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Rural Life of England (Development of Industrial Society)
Rural Life of England - Development of Industrial Society Author:William Howitt Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PART If. THE FORESTS OF ENGLAND. Amongst the most interesting features of the country are our forests. There is nothing that we come in contact with, which... more » conveys to our minds such vivid impressions of the progression of England in power and population; which presents such startling contrasts between the present and the past. We look back into the England which an old forest brings to our mind, and see a country one wild expanse of woodlands, heaths, and mosses. Here and there a little simple town sending up Its fleecy smoke amongst the forest boughs. From age to age no tumult did arouse Its peaceful dwellers ; there they lived and died, Passing a dreamy life, diversified By nought of novelty, save, now and then, A horn, resounding through the neighbouring glen, Woke them as from a trance, and led them out To catch a brief glimpse of the hunt's wild route ; The music of the hounds ; the tramp and rush Of steeds and men ;—and then a sudden hush Left round the eager listeners;—the deep mood Of awful, dead, and twilight solitude, Fallen again upon that forest vast. We see in the distance the stately castle of the feudal lord; we hear the bell of the convent from the neighbouring dale. There are solitary hamlets and scattered cottages, with mud walls and thatched roofs, peeping from the ocean of umbrageous tree-tops, and little patches of cultivation. Born thralls are tilling the lands of the thane, or watching his flocks and herds, to defend them from the wolves and bears; foresters are going their rounds beneath hoary oaks, on the watch for trespassers on venison and vert. We meet with the pilgrim with his scallop shell, and sandal shoon ; we come suddenly on the solitude of the hermit, where some spring bubbles from the forest turf, ...« less
ISBN-13: 9780716515821 ISBN-10: 0716515822 Pages:416 Edition:New ed of 1844 ed Rating: