A Hackneyed Road
Words change themselves in country speech in curious ways not explained in such beautiful theories as Grimm's law. The field where I listened to this encomium on oat flower as a stuffing was bordered on one side by the old Icknield Way. It has become thereabouts the " 'acImey Lane." The charm of the prehistoric Ridgeway, that glorious grass road which keeps when it can to the crest of the Downs, does not altogether belong to Icknield Way, which often runs lower down, but it has kept its ancient uses longer, and they have even enjoyed a certain revival. Folk go to the Ridgeway when they seek beauty or exercise on foot or on horse. A few motor-cars ven- ture there; and on some offshoots of the Ridgeway proper, such as the Fair Mile, they are a cause of offence ; but the Ridge- way can hardly be described as a useful thoroughfare. In Icknield Way, on the other hand, is one of the most useful of roads for farm traffic, not least for tractors, whose heavy studded wheels may be quite unfit for the current highways. Hence the popularity of the chalky tracks of the Icknield Way, especially when it is desired to transport a tractor from one farm to another.
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