Along some of our hillsides are curious turf-cut monuments, which
always attract our gaze and make us wonder who first cut out these
figures on the face of the chalk hill. There is the great White Horse
on the Berkshire Downs above Uffington, which we like to think was cut
out by Alfred's men after his victory over the Danes on the Ashdown
Hills. We are told, however, that that cannot be, and that it must
have been made at least a thousand years before King Alfred's glorious
reign. Some of these monuments are in danger of disappearing. They
need scouring pretty constantly, as the weeds and grass will grow over
the face of the bare chalk and tend to obliterate the figures. The
Berkshire White Horse wanted grooming badly a short time ago, and the
present writer was urged to approach the noble owner, the Earl of
Craven, and urge the necessity of a scouring. The Earl, however,
needed no reminder, and the White Horse is now thoroughly groomed, and
looks as fit and active as ever. Other steeds on our hillsides have in
modern times been so cut and altered in shape that their nearest
relations would not know them. Thus the White Horse at Westbury, in
Wiltshire, is now a sturdy-looking little cob, quite up to date and
altogether modern, very different from the old shape of the animal.
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