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130 KIPLING'S SUSSEX
He can see farther than most, and sometimes in the bostels and shaws after dark I think he may see things—not fur or feather or human. Who knows ? And he is fond of a pint of ale, too."
The shepherd laughed softly.
" Whuff! Whuff ! " barked the dog, one paw on his bone, so suddenly that we all laughed.
The shepherd told me that his father had an interesting relic in the shape of some old Sussex iron grappling hooks used for the extinction of village fires. They had been formerly kept at the Parish Church before his father came by them, and were used for pulling the thatch off a cottage in the event of fire. The shape was that of a long bar of sufficient length to reach the roof from the ground, with huge hooks at the end, and the weight was so great that several men were needed to handle them.
Michelham Priory lies about four miles north of Wilmington. It was a house of Augustinian Canons founded by Gilbert de Aquila, in the reign of Henry III. It formed a stately quadrangle, which was encircled by a broad deep moat, fed by the river Cuckmere, and noted as a favourite resort of the stealthy otter. Three fish-stews, supplied by the moat, are still in good condition. A drawbridge, now replaced by a |
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