Chapter 45 Summary and Analysis

Anyone who wandered around Darrowby on a Sunday or Monday morning would likely encounter a few men with interesting haircuts, Herriot says. These are the result of discounted trims provided by the barber, Josh Anderson, in the Hare and Pheasant pub. Josh, like most bibulous Yorkshiremen, likes to take a pint or two; but on the weekends his consumption shoots up to 10 or 12. The quality of his haircuts is an indication of his condition when he gives them.

So Herriot explains he only goes for a haircut on weekdays. Each time he goes to the barbershop he quietly endures the yanking and pulling of hair out by the roots, which is always a feature of one of Josh's haircuts. The barber brings down his prized possession — a young bitch of indeterminate lineage, named Venus, and shows her off. Within two...