***




Produced by Al Haines.




                            CHILDREN OF THE
                             DEAR COTSWOLDS


                                   BY

                            L. ALLEN HARKER

                               AUTHOR OF
                "MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY," ETC.



                                 LONDON
                   JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
                                  1918




                          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED



    _Copyright in the United States of America by L. Allen Harker._




                             OTHER WORKS BY
                            L. ALLEN HARKER

                            JAN AND HER JOB
                       THE FFOLLIOTS OF REDMARLEY
                        A ROMANCE OF THE NURSERY
                            MASTER AND MAID
                    MISS ESPERANCE AND MR. WYCHERLY
                          MR. WYCHERLY'S WARDS

                          JOHN MURRAY, LONDON




                                   TO

                         THE COUNTESS BATHURST

    Dear to you, too, the small "uplandish" town,
    The steep stone roofs, the graceful gabled street,
    The great beech woods, the rolling purple down,
    The golden fields that shimmer in the heat
    With molten glow of buttercups ablaze--
      Dear to you, too.

    Dear to you, too, the folk, slow-spoken, kind,
    Wise with a mother-wisdom not of books;
    The sturdy "Cotsal-bred" of cautious mind,
    That judges men by "doin's, not by looks,"
    With sapient nods and trenchant homely phrase--
      Dear to you, too.

    And since you love them well--people and land--
    I bring you stories of them--just a few
    Old folk and young--in hope you'll let them stand
    With others that I wot of dear to you.
