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82 KIPLING'S SUSSEX
in the supernatural in Kipling's " Brookland
Road." Brookland lies about nine miles to the
north of Lydd in a country of many waters, and
it was in the shadow of the picturesque old village
trees in the " middest of a hot June night " that
the rustic caught sight of the face of his ghostly
love :
" She only smiled and she never spoke, She smiled and went away ; But when she'd gone my heart was broke, And my wits was clean astray."
The church, dedicated to St. Augustine, is a
goodly building, with a three-storied bell tower of
massive timber standing detached on the north
side. There is a confessional in the chancel, and
a piscina within the altar rails. The Norman font,
made of cast lead, is enriched with two rows of
very small emblematical figures, twenty in each
row. Turning to the right on leaving the church,
we gain, in about fifteen minutes' walk, the
Blue Wall, stretching from Romney to Appledore,
and following the ancient course of the Rother.
For a few yards we keep towards Appledore, and
then again turn off to the right. We soon find
ourselves at Brenzett, which is mentioned in " A
Three-Part Song " :
" Oh Romney level and Brenzett reeds, I reckon you know what my mind needs ! " |
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