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Show VI LLAG E GREENS It pill Even London Is Reviving Open-air Dancing of the Good Old Days. Picturesque Fetes Again to Be Part of the Life of the People. BY FORBES W. FAIRBAIRN, Unlveral Service Staff Correspondent. LONDON, Oct. 4. England's village greens, playgrounds of children and grownups from the time of the Saxons, are not going to disappear. A movement to revive the days of "Merrie England," when the green played the most prominent promi-nent part in village social life, has been started, and each small town and village is going to be asked to preserve what greens it has, and if it has none to set aside ground in the village for the common com-mon playground. Even London is reviving the open-air dancing of bygone days. The Morris dances are the rage, and Hyde pari: is the spot they're going to dance in if the red-tape authorities will grant xer mission. mis-sion. Harley street physicians pronounce it the greatest health movement ever, and suggest that the public have dances in all the parks and public squares every Saturday. Purley Is Typical. Down south of London, nestling red and green among the Surrey hills, is the little tow n of Purley, nothing more nor less than an overgrown village. It's one of the prettiest spots in rural England, having "just growed" fur hundreds hun-dreds of years. Quiet and peaceful, running run-ning up hill and down dale, it's a haven of refuge for the busy "city man" of London, who is settling there in increasing in-creasing numbers to get away from the hurry and bustle of London '.8 teeming millions never so teeming as now. Nothing ever happens in Purley except the weather, and even that is warm and sunshiny must of the time. Hut Purley lias a perfect village green and makes use of it. The new tow n uf Purley is like all small towns, cramped and busy, but over the hill is the cid village vil-lage with its green just as it was 300 years ago. On the edge of the square are quaint little Elizabethan houses, each snug among its own roses and hedges and trees. Ancient Stocks Seen. Over in one corner is the village smithy, and outside the door are the village stocks where the evil-doers and malefactors male-factors of long ago used to pay pennance for their crimes. They are crumbly with age, but if one looks closely enough he can see initials of some of the unfortunates who spent weary hours in these outdoor jails. Leading into the green and delightful lanes and walks, "Rose Walk" and "Silver Road" being two of the prettiest in the whole of Surrey. There are roses by the million of every shade and description, and they blossom during the whole summer. sum-mer. The green is a riot of color in the spring and autumn. , Restore "Merrie" Days. Purley is enthusiastic over the revival re-vival of the old folk dancing and is planning plan-ning Saturday afternoon dances and games for the autumn months. Other villages which have greens are rejoicing in the same measure, and dancing dan-cing clubs are being formed to promote and maintain the custom. It's a "throwback" to the good old days when everyone took life calmly and leisurely when the children gamboled and the old folks looked on to the days when Good Queen Bess reigned and England Eng-land was truly "merrie." |