110
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
At different places the towing path changes from one side of the river to the
other; at these points the animal jumped on board the leading barge, and was
thus ferried across ; and the way in which he cleared the low stiles on the towing-
path, with a boy on his back, would have done credit to a heavy-weight hunter.
Altogether that horse was almost the hero of the adventure, and reminded us of
the picture "The Jumping Horse," exhibited by Constable at the Royal Academy
in 1825—a boy on the top of a chestnut horse, with crimson fringe on the
harness, leaping over one of these barriers along the Stour.
At the first lock Mr. Stannard came on board. He had lent the barges for the
occasion, and his good company was not less valued than his kindness. Not long
after this, the rain came down in earnest, so heavily that one of the party
facetiously congratulated the company on the extraordinary appropriateness of the
weather, which thoroughly exemplified the kind of atmospheric conditions that
Constable was so fond of introducing into his paintings. A cleverly-contrived
awning was then put up for the protection of the ladies, but it was a drenching
wet voyage during the next hour or more, and the lovely glades of Tendring Park
were seen through a mist, dimly. Sir Joshua Rowley's splendid herd of red polls
was down on the marshes. Where to have luncheon soon became an anxious
question. There was no room on the barge, the tables were wet, and a picnic on
the bank was now impossible. In this difficulty, Mr. Stannard rendered the party
good service before leaving them for Colchester Market. He went forward and
opened negotiations with Mr. Johnson, at Boxted Mill; that gentleman responded
in the most generous way, and the upshot was that the mid-day meal was served
in the lower story of the mill. Little room could be found for tables, and the
company sat down on flour and meal bags, in dark out-of-the-way corners, holding
plates on their "laps," and foraging round for what could be got. Under these
extraordinary conditions, Mr. R. W. Mutton, of the George Hotel, Colchester—
who had brought the necessaries along in the barge—gave immense satisfaction,
and one and all were pleased.
By this time the rain had ceased, and looking round with a Mark Tapley eye,
so to speak, Mr. Crouch summed up the situation in a little story. It was that of
a village doctor, who met one of his poorer patients and asked him how he was
getting on. "Well, I don't know," was the dubious reply, "I've taken all your
nasty stuff ; thank goodness ! I'm none the wuss." The party felt none the worse
for their adventure up to this time, and thanked Mr. Johnson with three cheers
as they joined the barge, and passed out of his lock.
The rain and the delay, however, had prevented the possibility of botanising
or other natural history collecting. Thenceforth the barges proceeded at a fair
speed down the river, the banks of which were covered with big clumps of yellow
tansy, hemp agrimony, Comfrey, and the ever-present and pleasing Epilobium in
full bloom. Mr. Wright, always ready to impart botanical information, made
the journey pleasant and instructive to many of those present. The tower of
Langham Church, from the summit of which Constable painted his famous picture
of the "Vale of Dedham," remained in sight for a long time ; there is a lock here,
and also at Stratford, where a comely damsel handed on board a well-filled basket
of flowers and fruit from Mr. Rowland Cobbold, of Dedham Lodge, who enter-
tained the Club so hospitably some two or three years ago.
Landing at Dedham Lock (Mr. E. Clover's) a short time was spent in the
town ; the picturesque "Sun Inn," with its quaint yard-gateway was seen ; and a
visit made to Southfields, an interesting group of cottages, converted from an old