had been drawn tight over the rafters, so that the great beams came under it. The sides of the house were of rough stones, of the same make as the dykes. Paper had been put over them to give it an appearance of comfort, but the wind got between it and the wall, and made it wabble to and fro. A spotless deal table stood beneath the window, upon which the good-wife was kneading her bread. When it was made it went into a large oven, which formed part of the usual range found in most Northumbrian cots, and which is put in by the tenant himself By the side of the window was a looking-glass and a little case of shelves containing the crockery, all tastefully arranged. As I talked with the shepherd, he kept rocking the cradle, a curious little box on rollers.
His conditions were as follows:—When he entered into service he was allowed to purchase a number of sheep at his master's I expense. When he was married, he began with thirteen; now he I has forty-two. He also has a cow, and kills perhaps two large hogs in the year. Cow and hogs, as well as sheep, are well provided for by the master. Besides this, he supplies him with thirteen barrels of corn, each barrel containing six bushels, and fifteen hundred yards of potatoes, and a house to live in. Coals he buys himself, but they are carted by his master to his door. He makes his income out of the wool of his sheep, and the sale of his lambs. He was going to Alnwick Fair with the latter on the following Monday. His eldest boy was twelve years old; he worked in the fields with the women, turnip-hoeing in the summer, and went to school in the winter. He had a taste for drawing, and had ornamented various parts of the room with his little efforts. His parents said they hoped, if they were spared, to give him another season or two of schooling, although they had four other boys and a little girl.
The shepherd, whose house I sketched, always went down to Wooler on Sunday, to the Presbyterian Church, as his father had done before him for fifty years.
He took me to see another shepherd, who lived in a new house built by the Earl of Tankerville. It was as comfortable as any. one in the world could wish; two large rooms, with every convenience; a capital stove, good oven and boiler, all put in at the
