Alas! they quickly drove My darling from my bosom and my love, And snatched my crown of laurel from his hair." [Illustration: _Cottages at Slinfold._] [Sidenote: SLINFOLD] Two miles south-west of Field Place, by a footpath which takes us beside the Arun, here a narrow stream, and a deserted water mill, we come to the churchyard of Slinfold, a little quiet village with a church of almost suburban solidity and complete want of Sussex feeling.

James Dallaway, the historian of Western Sussex, was rector here from 1803 to 1834.

He lived, however, at Leatherhead, Slinfold being a sinecure.

A Slinfold epitaph on an infant views bereavement with more philosophy than is usual: in conclusion calling upon Patience thus to comfort the parents: Teach them to praise that God with grateful mind For babes that yet may come, for one still left behind.
A quarter of a mile west is Stane Street, striking London-wards from Billingshurst, and we may follow it for a while on our way to Rudgwick, near the county's border.

We leave the Roman road (which once ran as straight as might be as far as Billingsgate, but is now diverted and lost in many spots) at the drive to Dedisham, on the left, and thus save a considerable corner.