The Countryman's Knowledge • And what is the countryman's knowledge?
I think it is usually a knowledge of things present; things he sees, hears, smells; sensuous con- tacts that affect his daily life. History is a shadow to him. I have been out with a platoon of men mapping special areas of ground, and in the course of the work have told them about the signs of the past with which every field is scribbled. They have listened; but they listened to me talking rather than to what was being said; and what they marvelled at was that I should know about these things, rather than at the things in themselves. But while showing little historical and therefore little aesthetic curiosity, these fellows knew intimately the features of the ground, and all the implications of those features. They were usually the teachers, and I the learner.
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