COUNTRY LIFE
IN the many discussions on the parlous state of the grain harvest, especially on the, danger of the ears sprouting in the sheaf, I notice that the word " stook " is much more general than "shock," and that " sheafs " is almost as common as "sheaves." This attention to the language rather than facts, is in part due to the fact that I was once severely scolded for favouring stook, said by the critic to be Scotch, not English. The dictionary describes it as "Scotch and Northern," but I don't think this is the whole truth. Stook is literary ; shock pro- fessional. Most writers prefer stook, while nearly all the farming community in Southern England prefer "shock." For example, to quote Hood:
"Thus she stood amid the stooks, Praising God with sweetest looks:— Sure, I said, Heav'n did not mean, 'Where I reap, thou should'st but glean."
As for the plural of sheaf, there is no doubt that " sheaves " is the better form. As to the fate of harvest, in my immediate neighbourhood all the oats and most of the wheat were safely stacked before the worst of the weather arrived. And, again, the coveys of partridges are large. This experience is, however, in complete disaccord with nearby farms. The- shocks are still out ; and most of the young partridges have died off in recent weeks. Quite three-quarters of the birds shot have been old birds.
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