The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Cotswold Village, by J. Arthur Gibbs

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Title: A Cotswold Village

Author: J. Arthur Gibbs

Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11160]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: _Photo, W. Shawncross, Guildford_.]

[_Frontispiece_. J. ARTHUR GIBBS.]

A COTSWOLD VILLAGE

OR COUNTRY LIFE AND PURSUITS IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE

BY J. ARTHUR GIBBS

"Go, little booke; God send thee good passage,
And specially let this be thy prayere
Unto them all that thee will read or hear,
Where thou art wrong after their help to call,
Thee to correct in any part or all."

GEOFFREY CHAUCER.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

1918

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

Before the third edition of this work had been published the author
passed away, from sudden failure of the heart, at the early age of
thirty-one. Two or three biographical notices, written by those who
highly appreciated him and who deeply mourn his loss, have already
appeared in the newspapers; and I therefore wish to add only a few words
about one whose kind smile of welcome will greet us no more in
this life.

Joseph Arthur Gibbs was one of those rare natures who combine a love of
outdoor life, cricket and sport of every kind, with a refined and
scholarly taste for literature. He had, like his father, a keen
observation for every detail in nature; and from a habit of patient
watchfulness he acquired great knowledge of natural history. From his
grandfather, the late Sir Arthur Hallam Elton, he inherited his taste
for literary work and the deep poetical feeling which are revealed so
clearly in his book. On leaving Eton, he wrote a _Vale_, of which his
tutor, Mr. Luxmoore, expressed his high appreciation; and later on,
when, after leaving Oxford, he was living a quiet country life, he
devoted himself to literary pursuits.

He was not, however, so engrossed in his work as to ignore other duties;
and he was especially interested in the villagers round his