improvements and internal comfort, are not only picturesque, but strong
and lasting. Many of them bear dates varying from 1600 to 1700.

It is evident that in everything they did our ancestors who lived in the
Elizabethan age fully realised that they were working under the eye of
"a great taskmaster." This spirit was the making of the great men of
that day, and in great part laid the foundation of our national
greatness. The glorious churches of Cirencester, Northleach, Burford,
and Bibury, and the ancient manor houses scattered throughout the
Cotswolds are fitting monuments to the men who laboured to erect them.
Would that space allowed a detailed account of all these old manor
houses! Enough has been said, at all events, to show that there are
places little known and little cared for in England where you may still
dwell without, every time you go out of doors, being forcibly reminded
of the utilitarian spirit of the age.

[Illustration: Cotswold Cottages. 057.png]



CHAPTER III.

VILLAGE CHARACTERS.

"If there's a hole in a' your coats,
I rede ye tent it;
A chiel's amang ye takin' notes,
And, faith, he'll prent it."

R. BURNS.