Highways and byways in Surrey . first of the little hamlets that dot theLeatherhead road, and though the Guildford villas arestretching out their gardens further and further to the politeeast, Merrow is still a mere group of downside church might have been better restored ; but the chieffeature of the village is the old Horse and Groom Inn,with its gabled front and its noble stack of chimneys, threesister shafts of peculiar grace and mellow colour. The date,1615, which records the age of the inn above one of its baywindows, reads a reproach to the aggressively modern porchaiid doo
Highways and byways in Surrey . first of the little hamlets that dot theLeatherhead road, and though the Guildford villas arestretching out their gardens further and further to the politeeast, Merrow is still a mere group of downside church might have been better restored ; but the chieffeature of the village is the old Horse and Groom Inn,with its gabled front and its noble stack of chimneys, threesister shafts of peculiar grace and mellow colour. The date,1615, which records the age of the inn above one of its baywindows, reads a reproach to the aggressively modern porchaiid doors; and the white rough-cast with which the walls are = I 2 ii6 THE HORSE AND GROOM covered apparently conceals admirable timber and herringbonebrick-work. But the roof and the gables and windows stillbelong to an inn and not a public-house, and the Horse andGroom too, swings a good sign, vigorously drawn, of a prancingsteed. Most of the signs of the many White Horse and BlackHorse inns are more like rocking-horses than Above Merrow stretches some of the most perfect down-land in England. If the Sussex downs by Rottingdeaninspired Mr. Kipling to his finest poetry, the Surrey downsby Merrow taught him some of the most haunting linesof all. I quote from eleven stanzas that ought not to beseparated :—? X MERROW DOWN 117 There runs a road by .Merrow Down— A grassy track lo-day it is—An hour out of Guildford town,Above the river Wey it is. Here, when they heard the horse-bells ring, The ancient Britons dressed and rodeTo watch the dark Phcenicians bring Their goods along the Western Road. But long and long before that time (When bison used to roam on it)Did Taffy and her Daddy climb That down, and had their home on it. The Wey, that Taffy called Wagai, Was more than six times bigger then;And all the Tribe of Tegumai They cut a noble figure then ! Of all the Tribe of Tegumai Who cut that figure, none remain—On Merrow Down the cuckoos cry— The silence anil the sun r
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Keywords: ., bookauthorthomsonh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookyear1921
