ,

dangers a bout them .

As they c ame n earer to e arth we stood close

above t h em and the o n e wi th that q u ick n e s s to
, ,

se ize a n opportunity whi c h we admire in all the

great adve n turers i mmed i a t ely made himself
,

se c ure by spinn i ng a second thread fr o m my

s h ou ld er Then c e he desce nd ed to ear t h The
. .

ot h e r whirled fu ri ously before u s a s t he wi n d ,

c augh t hi m swep t u pwards i n a glo rI o u s c i r c le

, ,

a nd then des c end i ng c ame t o rest o n my finger

,
.

He wave d h i s two fro n t legs la ng u idly and t hen ,

s a nk d own as i t seemed to me with the gra c efu l

, ,

ex haust i on o f the tra i ned performer I laid h i m .

among the gr a sses a t the road s ide The other .

h a d alrea dy d i sappeared .

One does not c ommonly th i nk o f t he c ater

p il l ar a s a gra c efu l t h i ng o f t he a i r He is a pest .
,

a fu ri ous e a ter But whe n o n e comes o n him

.

[ 1 52 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
a s c end i ng s ca le u n t il they were l ost among t he
bran ch es of the fi r tree They adva n ced like an
.

a rmy a n d the l ast t ouch of ho rror was given to

,

the s c ene by a d i m rabbit i n th e ba c kground

‘

flying i n terror benea t h a s hadowy m o on These .

pro c ess i onal ca t erpillars o f tha t o ld book were

very differe n t fro m t heir pathetic ye t heroic , ,

descenda nt s o n whom M F abre made hi s u n .

kin d experiments w it h the flower p o t These .

,

one c ould see would have swep t ov er a n d de

,

v o u re d any naturalis t so pre su mpt uou s as to

stand ac ross their pa t h They were t he de m i

.

gods a nd giants o f t he early morn ing of t he

c a t erpillar world fo r by an i magi n a tive bu t u n
,

s c rupulous u se o f perspective t he art i s t had made

them appear to be larger than t he rabbit I t wa s .

—
an en c ha n ti ng picture b ut s t ill I had n o t foun d
ei t her the prose o r verse fo r wh i ch I sough t .

There is o nly one c aterpillar i n Ha n s A n dersen

and he has n o t eve n a st o ry to himself He .

makes no more t ha n a brief appearance in the

sto ry of the beetle as a modest s en t ime nt al crea
,

“
tu re a fo i l to t he beetle s c on c ei t
,
’
How bea u ti
.

” “
fu l the world i s says he the su n i s s o warm
, ,

a n d eve ryt hi ng so happy ! And whe n I o n e day

fall asleep a n d die a s t hey c all it I s hall awake
, ,

as a b u tterfly . B ut s urely no on e wh o has a

[ 1 54 ]
 TH E A DV EN T! R ER S
sp i nnere t inside him would ever dream o f b e
c oming someth i ng else .

And then a t last I found an old pamphle t

, ,

ve ry roughly printed wi t h the date 1 6 59 I t had

,
.

“
the title The C aterp i l lar s of th I s Nat i on ,

anatomised i n brief dis c ove ry of ho u sebreakers ,

p ic kpocke t s e tc With the l ife of a peni t ent

, .

”
Highwayman Here tho ught I was the cate r
.
, ,

pillar not unworthily treated He c arr i es hi s .

rope with in him He is t he na t ural asso ci ate of

.

the d ar ing cr i minal a n d of those als o wh o h ave

ma d e heroi c es c apes C asanova C ell i n i Ba ron
.
, ,

Tre n c k a re among the g reat c aterp i l la rs of

histo ry Bu t when I opened the pamp hl et I
.

found tha t the c aterpil l ar aft er all w a s i nt ro , ,

duce d on l y o n a cc ount o f h i s des t ru c t i ve app c

tite Housebreake rs and p i ckpo c kets said t h e
.
,

pen it e n t h ighwaym a n (who must e it her h ave

been a hypo c r i te o r an i nvent i on of some p i ous
sent i me n tal journalist o f the C ommo nweal th) ,

“
are t he c atte rp illars of this nation wh ic h do eat
’ ”
into men s estates and lives .

T h e S e a rch ha s fai led but I still hope th at ,

some d ay whe n I am not l ooking I shall find the

, ,

poet wh o h as sung of th i s adventurer as he d e

—
serves o f him a n d his j o urneys and hi s s i lver
, ,

rope .

[ 1 55 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
t h e sun ; and be c ause i t i s hidden withou t a rt i fi c e
i t i s all the more beaut iful t o have foun d i t .

Moreover of i t s dis c overy i t can be sa id (as of few

o f the grea t d i scoveries of l i fe l i ke fall i ng in
,
.

love o r learni ng that some day one must d i e)

,

t ha t on e can remember t he exact pla c e at wh ich

t he d i s c overy was made There i s a pla c e on
.

that road (and yo u can return to i t ) at wh ich

you knew nothi ng o f th i s v ill age a n d the n be , ,

fo r e anot h er breath was drawn had found i t all , .

At that p l ace you look at it at abo ut t he level

o f i ts l i ttle c hur c h t ower w it h ivy growi ng a l l
,

over i t and creepi ng in at the l ips of t he woo d en

l atti c es under its red tiles It h as few houses bu t
.

ma ny tree s all gathered toget h er as i t seems for

, , ,

c ompa n io n ship ; and so near an d so mo d estly do

its roofs lie at yo u r feet tha t yo u feel you c ould
almost st ep a c ro s s t hem to the D owns at the
o t her side Th ese th i ngs about it are del igh tful
.
,

b u t you do no t know at firs t that th i s i s inde ed

’
t he v i llage at t he world s end though alr eady you
,

ca n see t hat t h e road wh i ch yo u have fol l owe d ,

wh ich dips from your feet i nt o t h e v i l lage and

r i ses beyo n d i t ends in t he tu rf j ust belowthe
,

further r i m of the D own s as if t hose who had

,

made it knew ve ry well that beyon d that ri dg e

was no pla c e to wh ic h i t cou l d go .

[ 1 58 ]
 TH E V I LLA G E AT TH E WO R L D S E N D ’

You do n o t k n ow at first tha t th i s i s the v illage

’
a t t he world s e n d be c ause the poets have n ot
,

prepared your min d to find it a s i t is In t h i s .

v i llage are no magic e ase me n ts opening o n per il

“
ou s seas ; n or e n chanted woo d s h aunt ed by
”
woma n wa i li ng for her demon lover ; n o r s u c h
thi ngs beyo n d words to t ell a s Kilme n y foun d ; ,

n o r the frozen ho u ses o f To n g Tong Ta rrup o n

t he great crag looki ng over the edge o f the world .

Ye t a n y o n e of the poe ts who have t old u s of

t he s e thi ngs m ight have been very well c o n tent ,

’
when he c ame t o t he world s en d to find su c h a ,

lit t le E ngl i sh v i llage as th i s .

Aft er yo u have gone down i nto the v i llage and

bee n t here fo r a wh i le yo u beg i n to understan d ,

ev e n wi t h out speaki ng t o a ny one of i ts i nh ab it

a nt s t ha t belief whi c h i s the i rs You begi n
,
.

to un der st a nd i t a s you look u p on every S i de at

t ha t un bro ke n rim o f t he great bowl of the D ow n s
i n wh i ch t he village lies I t d oes not t ower above
.

i t nor menace it n or fl i ng at i t clouds and

, ,

tw ist ed s h adows an d croo k ed w i n d s nor play t he ,

terrible and grotes que as mounta i ns do to the

villages at t heir feet B u t i t sur rounds i t ve ry
.

ge nt ly a n d c loses all the world t o i t

,
.

There is no c lo c k i n the church tower Of a .

clock t he village has no need I t s inhab i tants .

[ 1 59 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
measure the m o r n i ng by t he shadow a s it c l i mbs
and disappears over t he ea s tern rim of t h e ir
gr eat b owl o f t he Downs and they measure the
,

cha nge o f the day towards eveni ng as the shadow !

re tu r ns c omi ng gently as a frie n d dow n the

, ,

we st er n s lope o f sun li t grass un ti l i t to u che s t he i r

ho us e s A c ros s t his rim where t heir on ly roa d
.
,

e n d s t hey wa t ch t he day pa ss The s ea mists

,
.

roll i n to t h em across i t a s fro m a not her world ,

and if a t all ma n were t o s t a n d on t iptoe on the ir

c h u rch tower he wou ld j ust fail to lo ok over i t .

By day the gold of t he s u n make s a mi st above

i t b u t whe n the d ay h as b u r n t ou t b ehi n d i t i nt o
,

a few grey a s hes o f clo u d wh i ch t he n ight w i nd

blow s away when all the colo u rs have faded from
,

i ts grass an d i t i s left a dark l in e clear a nd ,

mour nfu l aga i n s t the sky t hat great rim of t he

,

D ow ns has some t hi ng not t o be de s cribed ex c ept

that i t i s fi n al sa t i s fyi ng a n d c o mple t e It is
, ,
.

the n t ha t yo u b ot h un der s ta n d a n d S hare the

simple fai t h of th os e who live i n t his village F o r .

while we b elieve t hat t he wo rld i s ro u nd a nd h as

no e n d a t all a n d the ancie n ts believed that i t
,

w a s fla t a n d t ha t its e n d wa s the s wift encir c l i ng

stream o f Oceanus t heir fai t h I s tha t t he worl d i s
,

a grea t bowl a n d n o ma n may climb to i ts ri m ,

but if you st a n d o n tiptoe o n t he c hur c h tower

[ 160 ]
 WIN D OWS
H E war was long s i n ce over b u t Private St eep,

still lay in a hosp i tal ward and when he ,

t alked a t a ll he talked o f the war He would t ell .

you t ha t he knew men wh o had not been able to

st a n d i t F o r hi mself h e w a s glad to say that i t
.

had not trouble d hi s nerves If you asked him .

wha t he did l yi ng the r e h e would say that he did

,

not d o mu ch He di d not c are t o read and

.
,

though somet i mes people wou ld offer to read to

him h e foun d i t d iffi c ult to li sten Th e senten c es .

we r e too l ong He was very well he would add

.
, ,

but he fe l t t ir e d The wa r had been rat h er a

.

t i ri ng job He lik e d best t o lie an d do nothi ng

.
,

a nd l ook a t t h e whi te wall O ppos i te .

It was then t h at h e was moved to t h e w i ndow .

G ive a man l i ke t h at not hi ng but a wall to l ook

’ ”
a t an d h e l l see t hi ngs o n i t s aid t h e d o c tor ;
,

“ ”
h e l l see al l the th i ngs t h at he ought to fo rget
’
.

But by t h e wi ndow h e st i ll lay and l oo k ed at

not hi ng or a t wha tever el s e i t was that hi s m i n d
,

[ 16 3 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
saw He was con t ent w i th noth i ng That was
. .

hi s d i sease .

He ha d been by t h e wind ow a week o r more

when cha n c e brought t o that ward a grea t par c el
of old magaz i nes gathered from the t o p s of book
,

s helve s an d cupboards They were on ly t en an d

.

fifteen years old bu t they seemed more a nc ient

,

th an the F lo o d and the pa t ie nts l ooked c u r i

,

o usly as int o a n o t her world a t pic tu res of for

, ,

gotte n eve n ts at t he a sc end ing ages of c elebri t ies

,

whom no o n e now k n ew at c a rtoons of u n ,

remembered co nt rover s ie s .

Pr ivate S teep t u r n ed them over witho ut i n ter

est He looked a t the pict u res wi t h a d u ll eye
. .

He was too tired to puzzle out the joke s He .

g ave up the attempt And t he n as he p us hed

.
,

them away he fo u n d be tween a P u n ch a n d a

,

S tr a n d M a ga zi n e a book of c olo u red pic tu re s

,

c alled M edie va l M as te rs They were queer but

.
,

t hat did not t ro ub le him like the queerness o f t he

fash i ons a n d the j o kes of fift een years ago Fo r .

the r e w a s someth ing ve ry firm and c lea r abo u t

t h em .

I t w a s a t the i r brilliant colours that he l ooked

fi rst a n d t h en he s aw with s a t isfac t ion th a t he
,

knew a t on c e wh at ea c h thi ng was He had never .

seen su ch chai rs an d c u ps s t r a ngely s haped an d

,

[ 164 ]
 WAYFARERS IN ARCADY
i s l and wa s a s h adowy blue ci ty a c i ty t hat ,

looked a s i f i t h ad ri sen s traight from the sea .

He turn e d t hrough th e book aga i n a nd found ,

what he h a d not not iced before t h at i n nea rl y , ,

eve ry one of t h e p ic tu r es w a s a w i n d ow Ev e n .

those t h at were not rooms yet had t h e ir w i ndows ,

an d none of t h e w i n d ows w a s empty Through .

on e h e looke d up a w i n di ng vall ey to hills as blue

as the sea, and t hrough a not h er at a l i t tl e town .

Ins tead o f l ooki ng i nto those p i ctures h e beg a n

now to look out of t h em .

It was the Wln d0W w i t h t h e li ttle town th at

please d h im most F o r i t w a s a w i ndow in a r eal
.

room a room w i t h a t il e d floo r an d a three

, ,

c o rnered ch a i r and a carved wooden ben c h where

,

t h e moth er s at fee di ng h e r c h i l d T h e w i n d ow
‘

i ts elf was ve ry small w i t h a h eavy iron stu dd e d

,

fram e fo ld e d ba ck from i t but through i t you ,

—
saw t he whol e town h ouses an d people w al k i ng ,

in the squa r e an d a t all ch u rc h tower an d beh i n d

, ,

i t a roa d t h at cross ed t h e hi lls It w a s all ex .

trao rdin a rily sm all a n d far aw ay but as cl ea r

, ,

as a summe r s day He wi s hed that h e c ou ld

’
.

h ave put hi s he ad out of th a t w i n d ow a n d seen a

li ttle mo r e but i t was won d erfu l h ow m uch on e
,

c ould see .

H e h ad l ong s i nce lost the feeling that i n t hose

[ 166 ]
 WIND OWS
p ict ures was a nythi ng o dd The wo men re .

ma i ned b eautiful bu t they no longer seemed

,

comi c It was righ t that i n garde n s a n d in

.

throne s you s hould find windows looki ng o ut o n

other worlds Then o n e day he suddenly real i sed
.

t hat he ha d a wi nd ow o f h is own and had never

looked thro ugh i t ; and when he c ame to look
t hrough i t he fou n d wha t was s t ill more s t range
, ,

that it was no t very u nlike t he l itt le t own

t hrough t he wi n d ow o f t he pic t ure He looke d .

d own a mp e o f c h i m n eys and roofs an d a c ross ,

them to ano t her s lope where houses stood an d ,

he c ould see a tall brick tower wi t h a c lock He .

c oul d se e als o o n e bend o f a road where trams ,

passed They were v ery small bu t a s vivid a red

.

as th e wonderful dre ss of the woman in t he

p ict ure .

It was no t as good to l ook at as t he little tow n .

A t first h e disliked it b ecause i t was n ever fo r

two days the s ame a n d t ha t t roubled him Bu t
,
.

the more he looked a t i t the more his in t eres t

i n i t grew S ome t imes in the s u nl ight i t was
.

almo s t as c lear as the town I n t h e pi ct ure but ,

even when the rains drew their grey brush across

it he c ould see the tower wit h i ts clo c k and the
, ,

ben d of the roa d .

At last h e began t o feel a pleasure in i t s

[ 167 ]
 WAYFAR ERS IN ARCADY
—
ch anges and to watch for t hem fo r t he com i ng
,

of t h e sun and t he shadows a n d the ra i n t h at

, , ,

were a lways making it look different t hough t hey

l eft it a l ways the same .

However m u ch he looked he wou ld n ever see

more o f t he l i ttle town i n i ts perpe tu al clearness
, ,

nor fin d where t he road led tha t cros s ed t he hills

, .

B ut here was a road below him a n d o n e d ay ,

wh en h e wa s well he would take the tram along

i t and find where it went .

The do c tor s notes o n his case (which were

’

published in a medi c al jo u r n al a n d were read

wi t h i n teres t by other d oc t o rs ) described t he
vario us trea t me nts which led to his recovery .

But they did le s s t ha n j ust i ce t o t he bo o k of

M edia aa l M as te rs I n deed t hey did n o t me n ti on
.

“
it at all u nless i t was in cl u ded i n the phrase a
j udic i ous comb i na ti on o f psych o t herapy a n d -

”
occ u pation .Wh at they did not say was t hat
thro ugh t he q u ai nt w i nd ow s o f t h os e p i cture s h e
had lear nt t o look o u t again on h i s ow n wo rld .

TH E E ND

[ 168 ]