An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY Ou the 16th ovember I lectured at Seaming for J essopp with the help of Brittain, who showed the slides, aud came back with me next morning. December began for me with a lecture on the ·" Unspoiled Upper Waters of the Ant," which had cost Brittain and me much tronble to get up. On the 2nd I felt very seedy and unwell, so walked out to Drayton, which I reached extremely tiredi and it ·began to break on me that my walking days were definitely over. A good lunch at the " Red Lion" (Randall's), how– ever, enable<l me to crawl home. I have tried again and agaiu, but could never really get to walk again. F.G.R. came down on the r8th, and we drove over to North Walsham to see the carved beam, afterwards illus– trated in Norfolk Arcbreology, xvi., p. 76, but both being -temporarily insane did not buy it for the £5 he asked. J.B.A., A .L.R. and wife came over for the Christmas, and I managed to walk into Norwich from Lammas with J.B.R., but very slowly. The" swan" this year was a failure. P.B.F.'s Annual Dinner on the 29th was as amusing as ever. Mr. Winch, the prospective candidate there, very young but pleasant. P.B.F. was fitting up the malthouse farm buildings as a private house, which be afterwards called. Tasburgh Grange, now occupied by the brothers Roche, who were good artists and sculptor , and who have made the place and its gardeus very pretty iudeed. This year I rode 63 long rides, and only published two books, "Taste and Want of Taste" and "Old and Present Life at Cringleford," the latter being a repriut of my lecture. The year 1905 was one of the dullest and most unlucky years of my life. Not only was my wife very ill, but the weather was bitterly cold, the river at Lammas was frozen over, and the ouly thing I could find to do was to work at the Castle Record Room. Howlett was writing a paper on '' Norwich Artillery in the 14th century,'' afterwards printed in Norfolk Archreology, xvi., p. 34, as I thought I had found traces of rifling in the long gun said to be used at Kelt's Rebellion, but we came to tlle conclusion that if there were any it was only near the muzzle . A journey to Dereham on 2rst January to see some excavations made at the Old Guildhall by Mr. Barton did