| Vol. VIII.—No. 355. | OCTOBER 16, 1886. | Price One Penny. |
THE BROOK AND ITS BANKS: Chapter I.
THE BROOK AND ITS BANKS: Chapter II.
"SHE COULDN'T BOIL A POTATO;" OR, THE IGNORANT HOUSEKEEPER, AND HOW SHE ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE: Part I.
MERLE'S CRUSADE: Chapter III.
AMONG THE HOLLYHOCKS.
NOTICES OF NEW MUSIC.
EXPLANATION OF FRENCH AND OTHER TERMS USED IN MODERN COOKERY: Part I.
THE SHEPHERD'S FAIRY: Chapter III.
VARIETIES.
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS.
THE BROOK AND ITS BANKS.
By the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., Author of "The Handy Natural History."
THE BROOK AND ITS BANKS.As through the glen it dimpl't;
Whyles round a rocky scaur it strays;
Whyles in a weil it dimpl't;
Whyles glittered to the nightly rays,
Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle;
Whyles cookit underneath the braes
Below the spreading hazel."
CHAPTER I.
The many aspects of a brook—The eye sees only that which it iscapable of seeing—Individuality of brooks and their banks—The rippling"burnie" of the hills—The gently-flowing brooks of low-lying districts—Individualitieseven of such brooks—The fresh-water brooks of Oxfordand the tidal brooks of the Kentish marshes—The swarming life inwhich they abound—An afternoon's walk—Ditches versus hedges andwalls—A brook in Cannock Chase—Its sudden changes of aspect—Thebrooks of the Wiltshire Downs and of Derbyshire.
A brook has many points of view.
In the first place, scarcely any two spectators see it in the same light.
To the rustic it is seldom more than a convenient water-tank, or, atmost, as affording some sport to boys in fishing. To its picturesquebeauties his eyes are blind, and to him the brook is, like Peter Bell'sprimrose, a brook a