Will in future be celebrated as the birthplace of the most simple and captivating of our pastoral poets. The Cottage, which is on the right of the church, as seen in the Print, was purchased as a barn by the grandfather of the Poet, and has since been gradually improving to its present neat and comfortable appearance. It was formerly covered with thatch; but a new roof being necessary at a time when straw could scarcely be procured, the Poet, to whom it has since devolved, covered it with tiles, though with great reluctance, as he lamented the loss of its original simplicity. During the harvest of 1782 or 1783, the village of Honington suffered severely by fire. Four or five double tenemented cottages, the parsonage-house and out-houses, a farm-house and all its appurtenances, were levelled in little more than half an hour. This cottage was immediately in the line of the flames, and was saved almost miraculously by the exertions of the neighbours, assisted by Mr. Austin of Sapiston, and his men: it was on fire several times. The Poet's mother then kept a school at the cottage, and retreated from the distressing scene into the fields with a clock,
