ACZ9410 First Edition (2 Vols. Crown 8vo) October 1882 Reprinted December 1882, March 1883 Second Edition (1 Vol. Crown 8vo) December 1883 Reprinted 1891, 1892 Printed by R. & R. CLARK, Edinburgh. MRS. LORIMER. PART I. CHAPTER I. "Speaking in parable, I am Colin Clout. Not by THE Parish of Claybrooke was agitated. any public event of world-wide interest. Wars and the rumours of them affected the apathetic life of this midland village very slightly. All Europe might have been given over to fire and sword, and Claybrooke, meanwhile, would have remained serenely neutral, so long as bread did not "go up," and beasts fetched a fair price at Slowby market on Thursdays. Local interests were the only real interests of its inhabitants. The year 1815, for example, was unimportant, save as being the year following the great snow, when six of Mr. Robins's sheep were buried for a matter of eight days in a drift, down against the hedge, by the towing path. Again, the |