The Pocket George Borrow | Page 5

to ride, And a house to live in shaded with trees,
and near to a river side; With such good things around me, and blessed
with good health withal, Though I should live for a hundred years, for
death I would not call."
Here's to Whiter's health--so you know nothing about the fight?'
'No, sir; the truth is, that of late I have been very much occupied with
various matters, otherwise I should, perhaps, have been able to afford
you some information. Boxing is a noble art.'
'Can you box?'
'A little.'
'I tell you what, my boy; I honour you, and, provided your education
had been a little less limited, I should have been glad to see you here in
company with Parr and Whiter; both can box. Boxing is, as you say, a
noble art--a truly English art; may I never see the day when
Englishmen shall feel ashamed of it, or blacklegs and blackguards
bring it into disgrace! I am a magistrate, and, of course, cannot
patronize the thing very openly, yet I sometimes see a prize-fight. I saw
the Game Chicken beat Gulley.'
* * * * *

One day it happened that, being on my rambles, I entered a green lane
which I had never seen before; at first it was rather narrow, but as I
advanced it became considerably wider; in the middle was a driftway
with deep ruts, but right and left was a space carpeted with a sward of
trefoil and clover; there was no lack of trees, chiefly ancient oaks,
which, flinging out their arms from either side, nearly formed a canopy,
and afforded a pleasing shelter from the rays of the sun, which was
burning fiercely above. Suddenly a group of objects attracted my
attention. Beneath one of the largest of the trees, upon the grass, was a
kind of low tent or booth, from the top of which a thin smoke was
curling; beside it stood a couple of light carts, whilst two or three lean
horses or ponies were cropping the herbage which was growing nigh.
Wondering to whom this odd tent could belong, I advanced till I was
close before it, when I found that it consisted of two tilts, like those of
waggons, placed upon the ground and fronting each other, connected
behind by a sail or large piece of canvas, which was but partially drawn
across the top; upon the ground, in the intervening space, was a fire,
over which, supported by a kind of iron crowbar, hung a cauldron. My
advance had been so noiseless as not to alarm the inmates, who
consisted of a man and woman, who sat apart, one on each side of the
fire; they were both busily employed--the man was carding plaited
straw, whilst the woman seemed to be rubbing something with a white
powder, some of which lay on a plate beside her. Suddenly the man
looked up, and, perceiving me, uttered a strange kind of cry, and the
next moment both the woman and himself were on their feet and
rushing upon me.
I retreated a few steps, yet without turning to flee. I was not, however,
without apprehension, which, indeed, the appearance of these two
people was well calculated to inspire. The woman was a stout figure,
seemingly between thirty and forty; she wore no cap, and her long hair
fell on either side of her head, like horse-tails, half-way down her waist;
her skin was dark and swarthy, like that of a toad, and the expression of
her countenance was particularly evil; her arms were bare, and her
bosom was but half-concealed by a slight bodice, below which she
wore a coarse petticoat, her only other article of dress. The man was
somewhat younger, but of a figure equally wild; his frame was long

and lathy, but his arms were remarkably short, his neck was rather bent,
he squinted slightly, and his mouth was much awry; his complexion
was dark, but, unlike that of the woman, was more ruddy than livid;
there was a deep scar on his cheek, something like the impression of a
halfpenny. The dress was quite in keeping with the figure: in his hat,
which was slightly peaked, was stuck a peacock's feather; over a
waistcoat of hide, untanned and with the hair upon it, he wore a rough
jerkin of russet hue; small clothes of leather, which had probably once
belonged to a soldier, but with which pipe-clay did not seem to have
come in contact for many a year, protected his lower man as far as the
knee; his legs were cased in long stockings of blue worsted, and on his
shoes he wore immense old-fashioned buckles.
* * * * *
Because they have been known to beg the carcass