. Nature in downland. gret that the oldsystem of giving the shepherd an interest in theflock was ever changed. According to the old systemhe was paid a portion of his wages in kind—so manylambs at lambing time; and these, when grown, hewas permitted to keep with the flock to the numberof twenty or twenty-five, and sometimes perhaps shearing time he was paid for the wool, and hehad the increase of his ewes to sell each year. Hewas thus in a small way in partnership with hismaster, the farmer, and regarded himself, and wasalso regarded by others, as something more than& mere hireling, li
. Nature in downland. gret that the oldsystem of giving the shepherd an interest in theflock was ever changed. According to the old systemhe was paid a portion of his wages in kind—so manylambs at lambing time; and these, when grown, hewas permitted to keep with the flock to the numberof twenty or twenty-five, and sometimes perhaps shearing time he was paid for the wool, and hehad the increase of his ewes to sell each year. Hewas thus in a small way in partnership with hismaster, the farmer, and regarded himself, and wasalso regarded by others, as something more than& mere hireling, like the shepherd of to-day, wholooks to receive a few pieces of silver at each weeks 126 SHEPHERDS AND WHEATEARS 127 end, and will be no better off and no worse off whetherthe years be fat or lean. One would imagine that the old system must haveworked well on the downs, as it undoubtedly does inother lands where I have known it, and I can onlysuppose that its discontinuance was the result of that «.—^-i-^— *. Wheatear widening of the line dividing employer from employedwhich has been so general. The farmer did not im-prove his position by the change—I believe he lostmore than he gained: it was simply that the oldrelations between master and servant were out ofdate. He was a better educated man, less simple inhis life, than his forefathers, and therefore at a greater 128 NATURE IN DOWNLAND distance from his shepherd; it would remove allfriction and simplify things generally to put theshepherd on the same level with the field labourerand other servants; and this was done by giving hima shilling more a week in exchange for the four orfive or six lambs he had been accustomed to receiveevery year. There have been other although less importantchanges in the life of the lonely man who follows hisflock on the hills: one that has a special interest forme refers to the annual wheatear harvest, which wasformerly a source of considerable profit to the shep-herds of the South Downs.
Size: 1428px × 1750px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondon, booksubject
