Dixon was employed by the harvesters and others to measure the land which they had reaped, or on which they had otherwise worked.  When the different measurements had been taken, he, of course, had to find the result.  For this, he needed no pen, ink, or paper, nor yet a slate and pencil.  He made his calculations by a much more economic method than these would supply.  He sat down in the field he had measured, took off his beaver hat, and, using it as a kind of blackboard, with a piece of chalk worked out the result of his measurements on its crown.

Dixon must have been a man of resources, as are most Holderness men where the saving of money is concerned.  I have heard it said that the spirit of economy has so permeated their character that it has influenced even their speech.  “So saving are they,” say some, “that the definite article, the, is never used by them in their talk.”  But this is a libel; another and a truer reason may be found for the omission in their Scandinavian origin.

Another parish clerk who held office at a church about five miles from Catwick, by trade a tailor, was a noted character and remarkable for his parsimonious habits.  He is described as having been a very little man and of an extremely attenuated appearance.  The story of his economy during his honeymoon, when the happy pair stayed in some cheap town lodgings, is not pleasing.

His great effort in saving, however, resulted from his sporting proclivities.  Tailor though he was, he conceived a great desire to be a mighty hunter.  So strong did this passion burn within him that he made up his mind, sooner or later, to hunt, and with the best, in a red coat, too.  He therefore began to save with this object in view.  Denying himself every luxury and most other things which are usually counted necessaries, for long he lived, it is said, on half a salt herring a day with a little bread or a few vegetables in addition.  By doing so, he was able to put almost all he earned to the furtherance of the purpose of his heart.  This went on till he had saved L200.  Then he felt his day was come.  He bought a horse, made himself the scarlet coat, and went to the hunt as he thought a gentleman should.  His hunting lasted for two seasons, when, the money he had saved being spent, he went back to his trade, at which he worked as energetically as ever.

At the west end of the nave of Catwick Church formerly was erected a gallery.  In this loft, as it was commonly called, the musicians of the parish sang or played.  Various instruments, bassoon, trombone, violoncello, cornet, cornopean, and clarionet, flute, fiddle, and flageolet, or some of their number, were employed, calling to mind the band of Nebuchadnezzar of old.  The noise made in the tuning of the instruments to the proper pitch may be readily imagined.  Now, the church possesses an organ, and the choirmen and boys have their places in the chancel, while the musicians of the parish occupy the front seats of the nave.  This arrangement is eminently suitable for effectually leading the praises of the people, but not perhaps more so, its noise notwithstanding, than the former style; indeed, I am somewhat doubtful if the new equals the old.  The old certainly had the merit of engaging most, if not all, the musicians of the village in the worship of the church.