The Project Gutenberg EBook of English Villages, by P. H. Ditchfield

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Title: English Villages

Author: P. H. Ditchfield

Release Date: August 13, 2004 [EBook #9197]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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ENGLISH VILLAGES

BY

P.H. DITCHFIELD
M.A., F.S.A.

TO MY WIFE

PREFACE

Eleven years ago my little book on the antiquities of English villages
was published. Its object was to interest our rustic neighbours in
their surroundings, to record the social life of the people at various
times--their feasts and fairs, sports and pastimes, faiths and
superstitions--and to describe the scenes which once took place in the
fields and lanes they know so well. A friendly reviewer remarked that
the wonder was that a book of that kind had never been written before,
and that that was the first attempt to give a popular and readable
sketch of the history and associations of our villages. In the present
work I have attempted to fill in the sketch with greater detail, and to
write not only for the villagers themselves, but for all those who by
education are able to take a more intelligent interest in the study of
the past.

During the last decade many village histories have been written, and
if this book should be of service to anyone who is compiling the
chronicles of some rural world, or if it should induce some who have
the necessary leisure and ability to undertake such works, it will not
have been written in vain.

One of the most distressing features of modern village life is the
continual decrease of the population. The rural exodus is an alarming
and very real danger to the welfare of social England. The country is
considered dull and life therein dreary both by squire and peasant
alike. Hence the attractions of towns or the delights of travel empty
our villages. The manor-house is closed and labourers are scarce. To
increase the attractions of our villages, to arouse an interest in
their past history and social life, is worth attempting; and perhaps
this Sto