Second of a series of readings from the works of George Bourne
Selected and read by Bernard Miles
Although only a jobbing gardener, working within a few miles of the house in which he was born, Bettesworth in his youth had travelled far and wide over England and when still a lad had fought in the Crimea. ' We had rum twice a day: rum and lime-juice. That was to keep off scurvy. Never had no cups nor nothing. We had knives, same as that old clasp-knife I got now, and used to knock off the necks o' the bottles with 'em.'