Introduction
In 1784, the use of a horse for purposes other than farming was subjected to tax, one of Prime Minister William Pitt’s many ingenious tax-grabs. William Cobbett (who blamed the taxes on the national debt racked up by unnecessary wars) chuckled with delight nearly forty years later, when he stumbled across a farmer’s wife making a gentle protest.
AT about an equal distance from Hereford and from Ross, we met with something, the sight of which pleased me exceedingly: it was that of a very pretty pleasant-looking lady (and young too)* with two beautiful children, riding in a little sort of chaise-cart, drawn by an ass, which she was driving in reins.
She appeared to be well known to my friends, who drew up and spoke to her, calling her Mrs Lock, or Locky (I hope it was not Lockart),* or some such name. Her husband, who is, I suppose, some young farmer of the neighbourhood, may well call himself Mr Lucky; for to have such a wife, and for such a wife to have the good sense to put up with an ass-cart, in order to avoid, as much as possible, feeding those cormorants who gorge on the taxes, is a blessing that falls, I am afraid, to the lot of very few rich farmers.
Mrs Lock (if that be her name) is a real practical radical. Others of us resort to radical coffee and radical tea;* and she has a radical carriage.
* There was an opinion among the fashionable that working class people should not marry young and have lots of children, and even that legislation should be introduced to discourage them. Cobbett objected to this opinion very strongly. See ‘God Never Sends Mouths Without Sending Meat’.
* A reference to journalist John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854), who was editor of the Tory Quarterly Review from 1826 to 1853 and married Sophia Scott, daughter of Sir Walter Scott, in 1820. In March 1817, Lockhart accused Cobbett of fomenting sedition at a meeting in Winchester, to which charge Cobbett replied that Lockhart was twisting his words. Lockhart chose to be outraged at this, and demanded ‘satisfaction’. Cobbett (who objected to duels) replied that he was too busy, and there the matter ended. Lockhart initiated another unseemly duel in 1821.
* Wines and spirits were another item taxed by the indefatigable Mr Pitt. Cobbett went on to say that hoped Mr Lock was not so ‘unmanly’ as to let his pretty wife, who deserved the best her husband could give her, defy the Treasury by driving about in a donkey-and-trap while he sat at home swelling the Treasury’s coffers with the help of a bottle.
Précis
In Rural Rides, William Cobbett recalled seeing a young farmer’s wife driving a trap along a Herefordshire lane, drawn by a donkey and accompanied by two children. Cobbett, a severe critic of frivolous taxation, guessed it was a swipe at the tax on keeping a horse-drawn vehicle, and congratulated her husband on having such a pretty and spirited wife. (59 / 60 words)
In Rural Rides, William Cobbett recalled seeing a young farmer’s wife driving a trap along a Herefordshire lane, drawn by a donkey and accompanied by two children. Cobbett, a severe critic of frivolous taxation, guessed it was a swipe at the tax on keeping a horse-drawn vehicle, and congratulated her husband on having such a pretty and spirited wife.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, because, if, not, since, unless, who.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Hope. Real. She.
2 Lucky. My. Possible.
3 Feed. Little. Sight.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding in-.
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Order. 2 Call. 3 Resort. 4 Distance. 5 Hope. 6 Drive. 7 Husband. 8 Look. 9 Meet.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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