Bell's cheerfulness and his habit of making light of difficulties were
very contagious. I had early recognized the seriousness of the problem
presented by the foul condition of the land, but, as we gradually
began to reduce it to better order, I remarked that the prospect was
not so alarming after all. His reply was that when once the land was
clean, and in regular cropping, "a man might farm it with all the
playsure in life."

Though no "scholard," his wonderful memory stood him in good stead,
and was most valuable to me. He came in for a talk every evening, to
report the events of the day and arrange the work for the morrow.
After a long day spent with one of the carters delivering such things
as faggots--locally "kids"--of wood, he would recall the names of the
recipients, and the exact quantities delivered at each house without
the slightest effort. His only memoranda for approximate land
measurements would be produced on a stick with a notch denoting each
score yards or paces. This primitive method is particularly
interesting, the numeral a _score_ being derived from the Anglo-Saxon
_sciran_, to divide. Similar words are plough _share, shire, shears_,
and _shard_. He could keep the daily labour record when I was away
from home; but though I could always decipher his writing, he found it
difficult to read himself. A letter was a sore trial, and he often
told me that he would sooner walk to "Broddy" (Broadway) and back, ten
or eleven miles, than write to the veterinary surgeon there, whose
services we sometimes required.

We had a simple method of disposing of small pigs; it was an
understood thing that no pig was to be sold for less than a pound. I
had a good breed, always in demand by the cottagers, who never failed
to apply, sometimes, perhaps, before the pound size was quite reached,