Runcorn and Widnes Examiner. — 1874-10-10 (Runcorn, Cheshire, England)

CHESHIRE VILLAGE-LUDT.  The following article (the first of a series on the beautiful village of Lymm) appeared in the last number of the "Congregational Magazine," which is published at Warrington, Lymm, Midailewich, and Over "Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain, Where health and plenty cheer'd the labouring swain.  . . . . . . . . Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease.  • . • • • • • • • • The never failing brook, the busy mill, The decent church that topt the neighbouring bill."  We need hardly inform our readers that there is no connection whatever between the village of Lymm and the one which Goldsmith has immortalised in such peerless and matehless verse. It is generally supposed that Golthmith had in his mind's eye when he penned the above lines an obscure village in Ireland, whereas "our village" is much nearer home—in fact, it is our home. We propose giving a few short sketches or word pictures of life as it is at present to be found in " our village," and, although it iJ ust necessarily be very different to that of " sweet Auburn," yet we shall find some points of resemblance between them. We can scarcely call ours— " Loveliest village of the plain," for of the two it is perhaps more plain than lovely. And there are few, ii any, to be found now of those— ' " Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease." In no sense are the former plentiful we fear, although the modern villager knows how to take his ease. He's 1 quite an adept at that. He generally makes the nearest public house into his bower, and if occasionally his wife may bow her head in shame over her husband's failings, it is very rare one finds the husband himself shedding tears of contrition for his own shortcomings. But, as the Scotch proverb says, " Gie the dell his due." We do not by any means wish to overlook the fact that our village contains a good many fine specimens of the "genus homo "—men of whom we shall have occasion to speak hereafter in terms of unmeasured praise. Hard working, self denying, unselfish men, who have at their heart of hearts the good of their fellow-men. But we are concerned chiefly at present with the general aspect of "our village," and in this paper we s point of comparison between "Our village" Ahnaollthavoid particulars, and deal more in generalisation. Another and "sweet Auburn" is "the busy mill," and we may also say the busy miller and his men, for it is difficult to conceive of one without the other. Then we have them m which is called, quite lage enough to be designated, the mere." And you is , may travel the county, over and not find a prettier sheet frequently of water. Irregular in shape, overhung with trees of splendid foliage on one side, and overlooked on the other by the Decent church which tops the hill,"  and undulating pastures and meadows, every villager in "our village "is proud of the dam. Then there is the walk along the dam side, a favomite haunt, and much frequented on summer evenings both by young and old. Here is often to be found the angler, plying his lazy craft against the still more lazy and craity fish. Between the dam aril the mill is situated the dell or dingle, along which runs "the never hailing brook." Here are some glorious old trees, chi fly horse chesnuts, which, when in full bloom, form a magnificent picture, and which, in the autumn, are the envy and desire of every passing school boy. It is quite a fairy scene in the dingle—the rollicking, dashing overflow from the darn, the luxurious growth of the underwood, the bright green of the ferns and lichens, nd the massive trunks of the tail poplars, all mingled together in apparently glorious confusion, present a picture of luxumance and beauty such as is rarely found. And towering aloft above all, in the very tops of the highest trees, are to be seen the houses of rooks, whose ceaseless, restless cawing is heard by every passer by. It is a pretty sight to see them coming home at night after a r slllhagirngcaws cxpedition. What is the cause owe are not sufficiently versed good reason daoy; a their in natural history to know; the only explanation that we can offer is, because they are glad to get home again. But we have another rookery in our village of a somewhat different nature. It is inhabited by the human species, this second rookery. Whence it has derived its title we do not know, unless it is from the old proverb—" Birds of a feather flock together." But this touches the social aspect of "our village," and on this topic we shall have something to say hereafter. Nature has done much for "our village;" of that there is no doubt. Geologists tells us that it stands on the lower " keuper," to the development of which our county owes much of its fertility and agricultural celebrity. Originally, it appears, we were washed over by a shallow sea, and traces of all sorts of extinct creatures are to be found embedded in the sandstone dug from our quarries. The ripple marks of the sea are actually to be found, if carefully searched for. But the nearest point of the sea, as the crow flies, is quite a dozen miles or more from us now. Among the grave stones in our old church yard is to be found one, erected over the body of a suicide, and the slab is marked with the fossil foot prints of an extinct animal, the five toes of which resemble a human hand. There is a belief in the village that some mysterious connection exists between the hand on the imbrued his hands in his own blood. Such is the slab, and the deed of the unfortunate below who legend, and it is heightened by the blood-red colour of the imprint, caused by oxide of iron. Three hundred years ago such a tradition might have been generally believed, hut our knowledge of the earth's crust will easily explain the phenomenon for itself. The more we dip into the study of science of geology, the more are we tempted to cry out—" Great and marvellouswilci om tuo taTrehoTuhzadwo the works, Lord God Almighty; a