(}(Coy,
1919
THE LANDSWOMAN
A Message to the Land Army from
Miss Talbot
voluntN T"J 1n the Lan(l Army tc~
know that thrir \Vork 1, of M much valuo uow a;l
1t Pvt'r hM been. Let thc•ro bono doubt about that.
When the armJ~ticc wn~ ~JgnNI, and we all r('joicc·d at
the ~rct~t change from wnr to pcac<•, rnnny of you
thought your work on tlw land waH ovc•r. This
Wa.H quit(' natural, but J wnnt to «ho\\' you that
it is not too rc·nlly nt n.ll. Mn.ny of the men lvho
used to do farm work hnH· given thNr liv(• for
th<•tr countrv, or ha.v<• brromc d isnblNl in its
t~crdcc. Other!! arc still wu.ntcd for the Arnlle.i of
Occupation. So thfln' i~ a se-rious short11g<· of
lu.hour, and thn.t at a timl" of year whl"n tlw work
mus t be done 1£ the crop~ arc to be sccur••d, ancl thl"
nc<''essary food Empphed both for man and bt·a~t.
'\\'c arc all proud of thf' Land Army. You came
out to lu·lp your country, and we know of the• ~ood
work you have don<' and tho pluck vou have
shown. Go on gtvmg of your hcbt-it IS of rt·n.l
value, and iR gr(•atly netdNl. I hope. thcn, that
those of you who have r<'ll<'hed the <·nd of your
term of <~<>rvi<'C will enrol for a furthH per10d.
I
WANT
1~11
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Rural .England in Cobbett' s Day
The Farm Labourer and Wages
The Valley of the Avon
. . . In taking my }(•ave of this beautiful vale,
1 ha"e to expl'('ss my dN•p Phame, M an Englh-h·
man, at beholding the g"'neral extr,.me poterty of
those who ca.u~e this vale to produce- su<.'h {1uant1tiE'-:
of food and rnimtnt. Tht~ is, l \'crily belil:'ve it,
the wor~t u ,,.d labot,rtng pC'ople e-n th1• fare of {Jn.,
earth. Dogs and hogs and hon.€'f.l are tn n.ted with
more civility; and ns to food and lodging. how
gladly would the labourer:. cho.ngc wtth thorn !
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Hertfordshire
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Eastern Tour
The wage~ for those who are employ~d on tho
la.ncl arC', throu~h n.ll the rountw~ that I haH· come,
12s. a weC'k for ma.rrted men. and !c~s for <;1n2lc
on1· ; hut a. lar(l;" part of them arc not CH n, at this
q< a ~ on, cmployc lanrl. 1'hl" f!'rmer-, for
want of mer.n~ of profitable employment. ~uffcr the
m1 n to fall upon thn pa.ri~h. and thf y arc <·mployed
in dtgfltng and br<·&king atone for the road« . . . . ln
wn.l king ou (, y"r~tf'rclay I ;.,aw t hn c- poor fellow ..
digging 11tone for the road3, who told me that they
nt·wr had anythin2 but br<>a.d to t~t a.nd wa.tc1 to
wa.{h it down. One of them was a widower with
thrnc. children, and his pa.y wa ... 1!!. fJd . a da.y;
that JS 1o <-~a.y, a.hout three pound of lm•ad a day
<·aoh, for stx da.y;; in the~ w~ek; nothing for ~nnday,
and nothtn~ for Jodgmg, wa .... bmg, clothing, candle·
light, or foE'l !
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Tho rluldren t\te all along lH're- 1 moan tlw httle
childrcn-locked out of dooN, wh1le th{ moth<.•1-s
and fathen, arc at work in thf' Held~. I saw many
li ttlo groupM of this sort, and. thi~ i~ ono atlE>r dad. or
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look (')(>a.nE.>r and fatter than they look lwn· . . . . In
all tlw ho\1' . . , ..... '' hl re I hl\\o b(:~n +lwv
use tht'
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roa~tod ry,, in~tcad of coft<'o or t<-a, nnu 1 ;,.M\ one
gentlemt~n who had SO\\n n. pu·ce of ryo (a gram
not common in this pntt of tho country ) for the
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At about four mile from Pet' rsfic>ld we pas:wd
through a. \Jlla.gc called Rogat.-. .Ju t before we
r:a.me to it, I a.«ked a man who wat- h,..dging on th<•
~ide of th~" road how mnch hc got a. day. He caid,
ls. Gel.. and h~> told m(• tha.t thc:> a.llow~d wage-; wa~
7d. a da.y for the man ancl a gallon loll/ a vxek for
th~ rut of Jli., farn~l1J; that 1~ to <~ay, onl' pound and
two a.nd a quarter oun<.E><~ of brt.>ad for (·a<·h of thc:>ru,
and no thin~ more ! And thi:;, ob:-( rv<', i. on,. thitd
short of the bread allowance of ga.ol:-<. lf thE' man
ha' e full work, if he get hi~ Is. 6d. a. dav,
thn
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wh11le 93. do~ not purehac:e a gallon loaf e-1\ch
for a. \\oife and three children, a.nd two ~a.llon loa.ve~
for ht m~cl{. In the gaoh. tht convtcted felons ha.v e
a. pound and a half ea<.h of bread a. da.y to bcgin
with; they have . ome meat, g,•Jwn\lly, and it has
nccn found absolutely nece;;.:ary to allow them
meat when they worked at the treadmill.
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. . . I -.aw th·· ~irlq earning honw llf•an and\\ ht•Rt
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s tubble for fuel !
Hants
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• . . At Salisbury, the poor take l1y tums the
making of fires at th<'ir hou~e~ to botl four or five
tea kettles. What a wintl"r lire mu~t tho ~ t· l€'::td,
whose turn 1t ts not to make thE" fin· ! At La.nn·
ceston in Cornwall a man, n. tradesman too, told
me that tho people in gom•ml could not afford to
havE" a firo 1n ordinary, and thnt h<: him"{ lf paid 3d.
for boiling a leg of mutton at a.noth•·t· lllnn s fin·!
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rxpt(· s }>Urpo.:~(•,'; Tt costs about thre~" farthin$.!· a
pound. ro~.., t~dfand £round into powder
Tho
puy ()( t lt<· labourer-. varir from
. to I:? .... a \\ ~ek.
h~re
The wages
and 1n Berk . . hirc, a.bo ut
week; but the farmer.'4 talk of lowering them.
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B e tween Warminstcr and Wc::-thul'J' I :-a.w th\tty
or more dtg(Jl1lfJ a. great tit-Id of, I dare !-\ l'l y fatmyatd ~ " "~\h, " ~aid Jw.
"they make Jt bad for poor 1wopl<' for nil that
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Rural Rides, 1 ~::!1-l ~:$ 1 •
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