I was hardly prepared to find that my plain russet-coated dalesmen were in touch with popular sympathy; but they have made me many friends.

To me they are very dear, for I have lived their life.

It is with no affected regret that I am now parting with these companions to make way for a group of younger comrades.
There is one thing to say which will make it worth while to trouble the reader with this preface.

A small portion of the dialogue is written in a much modified form of the Cumbrian dialect.

There are four variations of dialect in Cumberland, and perhaps the dialect spoken on the West Coast differs more from the dialect spoken in the Thirlmere Valley than the latter differs from the dialect spoken in North Lancashire.