The second object is to recommend to others a new and delightful
hobby, and possibly bring to bear upon my theme an accumulation of
knowledge and combination of light. Gravestone hunting implies long
walks in rural scenes, with all the expectations, none of the risks,
and few of the disappointments of other pursuits. From ten to fifteen
miles may be mapped out for a fair day's trudge, and will probably
embrace from three to six parish churchyards, allowing time to inspect
the church as well as its surroundings. Saturdays are best for these
excursions, for then the pew-openers are dusting out the church, and
the sexton is usually about, sweeping the paths or cutting the grass.
The church door will in most cases be open, and you can get the
guidance you want from the best possible sources. A chat with the
village sexton is seldom uninviting, and he can generally point out
everything worth your observation. But the faculty of finding that of
which you are in search will soon come to you. In the first place, the
new portion of a churchyard--there is nearly always a new portion--may
be left on one side. You will certainly find no ancient memorials
there. In the next place, you may by a little observation pick out the
eighteenth-century stones by their shape, which is as a rule much more
ornamented and curvilinear than those of later date. They may also
be detected very often by the roughness of their backs as well as by
their weather-beaten complexions, and with a little experience and
practice the student may guess correctly within a few years the age of
any particular one seen even in the distance.

[Illustration: FIG. 62. GEEENFORD.]

[Illustration: FIG. 63. WEST HAM.]