CHAPTER V.



AN OLD FASHIONED SHEPHERD--OLD TRICKER--A GARDENER--MY SECOND HEAD
CARTER--A LABOURER.

"Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
--GRAY'S _Elegy_.

I had experiences of various shepherds, and the man I remember best
was John C. Short, sturdy, strong, and willing, he was somewhat
prejudiced and old-fashioned, with many traditions and inherited
convictions as to remedies and the treatment of sheep. John had a
knowing expression; his nose projected and his forehead and chin
retreated, so that his profile was angular. He wore the old-fashioned
long smock-frock--not the modern short linen jacket which goes by the
name of smock, but a garment that reached to his knees, with a
beautifully worked front over the chest. It is a pity that these old
smock-frocks are no longer in vogue: I never see one now; they were
most picturesque, and afforded great protection from the rough weather
which a shepherd has constantly to face. His hat was of soft felt,
placed well towards the back of his head, and, behind it, he wore a
wealth of curls overlapping the collar of his smock. John was very
proud of his curls; he told a group of men, who were sheep-dipping
with him, that the parasites of the sheep, which are formidable in
appearance, never troubled him until they reached his head. "Into them
curls, I suppose, John?" said a flippant bystander. John was pleased