Sussex Folk and Sussex Ways

Taken from the 1923 edition with a foreword by Seila Kaye-Smith. First published 1884, the author was rector of Burwash in the 19th century. 8 photos. He was rector of Burwash & opens the book with this prophetic statement: ‘In a few years' time the manners & customs of Sussex men, women & children will have passed away as utterly as pack-horses & stage wagons. Round frocks (smocks) will be extinct, & with them the characteristics of mind, thought, and speech which round frocks betokened. I well know the change must come, but I own that I look forward with but little satisfaction to the time when our boys & girls will all speak a uniform language prescribed by the Committee of Council on Education, & when our men & women will think only just as other people think.' He was a keen observer of the Sussex ‘peasant' - “I knew she was old, Vicar, because her flannel petticoats were made of silk!” Extracts from the parish registers.

Appendix: History of Burwash.