A PARISH ON WHEELS.* Mn. SWINSTEAD, known among his parishioners,
it would seem, as " Swizzleum," "Shrimpster," "Swister," and other fancy variations of his name, is, or was, the resident incumbent of a " Parish on Wheels." To put this statement into plainer language, he was put by the Bishop of Salisbury in spiritual charge of the " van-people," a numerous fraternity in southern and central Wiltshire and Dorsetehire, and in order to be really with his flock, he himself dwelt and travelled about in a van. Many of our readers will have beard something about these wandering tribes and the perplexing social problems which they present. The late George Smith of Coalville was very zealous for their welfare, and for that of a population whose circumstances are somewhat similar, the dwellers in canal- boats. Unfortunately, Mr. George Smith, notwithstanding his excellent intentions, did not please the people for whom he laboured. His proposed Movable Dwellings Bill, which was to provide for the sanitation and education of the van-people, was received with pronounced hostility, and called into existence the United Kingdom Van-dwellers' Protection Association, a trade-union and benefit society which soon numbered a thousand members. The van-people declared that if health was a proof of good sanitation, they were at least better off than the inhabitants of the poorer quarters of towns or of tumble-down cottages ; registration they had because they were licensed ; and as for education, if they could not get it in any satisfactory shape for their children, it was not from any want of will on their part. What most excited their wrath was the provision that an inspector might enter a van at any time between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. It was, indeed, a strong measure, and naturally excited the vigorous condemnation which one of the nomad matrons expressed when she said, " Sit down and go 'ome, Smith; we don't want you nor none of your 'ations."
There are reformers who advocate a more drastic method than even Mr. Smith's. They would abolish the fairs, and with them take away the raison dare of the van-people's existence. The arguments for this heroic treatment of the subject are obvious. No one can attend a fair, especially after dark, without feeling their force. But there is much to be said on the other side. In the first place, it would not be effective. There would still be vans and van-dwellers were all the fairs to disappear. The travelling traders in brushes, wicker-work articles, and pots and pans supply a real want. How is the village house-wife to procure these things except from the itinerant dealer ? She may be five or six miles from the nearest railway station. And even if she is near, the railway fare adds a formidable percentage to the cost.
• A Parish on Wheels. By the Rev. J. Howard Swinetead, M.A. London : Gardner, Barton, and Co.
The pleasure-vans, too, with their merry-go-rounds, are in request often among the very people who would abolish the fairs. The school-treat and the flower-show owe half their attractions to these itinerant purveyors of amusement. And the question may be argued on broader grounds. The life of the rural poor is pitiably dull as it is, and it would be a deplorable mistake to rob it of any of the brightness that it still has. We must take men as we find them, and one thing is a matter of universal experience,—that they will not be satisfied with "a Blue-book and a biscuit," or with whatever equivalents for these delights may be offered them. Mr. Swinstead argues the question with much good sense in his fourth chapter. He urges commercial reasons, and reasons still more cogent from the necessities of human life, necessities which are not limited by food and drink and clothing. It must not be forgotten that the purveyors of entertainment at these gatherings are progressing like other people. Fat women and double-beaded children still draw, but they have formidable rivals in such inventions as the phonograph. The villager's intelligence must be quickened when he hears the actual tones and words of Mr. Gladstone issuing from a mysterious mahogany box. An excellent practical suggestion for improving the morals of these gatherings is that decent people should take a part in them. Does any one want to see a race-meeting where there is nothing to offend good taste or good morals P Let him go to a Breton village, and see the cures in their cassocks mixing in the crowd of spectators.
But whatever may happen in the future, we have as a pre- sent fact a population of van-dwellers which is numbered by thousands. What is to be done with them P The itinerant preacher's answer is to go with his Bible and hymn-book and get what audience he can. And even if he get his audience— and this is not always the case—the result is not very satis- factory. The answer of Mr. Swinstead, and of those who have gone before him in the work, is,—live among them. This is not every man's work. You must have courage ; you must have imperturbable good temper ; you must have humour ; it is well to be "a man of your hands." The pastor of this strange flock must begin by learning their language. He must not confound a " chap " with a " man." A "chap" is the hired assistant. An owner is a man. "Here's some drunken chap rolling this way," said Mr. Swinstead in early days to a " mop-haired girl." " Him a chap !" was the reply. " Whoy, he's mop feather." Then there are some strange ways of think- ing for him to become acquainted with. There are superstitions in plenty, one of them, fortunately, being that it is not well to go against the clergy. "It is an odd number [itself a curious survival] to displease parsons, so I didn't open my show on Christmas morning when the vicar asted me." More fashionable gatherings might learn a lesson from the good taste which closes an exhibition if an accident should occur. A "local gent" dislocated his knee in sparring with the proprietor. There was a good prospect of gain, but the man at once shut the booth. But when a villager asked for his twopence back, the man's patience broke down. " Why, you've a-seed a gent broke hie leg, — ain't that worth tuppence? Look 'ere, young man, if y' ain't satisfied, you can just put on the gloves and 'ave a mouthful along o' me." The young man was satisfied.
The tale of Mr. Swinstead's experiences of travel is highly interesting. He had many difficulties, foremost of all, perhaps, being the finding of a good assistant. Mr. Swin- stead had seven in sixty-six weeks. Juvat meminisse, of course. But what he suffered in the enduring of these things it is not easy to imagine. The beat of the seven save the last—for a treasure with all the virtues, for 15s. per week, was found at last—was a young sailor. He had the "gift of the gab," for he was a great hand at selling books; he was good-tempered and willing and full of fun ; but, alas ! there was a little rift within the lute. " I caught him snoring hard in my berth at noonday." He had the choice aut Jura [i.e., take the pledge] aut disceds, and he took the latter, and they parted with mutual regret. Then the parishioners have a gift of humorous speech and action which is not always agreeable. And there are other things to be borne. Certainly the work is not for every one. But to read of it as it is described in Mr. Swinstead's cheerful and graphic style is an unmixed pleasure.
On one matter in which he is deeply interested something must be said. How are these nomad children to be educated ? " My Lords " of the Council have no answer to give. They hold out no hope of money; even the privilege of using the schoolroom for the vagrants when the village has a holiday to "see the fair" is refused. "My lords are not aware of any legal right," &c. Of course not ; red-tape is not elastic. Yet something ought to be done, and might be done. The children must be " half-timers." During the summer-time little can be done, though something is possible, as Mr. Swinstead shows. But in the winter, when the vans are moored, so to speak, in towns, there might be regular teaching. Only there must be a special effort, and a special adaptation of means to the end. If some of the time which is so miserably wasted in party struggles were given to an honest attempt to solve a really difficult problem, how great the gain to this neglected class and to the country at large ! For indeed they are not a negligeable quantity. Their mode of life makes them extremely acute, and gives them a vigour of character which will repay cultivation as it will certainly avenge neglect.
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