& MB HH ODF in an unbranded Meer.
Great picture and setting.
@MisterBadger can, of course, verify this, but I believe Mr. Paul is holding a variation on the old Shepard's hook for retrieving lambs and sheep that have fallen in ditches or for separating them in general. Note how the tip of the hook is rounded so as not to injure the sheep.
I can, indeed. It's a shepherd's crook, of traditional 19thC design for these parts. Mine (not in the picture) is an older type, being the end of a ram's horn fixed to the head of a hazel wood staff. These days, they're mostly made of one piece of aluminium and they look awful, but some shepherds still use the older kinds. Paul and I were discussing the merits of moving some of our flock of Shropshires to another pasture at the time.
Love he the clothing! What is the purpose of the cord tied around the gentleman's knee?
Clothing is 1890s. These are known locally as "Yarks", and in old photographs one sometimes sees an up-market version with leather tongues and buckles. In the days before the cheap rubber Wellington boot, working men in mucky occupations, such as navvies and farm labourers, wore them to keep their trouser cuffs from mud (or worse). They also - when clearing out a barn - serve the secondary function of preventing startled rats from running up one's trouser leg. Because of my superior status as the farm's bailiff, I of course am wearing leather gaiters
Clothing is 1890s. These are known locally as "Yarks", and in old photographs one sometimes sees an up-market version with leather tongues and buckles. In the days before the cheap rubber Wellington boot, working men in mucky occupations, such as navvies and farm labourers, wore them to keep their trouser cuffs from mud (or worse). They also - when clearing out a barn - serve the secondary function of preventing startled rats from running up one's trouser leg. Because of my superior status as the farm's bailiff, I of course am wearing leather gaiters
) and a weekend trip to Lexington, KY, my first visit. 
