Highways and Byways in Sussex - online book

An illustrated appreciation, of the most interesting districts in Sussex.

	258	PIDD'NHOO	CHAP.
	local sarcasm credits Piddinghoe people with the habit of shoe­ing their magpies. The Downs when we saw them first, between Midhurst and Chichester, formed an inland chain parallel with the shore : here, and eastward as far as Beachy Head, where they suddenly cease, their southern slopes are washed by the Channel. This companionship of the sea lends them an additional
	wildness: sea mists now and then envelop them in a cloud; sea birds rise and fall above their cliffs; the roar or sigh of the waves mingles with the cries of sheep; the salt savour of the sea is borne on the wind over the crisp turf. It was, I fancy, among the Downs in this part of Sussex that Mrs. Marriott-Watson wrote the intimately understanding lines which I take the liberty of quoting :