Page:The English Peasant.djvu/110

 "May be," she replied; "as it's been so soppy, there'll be some catched to-day."

Their habit of nicknaming each other is carried to such an extent that people are better known by these nicknames than by their real ones.

"Who has joined the church?" asks a woman, at whose house the minister calls.

"Mary Alderson," he replies.

The inquirer looks puzzled, although she has probably known the girl in question from a baby. A little later he goes in again.

"Oh," she says, "I know who 'tis you mean; it's Bessie Billywidow."

People, too, so far accept these nicknames as almost to forget that they possess any other. At Richmond Sessions they called out for a man named John Metcalf. No answer. Some one suggested that they should cry Sandy John Jock, and he showed himself immediately. Frequently the nickname consists of the addition of their father's and grandfather's Christian name, as Simon's Dick, Simon's Dick's Maggie.

When we left Reeth the clouds were dark and gloomy, and soon quite hid the distant fell. Suddenly the rain fell in torrents. At the approach of the second storm we took shelter in a cottage. Instead of the ancient hearthstone and open chimney and turf fire, such as one sees in the south, there was a modern grate, possessing every convenience, such as large ovens and boilers, while the pots and kettles were suspended by hooks of polished steel to a crane of the same material.

A huge pot as big as a bucket hung over the fire, filled with some savoury mess, which a young damsel was stirring. It is said there is little for the young women to do beyond housework and churning, which can be easily done by the mother and one of the daughters. The cheese and butter they make is collected by local men, who take it to Hawes, where it is bought by the dealers.

How miserable these little stone villages look in wet weather; no pretty little gardens, but stuck here and there without symmetry, black, grimy, and ruinous-looking. The whole of the vale, and far away up the sides of the hills, is divided into endless