[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."' Sia,—Readers who have been
following your correspondence on dew-ponds may be interested to read an extract from an article on this subject by the Rev. Edgar Glanfield, entitled "The Dew-pond Makers of Imber," in the Wiltshire Gazette. After describing the methods of making dew-ponds, the Vicar of Imber shows that for the men of Imber dew-pond making was a peripatetic trade :—
"Up to ten years ago the dew-pond makers started upon their work about September 12th, and they toured the country for a period of six or seven months, making in sequence from six to fifteen ponds, according to size and conveniences, in a season of winter and spring—such labour is too exacting in the warmer weather. They travelled throughout Wiltshire and Hampshire, and occasionally they carried their operations into Somersetshire and Berkshire and even into Kent—much work being done on behalf of the Berkshire, Commissioners. Harvesting claimed their presence at home in the summer and autumn. They would be recommended to lodgings, and return to them year by year,. for in those days the men of Imber were cleanly in person and character, upright, trusty, and trustful, and they paid ready money for their simple needs. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 'The Village Blacksmith' typifies the personality of our men. For their lodgings they paid half-a-crown weekly for five nights (returning home for Saturday and Sunday) for sleeping accommodation, and for their cooking. They provided their own food. The reasons for the decay of the industry are said to be the advent of the water wheel, which is driven by the wind and pumps from wells; to a certain extent it is due also to the unwillingness of men to engage in work of so laborious a nature at a rate of payment which cannot be met by landowners or farmers. For several generations Imber men have been engaged upon this work. We have, living in our village, two of the master dew- pond makers—Mr. Charles White, aged 81 years, and Mr. Joel Cruse, aged 79; and two of their assistants—Mr. Jabez Earley and Mr. Daniel Pearce, both of them nearly 80 years of age."
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