The Diviner Heaney offers an example of a rural skill that verges on the miraculous to those looking on. The dowser (called in to locate underground water) approaches his task in a calm and professional way. His equipment amounts to a forked hazel twig, living wood from a green hedge. He grips it tight by the arms of the V; he walks in circles as a deliberate ploy to capture the pluck of water (as a string-player making notes using fingernail rather than bow); his manner is acutely sensitive to movement from the stick but unfussed. Successful location delivers an [...]