OR,
VILLAGE ARCHITECTURE OF BYGONE TIMES.
PART IX.
There is a kind of cottage, chiefly found in the North of England, but also not unfrequently to be seen in the western and central counties; it is constructed entirely of stone or granite. The mullions of the windows, “dressings” of the gables, doorways, and sometimes the walls themselves, are built in “ashlar.” “Ashlar,” in England, means stone brought to a smooth surface, not only on face but round the sides as well. Now this is rather important for all who are engaged in building operations, because “ashlar” means a different thing in England from what it does in other parts of the United Kingdom. In Ireland, for instance, “ashlar” means stones brought to a smooth surface in front alone, the edges being left irregular, and if you require them to be cut smooth and squared at the edges, you have to specify that they shall have “even beds and joints.”
A curious trial occupied the Irish Law Courts for many weeks some time back. An English architect and an Irish builder were engaged in erecting an important edifice in Ireland. The architect in his specification stipulated “ashlar” for the frontage of the structure. The builder carried it out in the English manner and then sent in a heavy bill of extras for “beds and joints.” This was opposed by the architect on behalf of his clients. At the trial all the Irish witnesses maintained that the builder was right, and all the English that he was wrong. The judge and jury became thoroughly puzzled, and could not understand the disputed point, as evidently both sides were perfectly sincere. At last the judge, perfectly bewildered, appealed to a very eminent counsel who was engaged, and said to him—
“Mr. ——, can you explain what all this means? We have been for some days listening to the apparently endless dispute about ‘beds and joints.’”
{621}
“Well, my lord, I can only suggest that it must be in some way connected with a question of board and lodging,” answered the counsel.
The matter remains unsettled, I believe, to this day. Of course we use the word “ashlar” in its English signification.
In addition to all the northern counties stone cottages are found in Derbyshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Oxfordshire, Somersetshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Sussex.
They are usually very solidly built, and, though they present sometimes a stern and severe aspect, they are well suited to a rough climate, as they are warm and comfortable, and so substantial that they can resist the floods which often inundate mountainous districts. The group of cottages which we sketched some years back at Glossop, in Derbyshire, bore up against a singularly severe catastrophe. The little mountain stream shown in the foreground was dammed by a very solid earthwork higher up the valley so as to form a reservoir. During a terrible storm of wi............