The Farm and the Village: Aspects of the Folk-Life of East Anglia

(Paperback, Main)

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In a sense all history begins in the soil; and we cannot understand the development of our own home county or region unless we know something of the story of its farming. The Farm and the Village (Faber, 1969) is an introduction to farming as it was carried on in East Anglia before the large-scale use of self-propelled machines.

Up to roughly the beginning of the twentieth century, the preparation of the land, the sowing of the seed and the harvesting of the corn had not changed to any great extent since the time of the Romans. George Ewart Evans, in addition to investigating the usual sources, listened to the memories of many men and women who were brought up under the old system of farming, taking them as authentic historical records. From them we learn how farming supported and bound together the people of the village into a community.

Imaginatively illustrated with integrated photographs and black and white line drawings, this is the fourth book in the author's classic series about the farm and the old farming community in East Anglia. The Farm and the Village was written primarily for younger readers, but adult devotees of his earlier works will also find much to enjoy.

Author Bio

Born in the mining town of Abercynon, South Wales, George Ewart Evans (1909-88) was a pioneering oral historian. In 1948 he settled with his family in Blaxhall, Suffolk, and through conversing with his neighbours he developed an interest in their dialect and the aspects of rural life which they described. Many were agricultural labourers, born before the turn of the century, who had worked on farms before the arrival of mechanisation. With the assistance of a tape recorder he collected oral evidence of the dialect, rural customs, traditions and folklore throughout East Anglia, and this work, reinforced by documental research, provided the background for his renowned East Anglian books.