I have had an opportunity of looking at the book
of the words—the programme notes and Narrator's speeches —for the Pageant which will take place at Abinger on Saturday. I read them carefully, for they are by Mr. E. M. Forster, and everything that Mr. Forster writes is worth reading carefully ; and I was interested to note here once again that semi-pagan tree motive which has played a singular part in his work. Several facts about this pageant have been drawn to my attention—first that it is all done by " people on the spot "; and it is surely a favoured spot that possesses a Mr. Forster to write the wl,rds and a Dr. Vaughan Williams the music ; and I am not surprised to learn that in this case, for the whole period between 1066 and today, there has .been no recourse to the all too familiar battles and military dis- plays. That is not, I suppose, because the promoters of this pageant are exceptionally pacifist, but because they have discovered so many other things in the past local life of their beautiful district which are more characteristic and interesting. The Woodman inthe . Epilogue does not omit to point the moral that " is easy to ruin our Surrey fields and woodlands," but, " if you want to save them they can be saved."
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