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 Journal Of Contemporary Urban Affairs
2018, Volume 2, Number 2, pages 60–70

The Impact of Peri-Urbanisation on Housing

Development: Environmental Quality and Residents'
Productivity in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos
*Dr. ADEDIREFUNMILAYO MOKUNFAYO 1, Dr. ADEGBILEMICHAEL BABATUNDE 2
1, 2 Department of Architecture, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State, Nigeria
E mail: funmidire@gmail.com, E mail: mboadegbile@yahoo.com

A R T I C L E I N F O: ABSTRACT
Article history: This paper assesses the impact of peri-urbanisation on housing, environmental
Received 30November 2017 quality and residents’ socio-demography in Ibeju-Lekkiperi-urban in Lagos,
Accepted 14December 2017 Nigeria. Primary data was collected through administration of 370 questionnaires
Available online 16December to household heads in purposively selected sixteen settlements in the study area
2017 while secondary data was sourced from spatial images, land use maps and satellite
Keywords: images of the study area. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics
Environmental Quality; while qualitative data was analysed using time series and satellite image analysis.
Housing Development; The result shows a spatial expansion due mainly to increased housing development,
Peri-Urbanisation; a multi-dimensional environmental and socio-cultural challenges that impacts
Residents’ Productivity; negatively on the quality of living and a literate, high income group dominance in
Urbanisation; the selected peri-urban settlements in Ibeju-Lekki. The study recommends a creation
Sustainability. of a database to capture the pattern of housing development, residents’ socio-
economic demography and infrastructure needs for intervention in policy design for
a sustainable development.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution
JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2018) 2(2), 60-70.
- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 4.0.
https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2018.3671
"CC-BY-NC-ND"
www.ijcua.com
Copyright © 2017 Journal Of Contemporary Urban Affairs. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction the ideal place for personal housing

Housing development in Lagos State peri-urban
settlements is mostly characterised by a high level
of informal development, poor quality housing
and confronted with a multi-dimensional
environmental and socio-cultural challenges.
Prompted either by forced relocation or voluntary
relocation from the central urban area due to
housing affordability in the peri-urban, the
migrants constituting mainly the low income
group and middle income group, and guided by
limited economic resources, see the peri-urban, a
transition zone between the rural and urban as
development or rental housing (Allen, 2010).
Among many challenges experienced by the
migrants are conflict-ridden tenure, neo-
customary land rights and arbitrary increase in
land prices due to land speculation activities
(Pradoto, 2012).
*Corresponding Author:
Department of Architecture, University of Lagos, Akoka,
Lagos State, Nigeria
E-mail address: funmidire@gmail.com
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018
Housing deficits in the city centre are a prominent
negative effect of urbanisation in the third world
(McGranaham and Satterthwaite, 2014), thus
greatly influencing housing development in the
peri-urban settlements of Lagos. Most housing
under the self-help housing development and
mostly owner-occupied developments creates a
distortion to the master plan because of lack of
effective monitoring and limited economic
capacity of the low-income group. Disparity in
the socio-economic attributes of the residents
aided by institutional policy creates a socio-
cultural and residential segregation in most peri-
urban settlements (Fitra and Pradoto, 2014). Also,
housing development in Lagos peri-urban exhibits
various characteristics that are not in conformity
with existing building regulation in the state. Policy
response to the pattern of growth does not
correspond to the pace of rapid housing
development in Lagos peri-urban settlements.
Although there exists good housing development
led by government initiatives and private
developers’ initiatives, self-help housing in Lagos
peri-urban housing developments is generally
known to be poor in term of quality (Lawanson et
al., 2012). Borne out of terms the varying socio-
economic composition of the residents and poor
institutional responses, most self-help housing
developments in Lagos peri-urban are total
deviation from acceptable housing quality
standard. In addition, there is an institutional
failure which translates to additional challenges in
Lagos peri-urban housing developments and
ultimately impairs the characteristics of housing in
Lagos peri-urban. Contributing also to the chaotic
development pattern is the lack of adequate
monitoring of the continuous development by the
building regulation authority and lack of proper
documentation of the pattern of growth as seen
in most peri-urban developments in developing
countries (Puttal and Ravadi, 2014).
In Lagos peri-urban settlements, government-led
housing settlements and private-led housing
settlements are better developed in terms of
infrastructure than settlements constituting self-
help housing in the low-income group. Armed for
inadequate knowledge of the socio-economic
composition of the migrants, most housing
initiatives led by institutional and corporate
bodies are not meeting the needs of the majority
of low income and middle-income group
because of affordability issues. Therefore, most
exclusive gated housing developments in the
peri-urban area are not occupied. The various
environmental and socio-economic challenges in
Lagos peri-urban settlement ultimately affect the
quality of living and productivity of the residents.
With these characteristics associated with peri-
urban settlements in Lagos, there needs to be a
case study approach to study the trend of spatial
demographic expansion as it relates to residents’
quality of life, housing and environmental quality.
Though there have been prior works on peri-
urban study in Nigeria, none has adequately
addressed the characteristics of housing
development in Lagos as it should. An analysis of
the characteristics of housing development in
Lagos peri-urban settlements is vital because the
peripheral locations in Lagos accommodate a
large share of the urban population. This study
focuses therefore on the assessment of spatial
expansion and the policy implication on the
environmental sustainability and residents’
productivity in selected peri-urban settlements in
Lagos State.
2. Literature Review
Pacione (2009) stated in his research work that
one of the attendant problems of contemporary
urbanisation in developing countries is the spatial
demand for housing in the high population and
the increasing globalization-induced socio-
economic activities. Urbanisation is the product of
movement of people from rural areas to urban
areas with population growth not equating urban
infrastructuresize (McGranahamand
Satterthwaite, 2014). Spatial development in the
peri-urban is a product of peri-urbanisation which
is a direct consequence of unmanaged
urbanisation, the process of agglomeration of
multifunctional settlements of relatively substantial
size. The level of urbanisation is the ratio of total
population living in towns and cities. The rate of
urbanisation is the rate of growth of urban
population. It is the movement of people from
rural areas to urban areas with population growth
equating to urban migration (Satterthwaite,
2014).
Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 61
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018
Investigation by Law et al. (2008) indicates that
residential land comprised over 50 percent of all
major urban land uses in peri-urban settlements,
noting that one of the key factors driving peri-
urban spatial development is the availability of
cheap housing for urban middle class and low-
income groups. In addition to the quest for land
for housing development, improved transport
infrastructure has aided the emergence,
development and growth of most peri-urban
area settlements (Wu and Zhang, 2012;
Lawansonet al., 2012). Major driving forces of the
high rate of growth of peri-urban settlements are
rapid urban population growth and the need for
individuals and households to acquire land for
residential development (Opoko and Oluwatayo,
2014). The challenge of housing in the city centre
has influenced housing development in the peri-
urban. The concept of spatial and demographic
change in peri-urban cannot be fully
appreciated without capturing the link between
peri-urbanisation and urbanisation. The rural-
urban linkage theory was adopted by Lawanson
et al. (2012) in supporting the cause of residential
development in their investigation of rural-urban
linkages of the Lagos mega city. This theory
sufficiently anchors the push and pulls factors in
development of Lagos peri-urban settlement.
The failure of government intervention in housing
and poor planning policy and programmes in
Nigeria has manifested in a high rate of self-help
housing especially among the low income group
in the peri-urban adjoining metropolitan areas.
Lagos State is spatially the smallest state in Nigeria
with approximately 3, 577 kilometres square out of
which 39% are wetlands (Dekolo and Oduwaye,
2011). Lagos land constitutes 0.4% of Nigeria’s
total land mass (Opoko and Oluwatayo, 2014).
Between 1994 and 2008, the built up area of
Lagos increased from 397 kilometres square to
610 kilometres square and most of this expansion
have been in the peri-urban (Nwokoro and
Dekolo, 2012). It was further asserted that Lagos
has one of the highest urban growth rates in the
world (Jiboye, 2011; United Nations, 2016) and
thus is one of the cities most impacted by
urbanisation in term of housing. The attraction of
immigrants to Lagos is because the state remains
the industrial and commercial hub. Hence
expansion in Lagos is not only demographically
but also spatially. Going by the claim of LASG
Economic Intelligence Unit (2012), an estimate of
2.55 million new homes is required for the next five
years to meet housing needs of Lagos State.
In the face of limited land supply, housing
demand as a result of population increase has
led to the creation of satellite towns in the peri-
urban of Lagos. The creation of satellite towns in
Lagos peri-urban is the existing means of
mitigating the unabated housing challenge and
spatial demand in Lagos State (Towry-Coker,
2002). Metropolitan Lagos is built up in terms of
housing development. It has been suggested that
most recent expansion in Lagos has been in peri-
urban settlements (Nwokoro and Dekolo, 2012).
Housing challenge is dominant in Lagos because
of high population growth rate and poor
government intervention in housing development
for the low-income group (Jiboye, 2011).
Dutta (2012) observed that peri-urban areas are
usually subjected to diverse physical, socio
demographic, morphological, cultural, economic
and functional transformations. Housing
development in most peri-urban usually exist
under three initiatives, government-led housing
development, private company-led
development and self-help housing
development. Each housing initiative varies in
building typologies, mode of construction, target
users and conformity to standard (Wu, et al., 2013;
McGranaham and Satterthwaite, 2014). Housing
development in the peri-urban calls for
consideration of the socio-economic attributes of
the different income groups of the migrants but
this is not the case in most peri-urban housing
developments (Shen and Wu, 2013). Socio-
cultural diversity and the socio-economic
characteristics of the residents greatly influence
the physical characteristics of housing
development in the peri-urban. The socio-
demography of the residents in the peri-urban
greatly influence the housing typology, quality of
housing, and household size.
There are challenges to the management of
housing development in most peri-urban
settlements in developing countries. These
challenges can be viewed in three perspectives,
institutional challenges, environmental challenges
Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 62
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018
and socio-economic challenges. Institutional
challenges are related to the regional
government in rising to the governance of the
peri-urban. Notable among many institutional
challenges are poor zoning, lack of effective
planning office and personnel, conflicting land
tenure and lack of an updated master plan as
shown by Salem (2015). Environmental challenges
in the peri-urban include poor infrastructure
development, traffic congestion, flooding and
poor waste management (Lawanson, et al.,
2012). Socio-economic challenges in the peri-
urban housing developments manifest in form of
land speculation, residential segregation and
increasing cost of commodities because of
increasing population growth. Occurring
challenges can further be supported by the
Alonso Access Trade off model which posits that
despite land affordability in the peri-urban
interface, some benefits to be traded off include
high commuting hours because of the distance
from the metropolitan areas and likewise the poor
infrastructural development pose a problem for
the residents.
Nwokoro and Dekolo (2012) worked extensively
on peri-urban land use changes in the Lagos
Megacity and the policy response to the change
in land use. Further work on agricultural land use
in Nigerian peri-urban was carried out by Binns et
al. (2003). A study of rural-urban linkages in
Nigeria peri-urban was done by Lawanson et al.
(2012). Another study on housing quality in
Akureperi-urban was also carried out by Olotuah
(2006). Other relevant investigation on peri-urban
development was done by Dung-Gwom (2008)
and Emankhu and Ubangari (2015).
Supplementary work on peri-urban development
by Lawanson et al. (2012) is limited to
environmental quality, little was done on
characteristics of housing development. All these
prior works have references to the general growth
in the peri-urban, none of these scholars have
addressed housing development in Lagos peri-
urban in terms of residents’ perception housing
characteristics, quality of housing and the
locational challenges. There is a gap in
knowledge about the performance of the
emerging peri-urban settlements, the
characteristics of housing, the attributes of the
residents and its influence on the quality of
housing and environment in Lagos peri-urban.
This study is imperative owing to scanty attention
paid to peri-urban housing development in
Nigeria. The impact of urban transformation
taking place in Lagos peri-urban has not been
captured adequately. Therefore, to fill this
research gap, this study examines the impact of
peri-urban expansion on housing development
and the accompanying environmental and
socio-cultural challenges in the selected peri-
urban settlements for empirical data based on
residents’ perceptions and observations, to be
used for policy design in managing the
uncontrolled continuous expansion in Lagos State
peri-urban areas.
3. The context and scope of the study
The selected case study is Ibeju-Lekki, a Local
Government Area of Lagos State, which is one of
six South-Western states in the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. It is approximately 75 kilometres long and
about 20 kilometres wide. Ibeju- Lekki Local
Government land area is about 646 kilometres
square, equals one quarter of the total land mass
of Lagos state. Ibeju-Lekki is located at
approximately latitude 40 15'north latitude 40 17'
north and longitude 13015' east and 13020' east.
The provincial government is part of the four
created in Lagos State in 1990, out of the old Epe
Local Government, with headquarters at Akodo.
According to the National Population
Commission (2006) census, Ibeju-Lekki had a
population of 117,481 out of Lagos State’s total of
9,113,605. The spatial scope of this research is
limited to the identified peri-urban settlements
recognised by Lagos State Government in Ibeju-
Lekki Local Government which covers 646
kilometres square. The temporal scope covers a
period from 2006 to 2016. 2006 is selected as a
base line because there is an accompanying
data on population and housing units by the
National Population Commission.
Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 63
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018
Figure 1. Map of Lagos State showing Ibeju-Lekki (study area
highlighted in blue). Source: Field Survey, 2016
4. Material and Methods
This study employs a case study methodology in
the field survey. Citing Webster et al. (2003)
adopting the case study strategy makes it
possible to show the distinct phenomena of the
area under study especially with regard to the
spatial and temporal changes in the region. The
case study approach was applied by conducting
field research covering the three tiers of housing
that is, self-help housing, private developer-led
housing development and government-led
housing development. Data for this study were
extracted from the responses in the questionnaire
instrument, the analysis of observation chart and
the analysis of the spatial data. Quantitative data
were obtained through a questionnaire survey of
purposively selected 16 settlements in Ibeju-Lekki
and the survey was carried out between August
and October 2016 in the study area. A total of
366 good and complete questionnaires were
retrieved from Ibeju-Lekki. Badly completed
questionnaires were regarded as missing system in
the analysis. The questionnaires were
administered mostly during the weekend to
ensure high response rate. Data processing and
analysis for this study were carried out using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22
for windows for statistical analysis of the
quantitative data. Two types of analysis were
performed on the data. Firstly, descriptive
statistics were used to generate percentages and
frequencies of respondents’ socio-economic
characteristics, characteristics of migrants in the
study area, environmental and socio-cultural
challenges in the study area and development
timeline and land price dynamics. Secondly,
spatial data like satellite images of different years
were acquired from Google Earth. The sets of
satellite images used in this study were obtained
from Google Earth archive between 2006 and
2016 respectively. This was done through
Geographic Information Systems applications
namely QGIS, Elshayal Smart Web online Software
and ArcGIS. Analogue maps were subjected to
spatial data conversion from analogue to digital
to enhance spatial analysis operation. Converted
maps in digital format were further brought into
ArcGIS environment by geo-referencing to aid in
assigning datum to the maps appropriately. The
datum assigned to these sets of maps reads
WGS_84_Zone 31.
5. Results and discussion
5.1 Development trend in the study area between
2006 and 2016
The spatial expansion of the peri-urban is a direct
encroachment into areas originally marked for
agricultural land use, thus lacking in infrastructure
development and often embroiled in informality.
A greater percentage of Ibeju-Lekki is still
undeveloped (Figure 2), though there has been a
surge in spatial demography development within
the study timeline. Findings show a departure
from the primary settlement pattern in the study
area. Noted emerging settlement patterns in the
study area are linear, cluster, leapfrog the
pioneering development, dispersed settlements
and massive mixed- use development
settlements. Linear settlements in the study area
are pioneer settlements. They were limited to
housing development along the highways having
been limited by poor infrastructure development.
Linear settlements also came to be because of
the marshy vegetation in the study area. Housing
development was restricted by the thick
mangroves in early settlements. These settlements
are inhabited mostly by the natives and are also
along the coastline where the indigenous
residents fishing activities thrive. Some of these
settlements developed as a result of the
development of Lekki-Epe expressway while other
linear settlements mentioned earlier grew in line
with secondary roads in the study area. Dispersed
settlements in the study area are not compact.
They are dispersed away from the highways and
do not comply with development patterns. Most
of these settlements in Ibeju-Lekki are
characterised by low income migrants. They have
Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 64
 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018

poor infrastructure development and are a high Planning and Budget (2013). A surface counting
level of informal developments. Massive mixed- of residential developments during the field work
use development shows a continuous in September, 2016 shows a total of 11,746 units of
development by government, private developers housing in the selected sixteen peri-urban
and wealthy individuals. There exist a settlements in the study area. AlsoIbeju-Lekki grew
development of mixed-use development usually from a sleeping settlement of 24,937 populations
in enclaves and segregated from other peri- in 1991 to 117,481 and 179,187 in year 2006 and
urban settlements. Such settlements are well 2016 respectively.
serviced and designed primarily for high middle
income and high income class. Cluster
settlements in the study area are organised
around public facilities and commercial activities.
Most are usually inhabited by the middle income
class and by migrants. Corroborating prior studies
by Binns et al. (2003) and Lawanson et al. (2012),
Lagos State like other rapidly urbanizing Figure 3. Mixed-type government-led housing scheme in the
metropolitan regions have areas periphery usually study area.
experiencing expansion due to direct impact of
population growth and housing challenges in the
urban areas.

Figure 4. Self-help housing development and Private

developer-led housing.

Table 1. Housing population in the study area between years

1991- 2016.

Year Population Identified properties

1991 *24,937 1,635
2006 *117,481 7,701
2012 **154,507 10,128
2016 ***179,187 11,746
Sources: *National population commission
** LASG Ministry Of Economic Planning And Budget
*** Field Survey, 2016.
Figure 2. Extent of housing development in Ibeju-Lekki in 2006
and 2016 respectively. Source: Field Survey, 2016. 5.3 Development timeline and land price
5.2 Housing development and population trends dynamics in the study area.
in the study area from 2006-2016. The development timeline as presented in Table 2
Data from the National Population Commission and Figure 5 indicates that in Ibeju-Lekki, 44.3%,
(2006) census as analysed in Table 1 shows a the highest of development has been between 5-
huge leap in housing development in the study 10 years, 30.9% of the development has been less
area by the year 1991. A total of 1,635 units of than five years and 24.9 %, the least of
housing was recorded in 1991, a sum of 7,701 was development have been over ten years ago. It
captured by the 2006 national census and 10,128 can be deduced from this analysis that the
residential developments were identified in year greater part of housing development in the study
2012 according to LASG Ministry of Economic area has been within the past ten years. The land

Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 65

 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018

price dynamics (Figure 6) also show the highest at certificate having 32.7%, 20.8% and 34.3%
5-10% annual increase which was claimed by respectively. Predominant monthly income of
65.6% of the respondents. 16.4% of the household heads as captured by the survey
respondents’ population identified 1-5% yearly instrument is above N150, 000 monthly. This
increase, 18% identified with above 10% yearly constitutes 44.6% of the entire population. The
increase, 0.3% noted unidentified price increases low-income group with monthly earnings of N25,
and 3.4% were missing system. 000-N50, 000 is 36.3% and the middleincome
Table 2. Development timeline and land price dynamics. earning N50, 000-N150, 000 constitute 19.1%.
N=366 % Tenure analysis reveals that 37.1% of the
Development Timeline
respondents have lived in Ibeju-Lekki for more
Less than 5 years 113 30.9
than ten years. This trend shows that rapid
development has been primarily within the past
5years-10years 162 44.3
ten years in the study area.
Over 10 years 91 24.9
Table 3. Socio-economic characteristics of the residents.
others 0 0
N=366 %
Land Price dynamics
Household size 1-2 persons 48 13.1
1-5%yearly increase 60 16.4
3-5persons 202 55.2
5-10%yearly increase 240 65.6
6-9persons 96 26.2
10% above yearly increase 66 18
10-12persons 8 2.2
Others 1 0.3
More than 13 persons 12 3.3
Missing System 13 3.4
Occupation of
Source: Field survey, 2016. head of
household Civil service 70 19.1

Trading/business 134 36.6

5.4 Socio-economic characteristics of the
Professional practice 61 16.7
respondents.
Unemployed 2 0.5
Through the field survey presented in Table 3,
there are five recognised household sizes in the Retired/pensioner 13 3.6

study area. Household size of 1-2 persons Artisan 56 15.3

constitutes 13.1% of the households, more than 13 Student 21 5.7

persons (3.3%) and 10-12 persons (2.2%). Farming 1 0.3

Household sizes of 3-5 persons are the others 8 2.1

Literacy level of
commonest, having 55.2% of the respondents’ head of
population. Trading and commercial enterprises household Postgraduate 56 15.3

are the commonest occupation of the peri-urban BSc/Higher diploma 105 28.7

residents. 36.6% of the population is engaged in National diploma 62 16.9

this category of occupation. 19.1% of the High School 110 30.1

population is in civil service because of the Primary 25 6.8

location of many government parastatals in the None 8 2.2

Monthly income
peri-urban. Professional practices and artisan of head of
work constitute the third of the population having household in Low income N25,000-
naira(N) N50,000 133 36.3
16.7% and 15.3% respectively. Students comprise Middle income N50,001-
N150,000 70 19.1
5.7% and retirees 3.6%. Unemployed (0.5%) and High income N150,001-
farmers (0.3%) have almost insignificant Above 163 44.6

contribution in the occupational capacity in the Tenure Less than 5 years 114 31.1

peri-urban. Illiteracy level in Ibeju-Lekki is very low. 5-10years 116 31.7

The total is 2.2% of the respondents. People with More than 10 years 134 36.6

secondary school education are 30.1% and Others 2 0.5

constitute the highest. Highest level of literacy is Source: Field survey, 2016.

the first degree, diploma and secondary school

Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 66

 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018

5.5 Characteristics of migrants and linkage Table 4. Characteristics of migrants in the study area.
pattern in the study area N=366 %
The immigration pattern as shown in Table 4 Source of migration
shows that the greater portion of residents are Central Lagos 155 42.3
drawn from central Lagos and surrounding urban
Surrounding Ibeju-Lekki 146 39.9
areas around Ibeju-Lekki. 42.3% are drawn from
Neighbouring village 31 8.5
central Lagos and 39.9% are from surrounding
Another state in Nigeria 34 9.3
urban areas. Immigration from other states
Ownership status
constitutes about 9.3% while people from
Home owner 273 74.6
neighbouring rural areas constitute 8.5%. Most of
Tenant 83 22.7
the residents in Ibeju-Lekki were home owners, to
Business owner 9 2.5
74.6%, while 22.7% and 2.5% were tenants and
Others 19 0.3
enterprise owners respectively. Few people also
were pulled to the peri-urban for commercial Housing Initiative

purpose (5.8%). Housing initiatives were primarily Self-help housing 309 84.4

of three types in peri-urban settlements of Ibeju- Private developer/Cooperative 53 14.5

Lekki. Self-help housing is the commonest housing Government allocation 4 1.1

initiative in the study area constituting 81.7% of Car ownership
the housing development. Among the household Yes 169 46.2
heads, 34.2% of the respondents travel to the No 197 53.8
urban centres daily, 33.3% commute to the city Neither 0 0
centre weekly and 31.4% travel as the needs Average Time of commuting
arise. 42.6% of the respondents travel for work Daily 125 34.2
related purpose, 30.3% travel to either the city Weekly 122 33.3
centre and neighbouring peri-urban for groceries Others(specify) 115 31.4
while 27% travel to the city centre for supply of Not applicable 1 0.3
materials for their enterprises(Table 4). The highest
Purpose of commuting(Linkage)
commuting time to and from places of work daily
Work 156 42.6
in the peri-urban is three hours while the least
Groceries 111 30.3
commuting time is thirty minutes. 35.2 % spends
Supply for business 99 27
an average of sixty minutes (one hour) daily
Others 0 0
commuting, 24.6 % spend ninety minutes, 15.6 %
Average daily commuting time
spends less than 30 minutes, 14.2 % spends almost
Less than 30 minutes 57 15.6
180 minutes(three hours) while 10.4 % spend an
average of 120 minutes( two hours) commuting 31-60mins(1hr) 129 35.2

daily. This commuting trend indicates the linkages 61-90min (1&half hrs.) 90 24.6

between the city centre, peri-urban and the rural 91-120mins(2hrs) 38 10.4

areas. The peri-urban cannot function in isolation. 121-180mins(3hrs) 51 13.9

There are strong dependencies on the urban Others 1 0.3

centres for socio-economic purposes. Findings on Source: Field survey, 2016

the linkages consolidates the investigation by

Lawansonet al. (2012), showing the dependency
of the peri-urban on the neighbouring
metropolitan regions.
5.6 Environmental and socio-cultural challenges
in the study area
Analysis of the research instrument in Table 5,
provides evidence of the environmental and
socio-cultural challenges in the study area. As
stated by Alonso access trade off model, there
are benefits to trade off by virtue of residential
location in the peri-urban which is primarily driven

Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 67

 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018

by economical cost of land for housing through gated housing and exclusivity of the
development. The major environmental government-led and developer-led housing
challenge in Ibeju-Lekki is poor infrastructure initiatives in Ibeju-Lekkiperi-urban. Other socio-
development. This constitutes about 33.1%. cultural challenges are poor security of lives and
Observation through field survey shows that the properties, constituting 0.8% and limitation by
areas under the control of self-help housing traditional livelihood or religion (0.3%) which often
development are lacking in infrastructure. Poor bring about restriction in movement in the
environmental condition is another noted affected areas in the peri-urban.
challenges by the respondents (13.7%), attached
to this particular challenge are poor drainage Table 5. Environmental and socio-cultural challenges in the
facilities and poor waste management (3.0%). study area.
Waste management is carried out illegally and it Challenges N= 366
involves indiscriminate discharge to water bodies Poor environmental condition 50 13.7
and open dumps are commonplace in the study Poor infrastructure 121 33.1
area. Locational related challenges are the
Poor waste management 11 3
absence of health facility (2.5%) and lack of
High cost of daily transportation 45 12.3
good schools for children (2.2%). Health facilities
High traffic congestion 11 3
are sparsely situated in the peri-urban. Other
Poor health facility 9 2.5
challenge come in form of water scarcity (0.8%).
Water scarcity 3 0.8
Most residents’ rely on borehole and wells as their
Lack of good schools for children 8 2.2
source of water because of lack of a central
Security problems 3 0.8
water system. Due to the closeness of Ibeju-Lekki
to the coastal areas, the quality of water is salty Poor road condition 80 21.9

and mostly contaminated by illegal sewage Segregation by the middle class 13 3.6

disposal. Further notable challenges are poor Traditional Livelihood/religion 1 0.3

road condition comprising 21.9%. Most feeder Others 11 3

roads in the study area are earth roads and Total 366 100
sandy roads. The only areas with good roads are Source: Field survey, 2016.

government reserved areas and all private

developers estates in Ibeju-Lekki. What is typically
obtainable in the study area is selective
infrastructural development. Only the primary
major link road of Lekki-Epe expressway is well
maintained.
High cost of daily transportation is also another
challenge in Ibeju-Lekkiperi-urban and this
constitutes 12.3%. Settlements are located far
from one another thus causing arbitrary transport Figure 5. Flooded road due to lack of drainage

fare charges by the transport operators in the

peri-urban. Daily commuting is a herculean task
for residents having no car ownership. Also mono-
directional primary roads coupled with high
possession of automobiles contribute to high
traffic congestion (3.0%) in Ibeju-Lekkiperi-urban.
Finally, the major socio-cultural challenge
connected to living in the peri-urban is residential
segregation creating a forced disparity between
one economic group and the other. This
constitute about 3.6% and is notably evidenced Figure 6. Unregulated waste disposal.

Adedire, F. M., Adegbile M.B.O 68

 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS, 2(2), 60-70 / 2018
6. Conclusion and recommendation
Peri-urban expansion in the study area which has
been mainly for housing development, has given
rise to the creation of diverse housing schemes to
serve the heterogeneous population of migrants
to the peri-urban of Ibeju-Lekki. The dominance of
the high-income group in the study area has led
to the increase in development of exclusive
gated residential estates often segregated from
the low income group housing and in turn
encouraging disparity in infrastructural
development. However, the pace of
development outweighs the regional
development thus creating a multi-dimensional
challenge expressed in form of poor
environmental quality, poor access to
infrastructural services and locational limitation
which impact negatively on the productivity of
the residents. The high commuting time is as a
result of dispersed locations of settlements, lack of
public transport which confers right on informal
service providers that operate in the peri-urban
without price control. Linkages has established
that most peri-urban settlements are not self-
sustaining with extreme reliance on the
neighbouring metropolitan regions for services
and resources. It can thus be concluded from the
findings that peri-urban expansion has not only
altered the spatial demography of the study
area, but it is accompanied with a pace and
pattern of development that is not matched with
the available regional planning control and
socio-economic development, thus creating
environmental vulnerability and reduced
residents’ productivity.
Acknowledgments
This research did not receive any specific grant
from funding agencies in the public, commercial,
or non-for-profit sectors.
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of A little gipsy lass
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Title: A little gipsy lass

A story of moorland and wild

Author: Gordon Stables

Illustrator: W. Rainey

Release date: September 29, 2023 [eBook #71755]

Language: English

Original publication: Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, Limited, 1907

Credits: Al Haines, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE

GIPSY LASS ***
The girl simply lifted the latch and entered without ceremony.
LASS. Page 20.

A Little Gipsy Lass

A STORY OF MOORLAND AND WILD

By

GORDON-STABLES, M.D., C.M., R.N.

Author of
'Peggy M'Queen,' 'The Rover Caravan,' &c.

WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS

by

William Rainey

LONDON: 47 Paternoster Row

W. & R. CHAMBERS, LIMITED
EDINBURGH: 47 Paternoster Row
1907

Edinburgh:
Printed by W. & R. Chambers, Limited.
 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. LOTTY LEE 1
II. HOW ANTONY HAPPENED TO BE THERE 11
III. IN GIPSY CAMP AND CARAVAN 18
IV. 'EVER BEEN AN INFANT PRODIGY?' SAID LOTTY 34
V. THE QUEEREST SHOW.—A DAY IN THE WILDS 47
'THERE IS THAT IN YOUR EYE WHICH CRONA
VI. LOVES' 59
VII. POOR ANTONY WAS DROWNING! 69
VIII. THE MYSTERY OF THE MERMAN 79
IX. 'THE NEW JENNY WREN' 90
X. A LETTER AND A PROPOSAL 99
XI. BLOWN OUT TO SEA 111
XII. 'OUT YONDER, ON THE LEE BOW, SIR' 121
XIII. ON BOARD THE 'NOR'LAN' STAR' 132
XIV. A LITTLE STRANGER COMES ON BOARD 142
XV. 'I WANT TO DREAM THAT DREAM AGAIN' 154
XVI. SAFELY BACK TO ENGLAND 163
XVII. LIFE ON THE ROAD IN THE 'GIPSY QUEEN' 172
XVIII. SNOW-BOUND IN A MOUNTAIN-LAND 182
XIX. SPORTING-TIME IN WOODS AND WILDS 193
XX. IN THE DARK O' THE NEAP 204
XXI. THE WRECK OF THE 'CUMBERLAND' 214
XXII. THE AMBITIONS OF CHOPS JUNIOR 226
XXIII. 'WELL, CHOPS, TO RUN AWAY' 236
XXIV. 'I SAVED IT UP FOR A RAINY DAY' 248
XXV. 'WE'VE GOT A LITTLE STOWAWAY HERE, GUARD' 260
XXVI. THAT CROOKED SIXPENCE 272
XXVII. 'GAZE ON THOSE SUMMER WOODS' 283
XXVIII. 'HO, HO, HO! SET HIM UP' 290
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The girl simply lifted the latch and entered without ceremony Frontispiece.
Then that huge brown bear began to dance 50
He found himself in the water next moment ... with the Jenny
Wren on her side 71
And they had special tit-bits which they took from her hands 92
Presently the black hull of the bark was looming within fifty
yards over her 129
'Father, father,' she cried, 'I cannot, will not do this' 224
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A Little Gipsy Lass.

 CHAPTER I.

LOTTY LEE.

T HE young man stood on the deserted platform of the small, north-

country station, just where the train had left him, on that bright August
evening. Yonder she was speeding east-wards against the breeze.
Against the breeze, and along towards the cliffs that o'erhung the wild,
wide sea, the end of the last carriage gilded with the rays of the setting sun,
the smoke streaming backwards and losing itself over the brown-green
woods that stretched away and away till lost in a haze at the foot of the
hills.
He hailed a solitary porter.
'This isn't a very inviting station of yours, Tom, is it?'
'An awful good guess at my name, sir,' said the man, saluting.
'Your name is Tom, then?'
'No, sir—George,' he smiled. 'But any name does; and as for the station,
weel, it's good enough in its way. We only tak' up or pit doon by signal. But
you'll be English, sir?'
'That's it, George; that's just it. I'm only English. But, so far, I am in luck;
because I understand your talk, and I thought everybody here ran about raw,
with kilts on and speaking in Scotch.'
'So they do, sir, mostly; but I've been far south myself. No, sir, no left-
luggage room here; but if you're going to the inn I'll carry your
portmanteau, though ye'll no' find much accommodation there for a
gentleman like yourself. Besides, it's the nicht of the fair, and they'll be
dancin' and singin' in the road till midnicht.'
'But,' said the stranger, 'I'm bound for Loggiemouth, if I can only find the
way. I'm going to a gipsy encampment there—Nat Lee's or Biffins'. You
know Nat Lee?'
'Well, and curly-headed Lotty too. But, man, you'll have ill findin' your
road over the moor the nicht. It's three good Scotch miles, and your
portmanteau's no' a small weight—a hundred and twenty pounds if an
ounce.'
 This young man, with the sunny hair, square shoulders, and bravely
chiselled English face, seized the bag with his left hand and held it high
above his head, much to the admiration of the honest porter.
'You're a fine lad, sir,' said the latter. 'An English athlete, no doubt. Weel,
we all love strength hereabouts, and Loggiemouth itself can boast of bonny
men.'
'Here!' cried the stranger abruptly, as he looked to the west and the sun
that was sinking like a great blood-orange in the purple mist of the
woodlands, 'take that portmanteau, George, in your own charge. I suppose
you live somewhere?'
'I'll lock it up in the lamp-room, sir. It'll be safe enough there.'
'Well, thanks; and to-morrow I'll either stride over for it myself or send
some one. Now, you'll direct me to the camp, won't you?'
'Ay, ay, sir, and you've a good stick and a stout heart, so nothing can
come o'er ye. But what way did nobody meet you, sir?'
'Nat Lee said he would send some one, but—hallo! who is this?'
She ran along the platform hurriedly but smiling—a little nervously
perhaps, blinking somewhat moreover, for the sun's last beams lit up her
face and eke her yellow hair. Her colour seemed to rise as she advanced.
Blushing? No. Lotty Lee was barely twelve.
'Oh, please, sir, are you Mr Blake?'
'I am. And you?'
'Me? I'm only Lotty Lee, and that's nobody. But father sent me to meet
you, and lead you home to our pitch across the Whinny Moor. You couldn't
find the way by yourself, never, never, never!'
'Good-night, sir.—Good-night, Miss Lotty,' cried the porter, throwing the
portmanteau on his shoulder and marching off with it.
'Well,' said the young fellow, 'I have a sweet little guide anyhow; but are
you sure that even you can find the way yourself, Lotty?'
'Oh yes, Mr Blake, please.'
Hers was a light, musical, almost bird-like laugh.
She tossed back her head a little, and all those impossible little crumply
curls caught by the evening breeze went dancing round her brow and ears.
'If you have any—any big thing, I will carry it for you, sir.'
 It was his turn to laugh now. 'Why, Lotty,' he said, 'I shouldn't wonder if
I had to carry you before we get to camp.'
'Come,' she answered, with an uneasy glance at the west. She took his
hand as if he'd been a blind man. 'Father said I was to lead you, sir.'
'But I don't think he meant it in so literal a sense, Lotty. I think I can see
for quite half an hour yet.'
He kept that warm hand in his, nevertheless. So on they went, chatting
together gaily enough now, for she did not seem a bit afraid of her tall
companion.
'I would have been here much sooner, you know, but Wallace followed
me. Wallace is a very naughty boy sometimes, and father doesn't like him to
be out of camp at nights.'
'And where is the young gentleman now?'
'Oh, I had to take him back, and that is what kept me.'
It was getting early dark to-night, and one great star was already out in
the east. Whinny Moor was beginning to look eerisome enough. The
patches of furze that everywhere hugged the ground were like moving
shapes of strange and uncanny antediluvian monsters, and here and there
stood up the dark spectre of a stunted hawthorn-tree waving black arms in
the wind as if to forbid their approach.
Sometimes they had to creep quite sideways through the bushes of
sturdy whins and bramble; sometimes the moor was more open, and here
and there were little lakes or sedgy ponds of silver sheen, where black
things swam or glided in and out among the rustling rushes. Flitter-mice
darted over their heads or even between them, and from the forest now and
then came the doleful cry of the great barn-owl.
'On the whole,' said young Blake, 'I'm glad you came, Lotty. I doubt if
ever I could have made my way across this moor.'
'Nor through the forest yonder. Ah! the forest is much worse, Mr Blake.'
'Dark and dismal, I suppose?'
'It is dark; I don't know about dismal, Mr Blake. But I know all the road
through this moor; because when things come to the station father often
sends me for them.'
'At night?'
 'Oh yes, often at night. Only, there is a little winding path through among
the pine-trees, and one day Chops went in daylight and marked all the trees
in white paint for me. But father thrashed him for it, because white paint is
one of the show properties, and we mustn't waste the properties. But I cried
for Chops.'
'And who is Chops, Lotty?'
'Oh, Chops is the fat boy; he is a property himself, but nobody could
waste him.'
'No?'
'No; and Chops is fifteen, you know, and so good and so fond of me; but
he is so fat that he can't look at you, only just blinks over his cheeks. But
Chops is so kind to me—quite loves me. And so does Wallace. But I love
Wallace better than anybody else, and everybody else loves Wallace.'
'And Wallace and everybody love Lotty, I'm sure of that.'
'Oh, Wallace loves me, and would die for me any day. But, of course,
everybody doesn't. I'm only just a property, you know.'
'But your father and mother?'
Frank Antony Blake felt the small, soft hand tremble in his.
'There is no mother, sir. Never was a mother in my time. But father'——
The child was crying—yes, and sobbing—as if her heart would break.
Then, though Frank Antony was tall and strong for his eighteen years, he
didn't really know what to do with a girl who burst into tears at night on a
lonesome moor. He could remember no precedent. It mightn't be correct, he
thought, to take her in his arms and kiss her and try to soothe her, so he
merely said, 'Never mind, Lotty; never mind. It is sure to come all right
somehow.'
For the life of him, however, he couldn't have told you what was wrong
or what there was to come right. In the fast-waning light Lotty looked up at
him ever so sadly, and he could not help noticing now what he had not
noticed before—Lotty was really a beautiful child.
'You talked to me so kindly like,' she said, 'and hardly anybody does that,
and—and that was it. Don't talk to me kindly again, sir, ever, ever, ever!'
He patted her hand.
 'That's worse,' said Lotty, feeling she wanted to cry again, and she drew
the hand away. 'You'll have me crying again. Speak gruff to me, as others
do, and call me "Lot!"'
But at that moment Antony had a happy inspiration. He remembered that
in his big coat-pocket he had a large box of assorted chocolates, and here
close by on a bare part of the moor was a big white stone.
'Come,' he cried, 'there is no great hurry, and I'm going to have some
chocolates. Won't you, Lot?'
Down he sat on the big white stone, and Lotty stood timidly in front of
him. But Antony would not have this arrangement, so he lifted her bodily
up—'how strong he is!' she thought—and seated her beside him, then threw
a big handful of the delicious sweets into her lap.
She was smiling now. She was happy again. It was not the chocolates
that worked the change; but the chance companionship of this youth of
gentle blood, so high above her, seemed to have wakened a chord long, long
untouched in that little harp of a heart of hers.
Was it but a dream, or had there been once a time, long—ever so long—
ago, when voices quite as pleasant and musical and refined as Antony's
were not strange to her? And had she not, when young—she was twelve
now, and that is so old—lived in a real house, with bright cushions on real
sofas, and lamps and mirrors and flowers everywhere? No, that must have
been a dream; but it was one she often dreamt while she swung by night in
her cot, as the winds rocked the caravan and lulled her to sleep.
The autumn evening was very beautiful now; bright stars were shining
so closely overhead that it seemed as if one could almost touch them with a
fishing-rod. Besides, a big, nearly round moon had managed to scramble up
behind the bank of blue clouds in the east—a big, fat face of a moon that
appeared to be bursting with half-concealed merriment as it blinked across
the moor.
It wasn't the lollies that had enabled Lotty to regain her good spirits; but
she felt quietly happy sitting here on the stone beside this newly found
friend. Oh yes, he was going to be a friend; she felt certain of that already.
Young though Lottie was, she had a woman's instinct. Perhaps she
possessed a woman's pride as well, though only in embryo; for she felt half-
ashamed of her awkward, bare brown legs that ended not in shoes but rough
sandals, and of the pretty necklace of crimson hips and haws that she had
strung for herself only yesterday.
They had been sitting in silence for some time, both thinking, I suppose,
when Lotty's keen ear caught the weary call of some benighted plover.
'They'll soon be away now!' she sighed, more to herself than to her
companion.
'What will soon be away, Lotty?'
'Oh, the plovers and the swallows and the greenfinches, and nearly all
my pretty pets of springtime, and we'll have only just the rooks and the
gulls left.'
Antony laid his hand on hers.
'Lotty loves the wild birds, then?'
'I—I suppose so. Doesn't everybody? I wish I could go south with the
birds in autumn, to lands where the flowers are always blooming.'
'Who knows what is before you, child!'
The child interested him.
'Look, Lotty, look!' cried Antony next moment; 'what on earth can that
be?'
He was genuinely startled. About two hundred yards from the place
where they sat a great ball of crimson-yellow fire, as big as a gipsy pot, rose
slowly, waveringly, into the air. It was followed by five others, each one
smaller than the one above it. They switched themselves towards the forest,
and one by one they went out.
'It is only will-o'-the-wisps,' said Lotty, 'and they always bring good
luck. Aren't you glad?'
'Very,' said Antony.
Then, hand in hand, as if very old acquaintances indeed, they resumed
their journey. And, as they got nearer and nearer to the forest, the tall pine-
trees, with brown, pillar-like limbs, grew higher and higher, and finally
swallowed them up.
 CHAPTER II.

HOW ANTONY HAPPENED TO BE THERE.

A NTONY BLAKE—or Frank Antony Blake, to give him the benefit of

his full tally—was the only son and heir-apparent of Squire Blake of
Manby Hall, a fine old mansion away down in Devonshire; thousands
of acres of land—no one seemed to know how many—rolling fields of
meadow-lands divided by hedgerows and waving grain, woods and wolds,
lakes and streams, and an upland of heath and fern that lost itself far away
on the nor'-western horizon.
The mansion itself, situated on a green eminence in the midst of the
well-treed old park, was one of the stately homes of England; and though
antique enough to be almost grim—as if holding in its dark interior the
secrets of a gloomy or mayhap tragic past—it was cheerful enough in
summer or winter; and from its big lodge-gates, all along its gravelled
avenues, the wheel-marks bore evidence that Manby Hall was by no means
deserted nor the squire very much of a recluse.
The gardens of this mansion were large enough to lose one's self in,
silent save for the song of birds, with broad green walks, with bush and tree
and flower, and fountains playing in the centre of ponds only and solely for
the sake of the waterfowl or the gold and silver fish that hid themselves
from the sunshine beneath the green, shimmering leaves of lordly floating
lilies, orange and white.
A rural paradise was Manby Hall. Acres of glass too, a regiment of semi-
silent gardeners, and a mileage of strong old walls around that were gay in
springtime and summer with creeping, climbing, trailing flowers of every
shape and shade.
If there was a single grim room in all this abode it was the library, where
from tawny, leather-bound shelves the mighty tomes of authors long dead
and gone frowned down on one, as one entered through the heavily draped
doorways.
Whisper it! But Antony was really irreverent enough to say one day to a
friend of his that this solemn and classic library was a jolly good billiard-
room spoiled.
 Anyhow, it was in this room that Frank Antony found himself one
morning. He had been summoned hither by his father.
The squire was verging on fifty, healthy and hard in face, handsome
rather, with hair fast ripening into gray.
'Ha, Frank, my boy! come forward. You may be seated.'
'Rather stand, dad. Guess it's nothing too pleasant.'
'Well, I sent for you, Frank'——
'And I'm here, dad.'
'Let me see now. You're eighteen, aren't you?'
'I suppose so, sir; but—you ought to know,' replied Antony archly.
'I? What on earth have I to do with it? At least, I am too busy a man to
remember the ages of all my children. Your mother, now, might; but then
your mother is a woman—a woman, Frank.'
'I could have guessed as much, dad. But as for "all" your children, father,
why, there are only Aggie and I. That comprises the whole lot of us; not
very tiresome to count, I reckon.'
'There! don't be quizzical, boy. I sent for you—er—I sent for you to—
to'——
'Yes, father, sent for me to—to'——
'I wish you to choose a career, you young dog. Don't stand there and to—
to at me, else I'll—I don't know what I mightn't do. But stand down, sir—I
mean, sit down—and you won't look so precious like a poacher.'
Antony obeyed.
'You see, lad, I have your interest at my heart. It is all very well being an
athlete. You're a handsome young fellow too—just like me when I was a
young fellow. Might marry into any county family. But cricket and football
and rowing stroke aren't everything, Frank, and it is high time you were
looking ahead—choosing your career. Well, well,' continued the squire
impatiently, 'have you nothing to say?'
'Oh yes,' cried Frank Antony, beaming now. 'I put that filly at a fence to-
day, father, and'——
'Hang the filly! I want you to choose a career; do you hear?'
'Yes, father.'
 'Well, I'm here to help you all I can. Let us see! You're well educated; too
much so for the Church, perhaps.'
'Not good enough anyhow, dad, to wear a hassock. Whew! I mean a
cassock.'
'Well, there are the civil and the diplomatic services.'
Antony shook an impatient head.
'And you're too old for the army. But—now listen, Frank. I expect your
eyes to gleam, lad, when I mention the term: a parliamentary career! Think
of it, lad; think of it. Just think of the long vista of splendid possibilities that
these two words can conjure up before a young man with the blood of a
Blake in his veins.'
Frank Antony did not seem at all impressed; not even a little bit.
'I'm afraid, father, I'm a lazy rascal,' he said, almost pitying the
enthusiasm which he himself could not appreciate. 'I'm not so clever as my
dear old dad, and I fear the House would bore me. Never could make a
speech either, so'——
'Speech!' roared the squire, 'why, you'll never be asked to. They wouldn't
let you. They'd cough you down, groan you down, laugh you down.
Besides, clever men don't make speeches nowadays—only the fools.'
Young Antony suppressed a yawn.
'Very good, my boy, very good!'—his dad was shaking hands with him
—'and I honour you for your choice. And I'm of precisely the same opinion.
There's nothing like a seat in the House.'
'Rather have one on the hillside though, daddy, all among the grouse.'
His father didn't hear him.
'And now, Frank, I'm not an ordinary father, you know; and, before
entering the House, I don't see in the least why you shouldn't have your
fling for a year or two. I maintain that all young fellows should have their
fling. A hundred years or so agone I had my fling. Look at me now. Am I
any the worse? Well, I've just put a bit in the bank for you, lad, so go and do
your best.'
Frank was laughing merrily.
He put his hand in what he called his rabbit-pocket and handed out a
book: The Gamekeeper at Home. 'That is my lay, dad,' he said. 'I only want
to potter around and fish and shoot, or hunt in season. Don't like London.
Hate Paris. Not at home in so-called society. I'll just have my fling in my
own humdrum fashion, daddy, thank you all the same. I'll have my fling,
depend upon it.'
The young man was smiling to himself at some recollection.
'What is it, Frank?'
'Only this, dad. The black keeper—Tim, you know—weighs two
hundred and twenty pounds. The other day he was stronger than I. I threw
him last eve—Cumberland. This morning I lifted him with my left and
landed him on the west side of the picket-fence. How's that for a fling,
daddy?'
'Go on, you young rogue. Listen, I hear Aggie calling you!'
'Oh, but you listen to me, father. I really don't see enough life down
here.'
'Well, there's London, my lad. London for life!'
'No, no! For the next few months, with your permission, I'm going to
live a life as free as a swallow's. I'm going on the road in my own house-
upon-wheels. I'll see and mingle with all sorts of society, high and low, rich
and poor. I'll be happy in spirit, healthy in body, and by the time I come
back my mind will be quite a storehouse of knowledge that will better fit
me for Parliament than all the lore in this great library, father.'
'You're going to take up with gipsies, Frank?'
'Be a sort of gip myself, daddy.'
'Bother me, boy, if there isn't something really good in the idea. But how
are you going to set about it? Build a caravan for yourself?'
'Not build one, father. Nat Biffins Lee—a scion of the old, old gipsy Lee,
you know—owns a real white elephant'——
'Bless my soul! is the lad going mad? You don't mean seriously to travel
the country with a real white elephant, eh?'
'You don't understand, daddy. This Nat Lee has a splendid house-upon-
wheels which belonged to the Duchess of X—— She went abroad, and Lee
has bought it. But as it needs three powerful horses to rattle it along, it is
quite a white elephant to Nat. So I'm going up north to Loggiemouth in
Nairnshire, and if I like it I'll buy it. Is it all right?'
'Right as rain in March, boy. Go when you like.'