WOODBURN GRANGE.
WOODBURN GRANGE.
A Story of English Country Life.
BY
WILLIAM HOWITT.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
CHARLES W. WOOD, 13, TAVISTOCK ST., STRAND.
1867.
[Right of Translation reserved.]
LONDON:
BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
CONTENTS.
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| I. | —THE LAST OF A LONG LINE | 1 |
| II. | —THE FIRST OF A NEW LINE | 42 |
| III. | —THINGS AS THEY USED TO BE | 78 |
| IV. | —THE WOODBURNS AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS | 95 |
| V. | —BETTY TRAPPS COMES TO NOTICE | 130 |
| VI. | —THORSBY AMONGST THE WOODBURNS | 156 |
| VII. | —THE HAY-FIELD FÊTE | 187 |
| VIII. | —A NICE SAMPLE OF FARMERS | 229 |
| IX. | —THE FRIENDS’ PARTY | 263 |
| X. | —THE PIC-NIC ON THE ISLAND | 306 |
[Pg 1]
WOODBURN GRANGE.
CHAPTER I.
THE LAST OF A LONG LINE.
Sir Roger Rockville, of Rockville, wasthe last of a very long line. It extendedfrom the Norman Conquest to the presentcentury. His first known ancestor cameover with William, and must have been aman of some mark, either of bone and sinew,or of brain, for he obtained what the Americanswould call a prime location. As hisname does not occur in the roll of BattleAbbey, he was, of course, not of a high Normanextraction; but he had done enough, itseems, in the way of knocking down Saxons,to place himself on a considerable eminence[Pg 2]in this kingdom. The centre of his domainswas conspicuous far over the country,through a high range of rock overhangingone of the sweetest rivers in the kingdom.On one hand lay a vast tract of richmarsh land, capable, as society advanced,of being converted into meadows; and onthe other, as extensive moorland