March, 1919
THE: LANDSWOMAN
•
Chiefly Concerning Sam
By E. s. Wilkinson
0 rnn_oh of a waggoner's work on A. hrm dt>pend~
on h1s home~ and the wny he drin'" them.
A~atn. th.o;;c two conditions d!'l)(•nd ln.rgcly on <'ach
otb~r. .A horse may be " handy •· because h t' has
been dnvcn well. and he ic: more likely to bn wt·ll
d ri \"en If h~ is hd ndy.
To ml\n~ )~ung lads w1th hors£>~ ev<>ry goo~'~c 1s a
·wan, f\n~ 1f hts horse hu<~ any points in ih favour at
n.ll. by pr1dc of posse:::;;ion it is to him "such a. bQrse
as never WM.'
On the same principle I firmly
beliovc>d that in .lock 'l.nd Sa.m I had u.s hAndy an
all-rounrl pa.:r of farm horses as were ever yoked to
plough or waggon; but I am sure that it was not
~c1o _i magi:!ation on my [Jart which put my little
~am m ~ clas9 u.part, and mado me feel a ~ort of
pity for all thP other horsemen. ! frlt th('y had
ren!ly missell something 1n missing Sam.
He WM indeed u. fu.vonritc all ov<•r tho estate;
every man knew lum, be he hor::<'mnn, labo\nt>r,
bcastma.n, or shepherd. I nd with him
anywhere that ht' d1d not get n. word from them.
·:An~, how's S~tm thi'3 mommg ? " "Oh, hE' 's all
nght,
I would answer. "Ay, e'f! a nght little
horse ica Sam I ''they would fPJjCilt.
There WAS no work on a farm Sam did not kno,v,
and no work that he e\"er shirked. Bad, <;lipshod,
lltzy work he could uot t':>lerat<'. Sometimes I
drove him with a young marc "Bt>ll," who was
youn~ both in expt>ricncc a.nd good wa.nnc·r;:;, nnd
Sa.m's fury when shc would not do nU that I wanted
~r .... , a joy to behold. We harrowed together some-
tJmt·s. nnd Bell tul'n<'d short, and between Sam and
m~ ::;(,jf ~h" found hor education being tn.lten in hnnd.
cc \Vho-n.rvo 1 Bell,., I would eing out, with a 1bclc
at tho hne and dunt mto her neck would go S.1m's
he-ad, saying as olear as speech : " Can ' t you 1ec
wha.t's wanted, my young inuoce11t ? Don't you
know that harrows turn up2ide down if yf)u turn
f hom short ? D o you suppo!'lt> we harrow a field
up.-id{• down ! and do you suppo~e your mistl"€'ss
is going to ' t<>w ' hers<;lf lurning the harrows right
way up nt c\•cry end' Kee p your wc1ghi on your
tra.<:es, nncl turn stcs.dy and Jca.rn your job trom mt>.
Though I say it a..s E~houldn't, ! ro know ! '' And
SL\m did know. whnt'!l more, nnd many's the tip he
gnvo m~-ploughing, ha.rrowin~, carting E.~ruffimg,
h e wa'J n md.Stcr worker all through. Little, sturdy,
and hlnck, with t~uiek little eaM listenmg for the
h:ast word, eyes full of intelligence, and a soft,
round, vr:lvety nose that snuffled 1n your h ;mds and
pookots for cake-willing to the point of liD!>at.ience.
nnd Sflrnctilneq perhaps a. bit "owcr keen,'' httle
uluck Sarn, it wao no wonder you stole the hearts of
all, und purtJculnrly th«> one who gain<>d h e J;
<\Xi>f'ri<'nco 1\8 a '' horse lad " with you.
After that dn.y with tho SC1'Ufilcr, whon Dan set
us on, Sn.rn 1\nd 1 went scruffHng nearly ~very day.
To know tho olovemess of Sam's work it is necessary
to explain a. little of the art o[ "soruffling." A
scrufl:lcr. !or th~ benefit of those who do not know,
i~ a hort~c-clrawn implement for the purpose of
vuttin~ out all the rubbish between the rows of
young roots. Your borsP w~ks down tb~ middle lx•t\\\t.'n the !'OWl-~. "nrl the ~<· rnffit•r hnq two kn ife .
Jiltl' blad<'s running JUst unrl<'r thf" ground aud
cuttins::: tlu• \HCJq. ThE>st• blndefl 3;rc Sl"t llA WHle ns
you c1nrc \\ithont ri<~kinp; cuttJnp: mto the row 8 of
roots at Pll<'h ->idE' nnci SW' t'ptng them 0 \ll WhO)<'Rale.
The ddlicultv 11bout tlus m th<' early MRgf's 18
that th<' CO\\S when th<'y n.re n •ry young a r<' hnd to
st•c, und 1 f your h(J~e cannot Rt'<' thrm.Nt~dy he w 1))
not ke~"p in tht' row. AINo vou cnn t dn H' your
hors<' much nnd akndy your ~wru flh. r hancll<>s at the
snm<' tlmr. Now, litllo ~a.m E'oulcl ::.<'<' the rows of
,vurzcls almo~t bctt" r than I co\lld mys<'lf; Rnd
when I say that wh<'l't' many wen tlf<' obhgcd to
hnw n hov to lead thE' hor~c to k<>;p him in th~ row
at 11 11 ~am wouln work nll day wtth me n!ont', nnd
not c~en et line to his bit, yon wtll have some idea
of what D tl.n nwn.nt by "" good scruffier bo~c."
I know the 1arm ba.ihff came wnlkin~ nrross one
dr~v. and caught Sam :Uld m E' sc·ruffiing without
s lmll.~~; . and he r-;G.id he'd ne' er nwt. onyon( doing
1t b··fort>. ~nd ht:> \PH~ •ntrt> tt c·ouldn t h<' done With
any horse but ~am t
.
l"iometimcs w~ did have troubll" m that wurzel-
ficlrl-1 won't deny. (It wns :.o hot, Sammy,
\Htsn't it? and thE' flies! Oh, Sammy lad!) Tho
fl ics w< re buving in black masses ro und our h('ads.
t>.nd S1tm u~<'d to wear branche~ of cMcr flowers all
c•v<'r lu5 hame~s whcrevcr I could find a. lodgmg for
1t : cH'n then f'(•n:.di me<: it" ns mote tha.n he could
bl ar and he u::.ed to start off so fast down the rows
that'it was ~n I cottld do to keep pace with him.
w~ would set ou~clvt>s 10 many rows on end, and
thl"n a littlE' r<'!'p1te in the ~had c of 11 tr<'o. My feet
p;nYc way t~ good deal too. as T WM u.lways wn1king on
<~oft ground, nnd I think in many ways it was at
th1s job that I Jongrd moqt ardently for th<> last
turn about. and the moment wht>n I could say to
Sam, "It's night, my little, lad : we've fini s hed.
Are you fit for your tea ? ·• Aud then I would
clnrubcr on to his ba.rk. and we would plod down
the hill to~ctber tQ thP !'table. 8am always wanted
n hugt> drJDk on thec:-e o<·cnsions. but he was of+cn
so hot T <-ouldn't let lum h:ln much at first, and be
u sed to look so r('proa.chfully at rue, and shake hi-..
head and refuse to E'at b;s feed jJropcrly He was
& bit of a.n C!Ji<'ure a-bout h ;s m eals. a.nd \ ·hen,
later in the yt:ar,. he "as allowed a wunel with h1 s
tt•a every n ight, he new r let me forget it. I would
take h im his corn _ss o~er, n:nd beddmg UfJ, inte_ndtng
to t>Ut h1q wurzelm w1th bJR lni!t fc~d. ~am mm ply
couldn't bear it. Clank t bang ! and the block on
Saw.'s halter-chain kept shoottn~ up to the ring.
I would rem~in stolidly at my other jobs for a time,
but he would not be gainsaid.
Every time I passed he watched me
" Oosh,
but you've forgotten again 1 '' hc"d ~&.y. " \''urzcl,
plens~! Thank you for nothing fot· all this ch opped
stuft 1" 'l'hcn at last I'd take 1t in and "rag' him
with it beh;nd my back; but he knew too well, and
nudged me sharply, :1.5 though hd woultl say, " Oh !
for goodness' snko stop foolin:;. I lw:ve worked for
it, haven't I t ''
s6 (From
S
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Blaelrtoood'.• M agaz1"ne bv RpE>ri a.l permis~ion )
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