New-York tribune., 1910-12-21

.o.cb sya np xi. ys1 f. r. Dutton
& Co.
The reader turns with confident antic-
ip,.;on TO NIr. Hrdson's new book. and
ss moi disappointed He has written ere
now of the South Downs: this time he
;nv;tes MS te study the life, human and
otherwise of Salisbury Plain. the hisn
country that was once a sheep walk ana
Is now a training ground for the British
army The region is in a state OF transl-
fion. for where the sheep no longer crop
the turf and lxnea1 il with their little
h,ssrs the ground becomes rough The
n.ancruvrin- troops drive away the wild
fife. and. In another direction, the plough
is efrectine a transformation that affects
man IS well as the soil. But TO the south
there is still a stretch where no white
tents are pitched, where Salisbury Plain
remains as it has been for a thousand
wears o. more. where sheep continue to
ne pastured as of yore, and where the
shepherd still plies his ancient calling.
II is here that Mr.. Hudson rambles in
The life of nature Of the present. and
strells into the past. through the memo
and interviewed. 1t is here that ne re-
constructs the life of rustic England OF
the first third of the last century.
Caleb Rawcombe is the shepherd whose
life he tells as he was able to recon-
struct it from the rustic's talk and from
the .7Istches of information gained from
others. They did grow to goodly old
aee, these people of the downs. for
septuasenarians, octogenarians and
nonogenarians abound in these pages.
There is talk Of the old. vanished breed
Of horned Wiltshire sheep, now extinct.
and forgotten by the native; of sheep
dogs. poaching and foxes, Of rustic ma
.ure lore. of bird life and many other
topics. all touched with Mr.. Hudson S
aTectionate interest. which he SO easily
and intimately makes his readers own.
Old England, in city and country, has
an unfsiling charm for us on this side
of the water. We find it in his pages,
pervading his love of nature.
One can only dip into them at ram
dom. bringing forward quotation here
or there to reflect the quality of the
whole. There is the authors specula-
ton upon the frequency wherewith old
life partners in a quiet. uneventful rustic
environment follow each other to the
grave within the briefest space Of time,
but one cannot quote him here at such
length as one would, and condensation
would destroy the simple dignity and
sentiment OF his explanation. The an
cient spirit Of the shepherd still sur
wives. he found:
They did bring back the older men of the
Bibe hisfory-Abraham and Jacob and the
rest. The point here is that these old Bible
stories have a reality and significance for
the shepherd of the down country which
they have lost for modern minds; that
they recognize their own spiritual Inca
ments in these antique portraits, and that
all these strange events might have hap
pened few years ago and not far away
Old people were still encountered on
the downs who remembered the rioting
of the farm laborers in 1881. when the
mob" as il was locally called, rose in
protest against the introduction of agri-
cultural machinery And with these
memories came others of deportation to
Tasmania. And other memories of rural
political corruption, when free beer for
all was the order of the day for a period
Of four or six weeks before an election,
and every householder with vote ex-
pected to receive twenty guineas from
the candidate of his choice. It is still
remembered on the downs that voters
in immediate need of money or credit
used to pledge these twenty guineas,
due at the next election. with the local
tradesmen. AS for the squire to-day: -
In my roamings about the downs it is al
WAYS a relief a positive pleasure, in fact,
10 find myself in village which has no
squire or other magnificent and munificent
person who dominates everybody and
everything, and, If he chooses to do
plays providence in the community. 7 may
have no personal objection TO hiDl-he Is
sometimes almost u,,, if not quite human:
of his position the lowly minds about
him and the servility. hypocrisy and para
sitism which spring up and flourish in his
shadow whether he likes these moral weeds
not.
The sheep dog receives its proper trib-
ute. IT is part of its training to learn to
give up lis deepest instinct, that of hunt
ing small game. But. once this rural
passion is brought under discipline, it
must learn TO nunt at command, for the
shepherd, while despising the poacher,
who usually is an idle vaga bond, con-
siders 1t his right to catch an occasional
hare rabbit bird. The end of these
dogs is always tragic.
A head shepherd told me that during all
his sbepherding wears ne had never owned
a dog which had passed out of his hands
30 another; every dog had been acquired
= pup and trained by himself: and he
had been very fond of his dogs but had
always been compelled TO have them shot
in the end. Not because he would have
found them too great a burden when they
lad become too OLD, but because il was
painful to see them in their decline per-
retGally craving TO be at their old work
longer. Yet misera bic IL kept from Il.
Mr. Hudsons picture of the village life
Of Salisbury Plain includes a study of
the gypsies. one of whom told him, You
know what the hooks say. and we don't.
But we know other things that are not
in the books. and that's what we have
Its ours. and you cannot have it, This
knowledge AIR Hudson analyzes as the
cunning of wild animal with mans
brain" The facts here quoted have of
necessity been torn from the atmosphere
in which they are placed. For that the
II ader must go TO the book itself, and he
viii not regret the going. II only re-
mains TO he said that MIR, Gotch's illus
trations are worthy of the text