17.—Sarum Plaindetails

In the foreground a barefoot shepherd with crook and straw hat, probably a boy, accompanied by his sheep, who graze on grassy burial mounds perhaps of ancient kings. In the far background, over Salisubury Plain, we see the ruins of distant Stonehenge.

I am reminded of a poem by Wordsworth:

A traveller on the skirt of Sarum’s Plain
Pursued his vagrant way, with feet half bare;
Stooping his gait, but not as if to gain
Help from the staff he bore; for mien and air
Were hardy, though his cheek seemed worn with care
Both of the time to come, and time long fled:
Down fell in straggling locks his thin grey hair;
A coat he wore of military red
But faded, and stuck o’er with many a patch and shred.
Guilt and Sorrw, or Incidents Upon Salisubury Plain, William Wordsworth, approx. 1794.