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UNIVERSITY or PITTSBURGH

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Jjarlington .M.einonaI L/ibrary

THE

NATURAL HISTORY

AND

ANTIQUITIES

OP

S E L B O R N E,

T. Bentlcy, Frimcr, Bolt Court,
ri«< Street.

T. Bcnilc)', Primer, Bolt Court,
Fl«t Street.

lojhmtt/ic I; II,

h'/// r^.j/ r/ru' '•/ S-EI.B0/RWjS,//y/,, //.

' S'JfriRT Z:i^TM£ 0

THE

NATURAL HISTORY

AND

ANTIQUITIES

OF

SELBORNE,

IN THE

Count? of Southampton*

TO WHICH ARE ADDED,

THE NATURALIST'S CALENDAR;

OBSERVATIONS ON VARIOUS PARTS OF NATURE;

AND POEMS.

Bxj the late Rev. GILBERT WHITE,

FORMERLY FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD.

A NEW EDITION, WITH ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON:

PRINTED FOR WHITE, COCHRANE, AND CO ;

LONGMAN, HURST, KEES, ORME, AiSID BROWN; J. MAWMAN ; S. BAGSTER :

J. AND A. ARCH; J. HATCHAKD ; R.BALDWIN; AND T. HAMILTON.

1813.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The Author of the following Letters takes the liberty,
with all proper deference, of laying before the public his
idea of parochial history, which, he thinks, ought to consist
of natural productions and occurrences as well as anti-
quities. He is also of opinion that if stationary men would
pay some attention to the districts on which they reside,
and would publish their thoughts respecting the objects
that surround them, from such materials might be drawn
the most complete county-histories, which are still wanting
in several parts of this kingdom, and in particular in the
county of Southampton.

And here he seizes the first opportunity, though a lale
one, of returning his most grateful acknowledgments to
the reverend the President and the reverend and worthy
the Fellows of Magdalen College in the university of
Oxford, for their liberal behaviour in permitting their
archives to be searched by a member of their own society,

so far as the evidences therein contained might respect
the parish and priory of Selborne. To that gentleman
also, and his assistant, whose labours and attention could
only be equalled by the very kind manner in which they
were bestowed, many and great obligations are also due.
Of the authenticity of the documents above-mentioned
there can be no doubt, since they consist of the identical
deeds and records that were removed to the College from
the Priory at the time of it's dissolution; and, being care-
fully copied on the spot, may be depended on as genuine ;
and, never having been made public before, may gratify
the curiosity of the antiquar}', as well as establish the
credit of the history.

If the writer should at all appear to have induced
any of his readers to pay a more ready attention to the
wonders of the Creation, too frequently overlooked as
common occurrences; or if he should by any means,
through his researches, have lent an helping hand towards
the enlargement of the boundaries of historical and topo-
graphical knowledge; or if he should have thrown some
small light upon ancient customs and manners, and espe-
cially on those that were monastic ; his purpose will be
fully answered. But if he should not have been success-

vu

ful in any of these his intentions, yet there remains this
consolation behind — that these his pursuits, by keeping
the body and mind employed, have, under Providence,
contributed to much health and cheerfulness of spirits,
even to old age : and, what still adds to his happiness,
have led him to the knowledge of a circle of gentlemen
whose intelligent communications, as they have afforded
him much pleasing information, so, could he flatter him-
self with a continuation of them, would they ever be
deemed a matter of singular satisfaction and improve-
ment.

January lst,'l788. GIL. WHITE,

The following few biographical records of the
Author, it is presumed, will not be unacceptable to the
Reader.

Gilbert White was the eldest son of John White
of Selborne, Esq. and of Anne the daughter of Thomas
Holt, rector of Strealham in Surry. He was born at Sel-
borne on July 18, 1720; and received his school-educa-
tion at Basingstoke, under the Rev. Thomas Warton,
vicar of that place, and father of those two distinguished
literary characters, Dr. Joseph Warton, master of Win-
chester school, and Mr. Thomas Warton, poetry-professor
at Oxford. He was admitted at Oriel College, Oxford,
in December 1739, and took his degree of bachelor of
arts in June 1743. In March 1744 he was elected fellow
of his college. He became master of arts in October
1746, and was admitted one of the senior proctors of the
university in April 1752. Being of an unambitious tem-
per, and strongly attached to the charms of rural scenery,
he early fixed his residence in his native village, where he
spent the greater part of his life in literary occupations,
and especially in the study of nature. This he followed
with patient assiduity, and a mind ever open to the les-
sons of piety and benevolence which such a study is so
well calculated to afford. Though several occasions of-
fered of settling upon a college living, he could never per-

IX

suade himself to quit the beloved spot, which was, indeed,
a peculiarly happy situation for an observer. He was
much esteemed by a select society of intelligent and wor-
thy friends, to whom he paid occasional visits. Thus his
days past, tranquil and serene, with scarcely any other
vicissitudes than those of the seasons, till they closed at a
mature age on June 26, 1793.

^TEW or THEMKSIDEKCJEAT. SJ3MOJRNJE.OF TIHDB JLATJS 3«V. GU.BE1R.T ^THITE.

/b

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE NEW EDITION.

It is peculiarly gratifying to the Editor to olx-y the call
of tlie Pubhc for a new edition of this work, endeared
to him by so many ties, and of which the merits have been
so well ap])recialed by the literary world. He has taken
the opportunity of adding to it the Naturalist's Ca-
lendar, (with the Comparative Calendar by Mr.
Mark WICK*) and Oijskrv ations on various Parts
OF Nature, which had appeared in a separate form,
and of adding a few Poems not before published. The
classical reader and the naturalist will, he conceives, be
equally pleased by the publication of the elegant re-
marks on the work with which the Editor has been
favoured by the Rev. John Mitford of Benhall, and unite
in regrelling that they are not more numerous. Some of
the plates have been re-engraved, two new ones have been
added; and with increased advantages of typography and
embellishment, the Editor trusts that the present edition
will be not less favorably received by the public than the
preceding. J. W.

Selborne, May 10, 1813.

* Tliis gentleman, who iubsequcntly changed his name to Eversfield, in conse-
quence of succeeding to the estates of his uncle, the late Sir C. Eversfield Bart, of Denn
Place, died at his teat atCats6eld, near Battle in Sussex, on the 6th of last month.

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

S E I. B O R N E.

Tpij%£/, aXX ayuBri KispoTpo(po;. vti iyuyi
* Ug yocirjg ovvu[/.xt yXvKepuTepov aXXo iSsa-dai.

IIOMERI ODYSS. IX.

Tola tleniqne nostra ilia aspera, & montuosa, & fiijelis, & simplex, & fautrix
suorum regio. Cictio Oral, pro Cn. Plancio.

rk '^

~:nt tR' .f-TM'sa '>I1j

THE

NATURAL HISTORY

SELBORNE.

LETTER I.

TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE.

The parish of Selborne lies in the extreme eastern corner
of the county of Hampshire, bordering on the county of Sussex,
and not far from the county of Surrey ; is about fifty miles
south-west of London, in latitude 51, and near midway between
the towns oi Alton and Petersjield. Being very large and extensive
it abuts on twelve parishes, two of which are in Sussex, viz. Trotton
and Rogate. If you begin from the south and proceed westward
the adjacent parishes are E7nshot, Newton Valence, Faringdon,
Harteley Mauduit, Great Ward le ham, Kingsley, Hedleigh, Bram-
shot, Trotton, Rogate, Lysse, and Greatham. The soils of this dis-
trict are almost as various and diversified as the views and aspects.
The high part to the south-west consists of a vast hill of chalk,

0 NATURAL HISTORY

rising three hundred feet above the village; and is divided into a
sheep down, the high wood, and a long hanging wood called The
Hanger. The covert of this eminence is altogether beech, the
most lovely of all forest trees, whether we consider it's smooth
rind or bark, it's glossy foliage, or graceful pendulous boughs.
The down, or sheep-walk, is a pleasing park-like spot, of about
one mile by half that space, jutting out on the verge of the hill-
country, where it begins to break down into the plains, and com-
manding a very engaging view, being an assemblage of hill, dale,
wood-lands, heath, and water. The prospect is bounded to the
south-east and east by the vast range of mountains called The
Sussex Dffwns, by Guild-down near Guildford, and by the Downs
round Dorking, and Ryegate in Surrey, to the north-east, which
altogether, with the country beyond Alton and Farnham, form a
noble and extensive outline.

At the foot of this hill, one stage or step from the uplands, lies
the village, which consists of one single straggling street, three
quarters of a mile in length, in a sheltered vale, and running
parallel with The Hanger. The houses are divided from the hill
by a vein of stiff clay (good wheat-land), yet stand on a rock of
white stone, little in appearance removed from chalk ; but seems
so far from being calcarious, that it endures extreme heat. Yet
that the freestone still preserves somewhat that is analogous to
chalk, is plain from the beeches which descend as low as those
rocks extend, and no farther, and thrive as well on them, where
the ground is steep, as on the chalks.

The cart-way of the village divides, in a remarkable manner,
two verj' incongruous soils. To the south-west is a rank clay,
.that requires the labour of years to render it mellow; while the
gardens to the north-east, and small enclosures behind, consist of a

OF SELBORNE. 3

warm, forward, crumbling mould, called black malm, which seems
highly saturated with vegetable and animal manure ; and these
may perhaps have been the original site of the town ; while the
wood and coverts might extend down to the opposite bank.

At each end of the village, which runs from south-east to
north-west, arises a small rivulet : that at the north-west end
frequently fails : but the other is a fine perennial spring little in-
fluenced by drought or wet seasons, called Well-head^. Ihis
breaks out of some high grounds joining to Nore Hill, a noble
chalk promontory, remarkable for sending forth two streams into
two different seas. The one to the south becomes a branch of
the Aru7t, running to Arundel, and so falling into the British
channel : the other to the north. The Selborne stream makes one
branch of the JFei/ ; and, meeting the Black-down stream at Hed-
leigh, and the Alton and Farnham stream at Tilford-bridge, swells
into a considerable river, navigable at Godalming ; from whence
it passes to Guildford, and so into the Thames at TFeybridge ; and
thus at the Nore into the German ocean.

Our wells, at an average, run to about sixty-three feet, and
when sunk to that depth seldom fail; but produce a fine limpid
water, soft to the taste, and much commended by those who
drink the pure element, but which does not lather well with
soap.

To the north-west, north and east of the village, is a range of
fair enclosures, consisting of what is called a white malm, a sort of

» This spring produced, September 14, 178I, after a severe liot summer, and a pre-
ceding dry spring and winter, nine gallons of water in a minute, wJiich is five hundred
and forty in an hour, and twelve thousand nine hundred and sixty, or two hundred
and sixteen hogsheads, in twenty-four hours, or one nntural day. At this time many
of the wells failed, and all the ponds in the vales were dry.

B 2

4 NATURAL HISTORY

rotten or rubble stone, which, when turned up to the frost and
rain, moulders to pieces, and becomes manure to itself \

Still on to the north-east, and a step lower, is a kind of white
land, neither chalk nor clay, neither fit for pasture nor for the
plough, yet kindly for hops, which root deep into the freestone,
and have their poles and wood for charcoal growing just at hand.
This white soil produces the brightest hops.

As the parish still inclines down towards JVolmer-forest, at the
juncture of the clays and sand the soil becomes a wet, sandy
loam, remarkable for timber, and infamous for roads. The
oaks of Temple and Blackmoor stand high in the estimation of
purveyors, and have furnished much naval timber; while the
trees on the freestone grow large, but are what workmen call
shakey, and so brittle as often to fall to pieces in sawing. Be-
yond the sandy loam the soil becomes an hungry lean sand, till
it mingles with the forest ; and will produce little without the
assistance of lime and turnips.

LETTER II.

TO THE SAME.

In the court of No7'ton farm house, a manor farm to the north-
west of the village, on the white malms, stood within these
twenty years a broad-leaved elm, or wych hazel, ulmus folio latissimo
scabro of Ray, which, though it had lost a considerable leading

*• This soil produces good wheat and clover.

OF SELBORNE. 5

bough in the great storm in the year 1703, equal to a moderate
tree, yet, when felled, contained eight loads of timber; and, be-
ing too bulky for a carriage, was sawn off at seven feet above the
butt, where it measured near eight feet in the diameter. This
elm I mention to shew to what a bulk planted elms may attain ;
as this tree must certainly have been such from it's situation.

In the centre of the village, and near the church, is a square
piece of ground surrounded by houses, and vulgarly called The
Pkstor". In the midst of this spot stood, in old times, a vast oak,
with a short squat body, and huge horizontal arms extending
almost to the extremity of tlie area. This venerable tree, sur-
rounded with stone steps, and seats above them, was the delight
of old and young, and a place of much resort in summer even-
ings ; where the former sat in grave debate, while the latter fro-
licked and danced before them. Long might it have stood, had
not the amazing tempest in 1703 overturned it at once, to the
infinite regret of the inhabitants, and the vicar, who bestowed
several pounds in setting it in it's place again : but all his care
could not avail; the tree sprouted for a time, then withered and
died. This oak I mention to shew to what a bulk planted oaks
also may arrive : and planted this tree must certainly have been,
as will appear from what will be said farther concerning this
area, when we enter on the antiquities of Selborne.

On the Blackmoor estate there is a small wood called LoseVs, of
a few acres, that was lately furnished with a set of oaks of a pe-
culiar growth and great value; they were tall and taper like firs,
but standing near together had very small heads, only a little
brush without any large limbs. About twenty years ago the

« Vide the plate in the Antiquities.

6 NATURAL HISTORY

bridge at the Tot/, near Hampton Court, being much decayed,
some trees were wanted for the repairs that were fifty feet long
without bough, and would measure twelve inches diameter at
the little end. Twenty such trees did a purveyor find in this
little wood, with this advantage, that many of them answered
the description at sixty feet. These trees were sold for twenty
pounds apiece.

In the centre of this grove there stood an oak, which, though
shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out into a large excres-
cence about the middle of the stem. On this a pair of ravens
had fixed their residence for such a series of years, that the oak
was distinguished by the title of Tlie Raven-tree. Many were
the attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at this eyry .• the
difficulty whetted their inclinations, and each was ambitious of
surmounting the arduous task. But, when they arrived at the
swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond
their grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, and acknow-
ledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. So the ravens
built on, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal day
arrived in which the wood was to be levelled. It was in the
month o^ February, when those birds usually sit. The saw was
applied to the butt, the wedges were inserted into the opening,
the woods echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle or mallet, the
tree nodded to it's fall ; but still the dam sat on. At last, when
it gave way, the bird was flung from her nest; and, though her
parental affection deserved a better fate, was whipped down by
the twigs, which brought her dead to the ground.

Wt -r / ,/. r ;v , (^' /v.', A/ fA^//^ '

OF SELBORNE.

LETTER in.

TO THE SAME.

The fossil-shells of this district, and sorts of stone, such as have
fallen within my observation, must not be passed over in silence.
And first I must mention, as a great curiosity, a specimen that
was plowed up in the chalky fields, near the side of the Down,
and given to me for the singularity of it's appearance^ which, to
an incurious eye, seems like a petrified fish of about four inches
long, the cardo passing for an head and mouth. It is in reality a
bivalve of the Linncean Genus of Mytilus, and the species of Crista
Gain ; called by Lister, Rastellum ; by Rumphius, Ostream pli-
catum minus; by D' Argenville, Auris Porci, s. Crista Galli; and
by those who make collections cock's comb. Though I applied
to several such in London, I never could meet with an entire
specimen ; nor could I ever find in books any engraving from a
perfect one. In the superb museum at Leicester-house, permission
was given me to examine for this article; and though I was dis-
appointed as to the fossil, I was highly gratified with the sight
of several of the shells themselves in high preservation. This
bivalve is only known to inhabit the Indian ocean, where it fixes
itself to a zoophyte, known by the name Gorgonia. The curious
foldings of the suture the one into the other, the alternate
flutings or grooves, and the curved form of my specimen being
much easier expressed by the pencil than by words, I have
caused it to be drawn and engraved.

Cornua Ammonis are very common about this village. As we
were cutting an inclining path up The Hanger, the labourers

8 NATURAL HISTORY

found them frequently on that steep, just under the soil, in the
chalk, and of a considerable size. In the lane above Well-head,
in the way to Emshof, they abound in the bank in a darkish sort
of marl; and are usually very small and soft: but in Clays Pond,
a little farther on, at the end of the pit, where the soil is dug out
for manure, I have occasionally observed them of large dimen-
sions, perhaps fourteen or sixteen inches in diameter. But as
these did not consist of firm stone, but were formed of a kind of
terra lapidosa, or hardened clay, as soon as they were exposed to
the rains and frost they mouldered away. These seemed as if
they were a very recent production. In the chalk-pit, at the north-
west end of The Hanger, large nautili are sometimes observed.

In the very thickest strata of our freestone, and at considerable
depths, well-diggers often find large scallops or pectines, having
both shells deeply striated, and ridged and furrowed alternately.
They are highly impregnated with, if not wholly composed of,
the stone of the quarry.

LETTER IV.

TO THE SAME.

As in a former letter the freestone, of this place has been only
mentioned incidentally, I shall here become more particular.

This Stone is in great request for hearth-stones, and the beds
of ovens: and in lining of lime-kilns it turns to good account;
for the workmen use sandy loam instead of mortar; the sand of
which fluxes, •'and runs by the intense heat, and so cases over the

"" There may probably be also in the chalk itself that is burnt for lirae a proportion
of sand : for few chalks are so pure as to have none.

OF SELBORNE. 9

whole face of the kiln with a strong vitrified coat like glass, that
it is well preserved from injuries of weather, and endures thirty
or forty years. When chiseled smooth, it makes elegant fronts
for houses, equal in colour and grain to the Bath stone ; and su-
perior in one respect, that, when seasoned, it does not scale. De-
cent chimney-pieces are worked from it of much closer and finer
grain than Portland; and rooms are floored with it; but it proves
rather too soft for this purpose. It is a freestone, cutting in all
directions; yet has something of a grain parallel with the hori-
zon, and therefore should not be surbedded, but laid in the same
position that it grows in the quarry .= On the ground abroad
this fire-stone will not succeed for pavements, because, probably,
some degree of saltness prevailing within it, the rain tears the
slabs to pieces.' Though this stone is too hard to be acted on by
vinegar; yet both the white part, and even the blue I'ag, ferments
strongly in mineral acids. Though the white stone will not
bear wet, yet in every quarry at intervals there are thin strata
of bins rag, which resist rain and frost ; and are excellent for
pitching of stables, paths and courts, and for building of dr\
walls against banks ; a valuable species of fencing, much in use
in this village, and for mending of roads. This rag is rugged
and stubborn, and will not hew to a smooth face; but is very
durable : yet, as these strata are shallow and lie deep, large quan-
tities cannot be procured but at considerable expense. Among

' To suried stone is to set it edgewise, contrary to the posture it had in the quarry,
says Dr. Plot, Oxfordsh. p. ^^ . But surbedd'mg does not succeed in our dry walls ;
neither do we use it so in ovens, though he says it is best for Teynton stone.

f " Firestone is full of salts, and has no sulphur : must be close grained, and have
" no interstices. Nothing supports fire like salts ; saltstone perishes exposed to wet
" and frost." Plot's Staff, p. 152.

C

10 NATURAL HISTORY

the blue rags turn up some blocks tinged with a stain of yelloxu
or rust colour, which seem to be nearly as lasting as the blue ;
and every now and then balls of a friable substance, like rust
of iron, called rust balls.

In fFolmer Forest I see but one sort of stone, called by the
workmen sand, ov forest-stone. This is generally of the colour of
rusty iron, and might probably be Avorked as iron ore; is very
hard and heavy, and of a firm, compact texture, and composed
of a small roundish crystalline grit, cemented together by a
brown, terrene, ferruginous matter ; will not cut without diffi-
culty, nor easily strike fire with steel. Being often found in
broad flat pieces, it makes good pavement for paths about houses,
never becoming slippery in frost or rain; is excellent for dry
walls, and is sometimes used in buildings. In many parts of
that waste it lies scattered on the surface of the ground ; but is
dug on Weavers Down, a vast hill on the eastern verge of that
forest, where the pits are shallow, and the stratum thin. This
stone is imperishable.

From a notion of rendering their work the more elegant, and
giving it a finish, masons chip this stone into small fragments
about the size of the head of a large nail; and then stick the
pieces into the wet mortar along the joints of their freestone
walls: this embellishment carries an odd appearance, and has
occasioned strangers sometimes to ask us pleasantly, " whether
we fastened our walls together with lenpenny nails.

OF SELBORNE. ] 1

L E T T E R V.

TO THE SAME.

Among the singularities of this place the two rocky hollow lanes,
the one to Alton, and the other to the forest, deserve our atten-
tion. These roads, running through the malm lands, are, by the
traffick of ages, and the fretting of water, worn down through
the first stratum of our freestone, and partly through the se-
cond ; so that they look more like water-courses than roads ; and
are bedded with naked rag for fuilongs together. In many
places they are reduced sixteen or eighteen feet beneath the
level of the fields ; and after floods, and in frosts, exhibit very
grotesque and wild appearances, from the tangled roots that are
twisted among the strata, and from the torrents rushing down
their broken sides; and especially when those cascades are frozen
into icicles, hanging in all the fanciful shapes of frost-work.
These rugged gloomy scenes atfright the ladies when they peep
down into them from the paths above, and make timid horse-
men shudder while they ride along them ; but delight the
naturalist with their various botany, and particularly with their
curious^//ce* with which they abound.

The manor of Selborne, was it strictly looked after, with all
it's kindly aspects, and all it's sloping coverts, would swarm with
game ; even now hares, partridges, and pheasants abound ; and
in old days woodcocks were as plentiful. There are few quails,
because they more affect open fields than enclosures ; after har-
vest some few land-rails are seen.

The parish of Selborne, by taking in so much of the forest, is
a vast district. Those who tread the bounds are employed part of

c 2

12 NATURAL HISTORY

three days In the business, and are of opinion that the outHne, in
all it's curves and indentings, does not comprise less than thirty
miles.

The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by The Hanger
from the strong westerly winds. The air is soft, but rather
moist from the effluvia of so many trees ; yet perfectly healthy
and free from agues.

The quantity of rain that falls on it is very considerable, as may
be supposed in so woody and mountainous a district. As my
experience in measuring the water is but of short date, 1 am not
qualified to give the mean quantity.^ I only know that

Inch. Hund.

From May 1, 1779, to the end of the year there fell 28 37!

From Jan. 1, 1780, to Jan. 1, 1781

From Jan. 1, 1781, to Jan. 1, 1782

From Jan. 1, 1782, to Jan. 1, 1783

From Jan. 1, 1783, to Jan. 1, 1784

From Jan. 1, 1784, to Jan. 1, 1785

From Jan. 1, 1785, to Jan. 1, 1786

From Jan. 1, 1786, to Jan. 1, 1787

The village of Selborne, and large hamlet of Oakhanger, with
the single farms, and many scattered houses along the verge of the

K A very intelligent gentleman assures me (and he speaks from upwards of forty
years experience) that the mean rain of any place cannot be ascertained till a person
has measured it for a very long period. " If I had only measured the rain," says he,
" for the four first years, from 1740 to 1743, I should have said the mean rain at
" Lyndon ^zs \Q^ inch for the yearj if from 1740 to 1750, ISJ inches. The
" mean rain before 1763 was 20$ from 1"63 and since 254 fro'n 1"70 to 1/80, 26.
"■ If only 1773, 1774 and 1775, had been measured, Lyndon mean rain would have
" been called 32 inches."

27

32

30

71

50

26!

33

71

S3

80

31

55

39

57

OF SELBORNE.

13

forest, contain upwards of six hundred and seventy inhabitants.''
•"^ STATE of the Parish of SELBORNE, taken October 4, 1783.

The number of tenements or families, 136.
The numbfr of inhabitants in the street is 313 J Total 676 ; neaj five inhabitants to
In the rest of the parish - - 3C)3 > each tenement.

In the time of the Rev. Gilbert White, Vicar, who died in 1727-8, the number of inha-
bitants was computed at about 500.

Average of baptisms for 60 years.
From 1740

1721), both ^Females

years inclus. J

1739, both \^,^^^^^^

yea:

inchis.

6,0j'-''
7,lj'^-

'roml750 W Q-l
17&9inel. J ^- ^'M

1749 incl
From 1750

Total of baptisms of Males 615 1
Females 465/^
Total of baptisms from 1720 to 1779, both inclusive -

|From 1760

to

1769 incl.

[From 1770

to

1779 incl-

}^f-f3}20,3

60 years

980.

From 1720 to") nj, "j

1729, both kltiesjlf 9'!
years mclus. j j

^,Tn'r?K°lMales 4,8 1,„
.1739, both >Females5 8 f '0'
years incms. J J

Average of burials for 60 years.

From 1740') ,,

1749 mcl. J

From 1750 T ^

to Cv '

1759 incl. J •

■9|io,0

' }

From 1760 ■"

|f^'9Jl3.4
1769 incl. J^- '^'^J
Froml770|j^I 5 -|

to TF

1779 'ncl- J

e

315
325

60 years - - - 640.

Total of burials of Males
Females
Total of burials from 1720 to 1779, both inclusive -

Baptisms exceed burials by more than one third.

Baptisms of Males exceed Females by one tenth, or one in ten.

Burials of Females exceed Males by one in thirty.

It appears that a child, born and bred in this parish, has an equal chance to Vwt abovt

forty years.

Twins thirteen times, many of whom dying young have lessened the chances for life.

Chances for life in men and women appear to be equal.

A TABLE 0/ Z/ic Baptisms, Burials, ohJ Marriages, yjom January 2, 1761, /o December

1761.
1762.
1763.
1764.
1765.
1766.
1767.
1768.
1769.
1770.

25,

1780, in the

iPTl

SMS

BURIALS.

M.;

M.

F.

Tot.

M.

F.

Tot.

8

10

18

2

4

6

7

8

15

10

14

24

8

10

18

3

4

7

11

9

20

10

8

18

12

6

18

9

7

16

9

13

22

10

6

16

14

5

19

6

5

11

7

6

13

2

5

7

9

14

23

6

5

11

10

13

23

4

7

11

Parish of SELBORNE.

95 94 1£

62 65 127 43

BAPTISMS.

BURIALS.

MAE

M.

F.

Tot.

M.

F.

Tot.

1771.

10

6

16

3

4

7

4

1772.

11

10

21

6

10

16

3

1773.

8

5

13

7

5

12

3

1774.

6

13

19

2

8

10

1

1775.

20

7

27

13

8

21

6

1776.

11

10

21

4

6

10

6

1777.

8

13

21

7

3

10

4

1778.

7

13

20

3

4

7

5

• 779.

14

8

22

5

6

11

5

1780.

8

9

17

11

4

15

3

103 94 197 61 58 119 40

95 94 189 62 65 127 43

198^88^86 123 123 246 83
During this period of twenty years the births of males exceeded those of females - - 10.
The burials of each sex were equal.
And the births exceeded the deaths - - - 140.

U NATURAL HISTORY

We abound with poor; many of whom are sober and indus-
trious, and live comfortably in good stone or brick cottages, which
are glazed, and have cliambers above stairs : mud buildings we
have none. Besides the employment from husbandry, the men
work in hop gardens, of which we have many ; and fell and
bark timber. In the spring and summer the women weed the
corn ; and enjoy a second harvest in September by hop-picking.
Formerly, in the dead months they availed themselves greatly by
spinning wool, for making of tarragons, a genteel corded stuff,
much in vogue at that time for summer wear; and chiefly manu-
factured at Alton, a neighbouring town, by some of the people
called Quakers : but from circumstances this trade is at an end.'
The inhabitants enjoy a good share of health and longevity; and
the parish swarms with children.

LETTER VI.

TO THE SAME.

Should I omit to describe with some exactness the jTore-s^ of
Wolmer, of which three fifths perhaps lie in this parish, my ac-
count of Selborne would be very imperfect, as it is a district
abounding with many curious productions, both animal and ve-
oetable ; and has often afforded me much entertainment both as
a sportsman and as a naturalist.

' Since the passage above was written, I am happy in being able to say that the
spinning employment is a little revived^ to the no small comfort of the industrious
housewife.

OF SELBORNE. 15

The xoy?^ forest of IVolmer is a tract of land of about seven miles
in length, by two and a half in breadth, running nearly from
North to South, and is abutted on, to begin to the South, and so
to proceed eastward, by the parishes of Greatham, Lysse, Rogate,
and Trotton, in the county of Sussex ; by Bramshot, Hedleigh, and
Kingsley. This i-oyalty. consists entirely of sand covered with
heath and fern ; but is somewhat diversified with hills and dales,
without having one standing tree in the whole extent. In the
bottoms, where the waters stagnate, are many bogs, which for-
merly abounded with subterraneous trees; though Dr. Pbt says
positively,'' that " there never were any fallen trees hidden in the
" mosses of the southern counties." But he was mistaken : for
I myself have seen cottages on the verge of this wild district,
whose timbers consisted of a black hard wood, looking like oak,
Avhich the owners assured me they procured from the bogs by
probing the soil with spits, or some such instruments : but the
peat is so much cut out, and the moors have been so well ex-
amined, that none has been found of late.' Besides the oak, I
have also been shewn pieces of fossil-wood of a paler colour,

^ See his Hist, of Staffordshire.

' Old people have assured me, that on a winter's mornirg they have discovered-
these trees, in the bogs, by the hoar frost, which lay longer over the space where they
were concealed, than on the surrounding morass. Nor does this seem to be a fan-
ciful notion, but consistent with true philosophy. Dr. Hales saith, " That the
" warmth cf the earth, at some depth under ground, has an influence in promoting
" a thaw, as well as the change of the weather from a freezing to a thawing state,
" is manifest, from this observation, viz. Nov. 2Q, 1731, a little snow having fallen
" in the night, it was, by eleven the next morning, mostly mdted away on the sur-
" face of the earth, except in several places in Bushy-park, where tliere were drains
" dug and covered with earth, on which the snow continued to lie, whether those
" drains were full of water or dry; as also where elm-pipes lay under ground : a

16 NATURAL HISTORY

and softer nature, which the inhabitants called fir: bu<:, upon
a nice examination, and trial by fire, I could discover nothing
resinous in them; and therefore rather suppose that they were
parts of a willow or alder, or some such aquatic tree.

This lonely domain is a very agreeable haunt for many sorts of
wild fowls, which not only frequent it in the winter, but breed
there in the summer; such as lapwings, snipes, wild-ducks, and,
as I have discovered within these few years, teals. Partridges
in vast plenty are bred in good seasons on the verge of this fo-
rest, into which they love to make excursions : and in particular,
in the dry summer of 1740 and 1741, and some years after, they
swarmed to such a degree, that parties of unreasonable sports-
men killed twenty and sometimes thirty brace in a day.

But there was a nobler species of game in this forest, now ex-
tinct, which I have heard old people say abounded much before
shooting flying became so common, and that was the heath-cock,
black game, or grouse. When I was a little boy I recollect one
coming now and then to my father's table. The last pack re-
membered was killed about thirty-five years ago; and within
these ten years one solitary grei/ hen was sprung by some beagles
in beating for a hare. The sportsmen cried out, " A hen phea-
sant ;'" but a gentleman present, who had often seen grouse in
the north of England, assured me that it was a grey hen.

" plain proof tills, that those drains intercepted the warmth of the earth from as-
'' cendlng from greater depths below them : for the snow lay where tlie drain had
" more than four feet depth of earth over it. It continued also to lie on thatch, tiles,
" and the tops of walls." See Hales s Haemastatics, p. 360. Quere, Might not such
observations be reduced to domestic use, by promoting the discovery of old oblite-
rated drains and wells about houses; and in Roman stations and camps lead to the
finding of pavements, baths and graves, and other hidden relics of curious antiquity ?

OF SELBORNE. 17

"Nor does the loss of our black game prove the only gap in the
Fauna Selboiviiemis ; for another beautiful link in the chain of be-
ings is wanting, I mean the red deer, which toward the beginning
of this century amounted to about five hundred head, and made
a stately appearance. There is an old keeper, now alive, named
Adams, whose great grandfather (mentioned in a perambulation
taken in i6Jo) grandfather, father and self, enjoyed the head
keepership of Wolmer forest in succession for more than an hun-
dred years. This person assures me, that his father has often
told him, that Queen Anne, as she was journeying on the Ports-
mouth road, did not think the forest of Wolmer beneath her royal
regard. For she came out of the great road at Lippoch, which is
just by, and, reposing herself on a bank smoothed for that pur-
pose, lying about half a mile to the east of Wolmer pond, and still
called Queen s-hank, saw with great complacency and satisfaction
the whole herd of red deer brought by the keepers along the
vale before her, consisting then of about five hundred head. A
sight this worthy the attention of the greatest sovereign ! But
he farther adds that, by means of the IValtham blacks, or, to use
liis own expression, as soon as they began blacking, they were
reduced to about fifty head, and so continued decreasing till the
time of the late Duke of Cumberland. It is now more than
thirty years ago that his highness sent down an huntsman, and
six yeomen-prickers, in scarlet jackets laced with gold, attended
by the stag-hounds; ordering them to take every deer in this
forest alive, and to convey them in carts to Windsor. In the
course of the summer they caught every stag, some of which
shewed extraordinary diversion: but, in the following winter,
when the hinds were also carried off, such fine chases were ex-
hibited as served the country people formatter of talk and won-

D

18 NATURAL HISTORY

tier for years afterwards. I saw myself one of the yeomen-
prickers single out a stag from the herd, and must confess that
it was the most curious feat of activity I ever beheld, superior
to any thing in Mr. Astleys riding-school. The exertions made
by the horse and deer much exceeded all my expectations;
though the former greatly excelled the latter in speed. When
the devoted deer was separated from his companions, they gave
him, by their v\^atches, law, as they called it, for twenty minutes;
when, sounding their horns, the stop-dogs were permitted to
pursue, and a most gallant scene ensued.

LETTER VIL

TO THE SAME.

Though large herds of deer do much harm to the neighbour-
hood, yet the injury to the morals of the people is of more mo-
ment than the loss of their crops. The temptation is irresistible ;
for most men are sportsmen by constitution: and there is such
an inherent spirit for hunting in human nature, as scarce any
inhibitions can restrain. Hence, towards the beginning of this
century, all this country was wild about deer- stealing. Unless
he was a hunter, as they affected to call themselves^ no young-
person was allowed to be possessed of manhood or gallantry.
The JValtham blacks at length committed such enormities, that
goveriMapnt was forced to interfere with that severe and san-
guinary act called the bhick act,"" which now comprehends more

"> Statute Q Geo. I. c. 22.

OT SELBORNE. 19

felonies than any law that ever was framed before. And, there-
fore, a late bishop of TV'uichester, when urged to re-stock
Waltham- chase," refused, from a motive worthy of a prelate,
replying that " It had done mischief enough already."

Our old race of deer-stealers are hardly extinct yet: it was
but a little while ago that, over their ale, they used to recount
the exploits of their youth; such as watching the pregnant
hind to her lair, and, when the calf was dropped, paring it's
feet with a penknife to the quick to prevent it's escape, till it
was large and fat enough to be killed ; the shooting at one of
their neighbours with a bullet in a turnip-field by moonshine,
mistaking him for a deer; and the losing a dog in the following-
extraordinary manner: — Some fellows, suspecting that a calf
new-fallen was deposited in a certain spot of thick fern, went,
with a lurcher, to surprise it ; when the parent-hind rushed out
of the brake, and, taking a vast spring with all her feet close
together, pitched upon the neck of the dog, and broke it short
in two.

Another temptation to idleness and sporting, was a number of
rabbits, which possessed all the hillocks and dry places : but
these being inconvenient to the huntsmen, on account of their
burrows, when they came to take away the deer, they permit-
ted the country-people to destroy them all.'

Such forests and wastes, when their allurements to irregulari-
ties are removed, are of considerable service to neighbourhoods
that verge upon them, by furnishing them with peat and turf
for their firing; with fuel for the burning their lime ; and with

•> This chase remains un-stocked to this day ; the bishop was Dr. Hoadly.
D 2

20 NATURAL HISTORY

ashes for their grasses ; and by maintaining their geese and
their stock of young cattle at Httlc or no expense.

The manor farm of the parish of Greatham has an admitted
claim, I see, (by an old record taken from the Tmcer of Londmi)
of turning all live stock on the forest, at proper seasons, bidentibus
exceptis." The reason, I presume, why sheep'' are excluded, is,
because, being such close grazers, they would pick out all the
finest grasses, and hinder the deer from thriving.

Though (by statute 4 and 5 JV. and Alary) c. 23. " to bum on
" any waste, between Candlemas and Midsummer, any grig, ling,
" heath and furze, goss or fern, is punishable with whipping
" and confinement in the house of correction ;" yet, in this fo-
rest, about March or April, according to the dryness of the sea-
son, such vast heath-fires are lighted up, that they often get to
a masterlcss head, and, catching the hedges, have sometimes
been communicated to the underwoods, woods, and coppices,
where great damage has ensued. The plea for these burnings is,
that, when the old coat of heath, &c. is consumed, young will
sprout up, and aflford much tender bronze for cattle ; but, where
there is large old furze, the fire, following the roots, consumes
the very ground ; so that for hundreds of acres nothing is to be
seen but smother and desolation, the whole circuit round looking
like the cinders of a volcano j and, the soil being quite exhausted,
no traces of vegetation are to be found for years. These confla-
gi'ations, as they take place usually M'ith a north-east or east wind,

° For this privilege the owner of that estate used to pny to the king annually
seven bushels of oats.

P In The Holt, where a full stock of fallow-deer has been kept up till lately, no
?l:eep are admitted to this d.iy.

OF SELBORNE. 21

much annoy this village with their smoke, and often alarm the
country ; and, once in particidar, I remember that a gentlemani
who Uves beyond AnJover, coming to my house, when he got on
the downs between that town and JVinchester, at twenty-five
miles distance, was surprised much with smoke and a hot smell
of fire ; and concluded that Ahxsford was in flames ; but, when
he came to that town, he then had apprehensions for the next
village, and so on to the end of his journey.

On two of the most conspicuous eminences of this forest, stand
two arbours or bowers, made of the boughs of oaks; the one called
JValdon-lodge, the other Bnmstoiie-lodge : these the keepers renew
annually on the feast of St. Baruahas^ taking the old materials
for a perquisite. The farm called JS/«c/c/koo;v in this parish, is
obliged to find the posts and brush-wood for the former ; while
the farms at Greatham, in rotation, furnish for the latter; and
are all enjoined to cut and deliver the materials at the spot.
This custom I mention, because I look upon it to be of very re-
mote antiquity.

LETTER VIII.

TO THE SAME,

On the verge of the forest, as it is now circumscribed, are three
considerable lakes, two in Oakhanger, of which I have nothing-
particular to say ; and one called Bin's, or Bean's pond, which is
worthy the attention of a naturalist or a sportsman. For, being
crowded at the upper end with willows, and with the carex

22 NATURAL HISTORY

cespitosa,'^ it affords such a safe and pleasing shelter to wild
ducks, teals, snipes, &c. that they breed there. In the winter
this covert is also frequented by foxes, and sometimes by phea-
sants ; and the bogs produce many curious plants. [For which
consult letter XLII. to Mr. Barri?igton]

By a perambulation of TVolmer forest and The Holt, made in
1635, and in the eleventh year o^ Charles the First (which now
lies before me), it appears that the limits of the former arc
much circumscribed. For, to say nothing of the farther side,
with which I am not so well acquainted, the bounds on this side,
in old times, came into Binswood; and extended to the ditch of
JVard k ham-park, in which stands the curious mount called
King Johns Hill, and Lodge Hill ; and to the verge of Hartley
Mauduit, called Manduit-hatch ; comprehending also Short-heath,
Oakhanger, and Oakwoods ; a large district, now private property,
though once belonging to the royal domain.

It is remarkable that the term purlieu is never once mentioned
in this long roll of parchment. It contains, besides the peram-
bulation, a rough estimate of the value of the timbers, which
were considerable, growing at that time in the district of Tht
Holt; and enumerates the officers, superior and inferior, of those
joint forests, for the time being, and their ostensible fees and
perquisites. In those days, as at present, there were hardly any
trees in J Vvlmer forest.

Within the present limits of the forest are three considerable

1 1 mean that sort which, rising into tall hassocks, is called by the foresters tor-
rets; a corruption, I suppose of turrets.

Note, In the beginning of the summer 178/ the royal forests of Wolmer and Holt
were measured by persons sent down by government.

OF SELBORNE. " ^3

lakes, Hogmer, Cranmer, and IFol/iter; all of which are stocked
with carp, tench, eels, and perch : but the fish do not thrive well,
because the water is hungry, and the bottoms are a naked sand.
A circumstance respecting these ponds, though by no means
peculiar to them, I cannot pass over in silence; and that is, that
instinct by which in summer all the kine, whether oxen, cows,
calves, or heifers, retire constantly to the water during the hotter
hours; where, being more exempt from flies, and inhaling the
coolness of that element, some belly deep, and some only to mid-
leg, they ruminate and solace themselves from about ten in the
morning till four in the afternoon, and then return to their feed-
ing. During this great proportion of the day they drop much
dung, in which insects nestle ; and so supply food for the fish,
which would be poorly subsisted but from this contingency.
Thus Nature, who is a great economist, converts the recreation
of one animal to the support of another ! Thomson, who \vas a
nice observer of natural occurrences, did not let this pleasing
circumstance escape him. He says, in his Summer,

" A. various group the herds and flocks compose :

" on the grassy bank

" Some ruminating lie; while others stand
"■ Half in the flood, and, often bending, sip
" The circling surface."

Wolmer-pond, so called, I suppose, for eminence sake, is a vast
lake for this part of the world, containing, in it's whole circum-
ference, 2646 yards, or very near a mile and an half. The length
of the north-west and opposite side is about 704 yards, and the
breadth of the south-west end about 456 yards. This measure-
ment, which I caused to be made with good exactness, gives an

£4 NATURAL HISTORY

area of about sixty-six acres, exclusive of a large inegular arm at
the north-east corner, which we did not take into the reckoning.
On the face of this expanse of waters, and perfectly secure
from fowlers, lie all day long, in the winter season, vast flocks
of ducks, teals, and wigeons, of various denominations; where
they preen and solace, and rest themselves, till towards sun*set,
when they issue forth in little parties (for in their natural state
they are all birds of the night) to feed in the brooks and mea-
dows ; returning again with the dawn of the morning. Had
this lake an arm or two more, and were it planted round with
thick covert v. for now it is perfectly naked), it might make a
valuable decoy.

Yet neither it's extent, nor the clearness of it's water, nor
the resort of various and curious fowls, nor it's picturesque
groups of cattle, can render this meer so remarkable as the great
quantity of coins that were found in it's bed about forty years
ago. But, as such discoveries more properly belong to the an-
tiquities of this place, I shall suppress all particulars for the
present, till I enter professedly on my series of letters respect-
ing the more remote history of this village and district.

"LETTER IX.

TO THE SAME.

By way of supplement, I shall trouble you once more on this
subject, to inform you that JVolmer, with her sister forest Aylcs

OF SELBORNE. 25

Holt, alias Alice Holt,'^ as it is called in old records, is held by
grant from the crown for a term of years.

The grantees that the author remembers are Brigadier-General
Emanuel bcroope Howe, and his lady, Rvperta, who was a natural
daughter of Prince Rupert by Margaret Hughs ; a Mr. Mordaunt,
of the Peterborough family, who married a dowager Lady Pem-
broke; Henry Bilson Legge and lady; and now Lord Stawel,
their son.

The lady of General Howe lived to an advanced age, long
surviving her husband ; and, at her death, left behind her many
curious pieces of mechanism of her father's constructing, who
was a distinguished mechanic and artist,' as well as warrior; and,
among the rest, a very complicated clock, lately in possession
of Mr. Elmer, the celebrated game-j)ainter at Farnhain, in the
county of Surrey.

Though these two forests are only parted by a narrow range
of enclosures, yet no two soils can be more different: for The
Holt consists of a strong loam, of a miry nature, carrying a good
turf, and abounding with oaks that grow to be large timber ;
while TVolmer is nothing but a hungry, sandy, barren waste.

The former, being all in the parish of Bmsted, is about two
miles in extenffrom north to south, and near as much from east
to west; and contains within it many woodlands and lawns, and
the great lodge where the grantees reside ; and a smaller lodge
called Goose-green ; and is abutted on by the parishes of Kingsley,

") " In Rot. Inquisit. de statu forest, in Scaccar. 36. Ed. 3. it is called Aisholt."
In the same, " Tit. IVoolmer and Aisholt Hantisc. Dominus Rex habet unam ca-

" pellam in ha'ia sua de Kingesie." " Haia, sepes, sepimentum, parcus : a Gall.

" iaie and haye." Spelraan's Glossarj'.
' This prince was the inventor of mezzotinto.

26 NATURAL HISTORY

Frimham, Farnham, and Bentley ; all of which have right of
common.

One thing is remarkable ; that, though The Holt has been of
old well-stocked with fallow-deer, unrestrained by any pales or
fences more than a common hedge, yet they were never seen
within the limits of JFohner ; nor were the red deer of Wolmer
ever known to haunt the thickets or glades of The Holt.

At present the deer of The Holt are much thinned and reduced
by the night-hunters, who perpetually harass them in spite of the
efforts of numerous keepers, and the severe penalties that have
been put in force against them as often as they have been detect-
ed, and rendered liable to the lash of the law. Neither fines nor
imprisonments can deter them : so impossible is it to extinguish
the spirit of sporting, which seems to be inherent in human nature.
General Howe turned out some German wild boars and sows in
his forests, to the great terror of the neighbourhood ; and, at one
time, a wild bull or buffalo : but the country rose upon them
and destroyed them.

A very large fall of timber, consisting of about one thousand
oaks, has been cut this spring (viz. 1784) 'n\The Holt forest; one
fifth of which, it is said, belongs to tlie grantee, Lord Stawel.
He lays claim also to the lop and top : but the poor of the pa-
rishes of Binsted and Fr'mshavi, Bentley and Kingsley, assert
that it belongs to them; and, assembling in a riotous manner,
ha\e actually taken it all away. One man, who keeps a team,
has carried home, for his share, forty stacks of wood. Forty-
five of these people his Lordship has served with actions.
These trees, which were very sound, and in high perfection,
were winter-cut, viz. in February and March, before the bark
woidd run. In old times The Holt was estimated to be eishteen

OF SELBORNE. 27

miles, computed measure, from water-carriage, viz. from the
town of Chertsey, on the Thames; but now it is not half that
distance, since the JFey is made navigable up to the town of
Godabning in the county of Surrey.

LETTER X.

TO THE SAME.

August 4, 1/6?.

It has been my misfortune never to have had any neighbours
whose studies have led them towards the pursuit of natural
knowledge; so that, for want of a companion to quicken my
industry and sharpen my attention, I have made but slendec
progress in a kind of information to which I have been attached
from my childhood.

As to swallows (hirundbies rusticce) being found in a torpid state
during the winter in the isle of f Fight, or any part of this coun-
try, I never heard any such account worth attending to. But a
clergyman, of an inquisitive turn, assures me, that, when he was a
great boy, some workmen, in pulling down the battlements of a
church tower early in the spring, found two or three swifts
(hirundines apodes) among the rubbish, which were, at first ap-
pearance, dead ; but, on being carried toward the fire, revived.
He told me that, out of his great care to preserve them, he put
them in a paper bag, and hung them by the kitclicn fire, where
they were suffocated.

28 NATURAL HISTORY

Another intelligent person has informed me that, while he was
a schoolboy at Brighthelmstone, in Sussex, a great fragment of the
chalk-clifF fell down one stormy winter on the beach ; and that
many people found swallows among the rubbish : but, on my
(juestioning him whether he saw any of those birds himself; to
my no small disappointment, he answered me in the negative;
but that others assured him they did.

Young broods oi ^oallows began to appear this year on July the
eleventh, and young martins (hirimdines iirbica) were then fledged
in their nests. Both species will breed again once. For I see
by my fauna of last year, that young broods came forth so late
as September the eighteenth. Are not these late hatchings more in
favour of hiding than migration ? Nay, some young martins re-
mained in their nests last year so late as September the twenty-
ninth; and yet they totally disappeared with us by the fifth of
October.

How strange is it that the swift, which seems to live exactly
the same life with the swallozv and house-martin, should leave us
before the middle of ^w^m*^ invariably! while the latter stay
often till the middle of October; and once I saw numbers of
house-martins on the seventh of November. The martins and
red-xving fieldfares were flying in sight together; an uncommon
assemblage of summer and winter-birds.

A little yellow bird (it is either a species of the alauda trivialis,
or rather perhaps of the motacilla trochilus) still continues to make
a sibilous shivering noise in the tops of tall woods. The stoparola
of Jiay ffor which we have as yet no name in these parts) is
called, in your Zoology, the fly-catcher. There is one circumstance
characteristic of this bird, which seems to have escaped obser-
vation, and that is, it takes it's stand on the top of some stake

OF SELBORNE. eg

or post, from whence it springs forth on it's prey, catching a fly
in the air, and hardly ever touching the ground, but returning
still to the same stand for many times together.

I perceive there are more than one species of the motacilla
trochiliis: Mr. Derhain supposes, in RaysPhibs. Letters, that he
has discovered three. In these there is again an instance of
some very common birds that have as yet no English name.

Mr. Stillingfleet makes a question whether the black-cap (mota-
cilla atricapilla) be a bird of passage or not : I think there is no
doubt of it: for, m April, in the first fine weather, they come
trooping, all at once, into these parts, but are never seen in the
winter. They are delicate songsters.

Numbers of snipes breed every summer in some moory ground
on the verge of this parish. It is very amusing to see the cock
bird on wing at that time, and to hear his piping and humming
notes.

I have had no opportunity yet of procuring any of those mice
which I mentioned to you in town. The person that brought me
the last says they are plenty in harvest, at which time I will take
care to get more ; and will endeavour to put the matter out of
doubt, whether it be a non-descript species or not.

I suspect much there may be two species of water-rats. Ray
says, and Linnc^us after him, that the water-rat is web-footed be-
hind. Now I have discovered a rat on the banks of our little
stream that is not web-footed, and yet is an excellent swimmer
and diver: it answers exactly to the mus amphibius of LimicEus (See
Syst. Nat.) which he says " natat infossis et urinafur." I should
be glad to procure one " pkmtis pal??iatis." LinncEus seems to be
in a puzzle about his mus amphibius, and to doubt whether it dif-
fers from his mus terrestris; which if it be, as he allows, the " >7ius

ao NATURAL HISTORY

agrestis capite gi^andi hrachyuros''' of Ray, is widely different from
the water-rat, both in size, make, and manner of life.

As to the falco, which I mentioned in town, I shall take the
liberty to send it down to you into Wales ; presuming on your
candour, that you will excuse me if it should appear as familiar
to you as it is strange to me. Though mutilated " qualem dices . . .
" antehac fuisse, tales cum sint reliquue .'"

It haunted a marshy piece of ground in quest of wild-ducks and
snipes: but, when it was shot, had just knocked down a rook,
which it was tearing in pieces. I cannot make it answer to any of
our English hawks; neither could I find any like it at the curious
exhibition of stuffed birds in Spring-Gardens. I found it nailed
up at the end of a barn, which is the countryman's museum.

The parish I live in is a very abrupt, uneven country, full of
hills and M'oods, and therefore full of birds.

LETTER XL

TO THE SAME.

Selborne, September Q, 1767.

It will not be without impatience that I shall wait for your
thoughts with regard to the falco; as to it's weight, breadth, &c.
I wish I had set them down at the time: but, to the best of my
remembrance, it weighed two pounds and eight ounces, and mea-
sured, from wing to wing, thirty-eight inches. It's cere and feet
were yellow, and the circle of it's eyelids a bright yellow. As it

OF SELBORNE. 31

had been killed some da} s, and the eyes were sunk, I could make
no good observation on the colour of the pupils and the iricles.

The most unusual birds I ever observed in these parts were a
pair of hoopoes (upupa) which came several years ago in the sum-
mer, and frequented an ornamented piece of ground, which joins
to my garden, for some weeks. They used to march about in a
stately manner, feeding in the walks, many times in the day; and
seemed disposed to breed in my outlet; but were frighted and
persecuted by idle boys, who would never let them be at rest.

Three gross-beaks (loxia coccothraustes) appeared some years
ago in my fields, in the winter; one of which I shot: since that,
now and then one is occasionally seen in the same dead season.

A cross-bill (loaia curvirostra) was killed last year in this
neighbourhood.

Our streams, which are small, and rise only at the end of the

village, yield nothing but the bull's head or millers thumb (gobius

fluviatilis capitatiis), the trout (trutta flumatilis), the eel (anguilla),

the lampern (lampcetra parva et fluviatilis), and the stickle-back

{pisciculus aculeatus).

We are twenty miles from the sea, and almost as many from a
great river, and therefore see but little of sea-birds. As to wild
fowls, we have a few teams of ducks bred in the moors where the
snipes breed ; and multitudes of widgeons and teals in hard wea-
ther frequent our lakes in the forest.

Having some acquaintance with a tame brown awl, I find that
it casts up the fur of mice, and the feathers of birds in pellets,
after the manner of hawks: when full, like a dog, it hides what
it cannot eat.

The young of the barn-owl are not easily raised, as they want
a constant supply of fresh mice : whereas the young of the brown

32 NATURAL HISTORY

owl will eat indiscriminately all that is brought j snails, rats

kittens, puppies, magpies, and any kind of carrion or offal.
The house-martins have eggs still, and squab-young. The last

swift I observed was about the twenty-first of ^mo'm*^; it was a

straggler.

lled-starts, fiy-catchers, white-throats, and regiili non cristati,

still appear; but I have seen no black-caps lately.

I forgot to mention that I once saw, in Christ Church college

quadrangle in Oxford, on a very sunny warm morning, a house

martin flying about, and settling on the parapet, so late as the

twentieth of November.

At present I know only two species of bats, the common
vespertilio murinus and the vesper tilio auribus.

I was much entertained last summer with a tame bat, which
would take flies out of a person's hand. If you gave it any thing
to eat, it brought it's wings round before the mouth, hovering
and hiding it's head in the manner of birds of prey when they
feed. The adroitness it shewed in shearing off the wings of the
flies, which were always rejected, was worthy of observation, and
pleased me much. Insects seemed to be most acceptable, though
it did not refuse raw flesh when offered: so that the notion, that
bats go down chimnies and gnaw men's bacon, seems no impro-
bable stor3\ While I amused myself with this wonderful qua-
druped, I saw it several times confute the vulgar opinion, that
bats when down on a flat surface cannot get on the wing again,
by rising Avith great ease from the floor. It ran, I observed,
with more dispatch than I was aware of; but in a most ridicu-
lous and grotesque manner.

Bats drink on the wing, like swallows, by sipping the surface,
as they play over pools and streams. They love to fiequent

OF SELBORNE. 33

waters, not only for the sake of drinking, but on account of in-
sects, which are found over them in the greatest plenty. As I
was going, some years ago, pretty late, in a boat from Richmond
to Sunbury, on a warm summer's evening, I think I saw myriads
of bats between the two places : the air swarmed with them all
along the Thames, so that hundreds were in sight at a time.

I am, &c.

LETTER XIJ.

TO THE SAME.
SIR, November 4, 1767.

It gave me no small satisfaction to hear that the Jalco ' turned
out an uncommon one, I must confess I should have been bet-
ter pleased to have heard that I had sent you a bird that you
had never seen before; but that, I find, would be a difficult task.
I have procured some of the mice mentioned in my former
letters, a young one and a female with young, both of which I
have preserved in brandy. From the colour, shape, size, and
manner of nesting, I make no doubt but that the species is non-
descript. They are much smaller, and more slender, than the
7nm domesticus medius of Ray ; and have more of the squirrel or
dormouse colour: their belly is white; a straight line along their
sides divides the shades of their back and belly. They never
enter into houses; are carried into ricks and barns with the
sheaves; abound in harvest, and build their nests amidst the

' This hawk proved to be the/a/copfireg-WKiff; a variety.

34 NATURAL HISTORY

straws of the corn above the ground, and sometimes in thistles.
They breed as many as eight at a htter, in a little round nest
composed of the blades of grass or wheat.

One of these nests I procured this autumn, most artificially
platted, and composed of the blades of wheat; perfectly round,
and about the size of a cricket-ball; with the aperture so inge-
niously closed, that there was no discovering to what part it
belonged. It was so compact and well filled, that it would roll
across the table without being discomposed, though it contained
eight little mice that were naked and blind. As this nest was
perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter respectively
so as to administer a teat to each? perhaps she opens different
places for that purpose, adjusting them again when the business
is over: but she could not possibly be contained herself in the
ball with her young, which moreover would be daily increasing
in bulk. This wonderful procreant cradle, and elegant instance
of the eflTorts of instinct, was found in a wheat-field suspended
in the head of a thistle.

A gentleman, curious in birds, wrote rae word that his servant
had shot one last January, in that severe weather, which he be-
lieved would puzzle me. I called to see it this summer, not
knowing what to expect: but, the moment I took it in hand, I
pronounced it the male gaiTulus bohemkus, or German silk-tail,
from the five peculiar crimson tags or points which it carries at
the ends of five of the short remiges. It cannot, I suppose, with
any propriety, be called an English bird: and yet I see, by Rays
Philoaoph. Letters, that great flocks of them, feeding on haws,
appeared in this kingdom in the winter of 1 685.

The mention of haws puts me in mind that there is a total
failure of that wild fruit, so conducive to the support of many

OF SELBORNE. 3,5

of the winged nation. For the same severe weather, late in the
spring, which cut off all the produce of the more tender and
curious trees, destroyed also that of the more hardy and
common.

Some birds, haunting with the missel-thrushes, and feeding
on the berries of the yew-tree, which answered to the description
of the meritlu torquata, or ring-ouzd, were lately seen in this
neighbourhood. I employed some people to procure me a
specimen, but without success. See Letter VIII.

Quoy — JNIight not Canary birds be naturalized to this climate,
provided their eggs were put, in the spring, into the nests of
some of their congeners, as goldfinches, greenfinches, &c. ? Be-
fore winter perhaps they might be hardened, and able to shift
for themselves.

About ten years ago I used to spend some weeks yearly at
Sunbury, which is one of those pleasant villages lying on the
Thames, near Hampton- court. In the autumn, I could not help
being much amused with those myriads of the swallow kind
which assemble in those parts. But what struck me most was,
that, from the time they began to congregate, forsaking the
chimnies and houses, they roosted every night in the osier-beds
of the aits of that river. Now this resorting towards that ele-
ment, at that season of the year, seems to give some countenance
to the northern opinion (strange as it is) of their retiring under
water. A Sivedish naturalist is so much persuaded of that fact,
that he talks, in his calendar of Flora, as familiarly of the swal-
low's going under water in the beginning of September, as he
would of his poultry going to roost a little before sunset.

An observing gentleman in London writes me word that he
saw an house-martin, on the twenty-third of last October, flying

F 2

36 NATURAL HISTORY

in and out of it's nest in the Borough. And I myself, on the
twenty-ninth of last October (as I was travelling throu?,h Oxford),
saw four or five swallows hovering round and settling on the
roof of the county-hospital.

Now is it likely that these poor little birds (which perhaps
had not been hatched but a few weeks) should, at that late sea-
son of the year, and from so midland a county, attempt a voyage
to Goree or Senegal, almost as far as the equafor}'

I acquiesce entirely in your opinion — that, though most of
the swallow kind may migrate, yet that some do stay behind
and hide with us during the winter.

As to the short-winged soft-billed birds, which come trooping
in such numbers in the spring, I am at a loss even what to sus-
pect about them. I watched them narrowly this year, and saw
them abound till about Michaelmas, when they appeared no
longer. Subsist they cannot openly among us, and yet elude
the eyes of the inquisitive: and, as to their hiding, no man pre-
tends to have found any of them in a torpid state in the winter.
But with regard to their migration, what difficulties attend that
supposition! that such feeble bad fliers (who the summer long-
never flit but from hedge to hedge) should be able to traverse
vast seas and continents, in order to enjoy milder seasons amidst
the regions of Jfrica!

' See Adanson's Voyage to Senegal,

OF SELBORNE. 3T

LETTER XIII.

TO THE SAME.
SIRj SelbornEj Jan. 22, 1/66.

As in one of your former letters you expressed the more satis-
faction from my correspondence on account of my living in the
most southerly county; so now I may return the compliment,
and expect to have my curiosity gratified by your living mucli
more to the North.

For many years past I have observed that towards Christmas
vast flocks of chaffinches have appeared in the fields; many
more, I used to think, than could be hatched in any one neigh-
bourhood. But, when I came to observe them more narrowly,
I was amazed to find that they seemed to me to be almost all
hens. I communicated my suspicions to some intelligent neigh-
bours, who, after taking pains about the matter, declared that
they also thought them all mostly females ; at least fifty to one.
This extraordinary occurrence brought to my mind the remark
of Linmeus; that " before winter all their hen chaffinches mi-
" grate through Holland into Italy." Now I want to know,
from some curious person in the north, Avhether there are any
large flocks of these finches with them in the winter, and of
which sex they mostly consist? For, from such intelligence, one
might be able to judge whether our female flocks migrate from
the other end of the island, or whether they come over to us
from the continent.

We have, in the winter, vast flocks of the common linnets;

38 NATURAL HISTORY

more, I think, than can be bred in any one district. These, I
observe, when the spring advances, assemble on some tree in the
sunshine, and join all in a gentle sort of chirping, as if they were
about to break up their winter quarters and betake themselves
to their proper summer homes. It is well known, at least, that
the swallows and the fieldfares do congregate with a gentle
twittering before they make their respective departure.

You may depend on it that the bunting, emberiza miliaria,
does not leave this county in the winter. In January 1767 I
saw several dozen of them, in the midst of a severe frost, among
the bushes on the downs near Andover: in our woodland en-
closed district it is a rare bird.

Wagtails, both white and yeillow, are with us all the winter.
Quails crowd to our southern coast, and are often killed in
numbers by people that go on purpose.

Mr. Stilliugfleet, in his Tracts, says that, " if the wheatear
'■'■ (ananthe) does not quit England, it certainly shifts places;
" for about harvest they are not to be found, where there was
" before great plenty of them." This well accounts for the vast
quantities that are caught about that time on the south downs
near Lewes, where they are esteemed a delicacy. There have
been shepherds, I have been credibly informed, that have made
many pounds in a season by catching them in traps. And though
such multitudes are taken, I never saw (and I am well acquainted
with those parts) above two or three at a time: for they are
never gregarious. They may perhaps migrate in general; and,
for that purpose, draw towards the coast of Sussex in autumn :
but that they do not all withdraw I am sure; because I see a
few stragglers in many counties, at all times of the year, espe-
cially about warrens and stone quarries.

OF SELBORNE. 39

I have no acquaintance, at present, among the gentlemen of
the navy : but have written to a friend, who was a sea-chaplain
in the late war, desiring him to look into his minutes, witii re-
spect to birds that settled on their rigging during their voyage
up or down the channel. What Hasselquist says on that subject
is remarkable: there were little short-winged birds frequently
coming on board his ship all the way from our channel quite up
to the Levant, especially before squally w^eather.

"What you suggest, with regard to Spain, is highly probable.
The winters of Andalusia are so mild, that, in all likelihood, the
soft-billed birds that leave us at that season may find insects
sufficient to support them there.

Some young man, possessed of fortune, health, and leisure,
should make an autumnal voyage into that kingdom; and should
spend a year there, investigating the natural history of that
vast country. Mr. IViliugkby" passed through that kingdom on
such an errand; but he seems to have skirted along in a super-
ficial manner and an ill humour, being much disgusted at the
rude dissolute manners of the people.

I have no friend left now at Sunbury to apply to about the
swallows roosting on the aits of the Thames: nor can I hear any
more about those birds which I suspected were merulce torquatce.

As to the small mice, I have farther to remark, that though
they hang their nests for breeding up amidst the straws of the
standing corn, above the ground; yet I find that, in the winter,
they burrow deep in the earth, and make warm beds of grass:
but their grand rendezvous seems to be in corn-ricks, into which
they are carried at harvest. A neighbour housed an oat-rick
lately, under the thatch of which were assembled near an hun-

" See Riiij's Travels, p, 466.

40 NATURAL HISTORY.

died, most of which were taken; and some I saw. I measured
them; and found that, from nose to tail, they were just twe
inches and a quarter, and their tails just two inches long. Two
of them, in a scale, weighed down just one copper halfpenny,
which is about the third of an ounce avoirdupois: so that 1 sup-
pose they arc the smallest quadrupeds in this island. A full-
grown inus mcd'ms domesticus weighs, I find, one ounce lumping
weight, which is more than six times as much as the mouse
above; and measures from nose to rump four inches and a quai'-
ter, and the same in it's tail. We have had a very severe frost
and deep snow this month. My thermometer was one day four-
teen degrees and an half below the freezing point, within doors.
The tender evergreens were injured pretty much. It was very
providential that the air was still, and the ground well covered
with snow, else vegetation in general must have suffered pro-
digiously. There is reason to believe that some days were more
severe than any since the year 1739-40.
I am, &c. &c.

LETTER XIV.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selboknk, March ] 2, 176s.

If some curious gentleman would procure the head of a fallow-
deer, and have it dissected, he would find it furnished with two
spiracula, or breathing-places, besides the nostrils; probably

OF SELBORNE. 41

analogous to the puncta lachryvialia in the human head. When
deer are thirsty they plunge their noses, like some horses, very
deep unerd water, while in the act of drinking, and continue
them in that situation for a considerable time : but, to obviate
any inconveniency, they can open two vents, one at the inner
corner of each eye, having a communication with the nose. Here
seems to be an extraordinary provision of nature worthy our
attention ; and which has not, that I know of, been noticed by
any naturalist. For it looks as if these creatures would not be
suffocated, though both their mouths and nostrils were stopped.
This curious formation of the head may be of singular service
to beasts of chase, by affording them free respiration : and no
doubt these additional nostrils are thrown open when they are
hard run\ Mr, Ray observed that, at Malta, the owners slit
up the nostrils of such asses as were hard worked: for they,
being naturally strait or small, did not admit air sufficient to
serve them when they travelled, or laboured, in that hot climate.
And we know that grooms, and gentlemen of the turf, think
large nostrils necessary, and a perfection, in hunters and running
horses.

Oppian, the Greek poet, by the following line, seems to have
had some notion that stags have four spiracula :

" TsrpaSvjjjii 'ptvEs, itKrvpe; mvoiyja-i StauXai"

" Quadrifidx nares, quadruplices ad respirationem canales."

Opp. Cyn. Lib. ii. 1. 181.

^ In answer to this account, Mr. Pennant sent me the following curious and per-
tinent reply. " I was much surprised to find in the antelope something analogous
" to what you mention as so remarkable in deer. This animal also has a long slit
" beneath each eye, which can be opened and shut at pleasure. On holding an

C

42 NATURAL HISTORY

Writers, copying from one another, make Aristotle say that
goats breathe at their ears; whereas he asserts just the con-
trary:— " AXXjUaiwi' yxp oux aXti^rt ^lyet, (pa[ji,£VOi aixTrtinv Taf uiyxi kxtcc

" rot uTOi." " Alcmceo7t does not advance what is true, when
" he avers that goats breathe through their ears." — History of
Animals. Book I. chap. xi.

LETTER XV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, March 30, 1/68.

Some intelligent country people have a notion that we have, in
these parts, a species of the genus musteUnum, besides the weasel,
stoat, ferret, and polecat; a little reddish beast, not much bigger
than a field mouse, but much longer, which they call a catie.
This piece of intelligence can be little depended on; but farther
inquiry may be made.

A gentleman in this neighbourhood had two milkwhite rooks
in one nest. A booby of a carter, finding them before they
were able to fly, threw them down and destroyed them, to the
regret of the owner, who would have been glad to have pre-
served such a curiosity in his rookery. I saw the birds myself
nailed against the end of a barn, and was surprised to find that
their bills, legs, feet, and claws were milkwhite.

" orange to one, the creature made as much use of those orifices as of his nostrils,
" applying them to the fruit, and seeming to smell it through them."

OF SELBORNE. 43

A shepherd saw, as he thought, some white larks on a down
above my house this winter: were not these the emberiza nivalis,
the snow-flake of the Brit. Zool. ? No doubt they were.

A few years ago I saw a cock bullfinch in a cage, which had
been caught in the fields after it was come to it's full colours.
In about a year it began to look dingy; and, blackening every
succeeding year, it became coal-black at the end of four. It's
chief food was hempseed. Such influence has food on the colour
of animals! The pied and mottled colours of domesticated ani-
mals are supposed to be owing to high, various, and unusual
food.

I had remarked, for years, that the root of the cuckoo-pint
("^um) was frequently scratched out of the dry banks of hedges,
and eaten in severe snowy weather. After observing, with some
exactness, myself, and getting others to do the same, we found
it was the thrush kind that searched it out. The root of the
arum is remarkably warm and pungent.

Our flocks of female chaffinches have not yet forsaken us.
The blackbirds and thrushes are very much thinned down by
that fierce weather in January.

In the middle of February I discovered, in my tall hedges, a
little bird that raised my curiosity: it was of that yellow-green
colour that belongs to the salicaria kind, and, I think, was soft-
billed. It was no par us; and was too long and too big for the
golden-crowned wren, appearing most like the largest willow-
wren. It hung sometimes with it's back downwards, but never
continuing one moment in the same place. I shot at it, but it
was so desultory that I missed my aim.

I wonder that the stone curlew, charadrius oedictmnus, should
be mentioned by the writers as a rare bird: it abounds in all the

44 NATURAL HISTORY

campaign parts of Hampshire and Sussex, and breeds, I think
all the summer, having young ones, I know, very late in the
autumn. Already they begin clamouring in the evening.
They cannot, I think, with any propriety, be called, as they are
by Mr. -R«y, " circa aquas versantes.;' for with us, by day at
least, they haunt only the most dry, open, upland fields and
sheep walks, far removed from water; what they may do in the
night I cannot say. Worms are their usual food, but they also
eat toads and frogs.

I can shew you some good specimens of my new mice. Li/>
ncem perhaps would call the species mus minimus.

LETTER XVL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, April 18^ 1768,

The history of the stone curlew, charadrius oedicnemus, is as
follows. It lays it's eggs, usually two, never more than three,
on the bare ground, without any nest, in the field; so that the
countryman, in stirring his fallows, often destroys them. The
young run immediately from the egg like partridges, &c. and
are withdrawn to some flinty field by the dam, where they sculk
among the stones, which are their best security; for their fea-
thers are so exactly of the colour of our grey spotted flints, that
the most exact observer, unless he catches the eye of the young
bird, may be eluded. The eggs are short and round; of a dirty

OF SELBORNE. 45

white, spotted with dark bloody blotches. Though I might not
be able, just when I pleased, to procure you a bird, yet I could
shew you them almost any day; and any evening you may hear
them round the village, for they make a clamour which may be
heard a mile. Oedicnemus is a most apt and expressive name for
them, since their legs seem swoln like those of a gouty man.
After harvest I have shot them before the pointers in turnip-
fields,

I make no doubt but there are three species of the willffw-
wrens: two I know perfectly; but have not been able yet to
procure the third. No two birds can differ more in their notes,
and that constantly, than those two that I am acquainted with;
for the one has a joyous, easy, laughing notej the other a harsh
loud chirp. The former is every way larger, and three quarters
df an inch longer, and weighs two drams and an half; while
the latter weighs but two: so the songster is one fifth heavier
than the chirper. The chirper (being the first summer-bird of
passage that is heard, the wryneck sometimes excepted) begins
his two notes in the middle of March, and continues them
through the spring and summer till the end of August, as appears
by my journals. The legs of the larger of these two are flesh-
coloured ; of the less, black.

The grashopper-lark began his sibilous note in my fields last
Saturday. Nothing can be more amusing than the whisper of
this little bird, which seems to be close by though at an hun-
dred yards distance; and, when close at your ear, is scarce any
louder than when a great way off. Had I not been a little ac-
quainted with insects, and known that the grasshopper kind is
not yet hatched, I should have hardly believed but that it had
been a kcusta whispering in the bushes. The country people

46 NATURAL HISTORY

laugh when you tell them that it is the note of a bird. It is a
most artful creature, sculking in the thickest part of a bush;
and will sing at a yard distance, provided it be concealed. I
was obliged to get a person to go on the other side of the hedge
where it haunted; and then it would run, creeping like a mouse,
before us for an hundred yards together, through the bottom of
the thorns; yet it would not come into fair sight: but in a
morning earlj^, and when undisturbed, it sings on the top of a
twig, gaping and shivering with it's wings. Mr. Ray himself
had no knowledge of this bird, but received his account from
Mr. Johnson, who apparently confounds it with the reguli non
aistati, from which it is very distinct. See Ray's Philosophical
Letters, p. 108.

The fly-catcher (stoparola) has not yet appeared: it usually
breeds in my vine. The redstart begins to sing: it's note is
short and imperfect, but is continued till about the middle of
June. The willow xvrens (the smaller sort) are horrid pests in a
garden, destroying the pease, cherries, currants, &c; and are so
tame that a gun will not scare them.

A List of the Summer Birds of Passage discovered in this neigh-
bou7'hood, ranged so7newhat in the Order in which they appear:

Linnaei Nomina.

Smallest willow-M'ren, Motacilla trochilus:

Wryneck, Jynv torquilla:

House-swallow, Hirundo rustica:

Martin, Hirundo urbica:

Sand-martin, Hirundo riparia:

Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus :

Nightingale, Motacilla luscmia:

OF SELBORNE. 47

Linnaei Nomina.

Blackcap, Motacilla atricapilla:

Whitethroat, Motacilla sylvia:

Middle willow-wren, Motacilla trochilus:

Swift, Hirundo apus:

Stone curlew,? Charadrius oedicnemus?

Turtle-dove,? Turtur aldrovandi?

Grashopper-lark, Alauda tiivialis :

Landrail, Rallus crex:

Largest willow-wren, Motacilla trochilus:

Redstart, Motacilla phcenicurus:

Goatsucker, or fern-owl, Caprimulgus europceus:

Fly-catcher, Muscicapa grisola.

My countrymen talk much of a bird that makes a clatter with
it's bill against a dead bough, or some old pales, calling it a jar-
bird. I procured one to be shot in the very fact; it proved to
be the sitta europcza (the nuthatch.) Mr. Tiay says that the less
spotted woodpecker does the same. This noise may be heard a
furlong or more.

Now is the only time to ascertain the short-winged summer
birds; for, when the leaf is out, there is no making any remarks
on such a restless tribe ; and, when once the young begin to
appear, it is all confusion: there is no distinction of genus,
species, or sex.

In breeding-time snipes play over the moors, piping and hum-
ming : they always hum as they are descending. Is not their
hum ventriloquous like that of the turkey? Some suspect it is
made by their wings.

This morning I saw the golden-crowned wren, whose crown

48 NATURAL HISTORY

glitters like burnished gold. It often hangs like a titmouse,
with it's back downwards.

Yours, &c. &c.

LETTER XVIL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, June 16, 1768.

On Wednesday last arrived yo\ir agreeable letter of June the
10th. It gives me great satisfaction to find that you pursue
these studies still with such vigour, and are in such forwardness
with regard to reptiles and fishes.

The reptiles, few as they are, I am not acquainted with, so
well as I could wish, with regard to their natural history. There
is a degree of dubiousness and obscurity attending the propaga-
tion of this class of animals, something analogous to that of the
cryptogamia in the sexual system of plants : and the case is the
same with regard to some of the fishes ; as the eel, &c.

The method in which toads procreate and bring forth seems
to be very much in the dark. Some authors say that they are
viviparous: and yet Ray classes them among his oviparous ani-
mals; and is silent with regard to the manner of their bringing
forth. Perhaps they may be ta-u fAtv wotcxbi, i^u ie ^uoronoi, as is
known to be the case with the viper.

The copulation of frogs (or at least the appearance of itj for
Swatnmerdam proves that the male has no penis intrans) is noto-

OF SELBORNE. 49

rious to every body : because we see them sticking- upon each
others backs for a month together in the spring: and yet I r.ever
saw, or read, of toads being observed in the same situation. It
is strange that the matter with regard to the venom of toads
has not been yet settled. That they are not noxious to some
animals is plain: for ducks, buzzards, owls, stone curlews, and
snakes, eat them, to my knowledge, with impunity. And I
well remember the time, but was not eye-witness to the fact
(though numbers of persons were) when a quack, at this village,
ate a toad to make the country-people stare j afterwards he
drank oil.

I have been informed also, from undoubted authority, that
some ladies (ladies you will say of peculiar taste) took a fancy
to a toad, which they nourished summer after summer, for many
years, till he grew to a monstrous size, with the maggots which
turn to flesh flies. The reptile used to come forth every evening
from an hole under the garden-steps; and was taken up, after
supper, on the table to be fed. But at last a tame raven, ken-
ning him as he put forth his head, gave him such a severe stroke
with his horny beak as put out one eye. After this accident
the creature languished for some time and died.

I need not remind a gentleman of your extensive reading of
the excellent account there is from Mr. Derham, in Rays Wis-
dom of God in the Creation (p. 365), concerning the migration
of frogs from their breeding ponds. In this account he at once
subverts that foolish opinion of their dropping from the clouds
in rain; shewing that it is from the grateful coolness and
moisture of those showers that they are tempted to set out on
their travels, which they defer till those fall. Frogs are as yet
in their tadpole state; but, in a few weeks, our lanes, paths,

H

50 NATURAL HISTORY

fields, will swarm for a few days with myriads of those emi-
grants, no larger than my little finger nail. Swammerdam gives
a most accurate account of the method and situation in which
the male impregnates the spawn of the female. How wonder-
ful is the oeconomy of Providence with regard to the limbs of
so vile a reptile! While it is an aquatic it has a fish-like tail, and
no legs: as soon as the legs sprout, the tail drops off as useless,
and the animal betakes itself to the land!

Merret, I trust, is widely mistaken when he advances that
the rana arborea is an English reptile ; it abounds in Gerynany
and Switzerland.

It is to be remembered that the salamandra aquatica oi Ray
(the water-newt or eft) will frequently bite at the angler's bait,
and is often caught on his hook. I used to take it for granted
that the salamandra aquatica was hatched, lived, and died, in the
water. But John Ellis, Esq. F. R. S. (the coralline Ellis) asserts,
in a letter to the Royal Society, dated June the 5th, 1766, in his
account of the mud inguana, an amphibious bipes from South
Carolina, that the water-eft, or newt, is only the lar'va of the
land-eft, as tadpoles are of frogs. Lest I should be suspected to
misunderstand his meaning, I shall give it in his own words.
Speaking of the opercula or coverings to the gills of the mud in-
guana, he proceeds to say that " The form of these pennaled
" coverings approach very near to what I have some time ago
" observed in the larva or aquatic state of our English lacerta,
" known by the name of eft, or newt; which serve them for
" coverings to their gills, and for fins to swim with while in this
" state; and which they lose, as well as the fins of their tails,
" when the}' change their state and become land animals, as I liaAe
" observed, by keeping them alive for some time myself."'

OF SELBORNE. 51

Linnmis, in his Si/stema Naturcc, hints at what Mr. Elhs
advances more than once.

Providence has heen so indulgent to us as to allow of but one
venomous reptile of the serpent kind in these kingdoms, and
that is the viper. As you propose the good of mankind to be
an object of your publications, you will not omit to mention
common salad-oil as a sovereign remedy against the bite of the
viper. As to the blind worm (anguisfragilis, so called because
it snaps in sunder with a small blow), I have found, on exami-
nation, that it is perfectly innocuous. A neighbouring yeoman
(to whom I am indebted for some good hints) killed and opened
a female viper about the twenty-seventh of May : he found her
filled with a chain of eleven eggs, about the size of those of a
blackbird; but none of them were advanced so far towards a
state of maturity as to contain any rudiments of young. Though
they are oviparous, yet they are viviparous also, hatching their
young within their bellies, and then bringing them forth.
Whereas snakes lay chains of eggs every summer in my melon
beds, in spite of all that my people can do to prevent them;
which eggs do not hatch till the spring following, as I have
often experienced. Several intelligent folks assure me that they
have seen the viper open her mouth and admit her helpless
young down her throat on sudden surprises, just as the female
opossum does her brood into the pouch under her belly, upon
the like emergencies; and yet the Lo)idon viper-catchers insist
on it, to ]\Ir. Barrington, that no such thing ever happens. The
serpent kind eat, I believe, but once in a year; or, rather, but
only just at one season of the year. Country people talk much
of a water-snake, but, I am pretty sure, without any reason; for

h2

52 NATURAL HISTORY

the common snake (coluber natrix) delights much to sport in
the water, perhaps with a view to procure frogs and other food.
I cannot well guess how you are to make out your twelve
species of reptiles, unless it be by the various species, or rather
varieties, of our lacerti, of which Ray enumerates five. I have
not had opportunity of ascertaining these; but remember well
to have seen, foimerly, several beautiful green lacerti on the
sunny sandbanks near Farnham, in Surrey, and Kay admits
there are such in Ireland.

LETTER XVIIL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, SelboknEj July 27, 1768.

1 RECEIVED your obliging and communicative letter of June the
28th, while I was on a visit at a gentleman's house, where I had
neither books to turn to, nor leisure to sit down, to return you
an answer to many qjieries, which I wanted to resolve in the
best manner that I am able.

A person, by my order, has searched our brooks, but could
find no such fish as the gasterosteus pungitius: he found the
gasterostem acukatus m plenty. This morning, in a basket, I
packed a little earthen pot full of wet moss, and in it some
sticklebacks, male and female; the females big with spawn:
some lampernsi some bulls heads; but I could procure no min-

OF SELBORNE. 53

nows. This basket will be in Fleet-street by eight this evening ;
so I hope Mazel will have them fresh and fair to-morrow morn-
ing. I gave some directions, in a letter, to what particulars the
engraver should be attentive.

Finding, while I was on a visit, that I was within a reasonable
distance of Amhresbury, I sent a servant over to that town, and
procured several living specimens of loaches, which he brought,
safe and brisk, in a glass decanter. They were taken in the
gullies that were cut for watering the meadows. From these
fishes (which measured from two to four inches in length) I took
the following description : " The loach, in it's general aspect,
" has a pellucid appearance : it's back is mottled with irregular
" collections of small black dots, not reaching much below the
*' linea lateralis, as are the back and tail fins: a black line runs
"from each eye down to the nose; it's belly is of a silvery
"white; the upper jaw projects beyond the lower, and is sur-
" rounded with six feelers, three on each side : it's pectoral fins
" are large, it's ventral much smaller; the fin behind it's anus
" small; it's dorsal-fin large, containing eight spinesj it's tail,
" where it joins to the tail-fin, remarkably broad, without any
" taperness, so as to be characteristic of this genus : the tail-fin
" is broad, and square at the end. From the breadth and mus-
*' cular strength of the tail it appears to be an active nimble
" fish."

In my visit I was not very fiir from Hungerford, and did not
forget to make some inquiries concerning the wonderful method
of curing cancers by means of toads. Several intelligent persons,
both gentry and clergy, do, I find, give a great deal of credit to
what was asserted in the papers : and I myself dined with a
clergyman who seemed to be persuaded that what is related is

54. NATURAL HISTORY

matter of fact; but, wl)cn I came to attend to liis account, I
thouglit I discerned circumstances which did not a little invali-
date the woman's story of the manner in which she came by
her skill. She says of herself " that, labouring under a virulent
" cancer, she went to some church where there was a vast crowd :
" on going into a pew, she was accosted by a strange clergy-
''■ man; who, after expressing compassion for her situation, told
" her that if she would make such an application of living toads
" as is mentioned she would be well." Now is it likely that
this unknown gentleman should express so much tenderness for
this single sufferer, and not feel any for the many thousands
that daily languish under this terrible disorder? Would he not
have made use of this invaluable nostrum for his own emolu-
ment; or, at least, by some means of publication or other, have
found a method of making it public for the good of mankind?
In short, this woman (as it appears to me) having set up for a
cancer-doctress, finds it expedient to amuse the country with
this dark and mysterious relation.

The water-eft has not, that I can discern, the least appearance
of any gills; for want of which it is continually rising to the
surface of the water to take in fresh air. I opened a big-bellied
one indeed, and found it full of spawn. Not that this circum-
stance at all invalidates the assertion that they arc larva: for
the larva of insects are full of eggs, which they exclude the
instant they enter their last state. The water-eft is continually
climbing over the brims of the vessel, within which we keep it
in water, and wandering away: and people every summer see
numbers crawling, out of the pools where they are hatched, up
the dry banks. There are varieties of them, differing in colour;
and some have fins up their tail and back, and some have not.

OF SELBORNE. 5S

LETTER XIX.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, SetBOBKB, Aug. 17, 1768.

I HAVE now, past dispute, made out three distinct species of
the willow-wrens (m/jtacilUe trochili) which amistantly and in-
•oariably use distinct notes. But, at the same time, I am obliged
to confess that I know nothing of your willow-lark ^ In my
letter oi April the l^th, I had told you peremptorily that I knew
your willow-lark, but had not seen it then : but, when I came
to procure it, it proved, in all respects, a very motacilla trochilm;
only that it is a size larger than the two other, and the yellow-
green of the whole upper part of the body is more vivid, and
the belly of a clearer white. I have specimens of the three
sorts now lying before me; and can discern that there are three
gradations of sizes, and that the least has black legs, and the
other two flesh-coloured ones. The yellowest bird is considera-
bly the largest, and has it's quill-feathers and secondary feathers
tipped with white, which the others have not. This la.st haunts
only the tops of trees in high beechen woods, and makes a sibi-
lous grashopper-like noise, now and then, at short intervals,
shivering a little with it's wings when it sings; and is, I make
no doubt now, the regulus non cristatws of Ray ; which he says
" cantat vKt xtridula locmtceJ" Yet this great ornithologist
never suspected that there were three species.

T Brit. Zool. edit. 177Q, octavo, p. S81.

56 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XX.

TO THE SAME.

Selborne, October 8, 1768.

It is, I find, in zoology as it is in botany: all nature is so full,
that that district produces the greatest variety which is the
most examined. Several birds, which are said to belong to the
north only, are, it seems, often in the south. I have discovered
this summer three species of birds with us, which writers men-
tion as only to be seen in the northern counties. The first that
was brought me (on the 14th of May,) was the sandpiper, tringa
hypoleucus : it was a cock bird, and haunted the banks of some
ponds near the village; and, as it had a companion, doubtless
intended to have bred near that water. Besides, the owner has
told me since, that, on recollection, he has seen some of the
same birds round his ponds in former summers.

The next bird that I procured (on the 21st of May) was a male
red-backed butcher bird, lanius colhirio. My neighbour, who
shot it, says that it might easily have escaped his notice, had
not the outcries and chattering of the white-throats and other
small birds drawn his attention to the bush where it was: it's
craw was filled with the legs and wings of beetles.

The next rare birds (which were procured for me last week)
were some ring-ousels, tiirdi torquati.

This week twelve months a gentleman from London, being
with us, was amusing himself with a gun, and found, he told

OF SELBORNE. 57

us, on an old yew hedge where there were berries, some birds
like blackbirds, with rings of white round their necks: a neigh-
bouring fanner also at the same time observed the same; but,
as no specimens were procured, little notice was taken. I men-
tioned this circumstance to you in my letter of November the
4th, 1767: (you however paid but small regard to what I said,
as I had not seen these birds myself:) but last week the afore-
said farmer, seeing a large flock, twenty or thirty of these birds,
shot two cocks and two hens : and says, on recollection, that he
remembers to have observed these birds again last spring, about
Lady-day, as it were, on their return to the north. Now per-
haps these ousels are not the ousels of the north of England,
but belong to the more northern parts o^ Europe; and may re-
tire before the excessive rigor of the frosts in those parts; and
return to breed in the spring, when the cold abates. If this be
the case, here is discovered a new bird of winter passage, con-
cerning whose migrations the writers are silent: but if these
birds should prove the ousels of the north o? England, then here
is a migration disclosed within our own kingdom never before
remarked. It does not yet appear whether they retire beyond
the bounds of our island to the south; but it is most probable
that they usually do, or else one cannot suppose that they would
have continued so long unnoticed in the southern counties.
The ousel is larger than a blackbird, and feeds on haws; but
last autumn (when there were no haws) it fed on yew-berries:
in the spring it feeds on ivy-berries, which ripen only at that
season, in March and April.

I must not omit to tell you (as you have been so lately on
the study of reptiles) that my people, every now and then of
late, draw up with a bucket of water from my well, which is

58 NATURAL HISTORY

63 feet deep, a large black warty lizard with a fin-tail and yel-
low belly. How they first came down at that depth, and how
they were ever to have got out thence without help, is more
than I am able to say.

My thanks are due to you for your trouble and care in the
examination of a buck's head. As far as your discoveries reach
at present, they seem much to corroborate my suspicions; and I

hope Mr. rn^y fi'i^l reason to give his decision in my

favour; and then, I think, we may advance this extraordinary
provision of nature as a new instance of the wisdom of God in
the creation.

As yet I have not quite done with my history of the oedicne-
mus, or stone-curlew ; for I shall desire a gentleman in Susses
(near whose house these birds congregate in vast flocks in the
autumn) to observe nicely when they leave him, (if they do
leave him) and when they return again in the spring: I was
with this gentleman lately, and saw several single birds.

LETTER XXL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Nov. 28, 1768.

With regard to the oedicnemus, or stone-curlew, I intend to
wiite very soon to my friend near Chichester, in whose neigh-
bourhood these birds seem most to abound; and shall urge him
to take particular notice when they begin to congregate, and
afterwards to watch tlicm most narrowly whether they do not

k

OF SELBORNE. S9

withdraw themselves during the dead of the winter. When I
have obtained information with respect to this circumstance, I
shall have finished my history of the stove-curlezo ; which I hope
will prove to your satisfaction, as it will be, I trust, very near
the truth. This gentleman, as he occupies a large farm of his
own, and is abroad early and late, will be a very proper spy upon
the motions of these birds: and besides, as I have prevailed on
him to buy the Naturalist's Journal (with which he is much
delighted,) I shall expect that he will be very exact in his dates.
It is very extraordinary, as you observe, that a bird so common
with us should never straggle to you.

And here will be the properest place to mention, while I
think of it, an anecdote which the above-mentioned gentleman
told me when I was last at his house; which was that, in a
warren joining to his outlet, many daws (corvi monedulce) build
every year in the rabbit-burrows under ground. The way he
and his brothers used to take their nests, while they were boys,
was by listening at the mouths of the holes; and, if they heard
the young ones cry, they twisted the nest out with a forked
stick. Some water-fowls {plz. the puffins) breed, I know, in
that manner; but I should never have suspected the daws of
building in holes on the flat ground.

Another very unlikely spot is made use of by daws as a place
to breed in, and that is Stonehenge. These birds deposit their
nests in the interstices between the upright and the impost
stones of that amazing work of antiquity: which circumstance
alone speaks the prodigious height of the upright stones, that
they should be tall enough to secure those nests from the
annoyance of shepherd-boys, who are always idling round that
place.

60 NATURAL HISTORY

One of my neighbours last Saturday, Novemhtr the 26th,
saw a martin in a sheltered bottom : the sun shone warm, and
the bird was hawking briskly after flies. I am now perfectly
satisfied that they do not all leave this island in the winter.

You judge very right, I think, in speaking with reserve and
caution concerning the cures done by toads: for, let people ad-
vance what they will on such subjects, yet there is such a pro-
pensity in mankind towards deceiving and being deceived, that
one cannot safely relate any thing from common report, espe-
cially in print, without expressing some degree of doubt and
suspicion.

Your approbation, with regard to my new discovery of the
migration of the ring-ousel, gives me satisfaction; and I find
you concur with me in suspecting that they are foreign birds
which visit us. You M-ill be sure, I hope, not to omit to make
inquiry whether your ring-ousels leave your rocks in the autumn.
What puzzles me most, is the very short stay they make with
us; for in about three weeks they are all gone. I shall be very
curious to remark whether they will call on us at their return
in the spring, as they did last year.

I want to be better informed with regard to icthyology. If
fortune bad settled me near the sea-side, or near some great
river, my natural propensity would soon have urged me to have
made myself acquainted with their productions : but as I have
lived mostly in inland parts, and in an upland district, my
knowledge of lishcs extends little farther than to those common
sorts which our brooks and lakes produce.

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE. 61

LETTER XXII.

TO THE SAMK.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Jan. 2, l/6g.

As to the peculiarity of jackdaws building with us under the
ground in rabbit-burrows, you have, in part, hit upon the rea-
son; for, in reality, there are hardly any towers or steeples in
all this country. And perhaps, Norfolk excepted, Hampshire
and Susseji' are as meanly furnished with churches as almost any
counties in the kingdom. We have many livings of two or three
hundred pounds a year, whose houses of worship make little
better appearance than dovecots. When I first saw Northamp-
tonshire, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, and the fens of
Lincolnshire, I was amazed at the number of spires which pre-
sented themselves in every point of view. As an admirer of
prospects, I have reason to lament this want in my own country;
for such oljjects are very necessary ingredients in an elegant
landscape.

What you mention with respect to reclaimed toads raises my
curiosity. An ancient author, though no naturalist, has well
remarked that " Every kind of' beasts, and of birds, and of serpents,
" and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed, qfman-
" kind." ''

It is a satisfaction to me to find that a green lizard has
actually been procured for you in Devonshire ; because it corro-

'^ James, chap. iii. 7-

6'i NATURAL HISTORY

borates my discovery, which I made many years ago, of the
same sort, on a sunny sandbank near Farnham, in Surrey. I
am well acquainted with the south hams o? Devonshire ; and
can suppose that district, from it's southerly situation, to be a
proper habitation for such animals in their best colours.

Since the ring-ousels of your vast mountains do certainly
not forsake them against winter, our suspicions that those which
visit this neighbourhood about Michaelmas are not English birds,
but driven from the more northern parts of Europe by the frosts,
are still more reasonable; and it will be worth your pains to
endeavour to trace from whence they come, and to inquire wliy
they make so very short a stay.

In your account of your error with regard to the two species
of herons, you incidentally gave me great entertainment in your
description of the heronry at Cressi-hall; which is a curiosity I
never could manage to see. Fourscore nests of such a bird on
one tree is a rarity which I would ride half as many miles to
have a sight of Pra^* be sure to tell me in your next whose
seat Cressi-hall is, and near what town it lies." I have often
thought that those vast extents of fens have never been suffi-
ciently explored. If half a dozen gentlemen, furnished with a
good strength of water-spaniels, were to beat them over for a
week, they would certainly find more species.

There is no bird, I believe, whose manners I have studied
more than that of the caprimulgus (the goat-sucker,) as it is a
wonderful and curious creature: but I have always found that
though sometimes it may cliatter as it flies, as I know it does,
yet in general it utters it's jarring note sitting on a bough; and
1 have for many an half hour watched it as it sat with it's under

* Cressi-hall is near Spalding, in Lincolnshire.

OF SELBORNE. 63

mandible quivering, and particularly this summer. It perches
usually on a bare twig, with it's head lower than it's tail, in an
attitude well expressed by your draughtsman in the folio British
Zoohgy. This bird is most punctual in beginning it's song
exactly at the close of day; so exactly that I have known it
strike up more than once or twice just at the report of the
Portsmouth evening gun, which we can hear when the weather
is still. It appears to me past all doubt that it's notes are
formed by organic impulse, by the powers of the parts of it's
windwipe, formed for sound, just as cats pur. You will credit
me, I liope, when I assure you that, as my neighbours were
assembled in an ''hermitage on the side of a steep hill where we
drink tea, one of these churn-owls came and settled on the cross
of that little straw edifice and began to chatter, and continued
his note for many minutes: and we were all struck with wonder
to find that the organs of that little animal, when put in motion,
gave a sensible vibration to the whole building ! This bird also
sometimes makes a small squeak, repeated four or five times;
and I have observed that to happen when the cock has been
pursuing the hen in a toying way through the boughs of a tree.

It would not be at all strange if your bat, which you have
procured, should prove a new one, since five species have been
found in a neighbouring kingdom. The great sort that I men-
tioned is certainly a non-descript: I saw but one this summer,
and that I had no opportunity of taking.

Your account of the Indian-grass was entertaining. I am
no angler myself; but inquiring of those that are, what they
supposed that part of their tackle to be made of? they replied
" of the intestines of a silkworm."

* See the vignette in this book.

64 NATURAL HISTORY

Though I must not pretend to great skill in entomology,
yet I cannot say that I am ignorant of that kind of knowledge :
I may now and then perhaps be able to furnish you with a little
information.

The vast rains ceased with us much about the same time as
with you, and since we have had delicate weather. Mr. Barker,
who has measured the rain for more than thirty years, says, in
a late letter, that more has fallen this year than in any he ever
attended to; though, from July 1763 to January 1764, more
fell than in any seven months of this year.

LETTER XXIIL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selbornb, February 28, I769.

XT is not improbable that the Guernsey lizard and our green
lizards may be specifically the same; all that I know is, that,
when some years ago many Guernsey lizards were turned loose
in Pembroke college garden, in the university of Oxford, they
lived a great while, and seemed to enjoy themselves very well,
but never bred. Whether this circumstance will prove any thing
either way I shall not pretend to say.

I return you thanks for your account of Cressi-hall; but re-
collect, not without regret, that in June 1746 I was visiting for
a week together at Spalding, without ever being told that such
a curiosity was just at hand. Pray send me word in your next

•

OF SELBORNE. 63

what sort of tree it is that contains such a quantity of herons'
nests; and whether the heronry consists of a whole grove or
wood, or only of a few trees.

It gave me satisfaction to find we accorded so well about the
caprimulgiis : all I contended for was to prove that it often chat-
ters sitting as well as flying; and therefore the noise was volun-
tary, and from organic impulse, and not from the resistance of
the air against the hollow of it's mouth and throat.

If ever I saw any thing like actual migration, it was last
Michaelmas- day. I was travelling, and out early in the morn-
ing: at first there was a vast fog; but, by the time that I was
got seven or eight miles from home towards the coast, the sun
broke out into a delicate warm day. We were then on a lai'ge
heath or common, and I could discern, as the mist began to
break away, great numbers of swallows (lurimdines rustica)
clustering on the stunted shrubs and bushes, as if they had
roosted there all night. As soon as the air became clear and
pleasant they all were on the wing at once; and, by a placid
and easy flight, proceeded on southward towards the sea: after
this I did not see any more flocks, only now and then a
straggler.

I cannot agree with those persons that assert that the swal-
low kind disappear some and some gradually, as they come, for
the bulk of them seem to withdraw at once: only some strag-
glers stay behind a long while, and do never, there is the
greatest reason to believe, leave this island. Swallows seem to
lay themselves up, and to come forth in a warm day, as bats do
continually of a warm evening, after they have disappeared for
weeks. For a very respectable gentleman assured me that, as
he was walking with some friends under Merton-wall on a re-

K

66 NATURAL HISTORY

markably hot noon, either in the last week in Dece^nber or the
first week in January, he espied three or four swallows huddled
together on the moulding of one of the windows of that college.
I have frequently remarked that swallows are seen later at
Oxford than elsewhere: is it owing to the vast massy buildings
of that place, to the many waters round it, or to what else?

When I used to rise in a morning last autumn, and see the
swallows and martins clustering on the chimnies and thatch of
the neighbouring cottages, I could not help being touched with
a secret delight, mixed with some degree of mortification : with
deligbt to observe with how much ardour and punctuality those
poor little birds obeyed the strong impulse towards migration,
or hiding, imprinted on their minds by their great Creator; and
with some degree of mortification, when I reflected that, after
all our pains and inquiries, we are yet not quite certain to what
regions they do migrate; and are still farther embarrassed to
find that some do not actually migrate at all.

These reflections made so strong an impression on my ima-
gination, that they became productive of a composition that
may perhaps amuse you for a quarter of an hour when next I
have the honour of writing to you.

OF SELBORNE. 67

LETTER XXIV,

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, SelbornEj May 2Q, 1769.

The scarabcEus fullo I know very well, having seen it in collec-
tions; but have never been able to discover one wild in its
natural state. Mr. Banks told me he thought it might be found
on the sea-coast.

On the thirteenth of April I went to the sheep-down, where
the ring-ousels have been observed to make their appearance at
spring and fall, in their way perhaps to the north or south; and
was much pleased to see three birds about the usual spot. We
shot a cock and a hen; they were plump and in high condition.
The hen had but very small rudiments of eggs within her,
which proves they are late breeders; whereas those species of
the thrush kind that remain with us the whole year have fledged
young before that time. In their crops was nothing very dis-
tinguishable, but somewhat that seemed like blades of vegetables
nearly digested. In autumn they feed on haws and yew-berries,
and in the spring on ivy-berries. I dressed one of these birds,
and found it juicy and well-flavoured. It is remarkable that
they make but a few days stay in their spring visit, but rest
near a fortnight at Michaelmas. These birds, from the observa-
tions of three springs and two autumns, are most punctual in
their return; and exhibit a new migration unnoticed by the
writers, who supposed they never were to be seen in any of the
southern counties.

One of my neighbours lately brought me a new salicaria,
which at first I suspected might have proved your willow-lark/
c For this salicaria see letter August SO, 1769

68 NATURAL HISTORY

but, on a nicer examination, it answered much better to the
description of that species which you shot at Revesby, in Lin-
colnshire. My bird I describe thus: " It is a size less than the
" grasshopper-lark; the head, back, and coverts of the wings,
" of a dusky brown, without those dark spots of the grasshopper
" lark; over each eye is a milkwhite stroke; the chin and throat
" are white, and the under parts of a yellowish white; the rump
" is tawny, and the feathers of the tail sharp-pointed; the bill
" is dusky and sharp, and the legs are dusky; the hinder claw
" long and crooked." The person that shot it says that it sung
so like a reed- sparrow that he took it for one; and that it sings
all night: but this account merits farther inquiry. For my
part, I suspect it is a second sort of locustella, hinted at by Dr.
Derham in Rays Letters: see p. 108. He also procured me a
grashopper-lark.

The question that you put with regard to those genera of
animals that are peculiar to America, viz. how they came there,
and whence? is too puzzling for me to answer; and yet so
obvious as often to have struck me with wonder. If one looks
into the writers on that subject little satisfaction is to be found.
Ingenious men will readily advance plausible arguments to sup-
port whatever theory they shall chuse to maintain; but then
the misfortune is, every one's hypothesis is each as good as
another's, since the}' are all founded on conjecture. The late
writers of this sort, in whom may be seen all the arguments of
those that have gone before, as I remember, stock America from
the western coast of Africa and the south of Europe; and then
break down the Isthmus that bridged over the Atlantic. But
this is making use of a violent piece of machinery: it is a diffi-
culty worthy of the interposition of a god ! " Incredulus odi.''

OF SELBORNE. 69

TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQUIRE.

THE NATURALIST'S SUMMER-EVENING WALK.

equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illis

Ingenium. Virg. Georg.

When day declining sheds a milder gleam,
What time the may-fly'' haunts the pool or stream;
When the still owl skims round the grassy mead,
What time the timorous hare linips forth to feed;
Then be the time to steal adovvn the vale,
And listen to the vagrant" cuckoo's tale;
To hear the clamorous' curlew call his mate.
Or the soft quail his tender pain relate;
To see the swallow sweep the dark'riing plain
Belated, to support her infant train;
To mark the swift in rapid giddy ring
Dash round the steeple, unsubdu'd of wing:
Amusive birds ! — say where your hid retreat
When the frost rages and the tempests beat;
Whence your return, by such nice instinct led.
When spring, soft season, lifts her bloomy head?

^ The angler's may-fly, the ephemera vulgata Linn, comes forth from it's
aurelia state, and emerges out of the water about six in the evening, and dies
about eleven at night, determining the date of it's fly state in about five or six
hours. They usually begin to appear about the 4th of Jane, and continue in
succession for near a fortnight. See Swammerdam, Derham, Scopoli, izfc.

' Vagrant cuckoo; so called because, being tied down by no incubation or
attendance about the nutrition of it's young, it wanders without control.

' Charadriui Oedicnemus.

70 NATURAL HISTORY

Such baffled searches mock man's prying pride,
The GOD of NATURE is your secret guide!

While deep'ning shades obscure the face of day
To yonder bench leaf-shelter'd let us stray,
'Till blended objects fail the swimming sight.
And all the fading landscape sinks in night;
To hear the drowsy dorr come brushing by
With buzzing wing, or the shrilP cricket cry;
To see the feeding bat glance through the wood ;
To catch the distant falling of the flood;
While o'er the cliff th' awaken'd churn-owl hung
Through the still gloom protracts his chattering song ;"

While high in air, and pois'd upon his wings,
Unseen, the soft enamour'd Svoodlark sings:

These, NATURE'S works, the curious mind employ,

Inspire a soothing melancholy joy :

As fancy warms, a pleasing kind of pain

Steals o'er the cheek, and thrills the creeping vein!
Each rural sight, each sound, each smell, combine ;

The tinkling sheep-bell, or the breath of kine;

The new-mown hay that scents the swelling breeze,

Or cottage-chimney smoking through the trees.
The chilling night-dews fall: away, retire;

For see, the glow-worm lights her amorous fire!'

s Gryllus campestris.

'■ In hot summer nights woodlarks soar to a prodigious height, and hang
singing in the air.

' The light of the female glow-worm (as she often crawls up the slalk of a
grass to make herself more conspicuous) is a signal to the male, which is a
slender dusky scaralccus

OF SELBORNE. 71

Thus, ere night's veil had half obscur'd the sky,
Th' impatient damsel hung her lamp on high :
True to the signal, by love's meteor led,
Leander hasten'd to his Hero's bed. ^

I am, &c.

LETTER XXV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, SelbornEj Aug. 30, 1769.

It gives me satisfaction to find that my account of the otisel
migration pleases you. You put a very shrewd question when
you ask me how I know that their autumnal migration is south-
ward? Was not candour and openness the very life of natural
history, I should pass over this query just as a sly commentator
does over a crabbed passage in a classic; but common ingenu-
ousness obliges me to confess, not without some degree of shame,
that I only reasoned in that case from analogy. For as all other
autumnal birds migrate from the northward to us, to partake of
our milder winters, and return to the northward again when
the rigorous cold abates, so I concluded that the ring-ousels did
the same, as well as their congeners the fieldfares; and especially
as ring-ousels are known to haunt cold mountainous countries :
but I have good reason to suspect since that they may come to
us from the westward; because I hear, from very good autho-

'' Sec the story of Hero and Leander.

72 NATURAL HISTORY

rity, that they breed on Dat^tmore; and that they forsake that
wild district about the time that our visitors appear, and do not
return till late in the spring.

I have taken a great deal of pains about your salicaria and
mine, with a Avhite stroke over it's eye and a tawny rump. I
have surveyed it alive and dead, and have procured several spe-
cimens; and am perfectly persuaded myself (and trust you will
soon be convinced of the same) that it is no more nor less than
the passer arundmaceus minor of Ray. This bird, by some means
or other, seems to be entirely omitted in the British Zoology;
and one reason probably was because it is so strangely classed
in Ray, who ranges it among his picis affines. It ought no doubt
to have gone among his a'viculce caudci unicohre, and among your
slender-billed small birds of the same division. Linnceus might
with great propriety have put it into his genus o?' motacilla ; and
the motaciUa salicaria of \{\s fauna suecica seems to come the
nearest to it. It is no uncommon bird, haunting the sides of
ponds and rivers where there is covert, and the reeds and sedges
of moors. The country people in some places call it the sedge-
bird. It sings incessantly night and day during the breeding-
time, imitating the note of a sparrow, a swallow, a sky-lark;
and has a strange hurrying manner in it's song. My specimens
correspond most minutely to the description of yourye« salicaria
shot near Revesby. Mr. Ray has given an excellent character-
istic of it when he says, " Rostrum 8^ pedes in hue aviculd midtd
majores sunt quam pro corporis ratione." See letter May QQ, 1769.
I have got you the egg of an oedicnemus, or stone-curlew,
which was picked up in a fallow on the naked ground: there
were two; but the finder inadvertently crushed one with his
foot before he saw them.

I

OF SELBORNE. 73

When I wrote to you last year on reptiles, I wish I had not
forgot to mention the faculty that snakes have of stinking se
defendendo. I knew a gentleman who kept a tame snake, which
was in it's person as sweet as any animal while in good humour
and unalarmed; but as soon as a stranger, or a dog or cat, came
in, it fell to hissing, and filled the room with such nauseous
effluvia as rendered it hardly supportable. Thus the squnck, or
stonck, of Ray's Synop. Quadr. is an innocuous and sweet ani-
mal; but, when pressed hard by dogs and men, it can eject
such a most pestilent and fetid smell and excrement, that
nothing can be more horrible.

A gentleman sent me lately a fine specimen of the lan'ms
minor cinerascens cum macula in scapuUs alba, Raii; which is a
bird that, at the time of your publishing your two first volumes
of British Zoology, I find you had not seen. You have described
it well from Edwards's drawino-.

LETTER XXVI.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR Selbobne, December 8, i;69.

I WAS much gratified by your communicative letter on your
return from Scotland, where you spent, I find, some considerable
time, and gave yourself good room to examine the natural curi-
osities of that extensive kingdom, both those of the islands, as
well as those of the highlands. The usual bane of such expe-
ditions is hurry; because men seldom allot themselves half the

74 NATURAL HISTORY.

time they sliould do: but, fixing on a day for their return, post
from place to place, rather as if they were on a journey that re-
quired dispatch, than as philosophers investigating the works of
nature. You must have made, no doubt, many discoveries, and
laid up a good fund of materials for a future edition of the Bri-
tish Zoohgy; and will have no reason to repent that you have
bestowed so much pains on a part oi Great-Britain that perhaps
was never so well examined before.

It has always been matter of wonder to me that fieldfares,
which are so congenerous to thrushes and blackbirds, should
never choose to breed in England: but that they should not
think even the highlands cold and northerly, and sequestered
enough, is a circumstance still more strange and wonderful. The
ring-ousel, you find, stays in Scotland \ihe Avhole year round; so
that we have reason to conclude that those migrators that visit
us for a short space every autumn do not come from thence.

And here, I think, will be the proper place to mention that
those birds were most punctual again in their migration this
autumn, appearing, as before, about the SOthoi September: but
their flocks were larger than common, and their stay protracted
somewhat beyond the usual time. If they came to spend the
whole winter with us, as some of their congeners do, and then
left us, as they do, in spring, I should not be so much struck
with the occurrence, since it would be similar to that of the
other winter birds of passage; but when I see them for a fort-
night at Michaelmas, and again for about a week in the middle
oi April, I am seized with wonder, and long to be informed
whence these travellers come, and whither they go, since they
seem to use our hills merely as an inn or baiting place.

Your account of the greater brambling, or snow-fleck, is very

*

OF SELBORNE. f5

amusing; and strange it is that such a short- winged bird should
deUght in such perilous voyages over the northern ocean! Some
country people in the winter time have every now and then told
me that they have seen two or three white larks on our downs;
but, on considering the matter, I begin to suspect that these are
some stragglers of the birds we are talking of, which sometimes
perhaps may rove so far to the southward.

It pleases me to find that white hares are so frequent on the
Scottish mountains, and especially as you inform me that it is a
distinct species; for the quadrupeds oi Britain are so few, that
every new species is a great acquisition.

The eagle-owl, could it be proved to belong to us, is so ma-
jestic a bird, that it would grace our fauna much. I never was
informed before where wild-geese are known to breed.

You admit, I find, that I have proved your Jeti-salicaria to
be the lesser reed-sparrow of Ray: and I think you may be
secure that I am right ; for I took very particular pains to clear
up that matter, and had some fair specimens; but, as they were
not well preserved, they are decayed already. You will, no
doubt, insert it in it's proper place in your next edition. Your
additional plates will much improve your work.

De Buffon, I know, has described the water shrew-mouse :
but still I am pleased to find you have discovered it in Lincoln-
shire, for the reason I have given in the article of the white
hare.

As a neighbour was lately plowing in a dry chalky field, far
removed from any water, he turned out a water-rat, that was
curiously laid up in an hybernaculum artificially formed of grass
and leaves. At one end of the burrow lay above a gallon of
potatoes regularly stowed, on which it was to have supported

76 NATURAL HISTORY

itself for the winter. But the difficulty with me is how this
amphiblus mus came to fix it's winter station at such a distance
from the water. Was it determined in it's choice of that place
by the mere accident of finding the potatoes which were planted
there; or is it the constant practice of the aquatic- rat to forsake
the neighbourhood of the water in the colder months?

Though I delight very little in analogous reasoning, knowing
how fallacious it is with respect to natural history; yet, in the
following instance, I cannot help being inclined to think it may
conduce towards the explanation of a difficulty that I have
mentioned before, with respect to the invariable early retreat of
the hirundo apus, or swift, so many weeks before it's congeners ;
and that not only with us, but also in Andalusia, where they
also begin to retire about the beginning o? August.

The great large bat' (which by the by is at present a non-
descript in England, and what I have never been able yet to
procure) retires or migrates very early in the summer; it also
ranges very high for it's food, feeding in a different region of
the air; and that is the reason I never could procure one. Now
this is exactly the case with the swifts; for they take their food
in a more exalted region than the other species, and are very
seldom seen hawking for flies near the ground, or over the sur-
face of the water. From hence I would conclude that these
hirundines, and the larger bats, are supported by some sorts of
high-flying gnats, scarabs, or phakena, that are of short con-
tinuance; and that the short stay of these strangers is regulated
by the defect of their food.

' The little bat appears almost every month in the yenr; but I have never
seen the large ones till the end of April, nor at'tcr July. They are most common in
.hme, but never in any plenty : are a rare species with us.

OF SELBORNE. 17

By my journal it appears that curlews clamoured on to Octo-
bei' the thirty-first; since which I have not seen or heard an}-.
Swallows were observed on to November the third.

LETTER XXVII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR SelhornEj Feb, 22, 1770.

xiEDGE-iioGs abound in my gardens and fields. The manner
in which they eat their roots of the plantain in my grass-walks
is very curious: with their upper mandible, which is much
longer than their lower, they bore under the plant, and so eat
the root off upwards, leaving the tuft of leaves untouched. In
this respect they are serviceable, as they destroy a very trouble-
some weed; but they deface the walks in some measure by dig-
ging little round holes. It appears, by the dung that they drop
upon the turf, that beetles are no inconsiderable part of their
food. In June last I procured a litter of four or five young
hedge-hogs, which appeared to be about five or six days old;
they, I find, like puppies, are born blind, and could not see
when they came to my hands. No doubt their spines are soft
and flexible at the time of their birth, or else the poor dam
would have but a bad time of it in the critical moment of par-
turition: but it is plain that they soon harden; for these little
pigs had such stiff prickles on their backs and sides as would
easily have fetched blood, had they not been handled with cau-
tion. Their spines are quite white at this age; and they have

78 NATURAL HISTORY

little hanging ears, which I do not remember to be discernible
in the old ones. They can, in part, at this age draw their skin
down over their faces; but are not able to contract themselves
into a ball, as they do, for the sake of defence, when full grown.
The reason, I suppose, is, because the curious muscle that
enables the creature to roll itself up in a ball was not then
arrived at it's full tone and firmness. Hedge-hogs make a deep
and warm hybernaculum with leaves and moss, in which they
conceal themselves for the winter: but I never could find that
they stored in any winter provision, as some quadrupeds cer-
tainly do.

I have discovered an anecdote with respect to the fieldfare
(turdus pilaris), which I think is particular enough: this bird,
though it sits on trees in the day-time, and procures the greatest
part of it's food from white-thorn hedges; yea, moreover, builds
on very high trees; as may be seen by tht fauna suecica; yet
always appears with us to roost on the ground. They are seen
to come in flocks just before it is dark, and to settle and nestle
among the heath on our forest. And besides, the larkers, in
dragging their nets by night, frequently catch them in the
wheat-stubbles; while the bat-fowlers, who take many red-
wings in the hedges, never entangle any of this species. Why
these birds, in the matter of roosting, should differ from all their
congeners, and fn^m themselves also with respect to their pro-
ceedings by day, is a fact for which I am by no means able to
account.

I have somewhat to inform you of concerning the moose- deer;
but in general foreign animals fall seldom in my way; my little
intelligence is confined to the narrow sphere of my own obser-
vations at home.

OF SELBORNE. 79

LETTER XXVIII.

TO THE SAME.

Selborne, March 1 770.

On Michaelmas-day 1768 I managed to get a sight of the female
moose belonging to the duke o^ Richmond, at Goodwood; but
was greatly disappointed, when I arrived at the spot, to find
that it died, after having appeared in a languishing way for some
time, on the morning before. However, understanding that it
was not stripped, I proceeded to examine this rare quadruped :
I found it in an old green-house, slung under the belly and chin
by ropes, and in a standing posture; but, though it had been
dead for so short a time, it was in so putrid a state that the
stench was hardly supportable. The grand distinction between
this deer, and any other species that I have ever met with, con-
sisted in the strange length of it's legs; on which it was tilted
up much in the manner of the birds of the grallce order. I
measured it, as they do an horse, and found that, from the
ground to the wither, it was just five feet four inches; which
height answers exactly to sixteen hands, a growth that few
horses arrive at: but then, with this length of legs, it's neck was
remarkably short, no more than twelve inches; so that, by
straddling with one foot forward and the other backward, it
grazed on the plain ground, with the greatest difficulty, between
it's legs: the ears were vast and lopping, and as long as the

80 NATURAL HISTORY

neck; the head was about twenty inches long, and ass-like;
and had such a redundancy of upper lip as I never saw before,
with huge nostrils. This lip, travellers say, is esteemed a dainty
dish in North America. It is very reasonable to suppose that
this creature supports itself chiefly by browsing of trees, and by
wading after water plants; towards which way of livelihood the
length of legs and great lip must contribute much. I have read
somewhere that it delights in eating the nymphcea, or water-lily.
From the fore-feet to the belly behind the shoulder it measured
three feet and eiglit inches : the length of the legs before and
behind consisted a great deal in the tibia, which was strangely
long; but, in my haste to get out of the stench, I forgot to
measure that joint exactly. It's scut seemed to be about an
inch long; the colour was a grizzly black; the mane about four
inches long; the fore-hoofs were upright and shapely, the hind
flat and splayed. The spring before it was only two years old,
so that most probably it was not then come to it's growth.
What a vast tall beast must a full grown stag be! I have been
told some arrive at ten feet and an half! This poor creature
had at first a female companion of the same species, which
died the spring before. In the same garden was a young
stag, or red deer, between whom and this moose it was hoped
that there might have been a breed; but their inequality of
height must have always been a bar to any commerce of the
amorous kind. I should have been glad to have examined the
teeth, tongue, lips, hoofs, &c. minutely; but the putrefaction
precluded all farther curiosity. This animal, the keeper told
me, seemed to enjoy itself best in the extreme frost of the for-
mer winter. In the house they shewed me the horn of a male

OF SELBORNE. 81

moose, which had no front-antlers, but only a broad palm with
some snags on the edge. The noble owner of the dead moose
proposed to make a skeleton of lier bones.

Please to let me hear if my female moose corresponds with
that you saw; and whether you think still that the American
moose and European elk are the same creature. I am,

With the greatest esteem, &c.

LETTER XXIX.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selkorne, May 12. 1770.

i-/AST month we had such a series of cold turbulent weather,
such a constant succession of frost, and snow, and hail, and
tempest, that the regular migration or appearance of the sum-
mer birds was much interrupted. Some did not shew them-
selves (at least were not heard) till weeks after their usual time;
as the black-cap and white-throat; and some have not been heard
yet, as the gras hopper -lark and largest willow-wren. As to the
Jly-catcher, 1 have not seen it ; it is indeed one of the latest, but
should appear about this time: and yet, amidst all this me-
teorous strife and war of the elements, two swallows discovered
themselves as long ago as the eleventh of April, in frost and
snow; but they withdrew quickly, and were not visible again
for many days. House-martins, which are always more back-
ward than swallows, were not observed till May came in.

M

82 NATURAL HISTORY

Among the mmwgamous birds several are to be found, after
pairing-time, single, and of each sex : but whether this state of
celibacy is matter of choice or necessity, is not so easily disco-
verable. When the house-sparrows deprive my martins of their
nests, as soon as I cause one to be shot, the other, be it cock or
hen, presently procures a mate, and so for several times fol-
lowing.

I have known a dove-house infested by a pair of white owls,
which made great havock among the young pigeons : one of
the owls was shot as soon as possible; but the survivor readily
found a mate, and the mischief went on. After some time the
new pair were both destroyed, and the annoyance ceased.

Another instance I remember of a sportsman, whose zeal for
the increase of his game being greater than his humanity, after
pairing-time he always shot the cock-bird of every couple of
partridges upon his grounds; supposing that the rivalry of many
males interrupted the breed: he used to say, that, though he
had widowed the same hen several times, yet he found she was
still provided with a fresh paramour, that did not take her away
from her usual haunt.

Again ; I knew a lover of setting, an old sportsman, who
has often told me that soon after harvest he has frequently
taken small coveys of partridges, consisting of cock-birds alone;
these he pleasantly used to call old bachelors.

There is a propensity belonging to common house-cats tliat
is very remarkable; I mean their violent fondness for fish, which
appears to be their most favourite food: and yet nature in this
instance seems to have planted in them an appetite that, unas-
sisted, they know not how to gratify: for of all quadrupeds cats
are the least disposed towards water; and will not, when they

OF SELBORNE. S3

can avoid it, deign to wet a foot, much less to plunge into that
element.

Quadrupeds that prey on fish are amphibious: such is the
otter, which by nature is so well formed for diving, that it
makes great havock among the inhabitants of the waters. Not
supposing that we had any of those beasts in our shallow brooks,
I was much pleased to see a male otter brought to me, weighing
twenty-one pounds, that had been shot on the bank of our stream
below the Priory, where the rivulet divides the parish of <Se/-
bo7vie from Harteley-wood.

LETTER XXX.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Aug. 1, 1770.

J. HE French, I think, in general are strangely prolix in their
natural history. What Linnceus says with respect to insects
holds good in every other branch: " Verbositas prcEsentis scEculi,
" calamitas art is."

Pray how do you approve of Scopoli's new work.^^ as I admire
his Entomobgia, I long to see it.

I forgot to mention in my last letter (and had not room to
insert in the former) that the male moose, in rutting time,
swims from island to island, in the lakes and rivers of No7-th-
America, in pursuit of the females. My friend, the chaplain,
saw one killed in the water as it was on that errand in the river

84 NATURAL HISTORY

St. Lawrence: it was a monstrous beast, he told me; but he did
not take the dimensions.

When I was last in town our friend Mr. Barr'wgton most
obligingly carried me to see many curious sights. As you were
then writing to him about horns, he carried me to see many
strange and wonderful specimens. There is, I remember, at
Lord Pembroke's, at JVilton, an horn room furnished with more
than thirty diiferent pairs; but I have not seen that house lately.

]\Ir. Barrington shewed me many astonishing collections of
stuffed and living birds from all quarters of the world. After I
had studied over the latter for a time, I remarked that every
species almost that came from distant regions, such as South
America, the coast o^ Guinea, &c. were thick-billed birds of the
loxia and frifigilla genera; and no inotacillce, or muscicap(S, were
to be met with. When I came to consider, the reason was ob-
vious enough; for the hard-billed birds subsist on seeds which
are easily carried on board, while the soft-billed birds, which
are supported by worms ami insects, or, what is a succedaneiim
for them, fresh raw meat, can meet with neither in long and
tedious voyages. It is from this defect of food that our collec-
tions (curious as they are) are defective, and we are deprived of
some of the most delicate and lively genera.

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE. Ss

LETTER XXXI.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selborne, Sept. 14, 1770.

You saw, I find, the ring-ousels again among their native crags;
and are farther assured that they continue resident in those
cold regions the whole year. From whence then do our ring-
ousels migrate so regularly every September, and make their
appearance again, as if in their return, every April? They are
more early this year than common, for some were seen at the
usual hill on the fourth of this month.

An observing Devonshire gentleman tells me that they fre-
quent some parts of Dartmoor, and breed there; but leave those
haunts about the end of September or beginning of October, and
return again about the end of March.

Another intelligent person assures me that they breed in
great abundance all over the Peak of Derby, and are called there
Tor-ousels; withdraw in October and November, and return in
spring. This information seems to throw some light on my new
migration.

Scopoli's "■ new work (which I have just procured) has it's
merit in ascertaining many of the birds of the Tirol and Car-
niola. Monographers, come from whence they may, have, I
think, fair pretence to challenge some regard and approbation
from the lovers of natural history; for, as no man can alone in-

" Annus Primus Hisiorico-Naturalis.

»6 NATURAL HISTORY

vestigate all the works of nature, these partial writers may, each
in their department, be more accurate in their discoveries, and
freer from errors, than more general writers; and so by degrees
may pave the way to an universal correct natural history. Not
that Scopoli is so circumstantial and attentive to the life and
conversation of his birds as I could wish: he advances some
false facts; as when he says of the hwundo urbica that " pullos
" estra nidum non nutrit." This assertion I know to be wrong
from repeated observation this summer; for house-martins do
feed their young flying, though it must be acknowledged not so
commonly as the house-swallow; and the feat is done in so
quick a manner as not to be perceptible to indifferent observers.
He also advances some (I was going to say) improbable facts;
as when he says of the woodcock that, " pullos rostro portat
"fugiens ah hoste." But candour forbids me to say absolutely
that any fact is false, because I have never been witness to such
a fact. I have only to remark that the long unwieldy bill of
the woodcock is perhaps the worst adapted of any among the
winged creation for such a feat of natural affection.

I am, &c.

LETTER XXXn.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIK, Selborne, October 29^ 1770.

After an ineff^'ectual search in Linnceus, Brisson, Sec. I begin to
suspect that I discern my brother's hirundo hyherna in Scopoli's
new discovered hirundo rupestris, p. \67. His description of

OF SELBORNE. 87

■" Supra murina, subtus albida; rectrices macula ovali alba in latere
" interno; pedes nudi, nigri; rostrum nigrum; remiges obscuriores
■" quamplumcE dor sales; rectrices remigibus concohres; caudd emar-
" ginata, necforcipatd;'' agrees very well with the bird in ques-
tion; but when he comes to advance that it is " statura hirun-
" dinis urbicce," and that " dejinitio hirundinis riparice Linncei huic
" quoque convenit," he in some measure invalidates all he has said;
at least he shews at once that he compares them to these species
merely from memory: for I have compared the birds themselves,
and find they differ widely in every circumstance of shape, size,
and colour. However, as you will have a specimen, I shall be
glad to hear what your judgment is in the matter.

Whether my brother is forestalled in his non-descript or not,
he will have the credit of first discovering that they spend their
winters under the warm and sheltery shores of Gibraltar and
Barbary.

Scopolis characters of his ordines and genera are clean, just,
and expressive, and much in the spirit of Linnceus. These few
remarks are the result of my first perusal of Scopoli's Annus
Primus.

The bane of our science is the comparing one animal to the
other by memory: for want of caution in this particular Scopoli
falls into errors : he is not so full with regard to the manners of
his indigenous birds as might be wished, as you justly observe:
his Latin is easy, elegant, and expressive, and very superior to
Kramer's ".

I am pleased to see that my description of the moose corre-
sponds so well with yours. I am, &c.

* See his Elenchus vegetalilium et animalium per Austriam inferinrem, i^c.

88 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XXXIIL

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selbokne, Nov. 26, 1770.

1 WAS much pleased to see, among the collection of birds from
Gibraltar, some of" those short-winged English summer-birds of
passage, concerning whose departure we have made so much
inquiry. Now if these birds are found in Andalusia to migrate
to and from Barbary, it may easily be supposed that those that
come to us may migrate back to the continent, and spend their
winters in some of the warmer parts o^ Europe. This is certain,
that many soft-billed birds that come to Gibraltar appear there
only in spring and autumn, seeming to advance in pairs towards
the northward, for the sake of breeding during the summer
months; and retiring in parties and broods towards the south at
the decline of the year: so that the rock o^ Gibraltar is the
great rendezvous, and place of observation, from whence they
take their departure each way towards Europe or Africa. It is
therefore no mean discovery, I think, to find tliat our small
short-winged summer birds of passage are to be seen spring and
autumn on the very skirts of Europe; it is a presumptive proof
of their emigrations.

Scopoli seems to me to have found the hirundo melha, the
great Gibraltar swift, in Tirol, without knowing it. P'or what
is his hirundo alpina but the afore- mentioned bird in other words?
Says he " Omnia prioris" (meaning the swift;) " sed pectus album;
" paulo major priore." I do not suppose this to be a new species.

OF SELBORNE. 89

It is true also of the melba, that " nidijicat in excelsis Alpium ru-
pibus." Vid. Annum Primum.

My Sussex friend, a man of observation and good sense, but
no naturalist, to whom I applied on account of the stone-curlew,
oedicnemus, sends me the following account: " In looking over
" my Naturalist's Journal for the month of April, I find the
" stone-curlews are first mentioned on the seventeenth and eigh-
" teenth, which date seems to me rather late. They live with
" us all the spring and summer, and at the beginning of autumn
" prepare to take leave by getting together in flocks. They
" seem to me a bird of passage that may travel into some dry
" hilly country south of us, probably Spain, because of the abun-
" dance of sheep-walks in that country; for they spend their
" summers with us in such districts. This conjecture I hazard,
" as I have never met with any one that has seen them in Eng-
" land in the winter. I believe they are not fond of going near
" the water, but feed on earth-worms, that are common on
" sheep-walks and downs. They breed on fallows and lay-fields
" abounding with grey mossy flints, which much resemble their
" young in colour; among which they skulk and conceal them-
" selves. They make no nest, but lay their eggs on the bare
" ground, producing in common but two at a time. There is
" reason to think their young run soon after they are hatched;
" and that the old ones do not feed them, but only lead them
" about at the time of feeding, which, for the most part, is in
" the night." Thus far my friend.

In the manners of this bird you see there is something very
analogous to the bustard, whom it also somewhat resembles in
aspect and make, and in the structure of it's feet.

For a long time I have desired my relation to look out for

N

90 NATURAL HISTORY

tliese birds in Andalusia; and now he writes me word that, for
the first time, he saw one dead in the market on the third of
September.

When the oedicnemus flies it stretches out it's legs straight
behind, hke an heron. I am &c.

LETTER XXXIV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, March 30, 1771.

There is an insect with us, especially on chalky districts, which
is very troublesome and teasing all the latter end of the summer,
getting into people's skins, especially those of women and chil-
dren, and raising tumours which itch intolerably. This animal
(which we call an harvest bug) is very minute, scarce discern-
ible to the naked eye; of a bright scarlet colour, and of the
genus of Acarus. They are to be met with in gardens on kid-
neybeans, or any legumens; but prevail only in the hot months
of summer. Warreners, as some have assured me, are much in-
fested by them on chalky downs; where these insects swarm
sometimes to so infinite a degree as to discolour their nets, and
to give them a reddish cast, while the men are so bitten as to
be thrown into fevers.

There is a small long shining fly in these parts very trouble-
some to the housewife, by getting into the chimnies, and laying
its eggs in the bacon while it is drying: these eggs produce
maggots c&Wtd jumpers, which, harbouring in the gammons and

OF SELBORNE. PI

best parts of the hogs, eat down to the bone, and make great
waste. This fly I suspect to be a variety of the musca putris of
Zinnaus: it is to be seen in the summer in farm-kitchens on the
bacon-racks and about the mantle-pieces, and on the ceilings.

The insect that infests turnips and many crops in the garden
(destroying often whole fields while in their seedling leaves) is
an animal that wants to be better known. The country people
here call it the turnip-fly and black dolphin; but I know it to be
one of the coleoptera ; the " chrysomela oleracea, saltatoria, femori-
" bus posticis crassissimis." In very hot summers they abound
to an amazing degree, and, as you walk in a field or in a garden,
make a pattering like rain, by jumping on the leaves of the
turnips or cabbages.

There is an Oestrus, known in these parts to every plough-
boy; which, because it is omitted by Linnceus, is also passed
over by late writers; and that is the curvicauda of old Moufet,
mentioned by Derham in his Physico-theology, p. 2.50: an
insect worthy of remark for depositing it's eggs as it flies in so
dextrous a manner on the single hairs of the legs and flanks of
grass-horses. But then Derham is mistaken when he advances
that this Oestrus is the parent of that wonderful star-tailed mag-
got which he mentions afterwards ; for more modern entomolo-
gists have discovered that singular production to be derived
from the egg of the inusca chamceleon: see Geoffroy, t. 17, f 4.

A full history of noxious insects hurtful in ihe field, garden,
and house, suggesting all the known and likely means of
destroying them, would be allowed by the public to be a most
useful and important work. What knowledge there is of this
sort lies scattered, and wants to be collected; great improve-
ments would soon follow of course. A knowledge of the pro-

92 NATURAL HISTORY

perties, oeconomy, propagation, and in short of the life and con-
versation of these animals, is a necessary step to lead us to some
method of preventing their depredations.

As far as I am a judge, nothing would recommend entomo-
logy more than some neat plates that should well express the
generic distinctions of insects according to LinncEus; for I am
well assured that many people would study insects, could they
set ont with a more adequate notion of those distinctions than
can be conveyed at first by words alone.

LETTER XXXV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne^ 177I.

xlAPPENiNG to make a visit to my neighbour's peacocks, I
could not help observing that the trains of those magnificent
birds appear by no means to be their tailsj those long feathers
growing not from their uropygium, but all up their backs. A
range of short brown stiflf feathers, about six inches long, fixed
in the uropygium, is the real tail, and serves as ihefulcrufn to
prop the train, which is long and top-heavy, when set an end.
When the train is up, nothing appears of the bird before but it's
head and neck; but this would not be the case were those long
feathers fixed only in the rump, as may be seen by the turkey-
cock when in a strutting attitude. By a strong muscular vibia-
tion these birds can make the shafts of their long; feathers clat-

OF SELBORNE. 93

ter like the swords of a sword-dancer; they then trample very
quick with their feet, and run backwards towards the females.

I should tell you that I have got an uncommon calculus
(Zgogropila, taken out of the stomach of a fat ox ; it is perfectly
round, and about the size of a large Sevilh orange; such are, I
think, usually flat.

LETTER XXXVI.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Sept. 1771.

The summer through I have seen but two of that large species
of bat which I call vesper tilio altivolans, from it's manner of
feeding high in the air: I procured one of them, and found it
to be a male j and made no doubt, as they accompanied together,
that the other was a female : but, happening in an evening or
two to procure the other likewise, I was somewhat disappointed,
when it appeared to be also of the same sex. This circumstance,
and the great scarcity of this sort, at least in these parts, occa-
sions some suspicions in my mind whether it is really a species,
or whether it may not be the male part of the more known
species, one of which may supply many females; as is known to
be the case in sheep, and some other quadrupeds. But this
doubt can only be cleared by a farther examination, and some
attention to the sex, of more specimens: all that I know at pre-
sent is, that my two were amply furnished with the parts of
generation much resembling those of a boar.

94 NATURAL HISTORY

In the extent of their wings they measured fourteen inches
and an half: and four inches and an half from the nose to the
tip of the tail: their heads were large, their nostrils bilobated,
their shoulders broad and muscular; and their whole bodies
fleshy and plump. Nothing could be more sleek and soft than
their fur, which was of a bright chesnut colour; their maws
were full of food, but so macerated that the quality could not
be distinguished; their livers, kidnies, and hearts, were large,
and their bowels covered with fat. They weighed each, when
entire, full one ounce and one drachm. Within the ear there
was somewhat of a peculiar structure that I did not understand
perfectly; but refer it to the observation of the curious anato-
mist. These creatures sent forth a very rancid and offensive
smell.

LETTER XXXVIL

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selborne, 1771.

On the twelfth o^ July I had a fair opportunity of contem-
plating the motions of the caprimulgus, or fern-owl, as it was
playing round a large oak that swarmed with scarabcei solstitiales,
or fern-chafers. The powers of it's wing were wonderful, ex-
ceeding, if possible, the various evolutions and quick turns of
the swallow genus. But the circumstance tliat pleased me most
was, that I saw it distinctly, more than once, put out it's short
leg while on the wing, and, by a bend of the head, deliver some-
what into it's mouth. If it takes any part of it's prey with it's

OF SELBORNE. 95

foot, as I have now the greatest reason to suppose it does these
chafers, I no longer wonder at the use of it's middle toe, which
is curiously furnished with a serrated clav/.

Swallows and martins, the bulk of them I mean, have for-
saken us sooner this year than usual; for, on September the
twenty-second, they rendezvoused in a neighbour's walnut-tree,
where it seemed probable they had taken up their lodging for
the night. At the dawn of the day, which was foggy, they
arose all together in infinite numbers, occasioning such a rushing
from the strokes of their wings against the hazy air, as might
be heard to a considerable distance: since that no flock has
appeared, only a few stragglers.

Some swifts staid late, till the twenty-second of August — a
rare instance! for they usually withdraw within the first week."

On September the twenty-fourth three or four ring-ousels
appeared in my fields for the first time this season : how punc-
tual are these visitors in their autumnal and spring migrations!

LETTER XXXVIIL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIB, Selborne, March 15, 1773.

By my journal for last autumn it appears that the house-mar-
tins bred very late, and staid very late in these parts ; for, on
the first of October, I saw young martins in their nest nearly
fledged; and again, on the twenty-first o? October, we had at
the next house a nest full of young martins just ready to fly; and

• See letter liii, to Mr. Barrington.

96 NATURAL HISTORY

the old ones were hawking for insects with great alertness. The
next morning the brood forsook their nest, and were flying
round the village. From this day I never saw one of the swal-
low kind till November the third; when twenty, or perhaps
thirty, house-martins were playing all day long by the side of
the hanging wood, and over my fields. Did these small weak
birds, some of which were nestlings twelve days ago, shift their
quarters at this late season of the year to the other side of the
northern tropic? Or rather, is it not more probable that the
next church, ruin, chalk-clifF, steep covert, or perhaps sandbank,
lake or pool (as a more northern naturalist would say,) may
become their hybernaculum, and afford them a ready and obvious
retreat?

We now begin to expect our vernal migration of ring-ousels
every week. Persons worthy of credit assure me that ring-
ousels were seen at Christmas 1770 in the forest of Bere, on the
southern verge of this county. Hence we may conclude that
their migrations are only internal, and not extended to the con-
tinent southward, if they do at first come at all from the north-
ern parts of this island only, and not from the north of Europe.
Come from whence they will, it is plain, from the fearless dis-
regard that they shew for men or guns, that they have been
little accustomed to places of much resort. Navigators men-
tion that in the Isle of Ascension, and other such desolate dis-
tricts, birds are so little acquainted with the human form that
they settle on men's shoulders; and have no more dread of a
sailor than they would have of a goat that was grazing. A young
man at Lexves, in Stissex, assured me that about seven years ago
ring-ousels abounded so about that town in the autumn that he
killed sixteen himself in one afternoon : he added further, that

OF SELBORNE. 97

some had appeared since in every autumn; but he could not find
that any had been observed before the season in which he shot
so many. I myself have found these birds in little parties in
the autumn cantoned all along the Sussex downs, wherever
there were shrubs and bushes, from Chichester to Lewes; parti-
cularly in the autumn of 1770. I am, &c.

LETTER XXXIX.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selborne^ Nov. Q, 1?73.

As you desire me to send you such observations as may occur,
I take the liberty of making the following remarks, that you
may, according as you think me right or wrong, admit or reject
what I here advance, in your intended new edition of the
British Zoology.

The osprey'' was shot about a year ago at Frinsham-pond, a
great lake, at about six miles from hence, while it was sitting
on the handle of a plough and devouring a fish: it used to pre-
cipitate itself into the water, and so take it's prey by surprise.

A great ash-coloured '•butcher-bird was shot last winter in
Tisted-park, and a red backed butcher-bird at Selborne: they are
rarce aves in this county.

Crows ' go in pairs the whole year round.

Cornish choughs ' abound, and breed on Beachy head and on,
all the cliffs of the Susses coast.

f Eritish Zoology, vol. i. p. 128. i p, l6l. ■■ p. 167. ' p. I98

0

98 NATURAL HISTORY

The common wild pigeon, ' or stock-dove, is a bird of pas-
sage in the south of England, seldom appearing till towards the
end of November; is usually the latest winter-bird of passage.
Before our beechen woods were so much destroyed we had my-
riads of them, reaching in strings for a mile together as they
went out in a morning to feed. They leave us early in spring;
where do they breed?

The people of Hampshire and Susses call the missel-bird " the
storm-cock, because it sings early in the spring in blowing
showery weather; it's song often commences with the year:
with us it builds much in orchards.

A gentleman assures me he has taken the nests of ring-ousels"
on Dartmoor: they build in banks on the sides of streams.

Titlarks >" not only sing sweetly as they sit on trees, but also
as they play and toy about on the wingj and particularly while
they are descending, and sometimes as they stand on the
ground.

Adanson's'^ testimony seems to me to be a very poor evidence
that European swallows migrate during our winter to Senegal:
he does not talk at all like an ornithologist; and probably saw
only the swallows of that country, which I know build within
Governor O'Haras hall against the roof. Had he known Etiro-
pean swallows, would he not have mentioned the species?

The house-swallow washes by dropping into the water as it
flies: this species appears commonly about a week before the
house-martin, and about ten or twelve days before the swift.

In 1772 there were young house-martins' in their nest till
October the twenty-third.

' p. 216. " p. 224. » p. 229. y Vol. ii. p. 237.

' p. 242. » p. 244

OF SELBORNE. 99

Tlie 5ti'///i' appears about ten or twelve days later than the hoitse-
swallaw: -viz. about the twenty-fourth or twenty-sixth oi April.

Whin-chats and stone-chatters' stay with us the whole year.

Some wheat-ears'* continue with us the W"inter through.

Wagtails, all sorts, remain with us all the winter.

Bulfinches, ' when fed on hempseed, often become wholly
black.

We have vast flocks of female chaffinches f all the winter,
with hardly any males among them.

When you say that in breeding time the cock-snipes ^ make
a bleating noise, and I a drumming (perhaps I should have
rather said an humming), I suspect we mean the same thing.
However, while they are playing about on the wing they cer-
tainly make a loud piping with their mouths: but whether that
bleating or humming is ventriloquous, or proceeds from the
motion of their wings, I cannot say; but this I know, that when
this noise happens the bird is always descending, and his wings
are violently agitated.

Soon after the lapwings *■ have done breeding they congregate,
and, leaving the moors and marshes, betake themselves to downs
and sheep-walks.

Two years ago 'last spring the little auk was found alive
and unhurt, but fluttering and unable to rise, in a lane a few
miles from Alresford, where there is a great lake: it was kept
awhile, but died.

I saw young teals '' taken alive in the ponds of Wolmer-forest
in the beginning of July last, along with flappers, or young
wild-ducks.

' 245. " 270. 271. <* 269. ' 300. f 306. 6 358,

^ 360. * 409. " 475.

o2

100 NATURAL HISTORY

Speaking of the sxcift, ' that page says " it's drink the dexv;'
whereas it sliould be " it drinks on the wing;"' for all the swal-
low kind sip their water as they sweep over the face of pools or
rivers: like Tlrgil's bees, they drink flying; "flumiiia summa
libant." In this method of drinking perhaps this genus may be
peculiar.

Of the sedge-bird "' be pleased to say it sings most part of
the night; it's notes are hurrying, but not unpleasing, and imi-
tative of several birds; as the sparrow, swallow, sky-lark. When
it happens to be silent in the night, by throwing a stone or
clod into the bushes where it sits you immediately set it a
singing; or in other words, though it slumbers sometimes, yet
as soon as it is awakened it reassumes it's song.

LETTER XL.

TO THE SAME.
BEAR SIR, Selborne, Sept. 2, 1774.

Before your letter arrived, and of my own accord, I had been
remarking and comparing the tails of the male and female swal-
low, and this ere any young broods appeared; so that there was
no danger of confounding the dams with their puL'i: and besides,
as they were then always in pairs, and busied in the employ of
nidification, there could be no room for mistaking the sexes
nor the individuals of different chimnies the one for the other.
From all my observations, it constantly appeared that each sex

' p. 15. "> p. 16.

OF SELBORNE. 101

has the long feathers in it's tail that give it that forked shapej
with this difference, that they are longer in the tail of the male
than in that of the female.

Nightingales, when their young first come abroad, and are
helpless, make a plaintive and a jarring noise; and also a snap-
ping or cracking, pursuing people along the hedges as they
walk: these last sounds seem intended for menace and defiance.

The grasshopper-lark chirps all night in the height of sum-
mer.

Swans turn white the second year, and breed the third.

Weasels prey on moles, as appears by their being sometimes
caught in mole-traps.

Sparrow-hawks sometimes breed in old crows' nests, and the
kestril in churches and ruins.

There are supposed to be two sorts of eels in the island of
Ell/. The threads sometimes discovered in eels are perhaps
their young: the generation of eels is very dark and mysterious.

Hen-harriers breed on the ground, and seem never to settle
on trees.

When redstarts shake their tails they move ihem horizontally,
as dogs do when they fawn: the tail of a wagtail, when in
motion, bobs up and down like that of a jaded horse.

Hedge-sparrows have a remarkable flirt with their wings in
breeding-time; as soon as frosty mornings come they make a
very piping plaintive noise.

Many birds Avhich become silent about Midsummer reassume
tlieir notes again in September ; as the thrush, blackbird, wood-
lark, willow- wren, &c. ; hence August is by much the most mute
month, the spring, summer, and autumn through. Are birds

102 NATURAL HISTORY

induced to sing again because the temperament of autumn re-
sembles that of spring?

Linnaus ranges plants geographically; palms inhabit the tro-
pics, grasses the temperate zones, and mosses and lichens the polar
circles; no doubt animals may be classed in the same manner
with propriety.

House-sparrows build under eaves in the spring; as the
-weather becomes hotter they get out for coolness, and nest in
plum-trees and apple-trees. These birds have been known some-
times to build in rooks' nests, and sometimes in the forks of
boughs under rooks' nests.

As my neighbour was housing a rick he observed that his
dogs devoured all the little red mice that they could catch, but
rejected the common mice; and that his cats ate the common
mice refusing the red.

Red-breasts sing all through the spring, summer, and autumn.
The reason that they are called autumn songsters is, because in
the two first seasons their voices are drowned and lost in the
general chorus; in the latter their song becomes distinguishable.
Many songsters of the autumn seem to be the young cock red-
breasts of that year: notwithstanding the prejudices in their
favour, they do much mischief in gardens to the summer- fruits."

The titmouse, which early in February begins to make two
quaint notes, like the whetting of a saw, is the marsh titmouse:
the great titmouse sings with three cheerful joyous notes, and
begins about the same time.

Wrens sing all the winter through, frost excepted.

" They eat also the berries of the ivy, the honey-suckle, and the euonymus
eiiropcBus, or spindle-tree.

OF SELBORNE. 103

House-martins came remarkably late this year both in Hamp-
shire and 'Devonshire: is this circumstance for or against either
hiding or migration?

Most birds drink sipping at intervals; but pigeons take a
long continued draught, like quadrupeds.

Notwithstanding what I have said in a former letter, no grey
crows were ever known to breed on Dartmoor; it was my
mistake.

The appearance and flying of the scarahmis solstitialis, or
fern-chafer, commence with the month o? July, and cease about
the end of it. These scarabs are the constant food of caprimulgi,
or fern-owls, through that period. They abound on the chalky
downs and in some sandy districts, but not in the clays.

In the garden of the Black-bear inn in the town of Reading
is a stream or canal running imder the stables and out into the
fields on the other side of the road: in this water are many carps,
which lie rolling about in sight, being fed by travellers, who
amuse themselves by tossing them bread: but as soon as the
weather grows at all severe these fishes are no longer seen, be-
cause they retire under the stables, where they remain till the
return of spring. Do they lie in a torpid state? if they do not,
how are they supported?

The note of the white-throat, which is continually repeated,
and often attended with odd gesticulations on the wing, is harsh
and displeasing. These birds seem. of a pugnacious disposition;
for they sing with an erected crest and attitudes of rivalry and
defiance ; are shy and wild in breeding-time, avoiding neigh-
bourhoods, and haunting lonely lanes and commons; nay even
the very tops of the Sussex-downs, where there are bushes and
covert; but in July and August they bring their broods into gar-

104 NATURAL HISTORY

dens and orchards, and make great havock among the summer-
fruits.

The black-cap has in common a full, sweet, deep, loud, and
wild pipe ; yet that strain is of short continuance, and his mo-
tions are desultory; but when that bird sits calmly and engages
in song in earnest, he pours forth very sweet, but inward melody,
and expresses great variety of soft and gentle modulations, supe-
rior perhaps to those of any of our warblers, the nightingale
excepted.

Black-caps mostly haunt orchards and gardens; while they
warble their throats are wonderfully distended.

The song of the redstart is superior, though somewhat like
that of the white-throat : some birds have a few more notes than
others. Sitting very placidly on the top of a tall tree in a vil-
lage, the cock sings from morning to night: he affects neigh-
bourhoods, and avoids solitude, and loves to build in orchards
and about houses; with us he perches on the vane of a tall
maypole.

The fly-catcher is of all our summer birds the most mute
and the most familiar; it also appears the last of any. It builds
in a vine, or a sweetbriar, against the wall of an house, or in the
hole of a wall, or on the end of a beam or plate, and often close
to the post of a door where people are going in and out all day
long. This bird does not make the least pretension to song, but
uses a little inward wailing note when it thinks it's young in
danger from cats or other annoyances: it breeds but once, and
retires early.

Selhorne parish alone can and has exhibited at times more
than half the birds that are ever seen in all Sweden; the former
has produced more than one hundred and twenty species, the

OF SELBORNE. 103

latter only two hundred and t\vent3'-one. Let nie add also that
it has shewn hear half the species that were ever known in
Great-Britain, p

On a retrospect, I observe that my long letter carries with
it a quaint and magisterial air, and is very sententious; but,
when I recollect that you requested stricture and anecdote, I
hope you will pardon the didactic manner for the sake of the
information it may happen to contain.

LETTER XLI.

TO THE SAME.

It is matter of curious inquiry to trace out how those species
of soft-billed birds, that continue with us the winter through,
subsist during the dead months. The imbecility of birds seems
not to be the only reason why they shun the rigour of our win-
ters; for the robust wry-neck (so much resembling the hardy
race of wood-peckers) migrates, while the feeble little golden-
crowned wren, that shadow of a bird, braves our severest frosts
without availing himself of houses or villages, to which most of
our winter-birds crowd in distressful seasons, while this keeps
aloof in fields and woods; but perhaps this may be the reason
why they may often perish, and why they are almost as rare as
any bird we know.

I have no reason to doubt but that the soft-billed birds,
which winter with us, subsist chiefly on insects in their aurelia

P Sweden 221, Great-Britain 252 species.
P

106

NATURAL HISTORY

state. All the species of wagtails in severe weather haunt shal-
low streams near their spring-heads, where tliey never freeze;
and, hy wading, pick out the aurelias of the genus of'' Phry.
ganect, &c.

Hedge-sparrffws frequent sinks and gutters in hard weather,
where they pick up crumbs and other sweepings: and in mild
weather they procure worms, which are stirring every month in
the year, as any one may see that will only be at the trouble of
taking a candle to a grass-plot on any mild winter's night. Red-
breasts and wrens in the winter haunt out-houses, stables, and
barns, where they find spiders and flies that have laid themselves
up during the cold season. But the grand support of tlie soft-
billed birds in winter is that infinite profusion oi" aut'elice of the
lepidoptera ordo, which is fastened to the twigs of trees and their
trunks; to the pales and walls of gardens and buildings; and is
found in every cranny and cleft of rock or rubbish, and even in
the ground itself

Every species of titmouse winters with us; they have what
I call a kind of intermediate bill between the hard and the soft,
between the LinncEan genera oi fringUla and motacilla. One
species alone spends it's whole time in the woods and fields,
never retreating for succour in the severest seasons to houses
and neighbourhoods; and that is the delicate long-tailed tit-
mouse, which is almost as minute as the golden-crowned wren:
but the blue tit mouse, or nun (parus caruleus), the cole-mouse
(parus ater), the great black-headed titmouse (fringiUago), and
the marsh titmouse (parus palustris), all resort, at times, to build-
ings; and in hard weather particularly. The great titmouse,
driven by stress of weather, much frequents houses, and, in
1 See Derham's Ph^sico-tbeology, p. 235.

OF SELBORNE. 107

deep snows, I have seen this bird, while it hung with it's back
downwards (to my no small delight and admiration), draw straws
lengthwise from out the eaves of thatched houses, in order to
pull out the flies that were concealed between them, and that in
such numbers that they quite defaced the thatch, and gave it a
ragged appearance.

The blue titmouse, or 7iu7i, is a great frequenter of houses, and
a general devourer. Besides insects, it is very fond of flesh;
for it frequently picks bones on dunghills : it is a vast admirer
of suet, and haunts butchers' shops. When a boy, I have known
twenty in a morning caught with snap mouse- traps, baited with
tallow or suet. It will also pick holes in apples left on the
ground, and be well entertained with the seeds on the head of
a sun-flower. The blue, marsh, and great titmice will, in very
severe weather, carry away barley and oat straws from the sides
of ricks.

How the wheat-ear and whin-chat support themselves in win-
ter cannot be so easily ascertained, since they spend their time
on wild heaths and warrens; the former especially, where there
are stone quarries: most probably it is that their maintenance
arises from the aurelicB of the lepidoptera ordo, which furnish
them with a plentiful table in the wilderness. I am, &c.

108 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XLIL

TO THE SAMK.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, March g, 1775,

Some future Jaunist, a man of fortune, will, I hope, extend his
visits to the kingdom of Ireland; a new field, and a country little
known to the naturalist. He will not, it is to be wished, under-
take that tour unaccompanied by a botanist, because the moun-
tains have scarcely been sufficiently examined; and the south-
erly counties of so mild an island may possibly afford some
plants little to be expected within the British dominions. A
person of a thinking turn of mind will draw many just remarks
from the modern improvements of that country, both in arts
and agriculture, where premiums obtained long before they were
heard of with us. The manners of the wild natives, their supersti-
tions, their prejudices, their sordid way of life, will extort from
him many useful reflections. He should also take with him an
able draughtsman; for he must by no means pass over the noble
castles and seats, the extensive and picturesque lakes and water-
falls, and the lofty stupendous mountains, so little known, and
so engaging to the imagination when described and exhibited
in a lively manner: such a work would be well received.

As I have seen no modern map of Scotland, I cannot pretend
to say how accurate or particular any such may be ; but this I
know, that the best old maps of that kingdom are very defective.

The great obvious defect that I have remarked in all maps

OF SELBORNE. 109

of Scotland that have fallen in my way is, a want of a coloured
lifie, or stroke, that shall exactly define the just limits of that
district called The Highlands. Moreover, all the great avenues
to that mountainous and romantic country want to be well dis-
tinguished. The military roads formed by general fFade are so
great and Roman-like an undertaking that they well merit
attention. My old map, Moll's Map, takes notice of Fort JVil-
liam; but could not mention the other forts that have been
erected long since: therefore a good representation of the chain
of forts should not be omitted.

The celebrated zigzag up the Coryarich must not be passed
over. Moll takes notice of Hatnilton and Drumlanrig, and such
capital houses; but a new survey, no doubt, should represent
every seat and castle remarkable for any great event, or cele-
brated for it's paintings, &c. Lord Breadalbanes seat and beau-
tiful/)o&j/ are too curious and extraordinary to be omitted.

The seat of the Earl of Eglintoun, near Glasgow, is worthy
of notice. The pine-plantations of that nobleman are very grand
and extensive indeed. I am, &c.

LETTER XLIIL

TO THE SAME.

A PAIR of honey-buzzaids, buteo apivonis, sive •vespivortts Rati,
built them a large shallow nest, composed of twigs and lined
with dead beechen leaves, upon a tall slender beech near the
middle of Selborne-hanger, in the summer of 1780. In the mid-

110 NATURAL HISTORY

die of the month o^ June a bold boy climbed this tree, though
standing on so steep and dizzy a situation, and brought down
an egg, the only one in the nest, which had been sat on for
some time, and contained the embrio of a young bird. The
egg was smaller, and not so round as those of the common buz-
zard; was dotted at each end with small red spots, and sur-
rounded in the middle with a broad bloody zone.

The hen-bird was shot, and answered exactly to Mr. Ray's
description of that species; had a black cere, short thick legs,
and a long tail. When on the wing this species may be easily
distinguished from the common buzzard by it's hawk-like appear-
ance, small head, wings not so blunt, and longer tail. This spe-
cimen contained in it's craw some limbs of frogs and many grey
snails without shells. The irides of the eyes of this bird were
of a beautiful bright yellow colour.

About the tenth oi July in the same summer a pair of spar-
row-hawks bred in an old crow's nest on a low beech in the same
hanger; and as their brood, which was numerous, began to grow
up, became so daring and ravenous, that they were a terror to
all the dames in the village that had chickens or ducklings
under their care. A boy climbed the tree, and found the young
so fledged that they all escaped from him; but discovered that
a good house had been kept : the larder was well-stored with
provisions; for he brought down a young blackbird, jay, and
house-martin, all clean picked, and some half devoured. The
old birds had been observed to make sad havock for some days
among the new-flown swallows and martins, which, being but
lately out of their nests, had not acquired those povvers and
command of wing that enable them, when more mature, to set
such enemies at defiance.

OF SELBORNE. 11 r

LETTER XLIV.

TO THE SAME.
DEx\R SIR, Selboene, Nov. 30, 17SO.

Jll/VERY incident that occasions a renewal of our correspondence
will ever be pleasing and agreeable to me.

As to the wild wood-pigeon^ the oenas, or vinago, of Ray, I am
much of your mind; and see no reason for making it the origin
of the common house-dove: but suppose those that have advanced
that opinion may have been misled by another appellation, often
given to the oenas, which is that of stock-dove.

Unless the stock-dove in the winter varies greatly in man-
ners from itself in summer, no species seems more unlikely to
be domesticated, and to make an house-dove. We very rarely
see the latter settle on trees at all, nor does it ever haunt the
woods; but the former, as long as it stays with us, from Novem-
ber perhaps to February, lives the same wild life with the ring-
dove, palumbus torquatus; frequents coppices and groves, supports
itself chiefly by mast, and delights to roost in the tallest beeches.
Could it be known in what manner stock-doves build, the doubt
would be settled with me at once, provided they construct their
nests on trees, like the ring-dove, as I much suspect they do.

You received, you say, last spring a stock-dove from Sussex j
and are informed that they sometimes breed in that country.
But why did not your correspondent determine the place of it's
nidification, whether on rocks, cliffs, or trees? If he was not an

112 NATURAL HISTORY

adroit ornithologist I should doubt the fact, because people with
us perpetually confound the stock-dove with the ring-dove.

For my own part, I readily concur with you in supposing
that house-doves are derived from the small blue rock-pigeon, for
many reasons. In the first place the wild stock-dove is mani-
festly larger than the common house-dove, against the usual
rule of domestication, which generally enlarges the breed.
Again, those two remarkable black spots on the remiges of each
wing of the stock-dove, which are so characteristic of the species,
would not, one should think, be totally lost by it's being re-
claimed; but would often break out among its descendants.
But what is worth an hundred arguments is, the instance you
give in Sir Roger Mostyns house-doves in Caernarvonshire;
which, though tempted by plenty of food and gentle treatment,
can never be prevailed on to inhabit their cote for any time j
but, as soon as they begin to breed, betake themselves to the
fastnesses of Ormshead, and deposit their young in safety amidst
the inaccessible caverns, and precipices of that stupendous pro-
montory.

" Naturann expellas furca . . . tamen usque recurret."

I have consulted a sportsman, now in his seventy-eighth
year, who tells me that fifty or sixty years back, when the
beechen woods were much more extensive than at present, the
number of wood-pigeons was astonishing; that he has often
killed near twenty in a day; and that with a long wild-fowl
piece he has shot seven or eight at a time on the wing as they
came wheeling over his head: he moreover adds, which I was
not aware of, that often there were among them little parties of
small blue doves, which he calls rockiers. The food of these
numberless emigrants was beech-mast and some acorns; and

OF SELBORNE. 113

particularly barley, which they collected in the stubbles. But
of late years, since the vast increase of turnips, that vegetable
has furnished a great part of their support in hard weather; and
the holes they pick in these roots greatly damage the crop.
From this food their flesh has contracted a rancidness which
occasions them to be rejected by nicer judges of eating, who
thought them before a delicate dish. They were shot not only
as they were feeding in the fields, and especially in snowy wea-
ther, but also at the close of the evening, by men who lay in
ambush among the woods and groves to kill them as they came
in to roost. ■■ These are the principal circumstances relating to
this wonderful internal migration, which with us takes place
towards the end of November, and ceases early in the spring.
Last winter we had in Selborne high wood about an hundred of
these doves; but in former times tlie flocks were so vast not
only with us but all the district round, that on mornings and
evenings ihey traversed the air, like rooks, in strings, reaching
for a mile together. When they thus rendezvoused here by
thousands, if they happened to be suddenly roused from their
roost-trees on an evening,

" Their rising all at once was like the sound
"■ Of thunder heard remote." — ^-

It will by no means be foreign to the present purpose to add,
that I had a relation in this neighbourhood who made it a prac-
tice, for a time, whenever he could procure the eggs of a ring-
dove, to place them under a pair of doves that were sitting in
his own pigeon-house ; hoping thereby, if he could bring about

■■ Some old sportsmen say that the main part of these flocks used to withdraw-
as soon as the heavy Christmas frosts were over.

Q

1 14 NATURAL HISTORY

a coalition, to enlarge his breed, and teach his own doves to
beat out into the woods and to support themselves by mast:
the plan was plausible, but something always interrupted the
success; for though the birds were usually hatched, and some-
times grew to half their size, yet none ever arrived at maturity.
I myself have seen these foundlings in their nest displaying a
strange ferocity of nature, so as scarcely to bear to be looked at,
and snapping with their bills by way of menace. In short, they
always died, perhaps for want of proper sustenance: but the
owner thought that by their fierce and wild demeanour they
frighted their foster-mothers, and so were starved.

Virgil, as a familiar occurrence, by way of simile, describes a
dove haunting the cavern of a rock in such engaging numbers,
that I cannot refrain from quoting the passage : and Jo/m Diyden
has rendered it so happily in our language, that without farther
excuse I shall add his translation also.

" Qualis spelunca subitb commota Columba,
" Cui domus, et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi,
" Fertur in arva volans, plausumque extertita pennit
" Dat tecto ingentem — mox aere lapsa quieto,
" Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque coramovet alas."

" As when a dove her rocky hold forsakes,
" Rous'd, in a fright her sounding wings she shakes j
" The cavern rings wilh clattering : — out she flies,
" And leaves her callow care, and cleaves the skies:
"■ At first she flutters : — but at length she springs
" To smoother flight, and shoots upon her wings."

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE.

115

LETTER I.
TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON,

DEAR SIR, Selborne, June 30, 1769.

VVhen I was in town last month I partly engaged that I would
somethne do myself the honour to write to you on the suhject
of natural history : and I am the more ready to fulfil my pro-
mise, because I see you are a gentleman of great candour, and
one that will make allowances; especially where the writer pro-
fesses to be an out-door naturalist, one that takes his observations
from the subject itself, and not from the writings of others.

Thefollffwing is a List of the Summer Birds of Passage which I
have discovered in this neighbourhood, ranged somewhat in the
order which they appear:

RAII NOMINA.

1. Wryneck,

Jtjnx, sive torquilla :

2. Smallest willow-wren, ReguJus non cristalus :

3. Swallow,

4. Martin,

5. Sand-martin,

6. Black-cap,

7. Nightingale,

8. Cuckoo,

9. Middle willow- wren,

10. White-throat,

Hirundo domestica :

Hirundo rustica :

Hirundo riparia :

Atricapilla :

Luscinia :

Cuculus :

Regulus non cristalus :

Ficedulce affinis :

USUALLY APPEARS ABOUT

C The middle of iJfarcA;
\ harsh note.

S March 23 : chirps till Sep-
\ temler.

April 13.

Ditto.

Ditto.

Ditto : a sweet wild note.

Beginning of April,

Middle of April.

Ditto : a sweet plaintive note,

f Ditto: mean note; sings on
X till September.

116

NATURAL HISTORY

11. Red-start,

12. Stone-curlew,

13. Turtle-dove,

14. Grasshopper-lark,

15. Swift,

16. Less reed-sparrow,

17. Land-rail,

18. Largest willow-wren

19. Goatsucker, or 7

fern-owl, 3

20. Fly- catcher.

BAII NOMINA.

Rudcilla :

Oedicnemus :

Turlur.

Alauda minima locustce voce :

Hirundo apus :

Passer arundinaceus minor:

Ortyigometra :
, Regulus non cristatus :

Caprimulgus :
Stoparola:

USUALLY APPEAES ABOUT

C Middle oi April ; more agree-
\ able song.

C End of March ; loud noctur-
ia nal whistle.

f Mx^&\tApril : a small sibilous
\ note, till the end of July.

About April 27.
f A sweet polyglot, but hurry-
•< ing : it has the notes of
t many birds.

A loud harsh note, crex, crex.

f Can tat voce stridula locustae f-
^ end oi April, on the tops of
{_ high beeches.

f Beginning ofMay; chatters by
\ night with a singular noise,

(May 12. A very mute bird :
This is the latest summer
bird of passage.

This assemblage of curious and amusing birds belongs to ten
several genera of the Linnaan system ; and are all of the ordo of
passeres, save theji/nx and cuculus, which are piece, and the chara-
drius (oedicnemus) and rallus (ortygometra), which are grallce.

These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the follow-
ing Linn<zan genera:

1, Jynx : 13. Columla:

2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 18. Motacilla : 17. Rallus:
3,4,5,15. Hirunde : 19. Caprimulgus:
8. Cuculus : 14. Alauda :

1 2. Charadrius : 20. Muscicapa.

OF SELBORNE.

117

Most soft-billed birds live on insects, and not on grain and
seeds; and therefore at the end of summer they retire: but the
following soft-billed birds, though insect-eaters, stay with us the
year round :

RAII NOMINA.

Redbreast,
Wren,

Rulecula :

Passer troglodytes .

Hedge-sparrow,

Curruca :

White-wagtail,
Yellow wagtail.
Grey wagtail.

Motacilla alia :
Motacillaflava :
Motacilla cinerea :

Wheat-ear,

Oenanthe :

Whin-chat,

Oenanthe secunda.

Stone-chatter,

Oenanthe tertia.

Golden-crowned wren, Regulus cristatus.

f These frequent houses ; and haunt out-
\ buildings in the winter : eat spiders
f Haunt sinks for crumbs and other
\ sweepings.

r These frequent shallow rivulets near
) the spring heads, where they never
j freeze : eat the aureliae of Phryganea.
(^The smallest birds that walk.

{Some of these are to be seen with us
the winter through.

1

This is the smallest British bird : haunts
th'e tops of tall trees ; stays the win-
ter through.

A List of' the Winter Birds of
ransed somewhat in the

KAII NOMINA.

1. Ring-ousel, MeraZa torquata:

2. Redwing,

3. Fieldfare,

4. Royston-crow,

5. Woodcock,

6. Snipe,

7. Jack-snipe,

8. Wood-pigeon

Turdus iliacus :

Tardus pilaris :

Comix cinerea :
Scolopax :
Gallinago minor :
GalUnago minima:

Oenas:

Passage round this neighbourhood,
order in which they appear:

^This is a new migration, which I have
J lately discovered about Miehaelmas
J week, and again about the fourteenth
V. of March.

About old Michaelmas.
f Though a percher by day, roosts on the
\ ground.

Most frequent on downs.
Appears about old Michaelmas.
Some snipes constantly breed with us.

f Seldom appears till late ; not in such
I plenty as formerly.

118 NATURAL HISTORY.

\

RAII NOMINA.

9. WUd-swan, Cygnusferus : On some large waters.

10. Wild-goose, Anserferus:

1 1 . Wild-duck, Anas torquata minor :

12. Pochard, Anas /era fusca:

13. Wigeon, Penelope : ^-On our lakes and streams.

14. Teal, breeds "i
with us in > QuerqueduJa :
Wolmer-forest J

15. Cross-beak, Coccotliraustes : (These are only wanderers that appear
10. Gross-bill, Loxia : I occasionally, and are not observant
17. Silk-tail, Garruliis lohemicus : -' of any regular migration.

These birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the follow-
ing Litmcean genera:

1, 2, 3, Turdus: 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,

4, Corvus: Anas:

5, 6, 7, Scolopax : 15, 16, Loxia:
8, Columba: 17, Ampelis.

Birds that sing in the night are but few.

Nightingale, Luscinia : " In shadiest covert hid." Miltow,

Woodlark, Alauda arlorea : Suspended in mid air.

Less reed-sparrow, PawifT arundinaceus minor: Among reeds and willows.

I should now proceed to such birds as continue to sing after
Midsummer, but, as they are rather numerous, they would
exceed the bounds of this paper: besides, as this is now the
season for remarking on that subject, I am willing to repeat my
observations on some birds concerning the continuation of whose
song I seem at present to have some doubt.

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE.

119

LETTER II.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Seleokne, Nov. 2, 1769.

When I did myself the honour to write to you about the end
of last June on the subject of natural history, I sent you a list of
the summer-birds of passage which I have observed in this
neighbourhood; and also a list of the winter-birds of passage:
I mentioned besides those soft-billed birds that stay with us the
winter through in the south of England, and those that are re-
markable for singing in the night.

According to my proposal, I shall now proceed to such birds
(singing birds strictly so called) as continue in full song till after
Midsummer; and shall range them somewhat in the order in
which they first begin to open as the spring advances.

1. Wood-lark,

2, Song-thrush,
S.Wren,

4. Redbreast,

5. Hedge-sparrow,
j6, Yellowhammer,

7. Skylark,

8. Swallow,

9. Black-cap,

KAII NOMINA.

AJauda arborea :

{Turdus simpUciter
dictus :
Passer troglodytes :
Rulecula :
Curruca :

Emlerizajlava :

Alauda vulgaris :
Hirundo domestica :
Atricapilla .\

C In January, and continues to sing
< through all the sunnmer and
{_ autumn.

I In Felruary and on to August, re-
\ assume their song in autumn.

All the year, hard frost excepted.

Ditto.

Early in Felruary to July the lOth
f Early in Felruary, and on through
\ July to August the 21st.

In Felruary, and on to Octoler.

From April to Septemler.

Beginning oi April to July 13 th.

120

NATURAL HISTORY

10. Titlark,

11. Blackbird,

12. White-throat,

13. Goldfinch,

14. Greenfinch,

15. Less reed- "J

sparrow J

EAII NOMINA.

jUauda pratorum .

Merula vulgaris :

Ficedulce affinis :
Carduelis :
Chloris ;

Passer arundinaceus
minor :

iQ. Common linnet, Linaria vulgaris :

From middle of April to July the l6th,
r Sometimes in February and March,
■( and so on to July the twenty-third j
L reassumes in autumn.

In April, and on to July 23 .

April, and through to September l6.

On to July and August 2.

J May, on to beginning of July.

/"Breeds and whistles on till August;
\ reassumes it's note when they be-
J gin to congregate in October, and
i again early before the fiock.
(_ separate.

Birds that cease to be in full song, and are usually silent at
or before Midsummer:

17. Middle willow- ? ^ ;„^ „o„ cristatus: Middle of June : begins in April.

wren, J o ^

18. Redstart, Ruticilla: Ditto : begins in ik/ay.

f Beginning of June : sings first in

19. Chaffinch, Fringilla: | February.

20. Nightingale, Luscinia : Middle of June : sings first in April.
Birds that sing for a short time, and very early in the spring:

r January the 2d, 1770. in February.
Is called in Hampshire and Sussex
the storm-cock, because it's song is
supposed to forebode windy wet
weather: is the largest singing bird
we have.
In February, March, April: reas-
sumes for a short time in September^

21. Missel-bird,

Turdus viscivorus :

22. Great titmouse,
or ox-eye.

J FringiUag

OF SELBORNE.

121

Birds that have somewhat of a note or song, and yet are
hardly to be called singing birds:

23. Golden-crown-
ed wreflj

24. Marsh titmouse,

25. Small willow-

RAII NOMINA.

• Regulus cristatus :

Parus palustris :
■ Regulus non cristatus :

26. Largest ditto. Ditto :

27. Grasshopper-

lark,

28. Martin.

29. Bullfinch,

30. Bunting,

f Alauda minima voce,
\ locustce:

Hirundo agrestis :

Pyrrhula.
Emberixa alia :

fit's note as minute as it's person ;
< frequents the tops of high oaks
{_ and firs: the smallest ^ri^ii/tbird.
f Haunts great woods : two harsh
\ sharp notes.

Sings \a March, and on to September.

f Cantat voce striduld locustce ; from
\ end of April to August.
f Chirps all night, from the middle
\ of April to the end of July.

C All the breeding time ; from May
\ to September.

From the end of January to July.

All singing birds, and those that have any pretensions to
song, not only in Britain, but perhaps the world through, come
under the Linnaan ordo of passeres.

The above-mentioned birds, as they stand numerically, belong
to the following Linnaan genera.

1, 7, 10, 2;. Alauda :

8, 28.

Hirundo.

2,11,21. Turdus:

18, 16,

19-

Fringilla.

3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 15, \

17, 18, 20, 23, 25, 26. j Motacilla :

22, 24,

Parus.

6, 30. Emberiza ;

14, 29.

Loxti^

122

Skylark,

Titlark,

Woodlark,

Blackbird,

White-throat,

Swallow,
Wren,

NATURAL HISTORY
Bitds that sing as they fly are but few.

RAIl NOMINA.

yilauda vulgaris :

Rising, suspended, and falling.

f In it's descent J also sitting on trees,
I and walking on tlie ground.

j4Jauda pratorum :
Alauda arbnrea :

Merula :
Ficedulce affinis :

Hirundo domestica
Passer troglodytes ;

Birds that breed most early in these parts:

f Suspended; in hot summer nights
\ all night long.

Sometimes from bush to bush.
( Uses when singing on the wing odd
\ jerks and gesticulations.

In soft sunny weather.
Sometimes from bush to bush.

Hatches in February and March.

In March.

In March.

Builds the beginning of March,

Hatches in .April.

Lays the beginning of April.

Raven. Corvus:

Song-thrush, Turdus :

Blackbird, Merula :

Rook, Cornix frugikga :

Woodlark, Alauda arborea :

Ring-dove, Palumbus torquatus ;

All birds that continue in full song till after Midsummer
appear to me to breed more than once.

Most kinds of birds seem to me to be wild and shy some-
what in pioportion to their bulk; I mean in this island, where
they are much pursued and annoyed: but in Ascension Island,
and many other desolate places, mariners have found fowls so
unacquainted with an human figure, that they would stand still
to be taken; as is the case with boobies, &c. As an example of
what is ad%'anced, I remark that the golden-crested wren (the
smallest British bird) will stand unconcerned till you come with-
in three or four yards of it, while the bustard (otis), the largest
British land fowl, does not care to admit a person within so
many furlongs. I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE. 123

LETTER III.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Jan. 15, 17;o.

It was no small matter of satisfaction to me to find that you
were not displeased with my little methodus of birds. If there
was any merit in the sketch, it must be owing to it's punctuality.
For many months I carried a list in my pocket of the birds that
were to be remarked, and, as I rode or walked about my busi-
ness, I noted each day the continuance or omission of each bird's
song; so that I am as sure of the certainty of my facts as a man
can be of any transaction whatsoever.

I shall now proceed to answer the several queries which you
put in your two obliging letters, in the best manner that I am
able. Perhaps Eastwick, and it's environs, where you heard so
very few birds, is not a woodland country, and therefore not
stocked with such songsters. If you will cast your eye on my
last letter, you will find that many species continued to warble
after the beginning o^ July.

The titlark and yellowhammer breed late, the latter very
late; and therefore it is no wonder that they protract their song:
for I lay it down as a maxim in ornithology, that as long as
there is any incubation going on there is music. As to the red"
breast and wren, it is well known to the most incurious observer
that they whistle the year round, hard frost excepted ; especially
the latter.

b9

124 NATURAL HISTORY

It was not in my power to procure you a black-cap, or a less
reed-sparrow, or sedge-bird, alive. As the first is undoubtedly,
and tiie last, as far as I can yet see, a summer bird of passage,
they would require more nice and curious management in a cage
than I should be able to give them: they are both distinguished
songsters. The note of the former has such a wild sweetness
that it always brings to my mind those lines in a song in " As
You Like Ity

" And tune his merry note

" Unto the wihl bird's throat." Shakespeare.

The latter has a surprising variety of notes resembling the
song of several other birds; but then it has also an hurrying
manner, not at all to it's advantage : it is notwithstanding a
delicate polyglot.

It is new to me that titlarks in cages sing in the night; per-
haps only caged birds do so. I once knew a tame redbreast in
a cage that always sang as long as candles were in the roomj
but in their wild state no one supposes they sing in the night,

I should be almost ready to doubt the fact, that there are to
be seen much fewer birds in July than in any former month,
notwithstanding so many young are hatched daily. Sure I am
that it is far otherwise with respect to the swalluw tr'ibe,\\h\c\x
increases prodigiously as the summer advances: and I saw, at
the time mentioned, many hundreds of young wagtails on the
banks of the Cherwell, which almost covered the meadows. If
the matter appears as you say in the other species, may it not
be owing to the dams being engaged in incubation, while the
voung are concealed by the leaves?

Many times have I had the curiosity to open the stomachs
of woodcocks and snipes; but nothing ever occurred that helped

OF SELBORNE. U5

to explain to me what their subsistence might be: all that I
could ever find was a soft mucus, among which lay many pellu-
cid small gravels. I am, &c.

LETTER IV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Feb. I9, I77O.

louR observation that "the cuckoo does not deposit it's egg
" indiscriminately in the nest of the first bird that comes in it's
" way, but probably looks out a nurse in some degree congene-
" rous, with whom to intrust it's young," is perfectly new to
me; and struck me so forcibly, that I naturally fell into a train
of thought that led me to consider whether the fact was so, and
what reason there was for it. When I came to recollect and
inquire, I could not find that any cuckoo had ever been seen in
these parts, except in the nest of the wagtail, the hedge-sparrow,
the titlark, the white-throat, and the red-breast, all soft-billed in-
sectivorous birds. The excellent Mr. JVillughby mentions the
nests of the palumbus {ring-dove,) and of the fringilla (chaffinch,)
birds that subsist on acorns and grains, and such hard food: but
then he does not mention them as of his own knowledge; but
says afterwards that he saw himself a wagtail feeding a cuckoo.
It appears hardly possible that a soft-billed bird should subsist
on the same food with the hard-billed: for the former have thin
membranaceous stomachs suited to their soft food; while the

] 26 NATURAL' HISTORY

latter, the gianivorous tribe, have strong muscular gizzards,
which, liii^e mills, grind, by the help of small gravels and peb-
bles, what is swallowed. This proceeding of the cuckoo, of
dropping it's eggs as it were by chance, is such a monstrous out-
rage on maternal affection, one of the first great dictates of
nature; and such a violence on instinct; that, had it only been
related of a bird in the Brazils, or Peru, it would never have
merited our belief. But yet, should it farther appear that this
simple bird, when divested of that natural iro^y^ that seems to
raise the kind in general above themselves, and inspire them
with extraordinary degrees of cunning and address, may be still
endued with a more enlarged faculty of discerning what species
are suitable and congenerous nursing-mothers for it's disregarded
eggs and young, and may deposit them only under their care,
this would be adding wonder to wonder, and instancing, in a
fresh manner, that the methods of Providence are not subjected
to any mode or rule, but astonish us in new lights, and in various
and changeable appearances.

What was said by a very ancient and sublime writer concern-
ing the defect of natural aifection in the ostrich, may be well
applied to the bird we are talking of:

" She is hardened against her young ones, as though th&f were
" not her's:

" Because God hath deprived her ofwisdom, neither hath he im-
" parted to her understanding'"

' Job sxxix. 16, 17»

OF SELBORNE. 127

Query. Does each female cuckoo lay but one egg in a sea-
son, or does she drop several in different nests according as
opportunity offers? I am, &c.

LETTER V.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, SelbormEj April 12, 1770.

I HEARD many birds of several species sing last year after Mid-
summer; enough to prove that the summer solstice is not the
period that puts a stop to the music of the woods. The yellovir-
hammer no doubt persists with more steadiness than any other;
but the woodlark, the wren, the redbreast, the swallow, the
white-throat, the goldfinch, the common linnet, are all un-
doubted instances of the truth of what I advanced.

If this severe season does not interrupt the regularity of the
summer migrations, the blackcap will be here in two or three
days. I wish it was in my power to procure you one of those
songsters; but I am no birdcatcher; and so little used to birds
in a cage, that I fear if I had one it would soon die for want of
skill in feeding.

Was your reed-sparrow, which you kept in a cage, the thick-
billed reed-sparrow of the Zoology, p. 320; or was it the less
reed-sparrow oi Ray, the sedge-bird of Mr. Petinanfs last publi-
cation, p. 16?

As to the matter of long-billed birds growing fatter in mo-
derate frosts, I have no doubt within myself what should be

128 NATURAL HISTORY

the reason. The thriving at those times appears to me to arise
altogether from the gentle check which the cold throws upon
insensible perspiration. The case is just the same with black-
birds, &c. ; and farmers . and warreners observe, the first, that
their hogs fat more kindly at such times, and the latter that
their rabbits are never in such good case as in a gentle frost.
But when frosts are severe, and of long continuance, the case is
soon altered; for then a want of food soon overbalances the re-
pletion occasioned by a checked perspiration. I have observed,
moreover, that some human constitutions are more inclined to
plumpness in winter than in summer.

When birds come to suffer by severe frost, I find that the
first that fail and die are the redwing-fieldfares, and then the
song-thrushes.

You wonder, with good reason, that the hedge-sparrows, &c.
can be induced at all to sit on the egg of the cuckoo without
being scandalized at the vast disproportioned size of the suppo-
sititious egg; but the brute creation, I suppose, have very little
idea of size, colour, or number. For the common hen, I know,
when the fury of incubation is on her, will sit on a single shape-
less stone instead of a nest full of eggs that have been with-
drawn: and, moreover, a hen-turkey, in the same circumstances,
would sit on in the empty nest till she perished with hunger.

I think the matter might easily be determined whether a
cuckoo lays one or two eggs, or more, in a season, by opening a
female during the laying-time. If more than one was come
down out of the ovary, and advanced to a good size, doubtless
then she would that spring lay more than one.

I will endeavour to get a hen, and to examine.

Your supposition that there may be some natural obstruction

OF SELBORNE. 129

in singing birds while they are mute, and that when this is re-
moved the song recommences, is new and bold; I wish you
could discover some good grounds for this suspicion.

I was glad you were pleased with my specimen of the capri-
mulgus, or fern-owl; you were, I find, acquainted with the bird
before.

When we meet, I shall be glad to have some conversation
with you concerning the proposal you make of my drawing up
an account of the animals in this neighbourhood. Your par-
tiality towards my small abilities persuades you, I fear, that I
am able to do more than is in my power: for it is no small un-
dertaking for a man unsupported and alone to begin a natural
history from his own autopsia! Though there is endless room
for observation in the field of nature, which is boundless, yet
investigation (where a man endeavours to be sure of his facts)
can make but slow progress; and all that one could collect in
many years would go into a very narrow compass.

Some extracts from your ingenious " Investigations of the
difference between the present temperature of the air in Italy,"
&c. have fallen in my way; and gave me great satisfaction: they
have removed the objections that always arose in my mind
whenever I came to the passages which you quote. Surely the
judicious Virgil, when writing a didactic poem for the region of
Ifaly, could never think of describing freezing rivers, unless
such severity of weather pretty frequently occurred!
P. S, Swallows appear amidst snows and frost.

]30 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER VL

TO THE S.AME.

DEAR SIK, Selborne, May 21, 1/70.

The severity and turbulence of last month so interrupted the
regular progress of summer migration, that some of the birds do
but just begin to shew themselves, and others are apparently-
thinner than usual ; as the white-throat, the black-cap, the red-
start, the fly- catcher. I \vell remember that after the very
severe spring in the year 1739-40 summer birds of passage were
very scarce. They come probably hither with a south-east wind,
or when it blows between those points; but in that unfavourable
year the winds blowed the whole spring and summer through
from the opposite quarters. And yet amidst all these disadvan-
tages two swallows, as I mentioned in my last, appeared this
year as early as the eleventh o? April amidst frost and snow;
but they withdrew again for a time.

I am not pleased to find that some people seem so little
satisfied with Scopol'is new publication;' there is room to expect
great things from the hands of that man, who is a good natu-
ralist: and one would think that an history of the birds of so
distant and southern a region as Carniola would be new and in-
teresting. I could wish to see that work, and hope to get it
sent down. Dr. Scopoli is physician to the wretches that work
in the quicksilver mines of that district.

When you talked of keeping a reed-sparrow, and giving it

' This work he calls his Annus Primus Historico Naturalis.

OF SELBORNE. 131

seeds, I could not help wondering ; because the reed-sparrow
which I mentioned to you (passer arundbiacem miiior Rait) is a
soft-billed bird; and most probably migrates hence before win-
ter; whereas the bird you kept (passer torquatus Rail) abides all
the year, and is a thick-billed bird. I question whether the lat-
ter be much of a songster; but in this matter I want to be bet-
ter informed. The former has a variety of hurrying notes, and
sings all night. Some part of the song of the former, I suspect,
is attributed to the latter. We have plenty of the soft-billed
sort; which Mr. Pennant had entirely left out of his British
Zoology, till I reminded him of his omission. See British Zool-
ogy la.st published, p. 16."

I have somewhat to advance on the different manners in
which different birds fly and walk; but as this is a subject that
I have not enough considered, and is of such a nature as not to
be contained in a small space, I shall say nothing further about
it at present. *"

No doubt the reason why the sex of birds in their first plum-
age is so difficult to be distinguished is, as you say, " because
" they are not to pair and discharge their parental functions till
" the ensuing spring." As colours seem to be the chief external
sexual distinction in many birds, these colours do not take place
till sexual attachments begin to obtain. And the case is the
same in quadrupeds; among whom, in their younger days, the
sexes differ but httle: but, as they advance to maturity, horns
and shaggy manes, beards and brawny necks, &c. &c. strongly
discriminate the male from the female. We may instance still
farther in our own species, where a beard and stronger features
are usually characteristic of the male sex : but this sexual diver-

^ See letter xxv. to Mr. Pennant, y See letter xlii. to Mr. Barrington.

132 NATURx\L HISTORY

sity does not take place in earlier life; for a beautiful youth
shall be so like, a beautiful girl that the difference shall not be
discernible;

" Quem si puellarum insereres choro,

" Mire sagaces falleret hospiles

" Discrimen obscurum, solutis

" Crinibus, ambiguoque vultu." Hok.

LETTER VII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, RiNGMER, near Lewes, Oct. 8, 17/0.

1 AM glad to hear that Kuckalm is to furnish you with the birds
oi Jamaica; a sight of the hirundines of that hot and distant
island would be a great entertainment to me.

The Anni of Scopoli are now in my possession; and I have
read the Annus Prmus with satisfaction: for though some parts
of this work are exceptionable, and he may advance some mis-
taken observations J yet the ornithology of so distant a country
as Carniola is very curious. Men that undertake only one dis-
trict are much more likely to advance natural knowledge than
those that grasp at more than they can possibly be acquainted
with: every kingdom, every province, should have it's own
monographer.

The reason perhaps why he mentions nothing of Ray's Orni-
thology may be the extreme poverty and distance of his coun-
try, into which the works of our great naturalist may have

I

OF SELBORNE. 133

never yet found their way. You have doubts, I know, whether
this Ornithology is genuine, and really the work of Scopoli: as
to myself, I think I discover strong tokens of authenticity ; the
style corresponds with that of his Entomology ; and his charac-
ters of his Ordines and Genera are many of them new, expres-
sive, and masterly. He has ventured to alter some of the Lin-
ncEan genera with sufficient shew of reason.

It might perhaps be mere accident that you saw so many
swifts and no swallows at Staines; because, in my long observa-
tion of those birds, I never could discover the least degree of
rivalry or hostility between the species.

Ray remarks that birds of the gallince order, as cocks and
hens, partridges, and pheasants, &c. are pulveratrices, such as
dust themselves, using that method of cleansing their feathers,
and ridding themselves of their vermin. As far as I can observe,
many birds that dust themselves never wash: and I once thought
that those birds that wash themselves would never dust; but
here I find myself mistaken; for common house-sparrows are
great pulveratrices, being frequently seen grovelling and wallow-
ing in dusty roads; and yet they are great washers. Does not
the skylark dust?

Query. Might not Mahomet and his followers take one
method of purification from these pulveratrices? because I find
from travellers of credit, that if a strict mussulman is journey-
ing in a sandy desert where no water is to be found, at stated
hours he strips off his clothes, and most scrupulously rubs his
body over with sand or dust.

A countryman told me he liad found a young Jern-oivl in the
nest of a small bird on the ground; and that it was fed by the
little bird. I went to see this extraordinary phenomenon, and

134 NATURAL HISTORY

found that it was a young cuckoo hatched in the nest of a tit-
lark: it was become vastly too big for it's nest, appearing

— in tenul re

Majores pennas nido extendisse

and was very fierce and pugnacious, pursuing my finger, as I
teazed it, for many feet from the nest, and sparring and buifet-
ting with it's wings like a game-cock. Tlie dupe of a dam
appeared at a distance, hovering about with meat in it's mouth,
and expressing the greatest solicitude.

In July I saw several cuckoos skimming over a large pond;
and found, after some observation, that they were feeding on
the libelluke, or dragon-flies; some of which they caught as they
settled on the weeds, and some as they were on the wing. Not-
withstanding what Linnaus says, I cannot be induced to believe
that they are birds of prey.

This district affords some birds that are hardly ever heard of
at Selborne. In the first place considerable flocks of cross-beaks
(loxice curvirostrce) have appeared this summer in the pine-groves
belonging to this house, the water-ousel is said to haunt the
mouth of the Lewes river, near Newhaveii; and the Cornish
chough builds, I know, all along the chalky cliffs of the Sussex
shore.

I was greatly pleased to see little parties of ring-ousels (my
newly discovered migraters) scattered, at intervals, all along the
Sussex downs from Chichester to Lezves. Let them come from
whence they will, it looks very suspicious that they are cantoned
along the coast in order to pass the channel when severe wea-
ther advances. They visit us again in April, as it should seem,
in their return ; and are not to be found in the dead of winter.

OF SELBORNE. 135

It is remarkable that they are very tame, and seem to have no
manner of apprehensions of danger from a person with a gun.
There are bustards on the wide downs near Brightlielmstone. No
doubt you are acquainted with the Sussex downs : the prospects
and rides round Lexves are most lovely !

As I rode along near the coast I kept a very sharp look out
in the lanes and woods, hoping I might, at this time of the year,
have discovered some of the summer short-winged birds of pas-
sage crowding towards the coast in order for their departure:
but it was very extraordinary that I never saw a redstart, white-
throat, black-cap, uncrested wren, fly-catcher, &c. And I re-
member to have made the same remark in former years, as I
usually come to this place annually about this time. The birds
most common along the coast at present are the stone-chatters,
whinchats, buntings, linnets, some few wheat-ears, titlarks, &c.
Swallows and house-martins abound yet, induced to prolong
their stay by this soft, still, dry season.

A land tortoise, which has been kept for thirty years in a
little walled court belonging to the house where I now am
visiting, retires under ground about the middle of November,
and comes forth again about the middle of April. When it first
appears in the spring it discovers very little inclination towards
food; but in the height of summer grows voracious: and then
as the summer declines it's appetite declines; so that for the
last six weeks in autumn it hardly eats at all. Milky plants,
such as lettuces, dandelions, sowthistles, are it's favourite dish.
In a neighbouring village one was kept till by tradition it was
supposed to be an hundred years old. An instance of vast lon-
gevity in such a poor reptile!

:136 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER VIIL

TO THE SAME.
DKAR SIR, Selborne, Dec. 20, 1770.

The birds that I took for aberdavines were reed-sparrows
(passages torquati.)

There are doubtless many home internal migrations within
this kingdom that want to be better understood: witness those
vast flocks of hen chaffinches that appear with us in the winter
without hardly any cocks among them. Now was there a due
proportion of each sex, it should seem very improbable that any
one district should produce such numbers of these little birds;
and much more when only one half of the species appears:
therefore we may conclude that the JringillcB ccelebes, for some
good purposes, have a peculiar migration of their own in which
the sexes part. Nor should it seem so wonderful that the inter-
course of sexes in this species of birds should be interrupted in
winter; since in many animals, and particularly in bucks and
does, the sexes herd separately, except at the season when
commerce is necessary for the continuance of the breed. For
this matter of the chaffinches see Fauna Suecica, p. 8.5, and ^*-
tema Naturce, p. 318. I see every winter vast flights of hen
chaffinches, but none of cocks.

Your method of accounting for the periodical motions of the
British singing birds, or birds of flight, is a very probable one;
since the matter of food is a great regulator of the actions and
proceedings of the brute creation: there is but one that can be

OF SELBORNE. 137

set in competition with it, and that is love. But I cannot quite
acquiesce with you in one circumstance when you advance that,
*•' when they have thus feasted, they again separate into small
" parties of five or six, and get the best fare they can witliin a
" certain district, having no inducement to go in quest of freslr
" turned earth." Now if you mean that the business of congre-
gating is quite at an end from the conclusion of wheat-sowing
to the season of barley and oats, it is not the case with us; for
larks and chaffinches, and particularly linnets, flock and con-
gregate as much in the very dead of winter as when the hus-
bandman is busy with his ploughs and harrows.

Sure there can be no doubt but that woodcocks and fieldfares
leave us in the spring, in order to cross the seas, and to retire to
some districts more suitable to the purpose of breeding. That
the former pair before they retire, and that the hens are forward
with egg, I myself, when I was a sportsman, have often expe-
rienced. It cannot indeed be denied but that now and then we
hear of a woodcock's nest, or young birds, discovered in some
part or other of this island: but then they are always mentioned
as rarities, and somewhat out of the common course of things:
but as to redwings and fieldfares, no sportsman or naturalist has
ever yet, that I could hear, pretended to have found the nest or
young of those species in any part of these kingdoms. And 1
the more admire at this instance as extraordinary, since, to all
appearance, the same food in summer as well as in winter might
support them here which maintains their congeners, the black-
birds and thrushes, did they chuse to stay the summer through.
From hence it appears that it is not food alone which determines
some species of birds with regard to their stay or departure.
Fieldfares and redwings disappear sooner or later according as

T

138 NATURAL HISTORY

the wnnn weather comes on earlier or later. For I well remem-
ber, after that dreadful winter 173y-40, that cold north-east
winds continued to blow on through April and May, and that
these kinds of birds (what few remained of them) did not
depart as usual, but were seen lingering about till the beginning
of June.

The best authority that we can have for the nidification of
the birds above-mentioned in any district, is the testimony of
faunists that have written professedly the natural history of par-
ticular countries. Now, as to the fieldfare, LinncEus, in his
Fauna Suecica, says of it that " maximis in arboribus nidijicat:"
and of the redwing he says, in the same place, that " nidificat in
" mediis arbusculis, sive sepibus: ova sex cceruleo-viridia macidis
*■' nigyis variis." Hence we may be assured that fieldfares and
redwings breed in Sweden. Scopoli says, in his Annm Primus, of
the woodcock, that " nuptaadnos venit circa ceqmtoctium vernak:^^
meaning in Tirol, of which he is a native. And afterwards he

adds " nidificat in paludibus alpinis: ova ponit 3 5." It does

not appear from Kramer that woodcocks breed at all in Austria:
but he says " Avis kcec septeiitrionalium provinciarum astivo tempore
" incola est ; icbi plerumque mdificat. Appropinquante hyeme austra-
" liores provincias petit: June circa pie nilunium mensis Octobris ple-
" riimque Austriatn transmigrat. Tunc rursus circa plenilutiiu7n
" poiissimum 7nensis Martii per Austriam matrimonio juncta ad sep-
" tentrionales provincias redit." For the whole passage (which I
have abridged) see Elenc/ms, &c. p. 351. This seems to be a full
proof of the migration of woodcocks; though little is proved
concerning the place of breeding.

P. S. There fell in the county a? Rutland, in three weeks of
this present very wet weather, seven inches and an half of rain.

OF SELBORNE. 139

which is more than has fallen in any three weeks for these thirty
years past in that part of the world. A mean quantity in that
county for one year is twenty inches and an half.

LETTER IX.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Fyfield, near Andover, Feb. 12^ ijyi. ■

You are, I know, no great friend to migration; and the well
attested accounts from various parts of the kingdom seem to
justify you in your suspicions, that at least many of the swallow
kind do not leave us in the winter, but lay themselves up like
insects and bats, in a torpid state, and slumber away the more
uncomfortable months till the return of the sun and fine wea-
ther awakens them.

But then we must not, I think, deny migration in general;
because migration certainly does subsist in some places, as my
brother in Andalusia has fully informed me. Of the motions of
these birds he has ocular demonstration, for many weeks toge-
ther, both spring and fall: during which periods myriads of the
swallow kind traverse the Straits from north to south, and from
south to north, according to the season. And these vast migra-
tions consist not only of hirundines but of bee- birds, hoopoes, oro
pendolos, or golden thrushes, &c. &c. and also of many of our soft-
billed summer-birds of passage; and moreover of birds which
never leave us, such as all the various sorts of hawks and kites.

T 2

140 NATURAL HISTORY

Old Belon, two hundred years ago, gives a curious account of
the incredible armies of hawks and kites which he saw in the
spring-time traversing the Thradan BospJwrus from Asia to Ji,

Europe. Besides the above mentioned, he remarks that the pro- ^

cession is swelled by whole troops of eagles and vultures. •-'

Now it is no wonder that birds residing in Africa should ''

retreat before the sun as it advances, and retire to milder regions,
and especially birds of prey, whose blood being heated with hot
animal food, are more impatient of a sultry climate: but then •

I cannot help wondering why kites and hawks, and such hardy
birds as are known to defy all the severity of England, and even
o^ Sweden and all north Europe, should want to migrate from
the south of Europe, and be dissatisfied with the winters of
Andalusia.

It does not appear to me that much stress may be laid on
the difficulty and hazard that birds must run in their migrations,
by reason of vast oceans, cross winds, &c.; because, if we reflect, '[.

a bird may travel from England to the equator without launch- \

ing out and exposing itself to boundless seas, and that by cross-
ing the water at Dover, and again at Gibraltar. And I with
the more confidence advance this obvious remark, because my
brother has always found that some of his birds, and particularly \

the swallow kind, are very sparing of their pains in crossing the
Mediterranean: for when arrived at Gibraltar, they do not

" Rang'd in figure wedge their way,

" And set forth

" Their airy caravan high over seas ;

" Flying, and over lands with mutual wing :

" Easing their flight :" — Milton. tk

but scout and hurry along in little detached parties of six or

OF SELBORNE. UJ

seven in a company; and sweeping low, just over the surface
of the land and water, direct their course to the opposite conti-
nent at the narrowest passage they can find. They usually slope
across the bay to the south-west, and so pass over 0])posite to
Tangier, which, it seems, is the narrowest space.

In former letters we have considered whether it was pro-
bable that woodcocks in moon- shiny nights cross the German
ocean from Scandinavia. As a proof that birds of less speed may
pass that sea, considerable as it is, I shall relate the following
incident, which, though mentioned to have happened so many
years ago, was strictly matter of fact: — As some people were
shooting in the parish of Trotton, in the county of Susse.v, they
killed a duck in that dreadful winter 1708-9, with a silver collar
about it's neck,^ on which were engraven the arms of the king
of Denmark. This anecdote the rector of Trotton at that time
has often told to a near relation of mine ; and, to the best of
mji' remembrance, the collar was in the possession of the rector.

At present I do not know any body near the sea-side that
will take the trouble to remark at what time of the moon wood-
cocks first come: if I lived near the sea myself I would soon
tell you more of the matter. One thing I used to observe when
I was a sportsman, that there were times in which woodcocks
were so sluggish and sleepy that they would drop again when
flushed just before the spaniels, nay just at the muzzle of a gun
that had been fired at them : whether this strange laziness was
the effect of a recent fatiguing journey I shall not presume to
say.

Nightingales not only never reach Northumberland and Scot-

^ I have read a like anecdote of a swan.

142 NATURAL HISTORY

land, but also, as I have been always told, Devonshire and Corn-
wall. Ill those two last counties we cannot attribute the failure
of them to the want of warmth: the defect in the west is rather
a presumptive argument that these birds come over to us from *".

tlie continent at the narrowest passage, and do not stroll so far
westward.

Let me hear from your own observation whether skylarks «

do not dust. I think they do: and if they do, whether they
wash also.

The alauda pratensis of Ray was the poor dupe that was edu-
cating the booby of a cuckoo mentioned in my letter of October
last.

Your letter came too late for me to procure a ring-ousel for
Mr. Timstul during their autumnal visit; but I will endeavour
to get him one when they call on us again in April. 1 am glad
that you and that gentleman saw my Andalusian birds; 1 hope
they answered your expectation. Royston, or grey crows, are
winter birds that come much about the same time with the >

woodcock: they, like the fieldfare and redwing, have no appa- 'f

rent reason for migration; for a^ they fare in the winter like
their congeners, so might they in all appearance in the summer.
Was not Tenant, when a boy, mistaken? did he not find a mis-
sel-thrush's nest, and take it for the nest of a fieldfare?

The stock-dove, or wood-pigeon, oeiias Raii, is the last winter
bird of passage which appears with us; and is not seen till
towards the end of Noveyjiber: about twenty years ago they
abounded in the district of Selborne; and strings of them were
seen morning and evening that reached a mile or more : but
since the beechen woods have been greatly thinned they are

OF SELBORNE. 143

much decreased in number. The ring-dove, palumbiis Raii,
stays with us the whole year, and breeds several times through
the summer.

Before I received your letter of October last I had just
remarked in my journal that the trees were unusually green.
This uncommon verdure lasted on late into November; and may
be accounted for from a late spring, a cool and moist summer;
but more particularly from vast armies of chafers, or tree-beetles,
which, in many places, reduced whole woods to a leafless naked
state. These trees shot again at Midsummer, and then retained
their foliage till very late in the year.

M}' musical friend, at whose house I am now visiting, has
tried all the owls that are his near neighbours with a pitch-pipe
set at concert-pitch, and finds they all hoot in B flat. He will
examine the nightingales next spring. I am, &c. &c.

LETTER X.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Aug. 1, 1771.

Xrom what follows, it will appear that neither owls nor cuckoos
keep to one note. A friend remarks that many (most) of his
owls hoot in B flat; but that one went almost half a note below
A. The pipe he tried their notes by was a common half-crown
pitch-pipe, sucli as masters use for tuning of harpsichords; it
was the common London pitch.

A neighbour of mine, who is said to have a nice ear, remarks

144 NATURAL HISTORY

that the owls about this village hoot in three difFerent keys, in
G flat, or F sharp, in B flat and A flat. He heard two hooting
to each other, the one in A flat, and the other in B flat. Query:
Do these difi^erent notes proceed from diflferent species, or only
from various individuals? The same person finds upon trial that
the note of the cuckoo (of which we have but one species) varies
in difFerent individuals; for, about Selborne wood, he found they
were mostly in D : he heard two sing together, the one in D,
the other in D sharp, who made a disagreeable concert: he
afterwards heard one in D sharp, and about JVolmer-forest some
in C. As to nightingales, he says that their notes are so short,
and their transitions so rapid, that he cannot well ascertain their
key. Perhaps in a cage, and in a room, their notes may be more
distinguishable. This person has tried to settle the notes of a
swift, and of several other small birds, but cannot bring them
to any criterion.

As I have often remarked that redwings are some of the first
birds that suffer with us in severe weather, it is no wonder at
all that they retreat from Scandinavian winters: and much more
the ordo of grallcc, who, all to a bird, forsake the northern parts
of Europe at the approach of winter. " GralUe tanquam conjurat(E
" unanimiter infugam se conjiciunt ; ne eai^um tinicam quide9?i inter
" nos habit anteni invenire posdmus; ut enim (estate in australibus
" degere nequeunt ob defectum lumbricorum, terramque siccam; ita
" nee in frigidis ob eandem causam" says Ekmarck the Szvede, in
his ingenious little treatise called Aligrationes Avium, which by
all means you ought to read while your thoughts run on the
subject of migration. See Amcmitates Academiccc, vol. 4, p. 565.

Birds may be so circumstanced as to be obliged to migrate
in one country and not in another: but the gral/ce, (which i)ro-

y

OF SELBORNE. 145

cure their food from marshes and boggy grounds) must in win-
ter forsake the more northerly parts o? Europe, or perish for
want of food.

I am glad you are making inquiries from Linnceus concerning
the woodcock: it is expected of him that he should be able to
account for the motions and manner of life of the animals of his
own Fauna.

Faunists, as you observe, are too apt to acquiesce in bare
descriptions, and a few synonyms: the reason is plain; because
all that may be done at home in a man's study, but the investi-
gation of the life and conversation of animals, is a concern of
much more trouble and difficulty, and is not to be attained but
by the active and inquisitive, and by those that reside much in
the countrj'.

Foreign systematics are, I observe, mnch too vague in their
specific differences; which are almost universally constituted
by one or two particular marks, the rest of the description run-
ning in general terms. But our countryman, the excellent Mr*
Ray, is the only describer that conveys some precise idea in
every term or word, maintaining his superiority over his fol-
lowers and imitators in spite of the advantage of fresh disco-
veries and modern information.

At this distance of years it is not in my power to recollect
at what periods woodcocks used to be sluggish or alert when I
was a sportsman : but, upon my mentioning this circumstance
to a friend, he thinks he has observed them to be remarkably
listless against snowy foul weather: if this should be the case?
then the inaptitude for flying arises only from an eagerness for
food; as sheep are observed to be very intent on grazing against
stormy wet evenings. I am, &c. &c.

u

H6 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XL

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selborne, Feb. 8, 1772.

When I ride about in the winter, and see such prodigious
flocks of various kinds of birds, I cannot help admiring at these
congregations, and wishing that it was in my power to account
for those appearances almost peculiar to the season. The two
great motives which regulate the proceedings of the brute cre-
ation are love and hunger; the former incites animals to perpe-
tuate their kind, the latter induces them to preserve individuals ;
whether either of these should seem to be the ruling passion in
the matter of congregating is to be considered. As to love,
that is out of the question at a time of the year when that soft
passion is not indulged; besides, during the amorous season,
such a jealousy prevails between the male birds that they can
hardly bear to be together in the same hedge or field. Most of
the singing and elation of spirits of that time seem to me to be
the effect of rivalry and emulation: and it is to this spirit of
jealousy that I chiefly attribute the equal dispersion of birds in
the spring over the face of the country.

Now as to the business of food: as these animals are actuated
by instinct to hunt for necessary food, the}' should not, one
would suppose, crowd together in pursuit of sustenance at a
time when it is most likely to fail; yet such associations do take
place in hard weather chiefly, and thicken as the severity in-

OF SELBORNE. 147

creases. As some kind of self-interest and self-defence is no
doubt the motive for the proceeding, may it not arise from the
helplessness of their state in such rigorous seasons; as men
crowd together, when under great calamities, though they know
not why? Perhaps approximation may dispel some degree of
cold; and a crowd may make each individual appear safer from
the ravages of birds of prey and other dangers.

If I admire when I see how much congenerous birds love to
congregate, I am the more struck when I see incongruous ones
in such strict amity. If we do not much wonder to see a flock
of rooks usually attended by a train of daws, yet it is strange
that the former should so frequently have a flight of starlings
for their satellites. Is it because rooks have a more discerning-
scent than their attendants, and can lead them to spots more
productive of food? Anatomists say that rooks, by reason of two
large nerves which run down between the eyes into the upper
mandible, have a more delicate feeling in their beaks than other
round-billed birds, and can grope for their meat when out of
sight. Perhaps then their associates attend them on the motive
-of interest, as greyhounds wait on the motions of their finders;
and as lions are said to do on the yelpings of jackals. Lap-
wings and starlings sometimes associate.

148 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XIL

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, March 9, 1772,

As a gentleman and myself were walking on the fourth of last
November round the sea-banks at Newhaven, near the mouth of
the Lewes river, in pursuit of natural knowledge, we were sur-
prised to see three house-swallows gliding very swiftly by us.
That morning was rather chilly, with the wind at north-west ;
but tlie tenor of the weather for some time before had been
delicate, and the noons remarkably warm. From this incident,
and from repeated accounts whicli I meet with, I am more and
more induced to believe that many of the swallow kind do not
depart from this island; but lay themselves up in holes and
caverns; and do, insect-like and bat-like, come forth at mild
■times, and then retire again to their latebne. Nor make I the
least doubt but that, if I lived at Newhaven^ Seaford, Brighthelm-
stone, or any of those towns near the chalk-cliffs of the Sicssex
coast, by proper observations, I should see swallows stirring at
periods of the winter, when the noons were soft and inviting,
and the sun warm and invigorating. And I am the more of this
opinion from what I have remarked during some of our late
springs, that though some swallows did make their appearance
about the usual time, viz. the thirteenth or fourteenth of Api'il,
yet meeting with an harsh reception, and blustering cold north-
east winds, they immediately withdrew, absconding for several
days, till the weather gave them better encouragement.

OF SELBORNE. 149

LETTER XIII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, April 12, i;72.

While I was in Smscv last autumn my residence was at the
village near Lewes, from whence I had formerly the pleasure of
writing to you. On the first of November I remarked that the
old tortoise, formerly mentioned, began first to dig the ground
in order to the forming it's hybernaculum, which it had fixed
on just beside a great tuft of hepaticas. It scrapes out the ground
with it's fore-feet, and throws it up over it's back with it's hind;
but the motion of it's legs is ridiculously slow, little exceeding
the hour-hand of a clock; and suitable to the composure of an
animal said to be a whole month in performing one feat of copu-
lation. Nothing can be more assiduous than this creature night
and day in scooping the earth, and forcing it's great body into
the cavity; but, as the noons of that season proved unusually
warm and sunny, it was continually interrupted, and called forth
by the heat in the middle of the day; and though I continued
there till the thirteenth of November, yet the work remained
unfinished. Harsher weather, and frosty mornings, would have
quickened it's operations. No part of it's behaviour ever struck
me more than the extreme timidity it always expresses with
regard to rain; for though it has a shell that would secure it
against the wheel of a loaded cart, yet does it discover as much
solicitude about rain as a lady dressed in all her best attire, shuf-

150 NATURAL HISTORY

fling away on the first sprinklings, and running it's head up in
a corner. If attended to, it becomes an excellent weather-glass;
for as sure as it walks elate, and as it were on tiptoe, feeding
with great earnestness in a morning, so sure will it rain before
night. It is totally a diurnal animal, and never pretends to stir
after it becomes dark. The tortoise, like other reptiles, has an
arbitrary stomach as well as lungs; and can refrain from eating
as well as breathing for a great part of the year. When first
awakened it eats nothing; nor again in the autumn before it
retires: through the height of the summer it feeds voraciously,
devouring all the food that comes in it's way. I was much
taken with it's sagacity in discerning those that do it kind offices;
for, as soon as the gootl old lady comes in sight who has waited
on it for more than thirty years, it hobbles towards it's benefac-
tress with aukward alacrity; but remains inattentive to stran-
gers. Thus not only " the o.v himveth his owner, and the ass his
masters crib" '' but the most abject reptile and torpid of beings
distinguishes the hand that feeds it, and is touched with the
feelings of gratitude ! I am, &c. &c.

P. S. In about three days after I left Sussex the tortoise
retired into the ground under the hepatica.

i> Isa'ali i. 3.

OF SELBORNE. 151

LETTER XIV.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selbokne, March 26, 1773.

The more I reflect on the (rrofyn of animals, the more I am asto-
nished at it's effects. Nor is the violence of this affection more
wonderful than the shortness of it's duration. Thus every hen
is in her turn the virago of the yard, in proportion to the help-
lessness of her hrood; and will fl}' in the face of a dog or a sow in
defence of those chickens, which in a few weeks she will drive
before her with relentless cruelty.

This affection sublimes the passions, quickens the invention,
and sharpens the sagacity of the brute creation. Thus an hen,
just become a mother, is no longer that placid bird she used to
be, but with feathers standing an end, wings hovering, and
clocking note, she runs about like one possessed. Dams will
throw themselves in the way of the greatest danger in order to
avert it from their progeny. Thus a partridge will tumble along
before a sportsman in order to draw away the dogs from her
helpless covey. In the time of nidification the most feeble birds
will assault the most rapacious. All the hirundines of a village
are up in arms at the sight of an hawk, whom they will perse-
cute till he leaves that district. A very exact observer has often
remarked that apair of ravens nesting in the rock of Gibraltar
would suffer no vulture or eagle to rest near their station, but
would drive them from the hill with an amazing fury : even the

US NATURAL HISTORY

blue thrush at tlie season of breeding would dart out from the
clefts of the rocks to chase away the kestril, or the sparrow-
hawk. If you stand near the nest of a bird that has young,
slie will not be induced to betray them by an inadvertent fond-
ness, but will wait about at a distance with meat in her mouth
for an hour together.

Should 1 farther corroborate what I have advanced above
by some anecdotes which I probably may have mentioned before
in conversation, yet you will, I trust, pardon tlie repetition for
the sake of the illustration.

The flycatcher of the Zoology (the stoparola o{ Rat/,) builds
every year in the vines that grow on the walls of my house. A
pair of these little birds had one year inadvertently placed their
nest on a naked bough, perhaps in a shady time, not being aware
of the inconvenience that followed. But an hot sunny season
coming on before the brood was half fledged, the reflection of
the wall became insupportable, and must inevitably have de-
stroyed the tender young, had not affection suggested an expe-
dient, and prompted the parent-birds to hover over the nest all
the hotter hours, while with wings expanded, and mouths
gaping for breath, they screened off the heat from their suffering
offspring.

A farther instance I once saw of notable sagacity in a willow-
wren, which had built in a bank in ray fields. This bird a friend
and myself had observed as she sat in her nest; but were parti-
cularly careful not to disturb her, though we saw slie eyed us
with some degree of jealousy. Some days after as we passed
that way we were desirous of remarking how this brood went
on; but no nest could be found, till I happened to take up a

OF SELBORNE. US

large bundle of long green, moss, as it were, carelessly thrown
over the nest, in order to dodge the eye of any impertinent
intruder.

A still more remarkable mixture of sagacity and instinct
occurred to me one day as my people were pulling off the lining
of an hotbed, in order to add some fresh dung. From out of
the side of this bed leaped an animal with great agility that
made a most grotesque figure; nor was it without great diffi-
culty tliat it could be taken; when it proved to be a large white-
bellied field-mouse with three or four young clinging to her
teats by their mouths and feet. It was amazing that the desul-
tory and rapid motions of this dam should not oblige her litter
to quit their hold, especially when it appeared that they were
so young as to be both naked and blind !

To these instances of tender attachment, many more of
which might be daily discovered by those that are studious of
nature, may be opposed that rage of affection, that monstrous
perversion of the (TTopyn, which induces some females of the brute
creation to devour their young because their owners have hand-
led them too freely, or removed them from place to place'
Swine, and sometimes the more gentle race of dogs and cats, are
guilty of this horrid and preposterous murder. When I hear
now and then of an abandoned mother that destroys her off-
spring, I am not so much amazed; since reason perverted, and
the bad passions let loose, are capable of any enormity: but why
the parental feelings of brutes, that usually flow in one most
uniform tenor, should sometimes be so extravagantly diverted, I
kave to abler philosophers than myself to determine.

I am, &c.

154 NATURAL HISTORY

L E T T E R XV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, July 8, 1773.

Some young men went down lately to a pond on the verge of
JVolmer-forest to hunt flappers, or young wild-ducks, many of
which they caught, and, among the rest, some very minute yet
well-fledged wild-fowls alive, which upon examination I found
to be teals. I did not know till then that teals ever bred in the
south of EnglaJid, and was much pleased with the discovery:
this I look upon as a great stroke in natural history.

We have had, ever since I can remember, a pair of white owls
that constantly breed under the eaves of this church. As I have
paid good attention to the manner of life of these birds during
their season of breeding, which lasts the summer through, the
following remarks may not perhaps be unacceptable: — About an
houi* before sunset (for then the mice begin to run) they sally
forth in quest of pre}', and hunt all round the hedges of meadows
and small enclosures for them, which seem to be their only food.
In this irregular country we can stand on an eminence and see
them beat the fields over like a setting-dog, and often drop down
in the grass or corn. I have minuted these birds with my watch
for an hour together, and have found that they return to their
nest, the one or the other of them, about once in five minutes;
reflecting at the same time on the adroitness that every animal
is possessed of as far as regards the well being of itself and off-

OF SELBORNE. 155

spring. But a piece of address, which they shew when they re-
turn loaded, should not, I think, be passed over in silence. — As
they take their prey with their claws, so they carry it in their
claws to their nest : but, as the feet are necessary in their ascent
under the tiles, they constantly perch first on the roof of the
chancel, and shift the mouse from their claws to their bill,
that the feet may be at liberty to take hold of the plate on the
wall as they are rising under the eaves.

White owls seem not (but in this I am not positive) to hoot
at all : all that clamorous hooting appears to me to come from
the wood kinds. The white owl does indeed snore and hiss in a
tremendous manner; and these menaces well answer the inten-
tion of intimidating: for I have known a whole village up in
arms on such an occasion, imagining the church-yard to be full
of goblins and spectres. White owls also often scream horribly
as they fly along; from this screaming probably arose the com-
mon people's imaginary species of screech-owl, which they super-
stitiously think attends the windows of dying persons. The plu-
mage of the remiges of the wings of every species of owl that I
have yet examined is remarkably soft and pliant. Perhaps it
may be necessary that the wings of these birds should not make
much resistance or rushing, that they may be enabled to steal
through the air unheard upon a nimble and watchful quarry.

While I am talking of owls, it may not be improper to men-
tion what I was told by a gentleman of the county oflVilts. As
they were grubbing a vast hollow pollard-ash that had been the
mansion of owls for centuries, he discovered at the bottom a mass
of matter that at first he could not account for. After some exa-
mination, he found that it was a congeries of the bones of mice
(and perhaps of birds and bats) that had been heaping together

]56 NATURAL HISTORY

for ages, being cast up in pellets out of the crops of many gene
rations of inhabitants. For owls cast up the bones, fur, and fea-
thers of what chey devour, after the manner of hawks. He be-
lieves, he told me, that there were bushels of this kind of sub-
stance.

When brown owls hoot their throats swell as big as an hen's
egg. I have known an owl of this species live a fill 1 year with-
out any water. Perhaps the case may be the same with all birds
of prey. When owls fly they stretch out their legs behind them
as a balance to their large heavy heads : for as most nocturnal
birds have large eyes and ears they must have large heads to con-
tain them. Large eyes I presume are necessary to collect every
ray of light, and large concave ears to command the smallest de-
gree of sound or noise. 1 am,^ &c.

It will be proper to premise here that the sixteenth, eighteenth, twentieth, and
twenty-first letters have been published already in the Philosophical Transactions:
but as nicer observation has furnished several corrections and additions, it is hoped
that the republication of tbem will not give offence; especially as these sheets would
be very imperfect without them, and as tliey will be new to many readers who
had no opportunity of seeing them when they made their first appearance.

The hirund'mes are a most inoffensive, harmless, entertaining,
social, and useful tribe of birds: they touch no fruit in our gar-
dens ; delight, all except one species, in attaching themselves to
our houses; amuse us with their migrations, songs, and marvel-
lous agility; and clear our outlets from the annoyances of gnats
and other troublesome insects. Some districts in the south seas,
near Guiaquil," are desolated, it seems, by the infinite swarms of

<^ See UUoa's Travels.

OF SELBORNE. 157

venomous mosquitoes, which fill the air, and render those coasts
insupportable. It would be worth inquiring whether any spe-
cies of hirundines is found in those regions. Whoever contem-
plates the myriads of insects that sport in the sun-beams of a
summer evening in this country, will soon be convinced to what
a degree our atmosphere would be choaked with them was it not
for the friendly interposition of the swallow tribe.

Many species of birds have their particular lice; but the hi-
rundines alone seem to be annoyed with dipterous insects, which
infest every species, and are so large, in proportion to themselves,
that they must be extremely irksome and injurious to them.
These are the hippobosccB hinmdinis, with narrow subulated wings,
abounding in every nest; and are hatched by the warmth of the
bird's own body during incubation, and crawl aboat under its
feathers.

A species of them is familiar to horsemen in the south o? Engr
land under the name oi Jorest-fiy ; and to some of side fly, from
it's running sideways likea crab. It creeps under the tails, and
about the groins, of horses, which, at their first coming out of
the north, are rendered half frantic by the tickling sensation;
while our own breed little regards them.

The curious Reawnur discovered the large eggs, or rather
pupie, of these flies as big as the flies themselves, which he
hatched in his own bosom. Any person that will take the trouble
to examine the old nests of either species of swallows may find in
them the black shining cases of the piipce of these insects : but
for other particulars, too long for this place, we refer the reader,
to I'Histoire d'Insectes of that admirable entomologist. Tom. iv.
pi. 11.

158 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XVL

TO THE SAME.

BEAR SIR, Selbokne, Nov. 20, 1773.

Ix obedience to your injunctions I sit down to give you some
account of the house-martin, or martlet; and, if my monographv
of this little domestic and familiar bird should happen to meet
with your approbation, I may probably soon extend my inquiries
to the rest of the British hirundines — the swallow, the swift, and
the bank-martin.

A few house-martins begin to appear about the sixteenth of
April; usually some few days later than the swallow. For some
time after they appear the hirundines in general pay no attention
to the business of nidification, but play and sport about either
to recruit from the fatigue of their journey, if they do migrate at
all, or else that their blood may recover it's true tone and texture
after it has been so long benumbed by the severities of winter.
About the middle of May, if the weather be fine, the martin
begins to think in earnest of providing a mansion for it's family.
The crust or shell of this nest seems to be formed of such dirt
or loam as comes most readily to hand, and is tempered and
wrought together Avith little bits of broken straws to render it
tough and tenacious. As this bird often builds against a per-
pendicular wall without any projecting ledge under, it requires
it's utmost efforts to get the first foundation firmly fixed, so that
it may safely carry the superstructure. On this occasion the

I

OF SELBORNE. 159

bird not only clings with it's claws, but partly supports itself by
strongly inclining it's tail against the wall, making that a ful-
crum; and thus steadied it works and plasters the materials into
the face of the brick or stone. But then, that this work may
not, while it is soft and green, pull itself down by it's own weight,
the provident architect has prudence and forbearance enough
not to advance her work too fast; but by building only in the
morning, and by dedicating the rest of the day to food and amuse-
ment, gives it sufficient time to dry and harden. About half an
inch seems to be a sufficient layer for a day. Thus careful work-
men when they built mud-walls (informed at first perhaps by
this little bird) raise but a moderate layer at a time, and then de-
sist ; lest the work should become top-heavy, and so be ruined
by it's own weight. By this method in about ten or twelve days
is formed an hemispheric nest with a small aperture towards the
top, strong, compact, and warm ; and perfectly fitted for all the pur-
poses for which it was intended. But then nothing is more com-
mon than for the house-sparrow, as soon as the shell is finished,
to seize on it as it's own, to reject the owner, and to line it after
it's own manner.

After so much labour is bestowed in erecting a mansion, as
Nature seldom works in vain, martins will breed on for several
years together in the same nest, where it happens to be well
sheltered and secure from the injuries of weatlier. The shell or
crust of the nest is a sort of rustic-work full of knobs and pro-
tuberances on the outside : nor is the inside of those that I have
examined smoothed with any exactness at all; but is rendered soft
and warm, and fit for incubation, by a lining of small straws,
grasses, and feathers; and sometimes by a bed of moss interwo-
ven with wool. In this nest they tread, or engender, frequenth^

160 NATURAL HISTORY

(luring the time of building ; and the hen lays from three to five
white eggs.

At first when the young are hatched, and are in a naked and
helpless condition, the parent birds, with tender assiduity, carr}'
out what comes away from their young. Was it not for this
affectionate cleanliness the nestlings would soon be burnt up,
and destroyed in so deep and hollow a nest, by their own caustic
excrement. In the quadruped creation the same neat precaution
is made use of; particularly among dogs and cats, where the
dams lick away what proceeds from their young. But in birds
there seems to be a particular provision, that the dung of nest-
lings is enveloped into a tough kind of jelly, and therefore is the
easier conveyed off without soiling or daubing. Yet, as nature
is cleanly in all her ways, the young perform this office for them-
selves in a little time by thrusting their tails out at the aperture
of their nest. As the young of small birds presently arrive at
their n^mioc, or full growth, they soon become impatient of con-
finement, and sit all daj' with their heads out at the orifice,
where the dams, by clinging to the nest, supply them with food
from morning to night. For a time the young are fed on the
wing by their parents; but the feat is done by so quick and al-
most imperceptible a slight, that a person must have attended
very exactly to their motions before we would be able to per-
ceive it. As soon as the young are able to shift for themselves,
the dams immediately turn their thoughts to the business of a
second brood : while the first flight, shaken off and lejected by
their nurses, congregate in great flocks, and are the birds that
are seen clustering and hovering on sunny mornings and even-
ings round towers and steeples, and on the roofs of churches
and houses. These congregatings usually begin to take place

OF SELBORNE. 161

about the first week in August; and therefore we may conclude
that by that time the first flight is pretty well over. The young
of this species do not quit their abodes all together; but the
more forward birds get abroad some days before the rest. These
■approaching the eaves of buildings, and playing about before
them, make people think that several old ones attend one nest.
They are often capricious in fixing on a nesting-place, beginning
many edifices, and leaving them unfinished ; but when once a
nest is completed in a sheltered place, it serves for several sea-
sons. Those which breed in a ready finished house get the start
in hatching of those that build new by ten days or a fortnight.
These industrious artificers are at their labours in the long days
before four in the morning: when they fix their materials they
plaster them on with their chins, moving their heads with a
quick vibratory motion. They dip and wash as they fly some-
times in very hot weather, but not so frequently as swallows.
It has been observed that martins usually build to a north-east
or north-west aspect, that the heat of the sun may not crack
and destroy their nests: but instances are also remembered
where they bred for many years in vast abundance in an hot
stifled inn-yard, against a wall facing to the south.

Birds in general are wise in their choice of situation: but in
this neighbourhood every summer is seen a strong proof to the
contrary at an house without eaves in an exposed district, where
some martins build year by year in the corners of the windows.
But, as the corners of these windows (which face to the south-
east and south-west) are too shallow, the nests are washed down
every hard rainj and yet these birds drudge on to no purpose
from summer to summer, without changing their aspect or
house. It is a piteous sight to see them labouring when half

y

\6^ NATURAL HISTORY

their nest is washed away and bringing dirt--- "generis lafisi
sanire ruinas." TIuis is instinct a most wonderful unequal
faculty; in some instances so much above reason, in other
respects so far below it! Martins love to frequent towns, espe-
cially if there ai'c great lakes and rivers at hand; nay they even
affect the close air oi London. And I have not only seen them
nesting in the Borough, but even in the Strand zx^A Fleet-street;
but then it was obvious from the dinginess of their aspect that
their feathers partook of the filth of that sooty atmosphere.
Martins are by far the least agile of the four species; their wings
and tails are short, and therefore they are not capable of such
surprising turns and quick and glancing evolutions as the swal-
low. Accordingly they make use of a placid easy motion in a
middle region of the air, seldom mounting to anj' great height,
and never sweeping long together over the surface of the ground
or water. They do not wander far for food, but affect sheltered
districts, over some lake, or under some hanging wood, or in
some hollow vale, especially in windy weather. Tiiey breed
the latest of all the swallow kind: in 1772 they had nestlings
on to October the twentj'-first, and are never without unfledged
young as late as JMichaelmas.

As the summer declines the congregating flocks increase in
numbers daily by the constant accession of the second broods;
till at last they swarm in myriads upon myriads round the vil-
lages on the Thames, darkening the face of the sky as they fre-
quent the aits of that river, where they roost. They retire, the
bulk of them I mean, in vast flocks together about the begin-
ning o^ October: but have appeared of late years in a considera-
ble flight in this neighbourhood, for one day or two, as late as
November the third and sixth, after they were supposed to have

OF SELBORNE. 16

been gone for more than a fortnight. They therefore withdraw
with us the latest of any species. Unless these birds are very
short-lived indeed, or unless they do not return to the district
where they are bred, they must undergo vast devastations some
how, and some where; for the birds that return yearly bear no
manner of proportion to the birds that retire.

House-martins are distinguished from their congeners by
having their legs covered with soft downy feathers down to
their toes. They are no songsters; but twitter in a pretty
inward soft manner in their nests. During the time of breeding
they are often greatly molested with fleas. I am, &c.

LETTER XVII.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, RiNGMER, near I,ewes, Dec. 9, 1773-

1 RECEIVED your last favour just as I was setting out for this
place; and am pleased to find that my monography met with
your approbation. My remarks are the result of many years
observation; and are, I trust, true in the whole: though I do
not pretend to say that they are perfectly void of mistake, or
that a more nice observer might not make many additions, since
subjects of this kind are inexhaustible.

If you think my letter worthy the notice of your respectable
society, you are at liberty to lay it before them; and they will
consider it, I hope, as it was intended, as an humble attempt to
promote a more minute inquiry into natural history; into tne

Y 2

]64 NATURAL HISTORY

life and conversation of animals, Ftrliaps hereafter I may be
induced to take the house-swallow under consideration; and
from that ])roceed to the rest of the British hirundines.

Though I have now travelled the Sussex-downs upwards of
thirty years, yet I still investigate that chain of majestic moun-
tains with fresh admiration year by yearj and think I see new
beauties every time I traverse it. This range, which runs from
Chichester eastward as far as East-Bourn, is about sixty miles in
length; and is called The South Dozens, properly speaking, only
round Lewes. As you pass along you command a noble view of
the wild, or weald, on one hand, and the broad downs and sea
on the other. Mr. Rai/ used to visit a family'' just at the foot
of these hills, and was so ravished with the prospect fiom
Plumpton-plain near Lexves, that he mentions those scapes in his
<' Wisdom of God in the Works of the Creation" with the
utmost satisfaction, and thinks them equal to any thing he had
seen in the finest parts of Europe.

For my own part, I think there is somewhat peculiarly sweet
and amusing in the shapely figured aspect of chalk-hills in pre-
ference to those of stone, which are rugged, broken, abrupt, and
shapeless.

Perhaps I may be singular in my opinion, and not so happy
as to convey to you the same idea; but I never contemplate
these mountains without thinking I perceive somewhat analogous
to growth in their gentle swellings and smooth fungus-like pro-
tuberances, their fluted sides, and regular hollows and slopes,
that carry at once the air of vegetative dilatation and expan-
sion Or was there ever a time when these immense

■■ Mr. Courthope, oi Danny.

OF SELBORNE. 165

masses of calcarious matter were thrown into fermentation by
some adventitious moisture; were raised and leavened into such
shapes by some plastic power; and so made to swell and heave
their broad backs into the sky so much above the less animated
clay of the wild below?

By what I can guess from the admeasurements of the hills
that have been taken round my house, 1 should suppose that
these hills surmount the wild at an average at about the rate of
five hundred feet.

One thing is very remarkable as to the sheep: from the
westward till 3fou get to the river Acliir all the flocks have horns,
and smooth white faces, and white legs; and a hornless sheep
is rarely to be seen: but as soon as you pass that river eastward,
and mount Beeding-hill, all the flocks at once become hornless,
or, as they call them, poll-sheep; and have moreover black faces
with a white tuft of wool on their foreheads, and speckled and
spotted legs: so that 3'ou would think tliat the flocks oi Lahan
were pasturing on one side of the stream, and the variegated
breed of his son-in-law Jacob were cantoned along on the other.
And this diversity holds good respectively on each side from
the valley of Bramber and Beedbig to the eastward, and west-
ward all the whole length of the downs. If you talk with the
shepherds on this subject, they tell you that the case has been
so from time immemorial: and smile at your simplicity if you
ask them whether the situation of these two different breeds
might not be reversed? However, an intelligent friend of mine
near Chichester is determined to try the experiment; and has
this autumn, at the hazard of being laughed at, introduced a
parcel of black-faced hornless rams among his horned western

166 NATURAL HISTORY

ewes. The black-faced poll-sheep have the shortest legs and
the finest wool.

As I had hardly ever before travelled these downs at so late
a season of the year, I was determined to keep as sharp a look-
out as possible so near the southern coast, with respect to the
summer short-winged birds of passage We make great inquiries
concerning the withdrawing of the swallow kind, without
examining enough into the causes why this tribe is never to be
seen in winter; for, e?it)'e nous, the disappearing of the latter is
more marvellous than that of the former, and much more unac-
countable. The hirundmes, if they please, are certainly capable
of migration; and yet no doubt are often found in a torpid
state: but redstarts, nightingales, white- throats, black-caps, &c.
&c. are very ill provided for long flights; have never been once
found, as I ever heard of, in a torpid state, and yet can never
be supposed, in such troops, from year to year to dodge and
elude the eyes of the curious and inquisitive, which from day to
day discern the other small birds that are known to abide our
winters. But, notwithstanding all my care, I saw nothing like
a summer bird of passage: and, what is more strange, not one
wheat-ear, though they abound so in the autumn as to be a con-
siderable perquisite to the shepherds that take them ; and though
many are to be seen to my knowledge all the winter through in
many parts of the south of England. The most intelligent shep-
herds tell me that some few of these birds appear on the downs
in March, and then withdraw to breed probably in warrens and
stone-quarries: now and then a nest is plowed up in a fallow on
the downs under a furrow, but it is thought a rarity. At the
time of wheat-harvest they begin to be taken in great numbersi

OF SELBORNE. 16/

are sent for sale in vast quantities to Briglithehnstone and Tun'
bridge; and appear at the tables of all the gentry that entertain
with any deg-ree of elegance. About Michaelmas they retire
and are seen no more till JSIarch. Though these birds are, when
in season, in great plenty on the south downs round Lewes, yet
at East-Bourn, which is the eastern extremity of those downs,
they abound much more. One thing is very remarkable — that
though in the height of the season so many hundreds of dozens
are taken, yet they never are seen to flock ; and it is a rare thing
to see more than three or four at a time: so that there must
be a perpetual flitting and constant progressive succession. It
does not appear that any wheat-ears are taken to the westward
of Houghton-bridge, which stands on the river Anin.

I did not fail to look particularly after my new migration of
ring-ousels ; and to take notice whether they continued on the
downs to this seasbn of the year; as I had formerly remarked
them in the month of October all the way from Chichester to
Lewes wherever there were any shmbs and covert: but not
one bird of this sort came within my observation. I only saw
a few larks and zvhin-chats, some rooks, and several kites and
buzzards.

About JMidsummer a flight of cross-bills comes to the pine-
groves about this house, but never makes any long stay.

The old tortoise, that I have mentioned in a former letter,
still continues in this garden; and retired under ground about
the twentieth of November, and came out again for one, day on
the thirtieth: it lies now buried in a wet swampy border under
a wall facing to the south, and is enveloped at present in mud
and mire!

Here is a large rookery round this house, the inhabitants of

168 NATURAL HISTORY

which seem to get their UveUhood very easily; for they spend
the greatest part of the day on their nest-trees when tlie weather
is mild. These rooks retire every evening all the winter from
this rookery, where they only call by the way, as they are going-
to roost in deep woods: at the dawn of day they always revisit
their nest-trees, and are preceded a few minutes by a flight of
daws, that act, as it were, as their harbingers.

I am, &c.

LETTER XVIII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Jan 29, 1774.

The house-swallow, or chimnej'-swallow, is undoubtedly the
first comer of all the British hirundines; and appears in general
on or about the thirteenth of April, as I have remarked from
many years observation. Not but now and then a straggler is
seen much earlier: and, in particular, when I was a boy I
observed a swallow for a whole day together on a sunny warm
Shrove Tuesday; which day could not fall out later than the
middle of March, and often happened early in February.

It is worth remarking that these birds are seen first about
lakes and mill-ponds; and it is also very particular, that if these
early visiters happen to find frost and snow, as was the case of
the two dreadful springs of 1770 and 1771, they immediately
withdraw for a time. A circumstance this much more in favour
of hiding than migration; since it is much more probable that a

OF SELBORNE. 169

bird should retire to it's hjbernaculum just at hand, than return
for a week or two only to warmer latitudes.

The swallow, though called the chimney-swallow, by no
means builds altogether in chimnies, but often within barns and
out-houses against the raftersj and so she did in Virgil's time: .

" Garrula quam tignis nidos suspendat hirundo."

In Sweden she builds in barns, and is called ladu swala, the
barn-swallow. Besides, in the warmer parts of Europe there are
no chimnies to houses, except they are English-built : in these
countries she constructs her nest in porches, and gate-ways, and
galleries, and open halls.

Here and there a bird may affect some odd, peculiar placej
as we have known a swallow build down the shaft of an old
well, through which chalk had been formerly drawn up for the
purpose of manure: but in general with us this hirundo breeds
in chimnies; and loves to haunt those stacks where there is a
constant fire, no doubt for the sake of warmth. Not that it
can subsist in the immediate shaft where there is a fire; but
prefers one adjoining to that of the kitchen, and disregards the
perpetual smoke of that funnel, as 1 have often observed with
some degree of wonder.

Five or six or more feet down the chimney does this little
bird begin to form her nest about the middle o^ May, which
consists, like that of the house-martin, of a crust or shell com-
posed of dirt or mud, mixed with short pieces of straw to render
it tough and permanent; with this difference, that whereas the
shell of the martin is nearly hemispheric, that of the swallow is
open at the top, and like half a deep dish: this nest is lined with

170 NATURAL HISTORY

fine grasses, and feathers which are often collected as they float
in the air.

Wonderful is the address which this adroit bird shews all
day long in ascending and descending with security through so
narrow a pass. When hovering over the mouth of the funnel,
the vibrations of her wings acting on the confined air occasion
a rumbling like thunder. It is not improbable that the dam
submits to this inconvenient situation so low in the shaft, in
order to secure her broods from rapacious birds, and particularly
from owls, which frequently fall down chimnies, perhaps in
attempting to get at these nestlings.

The swallow lays from four to six white eggs, dotted with
red specks; and brings out her first brood about the last week
in Jtme, or the first week in July. The progressive method by
which the young are introduced into life is very amusing: first,
they emerge from the shaft with difficulty enough, and often
fall down into the rooms below: for a day or so they are fed on
the chimney-top, and then are conducted to the dead leafless
bough of some tree, where, sitting in a row, they are attended
with great assiduity, and may then be called /;erc/ier*. In a day
or two more they htcoxae flyers, but are still unable to take their
own food; therefore they play about near the place where the
dams are hawking for flies; and, when a mouthful is collected,
at a certain signal given, the dam and the nestling advance,
rising towards each other, and meeting at an angle; the young
one all the while uttering such a little quick note of gratitude
and complacency, that a person must have paid very little
regard to the wonders of Nature that has not often remarked
this feat.

The dam betakes herself immediately to the business of a

OF SELBORNE. 171

second brood as soon as she is disengaged from her first; which
at once associates Avitli tlie first broods oi hoitse-marthis ; and
with them congregates, clustering on sunny roofs, towers, and
trees. This hirundo brings out her second brood towards the
middle and end o^ August.

All the summer long is the swallow a most instructive pat-
tern of unwearied industry and affection ; for, from morning to
night, while there is a family to be supported, she spends the
whole day in skimming close to the ground, and exerting the
most sudden turns and quick evolutions. Avenues, and long-
walks under hedges, and pasture-fields, and mown meadows
where cattle graze, are her delight, especially if there are trees
interspersed; because in such spots insects most abound. When
a fly is taken a smart snap from her bill is heard, resembling
the noise at the shutting of a watch-case; but the motion of
the mandibles are too quick for the eye.

The swallow, probably the male bird, is the excuhitor to
house-martins, and other little birds, announcing the approach
of birds of prey. For as soon as an hawk appears, with a shrill
a^larming note he calls all the swallows and martins about him ;
who pursue in a body, and buffet and strike their enemy till
they have driven him from the village, darting down from above
on his back, and rising in a perpendicular line in perfect security.
This bird also will sound the alarm, and strike at cats when they
climb on the roofs of houses, or otherwise approach the nests-
Each species of hirundo drinks as it flies along, sipping the sur-
face of the water; but the swallow alone, in general, washes on
the wing, by dropping into a pool for many times together: in
very hot weather house-martins and bank-martins dip and wash
little.

The swallow is a delicate songster, and in soft sunny weather

172 NATURAL HISTORY

sings both perching and flying; on trees in a kind of concert,
and on chimney tops: is also a bold flyer, ranging to distant
downs and commons even in windy weather, which the other
species seem much to dislike; nay, even frequenting exposed
sea-port towns, and making little excursions over the saltwater.
Horsemen on wide downs are often closely attended by a little
party of swallows for miles together, which plays before and
behind them, sweeping around, and collecting all the sculking
insects tliat are roused by the trampling of the horses feet: when
the wind blows hard, witliout this expedient, they are often
forced to settle to pick up their lurking prey.

This species feeds much on little coleoptera, as well as on
gnats and flies; and often settles on dug ground, or paths, for
gravels to grind and digest it's food. Before they depart, for
some weeks, to a bird, they forsake houses and chimnies, and
roost in trees; and usually withdraw about the beginning of
Ocfobe?-; though some few stragglers may appear on at times
till the first week in Novetfibe?:

Some few pairs haunt the new and open streets of London
next the fields, but do not enter, like the house-martin, the close
and crowded parts of the city.

Both male and female are distinguished from their congeners
by the length and forkedness of their tails. They are undoubt-
edly the most nimble of all the species: and when the male
pursues the female in amorous chase, they then go beyond their
usual speed, and exert a rapidity almost too quick for the eye
to follow.

After this circumstantial detail of the life and discerning
c-To^yn of the swallow, I shall add, for your farther amusement,
an anecdote or two not much in favour of her sagacity: —

A certain swallow built for two years together on the handles

OF SELBORNE. IfS

of a pair of garden-shears, that were stuck up against tlie boards
in an out-house, and therefore must have her nest spoiled when-
ever that implement was wanted: and^ what is stranger still,
another bird of the same species built it's nest on the wings and
body of an owl that happened by accident to hang dead and
dry from the rafter of a barn. This owl, with the nest on it's
wings, and with eggs in the nest, was brought as a curiosity
worthy the most elegant private museum in Great-Britain. The
owner, struck with the oddity of tlie sight, furnished the bringer
with a large shell, or conch, desiring him to fix it just where
the owl hung: the person did as he was ordered, and the follow-
ing year a pair, probably the same pair, built their nest in the
conch, and laid their effffs.

The owl and the conch make a strange grotesque appearance,
and are not the least curious specimens in that wonderful col-
lection of art and nature. ^

Thus is instinct in animals, taken the least out of it's \vay,
an undistinguishing, limited faculty; and blind to every circum-
stance that does not immediately respect self-preservation, or
Jead at once to the propagation or support of their species.

I am,
With all respect, &c. &a

f Sir Aihton Lever's Musaeum,

174 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XIX.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIK, Selborne, Feb. 14, I774.

1 RECEIVED your favour of the eighth, and am pleased to find
that you read my little history of the swallow with your usual
candour : nor was I the less pleased to find that you made ob-
jections where you saw reason.

As to the quotations, it is difficult to say precisely which
species of hirundo Virgil might intend in the lines in question,
since the ancients did not attend to specific differences like
modern naturalists: yet somewhat may be gathered, enough to
incline me to suppose that in the two passages quoted the poet
had his eye on the swallow.

In the first place the epithet garrula suits the sxcallow well,
who is a great songster; and not the martin, which is rather a
mute bird; and when it sings is so inward as scarce to be heard.
Besides, if tignum in that place signifies a rafter rather than a
beam, as it seems to me to do, then I think it must be the swal-
hnv that is alluded to, and not the martin; since the former does
frequently build within the roof against the rafters ; while the
latter always, as far as I have been able to observe, builds xvith-
out the roof against eaves and cornices.

As to the simile, too much stress must not be laid on it: yet
the epithet nigra speaks plainly in favour of the swallow, whose
back and wings are very black; while the rump of the martin is
milk-white, it's back and wings blue, and all it's under part

OF SELBORNE. 175

white as snow. Nor can the clumsy motions (comparatively
clumsy) of the martin well represent the sudden and artful evo-
lutions and quick turns which Juturna gave to her brother's
chariot, so as to elude the eager pursuit of the enraged 2Eneas.
The verb sonat also seems to imply a bird that is somewhat
loquacious. ^

We have had a very wet autumn and winter, so as to raise
the springs to a pitch beyond any thing since 1764; Avhicli was
a remarkable year for floods and high waters. The land-springs,
which we call lavaiits, break out much on the downs o^ Susscv,
Hampshire and Wiltshire. The country people say when the
lavants rise corn will always be dear; meaning that when the
earth is so glutted with water as to send forth spsiiigs on the
downs and uplands, that the corn-vales must be drowned; and
so it has proved for these ten or eleven years past. For land-
springs have never obtained more since the memory of man
than during that period; nor has there been known a greater
scarcity of all sorts of grain, considering the great improvements
of modern husbandry. Such a run of wet seasons a century or
two ago would, I am persuaded, have occasioned a famine.
Therefore pamphlets and newspaper letters, that talk of combi-
nations, tend to inflame and mislead; since we must not expect
plenty till Providence sends us more favourable seasons.

The wheat of last year, all roimd this district, and in the
county oi Rutland, and elsewhere, yields remarkably bad: and

8 " Nigra velnt magnas domini cum diviUs aedes
" Pervolat, et pennis alta atria lustrat hirundo,
" Pabula parva legens, nidisque loquacibus escas:
" Et nunc porticlbus vacuis, nunc humida circum
" Stagna sonat." — — — —

176 NATURAL HISTORY

our wheat on the ground, by the continual late sudden vicissi-
tudes from fierce frost to pouring rains, looks poorly; and the
turnips rot very fast.

I am, &c. ^

LETTER XX.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selboene, Feb. 26, 1/74,

J- HE sand-martin, or bank-martin, is by much the least of any
of the Britiah hirundines ; and, as far as we have ever seen, the
smallest known hirundo: though Brisson asserts that there is
one much smaller, and that is the hirundo esculenta.

But it is much to be regretted that it is scarce possible for
any observer to be so full and exact as he could wish in reciting
the circumstances attending the life and conversation of this
little bird, since it \% fera natura, at least in this part of the
kingdom, disclaiming all domestic attachments, and haunting
wild heaths and commons where there are large lakes; while
the other species, especially the swallow and house-martin, are
remarkably gentle and domesticated, and never seem to think
themselves safe but under the protection of man.

Here are in this parish, in the sand-pits and banks of the
lakes of Wolmer-forest^ several colonies of these birds; and yet
they are never seen in the village; nor do they at all frequent
the cottages that are scattered about in that wild district. The
only instance I ever remember where this species haunts any

OF SELBORNE. 177

building is at the town of Bishop's TValtham, in this county,
where many sand-martins nestle and breed in the scaffold- holes
of the back-wall of TFilliam of JVykehams stables: bat then this
wall stands in a very sequestered and retired enclosure, and
faces upon a large and beautiful lake. And indeed this species
seems so to delight in large waters, that no instance occurs of
their abounding, but near vast pools or rivers: and in particular
it has been remarked that they swarm in the banks of the
Thames in some places below London-brklgc.

It is curious to observe with what different degrees of archi-
tectonic skill Providence has endowed birds of the same genus,
and so nearly correspondent in their general mode of life! for
while the swallow and the house-martin discover the greatest
address in raising and securely fixing crusts or shells of loam as
cunabula for their young, the bank-martin terebrates a round
and regular hole in the sand or earth, which is serpentine, hori-
zontal, and about two feet deep. At the inner end of this bur-
row does this bird deposit, in a good degree of safety, her rude
nest, consisting of fine grasses and feathers, usually goose-fea-
thers, very inartificially laid together.

Perseverance will accomplish any thing: though at first one
would be disinclined to believe that this weak bird, with her
soft and tender bill and claws, should ever be able to bore the
stubborn sand-bauk without entirely disabling herself; yet with
these feeble instruments have I seen a pair of them make great
dispatch: and could remark how much they had scooped that
day by the fresh sand which ran down the bank, and was of a
different colour from that which lay loose and bleached in the
sun.

In what space of time these little artists are able to mine
^ A

178 NATURAL HISTORY

and finish these cavities I have never been able to discover, for
reasons given above; but it would be a matter worthy of obser-
vation, where it falls in the way of any naturalist to make his
remarks. This I have often taken notice of, that several holes
of different depths are left unfinished at the end of summer.
To imagine that these beginnings were intentionally made in
order to be in the greater forwardness for next spring, is allowing
perhaps too much foresight and rerum prudentia to a simple bird.
May not the cause of these latebrce being left unfinished arise
from their meeting in those places with strata too harsh, hard,
and solid, for their purpose, which they relinquish, and go to a
fresh spot that works more freely ? Or may they not in other
places fall in with a soil as much too loose and mouldering,
liable to flounder, and threatening to overwhelm them and their
labours?

One thing is remarkable — that, after some years, the old
holes are forsaken and new ones bored ; perhaps because the old
habitations grow foul and fetid from long use, or because they
may so abound witli fleas as to become untenantable. This
species of swallow moreover is strangely annoyed with fleas:
and we have seen fleas, bed-fleas (pulex irritans), swarming at
the mouths of these holes, like bees on the stools of their hives.

The following circumstance should by no means be omitted —
that these birds do not make use of their caverns by way of
hybernacula, as might be expected; since banks so perforated
have been dug out with care in the winter, when nothing was
found but empty nests.

Tlie sand-martin arrives much about the same time with the
swallow, and lays, as she does, from four to six white eggs. But
as this species is cryptogmne, carrying on the business of nidifica-

OF SELBORNE. 179

tion, incubation, and the support of it's young in the dark, it
would not be so easy to ascertain the time of breeding, were it
not for the coming forth of the broods, which appear much
about the time, or rather somewhat earlier than those of the
swallow. The nestlings are supported in common like those of
their congeners, with gnats and other small insects; and some-
times they are fed with libellul(Z (dragon-flies) almost as long as
themselves. In the last week in June we have seen a row of
these sitting on a rail near a great pool as perchers; and so young
and helpless, as easily to be taken by hand : but whether the
dams ever feed them on the wing, as swallows and house-mar-
tins do, we have never yet been able to determine; nor do we
know whether they pursue and attack birds of prey.

When they happen to breed near hedges and enclosures, thej^
are dispossessed of their breeding holes by the house-sparrow,
which is on the same account a fell adversary to house-martins.

These hirundines are no songsters, but rather mute, making
only a little harsh noise when a person approaches their nests.
They seem not to be of a sociable turn, never with us congre-
gating with their congeners in the autumn. Undoubtedly they
breed a second time, like the house-martin and swallowj and
withdraw about Michaelmas.

Though in some particular districts they may happen to
abound, yet in the whole, in the south of England at least, is this
much the rarest species. For there are few towns or large vil-
lages but what abound with house-martins; few churches,
towers, or steeples, but what are haunted by some swifts; scarce
a hamlet or single cottage-chimney that has not it's swallow;
while the bank-martins, scattered here and there, live a seques-

180 NATURAL HISTORY

tered life among some abrupt sand-hills, and in the banks of
some few riv-ers.

These birds have a peculiar manner of flying; flitting about
with odd jerks, and vacillations, not unlike the motions of a
butterfly. Doubtless the flight of all hirundines is influenced by,
and adapted to, the peculiar sort of insects which furnish their
food. Hence it would be worth inquiry to examine what parti-'
cular genus of insects affords the principal food of each respec-
tive species of swallow.

Notwithstanding what has been advanced above, some few
sand-martins, I see, haunt the skirts o^ London, frequenting the
dirty pools in Saint Georgis-Fields, and about White-Chapel.
Tlie question is where these build, since there are no banks or
bold shores in that neighbourhood : perhaps they nestle in the
scaiFold holes of some old or new deserted building. They dip
and wash as they fly sometimes, like the house-martin and
swallow.

Sand-martins differ from their congeners in the diminutive-
ness of their size, and in their colour, which is what is usually
called a mouse-colour. Near Valencia in Spain, they are taken,
says JVillughby, and sold in the markets for the tablej and are
called by the country people, probably from their desultory
jerking manner of flight, Papilion de Montagna.

OF SELBORNE. 181

LETTER XXI.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selborne, Sept. 28, 17/4.

As the swift or black-martin is the largest of the British hiruii-
dines, so is it undoubtedly the latest comer. For I remember
but one instance of it's appearing before the last week in Jpril:
and in some of our late frosty, harsh springs, it has not been
seen till the beginning of May. This species usually arrives in
pairs.

The swift, like the sand-martin, is very defective in architec-
ture, making no crust, or shell, for it's nest; but forming it of
dry grasses and feathers, very rudely and inartificially put toge-
ther. With all my attention to these birds, I have never been
able once to discover one in the act of collecting or carrying in
materials: so that I have suspected (since their nests are exactly
the same) that they sometimes usurp upon the house-sparrows,
and expel them, as sparrows do the house and sand-martin;
well remembering that I have seen them squabbling together at
the entrance of their holes; and the sparrows up in arms, and
much disconcerted at these intruders. And yet I am assured,
by a nice observer in such matters, that they do collect feathers
for their nests in Andalusia; and that he has shot them with
such materials in their mouths.

Swifts, like sand-martins, carry on the business of nidification
quite in the dark, in crannies of castles, and towers, and steeples.

182 NATURAL HISTORY

and upon the tops of the walls of churches under the roof; and
therefore cannot be so narrowly watched as those species that
build more openly : but, from what I could ever observe, they
begin nesting about the middle of May; and I have remarked,
from eggs taken, that they have sat hard by the ninth of June.
In general they haunt tall buildings, churches, and steeples,
and breed only in such : yet in this village some pairs frequent
the lowest and meanest cottages, and educate their young under
those thatched roofs. We remember but one instance where
they breed out of buildings; and that is in the sides of a deep
chalkpit near the town of Odiham, in this county, where we
have seen many pairs entering the crevices, and skimming and
squeaking round the precipices.

As I have regarded these amusive birds with no small atten-
tion, if I should advance something new and peculiar with
respect to them, and different from all other birds, I might per-
haps be credited ; especially as my assertion is the result of
many years exact observation. The fact that I would advance
is, that swifts tr-ead, or copulate, on the wing: and I would wish
any nice observer, that is startled at this supposition, to use his
own eyes, and I think he will soon be convinced. In another
class of animals, viz. the insect, nothing is so common as to see
the diiferent species of many genera in conjunction as they fly.
The swift is almost continually on the wing; and as it never
settles on the ground, on trees, or roofs, would seldom find op-
portunity for amorous rites, was it not enabled to indulge them
in the air. If any person would watch these birds of a fine
morning in May, as they are sailing round at a great height
from the ground, he would see, every now and then, one drop
on the back of another, and both of them sink down together

OF SELBORNE. 183

for many fathoms with a loud piercing shriek. This I take to
be the juncture when the business of generation is carrying on.

As the swift eats, drinks, collects materials for it's nest, and,
as it seems, propagates on the wing; it appears to live more in
the air than any other bird, and to perform all functions there
save those of sleeping and incubation.

This hii^undo differs widely from it's congeners in laying in-
variably but two eggs at a time, which are milk-white, long,
and peaked at the small end; whereas the other species lay at
each brood from four to sLv. It is a most alert bird, rising very
early, and retiring to roost very late ; and is on the wing in the
height of summer at least sixteen hours. In the longest days it
does not withdraw to rest till a quarter before nine in the evening,
being the latest of all day birds. Just before tliey retire whole
groups of them assemble high in the air, and squeak, and shoot
about with wonderful rapidity. But this bird is never so much
alive as in sultry thundry weather, when it expresses great
alacrity, and calls forth all it's powers. In hot mornings several,
getting together in little parties, dash round the steeples and
churches, squeaking as they go in a very clamorous manner:
these, by nice observers, are supposed to be males serenading
their sitting hens; and not without reason, since they seldom
squeak till they come close to the walls or eaves, and since those
within utter at the same time a little inward note of com-
placency.

When the hen has sat hard all day, she rushes forth just as
it is almost dark, and stretches and relieves her weary limbs,
and snatches a scanty meal for a few minutes, and then returns
to her duty of incubation. Swifts, when wantonly and cruelly
shot while they have young, discover a little lump of insects in

184 NATURAL HISTORY

their mouths, which they pouch and hold under their tongue.
In general they feed in a much higher district than the other
species; a proof that gnats and other insects do also abound to
a considerable height in the air: they also range to vast dis-
tances; since loco-motion is no labour to them, who are endowed
Avith such wonderful powers of wing. Their powers seem to
be in proportion to their leavers; and their wings are longer in
proportion than those of almost any other bird. When they
mute, or ease themselves in flight, they raise their wings, and
make them meet over their backs.

At some certain times in the summer I had remarked that
swifts were hawking very low for hours together over pools and
streams; and could not help inquiring into the object of their
pursuit that induced them to descend so much below their usual
range. After some trouble, I found that they were taking
phri/gaiiece, ep/ionerce, and UbellulcE (cadew-flies, may-flies, and
dragon-flies) that were just emerged out of their aurelia state.
I then no longer wondered that they should be so willing to
stoop for a prey that aftbrded them such plentiful and succulent
nourishment.

They bring out their young about the middle or latter end
oi' July: but as these never become perchers, nor, that ever I
could discern, are fed on the wing by their dams, the coming
forth of the young is not so notorious as in the other species.

On tlie thirtieth of last June I untiled the eaves of an house
where many pairs build, and found in each nest only txco sfiuab,
naked j9«//i; on the eighth oi' July I repeated the same inquiry,
and found they had made very little progress towards a fledged
state, but were still naked and helpless. From whence we may
conclude that birds whose way of life keeps them perpetually

OF SELBORNE. 185

on the wing would not be able to quit their nest till the end of
the month. Swallows and martins, that have numerous families,
are continually feeding them every two or three minutes; while
swifts, that have but two young to maintain, are much at their
leisure, and do not attend on their nests for hours together.

Sometimes they pursue and strike at hawks that come in
their way; but not with that vehemence and fury that swallows
express on the same occasion. They are out all day long in
wet days, feeding about, and disregarding still rain: from
whence two things may be gathered ; first, that many insects
abide high in the air, even in rain ; and next, that the feathers
of these birds must be well preened to resist so much wet.
Windy, and particularly windy weather with heavy showers,
they dislike; and on such days withdraw, and are scarce ever
seen.

There is a circumstance respecting the colour of swifts, which
seems not to be unworthy our attention. When they arrive in
the spring they are all over of a glossy, dark soot-colour, except
their chins, which are white; but, by being all day long in the
sun and air, they become quite weather-beaten and bleached
before they depart, and yet they return glossy again in the
spring. Now, if they pursue the sun into lower latitudes, as
some suppose, in order to enjoy a perpetual summer, why do
they not return bleached? Do they not rather perhaps retire to
rest for a season, and at that juncture moult and change their
feathers, since all other birds are known to moult soon after
the season of breeding?

Swifts are very anomalous in many particulars, dissenting
from all their congeners not only in the number of their young,
but in breeding but once in a summer; whereas all the other

2 B

186 NATURAL HISTORY

Bintish Inrmidines breed invariably twice. It is past all doubt
that swifts can breed but once, since they withdraw in a short
time after the flight of their young, and some time before their
congeners bring out their second broods. We may here remark,
that, as swifts breed but once in a summer, and only two at a
time, and the other hirimdines twice, the latter, who lay from
four to six eggs, increase at an average five times as fast as the
former.

But in nothing are swifts more singular than in their early
retreat. They retire, as to the main body of them, by the tenth
o? August, and sometimes a few days sooner: and every strag-
gler invariably withdraws by the twentieth, while their conge-
ners, all of them, stay till the beginning of October; many of
them all through that month, and some occasionally to the be-
ginning of November. This early retreat is mysterious and won-
derful, since that time is often the sweetest season in the year.
But, what is more extraordinary, they begin to retire still earlier
in the most southerly parts o? Andalusia, where they can be no
ways influenced by any defect of heat; or, as one might sup-
pose, defect of food. Are they regulated in their motions with
us by a failure of food, or by a propensity to moulting, or by a
disposition to rest after so rapid a life, or by what? This is one
of those incidents in natural history that not only baffles our
searches, but almost eludes our guesses!

These hirundines never perch on trees or roofs, and so never
congregate with their congeners. They are fearless while haunt-
ing their nesting places, and are not to be scared with a gun;
and are often beaten down with poles and cudgels as they stoop
to go under tlie eaves. Swifts are much infested with those
pests to the genus called hippoboscx Jnrundinis; and often wriggle

OF SELBORNE. ]87

and scratch themselves, in their flight, to get rid of that clinging
annoyance.

Swifts are no songsters, and have only one harsh screaming
note; yet there are ears to which it is not displeasing, from an
agreeable association of ideas, since that note never occurs but
in tlie most lovely summer weather.

They never settle on the ground but through accident; and
when down can hardly rise, on account of the shortness of their
legs and the length of their wings: neither can they walk, but
only crawl; but they have a strong grasp with their feet, by
which they cling to walls. Their bodies being flat they can
enter a very narrow crevice; and where they cannot pass on
their bellies they will turn up edgewise.

The particular formation of the foot discriminates the swift
from all the British hirundines; and indeed from all other known
birds, the hiruudo melba, or great white-bellied swift o^ Gibraltar,
excepted; for it is so disposed as to carry '' omnes quatuor digitos
anticos"' all it's four toes forward; -besides the least toe, which
should be the back- toe, consists of one bone alone, and the other
three only of two apiece. A construction most rare and pecu-
liar, but nicely adapted to the purposes in which their feet are
employed. This, and some peculiarities attending the nostrils
and under mandible, have induced a discerning ^naturalist to
suppose that this species might constitute a gentis per se.

In London a party of swifts frequents the Tower, playing and
feeding over the river just below the bridge: others haunt some
of the churches of the Borough next the fields; but do not ven-
ture, like the house-martin, into the close crowded part of the
town.

6 John Antony Scopoli, of Carniola, M. D,

188 NATURAL HISTORY

The Swedes have bestowed a very pertinent name on this
swallow, calling it ring swala, from the perpetual rings or circles
that it takes round the scene of it's nidification.

Swifts feed on coleoptera, or small beetles with hard cases
over their wings, as well as on the softer insects; but it does
not appear how they can procure gravel to grind their food, as
swallows do, since they never settle on the ground. Young
ones, over-run with hippoboscie, are sometimes found, under their
nests, fallen to the ground; the number of vermin rendering
their abode insupportable any longer. They frequent in this
village several abject cottages: yet a succession still haunts the
same unlikely roofs : a good proof this that the same birds return
to the same spots. As they must stoop very low to get up
under these humble eaves, cats lie in wait, and sometimes catch
them on the wing.

On the fifth oi July, 1775, I again untiled part of a roof
over the nest of a swift. The dam sat in the nest; but so
strongly was she affected by natural a-rof-y/i for her brood, which
she supposed to be in danger, that, regardless of her own safety?
she would not stir, but lay sullenly by them, permitting herself
to be taken in hand. The squab young we brought down and
placed on the grass-plot, where they tumbled about, and were
as helpless as a new-born child. While we contemplated their
naked bodies, their unwieldy disproportioned abdomina, and
their heads, too heavy for their necks to support, we could not
but wonder when we reflected that these shiftless beings in a
little more than a fortnight would be able to dash through the
air almost with the inconceivable swiftness of a meteor; and
perhaps, in their emigration, must traverse vast continents and
oceans as distant as the equator. So soon does Nature advance

OF SELBORNE. I8y

small birds to their r^iKia, or state of perfection ; while the pro-
gressive growth of men and large quadrupeds is slow and
tedious! I am, &c.

LETTER XXII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Sept. 13, 1774.

-t>Y means of a straight cottage-chimney I had an opportunity
this summer of remarking, at my leisure, how swallows ascend
and descend through the shaft; but my pleasure, in contem-
plating the address with which this feat was performed to a con-
siderable depth in the chimney, was somewhat interrupted by
apprehensions lest my eyes might undergo the same fate with
those of Tobit. '

Perhaps it may be some amusement to you to hear at what
times the different species of hirundines arrived this spring in
three very distant counties of this kingdom. With us the swal-
low was seen first on April the 4th, the swift on April the 24th,
the bank-martin oto. April the 12th, and the house-martin not
till April the 30th. At South Zele, Devonshire, swallows did not
arrive till April the 25th; swifts, in plenty, on May the 1st;
and house-martins not till the middle of May. At Blackburn,
in Lancashire, swifts were seen April the 28th, swallows April
the 29tb, house-martins May the J st. Do these different dates,

' Tobit ii. 10.

190 NATURAL HISTORY

iu such distant districts, prove any thing for or against mi
gration ?

A farmer, near JFeyhill, fallows his land with two teams of
asses; one of which works till noon, and the other in the after-
noon. When these animals have done their work, they are
penned all night, like sheep, on the fallow. In the winter they
are confined and foddered in a yard, and make plenty of dung.

Linnceiis says that hawks " paciscuntur inducias cum avibus>
quamdiu cuculus cuculat-" but it appears to me that, during that
period, many little birds are taken and destroyed by birds of
prey, as may be seen by their feathers left in lanes and under
hedges.

The 7nissel-thrush is, while breeding, fierce and pugnacious,
driving such birds as approach it's nest, with great fury, to a
distance. The JVelch call \t pen y lluyn, the head or master of
the coppice. He suffers no magpie, jay, or blackbird, to enter
the garden where he haunts; and is, for the time, a good guard
to the new-sown legumens. In general he is very successful in
the defence of his family: but once 1 observed in my garden,
that several magpies came determined to storm the nest of a
missel-thrush: the dams defended their mansion with great
vigour, and fought resolutely pro aris &J'ocis; but numbers at
last prevailed, they tore the nest to pieces, and swallowed the
young alive.

In the season of nidification the wildest birds are compara-
tively tame. Thus the ring-dove breeds in my fields, though
they are continually frequented; and the missel-thrush, though
most shy and wild in the autumn and winter, builds in my gar-
den close to a walk where people are passing all day long.

Wall-fruit abounds with me this year; but my grapes, that

OF SELBORNE. 19 1

used to be forward and good, are at present backward beyontl
all precedent: and this is not the worst of the story; for the
same ungenial weather, the same black cold solstice, has injured
the more necessary fruits of the earth, and discoloured and
blighted our wheat. The crop of hops promises to be very large.
Frequent returns of deafness incommode me sadly, and half
disqualify me for a naturalist; for, when those fits are upon me,
I lose all the pleasing notices and little intimations arising from
rural sounds; and May is to me as silent and mute with respect
to the notes of birds, &c. as August. My eyesight is, thank
God, quick and good; but with respect to the other sense, I
am, at times, disabled:

"■ And Wisdom at one entrance quite shut out."

LETTER XXIII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selbokne, June S, 1775.

On September the 21st, 1741, being then on a visit, and intent
on field-diversions, I rose before daybreak: when I came into
the enclosures, I found the stubbles and clover-grounds matted
all over with a thick coat of cobweb, in the meshes of which a
copious and heavy dew hung so plentifully that the whole face
of the country seemed, as it were, covered with two or three
setting-nets drawn one over another. When the dogs attempted
to hunt, their eyes were so blinded and hoodwinked that they
could not proceed, but were obliged to lie down and scrape the

192 NATURAL HISTORY

incumbrances from their faces with their fore-feet, so that, find-
ing my sport interrupted, I returned home musing in my mind
on the oddness of the occurrence.

As the morning advanced the sun became bright and warm,
and the day turned out one of those most lovely ones which no
season but the autumn produces; cloudless, calm, serene, and
worthy of the South oi France itself.

About nine an appearance very unusual began to demand
our attention, a shower of cobwebs falling from very elevated
regions, and continuing, without any interruption, till the close
of the day. These webs were not single filmy threads, floating
in the air in all directions, but perfect flakes or rags; some near
an inch broad, and five or six long, which fell with a degree of
velocity that shewed they were considerably heavier than the
atmosphere.

On every side as the observer turned his eyes might he
behold a continual succession of fresh flakes falling into his sight,
and twinkling like stars as they turned their sides towards the
sun.

How far this wonderful shower extended would be diflScult
to say; but we know that it reached Bradley, Selborne, ^wA Aires-
ford, three places which lie in a sort of a triangle, the shortest
of whose sides is about eight miles in extent.

At the second of those places there was a gentleman (for
whose veracity and intelligent turn we have the greatest venera-
tion) who observed it the moment he got abroad; but concluded
that, as soon as he came upon the hill above his house, where
he took his morning rides, he should be higher than this meteor,
which he imagined might have been blown, like Thistle-down,
fton\ the common above : but, to his great astonishment, when

OF SELBORNE. 193

he rode to the most elevated part of the down, 300 feet above
his fields, he found the webs in appearance still as much above
him as before; still descending into sight in a constant succes-
sion, and twinkling in the sun, so as to draw the attention of
the most incurious.

Neither before nor after was any such fall observed; but on
this day the flakes hung in the trees and hedges so thick, that a
diligent person sent out might have gathered baskets full.

The remark that I shall make on these cobweb-like appear-
ances, called gossamer, is, that, strange and superstitious as the
notions about them were formerly, nobody in these days doubts
but that they are the real production of small spiders, which
swarm in the fields in fine weather in autumn, and have a power
of shooting out webs from their tails so as to render themselves
buoyant, and lighter than air. But why these apterous insects
should that day take such a wonderful aerial excursion, and why
their webs should at once become so gross and material as to be
considerably more weighty than air, and to descend with pre-
cipitation, is a matter beyond my skill. If I might be allowed
to hazard a supposition, I should imagine that those film}'
threads, when first shot, might be entangled in the rising dew,
and so drawn up, spiders and all, by a brisk evaporation into
the regions where clouds are formed : and if the spiders have a
power of coiling and thickening their webs in the air, as Dr.
Lister says they have, [see his Letters to Mr. Ray] then, when
they were become heavier than the air, they must fall.

Every day in fine weather, in autumn chiefly, do I see those
spiders shooting out their webs and mounting aloft: they will
go off from your finger if you Avill take them into your hand.
Last summer one alighted on my book as I was reading in the

2 c

]y4 NATURAL HISTORY

parlour; and, running to the top of the page, and shooting out
a web, took it's departure from thence. But what I most won-
dered at was, that it went off with considerable velocity in a
place where no air was stirring; and I am sure that I did not
assist it with my breath. So that these little crawlers seem to
have, while mounting, some loco-motive power without the use
of wings, and to move in the air faster than the air itself.

LETTER XXIV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborhje, Aug, 15, 17/5.

There is a wonderful spirit of sociality in the brute creation,
independent of sexual attachment: the congregating of grega-
rious birds in the winter is a remarkable instance.

Many horses, though quiet with company, will not stay one
minute in a field by themselves: the strongest fences cannot
restrain them. My neighbour's horse will not only not stay by
himself abroad, but he will not bear to be left alone in a strange
stable without discovering the utmost impatience, and endea-
vouring to break the rack and manger with his fore feet. He
has been known to leap out at a stable-window, through which
dung was thrown, after company; and yet in other respects is
remarkably quiet. Oxen and cows will not fatten by them-
selves; but will neglect the finest pasture that is not recom-
mended by society. It would be needless to instance in sheep,
which conslantly flock together.

OF SELBORNE. 395

But this propensity seems not to be confined to animals of
the same species; for we know a doe, still alive, that was brought
up from a little fawn with a dairy of cows; with them it goes
a-field, and with them it returns to the yard. The dogs of the
liouse take no notice of this deer, being used to her; but, if
strange dogs come by, a chase ensues; while the master smiles
to see his favourite securely leading her pursuers over hedge, or
gate, or stile, till she returns to the cows, who, with fierce low-
ings and menacing horns, drive the assailants quite out of the
pasture-
Even great disparity of kind and size does not always pre-
vent social advances and mutual fellowship. For a very intelli-
gent and observant person has assured me that, in the former
part of his life, keeping but one horse, he happened also on a
time to have but one solitary hen. These two incongruous ani-
mals spent much of their time together in a lonely orchard,
where they saw no creature but each other. By degrees an
apparent regard began to take place between these two seques-
tered individuals. The fowl would approach the quadruped
with notes of complacency, rubbing herself gently against his
legs: while the horse would look down with satisfaction, and
move with the greatest caution and circumspection, lest he
should trample on his dimunitive companion. Thus, by mutual
good offices, each seemed to console the vacant hours of the
other; so that Milton, when he puts the following sentiment in
the mouth o? Adam, seems to be somewhat mistaken:

" Much less can bird with least, or fish with fowl,
" So well converse, nor with the ox the ape."

196 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XXV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Oct. 2, \7'5.

W have two gangs or hordes of gypsies which infest the south
and west of £«o7fl«J, and come round in their circuit two or
three times in the year. One of these tribes calls itself by the
noble name of Stanley, of which I have nothing particular to
say; but the other is distinguished by an appellative somewhat
remarkable — As far as their harsh gibberish can be understood,
they seem to say that the name of their clan is Curleople; now
the termination of this word is apparently Gi'ecian: and as Meze-
ray and the gravest historians all agree that these vagrants did
certainly migrate from Egypt and the East, two or three cen-
turies ago, and so spread by degrees over FAirope, may not this
family-name, a little corrupted, be the very name they brought
with them from the Levant? It would be matter of some curio-
sity, could one meet with an intelligent person among them, to
inquire whether, in their jargon, they still retain any Greek
words: theOreek radicals will appear in hand, foot, head, water,
earth, &c. It is possible that amidst their cant and corrupted
dialect many mutilated remains of their native language might
still be discovered.

With regard to those peculiar people, the gypsies, one thing
is very remarkable, and especially as they came from warmer
climates; and that is, that while other beggars lodge in barns,
stables, and cow-houses, these sturdy savages seem to pride

OF SELBORNE. 197

themselves in braving the seventies of winter, and in living sub
dio the whole year round. Last September was as wet a month
as ever was known; and yet during those deluges did a young
gypsy-girl lie-in in the midst of one of our hop-gardens, on the
cold ground, with nothing over her but a piece of a blanket ex-
tended on a few hazel-rods bent hoop fashion, and stuck into
the earth at each end, in circumstances too trying for a cow in
the same condition: yet within this garden there was a large
hop-kiln, into the chambers of which she might have retired,
had she thought shelter an object worthy her attention.

Europe itself, it seems, cannot set bounds to the rovings of
these vagabonds; for Mr. Bell, in his return from Pek'mg, met a
gang of these people on the confines of Tartary, who were
endeavouring to penetrate those deserts and try their fortune in
China. ^

Gypsies are called in French, Bohemiens; in Italian and
modern Greek, Zingani.

I am, &c.

*= 5ee Bell's Travels in China.

198 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XXVL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selbobne, Nov. 1, 1/75.

" Hie - - - - taedae pingues, hie plurimus ignis
" Semper, et assidua postes fuligine nigri."

1 SHALL make no apology for troubling you with the detail of a
very simple piece of domestic oeconomy, being satisfied that
you think nothing beneath your attention that tends to utility:
the matter alluded to is the use of rushes instead of candles,
which I am well aware prevails in many districts besides this;
but as I know there are countries also where it does not obtain,
and as I have considered the subject with some degree of exact-
ness, I shall proceed in my humble story, and leave 3'ou to judge
of the expediency.

The proper species of rush for this purpose seems to be the
juncus cotigbmeratus, or common soft rush, which is to be found
in most moist pastures, by the sides of streams, and under
hedges. These rushes are in best condition in the height of
summer; but may be gathered, so as to serve the purpose well,
quite on to autumn. It would be needless to add that the
largest and longest are best. Decayed labourers, women, and
children, make it their business to procure and prepare them.
As soon as they are cut they must be flung into water, and kept
there; for otherwise they will dry and shrink, and the peel will

OF SELBORNE. 199

not run. At first a person would find it no easy matter to
divest a rush of it's peel or rind, so as to leave one regular, nar-
row, even rib from top to bottom that may support the pith:
but this, like other feats, soon becomes familiar even to children;
and we have seen an old woman, stone-blind, performing this
business with great dispatch, and seldom failing to strip them
with the nicest regularity. When these juncl are thus far pre-
pared, they must lie out on the grass to be bleached, and take
the dew for some nights, and afterwards be dried in the sun.

Some address is required in dipping these rushes in the scald-
ing fat or grease; but this knack also is to be attained by prac.
tice. The careful' wife of an industrious Hampshire lahourer
obtains all her fat for nothing; for she saves the scummings of
her bacon-pot for this use; and, if the grease abounds with salt,
she causes the salt to precipitate to the bottom, by setting the
scummings in a warm oven. Where hogs are not much in use^
and especially by the sea-side, the coarser animal-oils will come
very cheap. A pound of common grease may be procured for
four pence; and about six pounds of grease will dip a pound of
rushes; and one pound of rushes may be bought for one shilling :
so that a pound of rushes, medicated and ready for use, will cost
three shillings. If men that keep bees will mix a little wax
with the grease, it will give it a consistency, and render it more
cleanly, and make the rushes burn longer: mutton-suet would
have the same effect.

A good rush, which measured in length two feet four inches
and an half, being minuted, burnt only three minutes short of
an hour: and a rush still of greater length has been known to
burn one hour and a quarter.

These rushes give a good clear light. Watch-lights (coated

. !200 NATURAL HISTORY

with tallow,) it is true, shed a dismal one, "darkness visible;''
but then the wicks of those have two ribs of the rind, or peel, to
support the pith, while the wick of the dipped rush has but one.
The ttvo ribs are intended to impede the progress of the flame
and make the candle last.

In a pound of dry rushes, avoirdupois, Avhich I caused to be
weighed and numbered, we found upwards of one thousand six
hundred individuals. Now suppose each of these burns, one
with another, only half an hour, then a poor man will purchase
eight hundred hours of light, a time exceeding thirty-three
entire days, for three shillings. According to this account each
rush, before dipping, costs 3^3 of a farthing, and ,-, afterwards.
Thus a poor family will enjoy 5^ hours of comfortable light for
a farthing. An experienced old housekeeper assures me that
one pound and an half of rushes completely supplies his family
the year round, since working people burn no candle in the long-
days, because they rise and go to bed by daylight.

Little farmers use rushes much in the short days, both morn-
ing and evening, in the dairy and kitchen; but the very poor,
who are always the worst oeconomists, and therefore must con-
tinue very poor, buy an halfpenny candle every evening, which,
in their blowing open rooms, does not burn much more than
two hours. Thus have they only two hours light for their
money instead of eleven.

While on the subject of rural oeconomy, it may not be im-
proper to mention a pretty implement of housewifery that we
have seen no where else; that is, little neat besoms which our
foresters make from the stalk of the polytriciim commune, or
great golden maiden-hair, which they call silk-wood, and find plenty
in the bogs. Whe;i this moss is well combed and dressed, and

OF SELBORNE. 201

divested of it's outer skin, it becomes of a beautiful bright-ches-
nut colour; and, being soft and pliant, is very proper for the
dusting of beds, curtains, carpets, hangings, &c. If these besoms
were known to the brushmakers in town, it is probable they
might come much in use for the purpose above-mentioned. '

I am, &c.

LETTER XXVII.

TO THE SAME.
DKAR SIR, Sblboene^ Dec. 12, 1775.

\Ve had in this village more than twenty years ago an idiot"
boy, whom I well remember, who, from a child, shewed a strong
propensity to bees; they were his food, his amusement, his sole
object. And as people of this cast have seldom more than one
point in view, so this lad exerted all his few faculties on this
one pursuit. In the winter he dosed away his time, within his
father's house, by the fire side, in a kind of torpid state, seldom
departing from the chimney-corner; but in the summer he was
all alert, and in quest of his game in the fields, and on sunny
banks. Honey-bees, humble-bees, and wasps, were his prey
wherever he found them : he had no apprehensions from their
stings, but would seize them nudis manibus, and at once disarm
them of their weapons, and suck their bodies for the sake of
their honey-bags. Sometimes he would fill his bosom between
his shirt and his skin with a number of these captives; and

' A besom of this sort is to be seen in Sir Ashton Lever's Mmeura.
2 D

20^ NATURAL HISTORY

sometimes would confine them in bottles. He was a very
merops apiaster, or bee-bird; and veiy injurious to men that kept
bees; for he would slide into their bee-gardens, and, sitting
down before the stools, would rap with his finger on the hives,
and so take the bees as they came out. He has been known to
overturn hives for the sake of honey, of which he was passion-
ately fond. Where metheglin was making he would linger round
the tubs and vessels, begging a draught of what he called bee-
wine. As he ran about he used to make a humming noise with
his lips, resembling the buzzing of bees. This lad was lean and
sallow, and of a cadaverous complexion; and, except in his
favourite pursuit, in which he was wonderfully adroit, discovered
no manner of understanding. Had his capacity been better,
and directed to the same object, he had perhaps abated much of
our wonder at the feats of a more modern exhibiter of bees;
and we may justly say of him now,

"— — — — _ — _ — Thou,
" Had thy presiding star propitious shone,
" Should'st Wildman be ^ — — — ."

When a tall youth he was removed from hence to a distant
village, where he died, as I understand, before he arrived at
manhood.

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE.

LETTER XXVIII.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIE, Selborne, Jan. 8, l/zti.

It is the hardest thing in the world to shake off superstitious
prejudices: tijey are sucked in as it were with our mother's
milk; and, growing up with us at a time when they take the
fastest hold and make the most lasting impressions, become so
interwoven into our very constitutions, that the strongest good
sense is required to disengage ourselves from them. No wonder
therefore that the lower people retain them their whole lives
through, since their minds are not invigorated by a liberal edu-
cation, and therefore not enabled to make any efforts adequate
to the occasion.

Such a preamble seems to be necessary before we enter on
the superstitions of this district, lest we should be suspected of
exaggeration in a recital of practices too gross for this enlight-
ened age.

But the people of Tring, in Hertfordshire, would do well to
remember, that no longer ago than the year 1751, and within
twenty miles of the capital, they seized on two superannuated
wretches, crazed with age, and overwhelmed with infirmities,
on a suspicion of witchcraft; and, by trying experiments,
drowned them in a horse-pond

In a farm-yard near the middle of this village stands, at this
day, a row of pollard-ashes, which, by the seams and long cica-

ao4

NATURAL HISTORY

trices clown their sides, manifestly shew that, in former times,
they have been cleft asunder. These trees, when young and
flexible, were severed and held open by wedges, while ruptured
children, stripped naked, were pushed through the apertures,
under a persuasion that, by such a process, the poor babes would
be cured of their infirmity. As soon as the operation was over,
the tree, in the suffering part, was plastered with loam, and care-
fully swathed up. If the parts coalesced and soldered together,
as usually fell out, where the feat was performed with any
adroitness at all, the party was cured; but, where the cleft con-
tinued to gape, the operation, it was supposed, would prove in-
effectual. Having occasion to enlarge my garden not long since,
I cut down two or three such trees, one of which did not grow
together.

We have several persons now living in the village, who, in
their childhood, were supposed to be healed by this superstitious
ceremony, derived down perhaps from our Saxon ancestors, who
practised it before their conversion to Christianity.

At the south corner of the Plestor, or area, near the church,
there stood, about twenty years ago, a very old grotesque hollow
pollard-ash, which for ages had been looked on with no small
veneration as a shrexv-ash. Now a shrew-ash is an ash whose
twigs or branches, when gently applied to the limbs of cattle,
will immediately relieve the pains which a beast suffers from
the running of a shrew-mouse over the part affected: for it is
supposed that a shrew-mouse is of so baneful and deleterious a
nature, that wherever it creeps over a beast, be it horse, cow,
or sheep, the suffering animal is afflicted with cruel anguish,
and threatened with the loss of the use of the limb. Against
this accident, to which they were continually liable, our provi-

OF SELBORNE. 205

dent fore-fathers always kept a shrew-ash at hand, which, when
once medicated, would maintain it's virtue for ever. A shrew-
ash was made thus : " — Into the body of the tree a deep hole
was bored with an auger, and a poor devoted shrew-mouse was
thrust in alive, and plugged in, no doubt, with several quaint in-
cantations long since forgotten. As the ceremonies necessary
for such a consecration are no longer understood, all succession
is at an end, and no such tree is known to subsist in the manor,
or hundred.

As to that on the Plestor

" The late vicar stubb'd and burnt it,"

when he was way-warden, regardless of the remonstrances of
the by-standers, who interceded in vain for it's preservation,
urging it's power and efficacy, and alleging that it had been

" Religione patrum multos servata per annos."

I am, &c.

LETTER XXIX.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Seiborne, Feb. 7, 1776.

In heavy fogs, on elevated situations especially, trees are per-
fect alembics: and no one that has not attended to such matters
can imagine how much water one tree will distil in a night's
time, by condensing the valour, which trickles down the twigs

■" For a similar practice, see Pht's Stajfordshire.

^06 NATURAL HISTORY

and boughs, so as to make the ground below quite in a float. In
Newton-lane, in October 1775, on a misty day, a particular oak
in leaf dropped so fast that the cart-way stood in puddles and
the ruts ran with water, though the ground in general was
dust}'.

In some of our smaller islands in the TVest-Indies, if I mistake
not, there are no springs or rivers; but the people are supplied
with that necessary element, water, merely by the dripping of
some large tall trees, Mhich, standing in the bosom of a moun-
tain, keep their heads constantly enveloped with fogs and clouds,
from which they dispense their kindly never-ceasing moisture;
and so render those districts habitable by condensation alone.

Trees in leaf have such a vast proportion more of surface
tlian those that are naked, that, in theory, their condensations
should greatly exceed those that are stripped of their leavesj
but, as the former imbibe also a great quantity of moisture, it is
difficult to say which drip most: but this I know, that deciduous
trees that are entwined with much ivy seem to distil the greatest
quantity. Ivy-leaves are smooth, and thick, and cold, and there-
fore condense very fast; and besides ever-greens imbibe very
little. These facts may furnish the intelligent with hints con-
cerning what sorts of trees they should plant round small ponds
that they would wish to be perennial; and shew them how ad-
vantageous some trees are in preference to others.

Trees perspire profusely, condense largely, and check evapor-
ation so much, that woods are always moist: no wonder there-
fore that they contribute much to pools and streams.

That trees are great promoters of lakes and rivers appears
from a well known fact in North- Ame7'ica ; for, since the woods
and forests have been grubbed and cleared, all bodies of water

OF SELBORNE. £07

are much diminished; so that some streams, that were very con-
siderable a century ago, will not now drive a common mill."
Besides, most woodlands, forests, and chases, with us abound
with pools and morasses; no doubt for the reason given above.

To a thinking mind few phenomena are more strange than
the state of little ponds on the summits of chalk-hills, many of
which are never dry in the most trying droughts of summer.
On chalk-hills I say, because in many rocky and gravelly soils
springs usually break out pretty high on the sides of elevated
grounds and mountains; but no person acquainted with chalky
districts will allow that they ever saw springs in such a soil but
in vallies and bottoms, since the waters of so pervious a stratum
as chalk all lie on one dead level, as well-diggers have assured
me again and again.

Now we have many such little round ponds in this district ;
and one in particular on our sheep-down, three hundred feet
above my house; which, though never above three feet deep in
the middle, and not more than thirty feet in diameter, and con-
taining perhaps not more than two or three hundred hogsheads
of water, yet never is known to fail, though it affords drink for
three hundred or four hundred sheep, and for at least twenty
head of large cattle beside. This pond, it is true, is over-huno-
with two moderate beeches, that, doubtless, at times afford it
much supply: but then we have others as small, that, without
the aid of trees, and in spite of evaporation from sun and wind
and perpetual consumption by cattle, yet constantly maintain a
moderate share of water, without overflowing in the wettest
seasons, as they would do if supplied by springs. By my jour-

" Vide Kalm's Travels to North- Ameiica.

208

NATURAL HISTORY

iial of May 1775, it appears that " the small and even considera-
" ble ponds in the vales are now dried up, while the small ponds
" on the very tops of hills are but little affected." Can this dif-
ference be accounted for from evaporation alone, which certainly
is more prevalent in bottoms? or rather have not those elevated
pools some unnoticed recruits, which in the night time counter-
balance tlie waste of the day; without which the cattle alone
must soon exhaust them? And here it will be necessary to enter
more minutely into the cause. Dr. Hales, in his Vegetable
Statics, advances, from experiment, that " the moister the earth
" is the more dew falls on it in a night: and more than a double
"■ quantity of dew falls on a surface of water than there does on
" an equal surface of moist earth." Hence we see that water,
by it's coolness, is enabled to assimilate to itself a large quantity
of moisture nightly by condensation; and that the air, when
loaded with fogs and vapours, and even with copious dews, can
alone advance a considerable and never-failing resource. Per-
sons that are much abroad, and travel early and late; such as
shepherds, fishermen, &c. can tell what prodigious fogs prevail
in the night on elevated downs, even in the hottest parts of
summer; and how much the surfaces of things are drenched by
those swimming vapours, though, to the senses, all the while,
little moisture seems to fall.

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE. 209

LETTER XXX.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, SelbormEj April 3, 17;S.

JVIoNSiEUR Herissant, a French anatomist, seems persuaded
that he has discovered the reason why cuckoos do not hatch
their own eggs; the impediment, he supposes, arises from the
internal structure of their parts, which incapacitates them for
incubation. According to this gentleman, the crop, or craw, of
a cuckoo does not lie before the sternum at the bottom of the
neck, as in the gallince, columbce, &c. but immediately behind it,
on and over the bowels, so as to make a large protuberance in
the belly.°

Induced by this assertion, we procured a cuckoo; and, cut-
ting open the breast-bone, and exposing the intestines to sight,
found the crop lying as mentioned above. This stomach was
large and round, and stuffed hard like a pincushion with food,
which, upon nice examination, we found to consist of various
insects; such as small scarabs, spiders, and dragon flies; the
last of which we have seen cuckoos catching on the wing as
they were just emerging out of the aurelia state. Among this
farrago also were to be seen maggots, and many seeds, which
belonged either to gooseberries, currants, cranberries, or some
such fruit; so that these birds apparently subsist on insects and

" Histoire del' Academie Royale, 1752.
2E

210

NATURAL HISTORY

fruits: nor was there the least appearance of bones, feathers, or
fur to support the idle notion of their being birds of prey.

The sternum in this bird seemed to us to be remarkably short,
between which and the anus lay the crop, or craw, and imme-
diately behind that the bowels against the back-bone.

It must be allowed, as this anatomist observes, that the crop
placed just upon the bowels must, especially when full, be in a
very uneasy situation during the business of incubation; yet the
test \\ill be to examine whether birds that are actually known
to sit for certain are not formed in a similar manner. This in-
quiry I proposed to myself to make with s. fern-owl, or goat-
sucker, as soon as opportunity offered : because, if their forma-
tion proves the same, the reason for incapacity in the cuckoo
will be allowed to have been taken up somewhat hastily.

Not long after a fern-owl was procured, which, from it's
habit and shape, we suspected might resemble the cuckoo in it's
internal construction. Nor -were our suspicions ill-grounded;
for, upon the dissection, the crop, or craw, also lay behind the
sternum, immediately on the viscera, between them and the
skin of the belly. It was bulky, and stuffed hard with large
phalancp, moths of several sorts, and their eggs, which no doubt
had been forced out of those insects by the action of swallowing.

Now as it appears that this bird, which is so Avell known to
practise incubation, is formed in a similar manner with cuckoos,
Monsieur Herissant's conjecture, that cuckoos are incapable of
incubation from the disposition of their intestines, seems to fall
to the ground : and we are still at a loss for the cause of that
strange and singular peculiarity in the instance of the cuculus
canorus.

or SELBORNE. 211

We found the case to be the same with the ring-tail hawk,

in respect to formation; and, as far as I can recollect, with the

swift; and probably it is so with many more sorts of birds that

are not granivorous.

I am, &c.

LETTER XXXI.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selbobne, April 2p, 17;6.

On August the 4th, 1775, we surprised a large viper, which
seemed very heavy and bloated, as it lay in the grass basking
in the sun. When we came to cut it up, we found that the ab-
domen was crowded with young, fifteen in number; the shortest
of which measured full sevten inches, and were about the size of
full-grown earth-worms. This little fry issued into the world
with the true viper-spirit about them, shewing great alertness
as soon as disengaged from the belly of the dam : they twisted
and wriggled about, and set themselves up, and gaped very wide
when touched with a stick, shewing manifest tokens of menace
and defiance, though as yet they had no manner of fangs that
we could find, even with the help of our glasses.

To a thinking mind nothing is more wonderful than that
early instinct which impresses young animals with the notion
of the situation of their natural weapons, and of using them
properly in their own defence, even before those weapons subsist
or are formed. Thus a young cock will spar at his adversary

2 £ 2

212 NATURAL HISTORY

before liis spurs are grown; and a calf or a lamb will pusli with
their heads before their horns are sprouted. In the same man-
ner did these young adders attempt to bite before their fangs
were in being. The dam however was furnished with very for-
midable ones, which we lifted up (for they fold down when not
used) and cut them off with the point of our scissars.

There was little room to suppose that this brood had ever
been in the open air before; and that they were taken in for
refuge, at the mouth of the dam, when she perceived that dan-
ger was approaching; because then probably we should have
found them somewhere in the neck, and not in the abdomen.

LETTER XXXIL

TO THE SAME.

C/ASTRATiON has a strange effect: it emasculates both man,
beast, and bird, and brings them to a near resemblance of the
other sex. Thus eunuchs have smooth unmuscular arms, thighs,
and legs; and broad hips, and beardless chins, and squeaking
voices. Gelt-stags and bucks have hornless beads, like hinds
and does. Thus wethers have small horns, like ewes; and oxen
large bent horns, and hoarse voices when they low, like cows:
for bulls have short straight horns; and though they mutter
and grumble in a deep tremendous tone, yet they low in a shrill
high key. Capons have small combs and gills, and look pallid
about the head, like pullets; they also walk without any parade,

OF SELBORNE. filS

and hover chickens like hens. Barrow-hogs have also small
tusks like sows.

Thus far it is plain that the deprivation of masculine vigour
puts a stop to the growth of those parts or appendages that are
looked upon as it's insignia. But the ingenious Mr. Lisk, in
his book on husbandry, carries it much farther; for he says that
the loss of those insignia alone has sometimes a strange effect
on the ability itself: he had a boar so fierce and venereous, that,
to prevent mischief, orders were given for his tusks to be broken
off. No sooner had the beast suffered this injury than his
powers forsook him, and he neglected those females to whom
before he was passionately attached, and from whom no fences
eould restrain him.

LETTER XXXm.

TO THE SAME.

J. HE natural term of an hog's life is little known, and the reason
is plain — because it is neither profitable nor convenient to keep
that turbulent animal to the full extent of it's time: however,
my neighbour, a man of substance, who had no occasion to
study every little advantage to a nicety, kept an half bred Ban-
tam-sow, who was as thick as she was long, and whose belly
swept on the ground till she was advanced to her seventeenth
year; at which period she shewed some tokens of age by the
decay of her teeth and the decline of her fertility.

For about ten years this prolific mother produced two litters

214 NATURAL HISTORY

in the year of about ten at a time, and once above twenty at a
litter; but, as there were near double the number of pigs to
that of teats, many died. From long experience in the world
this female was grown very sagacious and artful; — when she
found occasion to converse with a boar she used to open all the
intervening gates, and march, by herself, up to a distant farm
where one was kept; and when her purpose was served would
return by the same means. At the age of about fifteen her lit-
ters began to be reduced to four or five; and such a litter she
exhibited when in her fatting-pen. She proved, when fat, good
bacon, j^ticy, and tender; the rind, or sward, was remarkably
thin. At a moderate computation she was allowed to have been
the fruitful parent of three hundred pigs: a prodigious instance
of fecundity in so large a quadruped! She was killed in spring
1775. I am, &c.

LETTER XXXIV.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selbokne, May g, 1776.

admorunt ubera tigres."

We have remarked in a former letter how much incongruous
animals, in a lonely state, may be attached to each other from a
spirit of sociality; in this it may not be amiss to recount a dif-
ferent motive which has been known to create as strange a
fondness.

OF SELBORNE. gI5

My friend had a little helpless leoertt brought to him, which
the servants fed with milk in a spoon, and about the same time
his cat kittened and the young were dispatched and buried.
The hare was soon lost, and supposed to be gone the way of
most fondlings, to be killed by some dog or cat. However, in
about a fortnight, as the master was sitting in his garden in the
dusk of the evening, he observed his cat, with tail erect, trotting
towards him, and calling with little short inward notes of com-
placency, such as they use towards their kittens, and something-
gamboling after, which proved to be the leveret that the cat
had supported with her milk, and continued to support with
great affection.

Thus was a graminivorous animal nurtured by a carnivorous
and predaceous one!

Why so cruel and sanguinary a beast as a cat, of the ferocious
genus of Feks, the murium leo, as Linnceus calls it, should be
affected with any tenderness towards an animal which is it's
natural prey, is not so easy to determine.

This strange affection probably was occasioned by that desi-
derium, those tender maternal feelings, which the loss of her
kittens had awakened in her breast; and by the complacency
and ease she derived to herself from the procuring her teats to
be drawn, which were too much distended with milk, till, from
habit, she became as nnich delighted with this foundling as if it
had been her real offspring.

This incident is no bad solution of that strange circumstance
which grave historians as well as the poets assert, of exposed
children being sometimes nurtured by female wild beasts that
probably had lost their young. For it is not one whit more
marvellous that Romulus and Remus, in their infant state, should

216 NATURAL HISTORY

be nursed by a she-wolf, than that a poor little sucking leveret
should be fostered and cherished by a bloody grimalkin.

— — — — " viridi foetam Mavortis in antro
" Procubuisse lupam : geminos huic ubera circutn
" Ludere pendentes pueros, et lambere matretn
'^' Impavidos : illam tereti cervice reflexatn
" Mulcere alternos, et corpora fingere lingul."

LETTER XXXV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, May 20, 1777.

Jl-/ands that are subject to frequent inundations are always
poor; and probably the reason may be because the worms are
drowned. The most insignificant insects and reptiles are of
much more consequence, and have much more influence in the
ceconomy of Nature, than the incurious are aware of; and are
mighty in their effect, from their minuteness, which renders
them less an object of attention; and from their numbers and
fecundity. Earth-worms, though in appearance a small and
despicable link in the chain of Nature, yet, if lost, would make
a lamentable chasm. For, to say nothing of half the birds, and
some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them,
worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which
would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating,
and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and
the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and

OF SELBORNE. 217

twigs into it; and,- most of all, by throwing up such infinite
numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their
excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass. Worms proba-
bly provide new soil for hills and slopes where the rain washes
the earth away; and they affect slopes, probably to avoid being-
flooded. Gardeners and farmers express their detestation of
worms; the former because they render their walks unsightly,
and make them much work: and the latter because, as they
think, worms eat their green corn. But these men would fin /
that the earth without Avorms would soon become cold, hard-
bound, and void of fermentation; and consequently steril: and
besides, in favour of worms, it should be hinted that green corn,
plants, and flowers, are not so much injured by them as by many
species of coleoptera (scarabs), and tipulce, (long-legs) in their
larva, or grub-state; and by unnoticed myriads of small shell-
less snails, called slugs, which silently and imperceptibly make
amazing havock in the field and garden.''

These hints we think proper to throw out in order to set the
inquisitive and discerning to work.

A good monography of worms would afford much entertain-
ment and information at the same time, and would open a large
and new field in natural history. Worms work most in the
spring; but by no means lie torpid in the dead months; are
out every mild night in the winter, as any person may be con-
vinced that will take the pains to examine his grass-plots
with a candle; are hermaphrodites, and much addicted to
venery, and consequently very prolific. I am, &c.

1 Farmer Young, of Nor ton farm, says that this spring (1777) about four acres
of his wheat in one field was entirely destroyed by slugs, which swarmed on the
blades of corn, and devoured it as fast as it sprang.

2 F

218 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XXXVL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, Nov. 22, 1777.

You cannot but remember that the twenty-sixth and twenty-
seventh of last March were very hot days; so sultry that every
body complained and were restless under those sensations to
which they had not been reconciled by gradual approaches.

This sudden summer-like heat was attended by many sum-
mer coincidences; for on those two days the thermometer rose
to sixty-six in the shade; many species of insects revived and
came forth; some bees swarmed in this neighbourhood; the old
tortoise, near Lewes in Sussex, awakened and came forth out of
it's dormitory; and, what is most to my present purpose, many
house-swallows appeared and were very alert in many places, and
particularly at Cobliam, in Surrei/.

But as tliat short warm period was succeeded as well as pre-
ceded by harsh severe weather, with frequent frosts and ice,
and cutting winds, the insects withdrew, the tortoise retired
again into the ground, and the swallows were seen no more
until the tenth of April, when, the rigour of the spring abating,
a softer season began to prevail.

Again; it appears by my journals for many years past, that
house-niarthis ret'ive, to a bird, about the begmn'mg of October;
so that a person not very observant of such matters would con-
clude that they had taken their last farewell: but tlicn it may
be seen in my diaries also that considerable flocks have disco-

OF SELBORNE. 219

vered themselves again in the first week of Noxemher, and often
on the fourth day of that month onlyybr one day ; and that not
as if they were in actual migration, but playing about at their
leisure and feeding calmly, as if no enlerprize of moment at all
agitated their spirits. And this was the case in the beginning
of this very month; for, on the fourth oi November, more than
twenty house-martins, which, in appearance, had all departed
about the seventh of October, were seen again, for that one morn-
ing only, sporting between my fields and the Hanger, and feast-
ing on insects which swarmed in that sheltered district. The
preceding day was wet and blustering, but the fourth was dark
and mild, and soft, the wind at south-west, and the thermometer
at 58'!^; a pitch not common at that season of the year. More-
over, it may not be amiss to add in this place, that whenever
the thermometer is above 50 the bat comes flitting out in every
autumnal and winter-month.

From all these circumstances laid together, it is obvious that
torpid insects, reptiles, and quadrupeds, are awakened from their
profoundest slumbers by a little untimely warmth; and there-
fore that nothing so much promotes this death-like stupor as a
defect of heat. And farther, it is reasonable to suppose that
two whole species, or at least many individuals of those two
species, of British hirundines, do never leave this island at all,
but partake of the same benumbed state: for we cannot suppose
that, after a month's absence, house-martins can return from
southern . regions to appear for one morning in November, or
that house-swallows should leave the districts of Africa to
-enjoy, in March, the transient summer of a couple of days.

I am, &c.

2 F 2

220 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XXXVIL

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, SelbornEj Jan. 8, 17T8.

There was in this village several years ago a miserable pauper,
who, from his birth, was afflicted with a leprosy, as far as we
are aware of a singular kind, since it aftected only the palms of
his hands and the soles of his feet. This scaly eruption usually
broke out twice in the year, at the spring and fall; and, by
peeling away, left the skin so thin and tender that neither his
hands or feet were able to perform their functions; so that the
poor object was half his time on crutches, incapable of employ,
and languishing in a tiresome state of indolence and inactivity.
His habit was lean, lank, and cadaverous. In this sad plight
he dragged on a miserable existence, a burden to himself and
his parish, which was obliged to support him till he was relieved
by death at more than thirty years of age.

The good women, who love to account for every defect in
children by the doctrine of longing, said that his mother felt a
violent propensity for oysters, which she was unable to gratify;
and that the black rougli scurf on his hands and feet were the
shells of that fish. Wc knew his parents, neither of which were
lepers ; his tather in particular lived to be far advanced in years.
In all ages the leprosy has made dreadful havock among
mankind. The Israelites seem to have been greatly afflicted
with it from the most remote times; as appears from the pecu-
liar and repeated injunctions given them in the Lcvitical law.'

' See Leviticus, chap. xiii. and xiv.

OF SELBORNE. 221

Nor was the rancour of this foul disorder much abated in the
last period of their commonwealth, as may be seen in many
passages of the New Testament.

Some centuries ago this horrible distemper prevailed all
Europe over; and our forefathers were by no means exempt, as
appears by the large provision made for objects labouring under
this calamity. There was an hospital for female lepers in the
diocese of Lincoln, a noble one near Durham, three in London
and Southwark, and perhaps many more in or near our great
towns and cities. Moreover, some crowned heads, and other
wealthy and charitable personages, bequeatlied large legacies to
such poor people as languished under this hopeless infirmity.

It must therefore, in these days, be, to an humane and think-
ing person, a matter of equal wonder and satisfaction, when he
contemplates how nearly this pest is eradicated, and observes
that a leper now is a rare sight. He will, moreover, when en-
gaged in such a train of thought, naturally inquire for the rea-
son. This happy change perhaps may have originated and been
continued from the much smaller quantity of salted meat and
fish now eaten in these kingdoms; from the use of linen next
the skin; from the plenty of better bread; and from the profu-
sion of fruits, roots, legumes, and greens, so common in every
family Three or four centuries ago, before there were any
enclosures, sown-grasses, field-turnips, or field-carrots, or hay,
all the cattle which had grown fat in summer, and were not
killed for winter-use, were turned out soon after Michaelmas to
shift as the}' could through the dead months; so that no fresh
meat could be had in winter or spring. Hence the marvellous
account of the vast stores of salted flesh found in the larder of

222 NATURAL HISTORY

the eldest Spencer' in the days o^ Edward the Second, even so
late in the spring as the third of May. It was from magazines
like these that the turbulent barons supported in idleness their
riotous swarms of retainers ready for any disorder or mischief.
But agriculture is now arrived at such a pitch of perfection,
that our best and fattest meats are killed in the winter; and no
man need eat salted flesh, unless he prefers it, that has money
to buy fresh.

One cause of this distemper might be, no doubt, the quantity
of wretched fresh and salt fish consumed by the commonalty at
all seasons as well as in lent; which our poor now would hardly
be persuaded to touch.

The use of linen changes, shirts or shifts, in the room of
sordid and filthy woollen, long worn next the skin, is a matter
of neatness comparatively modern; but must prove a great
means of preventing cutaneous ails. At this very time woollen
instead of linen prevails among the poorer JFelch, who are sub-
ject to foul eruptions.

The plenty of good wheaten bread that now is found among
all ranks of people in the south, instead of that miserable sort
which used in old days to be made of barley or beans, may con-
tribute not a little to the sweetening their blood and correcting
their juices; for the inhabitants of mountainous districts, to
this day, are still liable to the itch and other cutaneous disorders,
from a wretchedness and poverty of diet.

As to the produce of a garden, every middle-aged person of
observation may perceive, within his own memory, both in town
and countr^^, how vastly the consumption of vegetables is in-

' Viz. Six hundred bacons, eighty carcasses of beef, and six hundred muttons.

OF SELBORNE. 223

creased. Green-stalls in cities now sujiport multitudes in a
comfortable state, while gardeners get fortunes. Every decent
labourer also has his garden, which is half his support, as well
as his delight; and common farmers provide plenty of beans,
peaS; and greens, for their hinds to eat with their bacon; and
those few that do not are despised for their sordid parsimony,
and looked upon as regardless of the welfare of their dependants.
Potatoes have prevailed in this little district, by means of pre-
miums, within these twenty years only; and are much esteemed
here now by the poor, who would scarce have ventured to taste
them in the last reign.

Our Saxon ancestors certainly had some sort of cabbage,
because they call the month of February sprout -cale ; but, long
after their days, the cultivation of gardens was little attended
to. The religious, being men of leisure, and keeping up a con-
stant correspondence with Italy, were the first people among us
that had gardens and fruit-trees in any perfection, within the
walls of their abbies ' and priories. The barons neglected every
pursuit that did not lead to war or tend to the pleasure of the
chase.

It was not till gentlemen took up the study of horticulture
themselves that the knowledge of gardening made such hasty
advances. Lord Cobham, Lord I la, and Mr. JValler o? Beacons-
field, were some of the first people of rank that promoted the
elegant science of ornamenting without despising the superin-
tendence of the kitchen quarters and fruit walls.

' " In monasteries the lamp of knowledge continued to burn, however dimly.
" In them men of business were formed for the state : the art of writing was culti-
"■ vated by the monks; they were the only proficients in mechanics^ gardening,
" and, architecture." i See Dalrymyk's Annals of Scotland,

224 NATURAL HISTORY . I

A remark made by the excellent Mr. Ray in his Tour of
Europe at once surprises us, and corroborates what has been
advanced above; for we find him observing, so late as his days,
that " the Italians use several herbs for sallets, which are not
" yet or have not been but lately used in England, viz. selleri
" (celery) which is nothing else but the sweet smallage; the
" young shoots whereof, with a little of the head of the root
" cut off, they eat raw with oil and pepper." And farther he
adds "curled endive blanched is much used beyond seas j and,
" for a raw sallet, seemed to excel lettuce itself." Now this
journey was undertaken no longer ago than in the year 1663.

I am, &c.

LETTER XXXVin.

TO THE SAME.

" Forte puer, comitum seductus ab agmine fido,
" Dixeiat, ecquis adest ? et, adest, responderat echo.
" Hie stupet ; utque aciem partes divisit in omnes;
" Voce, veni, clamat magn&. Vocat ilia vocantein."

DEAR SIR, Selborne, Feb. 12, 177S.

In a district so diversified as this, so full of hollow vales and
hanging woods, it is no wonder that echoes should abound.
Many we have discovered that return the cry of a pack of dogs,
the notes of a hunting-horn, a tunable ring of bells, or the me-
lody of birds, very agreeably : but we were still at a loss for a

OF SELBORNE. 335

polysyllabical, articulate echo, till a young gentleman, who had
parted from his company in a summer evening walk, and was
calling after them, stumbled upon a very curious one in a spot
where it might least be expected. At first he was much sur-
prised, and could not be persuaded but that he was mocked by
some boy ; but, repeating his trials in several languages, and
finding his respondent to be a very adroit polyglot, he then dis-
cerned the deception.

This echo in an evening, before rural noises cease, would re-
peat ten syllables most articulately and distinctly, especially if
quick dactyls were chosen. The last syllables of

" Tityre, tu patulae recubans - - -"

were as audibly and intelligibly returned as the first: and there
is no doubt, could trial have been made, but that at midnight,
when the air is very elastic, anu a dead stillness prevails, one or
two syllables more might have been obtained; but the distance
rendered so late an experiment very inconvenient.

Quick dactyls, we observed, succeeded best; for when we
came to try it's powers in slow, heavy, embarrassed spondees of
the same number of syllables,

" Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens - - -"
we could perceive a return but of four or five.

All echoes have some one place to which they are returned
stronger and more distinct than to any other j and that is always
the place that lies at right angles with the object of repercussion,
and is not too near, nor too far off. Buildings, or naked rocks,
re-echo much more articulately than hanging wood or vales;
because in the latter the voice is as it were entangled, and em-
barrassed in the covert, and weakened in the rebound.

2 G

225 NATURAL HISTORY

The true object of this echo, as we found by various experi-
ments, is the stone-built, tiled hop-kiln in Gally-Lane, which
measures in front 40 feet, and from the ground to the eaves 12
feet. The true centrum phonicum, or just distance, is one parti-
cular spot in the Ki)ig's-Jield, in the path to Nore-hitl, on the very
brink of the steep balk above the hollow cart way. In this case
there is no choice of distance; but the path, by meer contin-
gency, happens to be the lucky, the identical spot, because the
ground rises or falls so immediately, if the speaker either retires
or advances, that his mouth would at once be above or below
the object.

We measured this polysyllabical echo with great exactness,
and found the distance to fall very short of Dr. Plot's rule for
distinct articulation : for the Doctor, in his history of Oxford-
shire, allows 120 feet for the return of each syllable distinctly:
hence this echo, which gives ten distinct syllables, ought to
measure 400 yards, or 120 feet to eacli syllable; whereas our
distance is only 258 yards, or near 75 feet, to each syllable.
Thus our measure falls short of the Doctor's, as five to eight:
but then it must be acknowledged that this candid philosopher
was convinced afterwards, that some latitude must be admitted
of in the distance of echoes according to time and place.

When experiments of this sort are making, it should always
be remembered that weather and the time of day have a vast
influence on an echo; for a dull, heavy, moist air deadens and
clogs the sound; and hot sunshine renders the air thin and
weak, and deprives it of all it's springiness; and a ruffling wind
quite defeats the whole. In a still, clear, dewy evening the air
is most elastic; and perhaps the later the hour the more so.

Echo has always been so amusing to the imagination, that

OF SELBORNE. 227

the poets have personified her; and in their hands she has been
the occasion of many a beautiful fiction. Nor need the gravest
man be ashamed to appear taken with such a phasnomenon, since
it may become the subject of philosophical or mathematical
inquiries.

One should have imagined that echoes, if not entertaining,
must at least have been harmless and inoffensive; yet Virgil
advances a strange notion, that they are injurious to bees. After
enumerating some probable and reasonable annoyances, such as
prudent owners would wish far removed from their bee-gardens,
he adds

'• — •— — — — — aut ubi concava pulsu
" Saxa sonant, vocisque offeiisa resultat imago."

This wild and fanciful assertion will hardly be atlmitted by
the philosophers of these days; especially as they all now seem
agreed that insects are not furnished with any organs of hearing
at all. But if it should be urged, that though they cannot hear
yet perhaps they may Jeel the repercussion of sounds, I grant it
is possible they m?.y. Yet that these impressions are distasteful
or hurtful, I deny, because bees, in good summers, thrive well
in my outlet, where the echoes are very strong: for this village
is another Anathoth, a place of responses or echoes. Besides, it
does not appear from experiment that bees are in any way
capable of being affected by sounds: for I have often tried my
own with a large speaking-trumpet held close to their hives,
and with such an exertion of voice as would have hailed a ship
at the distance of a mile, and still these insects pursued their
various employments undisturbed, and without shewing the
least sensibility or resentment.

Some time since it's discovery this echo is become totally

22fi NATURAL HISTORY

silent, though the object, or hop-kiln, remains : nor is there any
mystery in this detect; for the field between is planted as an
hop-garden, and the voice of the speaker is totally absorbed and
lost among the poles and entangled foliage of the hops. And
when the poles are removed in autumn the disappointment is
the same; because a tall quick-set hedge, nurtured up for the
purpose of shelter to the hop ground, entirely interrupts the
impulse and repercussion of the voice: so that till those ob-
structions are removed no more of it's garrulity can be expected.
Should any gentleman of fortune think an echo in his park
or outlet a pleasing incident, he might build one at little or no
expense. For whenever he had occasion for a new barn, stable,
dog-kennel, or the like structure, it would be only needful to
erect this building on the gentle declivity of an hill, with a like
rising opposite to it, at a few hundred yards distance ; and per-
haps success might be the easier ensured could some canal, lake,
or stream, intervene. From a seat at the centrum phonicum he
and his friends might amuse themselves sometimes of an evening
with the prattle of this loquacious nymph; of whose compla-
cency and decent reserve more may be said than can with truth
of every individual of her sex ; since she is — — — —

'f __ — — — — — quae nee reticere loquenti,
" Nee prior ipsa loqui didicit resonabilis echo."

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE. 229

P. S. The classic reader will, I trust, pardon the following
lovely quotation, so finely describing echoes, and so poetically
accounting for their causes from popular superstition:

" Quae bene quom videaSj rationem reddere possis
" Tute tibi atque aliis, quo pacto per loca sola
" Saxa pareis formas verborum ex ordine reddant,
" Palanteis comites quom monteis inter opacos
" Quaerimus, et magna disperses voce ciemus.
" Sex etiam, aut septem loca vidi reddere voces
" Unam quom jaceres: ita coUes coUibus ipsis
" Verba repulsantes iterabant dicta referre.
" Haec loca capripedes Satyros, Nymphasque tenere
" Fiuitimi fingunt, et Faunos esse loquuntur;
" Quorum uoctivago strepitu^ ludoque jocanti
" Adfitmant volgo taciturna silentia rumpi,
" Chordarumque sonos fieri, dulceisque querelas,
" Tibia quas fundit digitis pulsata canentum :
" Et genus agricolum late sentiscere, quom Pan
" Pinea semiferi capitis velamina quassans,
" Unco saepe labro calamos percurrit hianteis,
" Fistula silvestrem ne cesset fundere musam."

Lucretius, Lib. iv. 1. 576.

LETTER XXXIX.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, May 13, 1778.

Among the many singularities attending those amusing birds
the swifts, I am now confirmed in the opinion that we have
every year the same number of pairs invariably; at least the

220

NATURAL HISTORY

result of my inquiry has been exactly the same for a long time
past. The swallows and martins are so numerous, and so widely
distributed over the village, that it is hardly possible to recount
theni; while the swifts, though they do not all build in the
church, yet so frequently haunt it, and play and rendezvous
round it, that they are easily enumerated. The number that I
constantly find , are eight pairs; about half of which reside in
the church, and the rest build in some of the lowest and meanest
thatclied cottages. Now as these eight pairs, allowance being
made for accidents, breed yearly eight pairs more, what becomes
annually of this increase; and what determines every spring
which pairs shall visit us, and reoccupy their ancient haunts?

Ever since I have attended to the subject of ornitholog}', I
have always supposed that that sudden reverse of affection, that
strange oivTt;TOf'yv, whicli immediately succeeds in the feathered
kind to the most passionate fondness, is the occasion of an equal
dispersion of birds over the face of the earth. Without this
provision one favourite district would be crowded with inhabi-
tants, while others would be destitute and forsaken. Eut the
parent birds seem to maintain a jealous superiority, and to oblige
the young to seek for new abodes: and the rivalry of the males,
in many kinds, prevents their crowding the one on the other.
Whether the swallows and house-martins return in the same
exact number annually is not easy to say, for reasons given
above: but it is apparent, as I have remarked before in my
Monographies, that the numbers returning bear no manner of
proportion to the numbers retiring.

OF SELBORNE. 231

L E T T E R XL.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, June 2, 1778.

J. HE standing objection to botany has always been, that it is a
pursuit that amuses the fancy and exercises the memory, with-
out improving the mind or advancing any real knowledge: and,
where the science is carried no farther than a mere systematic
classification, the charge is but too true. But the botanist that
is desirous of wiping ofF this aspersion should be by no means
content with a list of namesj he should study plants philoso-
phically, should investigate the laws of vegetation, should exa-
mine the powers and virtues of efficacious herbs, should promote
their cultivation ; and graft the gardener, the planter, and the
husbandman, on the phytologist. Not that system is by any
means to be thrown aside; without system the field of Nature
would be a pathless wilderness: but system should be subser-
vient to, not the main object of, pursuit.

Vegetation is highly worthy of our attention; and in itself
is of the utmost consequence to mankind, and productive of
many of the greatest comforts and elegancies of life. To plants
we owe timber, bread, beer, honey, wine, oil, linen, cotton, &c.
what not only strengthens our hearts, and exhilarates our spirits,
but what secures us from inclemencies of weather and adorns
our persons. Man, in his true state of nature, seems to be sub-
sisted by spontaneous vegetation: in middle climes, where
grasses prevail, he mixes some animal food with the produce of

232 NATURAL HISTORY

the field and garden: and it is towards the polar extremes only
that, like his kindred bears and wolves, he gorges himself with
flesh alone, and is driven, to what hunger has never been known
to compel the very beasts, to prey on his own species."

The productions of vegetation have had a vast influence on
the commerce of nations, and have been the great promoters of
navigation, as may be seen in the articles of sugar, tea, tobacco,
opium, ginseng, betel, paper, &c. As every climate has its
peculiar produce, our natural wants bring on a mutual inter-
course; so that by means of trade each distant part is supplied
with the growth of every latitude. But, without the knowledge
of plants and their culture, we must have been content with
our hips andha ws, without enjoying the delicate fruits of India
and the salutiferous drugs of Peru.

Instead of examining the minute distinctions of every various
species of each obscure genus, the botanist should endeavour to
make himself acquainted with those that are useful. You shall
see a man readily ascertain every herb of the field, yet hardly
know wheat from barley, or at least one sort of wheat or barley
from another.

But of all sorts of vegetation the grasses seem to be most
neglected; neither the farmer nor the grazier seem to distin-
guish the annual from the perennial, the hardy from the tender,
nor the succulent and nutritive from the dry and juiceless.

The study of grasses would be of great consequence to a
northerly, and grazing kingdom. The botanist that could im-
prove the swerd of the district where he lived would be an use-
ful member of society : to raise a thick turf on a naked soil

" See the late Voyages to the South-seas.

OF SELBORNE. 233

would be worth volumes of systematic knowledge; and he
would be the best commonwealth's man that could occasion the
growth of " two blades qf grass where one alone was seen before."

I am, &c.

LETTER XLI.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIE, SelBorne, July 3, 1778.

In a district so diversified with such a variety of hill and dale,
aspects, and soils, it is no wonder that great choice of plants
should be found. Chalks, clays, sands, sheep-walks and downs,
bogs, heaths, woodlands, and champaign fields, cannot but fur-
nish an ample Flora. The deep rocky lanes abound vfiih JiUces,
and the pastures and moist woods -w'lih fungi. If in any branch
of botany we may seem to be wanting, it must be in the large
aquatic plants, which are not to be expected on a spot far
removed from rivers, and lying up amidst the hill country at
the spring heads. To enumerate all the plants that have been
discovered within our limits would be a needless work; but a
short list of the more rare, and the spots where they are to be
found, may be neither unacceptable nor unentertaining: —

Helleborus fcetidus, stinking hellebore, bear's foot, or setter-
wort, all over the High-wood and Coney-croft-hanger : this con-
tinues a great branching plant the winter through, blossoming
about January, and is very ornamental in shady walks and
shrubberies, The good women give the leaves powdered to

% H

<234 NATURAL HISTORY

children troul)le(l with worms; but it is a violent remedy, and
ought to be administered with caution.

Helleborus viridis, green hellebore^ — in the deep stony lane
on the left hand just before the turning to NortonJ'arm, and at
the top of Middle Dorton under the hedge: this plant dies down
to the ground early in autumn, and springs again about Feb-
ruary, flowering almost as soon as it appears above ground.

Vaccinium o.iycoccos, creeping bilberries, or cranberries, — in
the bogs of Bins-pond;

Faccinium myrtilliis, whortle, or bilberries, — on the dry hil-
locks of JVolmer-j'orest;

Drosera rotundifoUa, round-leaved sundew. 7 In the bogs
longifolta, long-leaved ditto. j of Bin's-pond.

Comariim paliistre, purple comarum, or marsh cinque foil, —
in the bogs of Bins-pond;

Hypericum androscemum, Tutsan, St. John's Wort, — in the
stony, hollow lanes;

Vinca minor, less periwinkle, — in Selborne-hanger and Shrub-
wood;

Monotropa hypopithys, yellow monotropa, or bird's nest, — in
Selborne-hanger under the shady beeches, to whose roots it
seems to be parasitical — at the north-west end of the Hanger;

Chloi'a pcrfoliata, Blackstonia perfoliata, Hudsoni, perfoliated
yellow-wort, — on the banks in the Kings-field;

Pari^ quadrifolia, herb Paris, true-love, or one-berry, — in
the Cliurch-litten-coppice ;

Chrysosplenium oppositifoUuni, opposite golden saxifrage, — in
the dark and rocky hollow lanes;

Gcntiana amarella, autumnal gentian, or felhvort, — on the
Zigzag and Hanger;

OF SELBORNE. 235

Lathnea sqiiammaria, tootli wort, — in the Cliurch-Utten-cojh-
pice under some hazels near the foot-bridge, in I'rimmiiig's gar-
den hedge, and on the chy wall opposite Grange-yard ;

Dipsacus pilosus, small teasel, — in the Short and Long Lith
Lathyrus sijlvestris, narrow-leaved, or wild lathyriis, — in tiie
bushes at the foot of the Short Lith, near the path;

Ophrys spiralis, ladies traces, — in the Lo7ig Lith, and towards
the south-corner of the common;

Ophrys nidus avis, birds' nest ojihrys, — in the Long Lith
under the shady beeches among the dead leaves; in Great Dor-
ton among the bushes, and on the Hanger plentifully;

Serapias latifoUa, helleborine, — in the High-wood under the
shady beeches;

Daphne laureola, spurge laurel, — in Selborne-Hanger and the
High-wood.

Daphne mezereum, the mezereon, — in Selborne-Hanger among
the shrubs at the south-east end above the cottages.

Lycoperdon tuber, truffles, — in the Hanger and High-wood.
Sambucus ebulus, dwarf elder, wallwort, or danewort, — among
the rubbish and ruined foundations of the Priory.

Of all the propensities of plants none seem more strange
than their different periods of blossoming. Some produce their
floAvers in the winter, or very first dawnings of spring; many
when the spring is established; some at midsummer, and some
not till autumn. When we see the helleborus fcetidus and helle-
horus niger blowing at Christmas, the helleborus hyemalis in Jan-
uary, and the helleborus viridis as soon as ever it emerges out of
the ground, we do not wonder, because they are kindred plants
that we expect should keep pace the one with the other. But
other congenerous vegetables differ so widely in their time of

2 H £

036 NATURAL HISTORY

flowering, that we cannot but admire. I shall only instance at
present in the crocus sativus, the vernal, and the autumnal cro-
cus, which have such an affinity, that the best botanists only
make them varieties of the same genus, of which there is only
one species; not being able to discern any difference in the
corolla, or in the internal structure. Yet the vernal crocus ex-
pands it's flowers by the beginning of March at farthest, and
often in very rigorous weather; and cannot be retarded but by
some violence offered: — while the autumnal (the Saffron) defies
the influence of the spring and summer, and will not blow till
most plants begin to fade and run to seed. This circumstance
is one of the Avonders of the creation, little noticed, because a
common occurrence : yet ought not to be overlooked on account
of it's being familiar, since it would be as difficult to be ex-
plained as the most stupendous phenomenon in nature.

Say, what impels, amidst surrounding snow
Congeal'd, the crocus' flamy bud to glow ?
Say, what retards, amidst the summer's blaze,
Th' autumnal hull, till pale, declining days ?
The God of Seasons; whose pervading power
Controls the sun, or sheds the fleecy shower:
He bids each flower his quick'ning word obey;
Or to each lingering bloom enjoins delay.

OF SELBORNE. 237

LETTER XLII.

TO THE SAME.

" Omnibus animalibus reliquis certus et uniusmodi, et in suo cuique genere
" incessus est : aves solas vario meatu feruntur, et in terra^ et in aere."

Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. x. cap. 38.

DEAR SIB, Selborne, Aug. 7, 17/8.

A GOOD ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by
their air as well as by their colours and shape; on the ground
as well as on the wing, and in the bush as well as in the hand.
For, though it must not be said that every species of birds has a
manner peculiar to itself, yet there is somewhat in most genetrc
at least, that at first sight discriminates them, and enables a
judicious observer to pronounce upon them with some certainty.
Put a bird in motion

" — — Et vera incessu paluit — — — — "

Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings ex-
panded and motionless; and it is from their gliding manner that
the former are still called in the north oi England gleads, from
the Saxon verb glidan to glide. The kestixl, or wind-hover, has a
peculiar mode of hanging in the air in one place, his wings all
the while being briskly agitated. Hen-harriers fly low over
heaths or fields of corn, and beat the ground regularly like a
pointer or setting-dog. Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if
lighter than the air; they seem to want ballast. There is a

238 NATURAL HISTORY

peculiarity belonging to raveiis that must draw the attention
even of the most incurious — they spend all their leisure time in
striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful
skirmish; and, M'hen they move from one place to another, fre-
quently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be
falling to the ground. AVhen this odd gesture betides them,
they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the
center of gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a
frolicksome manner; crones and dazes swagger in their walk;
wood-peckers fly xolatu undoso, opening and closing their wings at
every stroke, and so are always rising or falling in curves. All
of this genus use their tails, which incline downward, as a sup-
port while they run up trees. Parrots, like all other hooked-
clawed birds, walk aukwardly, and make use of their bill as a
third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution.
All the gallince parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly;
but fly with diiSculty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a
straight line. Jlfagpies and jai/s flutter with powerless wings,
and make no dispatch; herons seem incumbered with too much
sail for their light bodies; but these vast hollow wings are
necessary in carrying burdens, such as large fishes, and the like;
pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of
clashing their wings the one against the other over their backs
with a loud snap; another variety called tumblers turn them.
selves over in the air. Some birds have movements peculiar to
the season of love : thus ring-doves, though strong and rapid at
other times, yet in the spring hang about on the wing in a toy-
ing and playful manner; thus the cock-snipe, while breeding,
forgetting his former flight, fans the air like the wind-hover;
and the green-Jinch in particular exhibits such languishing and

OF SELBORNE. S39

faultering gestures as to appear like a wounded and dying bird;
the king-Jislier darts along like an arrow; fern-oxvh, or goat-
suckers, glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor:
starlings as it were swim along, while missel-thrushes use a wild
and desultory flight; sxcmllows sweep over the surface of the
ground and water, and distinguish themselves by rapid turns
and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in circles; and the
bank-martin moves with frequent vacillations like a butterfly.
Most of the small birds fly by jerks, rising and failing as they
advance. Most small birds hop ; but wagtails and larks walk,
moving their legs alternately. Skylarks rise and fall perpen-
dicularly as they sing; woodlarks hang poised in the air; and
titlarks rise and fall in large curves, singing in their descent.
The white-throat uses odd jerks and gesticulations over the tops
of hedges and bushes. All the duck-kind waddle; divers and
auks walk as if fettered, and stand erect on their tails : these
are the compedes of Linnceus. Geese and cranes, and most wild-
fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position.
The secondary remiges of Tringoi, wild-ducks, and some others,
are very long, and give their v\^ings, when in motion, an hooked
appearance. Dab-chicks, moor-hetis, and coots, fly erect, with
their legs hanging down, and hardly make any dispatch; the
reason is plain, their wings are placed too forward out of the
true centre of gravity; as the legs of auks and divers are situated
too backward.

240 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XLin.

TO THE SAME.

DEAR SIR, Selbobne, Sept. g, 1778.

Jdrom the motion of birds, the transition is natural enough to
their notes and language, of which I shall say something. Not
that I would pretend to understand their language like the
vizier; who, by the recital of a conversation which passed
between two owls, reclaimed a sultan, " before delighting in con-
quest and devastation; but I would be thought only to mean
that many of the winged tribes have various sounds and voices
adapted to express their various passions, wants, and feelings;
such as anger, fear, love, hatred, hunger, and the like. All
species are not equally eloquent; some are copious and fluent
as it were in their utterance, while others are confined to a few
important sounds: no bird, like the fish kind, is quite mute,
though some are rather silent. The language of birds is very
ancient, and, like other ancient modes of speech, very elliptical
little is said, but much is meant and understood.

The notes of the eagle-kind are shrill and piercing; and
about the season of nidification much diversified, as I have been
often assured by a curious observer of Nature, who long resided
at Gibraltar, where eagles abound. The notes of our hawks
much resemble those of the king of birds. Owls have very ex-
pressive notes; they hoot in a fine vocal sound, much resembling

" See Spectator, Vol. VII, N» 512,

OF SELBORNE. 241

the VOX' humana, and reducible by a pitch-pipe to a musical key.
This note seems to express complacency and rivalry among the
males: they use also a quick call and an horrible scream; and
can snore and hiss when they mean to menace. Ravens, besides
their loud croak, can exert a deep and solemn note that makes
the woods to echo; the amorous sound of a crow is strange and
ridiculous; rooks, in the breeding season, attempt sometimes in
the gaiety of their hearts to sing, but with no great success ;
the parrot-kind have many modulations of voice, as appears by
their aptitude to learn human sounds ; doves coo in an amorous and
mournful manner, and are emblems of despairing lovers; the
woodpecker sets up a sort of loud and hearty laugh; thejern-owl,
or goat-sucker, from the dusk till day-break, serenades his mate
with the clattering of castanets. All the tuneful passeres express
their complacency by sweet modulations, and a variety of me-
lody. The swallow, as has been observed in a former letter, by
a shrill alarm bespeaks the attention of the other hirundines, and
bids them be aware that the hawk is at hand. Aquatic and gre-
garious birds, especially the nocturnal, that shift their quarters
in the dark, are very noisy and loquacious; as cranes, wild-geese,
wild-ducks, and the like: their perpetual clamour prevents them
from dispersing and losing their companions.

In so extensive a subject, sketches and outlines are as much
as can be expected; for it would be endless to instance in all
the infinite variety of the feathered nation. We shall therefore
confine the remainder of this letter to the few domestic fowls of
our yards, which are most known, and therefore best understood.
And first the peacock, with his gorgeous train, demands our
attention; but, like most of the gaudy birds, his notes are grat-
ing and shocking to the ear: the yelling of cats, and the bray-

2 I

1)42

NATURAL HISTORY

ino- of an ass, are not more disgustful. The voice of the goose
is truinpct-likc, and clanking; and once saved the Capitol at
Rome, as grave historians assert: the hiss also of the gander \s
formidable and full of menace, and " protective of his young."
Among ducks the sexual distinction of voice is remarkable; for,
while the quack of the female is loud and sonorous, the voice of
the drake is inward and harsh, and feeble, and scarce discernible.
The cock turkey struts and gobbles to his mistress in a most un-
couth manner; he hath also a pert and petulant note when he
attacks his adversary- ^Vhen a hen turkey leads forth her young
brood she keeps a watchful eye: and if a bird of prey appear,
though ever so high in the air, the careful mother announces
the enemy with a little inward moan, and watches him with a
steady and attentive look; but, if he approach, her note becomes
earnest and alarming, and her outcries are redoubled.

No inliabitants of a yard seem possessed of such a variety of
expression and so copious a language as common poultry. Take
a chicken of four or live clays old, and hold it up to a window
where there are flies, and it will immediately seize it's prey, with
little twitterings of complacency; but if you tender it a wasp
or a bee, at once it's note becomes harsh, and expressive of dis-
aj)probation and a sense of danger. When a pullet is ready to
lay she intimates the event by a joyous and easy soft note. Of
all the occLurences of their life tliat o\' laying seems to be the
mest important ; for no sooner has a hen disburdened herself,
than she rushes forth with a clamorous kind of joy, which the
cick and the rest of his mistresses immediately adopt. The
tumult is not confined to the family concerned, but catches fron;
yard to yard, and spreads to every homestead witiiin hearing,
till at last the whole village is in an uproar. As soon as a hen

OF SELBORNE. ■24^

becomes a mother her new relation demands a new language-
she then runs clocking and screaming about, and seems agitated
as if possessed. The father of the flock has also a considerable
vocabulary; if he finds food, he C2.11s a favourite concubine to
partake; and if a bird of prey passes over, with a warning voice
he bids his family beware. The gallant chanticleer has, at com-
mand, his amorousphrases and his terms of defiance. But the
sound by which he is best known is his crowing: by this he has
been distinguished in all ages as the countryman's clock or
larum, as the watchman that proclaims the divisions of the night.
Thus the poet elegantly stiles him :

" — the crested cock, whose claiion sounds

" The silent hours."

A neighbouring gentleman one summer had lost most of his
chickens by a sparrow-hawk, that came gliding down between
a faggot pile and the end of his house to the place where the
coops stood. The owner, inwardly vexed to see his flock thus
diminishing, hung a setting net adroitly between the pile and
the house, into which the caitif dashed, and was entangled.
Resentment suggested the law of retaliation ; he therefore clip-
ped the hawk's wings, cut off his talons, and, fixing a cork on
his bill, threw him down among the brood-hens. Imagination
cannot paint the scene that ensued; the expressions that fear,
rage, and revenge, inspired, were new, or at least such as had
been unnoticed before : the exasperated matrons upbraided,
they execrated, they insulted, they triumphed. In a word, they
never desisted from buffeting their adversary till they had torn
him in an hundred pieces.

244 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XLIV.

TO THE SAME.

Selborne.

«' — — — — monstrent"

" Quid tantilm Oceano properent se tingere soles"
" Hybenii ; vel quae tardis mora noctibus obstet."

Gentlemen who liave outlets might contrive to make orna-
ment subservient to utility; a pleasing eye-trap might also con-
tribute to promote science: an obelisk in a garden or park might
be both an embellishment and an heliotrope.

Any person that is curious, and enjoys the advantage of a
good horizon, might, with little trouble, make two heliotropes;
the one for the muter, the other for the siwmier solstice: and
these two erections might be constructed with very little ex"
pense: for two pieces of timber frame- work, about ten or twelve
feet high, and four feet broad at the base, and close lined with
plank, would answer the purpose.

The erection for the former should, if possible, be placed
within sight of some window in the common sitting parlour;
because men, at that dead season of the year, are usually within
doors at the close of the day; while that. for the latter might be
fixed for any given spot in the garden or outlet: whence the
owner might contemplate, in a fine summer's evening, the
utmost extent that the sun makes to the northward at the season
of the longest days. Now nothing would be necessary but to

OF SELBORNE. 245

place these two objects with so much exactness, that the. westerly
limb of the sun, at setting, might but just clear the winter helio-
trope to the west of it on the shortest clay; and that the whole
disc of the sun, at the longest day, might exactly at setting also
clear the summer heliotrope to the north of it.

By this simple expedient it would soon appear that there is
no such thing, strictly speaking, as a solstice; for, from the
shortest day, the owner would, every clear evening, see the disc
advancing, at it's setting, to the westzcard of the object; and,
from the longest day, observe the sun retiring backwards every
evening at it's setting, towards the object westward, till, in a
few nights, it would set quite behind it, and so by degrees to
the west of it: for when the sun comes near the summer solstice,
the whole disc of it would at first set behind the object; after a
time the northern limb would first appear, and so every night
gradually more, till at length the whole diameter would set
northward of it for about three nights; but on the middle night
of the three, sensibly more remote than the former or following.
When beginning it's recess from the summer tropic, it would
continue more and more to be hidden every night, till at length
it would descend quite behind the object again; and so nightly
more and more to the westward.

Selbobnb.

me NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER XLV.

TO THE SAME.

" — — — Mugire vidcbis

" Sub pedibus terram, et descendere montibus ornos."

When I was a boy I used to read, with astonishment and im-
plicit assent, accounts in Baker's Chronicle of walking hills and
travelling mountains. Johji Philips, in his Cyder, alludes to the
credit that was given to such stories with a delicate but quaint
vein of humour peculiar to the author of the Splendid Shilling.

" I nor advise, nor reprehend the choice
" 0( Marc ley Hill; the apple no where finds

" A kinder raou'd : yet 'tis unsafe to trust • ,

" Deceitful ground : who knows but that once more
" This mount may journey, and his present site
" Forsaken, to thy neighbour's bounds transfer
" Thy goodly plants, affording matter strange
,. • cf Pqj ]g^ debates !"

But, when I came to consider better, I began to suspect that
though our hills may never have journeyed far, yet that the
ends of many of them have slipped and fallen away at distant
periods, leaving the cliffs bare and abrupt. This seems to have
been the case with Nore and JVhetham Hills; and especially
with the ridge between Harteley Park and JFard le ham, where
the ground has slid into vast swellings and furrows; and lies
still in such romantic confusion as cannot be accounted for from

OF SELBORNE. 247

any other cause. A strange event, that happened not long since,
justifies our suspicions; which, though it hefell not within tlie
hmits of tliis parisli, yet as it was witliin tlie hundred of «Se/-
borne, and as the circumstances were singular, may fairly claisn
a place in a work of this nature.

The months oi January and February, in the year 1774, were
remarkable for great melting snows and vast gluts of rain, so
that by the end of the latter month the land-springs, or lavanfs,
began to prevail, and to be near as high as in the memorable
winter of 1764. The beginning o? March also went on in the
same tenor; when, in the night between the 8th and 9th of that
month, a considerable part of the great woody hanger at Hawk-
ley was torn from it's place, and fell down, leaving a high free-
stone cliff naked and bare, and resembling the steep side of a
chalk-pit. It appears that this huge fragment, being perhaps
sapped and undermined by waters, foundered, and was ingulfed,
going down in a perpendicular direction; for a gate which stood
in the field, on the top of the hill, after sinking with it's posts
for thirty or forty feet, remained in so true and upright a posi-
tion as to open and shut with great exactness, just as in its first
situation. Several oaks also are still standing, and in a state of
vegetation, after taking the same desperate leap. That great
part of this prodigious mass was absorbed in some gulf below,
is plain also from the inclining ground at the bottom of the hill,
which is free and unincumbered; but would have been buried
in heaps of rubbish, had the fragment parted and fallen forward.
About an hundred yards from the foot of this hanging coppice
stood a cottage by the side of a lane; and two hundred yards,
lower, on the other side of the lane, was a farm-house, in which
lived a labourer and his family; and, just by, a stout new barn.

3^8 NATURAL HISTORY

Tne cottage was inhabited by an old woman and her son and
his wife. These people in the evening, which was very dark
and tempestuous, observed tliat the brick floors of their kitchens
began to heave and part; and that the walls seemed to open,
and the roofs to crack: but they all agree that no tremor of the
ground, indicating an earthquake, was ever felti only that the
wind continued to make a most tremendous roaring in the
woods and hangers. The miserable inhabitants, not daring to
go to bed, remained in the utmost solicitude and confusion, ex-
pecting every moment to be buried under the ruins of their
shattered edifices. When day-light came they were at leisure
to contemplate the devastations of the night: they then found
that a deep rift, or chasm, had opened under their houses, and
torn them, as it were, in two; and that one end of the barn had
suffered in a similar manner; that a pond near the cottage had
nndergone a strange reverse, becoming deep at the shallow end,
and so vice versa; that many large oaks were removed out of
their perpendicular, some thrown down, and some fallen into
the heads of neighbouring trees; and that a gate was thrust
forward, with it's hedge, full six feet, so as to require a new
track to be made to it. From the foot of the cliff the general
course of the ground, which is pasture, inclines in a moderate
descent for half a mile, and is interspersed with some hillocks,
which were rifted, in every direction, as well towards the great
woody hangerj as from it. In the first pasture the deep clefts
began: and running across the lane, and under the buildings,
made such vast shelves that the road was impassable for some
time; and so over to an arable field on the other side, which
was strangely torn and disordered. The second pasture field,
being more soft and springy, was protruded forward without

OF SELBORNE. 249

many fissures in the turf, which was raised in long ridges resem-
bling graves, lying at right angles to the motion. At the bot-
tom of this enclosure the soil and turf rose many feet against
the bodies of some oaks that obstructed their farther course
and terminated this awful commotion.

The perpendicular height of the precipice, in general, is
twenty-three yards; the length of the lapse, or slip, as seen from
the fields below, one hundred and eighty-one; and a partial fall,
concealed in the coppice, extends seventy yards more : so that
the total length of this fragment that fell was two hundred and
fifty-one yards. About fifty acres of land suffered from this
violent convulsion; two houses were entirely destroyed; one
end of a new barn was left in ruins, the walls being cracked
through the very stones that composed them; a hanging cop-
pice was changed to a naked rock; and some grass grounds
and an arable field so broken and rifted by the chasms as to be
rendered, for a time, neither fit for the plough or safe for pastu-
rage, till considerable labour and expense had been bestowed in
levelling the surface and filling in the gaping fissures.

LETTER XLVI.

TO THE SAME.

Selbokne.

"" ■— resonant arbusta — ^ — — •"

X HERE is a steep abrupt pasture field interspersed with furze
<;lose to the back of this village, well known by the name of
the Short Lithe, consisting of a rocky dry soil, and inclining to

2 JC

250 NATURAL HISTORY

the afternoon sun. This spot abounds with the gryllus campes-
tris, or Jield-cricket ; which, though frequent in these parts, is by
no means a common insect in many other counties.

As their cheerful summer cry cannot but draw the attention
of a naturahst, I have often gone down to examine the oeconomy
of these grylli, and study their mode of Ufe: but they are so shy
and cautious that it is no easy matter to get a sight of them;
for, feeling a person's foo steps as he advances, they stop short
in the midst of their song, and retire backward nimbly inla
their burrows, where they lurk till all suspicion of danger is
over.

At first we attempted to dig them out with a spade, but
without any great success; for either we could not get to the
bottom of the hole, which often terminated under a great stone;
or else, in breaking up the ground, we inadvertently squeezed
the poor insect to death. Out of one so bruised we took a mul-
titude of eggs, which were long and narrow, of a yellow colour,
and covered with a very tough skin. By this accident we
learned to distinguish the male from the female; the former of
which is shining black, with a golden stripe across his shoulders;
the latter is more dusky, more capacious about the abdomen,
and carries a long sword-shaped weapon at her tail, which pro-
bably is the instrument with which she deposits her eggs in
crannies and safe receptacles.

Where violent methods will not avail, more gentle means
will often succeed; and so it proved in the present case; for,
though a spade be too boisterous and rough an implement, a
pliant stalk of grass, gently insinuated into the caverns, will
probe their Mindings to the bottom, and quickly bring out the
inhabitant; and thus the humane inquirer may gratify his curio-

OF SELBORNE. 251

sity without injuring the object of it. It is remarkable that,
though tliese insects are furnished with long legs behind, and
brawny thighs for leaping, like grashoppers; yet when driven
from their holes they shew no activity, but crawl along in a
shiftless manner, so as easily to be taken: and again, though
provided with a curious apparatus of wings, yet they never
exert them when there seems to be the greatest occasion. The
males only make that shrilling noise perhaps out of rivalry and
emulation, as is the case with many animals which exert some
sprightly note during their breeding time : it is raised by a brisk
friction of one wing against the other. They are solitary beings,
living singly male or female, each as it may happen; but there
must be a time when the sexes have some intercourse, and then
the wings may be useful perhaps during the hours of night.
When the males meet they will fight fiercely, as I found by
some which I put into the crevices of a dry stone wall, where I
should have been glad to have made them settle. For though
they seemed distressed by being taken out of their knowledge,
yet the first that got possession of the chinks would seize on
any that were obtruded upon them with a vast row of serrated
fangs. With their strong jaws, toothed like the shears of a
lobster's claws, they perforate and round their curious regular
cells, having no fore-claws to dig, like the mole-cricket. When
taken in hand I could not but Monder that they never offered
to defend themselves, though armed with such formidable wea-
pons. Of such herbs as grow before the mouths of their bur-
rows they eat indiscriminately; and on a little .platform, which
they make just by, they drop their dung; and never, in the day
.time, seem to stir more than two or three inches from home.
Sitting in the entrance of their caverns they chirp all night as

2 K 2

iJ52 NATURAL HISTORY

well as clay from the middle of the month o'l May to the middle
oi July; and in hot weather, when they are most vigorous, they
make the hills echo; and, in the stiller hours of darkness, may
be heard to a considerable distance. In the beginning of the
season their notes are more faint and inward ; but become
louder as the summer advances, and so die away again by de-
grees.

Sounds do not always give us pleasure according to their
sweetness and melody ; nor do harsh sounds always displease.
We are more apt to be captivated or disgusted with the asso-
ciations which they promote, than with the notes themselves.
Thus the shrilling of the Jield-cricket, though sharp and stridu-
lous, yet marvellously delights some hearers, filling their minds
with a train of summer ideas of every thing that is rural, ver-
durous, and joyous.

About the tenth of March the crickets appear at the mouths
of their cells, which they then open and bore, and shape very
elegantly. All that ever I have seen at that season were in
their pupa state, and had only the rudiments of wings, lying
under a skin or coat, which must be cast before the insect can
arrive at it's perfect state;'' from whence I should suppose that
the old ones of last year do not always survive the winter. In
August their holes begin to be obliterated, and the insects are
seen no more till spring.

Not many summers ago I endeavoured to transplant a
colony to the terrace in my garden, by boring deep holes in tlie
sloping turf. The new inhabitants stayed some time, and fed

y We have observed that they cast these skins in April, which are then seen
lying at the mouths of their holes.

OF SELBORNE. 9,53

and sung; but wandered away by degrees, and were heard at a
farther distance every morning; so that it appears that on this
emergency they made use of their wings in attempting to return
to the spot from which tliey were taken.

One of these crickets, when confined in a paper cage and
set in the sun, and supplied with plants moistened with water,
will feed and thrive, and become so merry and loud as to be irk-
some in the same room where a person is sitting; if the plants
are not wetted it will die.

LETTER XLVII.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne.

" Far from all resort of mirth

" Save the cricket on the hearth." ^lih-ron's II Fenseroso.

While many other insects must be sought after in fields and
woods, and waters, the gryllus domestkus, or house-cricket, resifles
altogether within our dwellings, intruding itself upon our notice
whether we will or no. This species delights in new-built houses,
being, like the spider, pleased with the moisture of the walls;
and besides, the softness of the mortar enables them to burrow
and mine between the joints of the bricks or stones, and to open
communications from one room to another. They are particu-
larly fond of kitchens and bakers' ovens, on account of their
perpetual warmth.

254 NATURAL HISTORY

Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only the short
period of one summer, or else doze away the cold uncomfortable
months in profound slumbers; but these, residing as it were in
a torrid zone, are always alert and merry: a good Christmas fire
is to them like the heats of the dog-days. Though they are
frequently heard by day, yet is their natural time of motion
only in the night. As soon as it grows dusk, the chirping in-
creases, and they come running forth, and are from the size of
a flea to that of their full stature. As one should suppose, from
the burning atmosphere which they inliabit, they are a thirsty
race, and shew a great propensity for liquids, being found fre-
quently drowned in pans of water, milk, broth, or the like.
"WHiatever is moist they affect; and therefore often gnaw holes
in wet woollen stockings and aprons that are hung to the fire:
they are the housewife's barometer, foretelling her when it will
rain; and are prognostic sometimes, she thinks, of ill or good
luck; of the death of a near relation, or the approach of an
absent lover. By being tlie constant companions of her solitary
hours they naturally become the objects of her superstition.
These crickets are not only very thirsty, but very voracious;
for they will eat the scummings of pots, and yeast, salt, and
crumbs of bread; and any kitchen offal or sweepings. In the
summer we have observed them to fly, when it became dusk,
out of the windows, and over the neighbouring roofs. This
feat of activity accounts for the sudden manner in which they
often leave their haunts, as it does for the method by which
they come to houses where they were not known before. It is
remarkable, that many sorts of insects seem never to use their
wings but when they have a mind to shift their quarters and
settle new colonies. When in the air they move " volatu itn-

OF SELBORNE. ^55

doso,'" in waves or curves, like wood-peckers, opening and shutting
their wings at every stroke, and so are always rising or sinking.
When they increase to a great degree, as they did once in
the house where I am now writing, they hecome noisome pests,
flying into the candles, and dashing into people's faces; but
may be blasted and destroyed by gunpowder discharged into
their crevices and crannies. In families, at such times, they
are, like Pharaoh's plague of frogs, — " in their bedchambers,
" and upon their beds, and in their ovens, and in their knead-
" ing-troughs.''^ Their shrilling noise is occasioned by a brisk
attrition of their wings. Cats catch hearth crickets^ and, play-
ing with them as they do with mice, devour them. Crickets
may be destroyed, like wasps, by phials half filled with beer, or
any liquid, and set in their haunts; for, being always eager to
drink, they will croM'd in till the bottles are full.

LETTER XLVIII.

TO THE SAME.

Selborne.

How diversified are the modes of life not only of incongruous
but even of congenerous animals; and yet their specific distinc-
tions are not more various than their propensities. Thus, while
the Jield-crkket delights in sunny dry banks, and the house-a-icket
rejoices amidst the glowing heat of the kitchen hearth or oven,
the gryllus gryllo talpa (the mole-cricket,') haunts moist meadows,

2 Exod. viii. 3.

256 NATURAL HISTORY

and frequents the sides of ponds and banks of streams, perform-
ing all it's functions in a swampy wet soil. With a pair of fore-
feet, curiously adapted to the purpose, it burrows and works
under ground like the mole, raising a ridge as it proceeds, but
seldom throwing up hillocks.

As mole-crickets often infest gardens by the sides of canals,
they are unwelcome guests to the gardener, raising up ridges in
their subterraneous progress, and rendering the walks unsightly.
If they take to the kitchen quarters, they occasion great damage
among the plants and roots, by destroying whole beds of cab-
bages, young legumes, and flowers. When dug out they seem
very slow and helpless, and make no use of their wings by day ;
but at night they come abroad, and make long excursions, as I
have been convinced by finding stragglers, in a morning, in im-
probable places. In fine weather, about the middle oi April,
and just at the close of day, they begin to solace themselves
with a low, dull, jarring note, continued for a long time without
interruption, and not unlike the chattering of the fern-owl, or
goat-sucker, but more inward.

About the beginning of May they lay their eggs, as I was
once an eye-witness: for a gardener at an house, where I was
on a visit, happening to be mowing, on the 6th of that month,
by the side of a canal, his scythe struck too deep, pared off a
large piece of turf, and laid open to view a curious scene of
domestic oeconomy:

« __ - ingentem lato dedit ore fenestrara :

" Apparet domus intus, et atria longa patescunt :
" Apparent penetralia."

There were many caverns and winding passages leading to a
kind of chamber, neatly smoothed and rounded, and about the

OF SELBORNE. 257

size of a moderate snuff-box. Witliin this secret nursery were
deposited near an hundred eggs of a dirty yellow colour, and
enveloped in a tough skin, but too lately excluded to contain
any rudiments of young, being full of a viscous substance. The
eggs lay but shallow, and within the influence of the sun, just
under a little heap of fresh-moved mould, like that which is
raised by ants.

When mole- crickets fly they move " cursu undoso," rising and
falling in curves, like the other species mentioned before. In
different parts of this kingdom people call them fen-crickets^
churr-worms, and eve-churrs, all very apposite names.

Anatomists, who have examined the intestines of these
insects, astonish me with their accounts; for they say that, from
the structure, position, and number of their stomachs, or maws,
there seems to be good reason to suppose that this and the two
former species ruminate or chew the cud like many quadrupeds I

LETTER XLIX.

TO THE SAME.

Selbornje, May 7, 1779-

It is now more than forty years that I have paid some attention
to the ornithology of this district, without being able to exhaust
the subject: new occurrences still arise as long as any inquiries
are kept alive.

In the last week of last month five of those most rare birds,
too uncommon to have obtained an English name, but known

2 L

258

NATURAL HISTORY

to naturalists by the terms of himantopus, or loripes, and charU'
drius h'miantopus, were shot upon the verge of Fr'msham-pond, a
large lake belonging to tlie bishop of JVinchester, and lying
between Wolmer-j'ortHt, and the town oi Farnham, in the county
oi Surrey. The pond keeper says there were three brace in the
flock; but that, after he liad satisfied his curiosity, he suft'ered
the sixth to remain unmolested. One of these specimens I pro-
cured, and found the length of the legs to be so extraordinary,
that, at first sight, one might have supposed the shanks had
been fastened on to impose on the credulity of the beholder:
they were legs in caricaiura; and had we seen such proportions
on a Chinese or Japan screen we should has^e made large allow-
ances for the fancy of the draughtsman. These birds are of
tht plover family, and might with propriety be called the */i/^
plovers. Brisson, under that idea, gives them the apposite name
of I'echasse. My specimen, when drawn and stuffed with pepr
per, weighed only four ounces and a quarter, though the yiaked
part of the tliigb measured three inches and an half, and the
legs four inches and an half. Hence we may safely assert that
these birds exhibit, weight for inches, incomparably the greatest
length of legs of any known bird. The flamingo, for instance,
is one of the most long legged birds, and yet it bears no manner
of proportion to the Iwnantopus ; for a cock flamingo weighs, at
an average, about four pounds avoirdupois; and his legs and
thighs measure usually about twenty inches. But four pounds
are fifteen times and a fraction more than four ounces, and one
quarter; and if four ounces and a quarter have eight inches of
legs, four pounds must have one hundred and twenty inches
and a fraction of legs; viz. somewhat more than ten feet; such
a monstrous proportion as the world never saw ! If 3'ou should

ClHLAMAIDmillTS HIMANTO]PU§ .

OF SELBORNE 259

try the experiment in still larger birds the disparity would still
increase. It must be matter of great curiosity to see the stilt
plover move; to observe how it can wield such a length of lever
with such feeble muscles as the thighs seem to be furnished
with. At best one should expect it to be but a bad walker:
but what adds to the wonder is, that it has no back toe. Now
without that steady prop to support it's steps it must be liable,
in speculation, to perpetual vacillations, and seldom able to pre-
serve the true center of gravity.

The old name of /uma?itopus is taken from Pliny; and, by an
aukward metaphor, implies that the legs are as slender and
pliant as if cut out of a tJiong of leather. Neither TVillughbif
nor Ray, in all their curious researches, either at home or abroad,
ever saw this bird. Mr. Pennant never met with it in all Great-
Britain, but observed it often in the cabinets of the curious at
Paris. Hasselqiiist says that it migrates to Egypt in the autumn:
and a most accurate observer of Nature has assured me that he
has found it on the banks of the streams in Andalusia.

Our writers record it to have been found only twice in
Great-Britain. From all these relations it plainly appears that
these long legged /)/o»er,y are birds oi South Europe, and rarely
visit our island; and when they do are wanderers and stragglers,
and impelled to make so distant and northern an excursion from
motives or accidents for which we are not able to account. One
thing may fairly be deduced, that these birds come over to us
from the continent, since nobody can suppose that a species not
noticed once in an age, and of such a remarkable make, can
constantly breed unobserved in this kingdom.

2 L 2

260 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER L.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, Selborne, April 21, I78O.

The old Sussex tortoise, that I have mentioned to you so often,
is become my property. I dug it out of it's winter dormitory
in March last, when it was enougli awakened to express it's
resentments by hissing; and, packing it in a box with earth,
carried it eighty miles in post-chaises. The rattle and hurry of
the journey so perfectly roused it that, wiien I turned it out on
a border, it walked twice down to tlie bottom of my garden;
however, in the evening, the weatiier being cold, it buried itself
in the loose mould, and continues still concealed.

As it will be under my eye, I shall now have an opportunity
of enlarging my observations on it's mode of life, and propen-
sities; and perceive, already that, towards the time of coming
forth, it opens a breathing place in the ground near it"s head,
requiring, I conclude, a freer respiration as it !)ccomes more
alive. This creature not only goes under the earth from the
middle of November to the middle o^ April, but sleeps great part
of the summer; for it goes to bed in the longest days at four in
the afternoon, and often does not stir in the morning till late.
Besides, it retires to rest for every shower; and does not move
at all in wet days.

When one reflects on the state of this strange being, it is a
matter of wonder to find that Providence should bestow such a
profusion of days, such a seeming waste of longevity, on a rep-

OF SELBORNE. 261

tile that appears to relish it so little as to squander niore thau
two thirds of it's existence in a joyless stupor, and be lost to all
sensation for months together in the profoundest of slumbers.

While I was writing this letter, a moist and warm afternoon,
with the thermometer at 50, brought forth troops o? shell-snails ;
and, at the same juncture, the tortoise heaved uj) the mould and
put out it's liead; and the next morning came forth, as it were
raised from the dead^ and walked al)out till four in the after-
noon. This was a curious coincidence! a very amusing occur-
rence! to see such a similarity of feelings between the two
$£p£3i)£oi! for so the Greeks call both the shell-snail and the
tortoise.

Summer birds are, this cold and backward spring, unusually
late: I have seen but one swallow yet. This conformit}' with
the weather convinces me more and more that they sleep in the
winter.

LETTER LI.

TO THE SAME.

Selboene, Sept. 3, 1781.

I HAVE now read your miscellanies through with much care and
satisfaction; and am to return you my best thanks for the
honourable mention made in them of me as a naturalist, which
I wish 1 may deserve.

In some former letters I expressed my suspicions that many
of the house-martins do not depart in the winter far from this
village. I therefore determined to make some search about the

q6q natural history

south-east end of the hill, where I imagined they might slumber
out the uncomfortable months of winter. But supposing that
the examination would be made to the best advantage in the
spring, and observing that no martins had appeared by the Uth
of Jpril last; on that day I employed some men to explore the
shrubs and cavities of the suspected spot. The persons took
pains, but without any success; however, a remarkable incident
occurred in the midst of our pursuit — while the labo.irers were
at work a house-martin, the first that had been seen this year,
came down the village in the sight of several people, and went
at once into a nest, where it stayed a short time, and then flew
over the houses; for some days after no martins were observed,
not till the l6th of Jp7-il, and then only a pair. Martins in
general were remarkably late this year.

LETTER LIL

TO THE SAME.

Seleorne, Sep. g, 1/81.

I HAVE just met with a circumstance respecting swifts, which
furnishes an exception to the whole tenor of my observations
ever since I have bestowed any attention on that species of
hirundines. Our swifts, in general, withdrew this year about
the first day of August, all save one pair, which in two or three
days was reduced to a single bird. The perseverance of this
individual made me suspect that -the strongest of motives, that
of an attachment to her young, could alone occasion so late a
stay. I watched therefore till the twenty-fourth of August, and

OF SELBORNE. Q63

then discovered that, under the eaves of the church, she attended
upon two young, which were fledged, and now put out their
white chins from a crevice. These remained till the twenty-
seventh, looking more alert every day, and seeming to long to
be on the wing. After this day they were missing at once;
nor could I ever observe them with their dam coursing round
the church in the act of learning to fly, as the first broods evi-
dently do. On the thirty-first I caused the eaves to be searched,
but we found in the nest only two callow, dead, stinking swifts,
on which a second nest had been formed. This double nest
■ was full of the black shining cases of the hippoboscce hirundinis.

The following remarks on this unusual incident are obvious.
The first is, that though it may be disagreeable to swifts to
remain beyond the beginning of August, yet that they can sub-
sist longer is undeniable. The second is, that this uncommon
event, as it was owing to the loss of the first brood, so it corro-
borates my former remark, that swifts breed regularly but once;
since, was the contrary the case, the occurrence above could
neither be new nor rare.

P. S One swift was seen at Lyndon, in the county of Rut-
land, in J 782, so late as the third oi September.

264 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER LIIL

TO THE SAME.

As I have sometimes known you make inquiries about several
kinds of insects, I shall heve send >h'1' an account of one sort
which I little expected to Lave found in this kingdom. 1 had
often observed that one particular part of a vine growing on
the walls of my house was covered in the autumn with a black
dust-like appearance, on which the flies fed eagerly; and that
the shoots and leaves thus affected did not thrive; nor did the
fruit ripen. To this substance I apjilied my glasses; but could
not discover that it had any thing to do with animal life, as I
at first expected: but, upon a closer examination behind the
larger boughs, we were surprised to find that tliey were coated
over with husky shells, from whose sides proceeded a cotton-
hke substance, surrounding a multitude of eggs. This curious
and uncommon production put me upon recollecting what I
have heard and read concerning the coccus vitis vimfcrce oi Lin-
ncEus, which, in the south o^ Europe, infests many vines, and is
an horrid and loathsome pest. As soon as I had turned to the
accounts given of this insect, I saw at once that it swarmed on
my vine; and did not appear to have been at all checketl by the
preceding winter, which had been uncommonly severe.

Not being then at all aware that it had any thing to do with
England, I was much inclined to think that it came from Gib-
raltar among the many boxes and packages of plants and birds
which I had formerly received from thence; and especially as

OF SELBORNE. 265

the vine infested grew immediately under my study-window,
where I usually kept my specimens. True it is that I had
received nothing from thence for some years: but as insects,
we know, are conveyed from one country to another in a very
unexpected manner, and have a wonderful power of maintaining
their existence till they fall into a nidus proper for their support
and increase, I cannot but suspect still that these cocci came to
me originally from Andalusia. Yet, all the while, candour
obliges me to confess that Mr. Lightfoot has written me word
that he once, and but once, saw these insects on a vine at TFey-
mouth in Dorsetshire ; which, it is here to be observed, is a sea-
port town to which the coccus might be conveyed by shipping.

As many of my readers may possibly never have heard of
this strange and unusual insect, I shall here transcribe a passage
from a natural history of Gibraltar, written by the Reverend
John White, late vicar of Blackburn in Lancashire, but not yet
published: —

" In the year 1770 a vine which grew on the east-side of
" my house, and which had produced the finest crops of grapes
" for years past, was suddenly overspread on all the woody
" branches with large lumps of a white fibrous substance resem-
" bling spiders webs, or rather raw cotton. It was of a very
" clammy quality, sticking fast to every thing that touched it,
" and capable of being spun into long threads. At first I sus-
" pected it to be the product of spiders, but could find none.
" Nothing was to be seen connected with it but many brown
" oval husky shells, which by no means looked like insects, but
" rather resembled bits of the dry bark of the vine. The tree
" had a plentiful crop of grapes set, when this pest appeared
" upon it; but the fruit was manifestly injured by this foul in=

2 M

Q66 NATURAL HISTORY

" cumbrance. It remained all the summer, still increasing, and
" loaded the woody and bearing branches to a vast degree. I
" often pulled oflF great quantities by handfuls; but it was so
" slimy and tenacious that it could by no means be cleared.
" The grapes never filled to their natural perfection, but turned
" watery and vapid. Upon perusing the works afterwards of
" M. de Reaumur, I found this matter perfectly described and
" accounted for. Those husky shells, which I had observed,
" were no other than the female coccus, from whose sides this
" cotton-like substance exsudes, and serves as a covering and
" security for their eggs."

To this account I think proper to add, that, though the
female cocci are stationary, and seldom remove from the place
to which they stick, yet the male is a winged insect; and that
*he black dust which I saw was undqubtedly the excrement of
the females, which is eaten by ants as, well as flies. Though
the utmost severity of our winter did not destroy these insects,
yet the attention of the gardener in a summer or two has
entirely relieved my vine from this filthy annoyance.

As we have remarked above that insects are often conveyed
from one country to another in a verj' unaccountable manner, I
shall here mention an emigration of small aphides, which was
observed in the village of Selborne no longer ago than August
the 1st, 1785.

At about three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, which
was very hot, the people of this village were surprised by a
shower of aphides, or smother-Jiies, which fell in these parts.
Those that were walking in the street at that juncture found
themselves covered with these insects, which settled also on the
hedges and gardens, blackening all the vegetables where they

OF SELBORNE. 267

alighted. My annuals were discoloured with them, and the
stalks of a bed of onions were quite coated over for six days
after. These armies were then, 110 doubt, in a state of emigra-
tion, and shifting their quarters; and might have come, as far
as we know, from the great hop-plantations oi Kent or Sussex,
the wind being all that day in the easterly quarter. They were
observed at the same time in great clouds about Farnham, and
all along the vale from Farnham to Alton.^

LETTER LIV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR,

When I happen to visit a family where gold and silver Jishes
are kept in a glass bowl, 1 am always pleased with the occur-
rence, because it offers me an opportunity of observing the
actions and propensities of those beings with whom we can be
little acquainted in their natural state. Not long since I spent
a fortnight at the house of a friend where there was such a
vivary, to which I paid no small attention, taking every occasion
to remark what passed within it's narrow limits. It was here
that I first observed the manner in which fishes die. As soon
as the creature sickens, the head sinks lower and lower, and it
stands as it were on it's head; till, getting weaker, and losing
all poise, the tail turns over, and at last it floats on the surface

^ For various methods by which several insects shift their quarters^ see Derham's
Phj'sico-Theology.

2 M g.

'26b NATURAL HISTORY

of the water with it's belly uppermost. The reason M^iy fishes,
when dead, swim in that manner is very obvious; because, when
the body is no longer balanced by the fins of the belly, the broad
muscular back preponderates by it's own gravity, and turns the
belly uppermost, as lighter from it's being a cavity, and because
it contains the swimming-bladders, which contribute to render
it buoyant. Some that delight in gold and silver fishes have
adopted a notion that they need no aliment. True it is that
they will subsist for a long time without any apparent food but
what they can collect from pure water frequently changed; yet
they must draw some support from animalcula, and other nou-
rishment supplied by the water; because, though they seem to
eat nothing, yet the consequences of eating often drop from
them. That they are best pleased with &uc\\ jejune diet may
easily be confuted, since if you toss them crumbs they will seize
them with great readiness, not to say greediness: however,
bread should be given sparingly, lest, turning sour, it corrupt
the water. They will also feed on the water-plant called lemna
(duck's meat,) and also on small fry.

When they want to move a little they gently protrude
themselves with their pinna; pectorales ; but it is with their strong-
muscular tails only that they and all fishes shoot along with
such inconceivable rapidity. It has been said that the eyes of
fishes are immoveable: but these apparently turn them forward
or backward in their sockets as their occasions require. They
take little notice of a lighted candle, though applied close to
their heads, but flounce and seem much frightened by a sudden
stroke of the hand against the support whereon the bowl is
hung; especially when they have been motionless, and are per-
Jiaps asleep. As fishes have no eyelids, it is not easy to discern

OF SELBORNE. 269

when they are sleeping or not, because their eyes are always
open.

Nothing can be more amusing than a glass bowl containing
such fishes: the double refractions of the glass and water repre-
sent them, when moving, in a shifting and changeable variety
of dimensions, shades, and colours; while the two mediums,
assisted by the concavo-convex shape of the vessel, magnify
and distort them vastly; not to mention that the introduction
of another element and it's inhabitants into our parlours engages
the fancy in a very agreeable manner.

Gold and silver fishes, though originally natives of China and
Japan, yet are become so well reconciled to our climate as to
thrive and multiply very fast in our ponds and stews. Linnmus
ranks this species of fish under the genus of cypri)ms, or carp,
and calls it cyprinus auratus.

Some people exhibit this sort of fish in a very fanciful way;
for they cause a glass bowl to be blown with a large hollow
space within, that does not communicate with it. In this
cavity they put a bird occasionally; so that you may see a gold-
finch or a linnet hopping as it were in the midst of the water,
and the fishes swimming in a circle round it. The simple exhi-
bition of the fishes is agreeable and pleasant; but in so compli-
cated a way becomes whimsical and unnatural, and liable to the
objection due to him,

" Qui variare cupit rem prodigialitcr unam."

I am, &c.

270 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER LV.

TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR, October 10, 1781>

1 THINK I liave observed before that much the most consider-
able part of the house-martins withdraw from hence about the
first week in October; but that some, the latter broods I am
now convinced, linger on till towards the middle of that month:
and that at times, once perhaps in two or three years, a flight,
for one day only, has shown itself in the first week in November.
Having taken notice, in October 1780, that the last flight
was numerous, amounting perhaps to one hundred and fifty;
and that the season was soft and still ; I was resolved to pay
micommon attention to these late birds; to find, if possible,
where they roosted, and to determine the precise time of their
retreat. The mode of life of these latter hirundines is very
favourable to such a design ; for they spend the whole day in
the sheltered district, between me and the Hanger, sailing about
in a placid, easy manner, and feasting on those insects which love
to haunt a spot so secure from ruffling winds. As my principal
object was to discover the place of their roosting, I took care to
wait on them before they retired to rest, and was much pleased
to find that, for several evenings together, just at a quarter past
■ five in the afternoon, they all scudded away in great haste
towards the south-east, and darted down among the low shrubs
above the cottages at the end of the hill. This spot in many
respects seems to be well calculated for their winter residence;

OF SELBORNE. 271

for in many parts it is as steep as the roof of any house, and
therefore secure from the annoyances of water; and it is more-
over clothed with beechen shrubs, which, being stunted and
bitten by sheep, make the thickest covert imaginable ; and are
so entangled as to be impervious to the smallest spaniel : besides,
it is the nature of underwood beech never to cast it's leaf all
the wintei"; so that, with the leaves on the ground and those
on the twigs, no shelter can be more complete. I watched
them on to the thirteenth and fourteenth of October, and found
their evening retreat was exact and uniform; but after this
they made no regular appearance. Now and then a straggler
was seen; and, on the twenty-second of October, I observed
two in the morning over the village, and with them my remarks
for the season ended.

From all these circumstances put together, it is more than
probable that this lingering flight, at so late a season of the year,
never departed from the island. Had they indulged nie that
autumn with a November visit, as I much desired, I presume
that, with proper assistants, I should have settled the matter
past all doubt; but though the third oi November was a sweet
day, and in appearance exactly suited to my wishes, yet not a
martin was to be seen; and so I was forced, reluctantly, to give
up the pursuit.

I have only to add that were the bushes, which cover some
acres, and are not my own property, to be grubbed and carefully
examined, probably those late broods, and perhaps the whole
aggregate body of the house-martins of this district, might be
found there, in different secret dormitories; and that, so far
from withdrawing into warmer climes, it would appear that they
never depart three hundred yards from the village.

5272 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER LVL

TO THli; SAME.

They who write on natural history cannot too frequently
advert to instinct, that wonderful limited faculty, which, in some
instances, raises the brute creation as it were above ixason, and
in others leaves them so far below it. Philosophers have de6ned
instinct to be that secret influence by which every species is im-
pelled natiually to pursue, at all times, the same way or track,
without any teaching or example; whereas reason, M'ithout in-
struction, would often vary and do that by many methods
which instinct effects by one alone. Now this maxim must be
taken in a qualified sense; for there are instances in which
instinct does vary and conform to the circumstances of place and
convenience.

It has been remarked that every species of bird has a mode
of nidification peculiar to itself; so that a school-boy would at
once pronounce on the sort of nest before him. This is the
case among fields and woods, and wilds ; but, in the villages
round London, where mosses and gossamer, and cotton from
vegetables, are hardly to be found, the nest of the chaffinch has
not that elegant finished appearance, nor is it so beautifully
studded with lichens, as in a more rural district: and the wren
is obliged to construct it's house with straws and dry grasses,
which do not give it that rotundity and compactness so remark-
able in the edifices of that little architect. Again, the regular
nest of the house-martin is hemispheric; but where a rafter, or a.

OF SELBORNE. sb

joist, or a cornice, may happen to stand in the way, the nest is
so contrived as to conform to the obstruction, and becomes flat
or oval, or compressed.

In the following instances instinct is perfectly uniform and
consistent. There are three creatures, the squirrel, the Jield-
mouse, and the bird called the nut-hatch, (sitta Europcea), which
live much on hazle-nuts; and yet they open them each in a dif-
ferent way. The first, after rasping off the small end, splits
the shell in two with his long fore-teeth, as a man does with his
knife; the second nibbles a hole with his teeth, so regular as if
drilled with a wimble, and yet so small that one would wonder
how the kernel can be extracted through it; while the last
picks an irregular ragged hole with it's bill: but as this artist
has no paws to hold the nut firm while he pierces it, like an.
adroit workman, he fixes it, as it \yere in a vice, in some cleft
of a tree, or in some crevice; when, standing over it, he perfo-
rates the stubborn shell. We have often placed nuts in the
chink of a gate-post where nut-hatches have been known to
haunt, and have always found that those birds have readily
penetrated them. While at work they make a rapping noise
that may be heard at a considerable distance.

You that understand both the theory and practical part of
music may best inform us why harmony or melody should so
strangely affect some men, as it were by recollection, for days
after a concert is over. What I mean the following passage will
most readily explain :

" Praehabebat porrd vocibus humanis, instrumentisque har-
" monicis musicam illam avium: non quod alia quoque non
" delectaretur; sed quod ex musica humana relinqueretur in,
*' animo continens qua3dam, attentionemque et somnum contur-

274 NATURAL HISTORY

"bans agitatio; dum ascensus, exscensiis, tenores, ac muta-
" tiones illaj sonoriim, et consonantiarum euntque, redeuntque
" per phantasiam: — cum nihil tale relinqui possit ex modula-
" tionibus avium, qua;, quod non sunt perinde a nobis imitabiles,
" non possunt periude internam facultatem commovere."

Gassendus in Vita Peireskii.
This curious quotation strikes me much by so well repre-
senting my own case, and by describing what I have so often
felt, but never could so well express. When I hear fine music
I am haunted with passages therefrom night and day; and
especially at first waking, which, by their importunity, give me
more uneasiness than pleasure: elegant lessons still tease my
imagination, and recur irresistibly to my recollectioa at seasons,
and even when I am desirous of thinking of more serious
matters. I am, &c.

LETTER LVIL

TO THE SAME.

A RARE, and I think a new, little bird frequents my garden,
which I have great reason to think is the pettichap^: it is com-
mon in some parts of the kingdom; and I have received for-
merly several dead specimens from Gibraltar. This bird much
resembles the white-throat, but has a more white or rather sil-
very breast and belly j is restless and active, like the xvillow-
wrens, and hops from bough to bough, examining every part
for food; it also runs up the stems of the crown-imperials, smdy

OF SELBORNE. 275

putting it's head into the bells of those flowers, sips the liquor
which stands in the 7iectarium of each petal. Sometimes it feeds
on the ground like the hedge-sparrow, by hopping about on the
grass-plots and mown walks.

One of my neighbours, an intelligent and observing man,
informs me that, in the beginning of ^lay, and about ten minutes
before eight o'clock in the evening, he discovered a great clus-
ter of house-swalbws, thirty at least he supposes, perching on a
willow that hung over the verge of James Knighfs upper-pond.
His attention was first drawn by the twittering of these birds,
which sat motionless in a row on the bough, with their heads
all one way, and, by their weight, pressing down the twig so
that it nearly touched the water. In this situation he watched
them till he could see no longer. Repeated accounts of this
sort, spring and fall, induce us greatly to suspect that house-
swallows have some strong attachment to water, independent of
the matter of food ; and, though they may not retire into that
element, yet they may conceal themselves in the banks of pools
and rivers during the uncomfortable months of winter.

One of the keepers of Wolmer-forest sen t me a peregrine-
falcoHy which he shot on the verge of that district as it was de-
vouring a wood-pigeon. Thefalcoperegrinus, or haggard falcon,
is a noble species of hawk seldom seen in the southern counties.
In winter I767 one was killed in the neighbouring parish of
Far'mgdon, and sent by me to Mr. Pennant into North-Wales.^
Since that time I have met with none till now. The specimen
mentioned above was in fine preservation, and not injured by
the shot: it measured forty-two inches from wing to wing, and

'' See my tenth and eleventh letter to that gentleman.
2 N 2

276 NATURAL HISTORY

twenty-one from beak to tail, and weigbed two pounds and ati
half standing weight. This species is very robust, and wonder-
fully formed for rapine: it's breast was plump and muscular;
it's thighs long, thick, and brawny; and it's legs remarkably
short and well set: the feet were armed with nu)st formidable,
sharp, long talons : the ej'elids and cere of the bill were yellow;
but the irides of the eyes dusky; the beak was thick and hooked,
and of a dark colour, and had a jagged process near the end of
the upper mandible on each side: its tail, or train, was short in
proportion to the bulk of it's body: yet the wings, when closed,
did not extend to the end of the train. From it's large and fair
proportions it might be supposed to have been a female; but I
was not permitted to cut open the specimen. For one of the
birds of prey, which are usually lean, this was in high case: in
it's craw were many barley-corns, which probably came from
the crop of the wood-pigeon, on Avhich it was feeding when
shot: for voracious birds do not eat grain; but, when devouring
their quarry, with undistinguishing vehemence swallow bones
and feathers, and all matters, indiscriminately. This falcon was
probably driven from the mountains of North JFales or Scotlatid,
where they are known to breed, by rigorous weather and deep
snows that had lately fallen.

I am, &c.

OF SELBORNE. 277

LETTER LVIII.

TO THE SAME.

JVlY near neighbour, a young gentleman in the service of the
East-India Company, has brought home a dog and a bitch of
the Chinese breed from Canton; such as are fattened in that
country for the purpose of being eaten: they are about the size
of a moderate spaniel; of a pale yellow colour, with coarse
bristling hairs on their backs; sharp upright ears, and peaked
heads, which give them a very fox-like appearance. Their hind
legs are unusually straight, without any bend at the hock or
ham, to such a degree as 'to give them an aukward gait when
they trot. When they are in motion their tails are curved high
over their backs like those of some hounds, and have a bare
place each on the outside from the tip midway, that does not
seem to be matter of accident, but somewhat singular. Their
eyes are jet-black, small, and piercing; the insides of their lips
and mouths of the same colour, and their tongues blue. The
bitch has a dew claw on each hind leg; the dog has none.
When taken out into a field the bitch showed some disposition
for hunting, and dwelt on the scent of a covey of partridges till
she sprung them, giving her tongue all the time. The dogs in
S.outh America are dumb ; but these bark much in a short thick
manner, like foxes; and have a surly, savage demeanour like
their ancestors, which are not domesticated, but bred up in sties,
where they are fed for the table with rice-meal and other farina-^

278 NATURAL HISTORY

ceous food. These dogs, having been taken on board as soon
as weaned, could not learn much from their dam; yet they did
not relish flesh when they came to England. In the islands of
the pacific ocean the dogs are bred up on vegetables, and would
not eat flesh when offered them by our circumnavigators.

We believe that all dogs, in a state of nature, have sharp,
upright fox-like ears; and that hanging ears, which are esteemed
so graceful, are the effect of choice breeding and cultivation.
Thus, in the Travels of Ysbrandt Ides from Muscovy to China,
the dogs which draw the Tartars on snow-sledges near the river
Oby are engraved with prick-ears, like those from Canton. The
Kamschat dales also train the same sort of sharp-eared peaked-
nosed dogs to draw their sledges; as may be seen in an elegant
print engraved for Captain Cook's last voyage round the world.

Now we are upon the subject of dogs, it may not be imper-
tinent to add, that spaniels, as all sportsmen know, though they
hunt partridges and pheasants as it were by instinct, and with
much delight and alacrity, yet will hardly touch their bones
when offered as food; nor will a mongrel dog of my own, though
he is remarkable for finding that sort of game. But, when we
came to offer the bones of partridges to tlie two Chinese dogs,
they devoured them with much greediness, and licked the plat-
ter clean.

No sporting dogs will flush woodcocks till inured to the
scent and trained to the sport, which they then pursue Avith
vehemence and transport ; but then they will not touch their
bones, but turn from them with abhorrence, even Avhen they
are hungry.

Now, that dogs should not be fond of the bones of such
birds as they are not disposed to hunt is no wonder; but why

OF SELBORNE. 279

they reject and do not care to eat their natural game is not so
easily accounted for, since the end of hunting seems to be, that
the chase pursued should be eaten. Dogs again will not devour
the more rancid water-fowls, nor indeed the bones of any wild-
fowls; nor will they touch the foetid bodies of birds that feed
on offal and garbage: and indeed there may be somewhat of
providential instinct in this circumstance of dislike j for vul-
tures," and kites, and ravens, and crows, &c. were intended to
be messmates with dogs'* over their carrion; and seem to be
appointed by Nature as fellow- scavengers to remove all cada-
verous nuisances from the face of the earth.

I am, &c.

LETTER LIX.

TO THE SAME.

J. HE fossil wood buried in the bogs of Wolmer-forest is not yet
all exhausted; for the peat-cutters now and then stumble upon
a log. I have just seen a piece which was sent by a labourer of
Oakhanger to a carpenter of this village; this was the but-end
of a small oak, about five feet long, and about five inches in
diameter. It had apparently been severed from the ground by
an axe, was very ponderous, and as black as ebony. Upon ask-

■= Hasselquist, in his Travels to the Levant, observes that the dogs and vultures
at Grand Cairo maintain such a friendly intercourse as to bring up their young
together in the same place.

'' The Chinese word for a dog to an European ear sounds like quihloh.

'2S0 NATURAL HISTORY

ing the carpenter for what purpose he had procured it; he told
me that it was to be sent to his brother, a joiner at Farnham,
who was to make use of it in cabinet work, by inlaying it along
with whiter woods.

Those that are much abroad on evenings after it is dark, in
spring and summer, frequently hear a nocturnal bird passing by
on the wing, and repeating often a short quick note. This bird
I have remarked myself, but never could make out till lately.
I am assured now that it is the Stone-curlav, (charadrius oeaic-
nemus ) Some of them pass over or near my house almost every
evening after it is dark, from the uplands of the hill and North
field, away down towards Dorton; where, among the streams
and meadows, they find a greater plenty of food. Birds that
fly by night are obliged to be noisy; their notes often repeated
become signals or watch-words to keep them together, that they
may not stray or lose each the other in the dark.

The evening proceedings and manoeuvres of the rooks are
curious and amusing in the autumn. Just before dusk they
rieturn in long strings from the foraging of the day, and rendez-
vous by thousands over Selborne-dcnvn, where they wheel round
in the air, and sport and dive in a playful manner, all the while
exerting their voices, and making a loud cawing, which, being-
blended and softened by the distance that we at the village are
below them, becomes a confused noise or chiding; or rather a
pleasing murmur, very engaging to the imagination, and not
imlike the cry of a pack of hounds in hollow, echoing woods,
or the rushing of the wind in tall trees, or the tumbling of the
tide upon a pebbly shore. When this ceremony is over, with
the last gleam of day, they retire for the night to the deep
beechen woods of Tisted and Ropley. We remember a little girl

OF SELBORNE. 281

v/lio, as she was going to bed, used to remark on such an occur-
rence, in the true spirit o^ pJiysico-theology, that the rooks were
saying their prayers; and yet tliis child was much too young to
be aware that the scriptures have said of the Deity — that " he
feedeth the ravens who call upon him." I am, &c.

LETTER LX.

TO THE SAME.

In reading Dr. Hiwkam's Observationes de Acre, Sec. written at
Plymouth, I find by those curious and accurate remarks, which
contain an account of the weather from the year 1727 to the
year 1748, inclusive, that though there is frequent rain in that
district of Devonshire, yet the quantity falling is not great; and
that some years it has been very small: for in 1731 the rain
measured only 17'"'^''. — i6&^'°'^. and in 1741, 20 — 3j4; and again
in 1743 only 20 — 908. Places near the sea have frequent scuds,
that keep the atmosphere moist, yet do not reach far up into
the countryj making thus the maritime situations appear wet,
M^ren the rain is not considerable. In the wettest years at Ply-
mouth the Doctor measured only once 'SiQ; and again once, viz.
1734, 37 — 1 14: a quantity of rain that has twice been exceeded
at Selborne in the short period of my observations. Dr. Huxham
remarks, that frequent small rains keep the air moist; while
heavy ones render it more dry, by beating down the vapours.
He is also of opinion that the dingy, smoky appearance in the sky,
in very dry seasons, arises from the want of moisture sufficient

2 o

£82 NATURAL HISTORY

to let the light through, and render the atmosphere transparent;
because he had observed several bodies more diaphanous when
wet than dry; and did never recollect that the air had that look
in rainy seasons.

My friend, who lives just beyond the top of the down,
brought his three swivel guns to try them in my outlet, with
their muzzles towards the Hanger, supposing that the report
would have had a great effect; but the experiment did not
answer his expectation. He then removed them to the Alcove
on the Hanger; when the sound, rushing along the Lythe and
Comb-wood, was very grand: but it was at the Hermitage that
the echoes and repercussions delighted the hearers; not only
filling the Lythe with the roar, as if all the beeches were tearing
up by the roots ; but, turning to the left, they pervaded the vale
above Combwood-ponds ; and after a pause seemed to take up the
crash again, and to extend round Harteley-hangers, and to die
away at last among the coppices and coverts of Wardle ham.
It has been remarked before that this district is an anathoth, a
place of responses or echoes, and therefore proper for such ex-
periments : we may farther add that the pauses in echoes, when
they cease and yet are taken up again, like the pauses in music,
surprise the hearers, and have a fine effect on the imagination.

The gentleman above mentioned has just fixed a barometer
in his parlour at Newton Valence. The tube was first filled here
(at Selborne) twice with care, when the mercury agreed and stood
exactly with my own; but, being filled again twice Sit Nervton, the
mercury stood, on account of the great elevation of that house,
three-tenths of an inch lower than the barometers at this village,
and so continues to do, be the weight of the atmosphere what
it may. The plate of the barometer at Newton is figured as low

OF SELBORNE. £85

as 27; because in stormy weather the mercury there will some-
times descend below 28. We have supposed Newton-house to
stand two hundred feet higher than this house : but if the rule
holds good, which says that mercury in a barometer sinks one-
tenth of an inch for every hundred feet elevation, then the
Newton barometer, by standing three-tenths lower than that of
Selborne, proves that Newton-house must be three hundred feet
higher than that in which I am writing, instead of two
hundred.

It may not be impertinent to add, that the barometers at
Selborne stand three-tenths of an inch lower than the barometers
at South Lambeth; whence we may conclude that the former
place is about three hundred feet higher than the latter; and
with good reason, because the streams that rise with us run
into the Thames at JVeybridge, and so to London. Of course
therefore there must be lower ground all the way from Selborne
to South Lambeth ; the distance between which, all the windings
and indentings of the streams considered, cannot be less than an
hundred miles. I am, &c,

LETTER LXI.

TO THE SAME,

iSiNCE the weather of a district is undoubtedly part of it's
natural history, I shall make no further apology for the four
following letters, which will contain many particulars concern-
ing some of the great frosts and a few respecting some very hot

a 84 NATURAL HISTORY

summers, that have distinguished themselves from the rest
during the course of my observations.

As the frost in January 1768 was, for the small time it lasted,
the most severe that we had then known for many years, and
was remarkably injurious to ever-greens, some account of it's
rigour, and reason of it's ravages, may be useful, and not unac-
ceptable to persons that delight in planting and ornamenting;
and may particularly become a work that professes never to
lose sight of utility.

For the last two or three days of the former year tliere were
considerable falls of snow, which lay deep and uniform on the
ground without any drifting, wrapping up the more humble
\egetation in perfect security. From the first day to the fifth
of the new year more snow succeeded ; but from that day the
air became entirely clear; and the heat of the sun about noon
had a considerable influence in sheltered situations.

It was in such an aspect that the snow on the author's ever-
greens was iiielted every day, and frozen intensely every night;
so that the laurustines, bays, laurels, and arbutuses looked, in
three or four days, as if they had been burnt in the fire; while
a neighbour's plantation of the same kind, in a high cold situa-
tion, where the snow was never melted at all, remained un-
injured.

From hence I would infer that it is the repeated melting
and freezing of the snow that is so fatal to vegetation, rather
than the severity of the cold. Therefore it highly behoves
every planter, who wishes to escape the cruel mortification of
losing in a few days the labour and hopes of years, to bestir
himself on such emergencies; and, if his plantations are small,
to avail liimself of mats, cloths, pease-haum, straw, reeds, or

OF SELBORNE. 285

any such covering, for a short time; or, if his shrubberies are
extensive, to see that his people go about with prongs and forks,
and carefully dislodge the snow from the boughs : since the
naked foliage will shift much better for itself, than where the
snow is partly melted and frozen again.

It may perhaps appear at first like a paradox; but doubtless
the more tender trees and shrubs should never be planted in
hot aspects; not only for the reason assigned above, but also
because, thus circumstanced, they are disposed too shoot earlier
in the spring, and to grow on later in the autumn, than they
would otherwise do, and so are sufferers by lagging or early
frosts. For this reason also plants from Siberia will hardly
endure our climate : because, on the very first advances of spring,
they shoot away, and so are cut off by the severe nights of
March or April.

Dr. Fothergill and others have experienced the same incon-
venience with respect to the more tender shrubs from Norih-
America; which they therefore plant under north-walls. There
should also perhaps be a wall to the east to defend them from
the piercing blasts from that quarter.

This observation might without any impropriety be carried
into animal life; for discerning bee-masters now find that their
hives should not in the winter be exposed to the hot sun,
because such unseasonable warmth awakens the inhabitants too
early from their slumbers; and, by putting their juices into
motion too soon, subjects them afterwards to inconveniences
when rigorous weather returns.

The coincidents attending this short but intense frost were,
that the horses fell sick with an epidemic distemper, which in-
jured the winds of many, and killed some; that colds and

286 NATURAL HISTORY

coughs were general among the human species; that it froze
under people's beds for several nights; that meat was so hard
frozen that it could not be spitted, and could not be secured
but in cellars; that several redwings and thrushes were killed
by the frost; and that the large titmouse continued to pull
straws lengthwise from the eaves of thatched houses and barns
in a most adroit manner, for a purpose that has been explained
already. "

On the 3d of January, Benjamin Martins thermometer within
doors, in a close parlour where there was no fire, fell in the night
to 20, and on the 4th to 18, and on the 7th to 17j, a degree of
cold which the owner never since saw in the same situation;
and he regrets much that he was not able at that juncture to
attend his instrument abroad. All this time the wind continued
north and north-east; and yet on the 8th roost-cocks, which
had been silent, began to sound their clarions, and crows to
clamour, as prognostic of milder weather; and, moreover, moles
began to heave and work, and a manifest thaw took place.
From the latter circnmstance we may conclude that thaws often
originate under ground from warm vapours which arise; else
how should subterraneous animals receive such early intimations
of their approach. Moreover, we have often observed that cold
seems to descend from above; for, when a thermometer hangs
abroad in a frosty night, the intervention of a cloud shall imme-
diately raise the mercury ten degrees; and a clear sky shall
again compel it to descend to it's former gage.

And here it may be proper to observe, on what has been
said above, that though frosts advance to their utmost severity

' See Letter xli. to Mr. Pennant.

OF SELBORNE. 287

by somewhat of a regular gradation, yet thaws do not usually
come on by as regular a declension of cold; but often take place
immediately from intense freezing; as men in sickness often
mend at once from a paroxysm.

To the great credit o? Portugal laurels and American ]\im-
pers, be it remembered that they remained untouched amidst
the general havock: hence men should learn to ornament chiefly
with such trees as are able to withstand accidental severities,
and not subject themselves to the vexation of a loss which may
befall them once perhaps in ten years, yet may hardly be reco-
vered through the whole course of their lives.

As it appeared afterwards the ilexes were much injured, the
cypresses were half destroyed, the arbutuses lingered on, but
never recovered ; and the bays, laurustines, and laurels, were
killed to the ground; and the very wild hollies, in hot aspects,
were so much affected that they cast all their leaves.

By the 14th of January the snow was entirely gone; the
turnips emerged not damaged at all, save in sunny places; the
wheat looked delicately, and the garden plants were well pre-
served; for snow is the most kindly mantle that infant vegeta-
tion can be wrapped in: were it not for that friendly meteor no
vegetable life could exist at all in northerly regions. Yet in
Sweden the earth in April is not divested of snow for more than
a fortnight before the face of the country is covered with
flowers.

288 NATURAL HISTORY

LETTER LXL

TO THE SAME.

'XheRE were some circumstances attending the remarkable frost
m January 1776 so singular and striking, that a short detail of
them may not be unacceptable.

The most certain way to be exact will be to copy the pas-
sages from ray journal, which were taken from time to time as
things occurred. But it may be proper previously to remark
that the first week in January was uncommonly wet, and
drowned with vast rains from every quarter: from whence may
be inferred, as there is great reason to believe is the case, that
intense frosts seldom take place till the earth is perfectly glutted
and chilled with water ;f and hence dry autumns are seldom
followed by rigorous winters.

January 7th. — Snow driving all the day, which was followed
by frost, sleet, and some snow, till the 12th, when a prodigious
mass overwhelmed all the works of men, drifting over the tops
of the gates and filling the hollow lanes.

On the 14th the writer was obliged to be much abroad;
and thinks he never before or since has encountered such rugged
Siberian weather. Many of the narrow roads were now filled

' The autumn preceding January 176S was very wet, and particularly the
month of Septemher, during which there fell at Lyndon, in the county of Rutland,
six inches and an half oi rain. And the terrible long frost in 1/39-40 set in after a
rainy season, and when the springs were very high.

OF SELBORNE. i289

^l)ove tlie tops of the hedges; through which the snow was
<iriven into most romantic and grotesque shapes, so striking to
the imagination as not to be seen without wonder and pleasure.
The poultry dared not to stir out of their roosting places; for
cocks and hens are so dazzled and confounded by the glare of
snow that they would soon perish without assistance. The
hares also lay sullenly in their seats, and would not move till
compelled by hunger; being conscious, poor animals, that the
drifts and heaps treacherously betray their footsteps, and prove
fatal to numbers of them.

From the 14th the snow continued to increase, and hegan
to stop the road waggons and coaches, which could no longer
keep on their regular stages; and especially on the western
roads, where the fall appears to have been deeper than in the
south. The company at Bath, that wanted to attend the Queens
birth-day, were strangely incommoded : many carriages of per-
sons, who got in their way to town from Bath as far as Marl-
borough, after strange embarrassments, here met with a. 7ie plus
ultra. The ladies fretted, and offered large rewards to labourers
if they would shovel them a track to London: but the relentless
heaps of snow were too bulky to be removed; and so the 18th
passed over, leaving the company in very uncomfortable cir-
cumstances at the Castle and other inns.

On the 20th the sun shone out for the first time since the
frost began; a circumstance that has been remarked before
much in favour of vegetation. All this time the cold was not
very intense, for the thermometer stood at 29, 28, 25, and there-
aibout; but on the 21st it descended to 20. The birds now
began to be in a very pitiable and starving condition. Tamed
by the season, sky-larks settled in the streets of towns, because

2 P

290 NATURAL HISTORY

they saw the ground was bare ; rooks frequented dunghills close
to houses; snd crows watched horses as they passed, and greedily
devoured what dropped from them; hares now came into men's
gardens, and, scraping away the snow, devoured such plants as
they could find.

On the 22d the author had occasion to go to London through
a sort of Laplandian-scene, very wild and grotesque indeed. But
the metropolis itself exhibited a still more singular appearance
than the country; for, being bedded deep in snow, the pave-
ment of the streets could not be touched by the wheels or the
horses' feet, so that the carriages ran about without the least
noise. Such an exemption from din and clatter was strange,
but not pleasant; it seemed to convey an uncomfortable idea of
desolation:

ipsa silentia terrent.'

On the 27th much snow fell all day, and in the evening the
frost became very intense. At South Lambeth, for the four fol-
lowing nights, the thermometer fell to 1 1, 7, 6, 6; and at Sd-
borne to 7, 6, 10; and on the 31st of Januaty, just before sun-
rise, with rime on the trees and on the tube of the glass, the
quicksilver sunk exactly to zero, being 32 degrees below the
freezing point: but by eleven in the morning, though in the
shade, it sprung up to \6h^ — a most unusual degree of cold this
for the south of England! During these four nights the cold

8 At Selborne the cold was greater than at any other place that the author could
hear of with certainty : though some reported at the time that at a village in Kent
the thermometer fell two degrees below zero, vix. 34 degrees below the freezing
point.

The thermometer used at Selborne was graduated by Benjamin Martin.

OF SELBORNE, 291

was so penetrating that it occasioned ice in warm chambers and
under beds; and in the day the wind was so keen that persons
of robust constitutions could scarcely endure to face it. The
Thames was at once so frozen over both above and below bridge
that crowds ran about on the ice. The streets were now
strangely incumbered with snow, which crumbled and trod
dusty; and, turning grey, resembled bay-salt: what had fallen
on the roofs was so perfectly dry that, from first to last, it lay
twenty-six days on the houses in the city; a longer time than
had been remembered by the oldest housekeepers living. Ac-
cording to all appearances we might now have expected the
continuance of this rigorous weather for weeks to come, since
every night increased in severity; but behold, without any
apparent cause, on the 1st of February a thaw took place, and
some rain followed before night; making good the observation
above, that frosts often go off as it were at once, without any
gradual declension of cold. On the 2d of February the thaw
persisted; and on the 3d swarms of little insects were frisking
and sporting in a court-yard at South Lambeth, as if they had
felt no frost. Why the juices in the small bodies and smaller
limbs of such minute beings are not frozen is a matter of curious
inquiry.

Severe frosts seem to be partial, or to run in currents; for,
at the same juncture, as the author was informed by accurate
correspondents, at Lyndon in the county of Rutland, the ther-
mometer stood at 19: 2it Blackburn, \n Lancashire, at 19: and
2X Manchester at 21, 20, and 18. Thus does some unknown
circumstance strangely overbalance latitude, and render the cold
sometimes much greater in the southern than the northern parts
of this kingdom.

292 NATURAL HISTORY

The consequences of this severity were, that in Hampshire,
at the melting of the snow, the wheat looked well, and the tur-
nips came forth little injured. The laurels and laurustines were
somewhat damaged, but only in hot aspects. No evergreens
were quite destroyed;' and not half the damage sustained that
befell in January 1768. Those laurels that were a little scorched
on the south-sides were perfectly untouched on their north-sides.
The care taken to shake the snow day by day from the branches
seemed greatly to avail the author's evergreens. A neighbour's
laurel-hedge, in a high situation, and facing to the north, was
perfectly green and vigorous; and. the Portugal laurels remained
unhurt.

As to the birds, the thrushes and blackbirds were mostly
destroyed; and the partridges, by the weather and poachers,,
were so thinned that few remained to breed the following year^

LETTER LXn.

TO THE SAME.

As the frost in December 1784 was very extraordinary, you, I
trust, will not be displeased to hear the particulars; and espe-
cially when I promise to say no more about the severities of
winter after I have finished this letter.

The first week in December was very wet, with the barome-
ter very low. On the 7th, with the barometer at 28 — five
tenths, came on a vast snow, which continued all that day and
the next, and most part of the following night; so that by the

OF SELBORNE. 295

morning of the 9th the works of men were quite overwhelmed;^
the lanes filled so as to be impassable, and the ground covered
twelve or fi.fteen inches without any drifting. In the evening,
of the 9th the air began to be so very sharp that we thought it
would be curious to attend to the motions of a thermometer:.
we therefore hung out two; one made by Martin and one by
Dollond, which soon began to shew us what we were to expect;
for, by ten o'clock, they fell to 21, and at eleven to 4, when we
went to bed. On the 10th, in the morning, the quicksilver of
Dolbiid's glass was down to half a degree below zero; and that of
Martins, which was absurdly graduated only to four degrees
above zero, sunk quite into the brass guard of the ball; so that
when the weather became most interesting this was useless.
On the 10th, at eleven at night, though the air was perfectly
still, Dollond's glass went down to one degree below zero! This
strange severity of the weather made me very desirous to know
what degree of cold there might be in such an exalted and near
situation as Newton. We had therefore, on the morning of the

10th, written to Mr. , and entreated him to hang out his^

thermometer, made by Adams; and to pay some attention to it
morning and evening; expecting wonderful phenomena, in so
elevated a region, at two hundred feet or more above my house.
But, behold! on the 10th, at eleven at night, it was down only
to 17, and the next morning at 22, when mine was at ten! We
were so disturbed at this unexpected reverse of comparative
local cold, that we sent one of my glasses up, thinking that of

Mr. must, some how, be wrongly constructed. But, when

the instruments came to be confronted, they went exactly toge-
ther : so that, for one night at least, the cold at Newton was
3,8 degrees less than at Selborne; and, through the whole frost,.

294 NATURAL HISTORY

10 or 12 degrees; and indeed, when we came to observe conse-
quences, we could readily credit this; for all my laurustines,
bays, ilexes, arbutuses, cypresses, and even my Por^w^fl/ laurels,^
and (which occasions more regret) my fine sloping laurel-hedge,
were scorched up; while, at Newton, the same trees have not
lost a leaf!

We had steady frost on to the 25th, when the thermometer
in the morning was down to 10 with us, and at Newton only to
21. Strong frost continued till the 31st, when some tendency
to thaw was observed; and, by January the 3d, 1783, the thaw
Avas confirmed, and some rain fell.

A circumstance that I must not omit, because it was new to
us, is, that on Friday, December the 10th, being bright sun-shine,
the air was full of icy spiculce, floating in all directions, like
atoms in a sun-beam let into a dark room. We thought them
at first particles of the rime falling from my tall hedges; but
were soon convinced to the contrary, by making our observa-
tions in open places where no rime could reach us. Were they
watery particles of the air frozen as they floated ; or were they
evaporations from the snow frozen as they mounted?

We were much obliged to the thermometers for the early in-
formation they gave us; and hurried our apples, pears, onions,
potatoes, &c. into the cellar, and warm closets; while those
who had not, or neglected such warnings, lost all their stores of
roots and fruits, and had their very bread and cheese frozen.

I must not omit to tell you that, during those two Siberian

•> Mr. Miller, in his Gardener's Dictionary, says positively that the Portugal
laurels remained untouched in the remarkable frost of 1739-40. So that either that
accurate observer was much mistaken, or else the frost of December 1784 was
much more severe and destructive than that iu the year above mentioned.

OF SELBORNE. qqs

days, my parlour-cat was so electric, that had a person stroked
her, and been properly insulated, the shock might have been
given to a whole circle of people.

I forgot to mention before, that, during the two severe days,
two men, who were tracing hares in the snow, had their feet
frozen; and two men, who were much better employed, had
their fingers so affected by the frost, while they were thrashing
in a barn, that a mortification foUoAved, from whicli they did
not recover for many weeks.

This frost killed all the furze and most of the ivy, and in
many places stripped the hollies of all their leaves. It came at
a very early time of the year, before old November ended ; and
yet may be allowed from it's effects to have exceeded any since
1739-40.

LETTER LXIir.

TO THE SAME.

As the effects of heat are seldom very remarkable in the north-
erly climate of England, where tlie summers are often so de-
fective in warmth and sun-shine as not to ripen the fruits of the
earth so well as might be wished, I shall be more concise in my
account of the severity of a summer season, and so make a little
amends for the prolix account of the degrees of cold, and the
inconveniences that we suffered from some late rigorous winters.
The summers of 1781 and 1783 were unusually hot and dry;
to them therefore I shall turn back in my journals, without

-296 NATURAL HISTORY

recurring to any more distant period. In the former of these
years my peach and nectarine-trees suffered so much from the
heat that the rind on the bodies was scalded and came off; since
which the trees have been in a decaying state. This may prove
a hint to assiduous gardeners to fence and shelter their wall-
,trees with mats or boards, as they may easily do, because such
annoyance is seldom of long continuance. During that summer
also, I observed that my apples were coddled, as it were, on the
trees; so that they had no quickness of flavour, and would not
keep in the winter. This circumstance put me in mind of what
1 have heard travellers assert, that they never ate a good apple
or apricot in the south of Europe, where the heats were so great
as to render the juices vapid and insipid.

The great pests of a garden are wasps, which destroy all the
finer fruits just as they are coming into perfection. In 1781
we had none; in 1783 there were myriads; which would have
devoured all the produce of my garden, had not we set the boys
to take the nests, and caught thousands with hazel twigs tipped
with bird-lime: we have since employed the boys to take and
destroy the large breeding wasps in the spring. Such expedients
have a great effect on these marauders, and will keep them
under. Though wasps do not abound but in hot summers, yet
they do not prevail in every hot summer, as I have instanced in
the two years above-mentioned.

In the sultry season of 1783 honey-dews were so frequent
as to deface and destroy the beauties of my garden. My honey-
suckles, which were one week the most sweet and lovely objects
that the eye could behold, became the next the most loathsome;
being enveloped in a viscous substance, and loaded with black
iiphides, or smother-flies. The occasion of this clammy appear-

OF SELBORNE. 297

ance seems to be this, that in hot weather the effluvia of flowers
in fields and meadows and gardens are drawn up in the day by
a brisk evaporation, and then in the night fall down again with
the dews, in which they are entangled; that the air is strongly
scented, and therefore impregnated with the particles of flowers
in summer ^weather, our senses will inform us; and that this
clammy sweet substance is of the vegetable kind we may learn
from bees, to whom it is very grateful : and we may be assured
that it falls in the night, because it is always first seen in warm
still mornings.

On chalky and sandy soils, and in the hot villages about
London, the thermometer has been often observed to mount as
high as 83 or 84; but with us, in this hilly and woody district,
I have hardly ever seen it exceed 80; nor does it often arrive
at that pitch. The reason, I conclude, is, that our dense clayey
soil, so much shaded by trees, is not so easily heated through as
those above-mentioned: and, besides, our mountains cause cur-
rents of air and breezes ; and the vast effluvia from our wood-
lands temper and moderate our heats.

LETTER LXIV.

TO THE SAME.

JL HE summer of the year 1783 was an amazing and portentous
one, and full of horrible pliEenomena; for, besides the alarming
meteors and tremendous thunder-storms that affrighted and dis-
tressed the different counties of this kingdom,, the peculiar

2 Q

2&8 NATURAL HISTORY

haze, or smokey fog, that prevailed for many weeks in this island,
and in every part of Europe, and even beyond it's limits, was a
most extraordinary appearance, unlike any thing known within
the memory of man. By my journal I find that I had noticed
this strange occurrence from June 23 to July 20 inclusive,
during which period the wind varied to every quarter without
making any alteration in the air. The sun, at noon, looked as
blank as a clouded moon, and shed a rust-coloured ferruginous
light on the ground, and floors of rooms ; but was particularly
lurid and blood-coloured at rising and setting. All the time the
heat was so intense that butchers' meat could hardly be eaten
on the day after it was killed; and the flies swarmed so in the
lanes and hedges that they rendered the horses half frantic, and
riding irksome. The country people began to look with a
superstitious awe, at the red, louring aspect of the sun; and
indeed there was reason for the most enlightened person to be
apprehensive; for, all the while, Calabria and part of the isle of
Sicily, were torn and convulsed with earthquakes; and about
that juncture di volcano sprung out of tlie sea on the coast of
Norway. On this occasion Miltons noble simile of the sun, in
his first book of Paradise Lost, frequently occurred to my mind;
and it is indeed particularly applicable, because, towards the
end, it alludes to a superstitious kind of dread, with which the
minds of men are always impressed by such strange and unusual
phaenomena.

" — — — As when the sun, new risen,

" Looks through the horizontal, inisty air,

" Shorn of his beams ; or from behind the moon,

" In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds

" On half the nations, and withjiar oi change

" Ptrplexes monarchs. — — — — "

OF SELBORNE. 299

LETTER LXV.

TO THE SAME.

We are very seldom annoyed with thunder-storms; and it is
no less remarkable than true, that those which arise in the south
have hardly been known to reach this village; for before they
get over us, they take a direction to the east or to the west, or
sometimes divide into two, and go in part to one of those quar-
ters, and in part to the other; as was truly the case in summer
1783, when though the country round was continually harassed
with tempests, and often from the south, yet we escaped them
all; as appears by my journal of that summer. The only way
that I can at all account for this fact — for such it is — is that,
on that quarter, between us and the sea, there are continual
mountains, hill behind hill, such as Nore-hill, the Barnet, Butser-
hill, and Ports-down, which some how divert the storms, and
give them a different direction. High promontories, and ele-
vated grounds, have always been observed to attract clouds and
disarm them of their mischievous contents, which are discharged
into the trees and summits as soon as they come in contact with
those turbulent meteors; while the humble vales escape, because
they are so far beneath them.

But, when I say I do not remember a thunder-storm from
the south, I do not mean that we never have suffered from thun-
der-storms at all; for on June 5t\\, 1784, the thermometer in
the morning being at 64, and at noon at 70, the barometer at

300 NATURAL HISTORY

29 — six tenths one-half, and the wind north, I observed a blue
mist, smelling strongly of sulphur, hanging along our sloping
woods, and seeming to indicate that thunder was at hand. I
was called in about two in the afternoon, and so missed seeing
the gathering of the clouds in the north, which they who were
abroad assured me had something uncommon in it's appearance.
At about a quarter after two the storm began in the parish of
Hartley, moving slowly from north to south ; and from thence
it came over Norton-farm, and so to Grange-farm, both in this
parish. It began with vast drops of rain, which were soon suc-
ceeded by round hail, and then by convex pieces of ice, which
measured three inches in girth. Had it been as extensive as it
was violent, and of any continuance (for it was very short), it
must have ravaged all the neighbourhood. In the parish of
Hartley it did some damage to one farm; but Norton, which
lay in the centre of the storm, was greatly injured; as was
Grange, which lay next to it. It did but just reach to the mid-
dle of the village, where the hail broke my north windows, and
all my garden-lights and hand-glasses, and many of my neigh-
bours' windows. The extent of the storm was about two miles
in length and one in breadth. We Mere just sitting down to
dinner; but were soon diverted from our repast by the clatter-
ing of tiles and the jingling of glass. There fell at the same
time prodigious torrents of rain on the farms above-mentioned,
which occasioned a flood as violent as it was sudden; doing
great damage to the meadows and fallows, by deluging the one
and washing away tlie soil of the other. The hollow lane
towards Alton was so torn and disordered as not to be passable
till mended, rocks being removed that weighed 200 weight.
Those that saw the effect which the great hail had on ponds

OF SELBORNE. 301

and pools say that the dashing of the water made an extraordi-
nary appearance, the froth and spray standing up in the air
three feet ahove the surface. The rushing and roaring of the
hail, as it approached, was truly tremendous.

Though the clouds at South Lambeth, near London, were at
that juncture thin and light, and no storm was in sight, nor
within hearing, yet the air was strongly electric; for the bells
of an electric machine at that place rang repeatedly, and fierce
sparks were discharged.

When I first took the present work in hand I proposed to
have added an Annus Historico-naturalis, or the Natural History
of the Twelve Months of the Year; which would have com-
prised many incidents and occurrences that have not fallen in
my way to be mentioned in my series of letters j — but, as Mr.
Aikin o^ TFarrmgton has lately published somewhat of this sort,
and as the length of my correspondence has sufficiently put
your patience to the test, I shall here take a respectful leave of
you and natural history together; And am,

With all due deference and regard,

Your most obliged,

And most humble servaat,

Selboene,
June 25, 1787. GIL. WHITE.

THE

ANTIQUITIES

OF

SELBORNE.

COUNTY OF SOUTHAMPTON.

----- JUVAT IRE - -
DESERTOSUUE VIDEKE LOCOS - - - -

ANTI QUITIES

OF

SELBORNE.

LETTER I.

It is reasonable to suppose that in remote ages this woody and
mountainous district was inhabited only by bears and wolves.
Whether the Britms ever thought it worthy their attention, is
not in our power to determine; but we may safely conclude,
from circumstances, that it was not unknown to the Romans.
Old people remember to have heard their fathers and grand-
fathers say that, in dry summers and in windy weather, pieces
of money were sometimes found round the verge of Wolmer-
pond; and tradition had inspired the foresters with a notion
that the bottom of that lake contained great stores of treasure.
During the spring and summer of 1740 there was little rain;
and the following summer also, 1741, was so uncommonly dry,
that many springs and ponds failed, and this lake in particular
whose bed became as dusty as the surrounding heaths and
wastes. This favourable juncture induced some of the forest-
cottagers to begin a search, which was attended with such suc-

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306 ANTIQUITIES

cess, that all the labourers in the neighbourhood flocked to the
spot, and with spades and hoes turned up great part of that
large area. Instead of pots of coins, as they expected, they
found great heaps, the one lying on the other, as if shot out of
a bag; many of which were in good preservation. Silver and
gold these inquirers expected to find; but their discoveries con-
sisted solely of many hundreds of Roman copper-coins, and some
medallions, all of the lower empire. There was not much virtii
stirring at that time in this neighbourhood; however, some of
the gentry and clergy around bought what pleased them best;
and some dozens fell to the share of the author.

The owners at first held their commodity at an high price;
but, finding that they were not likely to meet with dealers at
such a rate, they soon lowered their terms, and sold the fairest
as they could. The coins that were rejected became current,
and passed for farthings at the petty shops. Of tliose that we
saw, the greater part were o{ Ala reus Aurdius, and the Empress
Faustina, his wife, the father and mother of Commodus. Some
of Faustina were in high relief, and exhibited a very agreeable
set of features, which propably resembled that lady, who was
more celebrated for her beauty than for her virtues. The me-
dallions in general were of a paler colour than the coins. To
pretend to account for the means of their coming to this place
would be spending time in conjecture. The spot, I think, could
not be a Reman camp, because it is commanded by hills on two
sides; nor does it shew the least traces of entrenchments; nor
can I suppose that it was a Roman town, because I have too
good an opinion of the taste and judgment of those polished
con(]uerors to imagine that they would settle on so barren and
dreary a waste.

OF SELBORNE. 307

LETTER ir.

That Selborne was a place of some distinction and note in the
time of the Sa^rons we can give most undoubted proofs. But,
as there are few if any accounts of villages before Domesday, it
will be best to begin with that venerable record. " Ipse rex
•" tenet Selesburne. Eddid regina tenuit, et nunquam geldavit.
" De isto manerio dono dedit rex Raclfredo presbytero dimidiam
" hidam cum ecclesia. Tempore regis Edxvardi et post, valuit
" duodecim solidos et sex denarios; modo octo solidos et quatuor
" denarios." Here we see that Selborne was a royal manor; and
that Editha, the queen of Edward the Confessor, had been lady
of that manor; and was succeeded in it by the Conqueror; and
that it had a church. Beside these, many circumstances concur
to prove it to have been a Saiwi village; such as the name of
the place itself' the names of many fields, and some families,"

' Seleslurne, Seleburne, Sellurn, Selbourn, Selborne, and Sclborn, as it has been
variously spelt at different periods, is oi Saxon derivation; for Sel S]gn\(ies great,
and burn torrens, a brook or rivulet : so that the name seems to be derived from
the great perennial stream that breaks out at the upper end of the village. — Sel also
signifies bonus, nem,foecundus,feitUis. " Sel-saefir-tun -.foecunda graminis clausura ;
fertile pascuum : a meadow in the parish of Godelmtng is still called Sal-gars-ton."
Lye's Saxon Dictionary, in the Supplement, by Mr. Manning.

^ Thus the name of Atdred signifies all-reverend, and that of Kemp means a sol-
dier. Thus we have a church-lit/on, or enclosure for dead bodies, and not a church-
yard : there is also a Culver-croft near the Grange-farm, being the enclosure where
Ihsynory pigeon-house iiooA, from c;^/yer a pigeon. Again there are three steep
pastures in this parish called the Lithe, from Hlithe, clivus. The wicker-work that

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308 ANTIQUITIES

with a variety of words in husbandry and common life, still sub-
sisting among the country people.

What probably first drew the attention of the Saxons to this
spot was the beautiful spring or fountain called TVell-head,^ which
induced them to build by the banks of that perennial current;
for ancient settlers loved to reside by brooks and rivulets, where
they could dip for their water without the trouble and expense
of digging wells and of drawing.

It remains still unsettled among the antiquaries at what time
tracts of land were first appropriated to the chase alone for the
amusement of the sovereign. Whether our Saxon monarchs
had any royal forests does not, I believe, appear on record; but
the Cotistituiiones deForesta of Canute, the Dane, are come down
to us. W shall not therefore pretend to say whether Wolmer-
forest existed as a royal flomain before the conquest. If it did
not, we may suppose it was laid out by some of our earliest
Norman kings, who were exceedingly attached to the pleasures

binds and fastens down a hedge on the top is called ether, from ether an hedge.
When the good women call their hogs they cry sic, sic, * not knowing that sic is
Saxon, or rather Celtic, for a hog. Coppice or brush wood our countrymen call rise,
from hris, frondes; and talk of a load of rise. Within the author's memory the
Saxon plurals, housen and peason, were in common use. But it would be endless
to instance in every circumstance: he that wishes for more specimens must fre-
quent a firmer's kitchen. I have therefore selected some words to shew how fa-
miliar the Sa.T07i dialect was to this district, since in more than seven hundred years
it is far from being obliterated.

' U'cU-hcad signifies spring-head, and not a deep pit from whence we draw
water. For particulars about which see Letter I. to Mr. Pennant.

* Iixx, porcus, apud Lactnes ; un Horceau chez les Laademoniens : ce mot a sans doute eftc
pris des Celles, qui discent sic, pour marquer ua porceau. Encore aujour'huj' quand les Bretons
chassent ces animaux, ils ne disent point autrement, que sic, sic.

jinliouiti de !a A'adoii, ct Je .'« Laiisue des Ceites, par Przr.tt.

OF SELBORNE. 309

of the chase, and resided much at Winchester, which lies at a
moderate distance from this district. The Plantagenet princes
seem to have been pleased with JVolmer; for tradition says that
king John resided just upon the verge, at JVard le ham, on a re-
gular and remarkable mount, still called King Johns Hill, and
Lodge Hill; and Edward III. had a chapel in his park, or en-
closure, at Kingsley."' Humphi^ey, duke o^ Gloucester, and Rich-
ard, duke of York, say my evidences, were both, in their turns,
wardens of JVolmer-forest ; which seems to have served for an
appointment for the younger princes of the royal family, as it
may again.

I have intentionally mentioned Edward III. and the dukes
Huviphrey and Richard, before king Edward II. because I have
reserved, for the entertainment of my readers, a pleasant anec-
dote respecting that prince, with which I shall close this letter.

As Edivard II. was hunting on Wolmer-forest, Morris Ken,
of the kitchen, fell from his horse several times; at which acci-
dents the king laughed immoderately: and, when the chase
was over, ordered him twenty shillings;" an enormous sum for
those days! Proper allowances ought to be made for the youth
of this monarch, whose spirits also, we may suppose, were much
exhilarated by the sport of the day : but, at the same time, it is
reasonable to remark that, whatever might be the occasion of

" The parish of Kingsley lies between, and divides Tphlmer-forest from ^yles
Hole-forest. See Letter IX. to Mr. Pennant.

" " Item, paid at the lodge at IVolmer, when the king was stag-hunting there,
to Morris Ken, of the kitchen, because he rode before the king and often fell from
his horse, at which the king laughed exceedingly — a gift, by command, of twenty
shillings."

A MS. in possession of Thcmat AstU, esq, containing the private expenses o{ EdwardW.

SIO ANTIQUITIES

Kens first fall, the subsequent ones seem to have been designed.
The scullion appears to have been an artful fellow, and to have
seen the king's foible; which furnishes an early specimen of
that his easy softness and facility of temper, of which the infa-
mous Gaveston took such advantages, as brought innumerable
calamities on the nation, and involved the prince at last in mis-
fortunes and sufferings too deplorable to be mentioned without
horror and amazement.

LETTER III.

From the silence of Domesday respecting churches, it has been
supposed that few villages had any at the time when that record
was taken; hut Selborne, we see, enjoyed the benefit of one:
hence we may conclude, that this place was in no abject state
even at that very distant period. How many fabrics have suc-
ceeded each other since the days of Radfredrus the presbyter, we
cannot pretend to say; our business leads us to a description of
the present edifice, in which we shall be circumstantial.

Our church, which was dedicated to the Virgin Jlfary, con-
sists of three aisles, and measures fifty-four feet in length by
forty-seven in breadth, being almost as broad as it is long. The
present building has no pretensions to antiquity; and is, as I
suppose, of no earlier date than the beginning of the reign of
HcnryYW. It is perfectly plain and unadorned, without painted
glass, carved work, sculpture, or tracery. But when I say it
has no claim to antiquity, I would mean to be understood of the
fabric in general; for the pillars which support the I'oof, are un-

•('1\UV Ip;'

I ^^^mppK

m

OF SELBORNE. 311

doubtedly old, being of that low, squat, thick order, usually
called Sa.i'o>i. These, I should imagine, upheld the roof of a
former church, which, falling into decay, was rebuilt on those
massy props, because their strength had preserved them from
the injuries of time.° Upon these rest blunt gothic arches, such
as prevailed in the reign above-mentioned, and by which, as a
criterion, we would prove the date of the building.

At the bottom of the south aisle, between the west and south
doors, stands the font, which is deep and capacious, and consists
of three massy round stones, piled one on another, without the
least ornament or sculpture: the cavity at the top is lined with
lead, and has a pipe at bottom to convey off the water after the
sacred ceremony is performed.

The east end of the south aisle is called the South Chancel,
and, till within these thirty years, was divided off by old carved
gothic frame-work of timber, having been a private chantry. In
this opinion we are more confirmed by observing two gothic
niches within the space, the one in the east wall and the other
in the south, near which there probably stood images and altars.

Inthe middle aisle there is nothing remarkable: but I re-
member when it's beams were hung with garlands in honour of
young women of the parish, reputed to have died virgins; and
recollect to have seen the clerk's wife cutting, in white paper,
the resemblances of gloves, and ribbons to be twisted into knots
and roses, to decorate these memorials of chastity. In the

" In the snrae manner, to. compare great things with small, did IFyleham, when
he new-built the cathedral at IFinchesler, from the tower westward, apply to his
purpose the old piers or pillars of Bishop Walkelin's church, by blending Saxon and
Gothic architecture together. See Lo-wth's Life of Wykehara.

312 ANTIQUITIES

church of Farhigdon, which is the next parish, many garland?
of this sort still remain.

The north aisle is narrow and low, with a sloping ceiling,
reaching within eight or nine feet of the floor. It had originally
a flat roof covered with lead, till, within a century past, a
churchwarden stripping off the lead, in order, as he said, to have
it mended, sold it to a plumber, and ran away with the money.
This aisle has no door, for an obvious reason; because the north-
side of the church-yard, being surrounded by the vicarage-gar-
den, aflfords no path to that side of the church. Nothing can
be more irregular than the pews of this church, which are of all
dimensions and heights, being patched up according to the fancy
of the owners: but whoever nicely examines them will find that
the middle aisle had, on each side, a regular row of benches of
solid oak, all alike, with a low back-board to each. These we
should not hesitate to say are coeval with the present church :
and especially as it is to be observed that, at their ends, they
are ornamented with carved h\\xnt gothic niches, exactly corre-
spondent to the arches of the church, and to a niche in the south
wall. The south aisle also has a row of these benches ; but
some are decayed through age, and the rest much disguised by
modern alterations.

At the upper end of this aisle, and running out to the nortli,
stands a transept, known by the name of the North Chancel,
measuring twenty-one feet from south to north, and nineteen
feet from east to west: this was intended, no doubt, as a private
chantry; and was also, till of late, divided off by agothic frame-
work of timber. In it's north wall, under a very blunt gothic
arch, lies perhaps the founder of this edifice, which, from the

OF SELBORNE. 313

shape of it's arch, may be deemed no older than the latter end
of the reign of Henry VII. The tomb was examined some years
ago, but contained nothing except the scull and thigh-bones of
a large tall man, and the bones of a youth or woman, lying in a
very irregular manner, without any escutcheon or other token
to ascertain the names or rank of the deceased. The grave was
very shallow, and lined with stone at the bottom and on the
sides.

From the east wall project four stone brackets, which I con-
clude supported images and crucifixes. In the great thick
pilaster, jutting out between this transept and the chancel, there
is a very sharp gothic niche, of older date than the present
chantry or church. But the chief pieces of antiquity are two
narrow stone coffin-lids, which compose part of the floor, and
lie from west to east, with the very narrow ends eastward:
these belong to remote times; and, if originally placed here,
which I doubt, must have been part of the pavement of an older
transept. At present there are no coffins under them, whence
I conclude they have been removed to this place from some
part of a former church. One of these lids is so eaten by time,
that no sculpture can be discovered upon it; or, perhaps, it may
be the wrong side uppermost: but on the other, which seems
to be of stone of a closer and harder texture, is to be discerned
a discus, with a cross on it, at the end of a staff or rod, the well-
known symbol of a Knight-Templar.'^

This order was distinguished by a red cross on the left shoul-
der of their cloak, and by this attribute in their hand. Now, if
these stones belonged to Knights Templars, they must have lain

p See Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanutn, Vol. II. where there is a fine engraving
of a Knight-Templar , by Hollar.

2 S

314 ANTIQUITIES

here many centuries; for this order came into England early in
the reign of king Stephen in 1113; and was dissolved in the
time o^ Edward II. in 1312, having subsisted only one hundred
and ninety-nine years. Why I should suppose that Ktiights
Templars were occasionally buried at this church, will appear in
some future letter, when we come to treat more particularly
concerning the property they possessed here, and the intercourse
that subsisted between them and the priors of Selborne.

We must now proceed to the chancel, properly so called,
which seems to be coeval with the church, and is in the same
plain unadorned style, though neatly kept. This room measures
thirty-one feet in length, and sixteen feet and an half in breadth,
and is wainscoted all round, as high as to the bottom of the
windows. The space for the communion table is raised two
steps above the rest of the floor, and railed in with oaken balus-
ters. Here I shall say soniewhat of the windows of the chan-
cel in particular, and of the whole fabric in general. They are
mostly of that simple and unadorned sort called Lancet, some
single, some double, and some in triplets. At the cast end of
the chancel are two of a moderate size, near each other ; and in
the north wall two very distant small ones, unequal in length
and height: and in the south wall are two, one on each side of
the chancel door, that are broad and squat, and of a different
order. At the east end of the south aisle of the church there
is a large lancet-window in a triplet; and two very small, nar-
row, single ones in the south wall, and a broad squat window
beside, and a double lancet one in the west end; so that the
appearance is very irregular. In the north aisle are two win-
dows, made shorter when the roof was sloped; and in the north
taansept a large triple window, shortened at the time of a repair

ife-:

OF SELBORNE. 315

in 1721 ; when over it was opened a round one of considerable
size, which affords an agreeable light, and renders that chantry
the most cheerful part of the edifice.

The church and chancels have all coved roofs, ceiled about
the year 1683; before which they were open to the tiles and
shingles, showing the naked rafters, and threatening the congre-
gation with the fall of a spar, or a blow from a piece of loose
mortar.

On the north wall of the chancel is fixed a large oval white
marble monument, with the following inscription; and at the
foot of the wall, over the deceased, and inscribed with his name,
age, arms, and time of death, lies a large slab of black marble :

Prope hunc parietem sepelitur
GILBERTUS WHITE, SAMSONIS WHITE, de

Oxon. militis filius tertius, CoUegii Magdale-
-nensis ibidem alumnus, & socius. Tandem faven-
-te coUegio ad banc ecclesiam promotus ; ubi primae-
-v^ morum simplicitate, et diffusa erga omnes bene-
-volentia feliciter consenuit.
Pastor fidelis, comis, affabilis,
Maritus, et pater amantissinius,
A conjuge invicem, et liberis, atque
A parochianis impense dilectus.
Pauperibus ita beneficus
ut decimam partem census

moribundus
piis usibus consecravit.
Meritis demum juxta et annis p!enus
ex hac vita migravit Feb. 13".
anno salutis 172}
^tatis suae 77-
Hoc posuit Rebecca
Conjux illius raaestissima,
raox secutura.
2 S 2

316 ANTIQUITIES

On the same wall is newly fixed a small square table-monu-
ment of white marble, inscribed in the following manner.

Sacred to the memory

of the Reyd. ANDREW EITY, B. D.

23 Years Vicar of this parish :

In whose character

The conjugal, the parental, and the sacerdotal virtues

were so happily combined

as to deserve the imitation of mankind.

And if in any particular he followed more invariabl}'

the steps of his blessed Master,

It was in his humility.

His parishioners,

especially the sick and necessitous,

as long as any traces of his memory shall remain,

must lament his death.

To perpetuate such an example, this stone is erected ;

as while living he was a preacher of righteousness,

so, by it, he being dead yet speaketh.

He died April 8"». 1784. Aged 66 years.

LETTER IV.

We have now taken leave of the inside of the church, and
shall pass by a door at the west end of the middle aisle into the
belfry. This room is part of a handsome square embattled
tower of forty-five feet in height, and of much more modern
date than the church; but old enough to have needed a thorough
repair in 1781, when it was neatly stuccoed at a considerable
expense, by a set of workmen who were employed on it for the
greatest part of the summer. The old bells, three in number,

OF SELBORNE. 317

loud and out of tune, were taken down in 1735, and cast into
four; to which Sir Simeon Stuart, the grandfather of the pre-
sent baronet, added a fifth at his own expense : and, bestowing
it in the name of his favourite daughter Mrs. Mary Stuart,
caused it to be cast with the following motto round it :

" Clara puella dedit, dixitque mihi esto Maria :
" Illius et laudes nomen ad astra sono."

The day of the arrival of this tuneable peal was observed as
an high festival by the village, and rendered more joyous, by
an order from the donor, that the treble-bell should be fixed
bottom upward in the ground, and filled with punch, of which
all present were permitted to partake.

The porch of the church, to the south, is modern, and would
not be worthy attention did it not shelter a fine sharp gothic
door-way. This is undoubtedly much older than the present
fabric; and being found in good preservation, was worked into
the wall, and is the grand entrance into tlie church : nor are the
folding-doors to be passed over in silence; since, from their
thick and clumsy structure, and the rude flourished-work of
their hinges, they may possibly be as ancient as the door-way
itself.

The whole roof of the south aisle, and the south-side of the
roof of the middle aisle, is covered with oaken shingles instead
of tiles, on account of their lightness, which favours the ancient
and crazy- timber-frame. And indeed, the consideration of acci-
dents by fire excepted, this sort of roofing is much more eligible
than tiles. For shingles well seasoned, and cleft from quai tered
timber, never warp, nor let in drifting snow; nor do they shiver
with frost; nor are they liable to be blown off, like tiles; but

318 ANTIQUITIES

when well nailed down, last for a long period, as experience has
shown us in this place, where those that face to the north are
known to have endured, untouched, by undoubted tradition for
more than a century.

Considering the size of the church, and the extent of the
parish, the church-yard is very scanty; and especially as all
wish to be buried on the south-side, which is become such a
mass of mortality that no person can be there interred without
disturbing or displacing the bones of his ancestors. There is
reason to suppose that it once Avas larger, and extended to what
is now the vicarage court and garden; because many human
bones have been dug up in those parts several yards without
the present limits. At the east end are a few graves; yet none
till very lately on the north-side; but, as two or three families of
best repute have begun to bury in that quarter, prejudice may
wear out by degrees, and their example be followed by the rest
of the neighbourhood.

In speaking of the church, I have all along talked of the
east and west-end, as if the chancel stood exactly true to those
points of the compass; but this is by no means the case, for the
fabric bears so much to the north of the east that the four cor-
ners of the tower, and not the four sides, stand to tlie four car-
dinal points. The best method of accounting for this deviation
seems to be, that the workmen, who probably were employed
in the longest days, endeavoured to set the chancels to the rising
of the sun.

Close by the church, at the west end, stands the vicarage-
house; an old, but roomy and convenient edifice. It faces
very agreeably to the morning sun, and is divided from the vil-
lage by a neat and cheerful court. According to the manner of

OF SELBORNE. 319

old times, the hall was open to the roofj and so continued, pro-
bably, till the vicars became family-men, and began to want
more conveniences; when they flung a floor across, and, by par-
titions, divided the space into chambers. In this hall we re-
member a date, some time in the reign of Elizabeth; it was over
the door that leads to the stairs.

Behind the house is a garden of an irregular shape, but well
laid out; whose terrace commands so romantic and picturesque
a prospect, that the first master in landscape might contemplate
it with pleasure, and deem it an object well worthy of his
pencil.

LETTER V.

In the church-yard of this village is a yew-tree, whose aspect
bespeaks it to be of a great age : it seems to have seen several
centuries, and is probably coeval with the church, and therefore
may be deemed an antiquity : the body is squat, short, and
thick, and measures twenty-three feet in the girth, supporting
an head of suitable extent to it's bulk. This is a male tree,
which in the spring sheds clouds of dust, and fills the atmo-
sphere around with it's farina.

As far as we have been able to observe, the males of this
species become much larger than the females; and it has so
fallen out that most of the yew-trees in the church-yards of this
neighbourhood are males: but this must have been matter of
mere accident, since men, when they first planted yews, little
dreamed that there were sexes in trees.

320 ANTIQUITIES

In a yard, in the midst of the street, till very lately, grew a
middle-sized female tree of the same species, which commonly
bore great crops of berries. By the high winds usually prevail-
ing about the autumnal equinox, these berries, then ripe, were
blown down into the road, where the hogs ate them. And it
was very remarkable, that, though barrow-hogs and young sows
found no inconvenience from this food, yet milch-sows often
died after such a repast: a circumstance that can be accounted
for only by supposing that the latter, being much exhausted
and hungry, devoured a larger quantity.

While mention is making of the bad effects of yew-berries, it
may be proper to remind the unwary, that the twigs and leaves
of yew, though eaten in a very small quantity, are certain death
to horses and cows, and that in a few minutes. An horse tied
to a yew-hedge, or to a faggot-stack of dead yew, shall be found
dead before the owner can be aware that any danger is at hand :
and the writer has been several times a sorrowful witness to
losses of this kind among his friends; and in the island oi Ely
had once the mortification to see nine young steers or bullocks
of his own all lying dead in an heap from browzing a little on
an hedge of yew in an old garden into which they had broken
in snowy weather. Even the clippings of a yew-hedge have
destroyed a whole dairy of cows when thrown inadvertently
into a yard. And yet sheep and turkies, and, as park-keepers
say, deer, will crop these trees with impunity.

Some intelligent persons assert that the branches of yew,
while green, are not noxious; and that they will kill only when
dead and withered, by lacerating the stomach : but to this asser-
tion we cannot by any means assent, because, among the num-
ber of cattle that we have known fall victims to this deadly food.

OF SELBORNE. 321

not one has been found, when it was opened, but had a lump of
gree7i yew in it"s paunch. True it is, that yevv-tiees stand for
twenty years or more in a field, and no bad consequences ensue:
but at some time or other cattle, either from wantonness when
full, or from hunger when empty, (from both which circum-
stances we have seen them perish) will be meddling, to their
certain destruction; the yew seems to be a very improper tree
for a pasture- field.

Antiquaries seem much at a loss to determine at what period
this tree first obtained a place in church-yards. A statute
passed A. D. 1307 and 55 Edward I. the title of which is " Ne
" rector arboi'es in cemeterio prosternat." Now if it is recol-
lected that we seldom see any other very large or ancient tree
in a church-yard but yews, this statute must have principally
related to this species of tree; and consequently their being
planted in church-yards is of much more ancient date than the
year 1307.

As to the use of these trees, possibly the more respectable
parishioners were buried under their shade before the improper
custom was introduced of burying within the body of the church,
where the living are to assemble. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse,''
was buried under an oak; the most honourable place of inter-
ment probably next to the cave of Machpelah,' which seems to
have been appropriated to the remains of the patriarchal family
alone.

The farther use of yew-trees might be as a screen to churches,
by their thick foliage, from the violence of winds; perhaps also
for the purpose of archery, the best long bows being made of

■i Gen. xxxv, 8. ' Gen. xxiii, g.

322 ANTIQUITIES

that inateiial: and we do not hear that they are planted in the
cluirch-yards of other parts o? Europe, where long bows M-ere not
so much in use. They might also be placed as a shelter to the
congregation assendjling before the church-doors were opened,
and as an emblem of mortality by their funereal appearance. In
the south of England ever}' church-yard almost has it's tree,
and some two; but in the north, we understand, few are to be
found.

The idea of R.C. tliat xhz yew-tree afforded it's branches in-
stead of ])alms for the processions on Palm-Sunday, is a good
one, and deserves attention. See Gent. Mag. Vol. L. p. lilS.

LETTER VI.

Ihe living of Selborne was a very small vicarage; but, being in
tlie patronage of Magdalen-college, in the university of O.jj/wy/,
that society endowed it with the great tithes of iW/Jio/v^t;, more
than a century ago: and since the year 1758 again with the
great tithes of Oakhanger, called Bene's parsonage: so that, to-
gether, it is become a respectable piece of preferment, to which
one of the fellows is always presented. The vicar holds the
great tithes, b}' lease, under the college. The great disadvan-
tage of this living is, that it has not one foot of glebe near
home.'

' -it Bene's, or Bin's, parsonage there is a house and stout barn, and seven acres
of glebe . Bene's parsonage is three miles from the church.

L-

,v.

d.

8

2

1

0

16

0

1

7

0

9

0

OF SELBORNE. 323

ITS PAYMENTS ARE,

King's books — — —

Yearly tenths — — —

Yearly procurations for Blcichnorc and Oakhanger

Chap: with acquit: — —

Selbonie procurations and acquit: —

I am unable to give a complete list of the vicars of this
parish till towards the end of the reign of queen Elizabeth; from
which period the registers furnish a regular series.

In Domesdax] we find thus — " De isto nianerio dono dedit
" Rex Radfredo presbytero dimidiam hidam cum ecclesia." So
that before Domesday, which was compiled between the years
108 i and 1086, here was an officiating minister at this place.

After tliis, among my documents, I find occasional mention
of a vicar here and there: the first is
Roger, instituted in 1254.
In 1410 John Lynne was vicar oi Selhorne.
In 1411 Hugo Tyhhe was vicar.

The presentations to the vicarage of Selborne generally ran
in the name of the prior and the convent; but Tybbe was pre-
sented by prior John JFynechestre only.

June 29, 1528, jniUam Fiaher, vicar o^ Selborne, resigned to
Miles Peyrson.

1594, William JVhite appears to have been vicar to this time.
Of this person there is nothing remarkable, but that he hath
made a regular entry twice in the register of Selbonie of the
funeral oi Thomas Cowper, bishop of IVinchester, as if he had
been buried at Selborne; yet this learned prelate, who died

2 T 2

324 ANTIQUITIES

15()4, was buvied at Uluchester, in the cathedral, near the epis-
copal throne.'

15y.5, Richard Boughton, vicar.
1596, JViUiam Inkforiye, vicar.

May I6O6", Thomas Phippcs, vicar,

June 1631, Ralph Justine, vicar.

July l63'i, Jo//« Longzvorth. This unfortunate gentleman,
living in the time of Cromwell's usurpation, was deprived of his
preferment for many years, probably because he would not take
the league and co\euant: for I observe that his father-in-law,
the Reverend Jethro Beal, vector of Fariugdon, wliich is the
next parish, enjoyed his benefice during the whole of that un-
happy period. Longworth, after he was dispossessed, retired to
a little tenement about one hundred and fifty yards from the
church, where he earned a small pittance by the practice of
physic. During those dismal times it was not uncommon for
the deposed clergy to take up a medical character; as was the
case in particular, I know, with the Reverend Mr. Yalden, rec-
tor of Compton, near Guildford, in the county of Surrey. Vicar
Longworth used frequently to mention to his sons, who told it
to my relations, that, the Sunday after his deprivation, his puri-
tanical successor stepped intothe pulpit with no small petulance
and exultation; and began his sermon from Psalm xx. 8.
" They are brought down and fallen; but we are lisen and stand
" upright." Tliis person lived to be restored in 1660, and con-
tinued vicar for eighteen years; but was so impoverished by his
misfortunes, that he left the vicarage-house and premises in a
very abject and dilapidated state.

' See Goilu'in dc praesulibusj folio Cant, ly-io, page 239.

OF SELBORNE. 325

July 1678. Richard Byjield, who left eighty pounds by will,
the interest to be applied to apprentice out poor children: but
this money, lent on private security, was in danger of being
lost, and the bequest remained in an unsettled state for near
twenty years, till 1700; so that little or no advantage was
derived from it. About the year 17.59 it was again in the
utmost danger by the failure of a borrower; but, by prudent
management, has since been raised to one hundred pounds stock
in the three per cents reduced. The trustees are the vicar and
the renters or owners ol Temple, Priori], Grange, Blackmoi'e, and
Oakkanger- house, for the time being. This gentleman seemed
inclined to have put the vicarial premises in a comfortable state;
and began, by building a solid stone wall round the front-court,
and another in the lower yard, between that and the neighbour-
ing garden} but was interrupted by death from fulfilling his
laudable intentions.

April, 1680, Barnabas Long became vicar.

June 1681. Tiiis living was now in such low estimation in
Magdalen-college, that it descended to a junior fellow, Gilbert
White, M. A. who was instituted to it in the thirty -first year of
his age. At his first coming he ceiled the chancel, and also
floored and wainscoted the parlour and hall, which before were
paved with stone, and had naked walls; he enlarged the kitchen
and brewhouse, and dug a cellar and well: he also built a large
new barn in the lower yard, removed the hovels in the front
court, which he laid out in walks and borders; and entirely
planned the back garden, before a rude field with a stone-pit in
the midst of it. By his will he gave and bequeathed " the sum
<' of forty pounds to be laid out in the most necessary repairs
*-' of the church; that is, in strengthening and securing such

326 ANTIQUITIES

" parts as seem decaying and dangerous." With this sum two
large buttresses were erected to support the east end of the
south wall of the churcli; and the gable- end wall of the west
cnt! of the south aisle was new built from the ground.

B}' his will also he gave " One hundred pounds to be laid
" out on lands; tlie yearly rents whereof shall be employed in
" teaching the poor children of SelbouDi parish to read and write,
" and say their prayers and catechism, and to sew and knit: —
" and be under the direction of his executrix as long as she
" lives; and, after her, under the direction of such of his chil-
" dren and their issue, as shall live in or within five miles of
" the said parish: and on failure of any such, tlien under the
" direction of the vicar o^ Sdbourn for the time being; but still
" to the uses above-named." With this sum was purchased, of
Thomas Turville, of Hawkeley, in the county of Soitthamptoti,
yeoman, and Hannah his wife, two closes of freehold land, com-
monly called Collier s, containing, b}' estimation, eleven acres,
lying in Haxvkeley aforesaid. These closes are let at this time,
1785, on lease, at the rate of three pounds by the year.

This vicar also gave by will itco hundred pounds towards the
repairs of the liighways" in the parish of Selborne. That sum
was carefully and judiciously laid out in the summer of the year
1730, by his son John TVhite, who made a solid and firm causey
from Rood-green, all down Honey-lane, to a farm called Oak-
woods, where the sandy soil begins. This miry and gulfy lane
was chosen as worthy of repair, because it leads to the forest,
and thence through the Holt to the town of Far nh am in Surrey,

" " Such legacies were very common in former times, before any effectual laws
" were made for the repairs of highways." Sir John CuUum's Hawsled, p. 15.

OF SELBORNE. 327

the only market in those clays for men who had wheat to sell
in this neighbourhood. This causey was so deeply bedded with
stone, so properly raised above the level of the soil, and so well
drained, that it has, in some degree, withstood fifty-four years
of neglect and abuse; .•'.nd might, with moderate attention, be
rendered a solid and comfortable road. The space from Rood-
green to Oak-woods measures about three quarters of a mile.

In 1727, Jl'ilUam Henry Cane, B. D. became vicar; and,
among several alterations and repairs, new-built the back front
of the vicarage-house.

On February 1, 1740, Duncombe Bristowe, D. D. was instituted
to this living. What benefactions this vicar bestowed on the
parish will be best explained by the following passages from
his will:— " /to/i, I hereby give and bequeath to the minister
" and churchwardens of the parish of .Selbourn, in the county of
" Southanipton, a mahogany table, which I have ordered to be
" made for the celebration of the Holy Communion; and also
" the sum of thirty pounds, in trust, to be applied in manner
" following; that is, ten pounds towards the charge of erecting
" a gallery at the west end of the church; and ten pounds to
" be laid out for cloathing, and such like necessaries, among
" the poor (and especially among the ancient and infirm) of the
" said parish: and the remaining ten pounds to be distributed
" in bread, at twenty shillings a week, at the discretion of John
" JFIiite, esq. or any of his family, who shall be resident in the
" said parish."

On November 12, 1738, Andrew Etty, B. D, became vicar.
Among many useful repairs he new-roofed the body of the
vicarage-house; and wainscoted, up to the bottom of the win-

328 ANTIQUITIES

dows, the whole of the chancel; to the neatness and decency
of which he always paid the most exact attention.

On September, 25, 1 784, Chiistopher Taylor, B. D. was in-
ducted into the vicarao'e of Selborne.

LETTER VII.

1 SHALL now proceed to the Priory, which is undoubtedly the
most interesting part of our history.

The Priory of Selborne was founded by Peter de la Roche, or
de Rupibiis,'' one of those accomplished foreigners that resorted
to the court of king John, where they were usually caressed,
and met with a more favourable reception than ought, in pru-
dence, to have been shown by any monarch to strangers. This
adventurer was a Poictevin by birth, had been bred to arms in
his youth, and distinguished by knighthood. Historians all
agree not to speak very favourably of this remarkable man ;
they allow that he was possessed of courage and fine abilities,
but then they charge him vvith arbitrary principles, and violent
conduct. By his insinuating manners he soon rose high in the
favour of John; and in 1205, early in the reign of that prince,
was appointed bishop of JVinchester. In 1214 he became lord
chief justiciary of England, the first magistrate in the state, and
a kind of viceroy, on whom depended all the civil aifairs in the

" See Godwin de Prxsulibus Anglia. Folio. London. 1743, p. 217-

OF SELBORNE. 329

kingdom. After the death of Joh?i, and during the minority of
his son Henry, this prelate took upon him tlie entire manage-
ment of the realm, and was soon appointed protector of the king
and kingdom.

The barons saw with indignation a stranger possessed of all
the power and influence, to part of wliich they thought they
had a claim; they therefore entered into an association against
him, and determined to wrest some of that authority from him
which he had so unreasonably usurped. The bishop discerned
the storm at a distance; and, prudently resolving to give way
to that torrent of envy which he knew not how to withstand,
withdrew quietly to the Holy Land, where he resided some
time.

At this juncture a very small part of Palestine remained in
the hands of the Christians: they had been by Saladine dispos-
sessed of Jerusalem, and all the internal parts, near forty years
before; and with difficulty maintained some maritime towns
and garrisons : yet the busy and enterprising spirit of de Rupibus
could not be at rest; he distinguished himself by the splendour
and magnificence of his expenses, and amused his mind by
strengthening fortresses and castles, and by removing and en-
dowing of churches. Before his expedition to the east he had
signalized himself as a founder of convents, and as a benefactor
to hospitals and monasteries.

In the year 1231 he returned again to England; and the
very next year, in 1232, began to build and endow the Prioky
of Selborne. As this great work followed so close upon his
return, it is not improbable that it was the result of a vow made
during his voyage; and especially as it was dedicated to the
Virgin Mary. Why the bishop made choice of Selborne for the

330 ANTIQUITIES

scene of his munificence can never be determined now: it can
only be said that the parish was in his diocese, and lay almost
midway between JFinchester and Farnham, or ?>outh JFaltham
and Farnham; from either of which places he could without
nmch trouble overlook his workmen, and observe what progress
they made; and that the situation was retired, with a stream
running- by it, and sequestered from the world, amidst woods
and meadows, and so far proper for the site of a religious house."

The first person with whom the founder treated about the
purchase of land was Jacobus de Acharigre, or Ocliangre, a gen-
tleman of property who resided at that hamlet; and, as appears,
at tlie house now called Oakhanger-house. With him he agreed
for a croft, or little close of land, known by the name of La
liega, or La li/ge, which was to be the immediate site of the
Priori/.

De Achangre also accommodated the bishop at the same in-
stant with three more adjoining crofts, which for a time was all
the footing that this institution obtained in the parish. The
seller in the conveyance says " Warantizubinuis, defendemus, et

y The institution at Selbome was a priory of Black-Canons of the order of St,
Auguslirtc, called also Canons-Regular. Regular-Canons were such as lived in a
conventual manner, under one roof, liad a common refectory and dormitory, and
were bound by vows to observe the rules and statutes of their order : in fine, they
were a kind of religious, whose discipline was less rigid than the monks. The chief
rule of these canons was that of St. /Augustine, who was constituted bishop of
Hippo, A. D. 395 : but they were not brought into England till after the conquest ;
and seem not to have obtained the appellation o( Augustine canons till some years
after. Their habit was a long black cassock, with a white rociet over it ; and over
that a blac kcloai and hood. The monks were always shaved : but these canons
wore their hair and beards, and caps on their heads. There were of these canons,
and women of the same order called Canonesses, about 1 75 houses.

OF SELBORNE. 331

" EBquietabiimis contra omnes gentesf viz. " We will warrant
" the thing sold against all claims from any quarter." In
modern conveyancing this would be termed a covenant for
further assurance. Afterwards is added — " Pro hac autem do-
" nacione, &c. dedit milii pred. Episcopus sexdecem marcas
" argenti in Gersumam:" i. e. " the bishop gave me sixteen sil-
" ver marks as a consideration for the thing purchased."

As the grant from Jac. de Achangre was without date,"" and
the next is circumstanced in the same manner, we cannot say
exactly what interval there was between the two purchases;
but we find that Jacobus de Nortun, a neighbouring gentlemanj
also soon sold to the bishop of TVinchester some adjoining-
grounds, through which our stream passes, that the priory might
be accommodated with a mill, which was a common necessary
appendage to every manor: he also allowed access to these lands
by a road for carts and waggons. — " Jacobus de Nortun concedit
" Petro JVint07i episcopo totum cursum aque que desc^ndit de
" Mokndino de Durtan usq; ad boscum /Fill. Mauduit, et crof-
" tarn terre vocat: Edricfie croft, cum extensione ejusdem et
" abuttamentis; ad fundandam domum religiosam de ordine Sti.
" Augustini. Concedit etiam viam ad carros, et caretas," &c.
This vale, down which runs the brook, is now called the Long
Lithe, or Lythe. Bating the following particular expression,
this grant runs much in the style of the former; " Dedit mihi
" episcopus predictus triginta quinque marcas argenti ad me
" acquietandum versus Judceos." — That is, " the bishop advanced

^ The custom of affixing dates to deeds was not become general in the reign of
Henry III.

2 U 2

33-2 ANTIQUITIES

" me thirty-five marks of silver to pay my debts to the jews,"
who were then the only lenders of money.

Finding himself still straightened for room, the founder
applied to his royal master, Henry, who was graciously pleased
to bestow certain lands in the manor at Selborne on the new
priory of his favourite minister. These grounds had been the
property of Stephen de Lucy; and, abuttir.g upon the narrow
limits of the convent, became a very commodious and agreeable
acquisition. This grant, I find, was made on March the 9th, in
the eighteenth year of //e?2rj/, viz. 1234, being two 3' ears after
the foundation of the monastery. Tiie royal donor bestowed
his favour with a good grace, by adding to it almost every im-
munity and privilege that could have been specified in the law-
language of the times. — " Quare volumus prior, &c. habeant
" totam terram, &c. cum omnibus libertatibus in bosco et piano,
" in viis et semitis, pratis et pascuis; aquis et piscariis; infra
" burgum, et extra burgum cum soka et saca, Thol et Them,
" Infangenethef et Utfangenethef, et hamsocne et blodwite, et
" pecunia que dari solct |)ro murdro et forstal, et flemenestrick, et
" cum quietancia de omni scotto etgeldo, et de omnibus auxiliis
" regum, vice comitum, et omn: ministralium suorum; ethidagio
" et exercitibus, et scutagiis, ettallagiis, et'shiris ethundredis, et
" placitis et querclis, et wardaet wardpeny, et opibus castellorum
*' et pontium, et tlausuris parcorum, et omni carcio et sumagio,
" et domor: regal: cdificatione, et omnimoda reparatione, et
" cum omnibus aliis libertatibus." This grant was made out by
llicJiard bishop of Chichester, then cliancellor, at the town of
Northatnpton, before tlie lord chief justiciary, who was the
founder himself.

OF SELBORNE. 333

The charter of foundation of the Priory, dated 1233, comes
next in order to be considered; but being of some length, I shall
not interrupt my narrative by placing it here; and therefore
refer the reader to the Appen(hx, N' I. This my copy, taken
from the original, I have compared with Dugdale's copy, and
find that tliey perfectly agree ; except that in the latter the
preamble and the names of the witnesses are omitted. Yet I
think it proper to quote a passage from this charter — " Et ipsa
" domus religiosa a cujusUbet alterius domus religiosce subjectione
" libera permaneat, et in omnibus absoluta" — to shew how much
Dugdak was mistaken when he inserted Selborne among the
alien priories ; forgetting that this disposition of the convent
contradicted the grant that he had published. In the Monasti-
con AugUcaniim, in English, p. 1 19, is part of his catalogue of
alien priories, suppressed 2 Henry V. viz. 1414, where may be
seen as follows,

S.
Sele, Sussex.

SELEBUKN.

Shirburn.

This appeared to me from the first to have been an oversight,
before I had seen my authentic evidences. Yoy priories alien, a
?Q\v conxentual ones excepted, were little better than granges to
foreign abbies; and their priors little more than bailifts, remove-
able at will : whereas the priory of Selborne possessed the valua-
ble estates and manors of Selbor?ie, Achangre, Norton, Brompden,
Bassinges, Basingstoke, and Natele; and the prior challenged the
right of Pillory, TIturcet, and Furcas, and every manerial
privilege.

334 ANTIQUITIES

I find next a grant from Jo. de Venur, or Venuz, to the prior
of Selbor/te — " de tota mora [a moor or bog] ubi Be)?7e oritur,
" usque ad campum vivarii, et de prato voc. Sydenmeade cum
" abutt: et dc cursu aque molendini." And also a grant in re-
version " unius virgate terre," [a yard land] in Achangre at the
death of Richm^d Actedene his sister's husband, who had no
child. He was to present a pair of gloves of one penny value
to the prior and canons, to be given annually by the said Richard;
and to quit all claim to the said lands in reversion, provided tlie
prior and canons would engage annually to pay to the king,
through the hands of his bailiffs of Aulton, ten shillings at four
quarterly payments, " pro omnibus serviciis, consuetudinibus,
" exactionibus, et deniandis."

This Jo. de Vemir was a man of property at Oakhanger, and
lived probably at the spot now called Chapel-farm. The grant
bears date the 17th year of the reign of i7ewj/ III. [m. 1233.J

It would be tedious to enumerate every little grant for lands
or tenements that might be produced from my vouchers. I
shall therefore pass over all such for the present, and conclude
this letter with a remark that must strike every thinking person
with some degree of wonder. No sooner had a monastic insti-
tution got a footing, but the neighbourhood began to be touched
with a secret and religious awe. Every person round was
desirous to promote so good a work; and either by sale, by
grant, or by gift in reversion, was ambitious of appearing a
benefactor. They who had not lands to spare gave roads to
accommodate the infant foundation. The religious were not
backward in keeping up this pious propensity, which they ob-
served so readily influenced the breasts of men. Thus did the
more opulent monasteries add house to house, and field to field;

OF SELBORNE. 33.5

and by degrees manor to manor: till at last " there was no place
left;" but every district around became appropriated to the pur-
poses of their founders, and every precinct was drawn into the
vortex.

LETTER VIII.

Our forefathers in this village were no doubt as busy and bust-
ling, and as important, as ourselves: yet have their names and
transactions been forgotten from century to century, and have
sunk into oblivion ; nor has this happened only to the vulgar,
but even to men remarkable and famous in their generation. I
was led into this train of thinking by finding in my vouchers
that Sir Adam Gurdon was an inhabitant of Sdborne, and a man
of the first rank and property in the parish. By Sir Adam Gur-
don I would be understood to mean that leading and accom-
plished malecontent in the Mountfort faction, who distinguished
himself by his daring conduct in the reign oi Henry III. The
first that we hear of this person in my papers is, that with two
others he was bailiff of Alton before the sixteenth of Henry III.
viz. about 1231, and then not knighted. y^\\o Gurdon was, and
whence he came, does not appear : yet there is reason to suspect
that he was originally a mere soldier of fortune, who had raised
himself by marrying women of property. The name o? Gurdon
does not seem to be known in the south; but there is a name
so like it in an adjoining kingdom, and which belongs to two or
three noble families^ that it is probable this remarkable person
was a North Briton; and the more so, since the Christian name

336 ANTIQUITIES

of Adam is a distinguished one to this day among the family of
the Gordons. — But, be this as it may, Sir Adam Gurdon has been
noticed by all the writers of English history for his bold dispo-
sition and disaffected spirit, in that he not only figured during
the successful rebellion q^ Leicester, but kept up the war after
the defeat and death of that baron, entrenching himself in the
woods of Hampshire, towards the town of Farnham. After the
battle oi Evesham, in which Mountfort fell, in the year 1265,
Gurdon might not think it safe to return to his house for fear
of a surprise; but cautiously fortified himself amidst the forests
and woodlands with which he was so well acquainted. Prince
Edxvard, desirous of putting an end to the troubles which had
so long harassed the kingdom, pursued the arch-rebel into his
fastnessess; attacked his camp; leaped over the entrenchments;
and, singling out Gurdon, ran him down, wounded him, and
took him prisoner/

There is not perhaps in all history a more remarkable in-
stance of command of temper, and magnanimity, than this before
us: that a young prince, in the moment of victory, when he
had the fell adversary of the crown and royal family at his
mercy, should be able to withhold his hand from that vengeance
which the vanquished so well deserved. A cowardly disposition
would have been blinded by resentment: but this gallant heir-
apparent saw at once a method of converting a most desperate
foe into a lasting friend. He raised the fallen veteran from the
ground, he pardoned him, he admitted him into his confidence,
and introduced him to the queen, then lying at Guildford, that
very evening." This unmerited and unexpected lenity melted

" M. Paris, p. 675, & Triveti Annale.

OF SELBORNE. 337

the heart of the rugged Gurdon at once; he became in an
instant a loyal and useful subject, trusted and employed in mat-
ters of moment by Edward when king, and confided in till the
day of his death.

LETTER IX.

It has been hinted in a former letter that Sir Adam Gurdon
had availed himself by marrying women of property. By my
evidences it appears that he had three wives, and probably in
the following order: Constantia, Ameria, axid Agnes. The first
of these ladies, who was the companion of his middle life, seems
to have been a person of considerable fortune, which she inhe-
rited from Thomas Makerel, a gentleman of Selborne, who was
either her father or uncle. The second, Ameria, calls herself
the quondam wife of Sir Adam, " quae fui uxor," &c. and talks
of her sons under age. Now Gurdon had no son: and beside
Agnes in another document says, " Ego Agnes quondam uxor
" Domini Adce Gurdon in pura et ligea viduitate mea:" but
Gurdon could not leave two widows; and therefore it seems
probable that he had been divorced from Ameria, who after-
wards married, and had sons. By Agnes Sir Adam had a daugh-
ter Johanna, who was his heiress, to whom Agnes in her life-time
surrendered part of her jointure: — he had also a bastard son.

Sir Adam seems to have inhabited the house now called
Temple, lying about two miles east of the church, which had
been the property of Thomas Makerel.

In the year 1262 he petitioned the prior of Selborne in his

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338 ANTIQUITIES

own name, and that of his wife Constantia only, for leave to
build him an oratory in his manor-house, " in curia sua." Li-
censes of this sort were frequently obtained by men of fortune
and rank from the bishop of the diocese, the archbishop, and
sometimes, as I liave seen instances, from the pope; not only
for convenience-sake, and on account of distance, and the bad-
ness of the roads, but as a matter of state and distinction. Why
the owner should apply to the prior, in preference to the bishop
of the diocese, and how the former became competent to such a
grant, I cannot say; but that the priors of Selborne did take
that privilege is plain, because some years afterward, in 1280,
Prior Richard granted to Henry JVateiford and his wife Nicholaa
a license to build an oratory in their court-house, " curia sua dc
Waterford," in which they might celebrate divine service, saving
the rights of the mother church of Basynges. Yet all the while
the prior of Selborne grants with such reserve and caution, as if
in doubt of his power, and leaves Gurdon and his lady answer-
able in future to the bishop, or his ordinary, or to the vicar for
the time being, in case they should infringe the rights of the
mother church of Selborne.

The manor-house called Temple is at present a single building,
running in length from south to north, and has been occupied
as a common farm house from time immemorial. The south
end is modern, and consists of a brew-house, and then a kitchen.
The middle part is an hall twenty-seven feet in length, and
nineteen feet in breadth; and has been formerly open to the
top; but there is now a floor above it, and also a chimney in
the western wall. The roofing consists of strong massive rafter-
work ornamented with carved roses. I have often looked for
the lamb and Jlag, the arms of the knights templars, without sue-

OF SELBORNE. 339

cess; but in one corner found a fox with a goose on his back,
so coarsely executed, that it required some attention to make
out the device.

Beyond the hall to the north is a small parlour with a vast
heavy stone chimney-piece; and, at the end of all, the chapel or
orator]/, whose massive thick walls and narrow windows at once
bespeak great antiquity. This room is only sixteen feet by six-
teen feet eight inches; and full seventeen feet nine inches in
height. The ceiling is formed of vast joists, placed only five or
six inches apart. Modern delicacy would not much approve of
such a place of worship: for it has at present much more the
appearance of a dungeon than of a room fit for the reception of
people of condition. For the outside 1 refer the reader to the
plate, in which Mr. Grimm has represented it with his usual
accuracy. The field on which this oratory abuts is still called
Chapel-field. The situation of this house is very particular, for
it stands upon the immediate verge of a steep abrupt hill.

Not many years since this place was used for an hop-kiln,
and was divided into two stories by aloft, part of which remains
at present, and makes it convenient for peat and turf, with
which it is stowed.

LETTER X.

The Priory at times was much obliged to Gurdon and his family.
As Sir Adam began to advance in years he found his mind influ-
enced by the prevailing opinion of the reasonableness and
efficacy of prayers for the dead; and, therefore, in conjunction

2X2

340 ANTIQUITIES

with his wife Constantia, in the year 1271, granted to the prior
and convent o^ Selborne all his right and claim to a certain place,
placea, called La Pleystow, in the village aforesaid, " in liberam,
" puram, et perpetuam eleynosinam.'" This Pkystow, ^ locus ludorum,
or play place, is a level area near the church of about forty-four
yards by thirty-six, and is known now by the name of the
Pkstor."

It continues still, as it was in old times, to be the scene of
recreation for the youths and children of the neighbourhood;
and impresses an idea on the mind that this village, even in
Saxon times, could not be the most abject of places, when the
inhabitants thought proper to assign so spacious a spot for the
sports and amusements of it's young people.''

As soon as the prior became possessed of this piece of ground,
he procured a charter for a market' from king Henry III. and
began to erect houses and stalls, " seldas" around it. From this
period Selborne became a market town: but how long it enjoyed
that privilege does not appear. At the same time Gurdon re-

•> In Saxon Pleseptop, or Plesp^Jop ; viz. Plegestow, or Plegstow.

" At this juncture probably the vast oak, mentioned p. 5, was planted by the
prior, as an ornament to his new acquired market place. According to this supposi-
tion the oak was .iged 432 years when blown down.

■* For more circumstances respecting the Plestor, see Letter IF. to Mr. Pennant.

' Bishop Tanner, in his Notilia Monastica, has made a mistake respecting the
market znA fair at Selborne : for in his references to Dodsworth, cart. 54 Hen. III.
m. 3. he says, " De mercatu, etferia de Selelurn." But this reference is wrong;
Sor, instead of Sdeburn, it proves that the place there meant was Lehelerne, or
Legeborne, in the county oi Lincoln. This error was copied from the index of the
Cat. MSS. Angl. It does not appear that there ever was a chartered fair at Sel-
borne. For several particulars respecting the present fair at Selborne see Letter
XXVI. of these Antiquities,

OF SELBORNE. 341

served to himself, and his heirs, a way through the said Plestor
to a tenement and some crofts at the upper end, abutting on the
south corner of the church-yard. This was, in old days, the
manerial house of the street manor, though now a poor cottage;
and is known at present by the modern name of EUiofs. Sir
Adam also did, for the health of his own soul, and that of his
wife Constantia, their predecessors and successors, grant to the
prior and canons quiet possession of all the tenements and gar-
dens, " curtillagia," which tliey had built and laid out on the
lands in Selborne, on which he and his vassals, " homines,'' had
undoubted right of common : and moreover did grant to the
convent the full privilege of that right of common; and em-
powered the religious to build tenements and make gardens
along the king's highway in the village oi Selborne.

From circumstances put together it appears that the above
were the first grants obtained by the Priory in the villao-e of
Selborne, after it had subsisted about thirty-nine years: more-
over they explain the nature of the mixed manor still remainino-
in and about the village, where one field or tenement shall
belong to Magdalen-college in the university oi Oxford, and the
next to Norton Powlet, esq. of Rotlierjield house j and so down
the whole street. The case was, that the whole was once the
property of Gurdon, till he made his grants to the convent-
since which some belongs to the successors of Gurdon in the
manor, and some to the college; and this is the occasion of the
strange jumble of property. It is remarkable that the tenement
and crofts which Sir Adam reserved at the time of grantino- the
Plestor should still remain a part of the Gurdon-manor, though
so desirable an addition to the vicarage that is not as yet pos-
sessed of one inch of glebe at home : but of late, viz, in January

342 ANTIQUITIES

1785, Magdalen-college purchased that httle estate, which is life-
liolding, in reversion, for the generous purpose of bestowing it,
and it's lands, being twelve acres (three of \vhich abut on the
church-yard and vicarage-garden) as an improvement hereafter
to the living, and an eligible advantage to future incumbents.

The year after Gurdon had bestowed the Plestor on the
Priory, tiz. in 1272, Heiny III. king of E?igland died, and was
succeeded by bis son Edzvard. This magnanimous prince con-
tinued his regard for Sir Adam, whom he esteemed as a brave
man, and made him warden, " custos," of the forest of IFolmer'

^ Since the letters respecting Wolmer-forest and Ayles-holt, from p. 14 to 26,
were printed, the author has beau favoured with the following extracts :

In the " Act of Resumption, 1 Hen. VII." it was provided, that it be not pre-
judicial to " Harry at Lode, ranger of our forest of JVolmere, to him b)' cure letters
" patents before tyme gevyn." Rolls of Pari. Vol. VI. p. 370.

In the 1 1 Hen. VII. 1495 — " JVarlham [Wardleham] and the offii;e of forest
[forester] of JVoimere" were held by Edmund duke of Suffolk. — Rolls, ib 474.

Act of general pardon, 14 Hen. VIII. 1523, not to extend to "Rich. Bp. of
" IVynton [bishop Fox'\ for any seizure or forfeiture of liberties, &c. within the
"forest of Wolmei , Alysholt, and Newe Forest; nor to any person for waste, &c.
" within the manor of Wardlam, or parish of Ifardlarn [IVardleham ;] nor to
" abusing, &c. of any office or fee, within the said forests of Wolmer or Alysholt,
" or the said park of IVardlam." — County Suth't.

Rolls prefixt to 1st Vol. of Journals of the Lords, p. xciii. b.

To these may be added some other particulars, taken from a book lately pub-
lished, entitled "An Account of all the Manors, Messuages, Lands, &c. in the dif-
" ferent Counties of England and IVales, held by Lease from the Crown ; as con-
" tained in the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the State
'■' and Condition of the Royal Forests," &c. — —London, 1787.
" Southampton."

£. s. d.
P. 64, " A fee-farm rent of 31 2 11 out of the manors of East and West
" Wardleham ; and also the office of lieutenant or keeper of the forest or chase of

OF SELBORNE. 343

Though little emolument might hang to this appointment, yet
are there reasons why it might be highly acceptable; and, in a
few reigns after, it was given to princes of the blood.^ In old
days gentry resided more at home on their estates, and, having
fewer resources of elegant in-door amusement, spent most of
their leisure hours in the field and the pleasures of the chase.
A large domain, therefore, at little more than a mile distance,
and well stocked with game, must have been a very eligible
acquisition, affording him influence as well as entertainment;
and especially as the manerial house of Temple, by its exalted
situation, could command a view of near two-thirds of the
forest.

That Gm^on, who had lived some years the life of an out-
law, and at the head of an army of insurgents, was, for a consi-

" Aliceholt and JVolmer, with all offices, fees, commodities, and privileges thereto
" belonging.

" Names of lessees, WUliam earl of Dartmouth and others (in trust.)
" Date of the last lease, March 23, 1780; granted for such terra as would fill
" up the subsisting term to 31 years.
" Expiration March 23, 1811."

" Appendix, N° III."
" Southampton."
" Hundreds — Sellorne and Finckdeane."
" Honours and manors," &c.
" j4liee)col( forest, three parks there.

" Bensted and Kingsleif; a petition of the parishioners concerning the three
" parks in Aliceholt forest."

William, first ear\ of Dartmouth, and paternal grandfather to the present lord
Sta-wel, was a lessee of the forests of Aliceholt and Wolmer before brigadier-general
Emanuel Scroope Howe.

s See Letter II. of these Antiquities.

344 ANTIQUITIES

derable time, in high rebellion against his soverc'gn, should
have been guilty of some outrages, and should have committed
some depredations, is by no means matter of wonder. Accord-
ingly we find a distringas against him, ordering him to restore to
the bishop of JVinchester some of the temporalities of that see,
which he had taken by violence and detained; viz. some lands
in Hocheleyi, and a mill.'' By a breve, or writ, from the king
he is also enjoined to readmit the bishop of JVinchester, and his
tenants of the parish and town oi Farnham, to pasture their
horses, and other forger cattle, "«reri«,"in the forest oi JVol-
mer, as had been the usage from time immemorial. This writ
is dated in the tenth year of the reign of Edward, viz. 1282.

All the king's writs directed to Gurdon are addressed in the
following manner: " Edwardus, Dei gratia, &c. dilecto et fideli"
" suo Ade Gurdon salutem;" and again, " Custodi foreste sue de
" JVolvemere."

In the year 1293 a quarrel between the crews of an English
and a Norman ship, about some trifle, brought on by degrees
such serious consequences, that in 1295 a war broke out between
the two nations. The French king, Philip the Hardy, gained
some advantages in Gascony ; and, not content with those,
threatened England with an invasion, and, by a sudden attempt,
took and burnt Dover.

Upon this emergency Edward sent a writ to Gui^doii, order-
ing him and four others to enlist three thousand soldiers in the
counties of Surrey, Dorset, and Wiltshire, able-bodied men,

*■ Hocheleye, now spelt Hawkley, is in the hundred of Selborne, and has a mill
at this day.

IP'' I

\4

y^^^^

OF SELBORNE. 345

" tam sagittare quam balistaie potentes:" and to see that they
were marched, by tlie feast of All Saints, to JVinchelsea, there to
be embarked aboard the king's transports.

The occasion of this armament appears also from a summons
to the bishop of JVinchester to parUament, part of which I shall
transcribe on account of the insolent menace which is said
therein to have been denounced against the English language : —
" qualiter rex Francice de terra nostra Gascon nos fraudulenter
" et cautelose decepit, earn nobis nequiter detinendo . . . vero
" predictis fraude et nequitia non contentus, ad expugnationem
" regni nostri classe maxima et bellatorum copiosa multitudine
" congregatis, cum quibus regnum nostrum et regni ejusdem in-
" colas hostiliter jam invasurus, linguam Anglica?n, si concepte
" iniquitatis proposito detestabili potestas correspondeat, quod
" Deus avertat, omniuo de terra delere proponit." Dated 30th
September, in the year of king Edward's reign xxiii.'

The above are the last traces that I can discover of Gurdons
appearing and acting in public. The first notice that my evi-
dences give of him is, that, in 1 232, being the l6th of Henry III.
he was the king's bailiff, with others, for the town o( Alton.
Now, from 1232 to 1295 is a space of sixty-three years; a long-
period for one man to be employed in active life! Should any
one doubt whether all these particulars can relate to one and
the same person, I should wish him to attend to the following-
reasons why they might. In the first place, the documents from
the priory mention but one Sir Adam Giirdon, who had no son
lawfully begotten: and in the next, we are to recollect that he

■ Reg. IFynton, Stratford, but query Stratford ; for Stratford was not bishop
oiWinton till ]323, near thirty years afterwards.

2 Y

346 ANTIQUITIES

nuist have probably been a man of uncommon vigour both of
mnid and body; since no one, unsupported by such accompHsh-
ments, could have engaged in such adventures, or could have
borne up against the difficulties which he sometimes must have
encountered : and, moreover, we have modern instances of per-
sons that have maintained their abilities for near that period.

Were we to suppose Gurdon to be only twenty years of age
in ]232, in 1295 he would be eighty-three; after which ad-
vanced period it could not be expected that he should live long.
From the silence, therefore, of my evidences it seems probable
that this extraordinary person finished his life in peace, not
long after, at his mansion of Temple. Gurdon s seal had for it's
device — a man, with an helmet on his head, drawing a cross-
bow; the legend, " Sigi/lum Ade de Gurdonf his arms were,
" Goulis, iii tloures argent issant de testes de leopards."''

If the stout and unsubmitting spirit oi Gurdon could be so
much influenced by the belief and superstition of the times,
much more might the hearts of his ladies and daughter. And
accordingly we find that Ameria, by the consent and advice of
her sons, though said to be all under age, makes a grant for ever
of some lands down by the stream at Durton; and also of her
right of the common oi Durton itself.' Johanna, the daughter
and heiress of Sir Adam, was married, I find, to Richard Achard ;
she also grants to the prior and convent lands and tenements in
the village of Selborne, which her father obtained from Thomas
Makerel; and also all her goods and chattels in Selborne for the

'' From the collection of Thomas Maribi, Esq. in the Antiquarian Repertory,
p. 109, N' :5iXXI.

' Durton, now called Dorton, is still a common for the copyholders of Sdlorne
manor.

OF SELBOIINE. 347

consideration of two hundred pounds sterling. Tliis last busi-
ness was transacted in the first year of Edward II. viz. 1307.
It has been observed before that Gurdon had a natural son: tliis
person was called by the name of John Dastard, alias TFastard,
but more probably Bastard; since bastardy in those days was
not deemed any disgrace, though dastardy was esteemed the
greatest. He was married to Gunnorie Duncun ; and had a
tenement and some land granted him in Selborne by his sister
Johanna.

LETTER XI.

Ihe Knights Templars, m who have been mentioned in a former
letter, had considerable property in Selborne; and also & preceptori/
at Siidington, now called Southington, a hamlet lying one mile to

The Military Orders of the Religious.

™ The Knights Hospilalars of St. John of yerusalem, afterwards called Knights
of Rhodes, now oi Malta, came into England shout the year J 100, I Hen. I.

The Knights Templars came into England pretty early in Stephens reign,
which commenced 1135. The order was dissolved in 1312, and their estates given
by act of Parliament to the Hospitalars in 1323. (all in Edw. U.) though many of
their estates were never actually enjoyed by the said Hospitalars.

Vid. Tanner, p. xxiv. x.

The commandries of the Hospitalars, and preceptories of Templars, were each
subordinate to the principal house of their respective religion in London. Although
these are the different denominations, which Tanner at p. xxviii. assigns to the cells
of these different orders, yet throughout the work very frequent instances occur of
preceptories attributed to the Hospitalars ; and if in some passages of Notitia

3 Y 2

348 ANTIQUITIES

the east of the village. Bishop Tanner mentions only two such
houses of the Templars in all the county o^ Southampton, viz.
Godesfield, founded hy Henry de Blois, bishop of iV'mchester, and

Monast. lommanclries are aUributed to the Templars, it is only where the place
afterwards became the property of the Hospitalars, and so is there indifTereutly
styled preceplory or commaridry ; see p. 243, 263, 276, 5"/^, 6/8. But, to account
for the first observed inaccuracy, it is probable the preceptories of the Templars,
when given to the Hospitalars, were still vulgarly, however, called by their old
name of preceptories ; whereas in propriety the societies of the Hospitalars were
indeed (as has been said) commandries. And such deviation from the strictness of
expression in this case might occasion those societies of Hospitalars also to be in-
differently called preceptories, which had originally been vested in them, having
never belonged to the Templars at all. — See in Archer, p. 6O9. Tanner, p. 300.
col. 1 . 720. note c.

It is observable that the very statute for the dissolution of the Hospitalars holds
the same language j for there, in the enumeration of particulars, occur " command~
" ries, preceptories." Codex, p. IIQO. Now this intercommunity of names, and
that in an act of parliament too, made some of our ablest antiquaries look upon a
preceplory and commandry as strictly synonimous ; accordingly wc find Camden, in
his Britannia, explaining prceceptoria in the text by a commandry in the margin,
p. 356. 510. J. L.

Commandry, a manor or chief messuage with lands, &c. belonging to the priory
of St. John of Jerusalem ; and he who had the government of such house was called
the commander, who could not dispose of it but to the use of the priory, only taking
thence his own sustenance, according to his degree, who was usually a brother of
the same priory. Cowell. He adds (confounding these with preceptoriesj they are
in many places ienned Temples, as Temple Bruere'm Lincolnshire, Sec. Prectplories
were possessed by the more eminent sort of Templars, whom the chief master
created and called Prci'ceptores Teinpli. Cowell, who refers to Stephens de Jurisd.
lib. 4. c. 10. num. 27.

Placita de juratis et assis coram Salom. de Roffet sociis suis justic. Itiner. apud
Wynton. &c. anno regni K. Edwardi fil. Reg. Hen. octavo. — " et Magr. Milicie
*' Templi in Angl. ht emendasse panis, & suis [cerevisioe] in Sodington, & nescint
" q '. \v.\r. et — et niagist. Milicie Templi non \ en id distr.

Chapter-house, JFestminslcr,

OF SELBORNE.

349

South Badeisky, a preceptory of the Knights Templars, and after-
wards o? St. John of Jerusalem, valued at one hundred and eigh-
teen pounds sixteen shillings and seven pence per annum. Here
then was 2^ preceptory unnoticed by anticjuaries, between the vil-
lage and Temple. Whatever the edifice of the preceptory might
have been, it has long since been dilapidated; and the whole
hamlet contains now only one mean farm-house, though there
were two in the memory of man.

It has been usual for the religious of different orders to fall
into great dissensions, and especially when they were near
neighbours. Instances of this sort we have heard of between
the monks of C««^e/-^«rj/; and again between the old abbey of
St. Swythun, and the comparatively new minster of Hyde in
the city of JVinchester." These feuds arose probably from dif-

Notitia Monastica, p. \55.

" " Winchester, Newminster. King Alfred founded here first only a house and
• chapel for the learned monk Grimhald, whom he had brought out of Flanders :
' but aftf rwards projected, and by his will ordered, a noble church or religious house
' to be built in the cemetery on the north side of the old minster or cathedral; and
' designed that Grimlald should preside over it. This was begun A. D. goi, and
' finished to the honour of the Holy Trinity, Virgin Mary, and St. Peter, by his
' son king Edward, who placed therein secular canons : but A. D. q65 they were
' expelled, and an abbot and monks put in possession by bishop Ethelwokl.

" Now the churches and habitations of these two societies being so very near
'together, the differences which were occasioned by their singing, bells, and other
' matters, arose to so great a height, that the religious of the new monastery thought
' fit, about A. D. 1110, to remove to a better and more quiet situation without the
' walls, on the north part of the city called Hyde, where king Henry I. at the in-
' stance of Will. Gijj'ord, bishop of Winton, founded a stately abbey for them. St,
' Peter was generally accounted patron; though it is sometimes called the monas-
tery of St. Grimhald, and sometimes of St. Barnabas," &c.

350 ANTIQUITIES

ferent orders being crowded within the narrow limits of a city,
or garrison-town, wiiere every inch of ground was precious, and
an object of contention. But with us, as far as my evidences
extend, and while Robert Saunford was master ° and Richard
Carpenter w'Sl^ preceptor, the Templars and the Priors lived in an
intercourse of mutual good offices.

My papers mention three transactions, the exact time of
which cannot be ascertained, because they fell out before dates
were usually inserted ; though probably they happened about
the middle of the thirteenth century; not long after 6ff;/;?/b;Y/
became master. The first of these is that the Templars shall pay
to the priory o? Selborne, annually, the sum of ten shillings at
two half yearly payments from their chamber, " camera,"' at
Sudingto7i, " per nianum preceptoris, vel ballivi nostri, qui pro
" tempore fuerit ibidem," till they can provide the ptior and
canons with an equivalent in lands or rents within four or five
miles of the said convent. It is also further agreed that, if the
Templates shall be in arrears for one year, that then the prior
shall be empowered to distrain upon their live stock in Bradeseth,
The next matter was a grant from Robert de Saioiford to the
priory for ever, of a good and sufficient road, " chemimwi,'' capa-
ble of admitting carriages, and proper for the drift of their
larger cattle, from the way which extends from Sudington
towards Blakemere, on to the lands which the convent possesses
in Bradeseth.

Note. A few years since a county bridewell, or house of correction, has been
built on the immediate site of Hide Alley. In digging up the old foundations the
workmen found the head of a crosier in good preservation.

" Rolert SaiinforiU was master of the Temple in 1241 ; Guido de Foresla was
the next In I2g2. The former is fifth in a list of the masters in a MS. Bil. Cotton.
Nero. E. VI.

OF SELBORNE. 331

The third transaction (though for want of dates we cannot say
whicli liappened first and which last) was a grant from Robert
Sa}>ifbrd to the priory of a tenement and its appurtenances in
the village of Selborne, given to tlie Templars by Americus de
VdscL' This property, by the manner of describing it, — " tutum
" tenementum cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, scilicet in terris,
" & hominibus, in pratis & pascuis, & nemoribus," &c. seems to
have been no inconsiderable purchase, and was sold for two
hundred marks sterling, to be applied for the buying of more
land for the support of the holy war.

Prior John is mentioned as the person to whom J^asc'is land
is conveyed. But in TViUiss list there is no prior John till 1339,
several years after the dissolution of the order of the Templars
in 1312; so that unless JVillis is wrong, and has omitted a prior
John since 1262, (that being the date of his first prior) these
transactions must have fallen out before that date,

I find not the least traces of any concerns between Gurdon
and the Knights Templars; but probably after his death his
daughter Johanna might have, and might bestow. Temple on that
order in support of the holy land: and, moreover, she seems to
liave been moving from Selborne when she sold her goods and
chattels to the priory, as mentioned above.

Temple no doubt did belong to the knights, as may be as-
serted, not only from it's name, but also from another corrobo-
rating circumstance of it's being still a manor tithe-free\ " for,
" by virtue of their order," says Dr. Blackstone, "the lands of

P Americus Vasci, by his namCj must have been on Italian, and had been pro-
bably a soldier of fortune, and one of Gurdon s captains. Americus Fes^ucio, the
person who gave name to the new world, was a Florentine,

35^ ANTIQUITIES

" the Knights Templars were privileged by the pope with a dis-
" charge from tithes."

Antiquaries have been much puzzled about the terms /);'ece/>
fores and p7-eceptorii<)7i, not being able to determine what officer
or edifice was meant. But perhaps all the while the passage
quoted above from one of my papers "per m&num preceptoris
" vel ballivi nostri, qui pro tempore fuerit ibidem," may help to
explain the difficulty. For if it be allowed here iha.t preceptor
and ballivus are synonymous words, then the brother who took
on him that office resided in the house of the Templars at Sud-
ington, a preceptory ; where he was their />;'ece/;^or, superintended
their affairs, received their money; and, as in the instance there
mentioned, paid from their chamber, " carnera,' as directed: so
that, according to this explanation, a. preceptor was no other than
a steward, and a preceptoriitm was his residence, I am well
aware that, according to strict Latin, the vel should have been
sen or sive, and the order of the words " preceptoi-is tiostri, vel
" ballivi, qui" — et " ibidem" should have been ibi; ibidem neces-
sarily having reference to tzvo or more persons: but it will hardly
be thought fair to apply the niceties of classic rules to the
Latiuity of the thirteenth century, the writers of which seem to
have aimed at nothing farther than to render themselves in-"
telligible.

There is another remark that we have made, which, I think,
corroborates what has been advanced; and that is, that Richard
Carpenter, preceptor of Sndington, at the time of the transactions
between the 7 emplars and Selborne Priory, did always sign last
as a witness in the three deeds: he calls himself y/-fl^c;-, it is
true, among many other brothers, but subscribes with a kind of

OF SELBORNE. 353

deference, as if, for the time being, his office rendered him an
inferior in the community.''

LETTER XII.

The ladies and daughters of Sir Adayn Gurdon were not the
only benefactresses to the Priory of Selborne; for, in the year
1281, Ela Longspee obtained masses to be performed for her
soul's health ; and the prior entered into an engagement that
one of the convent should every day say a special mass for ever
for the said benefactress, whether living or dead. She also en-
gaged within five years to pay to the said convent one hundred
marks of silver for the support of a chantry and chantry -chaplain,

<i In two or three ancient records relating to St. Oswald's hospital in the city of
Worcester, printed by Dr. Nash, p. 22/ and 228, of his collections for the histor}' of
Worcestershire, the words preceptorium and preceptoria signifj' the mastership of the
said hospital: " ad preceptorium sive niagisterhim presentavit — preceplorii sive
" magisterii patronus. Vacavit dicta preceptoria seu magisterium — ad preceptoriam
" et regimen dicti hospitalis — Te preceptorem sive magistrum prefecimus."

Where preceptorium denotes a building or apartment it may probably mean the
master's lodgings, or at least the preceptor's apartment, whatsoever may have been
the office or employment of the said preceptor,

A preceptor is mentioned in Thoresly's Ducatus Leodinensis, or History oi Leeds,
p. 225, and a deed witnessed by the preceptor and chaplain before dates were inserted.
— Du Fr«»e'j Supplement: " Preceptoria, prxdia preceptoribus assignata." — Cow-
ell, in his Law Dictionary, enumerates sixteen preceptorice, or preceptories, in
England; but Sudington is not among them. — It is remarkable that Gurtlerus, in
his Historia Templariorum Amstel. 1691, never once mentions the Vfoids ^/receptor
or preceptorium.

2 Z

354 ANTIQUITIES

who should perform his masses daily in the parish church of
Selborne.' In the east end of the south aisle there are two sharp-
pointed gothic niclies; one of these probably was the place
under which these masses were performed; and there is the
more reason to suppose as much, because, till within these thirty-
years, this space was fenced off with gothic wooden railing, and
was known by tlie name of the south chancel.'

The solicitude expressed by the donor plainly shews her
piety and firm persuasion of the efficacy of prayers for the dead;
for she seems to have made every provision for the payment of
the sum stipulated within the appointed time; and to have felt
much anxiety lest her death, or the neglect of her executors or
assigns, might frustrate her intentions. — " Et si contingat me
" in solucione predicte pecunie annis predictis in parte aut in
•' toto deficere, quod absit; concedo et obligo pro me et assig-

" natis meis, quod Vice-Comes Oxon et qui pro tempore

" fuerint, per omnes terras et tenementa, et omnia bona mea
" mobilia et immobilia ubicunque in balliva sua fuerint inventa
" ad solucionem predictam faciendam possent nos compellere."
And again — " Et si contingat dictos religiosos labores seu ex-
" pensas facere circa predictam pecuniam, seu circa partem dicte
" pecunie; volo quod dictorum religiosorum impense et labores

' A chantry was a chapel joined to some cathedral or parish church, and endowed
with annual revenues for the maintenance of one or more priests to sing mass daily
for the soul of the founder, and others.

' For what is said more respecting this chantry see Letter III. of these Anti-
quities.— Mention is made of a Nicholas Langrish, capellanus de Selborne, in the
time oi HenryVlll. Was he chantry-chaplain to Ela Longspee, vfhose masses
were probably continued to the time of the reformation? More will be said of this
person hereafter.

OF SELBORNE. tSS

" levantur ita quod predicto priori vel uni canonicorum suorum
" superhiis simplici verbo credatur sine alteiius honere proba-
" cionis; et quod utrique predictorum virorum in unam marcam
" argenti pro cujuslibet distrincione super me facienda tenear. —
" Dat. apud TVareborn die sabati proxima ante festum St. Marci
*' evangeliste, anno regni regis Edwardi tertio decimo."'

But the reader perhaps would wish to be better informed
respecting this benefactress, of whom as yet he has heard no
particulars.

The Ela Longspee therefore above-mentioned was a lady of
high birth and rank, and became countess to Thomas de New-
burgh, the sixth earl of TVarwick: she was the second daughter
of the famous Ela Longspee, countess of Salisbury, by William
Longspee, natural son of king Henry II. by Rosamond.

Our lady, following the steps of her illustrious mother,"
" was a great benefactress to the university of Oxford, to the
*' canons of Oseney, the nuns of Godstow, and other religious
" houses in Oxfordshire. She died very aged in the year 1300,"
" and was buried before the high altar in the abbey church of
" Oseney, at the head of the tomb of Henry D'Oily, under a flat

' Ancient deeds are often dated on a Sunday, having been executed in churches
and church-yards for the sake of notoriety, and for the confeniency of procuring
several witnesses to attest.

" Ela Longspee, countess of Salisbury, in 1232 founded a monastery at LacOck,
in the county of Wilts, and also another at Hendon, in the county of Somtrset, in
her widowhood, to the honour of the Blessed Virgin and St. Bernard. .

Camden.

^ Thus she survived the foundation of her chantry at Sellorne fifteen years.
About this lady and her mother consult Dugdale's Baronage, I, 72, 175, 177. ■ ■
Dugdale's Warwickshire, 1.383,— Leland's Itin. II. 45.

2Z 2

556 ANTIQUITIES

" marble, on which was inlaid her portraiture, in the habit of a

" vowess, engraved on a copper-plate."— Edmonson's History

and Genealogical Account of the Grevilks, p. 23.

LETTER XIII.

1 HE reader is here presented with five forms respecting the
choosing of a prior; but as they are of some length they must
be reserved for the Appendix; their titles are N°. 108. " Charta
" petens licentiam elegendi prelatum a Domino episcopo JVinto-
" niensi ;" — " Forma licentie concesse :" — " Forma decreti post
" electionem conficiendi:" — 108. " Modus procedendi ad elec-
" tionem per formam scrutinii:" — et " Forma ricte presentandi
" electurii." Such evidences are rare and curious, and throw
great light upon the general monastico-ecclesiastical history of this
kingdom, not yet sufficiently understood.

In the year 1324 there was an election for a prior at Seliorne;
when some difficulties occurring, and a devolution taking place,
application was made to Sti'atford, who was bishop of IFinchester
at that time, and of course the visitor and patron of the convent
at the spot above-mentioned.''

An extract from ''SiBG. Stratford. IVinton.

P. 4. " Commissio facta sub-priori de Selebourne" by the
bishop enjoining him to preserve the discipline of the order in

y Stratford was bishop of Winchester from 1323 to 1333, when be was translated
to Canterbury.

OF SELBORNE. ;i57

the convent during the vacancy made by the late death of the
prior, (" super pastoris solatio destituta,") dated 4'^ kal. Maii. ann.
2''° sc. of his consecration, [sc. 1324.]

P. 6. " Custodia Prioratus de Seleburne vacantis," committed

by the bishop to Nicholas de la , a layman, it belonging to

the bishop " ratione vacationis ejusdem," in July 1324, ibid.
" negotium electionis de Seleboiirne. Acta coram Johanne Epis-
" copo. &c. 1324 in negotio electionis de fratre TValtero de Insula
" concanonico prioratus de Sekbourne,''' lately elected by the
sub-prior and convent, by way of scrutiny: that it appeared to
the bishop, by certificate from the dean of Alton, that solemn
citation and proclamation had been made in the church of the
convent where the election was held, that any who opposed the
said election or elected should appear. — Some difficulties were
started, which the bishop over-ruled, and confirmed the election,
and admitted the new prior sub hac forma: —

" In Dei nomine Amen. Ego Johannes permissione divina,
" &c. te Walterum de Insula ecclesie deSelebourne nostre dioceseos
" nostrique patronatus vacantis, canonicum et cantorem, virum
" utique providum, et discretum, literarum scientia preditum,
" vita moribus et conversatione merito commendatum, in ordine
" sacerdotal! et etate legitima constitutum, de legitimo matri-
" nionio procreatum, in ordine et religione Sancti Augustini de
" Selebourne expresse professum, in spiritualibus et temporalibus
" circumspectum, jure nobis hac vice de'voluto in hac parte, in
" dicte ecclesie Ae Selebourne perfectum priorem; curam et ad-
" ministrationem ejusdem tibi in spiritualibus et temporalibus
" committentes. Dat. apud Selebourne XIII kalend. August!
" anno supradicto,"

358 ANTIQUITIES

There follows an order to the sub-prior and convent pro
obedientia :

A mandate to Nicholas above-named to release the Priory to
the new prior:

A mandate for the induction of the new prior.

LETTER XIV.

In the year 1373 Wykeham, bishop oi Winchester, held a visi-
" tation of his whole diocese; not only of the secular clergy
" through the several deaneries, but also of the monasteries, and
" religious houses of all sorts, which he visited in person. The
" next year he sent his commissioners with power to correct
" and reform the several irregularities and abuses which he had
" discovered in the course of his visitation.

" Some years afterward, the bishop having visited three
" several times all the religious houses throughout his diocese,
" and being well informed of the state and condition of each,
" and of the particular abuses which required correction and
" reformation, besides the orders which he had already given,
" and the remedies which he had occasionally applied by his
" commissioners, now issued his injunctions to each of them.
" They were accommodated to their several exigencies, and
" intended to correct the abuses introduced, and to recall them
" all to a strict observation of the rules of their respective orders.
" Many of these injunctions are still extant, and are evident

OF SELBORNE. 359

" monuments of the care and attention with which he discharged
" this part of his episcopal duty." ^

Some of these injunctions I shall here produce; and they
are such as will not fail, I think, to give satisfaction to the anti-
quary, both as never having been published before, and as they
are a curious picture of monastic irregularities at that time.

The documents that I allude to are contained in the Notabilis
Visitatio de Seleburne, held at the Priory of that place, by IVyke-
ham in person, in the year 1387-

This evidence, in the original, is written on two skins of
parchment; the one large, and the other smaller, and consists
of a. preamble, 36 items, and a conclusion, which altogether evince
the patient investigation of the visitor, for which he had always
been so remarkable in all matters of moment, and how much he
had at heart the regularity of those institutions, of whose efficacy
in their prayers for the dead he was so firmly persuaded. As
the bishop was so much in earnest, we may be assured that he
had nothing in view but to correct and reform what he found
amiss; and was under no bias to blacken, or misrepresent, as
the commissioners of Thomas Lord Cromwell seem in part to
have done at the time of the reformation.* We may therefore
with reason suppose that the bishop gives us an exact delineation
of the morals and manners of the canons of Selborne at that junc-
ture; and that what he found they had omitted he enjoins
them; and for what they have done amiss, and contrary to their
rules and statutes, he reproves them; and threatens them with
punishment suitable to their irregularities.

^ See Lou'th's Life of TFykeham
* Letters of this sort from Dr. Lay ton to Thomas Lord Cromwell are still extant.

360 ANTIQUITIES

This msitatio is of considerable length, and cannot be intro-
duced into the body of tliis work; we shall therefore refer the
reader to the Appendi:v, where he will find every particular, while
we shall take some notice, and make some remarks, on the most
singular items as they occur.

In the preamble the visitor says — " Considering the charge
" lying upon us, that your blood may not be required at our
" hands, we came down to visit your Priory, as our office re-
" quired : and every time we repeated our visitation we found
" something still not only contrary to regular rules but also re-
" pugnant to religion and good reputation."

In the first article after the preamble — " he commands them
" on their obedience, and on pain of the greater excommunica-
" tion, to see that the canonical hours by night and by day be
" sung in their choir, and the masses of the Blessed Mary, and
" other accustomed masses, be celebrated at the proper hours
" with devotion, and at moderate pauses; and that it be not
" allowed to any to absent themselves from the hours and
" masses, or to withdraw before they are finished."

Item ^d. He enjoins them to observe that silence to which
they are so strictly bound by the rule of Saint Augustine at
stated times, and AvhoUy to abstain from frivolous conversation.

Item 4th. " Not to permit such frequent passing of secular
" people of both sexes through their convent, as if a thorough-
" ftire, from whence many disorders may and have arisen."

Item 5th. " To take care that the doors of their church and
" Priory be so attended to that no suspected and disorderly
" females, ' suspect£e et aliae inhonestas,' pass through their choir
" and cloister in the dark;"' and to see that the doors of their
church between the nave and the choir, and the gates of their

OF SELBORNE. 36 1

cloister opening into the fields, be constantly kept shut until
their first choir-service is over in the morning, at dinner time,
and when they meet at their evening collation. "•

Item 6th mentions that several of the canons are found to
be very ignorant and illiterate, and enjoins the prior to see that
they be better instructed by a proper master.

Item 8th. The canons are here accused of refusing to accept
of their statutable clpthing year by year, and of demanding a
certain specified sum of money, as if it were their annual rent
and due. This the bishop forbids, and orders that the canons
shall be clothed out of the revenue of the Priory, and the old
garments be laid by in a chamber and given to the poor, accord-
ing to the rule of Saint Augustine.

In Item 9th is a complaint that some of the canons are given
to wander out of the precincts of the convent without leave;
and that others ride to their manors and farms, under pretence
of inspecting the concerns of the society, when they please,
and stay as long as they please. But they are enjoined never
to stir either about their own private concerns or the business
of the convent without leave from the prior : and no canon is
to go alone, but to have a grave brother to accompany him.

The injunction in Item 10th, at this distance of time, appears
rather ludicrous; but the visitor seems to be very serious on
the occasion, and says that it has been evidently proved to him
that some of the canons, living dissolutely after the flesh, and
not after the spirit, sleep naked in their beds without their

^ A Collation was a meal or repast on a fast day in lieu of a supper.

3 A

562 ANTIQUITIES

breeches and shirts, "absque femoralibus et camisiis."'^ He
enjoins that these culprits shall be punished by severe fasting,
especially if they shall be found to be faulty a third time; and
threatens the prior and sub- prior with suspension if they do not
correct this enormity.

In Item 11th the good bishop is very wroth with some of
the canons, whom he finds to be professed hunters and sports-
men, keeping hounds, and publicly attending hunting- matches.
These pursuits, lie says, occasion much dissipation, danger to
the soul and body, and frequent expense; he, therefore, wishing
to extirpate this vice wholly from the convent, " radicibus extir-
'^ pare," does absolutely enjoin the canons never intentionally
to be present at any public noisy tumultuous huntings; or to
keep any hounds, by themselves or by others, openly or by
stealth, within the convent, or without.''

In Item I'ith he forbids the canons in office to make their
business a plea tor not attending the service of the choirj since
by these means either divine worship is neglected or their
brother-canons are over-burdened.

By Item 14th we are informed that the original number of
canons at the Priory o? Selbo7me was Jourteen; but that at this

■^ The rule alluded to in Item lOth, of not sleeping naked, was enjoined the
Knights Templars, who also were subject to the rules of St. Augustine.

See Giirtleri Hist. Templariorum .

^ Considering the strong propensity in human nature towards the pleasures of
the chase, it is not to be wondered that the canons oi Sellorne should languish after
hunting, when, from their situation so near the precincts of IVolmer-forest, the
king's hounds must have been often in hearing, and sometimes in sight from their
windows. — If the bishop was so otTended at these sporting canons, what would he
have said to our modern fox-huntingr divines .''

OF SELBORNE. 363

visitation they were found to be let down to eleven. The visitor
therefore strongly and earnestly enjoins them that, with all due
speed and diligence, they should proceed to the election of
proper persons to fill up the vacancies, under pain of the greater
excommunication.

In Lem 17th. the prior and canons are accused of suffering,
through neglect, notorious dilapidations to take place among
their manerial houses and tenements, and in the walls and en-
closures of the convent itself, to the shame and scandal of the
institution; they are therefoi'e enjoined, under pain of suspen-
sion, to repair all defects within the space of six months.

Ite}?i ISth. charges them with grievously burthening the
said Priory by means of sales, and grants of liveries^ and
coi'rodies.^

The bishop, in item I9th, accuses the canons of neglect and
omission with respect to their perpetual chantry-services.

Item COth. The visitor here conjures the prior and canons
not to withhold their original ahns, " eleemosynas ;'" nor those
that they were enjoined to distribute for the good of the souls
of founders and benefactors: he also strictly orders that the
fragments and broken victuals, both from the hall of their prior
and their common refectory, should be carefully collected toge-

' " L'llerationes, or liieraturce, allowances of corn, Xrc. to servants deli-vered at
" certain times, and in certain quantities, as clothes were among the allowances
" from religious houses to their dependants. See the corrodies granted by Croyland
alley. Hist, of Croyland, Appendix, N" XXXIV.

" It is not improbable that the word in after-ages came to be confined to the
'* uniform of the retniuers or servants of the great, who were hence called livery ser-
" vants." Sir John Cullum's Hist, of Hazvsted.

' A corrody is an allowance to a servant living in an abbey or priory.

364, ANTIQUITIES

ther by their eleemosynarius, and given to the poor witliout
any diminution; the officer to be suspended for neglect or
omission.

Item 23d. He bids them distribute tht'xr pittances, pitancias,"^
regularly on obits, anniversaries, festivals, &c.

Item 25th. All and every one of the canons are hereby in-
hibited from standing godfather to any boy for the future, " ne
"■ compatres aliciijus pueri de cetero fieri presumatis," unless by
express license from the bishop obtained; because from such
relationship favour and affection, nepotism, and undue influence,
arise, to the injury and detriment of religious institutions."

Item 26th. Tiie visitor herein severely reprimands the
canons for appearing publicly in what would be called in the
universities an unstatutable manner, and for wearing of boots,

" caligs de Burneto, et sotularium in ocrearum loco, ad

" modum sotularium."'

e " Pilancia, an allowance of bread and beer, or other provision to any pious
" ase, especially to the religious in a monastery, &c. for augmentation of their com-
" mons." Gloss, to Kennel's Par. Antiq.

'■ " The relationship between sponsors and th.eir god-children, who were called
" spiritual sons and daughters, was formerly esteemed much more sacred than at
"present. The presents at christenings were sometimes very considerable : the
" connection lasted through life, and was closed with a legicy. This last mark of
" attention seems to have been thought almost indispensable: for, in a will, from
" whence no extracts have been given, the testator left everyone of his god-children
" a bushel of barley." Sir John Cullum's Hist, oj Hawsled.

" D. AlargaretcE filias Regis prlmogenllae, quam filiohm, quia ejus in baptismo
" compater fuit, appellat, cyphum aureum et quadraginta libras, legavit." — Arch-
bishop Parker de Antiquitate Eccles. Brit, speaking of Archbishop Morton.

' Du Fresne is copious on ca/ig^ of several sorts. " Hoc item de Clericis, pre-
" sertim beneticialLs : caligis scacatis ^chequered) rubeis, et viridibus publice uten-
" tibus dicimus esse censenduui." Statut. Ecclcs. Tutd. The chequered boots

OF SELBORNE. 36j

It is remarkable that the bishop expresses more warmth
against this than any other irregularity; and strictly enjoins
them, under pain of ecclesiastical censures, and even imprison-
ment if necessary (a threat not made use of before,) for the
future to wear boots, " ocreis sen botis," according to the regu-
lar usage of their ancient order.

Item 29th. He here again, but with less earnestness, forbids
them foppish ornaments, and the affectation of appearing like
beaux with garments edged with costly furs, with fringed
gloves, and silken girdles trinnned with gold and silver. It is
remarkable that no punishment is annexed to this injunction.

Ite7n 3Ist. He here singly and severally forbids each canon
not admitted to a cure of souls to administer extreme unction,
or the sacrament, to clergy or laity; or to perform the service
of matrimony, till he has taken out the license of the parish
priest.

Ite?n 32d. The bishop says in this item that he had observed
and found, in his several visitations, that the sacramental plate
and cloths of the altar, surplices, &c. were sometimes left in
such an uncleanly and disgusting condition as to make the be-
holders shudder with horror; — "quod aliquibus sunt horrori;"it

seem to be the highland plaid stockings. — " Burnetum, i. e. Brunetum, pannus non
" ex lana nativi coloris confectus." — " Sotularium, i. e. subtalaris, quia sub talo est.
" Peculium genus, quibus maxima Monachi nocte utebantur in aestatej in hyeme
" veto Soccis."

This writer gives many quotations concerning Sotularia, which were not to be
made too shapely ; nor were the caligce to be laced on too nicely.

I' " Men abhorred the offering of the Lord." I Sam. chap. ii. v. IJ. Strange
as this account may appear to modern delicacy, the author, when first in ordws,
twice met with similar circumstances attending the sacrament at two churches be-

366 ANTIQUITIES

he tl'.erefore enjoins them for the future to see that the plate,
cloths, and vestments, be kept bright, clean, and in decent
order: and, what must surprise the reader, adils — that he expects
for the future that the sacrist should provide for the sacrament
good wine, pure and unadulterated; and not, as had often been
the practice, that which was sour, and tending to decay: — he
says fartlier, that it seems quite preposterous to omit in sacred
matters that attention to decent cleanliness, the neglect of
which would disgrace a common convivial meeting.'

Item 33d says that, though the relics of saints, the plate,
holy vestments, and books of religious houses, are forbidden by
canonical institutes to be pledged or lent out upon pawn; yet,
as the visitor finds this to be the case in his several visitations,
he therefore strictly enjoins the prior forthwith to recall those
pledges, and to restore them to the convent; and orders that all
the papers and title deeds thereto belonging should be safely
deposited, and kept under three locks and keys.

In the course of the J'isitatio Notabilis the constitutions of
Legate Ottohonus are frequently referred to. Ottobonus was
afterwards Pope Adrian V. and died in 1276. His constitutions
are in Lyndeicoods Provinciale, and were drawn up in the 52d of
Henry III.

longing to two obscure villages. In tlie first he found the inside of the chalice
covered with birds' dung; and in the other the communion-cloth soiled with cab-
bage and the greasy drippings of a gammon of bacon. The good dame at the great
farm-house, who was to furnish the cloth, being a notable woman, thought it best
to save her clean linen, and so sent a foul cloth that had covered her own tabic for
two or three Sundays before.

' " — ^ ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa

" Corruget nares; ne non ft cantharus, et lanx

'• Ostendat tibi te ''

OF SELBORNE. 367

In the Visitatio NotabiUs the usual punishment is fasting on
bread and beer; and in cases of repeated delinquency on bread
and water. On these occasions quartajeria, et stxtaferia, are
mentioned often, and are to be understood of the days of the
"wetk numerically on which such punishment is to be inflicted.

LETTER XV.

Though bishop JVykeham appears somewhat stern and rigid in
his visitatorial character towards the Priory o^ Selborne, yet he
was on the whole a liberal friend and benefactor to that con-
vent, which, like every society or individual that fell in his way,
partook of the generosity and benevolence of that munificent
prelate.

" In the year 1377 TFHliam of TVykeham, out of his mere
" good will and liberality, discharged the whole debts of the
" prior and convent of Selborne, to the amount of one hundred
"and ten marks eleven shillings and sixpence;" and, a few
" years before he died, he made a free gift of one hundred marks
" to the same Priory: on which accouut the Prior and convent
" voluntarily engaged for the celebration of two masses a day
" by two canons of the convent for ten years, for the bishop's
" welfare, if he should live so longj and for his soul if he should
" die before the expiration of this term.""

"' Yet in ten years time we find, by the NotahUh Vidtatio, that all their relicsj
plate, vestments, title-deeds, &c. were in pawn.
" Loivlh's Life of IVyheham.

368 ANTIQUITIES

At tills distance of time it seems matter of great wonder to
us liow these societies, so nobly endowed, and whose members
were exempt by their very institution from every means of per-
sonal and family expense, could possibly run in debt without
squandering their revenues in a manner incompatible with their
function.

Religious houses might sometimes be distressed in their
revenues by fires among their buildings, or large dilapidations
from storms, &c. ; but no such accident appears to have befallen
the Priory at Selborne. Those situate on public roads, or in
great towns, where there were shrines of saints, were liable to
be intruded on by travellers, devotees, and pilgrims; and were
subject to the importunity of the poor, who swarmed at their
gates to partake of doles and broken victuals. Of these disad-
vantages some convents used to complain, and especially those
at Canterbury ; but this Priory, from it's sequestered situation,
could seldom be subject to either of these inconveniences, and,
therefore we must attribute it's frequent debts and embarrass-
ments, well endowed as it was, to the bad conduct of it's mem-
bers, and a general inattention to the interests of the institution.

LETTER XVI.

Beaufort was bishop of JVinchester from 1405 to 1447; and
yet, notwithstanding this long episcopate, only tom. I. of Beau-
fort's Register is to be found. This loss is much to be regretted,
as it must unavoidably make a gap in the history of Selborne
Priory, and perhaps in the list of it's priors.

OF SELBORNE, 369

In 1410 there was an election for a prior, and again in 1411.

In vol. I. p. 24, of Beaiiforfs Register, is the instrument of
the election of Jolm If^ynchestre to be prior — the substance as
follows :

Richard F.lstede, senior canon, signifies to the bishop that
brother Thomas JVestoii, the late prior, died October 18th, 1410,
and was buried Nove7nber 11th. — That the bishop's license to
elect having been obtained, he and the whole convent met in
the chapter-house, on the same day, about the hour of vespers,
to consider of the election: — that brother John JVynchestrc, then
sub-prior, with the general consent, appointed the 12th of i\^o-
vember, adhoram ejiisdem diei capitidarem, for the business: — when
they met in the chapter-house, post missam de sancto Spiritu,
solemnly celebrated in the church; — to wit, Richard Elstede;
Thomas Halyborne; John Lemyngton, sacrista; John Stepe, can-
tor; IValt er Ffarnham ; Richard Putworih, celerarius; Hugh Lon-
don; Henry Brampton, alias Rrompton; John IVynchestre, senior;
John IVynchestre, junior; — then " Proposito primitus verbo Dei,"
and then ympno " Veni Creator Spiritus" being solemnly sung,
cum " versiculo et oratione," as usual, and his letter of license,
with the appointment of the hour and place of election, being-
read, alt a voce, in valvis of the chapter-house; — John IVynchestre,
senior, the sub-prior, in his own behalf and that of all the
canons, and by their mandate, " quasdam monicionem et pro-
" testacioneni in scriptis redactas fecit, legit, et interposuit" —
that all persons disqualified, or not having right to be present,
should immediately withdraw; and protesting against their
voting, &c. — that then having read the constitution of the
general council " Quia propter," and explained the modes of
proceeding to election, they agreed unanimously to proceed

3 B

370

ANTIQUITIES

" per viam seu formam simplkis comproniissi;" when John fVyn-
chestre, sub-prior, and all the others (the commissaries under-
named excepted) named and chose brothers Richard Elstede,
Thomas Halyborne, John Lemyngton the sacrist, John Stepe,
chantor, and Richard Putxvorth, canons, to be commissaries,
who were sworn each to nominate and elect a fit person to be
prior : and empowered by letters patent under the common seal,
to be in force only until the darkness of the night of the same
day; — that they, or the greater ])art of them, should elect for
the whole convent, within the limited time, from their own
number, or from the rest of the convent; — that one of them
should publish their consent in common before the clergy and
people: — they then all promised to receive as prior the person
these five canons should fix on. These commissaries seceded
from the chapter-house to the refectory of the Priory, and were
shut in with master John Penkester, bachelor of laws ; and John
Couke and John Lymie, perpetual vicars of the parish churches
of Nexvton and Selborne; and with Saynpson Maycock, a public
notary; where they treated of the election; when they unani-
mously agreed on John JFynchestre, and appointed 'J honias Haly-
bome, to choose him in common for all, and to publish the elec-
tion, as customary; and returned long before it was dark to the
chapter-house, where Thomas Halyborne read publicly the in-
strument of election; when all the brothers, the new prior ex-
cepted, singing solemnly the hymn " Te Deum laudamus,"
fecenint deportari novum electum, by some of the brothers, from
the chapter-house to the high altar of the church;" and the

° It seems here as if the canons used to chair their new elected prior from the
chapter-house to the high altar of their convent-church. In letter XXI, on the

OF SELBORNE. 37J

hymn being sung, dictisque versiculoet oratione consuetis in hac
parte, Thomas Halyborne, mox tunc ibidem, before the clergy and
people of both sexes solemnly published the election in vulgari.
Then Richard Elstede, and the whole convent by their proctors
and nuncios appointed for the purposes, Thomas Halyborne and
John Stepe required several times the assent of the elected;
" et tandem post diutinas interpellationes, et deliberationem
" providam penes se habitani, in hac parte divine nolens, ut
" asseruit, resistere voluntati," within the limited time he sig-
nified his acceptance in the usual written form of words. The
bishop is then supplicated to confirm their election, and do the
needful, under common seal, in the chapter-house. November
14, 1410.

The bishop, January 6, 1410, apud Esher in camera i)iferiori,
declared the election duly made, and ordered the new prior to
be inducted — for this the archdeacon of JFinchester was written
to,; "stallumque in choro, et locum in capitulo juxta morem
" preteriti temporis," to be assigned him; and every thing
beside necessary to be done.

Beaufort's Register, Vol. I.

P. 2. Taxatio spiritualis Decanatus de Julton, Ecclesia de
Selebourn, cum Capella,— xxx marc, decima x lib. iii sol. Vicaria
de Selebourn non taxatur propter exilitatem.

P. 9. Taxatio bonorum temporalium religiosorum in Arch-
idiac. JVynton.

same occasion, it is said — "et sic canentes dictum electum ad majus altare ecclesie
" deduximus, ut apud nos moris est."

572 ANTIQUITIES

Prior de Selebourn habet meneria de

Bromdene taxat. ad -_-.-.. xxxs. iid.

Apud Scheie ad -- xvii s.

V . Selebourne a.d --------- vi lib.

Incivitate^^rt^ow dereddit. ----- vi lib. viiiob.

Tannaria sua taxat. ad. ------ x lib. s.

Summa tax. xxxviii lib. xiiii d. ob. lude decinia vi lib. s. q. ob-

LETTER XVII.

Information being sent to Rovie respecting the havock and
spoil that was carrying on among the revenues and lands of the
Priory of Selborne, as we may suppose by the bishop of JVinches-
ter, it's visitor, Pope Martin,''' as soon as the news of these pro-
ceedings came before him, issued forth a bull, in which he
enjoins his commissary immediately to revoke all the property
that had been alienated.

In this instrument his holiness accuses the prior and canons
of having granted away (they themselves and their predecessors)
to ceitain clerks and laymen their tithes, lands, rents, tenements,
and possessions, to some of them for their lives, to others for
an undue term of years, and to some again for a perpetuity, to

P Pope MartinY. chosen about 1417. He attempted to reform the churchy but
died in 1431, just as he had summoned the council of Basil.

OF SELBORNE. 373

the great and heavy detriment of the monastery: and these
leases were granted, he continues to add, under their own hands,
with the sanction of an oath and the renunciation of all right
and claims, and under penalties, if the right was not made good.
— But it will be best to give an abstract from the bull.

N. 298. Pope Martins bull touching the revoking of certaine
things alienated from the Priory of »S'e/eter«e. Pontif. sui ann. 1.
" Martiiius Eps. servus servorum Dei. Dilecto filio Priori
' de Suthvalc^ JFyntonien. dioc. Salutem & apostolicam ben. Ad
' audientiam nostram pervenit quam tarn dilecti filii prior et
' conventus monasterii de Seleburn per Priorem soliti gubernari
' ordinis S". Augustini JFiuto)i. dioc. quam de predecessores
' eoruin decimas, terras, redditus, donios, possessiones, vineas/
' et quedam alia bona ad monasterium ipsum spectantia, datis
' super hoc litteris, interpositis juramentis, factis renuntiationi-
' bus, et penis adjectis, in gravem ipsius monasterii lesionem
' nonnuUis clericis et laicis, aliquibus eorum ad vitam, quibus-
' dam vero ad non modicum tempus, & aliis perpetuo ad firmam,
' vel sub censu annuo concesserunt; quorum aliqui dicunt super
' hiis a sede aplicd in communi forma confirmationis litteras
' impetrasse. Quia vero nostra interest lesis monasteriis sub-
' venire— [He the Pope here commands] — ea ad jus et proprie-
' tatem monasterii studeas legitime revocare," &c.

'i Should have been no doubt Southwich, a priory n'aA&v Portsdoiun.

' Mr. Barrington is of opinion that anciently the English vinea was in almost
every instance an orchard ; not perhaps always of apples merely, but of other fruits ;
as cherries, plums, and currants. We still say a plum or cherry-orchard. See vol.
J II. of Archceohgia,

In the instance above the pope's secretary might insert vineas merely because
'they were a species of cultivation familiar to him in Italy.

374, ANTIQUITIES

The conduct of the religious had now for some time been
generally bad. Many of the monastic societies, being very opu-
lent, were become voluptuous and licentious, and had deviated
entirely from their original institutions. The laity saw with in-
dignation the wealth and possessions of their pious ancestors
perverted to the service of sensuality and indulgence; and spent
in gratifications highly unbecoming the purposes for which
they were given. A total disregard to their respective rules
and discipline drew on the monks and canons a heavy load of
popular odium. Some good men there were who endeavoured
to oppose the general delinquency; but their efforts were too
feeble to stem the torrent of monastic luxury. As far back as
the year 1381 JVickliff'e's principles and doctrines had made some
progress, were well received by men who wished for a reforma-
tion, and were defended and maintained by them as long as they
dared; till the bishops and clergy began to be so greatly alarmed,
that they procured an act to be passed by which the secular
arm was empowered to support the corrupt doctrines of the
church; but the first loUard was not burnt until the year 1401.

The wits also of those times did not spare the gross morals
of the clergy, but boldly ridiculed their ignorance and profligacy.
The most remarkable of these were Chaucer, and his contem-
porary, Robert Langelande, better known by the name of Piers
Plowman. The laughable tales of the former are familiar to
almost every reader; while the visions of the latter are but in
few hands. With a quotation from the Passus Decimus of this
writer I shall conclude my letter; not only on account of the
remarkable prediction therein contained, which carries with it
somewhat of the air of a prophecy; but also as it seems to have
been a striking picture of monastic insolence and dissipation;

OF SELBORNE. 375

and a specimen of one of the keenest pieces of satire now per-
haps subsisting in any language, ancient or modern.

" Now is religion a rider, a romer by streate;
" A leader of love-days, and a loud begger;
" A pricker on a palfrey from maner to maner,
" A heape of hounds at his arse, as he a lord were.
" And but if his knave kneel, that shall his cope bring,
" He loureth at him, and asketh him who taught him curtesie.
" Little had lords to done, to give lands from her heirs,
" To religious that have no ruth if it rain on her altars.
" In many places ther they persons be, by himself at ease:
" Of the poor have they no pity, and that is her charitie;
" And they letten hem as lords, her lands lie so broad.
" And there shal come a king,' and confess you religious;
" And beate you, as the bible telleth, for breaking your rule,
*' And amend monials, and monks, and chanons,
" And put hem to her penaunce ad prist inum statum ire."

■' F. 1. a. " This prediction, although a probable conclusion concerning a king
" who after a lime would suppress the religious houses, is remarkable. I imagined
" it might have been foisted into the copies in the reign of king Henry VIII. but it
" is to be found in MSS. of this poem, older than the year 1400." fol. 1. a. b.

" Again, where he. Piers Plowman, alludes to the Knights Templars, lately
" suppressed, he says,

" Men of hoHe kirk

" Shall turn as Templars did ; the tyme approacheth nere."

" This, I suppose, was a favourite doctrine in WicMiffe's discourses."

Uarlon's Hist, of English Poetry, Vol. I. p. 282.

376 ANTIQUITIES

LETTER XVIII.

WILLIAM oi IVapi/iete heca.me bishop o^ JVinchester in the year
1447, and seems to have pursued the generous plan of JFykeham
in endeavouring to reform the Priory of Selborne.

When Waynfltte came to the see he found prior Stype, alias
Stepe, still living, who had been elected as long ago as the year
1411.

Among my documents I find a curious paper of the things
put into the custody of Peter Bernes the sacrist, and especially
some relics: the title of this evidence is " N°. 50, Indentura
" prioris de Selborne quorundam tradit. Petro Bernea sacristse,

" ibidem, ann. Hen. VI. una cum confiss. ejusdem Petri

" script." The occasion of this catalogue, or list of effects,
being drawn between the prior and sacrist does not appear, nor
the date when ; only that it happened in the reign of Hen. VI.
This transaction probably took place when Bernes entered on
his office; and there is the more reason to suppose that to be
the case, because the list consists of vestments and implements,
and relics, such as belonged to the church of the Priory, and
fell under the care of the sacrist. For the numerous items I
shall refer the curious reader to the Appendix, and shall just
mention the relics, although they are not all specified; and the
state of the live stock of the monastery at that juncture.

OF SELBORNE. 377

" Item 2. osculator. argent.

" Item 1. osculatorium cum osse digit'i auricular. — S'K Johannis
Baptist cE.'

" Item 1. parvam crucem cum V. reliquiis.

" Item 1. anulnm argent, et deauratum St. Edmundi.'

" Item 2. osculat. tie coper.

" Item l.junctorium St. Ricardi."

" Item l.pectenSt. Ricardi."''

The staurum, or live stock, is quite ridiculous, consisting
only of " 2 vacce, 1 sus, 4 hoggett. et 4 porcell," viz. two cows,
one sow, four porkers, and four pigs.

s How the convent came by the bone of the little finger oi Saint John the Bap-
tist does not appear; probably the founder, while in Palestine, purchased it among
the Asiatics, who were at that time great traders in relics. We know from the best
authority that as soon as Herod had cruelly beheaded that holy man " his disciples
" came and took up the body and buried itj and went and told Jesus." Matt,
iv, 12. — Farther would be difficult to say.

' November 20, in the calendar, Edmund king and martyr, in the gth century.
See also a Sanclus Edmundus in Godwin, among the archbishops of Canterbury , in
the 13th century; his surname Rick, in 1234.

" April5,\h\A. Rithard bishop of Chichester, in the 13Lh century; his sur-
name De la Wick, in 1245.

Junctorium, perhaps a joint or limb of St. Richard; but what particular joint
the religious were not such osteologists as to specify. This barbarous word was not
to be found in any dictionary consulted by the author.

'^ " Pecten inter ministeria sacra recensetur, quo soil, sacerdotes ac clerici, ante-
" quam in ecclesiam procederent, crines pecterent. E quibus colligitur monachos,
" tunc teraporis, non omnino tonsos fuisse." Du Fresne.

The author remembers to have seen in great farm houses a family comb chained
to a post for the use of the hinds when they came into tlieir meals.

3c

378 ANTIQUITIES

LETTER XIX.

OTEPE died towards the end of the year 1453, as we may sup-
pose pretty far advanced in Ute, having been prior forty-four
years.

On the very day that the vacancy happened, viz. January
!i6, 1453-4, the sub-prior and convent petitioned the visitor —
" vos unicutn levamen nostrum, et spem unanimiter rogamus,
" quatinus eligendum ex nobis ununi confratrem de gremio
" nostro, in nostra rehgione probatum et expertem, licenciam
" vestrani paternaleni cum plena libertate nobis concedere dig-
" nemini graciose." Reg. IVaynjiete, torn. I.

Instead of the licence requested we find next a commission
" cuslodie prioratus de Selebourne durante vacatione," addressed
to brother Peter Berne, canon-regular of the priory oi Selebourne,
and of the order of St Augustine, appointing him keeper of the
said priory, and empowering him to collect and receive the
profits and revenues, and " alia bona" of the said priory; and to
exercise in every respect the full power and authority of a prior;
but to be responsible to the visitor finally, and to maintain this
superiority during the bishop's pleasure only. This instrument
is dated from the bishop's manor-house in Southwark, March 1,
1453-4, and the seventh of his consecration.

After this transaction it does not appear that the chapter of
the Priory proceeded to any election: on the contrary, we find
that at six months end from the vacancy the visitor declared

OF SELBORNE. 579

that a lapse had taken place; and that therefore he did confer
the priorship on canon Peter Berne. — " Prioratum vacantem et
" ad nostram coUationem, sen provisionem jure ad nos in hac
" parte />er lapsum temporis legitime devolutu spectantem, tibi
" (sc. P. Berne) de legitimo matrimonio procreate, &c. — con-
" ferimus," &c. This deed bears date July 28, 1454.

Rtg. JVaynflete, torn I. p. 69.
On February 8, 1462,' the visitor issued out a power of
sequestration against the Priory o? Selbor7ie on account of noto-
rious dilapidations which threatened manifest ruin to the roofs,
walls, and edifices of the said convent; and appointing John
Hammond, B. D. rector of the parish church of Hetlegh, John
Hylling, vicar of the parish church of Nerwton Valence, and JVal-
ter Gorfin, inhabitant of the parish oi Selhorne, his sequestrators
to exact, collect, levy, and receive, all the profits and revenues
of the said convent: he adds " ac ea sub are to, et tuto custo-
" diatis, custodirive faciatis-;" as they would answer it to the
bishop at their peril.

In consequence of these proceedings prior Berne, on the last
d&Y o? February, and the next year, produced a state of the
revenues of the Priory, N°. 381, called " A paper conteyning
" the value of the manors and lands pertayning to the Priory of
" Selborne. 4 Edzvard III. with a note of charges yssuing out
" of it."

This is a curious document, and will appear in the Appendix.
From circumstances in this paper it is plain that the sequestra-
tion produced good effects; for in it are to be found bills of
repairs to a considerable amount.

By this evidence also it appears that there were at that junc-
3 c 2

380 ANTIQUITIES

ture only four canons at the Priory;" and that these, and their
four household servants, during this sequestration for their
clothing, wages, and diet, were allowed /jer ajin. xxx lib.; and
that the annual pension of the lord prior, reside where he would,
was to be x lib.

In the year 1468, prior Berne, probably wearied out by the
dissensions and want of order that prevailed in the convent, re-
signed his priorship into the hands of the bishop.

Reg. TVai/nflete, torn. I. pars i""', fol. 1.57.

3farch 28, A. D. 14(58. "In quadam alta camera juxta
" niagnam portam nianerii of the bishop of JVynton de JValtham
" coram eodem rev. patre ibidem tunc sedente, Peter Berne,
" prior of Selborne, ipsum prioratum in sacras, et venerabiles
" manus of the bishop, viva voce libere resignavit: and his resig-
" nation was admitted before two witnesses and a notary-public.
" In consequence, March 29th, before the bishop, in capella
" manerii sui ante dicti pro tribunali sedente, comparuerunt
" fratres" Peter Berne, Thomas London, JVilliam JVyndesor, and
JVilliam Paynell, alias Stretford, canons regular of the priory,
" capitulum, et conventum ejusdem ecclesie facientes; ac jus et
" voces in electione futura prioris dicti prioratus solum et in so-
" lidum, ut asseruerunt, habentes ;" and after the bishop had
notified to them the vacancy of a prior, with his free license to
elect, deliberated awhile, and then, by way of compromise, as
they affirmed, unanimously transferred their right of election to
the bishop before witnesses. In consequence of this the bishop,

" If bishop IFyieham was so disturbed (see Notal. VisilalioJ to find the num-
ber of canons reduced from fourteen to eleven, what would he have said to have
seen it diminished below one third of that number ?

OF SELBORNE. ^1

after full deliberation, proceeded, April 7tli, " in capella manerii
" sui de IValtham" to the election of a prior; " et fratrem Jo-
" hannem Morton, priorem ecclesie conventualis de Reygate
" dicti ordinis S" Augustini Wynton. dioc. in priorem vice et
" nomine omnium et singulorum canonicorum predictorum
" elegit, in ordine sacerdotali, et etate licita constitutum, &c."
And on the same day, in the same place, and before the same
witnesses, John Morton resigned to the bishop the priorship of
Reygate viva race. The bishop then required his consent to his
own election; "qui licet in parte renitens tanti reverendi patris
" se confirmans," obeyed, and signified his consent oraciih vive
vocis. Then was there a mandate citing any one who would
gainsay the said election to appear before the bishop or his com-
missary in his chapel at Farnharn on the second dayofil/ay
next. The dean of the deanery of Aidton then appeared before
the chancellor, his commissary, and returned the citation or
mandate dated April 22d, 1468, with signification, in writing,
of his having published it as required, dated Newton Valence,
May 1st, 146'8. This certificate being read, the four canons of
Selborne appeared and required the election to be confirmed; et
ex super abundanti appointed JVilliam Long their proctor to solicit
in their name that he might be canonically confirmed. John
Morton also appeared, and proclamation was made; and no one
appearing against him, the commissary pronounced all absentees
contumacious, and precluded them from objecting at any other
time; and, at the instance oi John Morton and the proctor, con-
firmed the election by his decree, and directed his mandate to
the rector of Hedley and the vicar of Newton Valence to install
him in the usual form.

382 ANTIQUITIES

Thus, for the first time, was a person, a stranger to the con-
vent of Selbo7'/ie, and never canon of that monastery, elected
prior; though the style of the petitions in former elections used
to run thus, — " Vos - - - - rogamus quatinus ehgendum ex
" nobis unum confratrem de gremio nostra, — licentiam vestram
*' — nohis concedere dicnemini."

LETTER XX.

Prior Morton dying in 147 h two canons, by themselves, pro-
ceeded to election, and chose a prior; but two more (one of
them Berne) complaining of not being summoned, objected to
the proceedings as informal; till at last the matter was com-
promised that the bishop should again, for that turn, nominate
as he had t)efore. But the circumstances of this election will
be best explained by the following extract:

Reg. Waynflete, torn. II. pars i"", fol. 7.
Memorandum. A.D. 1471. August 22.

William TVyndesor, a canon-regular of the Priory of Selborne,
having been elected prior on the death of brother John, ap-
peared in person before the bishop in his chapel at South TFal-
tham. He was attended on this occasion hy Thomas Londo7i and
John Bromesgrove, canons, who had elected him. Peter Berne
and JVilUam Stratfeld, canons, also presented [themselves at the

OF SELBORNE. 383

same time, cortiplalning that in this business they had been
overlooked, and not summoned; and that therefore the validity
of the election might with reason be called in question, and
quarrels and dissensions might probably arise between the newly
chosen prior and the parties thus neglected.

After some altercation and dispute they all came to an agree-
ment with the new prior, that what had been done should be
rejected and annulled; and that they would again, for this turn,
transfer to tlie bishop their power to elect, order, and provide
them another prior, whom they promised unanimously to admit.

The bishop accepted of this offer before witnesses; and on
September ^7, in an inner chamber near the chapel abovemen-
tioned, after full deliberation, chose brother Thomas Faimnse,
vicar of Somhorne, a canon-regular of Saint Augustine in the
Priory of Bruscough, in the diocese of Coventry and Litchfield,
to be prior of Selborne. The form is nearly as above in the last
election. The canons are again enumerated; TV. Wyndesor, sub-
prior, P. Berne, T. London, JV. Stratfeld, J. Bromesgrove, who
had formed the chapter, and had requested and obtained license
to elect, but had unanimously conferred their power on the
bishop. In consequence of this proceeding, the bishop taking
the business upon himself, that the Priory might not suffer
detriment for want of a governor, appoints the aforesaid T. Fair-
wise to be prior. A citation was ordered as above for gainsayers
to appear October 4th, before the bishop or his commissaries at
South JValtham; but none appearing, the commissaries admitted
the said Thomas, ordered him to be installed, and sent the usual
letter to the convent to render him due obedience.

Thus did the bishop of Winchester a second time appoint a
stranger to be prior of Selborne, instead of one chosen out of

3U ANTIQUITIES

the chapter. For this seeming irregularity the visitor had no
doubt good and sufficient reasons, as probably may appear here-
after.

LETTER XXI.

Whatever might have been the abilities and disposition of
prior Fairwise, it could not have been in his power to have
brought about any material reformation in the Priory of Sel-
borne, because he departed this life in the month of August
1472, before he had presided one twelvemonth.

As soon as their governor was buried the chapter applied to
their visitor for leave to choose a new prior, which being granted,
after deliberating for a time, they proceeded to an election by a
scrutiny. But as this mode of voting has not been described
but by the mere form in the Appendix, an extract from the
bishop's register, representing the manner more fully, may not
be disagreeable to several readers.

Wayneflete Reg. tom. II. pars 1"", fol. 15.

" Reverendo &c. ac nostro patrono graciosissimo vestri hu-
" miles, et devote obedientie filii," &c.

To the right reverend Father in God, and our most gracious
patron, we, your obedient and devoted sons, JViUiam JFyndesoi;
president of the chapter of the Priory of Selborne, and the con-
vent of that place, do make known to your lordship, that our
priorship being lately vacant by the death of Thomati Faii'wise,
our late prior, who died August 11th, 1472, having committed

OF SELBORNE. 585

his body to decent sepulture, and having requested, according
to custom, leave to elect another, and having obtained it under
your seal, we, IFilliam ITj/fidesor, president of the convent, on
the 29th of August, in our chapter-house assembled, and making
a chapter, taking to us in this business Richard ap Jenhyn, and
Galjrid Bryan, chaplains, that our said Priory might not by
means of this vacancy incur harm or loss, unanimously agreed
on August the last for the day of election; on which day,
having first celebrated mass, " De sancto spiritu," at the high
altar, and having called a chapter by tolling a bell about ten
o' the clock, we, JVilliam JVyndesor, president, Peter Berne,
Thomas London, and JVilliam Stratjeld, canons, who alone had
voices, being the only canons, about ten o' the clock, first sung
" Veni Creator," the letters and license being read in the pre-
sence of many persons there. Then JVilliam JVyndesor, in liis
own name, and that of all the canons, made solenm proclama-
tion, enjoining all who had no right to vote to depart out of
the chapter-house. When all were withdrawn except Guyllery
de Lacuna, in decretis Baccalarius, and Robert Peverell, notary-
public, and also the two chaplains, the first was requested I*'
stay, that he might direct and inform us in the mode of electionj
the other, that he might record and attest the transactions; and
the two last that they might be witnesses to them.

Then, having read the constitution of the general council
" Quia propter," and the forms of elections contained in it being
sufficiently explained to them by De Lacuna, as well in Latin
as the vulgar tongue, and having deliberated in what mode to
proceed in this election, they resolved on that of scrutiny.
Three of the canons, JVyndesor, Berne, and London, were made
scrutators: Berne, London, and Htratfeld, choosing JVyndesor;

3 D

336 ANTIQUITIES

JFyndesor, London, and Stratfeld, choosing Berne; JFyndesor,
Berne, and Stratfeld, choosing London.

They were empowered to take each other's vote, and then
that o^ Stratfeld; •' et ad inferiorem partem angularem" of tlie
chapter-house, "jiixta ostium ejusdem dechnentes," with the
other persons, (except Stratfeld, who staid behind) proceeded
to voting, two swearing, and taking the voice of the third, in
succession, privately. JVyndeaor voted first: " Ego credo Petrum
" Berne mehorem et utiliorem ad regimen istius ecclesie, et in
" ipsuni consentio, ac eum nomino," &c. Berne was next
sworn, and in hke manner nominated JVyndfsor; London nomi-
nated Berne: Stratfeld was then called and sworn, and nomi-
nated Berne.

" Quibus in scriptis redactis," by the notary-public, they re-
turned to the upper part of the chapter-house, where by JFjjnde-
sor " sic purecta fecerunt in communi," and then solemnly, in
form written, declared the election oi' Berne: when all, " ante-
" dicto nostro clecto excepto, approbantes et ratificantes, cepi-
" mus decantare solemniter ' Te Deum Luudamm^ et sic canentes
" dictum electum ad inajus altaie ecclesie deduximus, ut apud
" nos est nioris. Then IVyndesor electionem clero et populo
" infra cliorum dicte ecclesie congregatis publicavit, et personam
" elect! publice et personaliter ostendit." We then returned to
the chapter-house, except our prior; and IVyndesor Mas ap-
pointed by the other two their proctor, to desire the assent of
the elected, and to notify what had been done to the bishop;
and to desire him to confirm the election, and do whatever else
was necessary. Then their proctor, before the witnesses, re-
quired Berne's assent in the chapter-house: "qui (luidcni in-
" stanciis et precibus multiplicatis devictus," consented, " licet

OF SELBORNE. SS7

" indignus electus," in writing. They therefore requested the
bishop's confirmation of their election " sic canonice et solem-
" niter celebrata," &c. &c. Sealed with their common seal, and
subscribed and attested by the notary. Dat. in the chapter-
house *S'e/)/e;?26fr 5th, 1472,

In consequence, Septeinber \ 1th, 1472, in the bisliop's chapel
at Esher, and before the bishop's commissary, appeared IF.
JFyndesor, and exhibited the above instrument, and a mandate
from the bisliop for the appearance of gainsayers of the election
there on that day: — and no one appearing, the absentees were
declared contumacious, and the election confirmed; and the
vicar of Aiilton was directed to induct and install the prior in
the usual manner.

Thus did canon Berne, though advanced in years, reassume
his abdicated priorship for the second time, to the no small
satisfaction, as it may seem, of the bishop of JVinchester, who
professed, as will be shown not long hence, an high opinion of
his abilities and integrity.

LETTER XXII.

As prior Berne, when chosen in 14o4, held his priorship only
to 1468, and then made a voluntary resignation, wearied and
disgusted, as we may conclude, by the disorder that prevailed
in his convent; it is no matter of wonder that, when re- chosen
in 1472, he should not long maintain his station; as old age was
then coming fast upon him, and the increasing anarchy and mis-

3 D 2

388 ANTIQUITIES

rule of that declining institution required unusual vigour and
resolution to stem that torrent of profligacy which was hurrying
it on to it's dissolution. We find, accordingly, that in 1478 he
resigned his dignity again into the hands of the bishop.

Waynflete Reg. fol. 55.
Hesignatio Prioris de Seleborne,

May 14, 1478. Peter Berne resigned the priorship. May
\6 the bishop admitted his resignation " in manerio suo de JVal-
" tham, and declared the priorship void; " et priorat. solacio
" destitutum esse;" and granted his letters for proceeding to a
new election: when all the religious, assembled in the chapter-
house, did transfer their power under tlieir seal to the bishop,
by the following public instrument.

" In Dei nomine Amen," &c. A D. 1478, Maii 19- In the
chapter-house for the election of a prior for that day, on the
free resignation of Peter Berne, having celebrated in the first
place mass at the high altar " De spiritu sancto," and having
called a chapter by tolling a bell, ut moris est ; iu the presence
of a notary and witnesses appeared personally Peter Berne,
Thomas Axhford, Stephen Clydgrove, and John Ashton, presbyters,
and Henry Canwood," in chapter assembled; and after singing
the hymn ' Veni Creator Spiritic.s,'' " cum versiculo et oratione

" Here we see that all the canons were changed in six years; and that there
was quite a new chapter, Berne excepted, between 14/2 and 147S ; for, instead of
Jfjjiidesor, London, and Slratfeld, we find Afhford, Clydgrove, Jshlon, and Can-
7i'ood, all new men, who were soon gone in their tnrn oft' the stage, and are heard
of no more, For, in six years afttr, there seem to have been no canons at all.

OF SELBORNE. 589

' Deus quicorda; declarataque licentla Fundatoris et patroni;
" fiiturum priorein eligendi concessa, et constitutione consilii
" generalis que iucipit ' Quia propter declaratis; viisque per
" quas possent ad hanc electlonem procedere," by the decretorum
doctorem, whom the canons had taken to direct them — they all
and everyone "dixerunt el; affirmarunt se nolle ad aliquam
" viam procedere:" — but, for this turn only, renounced their
right, and unanimously transferred their power to the bishop,
the ordinary of the place, promising to receive whom he should
provide; and appointed a proctor to present the instrument to
the bishop under their seal; and required their notary to draw
it up in due form, &c. subscribed by the notary.

After the visitor had fully deliberated on the matter, he pro-
ceeded to the choice of a prior, and elected, by the following
instrument, John Sharp, alias Glastenbury.

Fol. 36. Provisio Phioris per Epji.

JVillmus, &c. to our beloved brother in Christ John Sharp,
alias Glastenbury, Ecclesie conventualis de Brutoti, of the order
of St. Austin, in the diocese of Bath and JVells, canon-regular —
salatem, Sec. " De tue circumspectionis industria plurimum con-
" fidentes, te virum providuni et discretum, literarum scientia,
" et moribus merito commendandum," &c. — do appoint you
prior — under our seal. " Dat. in manerio nostro de Suthwal-
tham, May 20, 1478, et nostre Consec. 3]."

Thus did the bishop, three times out of the four that he was
at liberty to nominate, appoint a prior from a distance, a stran-
ger to the place, to govern the convent of Selborne, hoping by

390 ANTIQUITIES

this method to have broken the cabal, and to have interrupted
that habit of mismanagement that had pervaded the society:
but he acknowledges, in an evidence lying before us, that he
never did succeed to his wishes with respect to those late
governors, — " quos tamen male se habuisse, et inutiliter adnii-
" nistrare, et administrasse usque ad presentia tempora post
" dcbitam investigationeai, &c. invenit." The only time that
he appointed from among the canons, he made choice oi' Peler
Berne, for whom he had conceived the greatest esteem and
regard.

When prior Beriie first relinquished his priorship, he returned
again to his former condition of canon, in which he continued
for some years: but when he was re-chosen, and had abdicated
a second time, we find him in a forlorn state, and in danger of
being reduced to beggary, had not the bishop of lPl?tchesfer in-
terposed in his favour, and with great humanity insisted on a
provision for him for life. The reason for this difference seems
to have been, that, in the first case, though in years, he might
have been hale and capable of taking his share in the duty of
the convent; in the second, he was broken with age, and no
longer equal to the functions of a canon.

Impressed with this idea the bishop very benevolently in-
terceded in his favour, and laid his injunctions on the new-
elected prior in the following manner.

Fol. 56, " In Dei nomine Amen. Nos TVillmus, &c. consi-
" derantes Petriim Berne," late prior " in administratione spiri-
" tuaruim et teniporalium prioratus laudabiliter vixisseet rexisse;
" ipsumque senio et corporis debilitate confractum; ne in oppro-
" brium religionis meiidicari cogattcr; — eidem annuam pensiouem
" a Domino Johamie SItarp, alias Glastonbury, priorc modcrno,'*

OF SELBORNE. S91

and his successors, and, from the Priory or church, to be payed
every j'car during his life, " de voluntate et ex consensu ex-
" pressis" of the said John Sharp, "sub ea cjue sequitur forma
" verborum — assignamus:"

1st. That the said prior and his successors, for the time
being, honeste exhibebunt of tlie fruits and profits of the prior-
ship, " eidem esculenta et poculenta," while he remained in the
Priory " sub consimili portione eorundem prout convenienter
"priori," for the time being, m'mistrari conligerit ; and in like
manner unifamulo, whom he should choose to wait on him, as
to the servientibus of the prior.

Item. " Invenient seu exhibebunt eidem unam honestam
" cameram" in the Priory, " cum focalibus necessariis seu oppor-
" tunis ad eundem.

Item. We will, ordain, &c. to tlie said P. Berne an annual
pension of ten marks, from the revenue of the Priory, to be paid
by the hands of the prior quarterly.

The bishop decrees farther, that John Sharp, and his succes-
sors, shall take an oath to observe this injunction, and that
before their installation.

" Lecta et facta sunt htec in quodam alto oratorio," belong-
ing to the bishop at Suthzvaltham, May 25, 1478, in the presence
of Johtt Sharp, who gave his assent, and then took the oath
before witnesses, with the other oaths before the chancellor,
who decreed he should be inducted and installed; as was done
that same day.

How Joh7i Sharp, alias Glastonbury, acquitted himself in his
priorship, and in what manner he made a vacancy, whether by
resignation, or death, or whether he was removed by the visitor,

S92 ANTIQUITIES

does not appear; we only find that some time in the year 1484
there was no prior, and that the bishop nominated canon Ash-
jord to fill the vacancy.

LETTER XXIII.

This Thomas Ashford was most undoubtedly the last prior of
Selborne; and therefore here will be the proper place to say
something concerning a list of the priors, and to endeavour to
improve that already given by others.

At the end of bishop Tanner's Notitia Monastka, the folio
edition, among Broun JVilHs's Principals of Religious Houses
occur the names of eleven of the priors of Selborne, with dates.
But this list is imperfect, and particularly at the beginning; for
though the Priory was founded in 1232, yet it commences with
Nich. de Cantia, elected in 1262; so that for the first thirty
years no prior is mentioned; yet there must have been one or
more. We were in hopes that the register of Peter de Rujnbus
would have rectified this omission; but, when it was examined,
no information of the sort was to be found. From the year
1410 the list is much corrected and improved; and the reader
may depend on it's being thence forward very exact.

OF SELBORNE. 393

A List of the Priors of Selborne Priory, fro7n Brown Willis's
Principals of Religious Houses, with additions within [ ] by
the author.

[John was prior, sine dat.} ^

Nich. de Cantia el. . - - - 1262.

[Peter was prior in - - - 1271.]

[Richard was prior in - - 1280.]

Will. Basing was prior in - - - 1S99.

Walter de Insula el. in - - - - - 1324.

[Some difficulties, and a devolution; but the election
confirmed by bishop Stratford.]
JohndeWinton - - - - - 1339-

Thomas Weston - - - - 1377.

John Winchester, [Wynchestre'] - - 1410.

[Elected by bishop Beaufoi^t " per viam vel formam
" simplicis compromissi.]
[John Stype, 2\\as Stepe, m - _ - - 1411.]

Peter Bene [alias Berne or Bernes, appointed keeper,

and, by lapse to bishop Wayneflete, prior] in - - 1454.
[He resigns in 1468.]
John Morton, {Prior oi Reygatelm - - 1468.

[The canons by compromise transfer the power of
election to the bishop.]

" See, in Letter XI. of these Antiquities, the reason why prior John - - -, who
had transactions with the Knights Templars, is placed in the list before the year
1262.

3 E

394. ANTIQUITIES

JVill. Winsor \JVy7idesor, prior for a few flays] 1471.

[but removed on account of an irregular election.]
Thomas Farwill [Fah^ise, v\cb.v o^ Somborne] 1471.

[by compromise again elected by the bishop.]
\Peter Berne, re-elected by scrutiny in - - 1472,]

[resigns again in 1478.]
John Sharper [Sharp} alias Glastonbury - - 1478.

[Canon-reg, of Bruton, elected by the bishop by com-
promise.]
\Thojnas Js/iford, canon of Selborne, last prior elected by

the bishop of fFinchester, some time in the year - - 1484,
and deposed at the dissolution.]

LETTER XXIV.

Bishop TVayneJietes efforts to continue the Priory still proved
unsuccessful; and the convent, without any canons, and for
some time without a prior, was tending swiftly to it's dissolution.
When Sharp's, alias Glastonbury s, priorship ended does not
appear. The bishop says that he had been obliged to remove
some priors for male-administration: but it is not well explained
how that could be the case with any, unless with Sharp; because
all the others, chosen during his episcopate, died in their office,
viz. Morton and Fairwise; Berne only excepted, who relin-
quished twice voluntarily, and was moreover approved of by
JVayneflete as a person of integrity. But the way to shew what
ineffectual pains the bishop took, and what difficulties he met

OF SELBORNE. 395

with, will be to quote the words of the libel of his proctor
Radulphus Langley, who appeared for the bishop in the process
of the impropriatioQ of the Priory of Helborne. The extract is
taken from an attested copy.

" Item — that the said bishop — dicto prioratui et personis
" ejusdem pie compatiens, soUicitudines pastorales, labores, et
" diligentias gravissimas quam plurimas, tain per se quam per
" suos, pro reformatione premissorum impendebat: et aliquando
" illius loci prioribus, propter malam et inutilem administratio-
" nem, et dispensationem bonorum predicti prioratus, suis de-
" meritis exigentibus, amotis; alios priores in quorum circum-
" spectione et diligentia confidebat, prefecit: quos tamen male
" se habuisse ac inutiliter administiare, et administrasse, usque
" ad presentia tempora post debitam investigationem, &c. in-
" venit." So that he despaired with all his care — " statum
" ejusdem reparare vel restaurare: et considerata temporis ma-
" licia, et preteritis timendo et conjecturando futura, de aliqua
" bona et sancta religione ejusdem ordinis, &c. juxta piam in-
" tentionem primevi fundatoris ibidem habend. desperatur."

tVilliam fVairifleet, bishop of fVinchester, founded his college
of Saint Mary Magdalene, in the university of Oxford, in or
about the year 1459; but the revenues proving insufficient for
so large and noble an establishment, the college supplicated the
founder to augment it's income by putting it in possession of
the estates belonging to the Priory of Selhorne, now become a
deserted convent, without canons or prior. The president and
fellows state the circumstances of their numerous institution
and scanty provision, and the ruinous and perverted condition
of the Priory. The bishop appoints commissaries to inquire
into the state of the said monastery; and, if found expedient,

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596 ANTIQUITIES

to confirm the appropriation of it to the college, which soon
after appoints attornies to take possession, September ^24:, 1484.
But the way to give the reader a thorough insight respecting
this transaction, will be to transcribe a farther proportion of the
process of the impropriation from the beginning, which will lay-
open the manner of proceeding, and shew the consent of the
parties.

Impropriatto Selbokne, 1485.

" Universis sancte matris ecclesie filiis, &c. Ricardus Dei
" gratia prior ecclesie conventualis de Novo Loco, Sec' ad uni-
" versitatem vestre notitie deducimus, &c. quod coram nobis
" commissario predicto in ecclesia parochiali S'. Georgii de Esxher,
" diet, JVinton. dioc. 5°. die Augusti, A. D. I4So. Indictione
" tertia pontificat. Innocentii 8''. ann. 1'"". judicialiter comparuit
" venerabilis vir Jacobus Presto)!, S. T. P. infrascriptus, et exhi-
" buit literas commissionis — quas quidem per magistrum Thoniam
" Somercotes notarium publicum, &c. legi fecimus, tenorem se-
" quentem in se continentes." The same as N° 103, but dated
— •" In manerio nostro de Essher, Augusti, 1""\ A. D. 1485, et
" nostre consec. anno 39." [N° 103 is repeated in a book con-
taining the like process in the preceding year by the same com-

' Ecclesia Conventualis de Novo Loco was the monastery afterwards calleii the
New Minster, or Abley oi Hyde, in the city of JVinchester. Should any inlelligent
reader wonder to see that the prior of Hyde At-bey was commissary to the bishop of
ll^inlon, and should conclude that there was a mistake in titles, and that the allot
must have been here meant ; he will be pleased to recollect that this person was the
second in rank; for, " next under the abbot, in every abbey, was the prior." Pref.
to Notit. Monast. p. xxix. Besides, abbots were great personages, and too high in
station to submit to any office under the bishop.

OF SELBORNE. 397

missary, in the parish church of St Andrew the apostle, at Farn-
ham, Sept. 6th, anno 14s4.] " Post quarum literarutn lecturam
" — dictus magister Jacobus Preston, quasdani procuratorias
" literas mag. Richardi Mayexve presidcntis, ut asseruit, colkgii
" beate Marie Magdalene, &c. sigillo lotiuido conimuni, &c. in
" cera vubea impresso sigillatas realiter exhibuit, &c. et pro
" eisdem dnis suis, &c. fecit se partem, ac nobis supphcavit ut
" jiixta formam in eisdem traditaai procedere dignaremur, &c."
After tliese proclamations no contradictor or abjector appearing
— " ad instantem petitioneni ipsius mag. Jac. Preston, procura-
" toris, &c. procedendum fore decrevimus vocatis jure vocandis;
" nee non mag. Tho. Somercotes, &c. in actorum nostrorum scri-
" bam nominavimus. Consequeiiter et ibidem tunc comparuit
" magister Michael Clyff, &c. et exhibuit in ea parte procurato-
" rium suum," for the prior and convent of the cathedral of
JFiiiton, " et fecit se partem pro eisdem. — Deinde comperuit
<' coram nol)is, &c. honestus vir Wdlmus Cowper," proctor for
the bishop as patron of the Priory of Seibo?yid, and exhibited his
" procuratorium, &c." After these were read in the presence of
Clj/ffa.ad Cortper, " Preston, viva voce," petitioned the commis-
sary to annex and appropriate the Priory of Sel borne to the col-
lege— " propter quod fructus, redditus, et proventus ejusdem
" coll. adeo tenues sunt, et exiles, quod ad sustentationem ejus,
" &c. non suihciunt." — The commissary, " ad libellandum et
" articulandum in scriptis" — adjourned the court to the 5th of
August, then to be held again in the parish church of Essher.

W. Coiiper being then absent, Radulphus Langley appeared
for the bishop, and was admitted his proctor. Preston produced
his hbel or article in scriptis for the union, &c. " et admitti

398 ANTIQUITIES

" petiit eundem cum efFectu; cujus libelii tenor sequitur. — In
" Dei nomine, Amen. Coram nobis venerabili in Christo patre
" Kichardo, priore, &c. de Novo Loco, &c. commissario, &c."
Part of the college of ]\Iagd. dicit. allegat. and in his " scriptis
" proponit, &c."

" Imprimis— that said college consists of a president and
" eighty scholars, besides sixteen choristers, thirteen servientes
" inibialtissiniofamulantibus, et in scientiis plerisque liberalibus,
" presertim in sacra theologia studentibus, nedum ad ipsorum
" presidentis et scholarium pro presenti et imposterum, annuente
" deo, incorporandorum in eodeni relevamen ; verum etiam ad
" omnium et singulorum tam scholarium quam religiosorum
*' cujuscunque ordinis undequaque illuc confluere pro salubri
" doctrina volentium utilitatem multiplicem ad incrementa
" virtutis fideique catholice stabilimentum. Ita videlicet quod
" omnes et singuli absque personarum seu nationuin delectu
" illuc accedere volentes, lecturas publicas et doctriuas tam in
" grammatica loco ad collegium contiguo, ac philosophiis morali
" et naturali, quam in sacra theologia in eodeni collegio per-
" petuis teuiporibus continuandas libere atque gratis audire
" valeant et possint ad laudem gloriam et honorem Dei, &c.
" extitit fundatum et stabilitum."

For the first item in this process see the beginning of this
letter. Then follows item the second — " that the revenues of
" the college non sufficiunt his diebus." "Item — that the pre-
" misses are true, &c. et super eisdem laborarunt, et laborant
" publica vox et fama. Unde facta fide petit pars eorundem
" that the Priory be annexed to the college: ita quod dicto
" prioratu vacante liceat iis ex tunc to take possession, &c."

OF SELBORNE. 399

This libel, with the express consent of the other proctors, we,
the commissary, admitted, and appointed the sixth of August
for proctor Preston to prove the premisses.

Preston produced witnesses, W, Gyfford, S. T. P. John Nele,
A. M. John Chapman, chaplain, and Robert Baron, literatus,
who were admitted and sworn, when the court was prorogued
to the 6th o? August; and the witnesses, on the same 5th of
August, were examined by the commissary, " in capella infra
" manerium de Essher situata, secrete et singillatim." Then fol-
low the " literas procuratorite:" first that of the college, appoint-
ing Preston and Langport their proctors, dated August 30th,
1484; then that of the prior and convent of the cathedral of
TVintbn, appointing David Husband and Michael Cleve, dated
September Ath, 1484: then that of the bisjiop, appointing IF.
Gyfford, Radulphus Langley, and IVill. Cozvper, dated September
3d, 1484. Consec. 38°.; — " Quo die adveniente in dicta ecclesia
" parochiali," appeared " coram nobis" James Preston to prove
the contents of his libel, and exhibited some letters testimonial
with the seal of the bishop, and these were admitted ; and con-
sequenter Pre.?/o« produced two witnesses, viz. Dominum Thomam
Ashfordc imper priorem dictiprioratus, et ff'illm. Rabbys literatum,
who were admitted and sworn, and examined as the others, by
the commissary; " tunc & ibidem assistente scriba secrete & sin-
" gillatim ;" and their depositions were read and made public,
as follows:

Mr. IF. Gyfford, S. T. P. aged 57, of the state of Magd. Coll.
&c. &c. as before:

Mr. John Nele, aged 57, proves the articles also:

Robert Baron, aged 56:

Johannes Chapman, aged 35, also affirmed all the five articles:

400 ANTIQUITIES

Dompnus Thomas Ashforde, aged 72 years — " dicit 2''"'" 3"'*
" 4""' articulos in eodem libello contentos, concernentes statum
" dicti prioiatus de Sekbourne, fuisse et esse veros."

TF. Rabbys, ffitat 40 ami. agrees with Gyfford, &c.

Then follows the letter from the bishop, " in subsidium pro-
" bationis," abovementioned — " JVillmus, &c. salutem, &€•
" noverint universitas vestra, quod licet nos prioratui de Scle-
" bourne. Sec. pie compacientes soliicitudines pastorales, labores,
" diligentias qiiam pliirimas per nos & commissarios nostros pro
" reformatione status ejus impenderimus, justicia id poscente;
" nihilominus tamen," &c. as in the article — to " dcsperatur,"
dated " in manerio nostro de Essher, Aug. 3(1, 1485, & consec.
39" Then, on the 6th of August, Preston, in the presence of
the other proctors, required that they should be compelled to
answer; when they all allowed the articles " fuisse & esse vera;"
and the commissary, at the request of Pre^^ow, concluded the
business, and appointed Monday, August 8th, for giving his
decree in the same church oi Essher; and it was that day read,
and contains a recapitulation, with the sentence of union, &c.
witnessed and attested.

As soon as the president and fellows of ]\Iagdalen college
had obtained the decision of the commissary in their favour,
they proceeded to supplicate the/J0/;e, and to entreat his holi-
ness that he would give his sanction to the sentence of union.
Some difficulties were started at Rome; but they were sur-
mounted by the college agent, as appears by his letters from
that city. At length />o/;e Innocent VIII. by a butl^ bearing date

* There is nothing remarkable in this lull o( pope Innocent except the statement
of the annual revenue of the Priory of Sellorne, which is therein estimated at l60

OF SELBORNE. 401

the 8 th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1486, and in the
second year of his pontificate, confirmed what had been done,
and suppressed the convent.

Thus fell the considerable and well-endowed Priory of Sd-
borne after it had subsisted about two hundred and fifty-four
years: about seventy-four years after the suppression of Priories
alien by Henry V. and about fifty years before the general disso-
lution of monasteries by Henry VIII. The founder, it is pro-
bable, had fondly imagined that the sacredness of the institution,
and the pious motives on which it was established, might have
preserved it inviolate to the end of time — yet it fell,

" To teach us that God attributes to place
" No sanctity, if none be thither brought
" By men, who there frequent, or therein dwell."

Milton's Paradise Lost.

LETTER XXV.

Wainfleet did not long enjoy the satisfaction arising from
this new acquisition; but departed this life in a few months
after he had effected the union of the Priory with his late
founded college; and was succeeded in the see of Winchester
by Peter Courtney, some time towards the end of the year I486.

Jlor, auri; whereas bishop Godzinn sets it at 337/. 155. G^d, Now zfloren, so
named, says Camden, because made by Florentines, was a gold coin of king Edward
III. in value 6s. whereof iQO is not one seventh part of 337/. 15i. 6^rf.

3 F

402 ANTIQUITIES

In the beginning of the following year the new bishop re-
leased the president and fellows of Magdalen College from all
actions respecting the Priory of Selborne; and the prior and
convent of ^2\nt Swithun, as the chapter of PFi?ichester cathe-
dral, confirmed the release.''

N. 293. " Relaxatio Petri epi JVintbn Ricardo Mayew,
" Presidenti omnium actionum occasione indempnitatis sibi
" debite pro unione Prioratus de Selborne dicto collegio. Jan. 2.
" 1487. et translat. anno 1°."

N. 374. " Relaxatio ^?7o;'e* et conventus S'^ Swithini Wintbn
" confirmans relaxationem Petri ep. TVinton." 1487. Jan. 13.

Ashforde, the deposed prior, who had appeared as an evidence
for the impropriation of the Priory at the age of seventy-two
years, that he might not be destitute of a maintenance, was pen-
sioned by the college to the day of his death; and was living
on till 1490, as appears by his acquittances.

Reg. a. fF. 46.

" Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum per-
" venerit, B.icliardus Mayew, presidens, &c. et scolares, salutem
" in Domino."

" Noveritis nos prefatos presidentem et scolares dedisse, con-
" cessisse, et hoc present! scripto confirmasse Thome Ashforde,
" capellano, quendam annualem redditum sex librarum tresdecim
•' solidorum et quatuor denariorum bone et legalis monete
" Anglie — ad terminum vite prefati Thome' — to be paid from
the possessions of the college in Basingstoke. — " In cujus rei
" testimonium sigillum nostrum commune presentibus apponi-
" mus. Dat. Oxon. in coll. nostro supra dicto primo die mensis

* The bishops of Winchester were patrons of the Priory.

OF SELBORNE. 403

*' Junii anno regis Ricardi tertii secundo," viz. 1484. The col-
lege, in their grant to Ashfordc, style him only capcllanus ; but
the annuitant very naturally, and with a becoming dignity,
asserts his late title in his acquittances, and identifies himself by
the addition oi nuper priorem, or late prior.

As, according to the persuasion of the times, the depriving
the founder and benefactors of the Priory of their masses and
services would have been deemed the most impious of frauds,
bishop Wa'wfleet, having by statute ordained four obits for him-
self "to be celebrated in the chapel oi JMagdalen College, enjoined
in one of them a special collect for the anniversary of Peter de
Rupibus, with a particular prayer — " Deiis Indulgentiarum."

The college also sent Nicholas Lartgrish, who had been a
chantry priest at Selborne, to celebrate mass for the souls of all
that had been benefactors to the said Priory and college, and
for all the faithful who had departed this life.

N. 356. Thomas Knowks, presidens, &c. — "damns et con-
" cedimus Nicholao Langrish quandum capellaniam, vel salarium,
" sive alio quocunque nomine censeatur, in prioratu quondam de
" Selborne pro termino 40 annorum, si tam diu vixerit Ubi
" dictus mag". Nicholaus celebrabit pro animabus omnium bene-
" factorum dicti prioratus et coll. nostri, et omnium fidelium
" defunctorum. Insuper nos, &c. concedimus eidem ibidem
" celebranti in sustentationem suam quandam annualem pensi-
" onem sive annuitatem octo librarum &c. — in dicta capella
" dicti prioratus — concedimus duas cameras contiguas ex parte
" boreali dicte capelle, cum una coquina, et cum uno stabulo
" conveniente pro tribus equis, cum pomerio eidem adjacente
" voc. le Orcheyard — Preterea 26s. 8d. per ann. ad inveniendum
" nnum clericum ad serviendum sibi ad altare, et aliis negotiis

3 F 2

404 ANTIQUITIES

necessariis ejus." — His wood to be granted him by the president
on the progress. — He was not to absent himself beyond a certain
time; and was to superintend the coppices, wood, and hedges,
" Dat. 5'°. die Julii. an°. He7i. VIIl". S6'\" [viz. 1546.]

Here we see the Priory in a new light, reduced as it were to
the state of a chantry, without prior and without canons, and
attended only by a priest, who was also a sort of bailiff or wood-
man, his assistant clerk, and his female cook. Ouen Oglethorpe,
president, and Magd. Coll. in the fourth year of Edward VI.
viz. \55\, granted an annuity of ten pounds a year for life to
Nich. Languish, who, from the preamble, appears then to have
been fellow of that society: but, being now superannuated for
business, this pension is granted him for thirty years, if he
should live so long. It is said of him — " cum jam sit provec-
tioris etatis quam ut," &c.

Laurence Stubb, president of Magd. Coll. leased out the Priory
lands to John Sharp, husbandman, for the term of twenty years,
as early as the seventeenth year of Henry VIII. — viz. 1526:
and it appears that Henry Nexvlyn had been in possession of a
lease before, probably towards the end of the reign of Henry VII.
Sharp's rent was vi". per ann. — Regist. B. p. 43.

By an abstract from a lease lying before me, it appears that
Sharp found a house, two barns, a stable, and a dttf-house, [dove-
house] built, and standing on the south side of the old Priory,
and late in the occupation of Nexvlyn. In this abstract also are
to be seen the names of all the fields, many of which continue
the same to this day.*" Of some of them I shall take notice,
Avhere any thing singular occurs.

■> It may not be amiss to mention here tliat various u^mei oi tithings,farm!,
Jields, woods, &c. whicii appear in the ancient deeds, and evidences of several cen-
turies standing, are still preserved in common use with little or no variation :— as

OF SELBORNE. 405

And here first we meet with Paradyss [Paradise] mede.
Every convent had it's Paradise; which probably was an en-
closed orchard, pleasantly laid out, and planted with fruit-trees.
Tylehouse grove, so distinguished from having a tiled house near
it."" Butt-zvood close; here the servants of the Priory and the
village-swains exercised themselves with their long bows, and
shot at a mark against a butt, or bank/ Cundyth [conduit]
wood: the engrosser of the lease not understanding this name
has made a strange barbarous word of it. Conduit-wood was
and is a steep, rough cow-pasture, lying above the Priory, at
about a quarter of a mile to the south-west. In the side of this
field there is a spring of water that never fails; at the head of
which a cistern was built which communicated with leaden
pipes that conveyed water to the monastery. When this reser-
voir was first constructed does not appear, we only know that
it underwent a repair in the episcopate of bishop fVainfleet,
about the year 1462." Whether these pipes only conveyed the
water to the Priory for common and culinary purposes, or con-

Nortouy Southington, Durton, Achangre, BlacJtmore, Bradshot, Rood, Plestor, &c.
&c. At the same time it should be acknowledged that other places have entirely
lost their original titles, as le Buri and Trucstede in this village ; and la Liega, or la
Lyge, which was the name of the original site of the Priory, &c.

"^ Men at first heaped sods, or fern, or heath, on their roofs to keep off the in-
clemencies of weather : and then by degrees laid straw or haum. The first refine-
ments on roofing were shingles, which are very ancient. Tiles are a very late and
imperfect covering, and were not much in use till the beginning of the sixteenth
century. The first tiled house at Nottingham was in 1503.

■• There is also a Butt-close just at the back of the village.

■^ N. 381. " Clausure terre abbatie ecclesie parochiali de Selelurne, ixi. ivad.
" Reparacionibus domorum predict! prioratus ii'il. liLxis. Jque co?iduct. ibidem.
" xxiii d."

406 ANTIQUITIES

tributed to any matters of ornament and elegance, we shall not
pretend to say; nor when artists and mechanics first understood
any thing of hydraulics, and that water confined in tubes would
rise to it's original level. There is a person now living who had
been employed formerly in digging for these pipes, and once
discovered several yards, which they sold for old lead.

There was also a plot of ground called Tan-house garden:
and " Tannaria sua," a tan-yard of their own, has been mentioned
in Letter XVI. This circumstance I just take notice of, as an
instance that monasteries had trades and occupations carried on
within themselves/

Registr. B. pag. 1 12. Here we find a lease of the parsonage
of Selborne to Thomas Sylvester and Miles Arnold, husbandmen —
of the tythes of all manner of corne pertaining to the parsonage
— with the offerings at. the chapel of Whaddon belonging to the
said parsonage. Dat. Jutie 1. 27'^ He7i. 8'^ [viz. 1536.]

As the chapel of Whaddon has never been mentioned till
now, and as it is not noticed by bishop Tanner in his Notiiia
Monastica, some more particular account of it will be proper in
this place. Whaddon was a chapel of ease to the mother church
of Selborne, and was situated in the tithing of Oakhanger, at
about two miles distance from the village. The farm and field
whereon it stood are still called chapel-farm and Jield:^ but there
are no remains or traces of the building itself, the very founda-
tions having been destroyed before the memory of man. In a
farm yard at Oakhanger we remember a large hollow stone of a

f There is still a wood near the Priory called Tanner's wood.

s This is a manor-farm, at present the property of Lord Stawcll; and belonged
probably in ancient times to Jo, de Venur, or Venuz, one of the first benefactors to
the Piiory.

OF SELBORNE. 407

close substance, which had been used as a hog-trough, but was
then broken. This stone, tradition said, had been the baptismal
font of fVhaddon chapel. The chapel had been in a very ruinous
state in old days; but was new-built at the instance of bishop
JFa'mfleet, about the year 1463, during the. Jirst priorship of
Benie, in consequence of a sequestration issued forth by that
visitor against the Priory on account of notorious and shamefui
dilapidations.''

The Selborne rivulet becomes of some breadth at Oakhanger,
and, in very wet seasons, swells to a large flood. There is a
bridge over the stream at this hamlet of considerable antiquity
and peculiar shape, known by the name of Timbridge : it consists
of one single blunt gothic arch, so high and sharp as to render
the passage not very convenient or safe. Here was also, we
find, a bridge in very early times; for Jacobus de Hochangre,
the first benefactor to the Priory of Selborne, held his estate at
Hochangre by the service of providing the king one foot-soldier
for forty days, and by building this bridge. " Jacobus de Hoch-
angre tenet Hochangre in com. Southampton, per Serjantiam,^
inveniendi unum valectum in exercitu Domini regis [scil. Hen-
rici III'".] per 40 dies; et ad faciendum pontem de Hochangre:
et valet per ann. C. s."

Blounfs Ancient Tenures, p. 84.

h See Letter XIX. of these Antiquities. — " Summa total, solut. de novis edifica-
'-' tionibus, et reparacionibus per idem tempus, ut patet per comput."

"Videlicet de nova edificat. Capelle Marie de JVadden. \\\\\. lib. v^viiic?.—
" Reparacionibus ecclesie Prioratus, cancellor. et capellar. ecclesiarum et capellarum
" de Selborne, et Eslworhlam." — &c. &c.

' Sargentia, a sort of tenure of doing something for the king.

408 ANTIQUITIES

A dove-house was a constant appendant to a inauerial dwell-
ing: of this convenience more will be said hereafter.

A corn-mill was also esteemed a necessary appendage of
every manor ; and therefore was to be expected of course at the
Priory of Selborne.

The prior had sect a molendini, or ad molendinum: ^ a power of
compelling his vassals to bring their corn to be ground at his
mill, according to old custom. He had also, according to bishop
Tanner, secta inolendini de Strete: but the purport of Strete, we
must confess, we do not understand. Strete, in old English,
signifies a road or highway, as JVatling Strete, &c. therefore the
prior might have some mill on a high road. The Priory had
only one mill originally at Selborne; but, by grants of lands, it
came possessed of one at Durton, and one at Oakhanger, and
probably some on it's other several manors.' The mill at the
Priory was in use within the memory of man, and the ruins of
the mill-house were standing within these thirty years : the
pond and dam, and miller's dwelling, still remain. As the stream
was apt to fail in very dry summers, the tenants found their
situation very distressing, for want of water, and so were forced
to abandon the spot. This inconvenience was probably never
felt in old times, when the whole district was nothing but
woodlands: and yet several centuries ago there seem to have

^ "■ Servitiurn, quo feudatorii grana sua ad Domini molendinum, ibi molenda
" perferre, exconsuetudine, astringuntur."

' Thoinas Knowles, president, &c. ann. Hen 8vi. xxiii." [viz. 1532.] demised
to J. Whitelie their mills, &c. for twenty years. Rent xxiii s. n\\d.— Accepted Frewen,
president, &c. ann. Caroli xv. [viz. 1640.] demised to Jo. Hook and Elixabeth, his
wife, the said mills. Rent as above.

OF SELBORNE. 409

been two or three mills between Well-head and the Priory,
For the reason of this assertion, see Letter XXIX. to Mr.
Barrington.

Occasional mention has been made of the many privileges
and immunities enjoyed- by the convent and it's priors; but a
more particular state seems to be necessary. The author there-
fore thinks this the proper place, before he concludes these
antiquities, to introduce all that has been collected by the ju-
dicious bishop Tanner, respecting the Priory and it's advantages,
in his Notltia Monastica, a book now seldom seen, on account
of the extravagance of it's price; and being but in few hands
cannot be easily consulted." He also adds a few of it's many
privileges from other authorities: — the account is as follows.
Tanner, page 166.

SELEBURNE.

A priory of black canons, founded by the often-mentioned
Peter de Rupibus, bishop o? JVinchester, A. D. \9.5'3, and dedi,-
cated to the blessed Virgin Mary: but was suppressed — and
granted to JP^illiam Wainjleet, bishop of Winchester, who made it
part of the endowment of St. Mary Magdalene College in Oxford.
The bishops of JVinchester were patrons of it. [Pat. 17. Edxc. II.]
Vide in Man. Angl. tom. II. p. 343. " Cartam fundationis ex
" ipso autographo in archivis Coll. Magd. O.\on. ubi etiam conser-
" vata sunt registra, cartas, rentalia et alia muuimenta ad hunc
" prioratum spectantia.

"• A few days after this was written a new edition of this valuable work was
announcedj in the month oi April oiihe year 1787, as published by Mr^ Nasmith.

3 G

410 ANTIQUITIES

" Extracta qiitEclam e legistio MSS. in Bibl. Bodl. Dodswoi'tk,

" vol. 89. f. 140."

" Cart, antiq. N. N. n. 33. P. P. n. 48. et 71. Q. Q. n. 40.
' plac. coram justit. itin. [Southampton] '20 Hen. rot. 25. De
' eccl. de Basing, & Basingstoke. Plac. de jiiratis apud tVinton.
' 40 Hen. III. rot. — Prosecta molendini de Strete. Cart. 54.
' Hen. Ilf. m. 3. [De meixatu, & feria apud Seleborne, a mistake.]
' Pat. 9- Edxv. I. m.— Pat 30. Edw. I. m.— Pat. 33. Edxo. I. p.
' 1. m.— Pat. 35. Edw. I. m.— Pat. 1. Edzv. 11. p. 1. m. 9-, Pat. 5.
' Edw. 11. p. ]. m. 21. De terris in Achanger. Pat. 6. Edzv. II.
' p. J. m. 7. de eisdem. Brev. in Scacc. 6. Edw. II. Pasch.
' rot. 8. Pat. 17. Edw. II. p. 1. m.— Cart. 10. Edw. III. n. 24.
' Quod terr« suse in Seleburn, Achangre, Norton, Basings,
' Basingstoke, and Nately, sint de afforestatte, and pro aliis
' libertatibus. Pat. 12. Edxc. III. p. 3. m. 3.— Pat. 13. Edw. III.
'p. 1. m.— Cart. 18. Edzv. III. n. 24."

" N. N. 33. Rex concessit quod prior, et cahonici de Sele-
' burn habeant per terras suas de Seleburne, Achangre, Norton,
' Brompden, Basinges, Basingstoke, & Nately, diversas libertates.
" P. P. 48. Quod prior de Seleburne, habeat terras suas
' quietas de vasto, et regardo." — Extracts from Aylnffe's Calen-
' dars of Ancient Charters.

" Placita de juratis & assis coram Salom de Roff, & sociis
' suis justic. itiner. apud Wynion in comitatu Sutht. — anno regni
' R. Edvardi fiiii reg. Henr. octavo. — Et For de Seleborn ht
' in Selebr. fure. thurset. pillory, emendasse panis, & suis."

[cerevisifE.] — Chapter- house, IFe-itminster.

" Placita Foreste apud JVyntcn in com. Sutham. — Anno reg.

" Eduardi octavo coram Rog. de Clifford. — &c. Justic. ad eadem

" placita audienda et tminand. assigtis.

OF SELBORNE.

411

" Carta Pror de Sekburn, H. Dei gra. rex. angl. &c. Con-
" cessim. prior, see. Marie de Seleburn. et canonicis ibidem Deo

" servient. q ipi et oes hoies siii in pdcis terris suis et

" tenementis manentes sint in ppetum quieti de sectis Swane-
" motor, et omnium alior. placltor. for. et de espeltamentis
" canum. et de omnibus submonitoibz. placitis querelis et ex-
" accoibus et occoibz. ad for. et for. et viridar. et eor. ministros
" ptinentibz." — Chapter-house, Westminster.

" Plita Forestarum in com. Sutht. apud Suthamton

" anno regni regis Edwardi tcii post conquestum quarto coram
" Joke Mantxers. Sec. justic. itinand. &c."

De hiis qui clamant libtates infra Forestas in com. Sutht.

" Prior de Selebowme clamat esse quietus erga dnm regem de
" omnibus finibus et amerciamentis p tnsgr. et omnibus ex-
*' accoibz ad Dom. regem vel hered. suos ptinent. pret. plita
" corone reg.

" Item clamat q'' si aliquis hominum suorum de terris et
" ten. p. delicto suo vitam aut membrum debeat amittere vel
" fugiat, & judico stare noluerit vel aliud delictum fecit pro
" quo debeat catella sua amittere, ubicunq; justitia fieri debeat
" omnia catella ilia sint ptci Prioris et successor, suor. Et liceat
" eidem priori et ballis suis ponere se in seisinam in hujusmodi
" catall. in casibus pdcis sine disturbacone ballivor. dni reg.
" quorumcunque.

" Item clam, quod licet aliqua libtatum p dnm regem con-
" cessar. pcessu temporis quocunq; casu contingente usi non
" fuerint, nlominus postea eadm libtate uti possit. Et pdcus
" prior quesitus p justic. quo waranto clamat omn. terr. et ten.
" sua in Selehurne, Norton, Basynges, Basyngesfoke, & Naltele,
" que prior domus pdte huit & tenuit X"°. die April anno regni

3 G 2

41S ANTIQUITIES

" dni Hen. reg. pavi dni reg. nue XVIII. imppm esse quieta de
" vasto et regardo, et visa forestarior. et viridarior. regardator.
" et omnium ministrorum foreste." &c. &c.

Chapter-house, Westminster.

LETTER XXVI.

Though the evidences and documents of the Priory and parish
of Selborne are now at an end, yet, as the author has still several
things to say respecting the present state of that convent and
it's Grange, and other matters, he does not see how he can
acquit himself of the subject without trespassing again on the
patience of the reader by adding one supplementary letter.

No sooner did the Priory (perhaps much out of repair at the
time) become an appendage to the college, but it must at once
have tended to swift decay. Magdalen College wanted now
only two chambers for the chantry priest and his assistant; and
therefore had no occasion for the hall, dormitory, and other
spacious apartments belonging to so large a foundation. The
roofs neglected, would soon become the possession of daws and
owls; and, being rotted and decayed by the weather, would fall
in upon the floors; so that all parts must have hastened to
speedy dilapidation and a scene of broken ruins. Three full
centuries have now passed since the dissolution; a series of
years that would craze the stoutest edifices. But, besides the
slow hand of time, many circumstances have contributed to
level this venerable structure with the ground; of which nothing

OF SELBORNE.

413

now remains but one piece of a wall of about ten feet long, and
as many feet bigh, whicb probably was part of an out-house.
As early as the latter end of the reign of Hen. VII. we find that
a farm-house and two barns were built to the south of the Priory,
and undoubtedly out of it's materials. Avarice again has much
contributed to the overthrow of this stately pile, a;s long as the
tenants could make money of it's stones or timbers. Wanton-
ness, no doubt, has had a share in the demolition; for boys love
to destroy what men venerate aud admire. A remarkable in-
stance of this propensity the writer can give from his own
knowledge. When a schoolboy, more than fifty years ago, he
was eye-witness, perhaps a party concerned, in the undermining
a portion of that fine old ruin at the north end oi Basingstoke
town, well known by the name of Holy Ghost Chapel. Very
providentially the vast fragment, which these thoughtless little
engineers endeavoured to sap, did not give way so soon as might
have been expected; but it fell the night following, and with
such violence that it shook tlie very ground, and, awakening
the inhabitants of the neighbouring cottages, made them start
up in their beds as if they had felt an earthquake. The motive
for this dangerous attempt does not so readily appear: perhaps
the more danger the more honour, thought the boys; and the
notion of doing some mischief gave a zest to the enterprize.
As Dryden says upon an other occassion,

It look'd so like a sin it pleas'd the more."

Had the Priory been only levelled to the surface of the
ground, the discerning eye of an antiquary might have ascer-
tained it's ichnography, and some judicious hand might have
developed it's dimensions. But, besides other ravages, the very

414 ANTIQUITIES

foundations have been torn up for the repair of the highways :
so that the site of this convent is now become a rough, rugged
pasture-field, full of hillocks and pits, choaked with nettles, and
dwarf-elder, and trampled by the feet of the ox and tlie heifer.

As the tenant at the Priory was lately digging among the
foundations, for materials to mend the highways, his labourers
discovered two large stones, with which the farmer was so
pleased that he ordered them to be taken out whole. One of
these proved to be a large Doric capital, worked in good taste;
and the other a base of a pillar; both formed out of the soft
freestone of this district. These ornaments, from their dimen-
sions, seem to have belonged to massive columns; and shew
that the church of this convent was a large and costly edifice.
They were found in the space which has always been supposed
to have contained the south transept of the Priory church.
Some fragments of large pilasters were also found at the same
time. The diameter of the capital was two feet three inches
and an half; and of the column, where it had stood on the base,
eighteen inches and three quarters.

Two years ago some labourers digging again among the
ruins found a sort of rude thick vase or urn of soft stone, con-
taining about two gallons in measure, on the verge of the brook,
in the very spot which traiiition has always pointed out as
having been the site of the convent kitchen. This clumsy
utensil," whether intended for holy water, or whatever purpose.

° A judicious antiquary, who saw this vase, observed, that it possibly might
have been a standard measure between the monastery and it's tenanls. The priory
we have mentioned claimed the assize of bread and beer in Selborne manor : and
probably the adjustment of dry measures for grain, &c.

OF SELBORNE. 415

we were going to procure, but found ihat the labourers had just
broken it in pieces, and carried it out on the highways.

The Priory of Sclborne had possessed in this village a Grange,
an usual appendage to nianerial estates, where the fruits of their
lands weie stowed and laid up for use, at a time when men
took the natural produce of their estates in kind. The mansion
of this spot is still called the G7^ans;e, and is the manor-house of
the convent possessions in this place. The author has conversed
with very ancient people who remembered the old original
Grange ; but it has long given place to a modern farm-house.
Magd'dtn College holds a court-leet and court-baron" in the
great wheat-barn of the said Grange, annually, where the Pre-
sident usually superintends, attended by the bursar and steward
of the college.''

The following uncommon presentment at the court is not
unworthy of notice. There is on the south side of the king's
field, (a large common-field so called) a considerable tumulus^
or hillock, now covered with thorns and bushes, and known by
the name of Kite's Hill, which is presented, year by year, in
court as not ploughed. Why this injunction is still kept up
respecting this spot, which is surrounded on all sides by arable
land, may be a question not easily solved, since the usage has
long survived the knowledge of the intention thereof. We can
only suppose that as the prior, besides thurset and pillory, had
^Siofurcas, a power of life and death, that he might have re-

" The time when this court is held is the mid-week between Easter and Whit-
suntide.

P Ouen Oglelhorp, president, &c. an. Edw. Sexli, primo [viz. 15^7.] demised
to Robert Arden Selhorne Grange for twenty years. Rent vi". — Index of Leases,

416 ANTIQUITIES

served this little eminence as the place of execution for delin-
quents. And there is the more reason to suppose so, since a
spot just by is called Gaily [Gallows] hill.

The lower part of the village next the Grange, in which is
a pond and a stream, is well known by the name o? Gracious-
street, an appellation not at all understood. There is a lake in
Surrey, near Chobham, called also Gracious-pond: and another, if
we mistake not, near Hedleigli, in the county of Hants. This
strange denomination we do not at all comprehend, and con-
clude that it may be a corruption from some Saxon word, itself
perhaps forgotten.

It has been observed already, that Bishop Tanner was mis-
taken when he refers to an evidence of Dodsworth, " De mercatu
et FERiA de Selcburne."' Selborne never had a chartered fair;
the present fair was set up since the year 1681, by a set of
jovial fellows, who had found in an old almanack that there
had been a fair here in former days on the first of August; and
were desirous to revive so joyous a festival. Against this inno-
vation the vicar set his face, and persisted in crying it down, as
the probable occasion of much intemperance. However the
fair prevailed; but was altered to the twenty-ninth of May,
because the former day often interfered with wheat- harvest.
On that day it still continues to be held, and is become an use-
ful mart for cows and calves. INIost of the lower house-keepers
brew beer against this holiday, which is dutied by the excise-
man; and their becoming victuallers for the day Avithout a
license is overlooked.

Monasteries enjoyed all sorts of conveniences within them-
selves. Thus at the Priory, a low and moist situation, there

OF SELBORNE. 417

were pomls and stevvs for their fish : at the same place also, and
at the Grange in Culver-croft ,<: there were dove-houses; and on
the hill opposite to the Grange the prior had a warren, as the
names of Tlie Coney-crofts and Coney-croft Hanger plainl^^
testify.''

Nothing has been said as yet respecting the tenure or hold-
ing of the Selborne estates. Temple and Norton are manor farms
and freehold; as is the manor oi Chapel near Oakhanger, and
also the estate at Oakhanger-hoiisc and Black-moor. The Friory
and Grange are leasehold under Magdalen- college, for twenty-
one years, renewable every seven: all the smaller estates in and
round the village are copyhold of inheritance under the college,
except the little remains of the Gurdon-manor, which had been
of old leased out upon lives, but have been freed of late by their
present lord, as fast as those lives have dropped.

Selborne seems to have derived much of it's prosperity from
the near neighbourhood of the Priory. For monasteries were
of considerable advantage to places where they had their sites
and estates, by causing great resort, by procuring markets and
fairs, by freeing them from the cruel oppression of forest-laws,
and by letting their lands at easy rates. But, as soon as the
convent was suppressed, the town which it had occasioned began
to decline, and the market was less frequented; the rough and
sequestered situation gave a check to resort, and the neglected
roads rendered it less and less accessible.

That it had been a considerable place for size formerly
appears from the largeness of the church, which much exceeds

« Culver, as has been observed before, is Saxon for a pigeon.
'' A warren was an usual appendage to a manor.
3 H

418 ANTIQUITIES

those of the neighbouring villages; by the ancient extent of the
burying ground, which, from human bones occasionally dug up,
is found to have been much encroached upon; by giving a
name to the hundred; by the old foundations and ornamented
stones, and tracery of windows that have been discovered on
the north-east side of the village; and by the many vestiges of
disused fish-ponds still to be seen around it. For ponds and
stews were multiplied in the times of poper}^ that the affluent
might enjoy some variety at their tables on fast days; therefore
the more they abounded the better probably was the condition
of the inhabitants.

More Particulars 7'especiing the Old Family Tortoise, omitted in
the Natural History.

Because we call this creature an abject reptile, we are too
apt to undervalue his abilities, and depreciate his powers of
instinct. Yet he is, as Mr. Fope says of his lord,

" Much too wise to walk into a well :"

and has so much discernment as not to fall down an haha; bnt
to stop and withdraw from the brink with the readiest pre-
caution.

Though he loves warm weather he avoids the hot sun; be-
cause his thick shell, when once heated, would, as the poet says

OF SELBORNE. 419

of solid armour — " scald with safety." He therefore spends
the more sultry hours under the umbrella of a large cabbage-
leaf, or amidst the waving forests of an asparagus-bed.

But as he avoids heat in the summer, so, in the decline of
the year, he improves the faint autumnal beams, by getting
within the reflection of a fruit-wall: and, though he never has
read that planes inclining to the horizon receive a greater share
of warmth,* he inclines his shell, by tilting it against the wail,
to collect and admit every feeble ray.

Pitiable seems the condition of this poor embarrassed rep-
tile: to be cased in a suit of ponderous armour, which he can-
not lay aside; to be imprisoned, as it were, within his own shell,
must preclude, we should suppose, all activity and disposition
for enterprize. Yet there is a season of the year (usually the
beginning of June) when his exertions are remarkable. He
then walks on tiptoe, and is stirring by five in the morning;
and, traversing the garden, examines every wicket and inter-
stice in the fences, through which he will escape if possible:
and often has eluded the care of the gardener, and wandered to
some distant field. The motives that impel him to undertake
these rambles seem to be of the anioro.ss kind; his fancy then
becomes intent on sexual attachments, Avhicli transport him
beyond his usual gravity, and induce him to forget for a time
his ordinary solemn deportment.

* Several years ago a book was written entitled " Fiuit-wails improved by in-
" dining tliem to the horizon :" in which the author has shewn, by calcuhition,
that a much greater number of the rays of the sun will fall on such walls than on
those which are perpendicular. .

421

APPENDIX,

No. I.

No. 6. (U^

Carta Petri et conventus ecclesie Winton. pro fundationt prioratm
de Sekburne, S^c. dat. 1233.

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos presens scriptum pervenerit.
P. divina miseracione TVinton ecclesie minister humilis salutem
in Domino: Ex officio pastorali tenemur viros religiosos, qui
pauperes spiritu esse pro Christo neglectis lucris teniporalibus
el/sgerunt; spirituali afFectu diiigere, fovere pariter et creare,
eorumq; qiiieti sollicite providere; ut tanto uberiores fructus
de continua in lege Dei meditatione percipiant, quanto a contur-
bationibiis malignorum amplius fuerint ex patroni provisione et
ecclesiastica defensione securi. Hinc est quod universitati vestre
notificamus, nos divine caritatis instinctu, de assensu conventus
ecclesie nostre TVinton, fundasse domum religiosam, ordinis
magni patris Augustini, in honore Dei et gloriose semper vir-

422 APPENDIX.

o-iiiis ejusdem Dei genetricis Marie, apud Seleburne; ibidemquc
canonicos regulares instituisse: ad quorum sustentationem et
hospitum et pauperum susceptionem, dedimus, concessimus, et
present! carta nostra confirmavinius eisdem canonicis, totam
terram quam habuimus de done Jacobi de Acangre: et totam
terram, cursura aque, boscum et pratum que habuimus de done
Jacobi de Norlone; et totam terram boscum et reddituni que
habuimus de dono domini Ilenricl regis Atiglie; cum omnibus
predictarum possessionum pertinentiis. Dedimus etiam et con-
cessimus in proprios usus eisdem canonicis ecclesiam predicte
ville de Seleburne, et ecclesias de Basing, et de BaHugtstok, cum
omnibus earundem ecclesiarum capellis, libertatibus, et aliis
pertinenciis; salva honesta et sufficienti sustentatione vicariorum
in predictis ecclesiis ministrantium; quorum presentatio ad
priorem predicte donius rehgiose de Seleburne et canonicos ejus-
dem loci in perpetuum pertinebit. Preterea possessiones et
redditus, ecclesias sive decinias, quas in epscopatu nostro
adempti sunt, vel in posterum, Deo dante, justis modis poterunt
adipisci, sub nostra et JVinton ecclesie protectione suscepimus,
et episcopalis auctoritate officii confirmavinius; eadem auctori-
tate firmiter inhibentes, ne quis locum, in quo divino sunt officio
mancipati, sen alias eorum possessiones, invadere vi vel fraude
vel ingenio malo occupare audeat, vel, etiam retinere, ant fratres
conversos, sen'ientes, vel homines eorum aliqua violentia per-
turbare, sive fugientes ad eos causa salutis sue conservande a
scptis domus sue violenter presumat extraere. Prccipinuis
autem ut in eadem domo religiosa de Seleburne ordo canon icus,
et regularis con\ersatio, secundum regulam niagni patris Augus-
lini, quam primi inhabitatores professi sunt, in perpetuum ob-
servetur; et ipsa domus religiosa a cujuslibet alterius domus

APPENDIX. 423

religiose subjectione libera permaneat, et in omnibus absoluta;
salva in omnibus episcopal! auctoritate, et IV'mton ecclesie clig-
nitate. Quod ut in nosterum ratum permaneat et inconcussum,
presenti scripto et sigilli nostii patrocinis duximus confirman-
dum. His testibus domino Waltero abbate de Hyda. Domino
Walters Priore de sancto Swithuno, domino Stephano priore de
Motestbnte, magistro Alano de Stoke; magistro Willo de sancte
Marie ecclesia, tunc official! nostro; Luca arcbidiacon' de surr'.
magistro Hunifrido de Millers, Henrico & Hugone capellanis,
Roberto de Clinchamp, et Petro Rossinol clericis, et multis aliis.
Datum apud f Fines " per manum P. de cancellis. In die sanc-
torum martirum Fabiani et Sebastiani. Anno Domi millesimo
ducentesimo tricesimo tercio.

Seal, two saints and a bishop praying:
Lea-end: SVT. M. SITG. BONI. PGTR' PAVL' 6 PATRONI.

Probably Wolvesey-house near JFincheslcr.

424 A P P E N D I X.

NUMBER II.

(Ni 108.)

Carta pet ens licentiam eligendi prelatum a Domino Episcopo
Wintoniensi.

Defuncto prelato forma petendi licentiam eligendi.

Domino et patri in Christo reverendo domino & P. Dei gratia
Wintoniensi episcopo, devoti sui filii supprior monasterii de S.
M'^intoniensis dioceseos salutem cum subjectione humili, reveren-
tiam, et honorem. Monasterio nostro de S. in quo sub protec-
tione vestra vivimus, sub habitu regulari, Prioris solacio desti-
tuto per mortem bone memorie, &c. quondam Prioris nostri, qui
tali hora in aurora diem clausit extremum, vestre paternitati
reverende et dominationi precipue istum nostrum et nostri
monasterii casum flebileni cum merore nunciamus; ad vestre
paternitatis refugium fratres nostres A. et C. canonicos desti-
nantes, rogando et petendo devote quatenus nobis dignemini
licenciam tribuere, ut monasterio predicto, Prioris regimine des-
tituto, providere possimus, invocata Spiritus sancti gratia, per
electionem canonicam de Priore. Actum in monasterio predicto
5 kalend. &c. anno Domini, &c. Valeat reverenda paternitas
vestra semper in Domino.

APPENDIX. 425

Forma licencie concesse.

P. Dei gratia Wintoniensis episcopus dilectis in Christo filiis
suppriori et conventui talis loci salutem, gratiam, et benedictio-
nem. Viduitatem monasterii vestri vacantis per mortem quondam
R. Prioris vestri, cujus anime propicietur altissimus, paterno
compacientes afFectu, petitam a nobis eligendi licenciam vobis
concedimus, ut patronus. Datum apud, &c. 3 kalend. Jul. anno
consecrationis nostre tertio.

Forma decretipost elect ionem conficiendi.

In nomine Domini nostri Jhesu Christi, Amen. Monasterio
beate Marie talis loci Winton. dioc. solacio destituto per mortem
R. quondam Prioris ipsius; ac corpore ejus, prout moris est, ec-
clesiastice sepulture commendato; petita cum devocione licentia
per fratres K. et . canonicos a ven: in Christo patre et domino
domino P. Dei gratia Wintoniensi episcopo ejusdem monasterii
patrono, eligendi priorem, et optenta; die dato, a toto capitulo
ad eligendum vocati fuere evocandi, qui debuerunt, voluerunt,
et potuerunt comode electioni prioris in monasterio predicto in-
teresse: omnes canonici in capitulo ejusdem ecclesie convenc-
runt tali die, anno Dom. &c. ad tractandum de electione sui
prioris facienda; qui, invocata Spiritus Sancti gcatia, ad proce-
dendum per formam scrutinii concencientes.

I

426 APPENDIX.

(N. 108.)

Modus p7'ocedendi ad e!ectione7)t perfoi'mam scrutinii.

Omnibus in capitulo cougregatis qui debent volunt et possunt
comocie interesse electioni eligendi sunt tres de capitulo ^ non
nosiro obtdiencias ores,'' qui erunt scrutatores, et sedebunt in
angulo capituli; et primo requirent vota sua propria, videlicet,
duo requirent tertium et duo alterum, &c. dicendo sic, " Frater
" P. inquem concentis ad eligendum in prelatum nostrum?" qui-
bus examinatis, et dictis eorum per vicem ex ipsis in scriptura
redactis, vocabunt ad se omnes fratres singillatim, primo sup-
priorem, &c. Et unus de tribus examinatoribus scribet dictum
cujuslibet. Celebrato scrutinio, pubUcare db coram omnibus.
Facta ptmodu concensum collectione apparebit in quem pars major
capituli et sanior concentit; quo vise, major pars dicet niinori,
" Cum major pars et sanior capituli nostri concenciat in fratrem
" R. ipse est eligendus, unde, si placet, ipsum communiter eliga-
" mus;" si vero omnes acquieverint, tunc ille qui majorem vocem
habet in capitulo surgens dicet, " Ego frater R. pro toto capi-
*' tulo eligo fratrem R. nobis in pastorem;" et omnes dicent;
" Placet nobis." Et incipient, " Te Deum laudamus." Si
vero in unum concordare nequiverint, tunc hiis, qui majorem
vocem habet inter illos qui majorem et saniorem partem capituli
constituerint, dicet, " Ego pro me et illis qui mecum concen-
" ciunt in fratrem R. eligo ipsum in," &c. Et illi dicent,
" Placet nobis," &c.

* Fratres canonicos. See Forma decreti, l^c.

■^ Obedientiores sc. more regular. In virtute obedientiae occurs in Not Visit.

APPENDIX 427

Forma ricte presenfandl election,

Reverendo in Christo patii et domino domino P. Dei gratia
Winton. episcopo devoti sui filii frater R. Supprior conventualis
beate Marie de tali loco, et ejusdem loci Conventus, cum sub-
jectione humili, omnem obedienciam, revereuciam, et honorem.
Cum conventualis ecclesia beate Marie talis loci, in qua sub
protectione vestra vivimus sub habitu regulari, per mortem
felicis recordationis R. quondam prioris nostri destituta ecclesia
priore, qui 6'" kalend. Jul. in aurora anno Dom. &c. diem
clausitextremum; de corpore ejus, prout moris est, ecclesiastice
tradito sepulture; petita a vobis, tanquam a Domino, et vero
ejusdem ecclesie patrono et pastore, licencia eligendi priorem et
optenta; convenientibus omnibus canonicis predicte ecclesie in
capitulo nostro, qui voluerunt debuerunt et potuerunt comode
electioni nostre interesse, tali die anno Dom. supradicto, invo-
cata Spiritus Sancti gratia, fratrem R. de C. ejusdem ecclesie
canonicum unanimi assensu et voluntate in priorem nostrum, ex
puris votis singulorum, unanimiter eligimus. Quem reverende
paternitati vestre et dominacioni precipue Priorem vero patrono
nostro et pastore confirmandum, si placet, tenore presentium
presentamus; dignitatem vestram humiliter et devote rogantes,
quatenus, dicte electioni felicem prebere volentes assensum,
eidem R. electo nostro nutic confirmabitis, et quod vestrum est
pastorali soUcitudine impendere dignemini. In cujus rei testimo-
nium presentes litteras sigillo capituli nostri signatas paternitati
vestre trammittimus. Valeat reverenda paternitas vestra semper

428 APPENDIX

in Domino. Datum tali loco die et anno supiadictis. Oranes
et siuguli, per fratres A. B. et C. ejusdem ecclesie canonicos de
voluntate tocius conventus ad inquirenda vota singulorum con-
stitutos, secreto et singillatim requisiti; tandem publicato scru-
tinio et facta votorum colectione inventum est, niajorem et senio-
rem partem tocius capituli dicte ecclesie in fratrem S. de B. dicte
ecclesie canonicum unanimiter et concorditer concencisse; vel
sic, quando inventum omnes canonicos dicte ecclesie preter duos
in fratrem, A. D. quibus statim majori parti eligendum adquie-
scenter: frater k. supprior ecclesie memorate, juxta potestatem
sibi a toto conventu traditam, vice consociorum suorum et sua
ac tocius conventus, dictum fratrem S. de B. in priorem ejusdem
ecclesie elegit, sub hac forma; "Ego frater supprior conven-
" tualis ecclesie beate Marie talis loci, potestate et auctoritate
" mihi a toto conventu dicte ecclesie tradita et commissa,
" quando, puplicato scrutinio et omnibus circa hoc rite peractis,
" inveni majorem et partem seniorem tocius capituli nostri in
" fratrem S. de B. virum providum unanimiter concencisse, ip-
*' sum nobis et ecclesie nostre, vice tocius conventus, in priorem
" eligendum; et eidem electioni subscribe; cui electioni omnes
" canonici nostri concencerunt, et subscripserunt." — " Ego
" frater de C. present! electioni concencio, et subscribe." Et
sic de singulis electoribus; in cujus rei testimonium sigillum
capituli nostri apponi fecimus ad presentes.

APPENDIX 429

NUMBER III.

Visitatio Notabilis de Seleburne.
1387.

WiLLMUs peimissione divina Winton Episcopus dilectis filiis
Priori et Conventui Prioratus de Selborne Ordinis S". Augustini,
nostra dioceseos, Salutem, gratiam, et ben. Suscepti regiminis
cura pastoralls officii nos inducit invigilare solicite nostrorum
remediis subjectorum, et eorum obviare periculis ac scandala re-
movere; ut sic de vinea domini per cultoris providi sarculum
vicia extirpentur inferantur virtutes, excessus debite corrigantur,
et subditorum mores in nimium prolapsorum per apposicionem
moderaminis congrui reformentur: Hanc nempe solicitudinem
nostris humeris incumbentem assidua meditacione pensantes,
ne sanguis vester de manibus nostris requiratur, ad vos et ves-
trum Prioratum supradictum, prout nostro incumbebat officio
pastorali, nuper ex causa descendimus visitandi ; et dum inter
vos nostre visitacionis officium iteratis vicibus actualiter exer-
cuimus, nonnulla reperimus que non solum obviant regularibus
institiitis, verum eciam que religioni vestre non congruunt, nee
conveniunt honestati; ad que per nostrum antidotum debite

430 APPENDIX

reformanda opem et operam proutexpedit etoportet apponimusr
quas credimus efficaces, infra scripta siquidem precepta nostra
pariter et decreta, sanctorum patrum constitucionibus editis et
debite promulgatis canonicisque ac regularibus institutis fiilcita,
vobis nostri sigilli roborata munimine transmittimus, inter vos
futuris temporibus efificaciter observanda, quatinus ad Dei lau-
dem, divini cultus ac vestrse religionis augmentum, ipsis medi-
antibus, per viam salutis feliciter incedatis; mores et actus
vestri abstrabantur a noxiis, et ad salutaria dirigantur.

No. I. In primis ut Domino Deo nostro, a quo cuncta bona
procedunt, et omnis religio immaculata sumpsit exordium, in
Prioratu vestro predicto serviatur laudabiliter in divinis; Vobis,
in virtute sancte obediencie ac sub majoris excommunicationis
sententie pena, firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatinus hore
■ canonice, tam de nocte quam de die, in choro a conventu can-
tentur; misse quoque de beata Maria et de die, necnon misse
alie consuete horis et devocione debitis et cum moderatis pausa-
cionibus celebrentur: nee liceat alicui de conventu ab horis et
missis hujusmodi se absentare, aut, postquam incepte fuerint,
ante complecionem earum ab ipsis recedere quovismodoj nisi
ex causa necessaria vel legitima per priorem vel suppriorem aut
alium presidentem loci, ut convenit, approbanda; in quo casu
ipsorum omnium consciencias apud altissimum arctius oneramus;
contrarium vero facientes in proximo tunc capitulo celebrando
absq accepcione qualibet personarum regularem subeant discipli-
nam; acrius insuper puniendi si contumacia vel pertinacia delin-
quencium hoc exposcat; si quis vero post trinam correpcionem
debite se non correxerit in premissis, pro singulis vicibus quibus
contrarium fecerit ipsum singulis sextis feriis in pane et aqua
dumtaxat precipimus jejunare,

APPENDIX. 431

No. II. Item quia in visitacione nostra predicta comperimus
evidenter quod silencium, quasi in exilio positum, ad quod juxta
vegulam S" Augustini efficaciter estis astiicti, locis et tempori-
bus debitis inter vos minime observatur contra observancias
regulares; Vobis omnibus et singulis firmiter injungendo man-
damus, quatinus silencium, prout vos decet, regula supradicta,
de cetero locis et temporibus hiijusmodi observetis; a vanis et
frivolis colloquiis, sicut decet, vos penitus abstinendo: illos vero,
qui silencium hujusmodi in locis predictis non observaverint,
animadversione condigna precipimus castigarij et, si quis tercio
super hoc legitime convictus fuerit, preter regularem discipli-
nam, die, quo debite silencium nou tenuerit, pane et servicia
dumtaxat et legumine sit contentus.

No. III. Item quia nonnuUi concanonici et confratres prior-
atus vestri predicti validi atq; sani et in sacerdocio constituti
celebracionem missarum absq; causa legitima indebite ac minus
voluntaiie multociens, ut dicitur, negligunt et omittunt ; fun-
datorum aliorumq; benefactorum suorum animas, pro quibus
sacrificia ofFerre tenentur, sufFragiis nequiter defraudando; Vobis,
ut supra, firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatinus vos omnes et
singuli Prioratus predicti concanonici et confratres in sacerdocio
constituti frequenter confiteamini confessoribus per Priorem
deputandis ; quos quidem confessores discretos et idoneos, prout
Humerus persnnarum dicti conventus exigit, per vos dominum
Priorem predictum precipimus deputari; missasque, impedi-
mento cessante legitimo, tam pro vivis quam pro defunctis,
pro quibus orare tenemini, de cetero, quanto frequencius
poteritis, celebretis devocius, sicut decet; impedimentum vero
predictum cum contigerit Priori vel Suppriori Prioratus predicti
per illud pacientes infra triduum deciarari volumus et exponi.

432 APPENDIX.

ac per eorum alterum prout justum fuerit approbari, vel eciam
reprobari; in quo casu ipsorum omnium tam exponencium quam
approbancium apud altissimum consciencias districtius onera-
mus; conlraiium vero facientes, primo super hoc convicti, proxi-
ma quarta feria secjuenti in pane, servisia, et legumine; secundo
vero convicti feria quarta et sexta sequentibus modo consimili;
tercio vero convicti dictis feriis extunc sequentibus in pane et
aqua jejunent, quousque judicio prioris se correxerint in pre-
missis; statuentes preterea quod Prior et Supprior Prioratus
predicti contra hujusmodi delinquentes seme) singulis mensibus
diligenter inquirant, et quos culpabiles invenerint in premissis
modo predicto studeant castigare.

No. IV. Item quia transitus communis secularium persona-
rum utriusque sexus per claustrum Prioratus vestri in congruis
temporibus minime exercetur, et potissime horis illis quibus
fratres de conventu in contemplacione sancta studiis quoque ac
lectionibus variis inibi occupantur; unde dissoluciones plurime
provenerunt, et poterunt in futuro verisimiliter provenire, ac
ipsorum fratrem quieti et religionis honestati plurimum dero-
gatur: Vobis ut supra arcius injungendo mandamus, quatinus,
cum secundum regulam sancti Augustini convercacio vestra
debeat esse a secularibus /lujusmodi separata, ad animarum ac'
eciam rerum pericula, que possent et solent ex concursu hujus-
modi provenire, caucius evitanda; transitum communem pre-
dictum per pref'atum claustrum de cetero fieri nullatenus per-
mittatis, per quem vestra devocio et religionis honestas vulneram
vel eciam impediri valeant quovismodo, sub pena excommuni-
cacionis niajoris quam in contravenientes intendimus canonice
fulminare: ilium vero, ad quem ostiorum claustri custodia per-
tinet, si propter illius negligenciam sive culpam transitus hujus-

Appendix.

433

modi sustineatur indebite, ut prefertur; pro singulis vicibus,
quibus hoc factum fuerit, singulis quaitis feiiis in pane, servisia,
et legumine dumtaxat jejunet ; et, si nee sic se correxerit debite
in hac parte, ab officio deponatur, ac alius, magis providus, loco
siio celeriter subrogetur.

No V. Item quia ostia ecclesie atq; claustri prioratus vestii
predict! non servautur nee serautur temporibus debitis, nee
modo debito, ut deccret; sed custodia eorundem agitur et omit-
titur multociens necgligenter; adeo quod suspecte perxone et alie
inhoneste per ecclesiam et claustrum hujusmodi incedunt fre-
quenter in tenebris atq; umbris, temporibus eciam suspectis et
illicitis, indecenter; unde dampna et scandala varia pluries pro-
venerunt, et im posteruni verisimiliter poterunt provenire;
Vobis, ut supra, mandamus, firmiter injungentes, quatinus dicta
ostia de cetero claudi facialis, et clausa per m'inistros idoneos
custodiri temporibus debitis, prout decet; vobis inhibentes ex-
presse, ne ostia ecclesie vestre predicte, (ilia videlicet que inter
navem ipsius ecclesie et chorum ejusdem existunt) nee ostia
claustri que ducunt ad extra, et per que introitus secularium in
ipsum claustrum patere poterit, de mane, antcquam prima inci-
piatur in cboro; aut commestionis tempore; nee eciam de sero,
postquam conventus collationem inccperit; nisi in causa utili
vel necessaria per priorem vel suppriorem, ut convenit, appro-
banda, aperiantur de cetero quovis modo : ad que fidcliter
exequenda sacristam, qui pro tempore fuerit, ad cujus oflicium
premissa pertinent sub pena amocionis ab officio suo arcius
oneramus, acrius per nos puniendum prout nobis videbitur
expedire.

No. VI. Item quia nonnulli concanonici et confratres prio-
ratus vestri minus sapiunt in lectura, non intelligentes quid

3 K

434 APPENDIX.

legant, sed literas quasi prorsus ignorantes, dum psallunt vel
legunt, accentum brevem pro longo ponunt pluries, et e contra;
et per invia gradientes sanuin scripturarum intellectum adiil-
terantur multociens, et pervertunt; fitque, ut dum scriptura*
sacras non sapiant, ad perpetrandum illicita proniores reddantur;
Vobis Domino Priori in virtute obedientie, fiimiter injungendo
mandamus, quatinus, cum legere et non intelligere sit necgli-
gere, noviciis et aliis minus sufficienter lileratis idoneus de
cetero deputetur magisler, qui ipsos in cantu et aliis primittivis
scienciis instruat diligenter juxta regularia instituta; quatinus,
in eisdem perfectius eruditi, cecitatis squaniis et ignorancie
nebulis depositis, que legant Intelligant et agnoscant, et contein-
planduni chuius misteria Scripturarum efficiantur, ut convenit,
promciores.

No. VII. Item quia constituciones sive decretales Roma-
norum Pontificum vestrum ordinem concernentes, (ille videlicet
de quibus in constitucionibus recolende memorie Domini Otto-
boni, quondam sedis Apostolice in Anglia legate, fit mensio
specialis) inter vos nullatenus recitantur, prout per constitu-
ciones ejusdem legati recitari mandantur; unde, dum decretales
ipsas et contenta in eis penitus ignoratis, committitis multociens
que prohibentur expressius per easdem in vestrarura periculum
animarum: Vobis firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatinus, ne
ignoranciam aliquam pretendere poteritis in hac parte, decretales
predictas, prout in prefatis domini constitucionibus Ottoboni
plenius recitantur, in quodam quaterno sen volumine absque
more dispendio faciatis conscribi; ipsas bis singulis annis in
vestro capitulo, juxta formam constitutionum dictarum, recitari
clarius facientes, ad informacioncm rudium et perfectionem
eciam provectorum; adjicientes preterea, ut magistri noviciorum

APPENDIX. 435

presencium et eciani futuroriim ipsos in regula S". Augustini
diligentur instruant et informant, ipsani regulani eis vulgaiiter
exponendo; quodque iidem novicii per frequentem recitacioiieni
ejusdem illam sciant quasi cordctenus, sicut in dictis constitiici-
onibus plenius continetur, per quam incedere poterint via recta
et errorum tenebras caucius evitare: super execucione vero pre-
niissorum debite facienda dominiim priorem prioratus vestri pre-
dicti arcius oneramus qiiatinus ea que preniisimus in hoc casu
sub pena suspensionis ab ipsius officio per mensem diligencius
exequatur.

No. VIII. Item quia canonici ct confratres prioratus vestri
predicti, ipsorum propriam voluntatem pocius quam utilitatem
communem sectantes, non vestes necessarias, cum opus fuerit,
sed certam et limitatam ac determinatam quantitatem peccunie,
velut annuum redditum, pro vestibus hujusmodi percipiunt an-
nuatim, contra regulam S". Augustini ac domini Ottoboni et
aliorum sanctorum patrum canonica instituta; fitque, ut, dum
effrenis ilia religiosorum cupiditas, aliena specie colorata, vetita
concupiscat, sancta religio, solutis constantie frcnis, in luxum
labentem ad latitudinis tramites que ducunt ad mortem, misera-
biliter noscitur declinare: cui quidem morbo pestifero, ne pu-
trescat et vermes generet corruptivos, mederi cicius cupientes
nichil novi statuendo sed sanctorum patrum vestigiis inherendo,
volumus ac eciam ordinamus, quod canonicis et confratribus
memoratis presentibus et futuris de bonis et facultatibus com-
munibus prioratus vestri predicti vestris usibus deputatis vestes
et calciamenta, cum indiguerint, necessaria, juxta facultates
predictas, et nullo modo peccuniam, pro eisdem, per eos qui
super hiis ministrandi gerent officium de cetero ministrentur;
vestes vero inveleratas et ineptas hujusmodi canonicorum ca-

3 K 2

436 APPENDIX.

ineraiio communi tradi volunius pauperibus eroganilas juxta
regulam S". Augustini, et alias canonicas sanctiones contrariuni
vero facientes, si camerarius fuerit, peiiam suspeiisionis ab officio
ipsum incunere volumus ipso facto; si vero alius canonicus de
conveiitu existat, preter alias pnias regulares tam peccunia quam
eciam indumentis novis careat illo anno.

No. IX. Item quia nonnuUi canonici et confVatres Prioratus
vesti predicti opportuuitate captata, extra septa Prioratus absque
societate honesta, evagandi causa, nulla super hoc opteiita
iicencia, se transferunt pluries indecenter; alii preterea provec-
tiores certis oflicils deputati ad nianeria et loca a.\\a, officus hujus-
modi assignata equitant, quando placet, ibidem manentes pro
eorum libito volantatis, nuUo canouico ipsis in socium assignato,
contra ordinis decenciam et leligionis eciam honestatem, consti-
tucionesque Sanctorum Patrum editas in hac parte: Cum igitur
religiosos extra eorum Prioratum sic vagari aut in eorum ma-
neriis vel ecclesiis eis appropriatis soli manere expresse prohi-
beant canonica instituta; nos, premissa fieri de cetero prolii-
bentes. Vobis firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatinus, cum
aliquis Prioratus vestri canonicus vel confrater super vel pro
negociis propriis vel eciam communibus exire contigerit, prius
ad hoc a Priore vel Suppriore, si presentes in Prioratu fuerint,
alioquin, ipsis absentibus, ab ipso qui protunc conventui preesse
contigerit, licenciam habeat specialem; cui assignari volumus
unum canonicum in socium, ne suspicio sinistra vel scandalum
oriatur; qui, associata eisdem juxta qualitatem negocii cometiva
honesta, in euudo et eciam redcundo gravitate servata modestius
semper incedant, et expletis negociis ad Prioratum cicius rever-
tantur, que regularibus conveniunt institutis devocius impleturi :
contrarium vero facientes, absque remissione seu accepcione

APPENDIX. 437

qualibet personaium, regularem subeant disclplinam ; super quo
presidencium conventus conscieiicias arcius oneramus, ipsosque
iiichilominus pro singulis vicibus, quibus excesserint in premissis,
singulis sextis feriis in pane et aqua jejunent; et si officiarius
fuerit, ipso facto, si aliquod canonicum non obsistat, ab ipsius
officio sit suspensus.

No. X. Item quia comperimus evidenter, quod iionnulii
canonici domus vcstre, secundum carnem pocius quam secun-
dum spiritual dissolute viveutes, nulla causa racionabili sub-
sistente, nudi jacent in lectis absque femoralibus et camisiis
contra eorum observancias regulares; Vobis igitur fermiter in-
jungendo mandamus, quatinus vos onines et singuli canonici S".
Augustini regulam et in ea parte ordiuis vestri canouica instituta
<le cetero efficaciter observetis: contrarium vero facientes sin-
gulis quartis feriis in pane, servisia, et legumine tantummodo
sint contenti; si quis vero post trinam correptionem reus in-
ventus fuerit in hac parte pro singulis vicibus singulis extunc
feriis sextis in pane et aqua hunc precipimus jejunare; Priorem
vero ac Suppriorem domus predicte sub pena suspensioois ab
officiis eorundem arcius onerantes, quatinus super premissis
sepius et diligenter inquirant, et quos culpabiles invenerint eos
penis predictis percellere non postponant.

No. XI. Item quia uonnuUos cauonicos et confratres Prio-
ratus vestri predicti publicos reperimus venatores ac venacioni-
bus liiijusmodi spreto jugo regularis observancie, publice in-
tendentes, ac canes tenentes venaticos, contra regularia insti-
tuta; unde dissolutiones quamplures, animarum pericula corpo-
rumque, ac rerum dispendia multociens oriuntur; nos volentes
hoc frequens viciuni a Prioratu predicto radicitus extirpare;
Vobis omnibus et singulis tenore presencium inhibemus, vobis

438 A P P E N D I X.

nichilominus firmiter injungentes, ne qiiisquam canonicorum
Prioratus vestii predicti publicis venacionibus vel clauiosis ex
pioposito intendere de cetero, vel eciain interesse; canesve
venaticos per se vel alios tenere presumat, publice vel occulte,
infra Prioratum vel extra, contra formam capituli, " Ne in
" AGRo DOMiNico," et allas canonicas sanctiones; per hoc autem
Prioratus vestri predicti nee juri vel consuetudini, quod vel
quam habere dinoscitur, in ea parte non intendimus in aliquo
derogare: contrarium vero facientes preter discipliuas et penas
alias canonicas pro singulis vicibus singulis quartis et sextis
feriis in pane et servisia jejunando precipimus castigari.

No. XII. Item quia canonici Prioratus vestri predicti qui-
bus officia forinseca et intrinseca comniittuntur, fingunt se, cum
possent et deberent in choro divinis ofticiis interesse, in officiis
hujusmodi sibi commissis multociens occupari, que possent ante
vel post horas hujusmodi commode fieri, et eciam exerceri; prop-
ter quod cultus divinus minuitur, et alii claustrales nimium one-
rantur; Vobis in virtute sancte obedientie et sub pena excom-
municacionis majoris firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatinus
officiarii quicunque ecclesie vestre piedicte in choro ejusdem
divinis officiis a modo personaliter intersint, nisi ex causa legi-
tima officiorum suorum et per presidentem conventus, qui pro
tempore fuerit, approbanda, eos contigerit absentare; in quo
casu de et super absencia sua legalitateque causarum pretensarum
in hac parte ipsorum presidencium et officiariorurn consciencias
apud altissimum districtius oneramus.

No. XIII. Item, quia juxta sapientis doctrinam ubi majus
iminet periculum, ibi cuucius est agendum, volumus et eciam
ordinamus, quod duo canonici discreti et idonei de conventu
Prioratus vestri predicti per ipsum conventum vel majorem par-

APPENDIX. 439

tem ejusdem annis singulis de cetero eligantur, qui bis in anno
ad mancria, tarn Priori quani eciam pro restentacione conventus
huju modi ceteris que officiariis assignata, personaliter se trans-
ferant et accedant, statum maneriorum ipsorum tarn in edificiis
quam eciam in stauro vivo vel mortuo plenarie supervisuri;
quique super hiis que invenerunt in eisdem conventui supradicto
relacioneni fidelein in scriptis, ut convenit, facere teneantur;
ut, si mors alicujus officiarii vel casus ilius fortuitus evenerit, de
statu officii hujufsmodi cujuscumque conventum non lateat me-
moratum; premissa vero vobis precipimus efficacittr observanda
sub pena nostro arbitrio limitanda, vobis, si in hiis necgligentes
fueritis vel remissi, acrius infligenda.

No. XIV. Item quia solitus et antiquus numerus canonico-
runi in Prioratu vestis predicto, quod dolenter referimus, adeo
jam decrevit, ac eciam minuitur ui presenti, quod ubi xiiii.
canonici vel circiter in habitu et observances regularibus in
dicto Prioratu solebant Altissimo devocius famulari, (quibus de
bonis et possessionibus ipsius Prioratus vestri communibus que
possidetis in victu et vestitu juxta decenciam ordinis regularis
honorifice ac debite fuerat ministratum) modo vero undecim
canonici dumtaxat existunt et serviunt in eodem; quo fit, ut
dum regis regum cultum attenuet cohabitancium paucitas, con-
tra multiformis nequitie hostem minuatur exercitus bellatorum:
Cum igitur juxta prefati doniini Ottoboni constitutiones alio-
rumque sanctorum patrum canonica instituta, canonicorum anti-
quus numerus sit servandus, ac juxta sapientis doctrinam "In
" multitudine populi sit dignitas regis, et in paucitate plebis
" ignominia principis accendatur ;" Vobis in virtute sancte
obedientie ac sub pena majoris excomm firmiter injungendo
mandamus, quatinus, cum omai diligentia et celentate debitis,

440 APPENDIX.

de viris idoneis religioni dispositis, et honestis vobis absque
more dispendio providcre curetis; ipsos in ordinem vestrum
regularem in supplecionem niajoris numeri requisiti, seu saltern
illius numeri canonicorum ad quorum sustentacionem congruam,
aliis oneribus vobis incumbentibus debite supportatis, vcstre jam
habite suppetunt facultates; super quibus vestram et cujuslibet
vestrum conscienciam arcius oneramus; celerius adniittentes, ad
augmentum cultus divini et perfectionem majorem ordinis regu-
laris, pro fundatoribus et beuefuctoribus vestris devocius, ut
convenit, intercessuros.

No. XV. Item quia comperimus evidenter quod vos, domine
Prior, cui ex debito vestri officii hoc incunibit, de proprietariis
.canonicis Prioratus vestri j)redicti, juxta constitutiones domini
legati editas in bac parte, inquisiciouem debitam hactenus non
fecistis, ministerium vobis creditum in ea parte necgligentius
omittendo; quo fit, ut ille pestifer bostis antiquus pastoris con-
sideraus continuatam desideam oves miseras et errantes, ipsilis
bostis nequissimi fraude deceptas in sitim avaricie prolabentes
laqueo proprietatis seduxit, contra sanctorum patrum canonica
instituta, in suarum grave pericuUim animarum; Vos igitur re-
quirimus et monemus, vobisque in virtute obecHencie firmiter
injungendo mandamus, qnatinus dicti legati constitutiones, ut
convenit, imitantes super proprietariis hujusDwdi saltim bis in
anno inquisiciouem faciatis de cetero diligentem; ipsos, si quos
inveneritis, animadveisione condigna juxta regularia instituta
canonice punientes; si vero id adimplere necglexentis, admi-
nistracione vestra, ipso facto noveritis vos privatum, donee pre-
niissa fueritis diligenter executi, prout in constit. bomini otto-
boni legati predict! plenius continetur.

No. XVI. Item, cum secundum constit. dicti legati et alio-

APPENDIX. 441

i-um sanctorum patrum canonica instituta, abbatcs et priores,
proprios abbates iion habentes, nee non officiarii quicunque
teneantur bis saltim singulis annis presente toto conventu vel
aliquibus ex senioribus ad lioc a capitulo deputatis de statu
Prioiatus et de administracione sua plenariam reddere rationem,
quod turn in Prioratu vestro predicto invenimus hactenus non
servatum, unde plura secuntur incommoda, et vestre utilitati
communi pluiimum derogatur; Vobis in viitute obediencie fir-
miter injungendo mandamus, quatinus prefati domini legati,
domini videlicet Ottoboni, necnon bone menioric domini Ste-
pbani quondam Arcbiepiscopi Cant, constit. editas in hac parte,
faciatis inter vos de cetero firmiter observari, sub pena suspensi-
onis officiariorum ipsorum ab eorum hujiwnodi officiis, dictique
Prioris ab administracione sua, quam, si premissa necglexerint
observare, ipso facto, donee id perfecerint, se noverint incur-
risse, prout in dictis constit. dicti Ottoboni plenius continetur.

No. XVII. Item quia in Prioratu vestro predicto et ccclesia
ejusdem ac in nonnullis domibus, edificiis, muris et clausuris
ecclesie vestre prelibate, necnon maneriorum ipsius Prioratus
certis diversis officiis deputatorum, quas et quse precessorum et
predecessorum vestrorum industria sumptuose coustruxerat,
qnamplures enormes et notabiles sunt defectus, reparatione ne-
cessaria indigentes; unde statum ipsius Prioratus ac maneriorum
predietorum deformitas occupat, et multa incommoda iusecun-
tur; Vobis igitur in virtute obedientie firmiter injungendo man-
damus, quatinus defectus hujusmodi, pro vestra utilitate com-
muni absque dilacionis incommodo, quamcicius poteritis, juxta
vires reparari debite faciatis; alioquin Priorem ceterosque offici-
arios quoscumque, qui in premissis necgligentes fuerint vel re-
missi, nisi infra sex menses post notificacionem presencium sibi

3 L '

442 APPENDIX.

factam ad debitam rcparationem defectuum hi/jiwnodi se prepa-
luverint, cum effectu, ipso facto ab officiis suis Inijusmodi sint
Suspensi.

No. XVIII. Item, quia per vendiciones et concessiones
liberacionum et corrodiorum hactenus per vos factas, reperimus
dictum Frioratum multipliciter fore gravatum, adeo quod ea,
que ad divini cultus augmentum, sustentacionem pauperum, et
infirmorum, pia devocio fidelium erogavit, mercenariorum ceca
cupiditas jam absorbet; fitque, ut dum bona ejusdem Prioratus
in alios usus quam debitos, ne di.xerimus in prophanos, nepbarie
convertautur, altissimo famulancium in eadem numerus minuitur,
pauperes et infirmi suis porcionibus, ac ijjsa ecclesia divinis ob-
sequiis nequiter defraudantur, contra intencionem piissimam
fundatorum, in vestrarum periculum animarum; Indempnitati
igitur ipsius ecclesie vestre in hac ])arte debite providere, dictum
quoque tarn frequens incommodum ab eadem radicitus extirpare
volentes, bone memorie domini Ottoboni legati predicti alio-
rumque sanctorum patrum vestigiis inherentes; Vobis tenore
presencium districtius inhibemus, cciam sub pena e.xcomm.
niajoris, ne corrodia, liberaciones, aut pensiones personis aHqui-
bus imperpetuum vel ad tempus vendatis de cetero, vel aliquali-
ter concedatis, absque nostro consensu et licencia speciali; pre-
sertim cum vendiciones hujusviodi, que species alienacionis ex-
istunt, Prioratus vestri predicti detrimentum procurent et enor-
mem eciam generat lesionem; si quis vero contra lianc nostram
inhibicionem aliquid attcmptare presumpserit, nisi id quod sic
presumpserit revocaverit, ab officio sit suspensus prout in con-
stit. domini Ottoboni clarius continetur.

No. XIX. Item quia quedani certe perpetue cantarie pro
fiindatoribus ct aliis benefactoribus vestris tarn in gencre quam

APPENDIX. 443

in specie antiquitus constitute per diversos presbyteros in Prio-
ratu vestro predicto debite celebrande, pro quibus pluia donaria
recipistis a multis retro actis temporibus, ac eciam de present i,
ut asseritur, sunt substracte, contra piam intencionem ac ordina-
cionem eciam f'undatorum, in vestrarum grave periculum ani-
marum; Vohis igitur, in virtute sancte obedientie ac sub majoris
excom. sentencie pena, firmiter injungendo mandamus, qiuitinus
cantarias predictas juxta formam institucionum et ordinacionum
eurum facialis de cetero debite celebrari, ac eisdem congrue
deserviri, si redditus et proventus ad hiijusmodi cantarias anti-
quitus assignati ad hoc sufficiant hiis diebus, alioqnin prout reddi-
tus et proventus earuni, aliis omnibus eisde imncumbentibus de-
bite supportatis, sufficiunt de presenti, dolo et fraude cessantibus
quibuscuuque; super quo vestram conscienciam arcius or.eramus,
a modo deserviri debite faciatis.

No. XX. Item vobis et omnibus et singulis in virtute sancte
obediencie ac sub majoris excom. sentencie pena firmiter injun-
gendo mandamus, quatinus elemosinas in Prioratu vestro pre-
dicto antiquitus fieri consuetas, et eas ad quas tenemini ex ordi-
nacione antiqua pro animabus fundatorum et aliorum benefacto-
rum vestrorum juxta facultates vestras super quibus vestras
consciencias arctius oneramus, prout divinam effugere volueritis
ulcionem distribui de cetero faciatis; precipientes preterea quod
fragmenta seu reliquiae tarn de aula Prioris quam eciam de refec-
torio proveniencia, absque diminucione qualibet, per elimosina-
rium vel ipsius locum tenentem integre coUigantur, pauperibus
fideliter eroganda; alioquin, si elimosinarius hujusmodi remissus
vel negligens fuerit in premissis, penam suspensionis ab officio
se noverit incursurum.

No. XXI. Item quia debilibus et infirmis humanitatis pre-

444 APPENDIX.

beri subsidium jubet caritas, et pietas intelpellat; Vobis domino
Priori ceteris obedienciariis Prioratus vestri predict!, quorum
interest in hac parte in virtute sancte obediencie firmiter injun-
gendo mandamus, quatinus confratribus vestris debilibus et in-
firmis, ipsorum infirmitate durante, in esculentes et poculentes
eorum infirmitatibus congruentibus, necnon in medicinis et aliis
juxta infirmitatis htijusmodi qualitatem et Prioratus facultates,
de bonis vestris communibus et sicut antiquitus fieri consueverat
de cetero facialis debite procurari, sub pena suspensionis ab
officiis vestris si circa premissa necgligentes fueritis vel remissi,
ipso facto, quousq; id quod necgligenter omissum fuerit perfe-
ceritis, incurrenda; prout in constit. domini Ottoboni plenius
continetur; statuentes preterea quod camere infirmaria vestra,
cum opus fuerit, infirmis canonicis sint communes, ne, quod
absit, aliquis sibi retineat in eisdem vel vendicet proprietatem,
contra sancti Augustini regulam et constit. sanctorum patrum
editas in hac parte.

No. XXII. Item cum necgligencia sive remissio in personis
precidencium sit plurimum detestanda, facilitas quoq; venie
incentivum prebeat delinquendi; Vobis domino Priori, Suppriori,
aliisq; conventus predicti presidentibus quibuscumq; presenti-
bus et futuris, in virtute 'sancte obediencie firmiter injungendo
mandamus, Quatinus, cum correctiones in personis ipsius con-
ventus imineant faciende, ipsas, prout ad vos pertinet, absq;
acceptione qualibet personarum juxta quantitatem delictorum
et personarum qualitatem vestrasq; observancias regulares cum
maturitate debita, et discretione previa, facere studeatis; alioquin
vos suppriorem ceterosq; presidentes predictos, si necgligentes
vel remissi aut culpabiles fueritis in premissis, canonica nostra
monicione premissa penam suspencionis ab officiis vestris extunc

APPENDIX. , 4i5

incurrere volumus ipso facto, donee laijusmodi negligenciani, re-
missionem, culpam, vel desidiam a vobis excusseritis in hac
parte; pena prefacto domino Priori in hoc casu, ut convenit, in-
fligenda nobis special! ter reservata.

No. XXIII. Item cum consuetudines laudabiles Prioratus
cujuscumq; ordinacionesque ac statuta que usus longevi tem-
poris approbavit merito sint servanda;; Vobis domino Priori ac
singulis officiariis Prioratus vestri predicti presentibus et futuris
in virtute sancte obediencie, et sub penis infra scriptis, firmiter
injungendo mandamus; Quatinus pitancias et alias distribu-
ciones quascunque, in quibuscunque rebus consistant et quo-
cunque nomine censeantur, in obitibus, anniversarius festivitati-
bus, aut aliis diebus, conventui, aut ab uno officio alii officio ex
ordinacione antiqua debitas et consuetas, in canonicum aliquod
non obsistat a modo facialis persolvi, sub pena porcionis duple,
cujus partem unam conventui predicto, alteram vero partem
certis piis nsibus nostro arbitrio limitandis debite persolvendam
specialiter reservamus.

No. XXIV. Item cum vendiciones boscorum, firme maneri-
orum vel eciam ecclesiarum, aut alia domus vestre ardua negocia
imineant facienda, ilia, sine tractatu ac deliberacione provida
cum conventu predicto ac eorum consensu expresso vel majoris
et sanioris partis ejusdem, de cetero fieri prohibemus; aliter
autem hujusmodi negocia ardua facta nullius existunt firmitatis;
et nichilominus Priorem aliosque officiarios quoscumq; qui con-
tra presentem prohibitionem nostram quicquam attemptaverint
in premissis, penam suspensionis ab officiis eorundem ipso facto
se noverint incursuros, cum ex hujusmodi factis privatis ecclesiis
dispendia multociens provenerunt; ilia quoque que omnes tan-
gunt ab omnibus merito debeant approbari.

446 APPENDIX.

No. XXV. Item voUimus ac eciam ordinamus, quod sigilluin
vestriim commune sub quinque clavibus ad minus de cetero cus-
todiatur; quaium unam penes Priorem, secundam penes suppri-
orem, terciam penes precentorem, et reliqiias diias claves penes
confratres alios per conventum ad hoc noniinandos decrevimus
remanere, per ipsos fideliter custodiendas; inhibentes preterea
sub pena excom. majoris ne quicquani cum dicto sigillo com-
muni a modo sigelletur, nisi litera hujusmodi sigellanda primitus
legatLir, inspiciatur, et eciam intelligatur a niajore et saniore
parte tocius conventus, et ad ipsam sigillandam communis
vester prebeatiir consensus, cum ex facto hujusmodi plura pos-
sunt dispendia verisimiliter provenire; ad hac vobis omnibus et
singulis tenore presencium inhibemus, ne compalres alktijus piieri
de cetero fieri presumatis, nostra super hoc Ucencia non obtenta,
cum ex hiijusmo'Ji cognacionibus rehgiosis domibus dispendia
sepius invenire noscuntur; contrarium vero facientes, preter
discipHnas abas regulares, singulis sextis feriis per mensem
proxime tunc sequentem in pane et aqua jejunando precipimus
castigari.

No. XXVI. Item quia nonnulli canonici doi\ius vestre pre-
dicte, freno abjecto observancie regularis, caligis de Burneto et
sotula»7M»2 hasp, in ocrearum loco ad modum sotularium uti pub-
lice non verentur, contra consuetudinem antiquam laudabilem
ordinis supradicti, in perniciosum exemplum et scandalum plu-
rimorum ; nos igitur honestatem dicti ordinis observare volentes,
Vobis domino Priori in virtute sancte obediencie firmiter inju-
gendo mandamus, Quatinus quoscumq; vestros canonicos et
confratres ad utendun <le cetero ocreis sen botis secundum anti-
quas vestri ordinis observancias regulares per quascumq; cen-
suras ecclesiasticas, et, si opus fuerit, par incarceracionis penam

APPENDIX. 447

canonice compellatis, sub pena suspensionis ab officio vestro
predicto.

No. XXVII. Item quia ties vel due partes couventus domus
vestre non comedunt cotidie in refectorio, prout constitutiones
sanctorum patrum sanxerunt provide in hac parte; Vobis dicti
Prioratus conv^entui firniiter iiijungendo mandamus, Quatinus
tres vel saltern due partes vestrum cotidie in refectorio hora
prandii de cetero comedant et remaneant debite, sicut decet;
vobis arcius injungentes, quod nullus vestrum in mansiunculis
aut locis aliis privatii eciam cum hospitibus suis regularibus vel
secularibus vel confratibus suis comedat; hostilaria cum hospi-
tibus, refectorio in commuui misericordia, causa recreacionis, et
aula Prions dumtaxat exceptis; banc tamen Prior apponat pro-
videnciam diligentem, ut, sine personarum accepcione, nunc
lios nunc illos ad refectionem convocet, quos magis noverit in-
digere; super execucione vero debita premissorum Prioreni ac
alios conve4itui presidentes sub pena suspensionis ab eorum
officiis arctius oneramus.

No. XXVIII. Item, cum secundum sanctorum patrum con-
stituciones, juniores canonici a suis prelatis vivendi normani
habeant assumere, ac iidem prelati super sua conversacione
testium copiam debeant obtinere ; Vobis domino Priori in vir-
tute obedientie districte precijjiendo mandamus, Quatinus capel-
lanum vestrum canonicum singulis de cetero mutetis annis, juxta
constitutiones sanctorum patrum eclitas in hac parte; ut sic,
qui vobiscum fuerint in officio predicto, per doctrine laudabilis
exercicium plus valeant in religioue proficere, ac eos innocencie
testes, si vobis, quod absit, crimen aliquod sen scandalum per
aliquorum invidiam imponatur, prompte poteiitis invocare.

No. XXIX. Item, cum communis exquisitus ornatus pre-

448 APPENDIX.

sertim in religiosis personis a jure sit penitus interdictus ; Vobis
tenore presenciuni inhibemus, ne quivis vestram de cetero in
suis vestibus jurruris preciosis aut manicis nodulatis zonisix
sericis ami vel argenti ornatum habentibus utatur de cetero
quovis modo, cum abusus hnjusmodi ad pompam et ostentacionem
ac scandalum ordinis manifeste tendere dinoscatur.

No. XXX. Item, quia singula officia sunt singulis commit-
tcnda personis ; Vobis in virtute obediencie et sub excom. sen-
tentie pena firmiter injungendo mandamus, ut officia singula
vestri Prioratus, que per canonicos officiarios gubernari solebant,
per officiarios hitjusmodi, per vos communiter vel divisim juxta
Prioratus predicti morem solitum eligendos, quibus ipsa officia,
ut olim, committi volunius exercenda, singulariter de cetero
gubernentur.

XXXI. Item, cum plus timeri soleat id quod specialiter in-
jungitur quam quod generaliter imperatur; Vobis omnibus et
singulis inhibemus, ne aliquis vestrum, ad curam animarum non
admissus, clericis aut laicis sacramentum unctionis extreme vel
euchauristia ministrare, matrinionia ve solempnizare, non habita
super hiis parochialis^ presbyteri licencia, quomodolibet pre-
sumatis, sub pena excom. majoris sententie in hac parte a canone
fulminate.

XXXII. Item quia comperimus in nostris visitacionibus
supradictis vasa et pallas altaris, necnon et vestimenta sacra
ecclesie vestre, atque corporalia, tam immunda relinqui, quod
interdum aliquibus sunt horrori; ut igitur honor debitus divinis
impendatur; Vobis firmiter injungendo mandamus, Quatinus
vasa, corporalia, pallas, et vestimenta predicta, ac cetera ecclesie
ornamenta munda nitida et honesta decetero conserventur hoc
quoq; insuper injungentes, ut in ecclesia vestra celebrantibus

APPENDIX. 449

rimim bomim, purum, et incorruptum ad sacramentum altaris
conficiendum per eimi qui super hoc gerit officium, et noii cor-
ruptum, et aa^toxum, prout fieri consueverit, imposterum mini-
stretur; nimis enim videtur absurdum in sacris sordes necgli-
gere, que dedeceruut in prophanis.

XXXIII. Item licet sanctorum reliquias, vasa, aut vesti-
menta sacra sen libros ecclesie in vadem dccri, aut pignori obligari
canonica prohibeant instituta, a vobis tamen in dictis visitacioni-
bus comperimus contrarium esse factum; Vobis igitur domino
Priori, tenore presencium, firmiter iujungendo mandamus, qua-
tinus ab hiijusmodi impignoracionibus extra casus a jure per-
niissos vos deceteio penetus abstinentes, hujtwnodi pignori obli-
gata curetis recoUigere, et ea ecclesie vestre restituere, absq;
more dispcndio, sicut decet; statuentes preterea ut omnes carte
ac munimeuta quecumq; statum bona et possessiones domus
vestre qualitercumq; contingentes, sub tribus seruriset clavibus
remanean*", futuris temporibus fideliter conservande.

XXXIV. Item cum religiosi de bono in melius continue
debeant proficisci, ac ex sacre scripture lectione et inspectione
qualiter id faciant plenius instrui valeant; Vobis firmiter iujun-
gendo mandamus, ut, completis hiis, que ad vestri ordinis et
regularis discipline observanciam pertinent atq; spcctant, in
claustro sedentes scripture sacre lectioni sancteq; contempla-
cioni devocius insistatis, sicq secundum regule vestre exigenciam
taliter codices inspicicndos requiratis, ut in eis quid fugiendum
quid subsequendum ac cujusmodi premium iade consequeudum
fuerit agnoscere valeatis.

XXXV. Item vobis Domino Priori injungimus, quod cum
parentes vel consangninei alicujus confratris vestri ad eum ac-

3 ai

450 APPENDIX.

cesser! nt, causa visitandi eundem, liberaliter secundum statum
siii exigentiam per vos vel ilium qui super hoc ministrandi gerit
officium infra Prioratum honeste et debite procurentur; sed
videant fratres ne nimis sint in talibus Prioratui onerosi.

XXXVI. Item quia parum est jura condere nisi execution!
debita demandentur, ea quoque solent labili memorie eo tenacius
comniendari quo veraciter audientiuni auribus fuerint sepius in-
culcata; et, ne vestrum quis piam ignorantiam pretendere valeat
preniissorum ; Vobis firmiter injungendo mandamus, quatinus
has nostras injunctiones et decreta pariter supradicta in aliquo
vohimine conipetenti absque more dispendio conscribi plenius
faciatis, eaque omnia et singula bis annis singuHs de cetero coram
toto conventu plenius recitari; vos nichilomiuus omnes et sin-
gulos monemus primo secundo et tercio peremptorie, vobis in-
super in A'irtute obedieucie arctius injungentes, quatinus ipsas
injunctiones nostras et decreta predicta omnia et singula prout
ad vos et vestrum quemlibet pertinent et singulariter vos con-
cernunt, teneatis de cetero ac eciam observetis, sub penis et
censuris ecclesiasticis supradictis, et aliis penis canonicis in con-
travenientes quoscumque, prout contumacia delinquencium ex-
egerit, per nos imposterum canonice infligendis. Potestalem
autem premissa corrigendi, mutandi in toto vel in parte, inter-
pretandi, declarandi et eisdem addend), et eciam detrahendi, ac
penas adjiciendi, suspendendi, necnon super compertis aliis in
visitatione nostra predicta procedendi, criminaque et defectus
ac excessus in ipsa comperta et delata corrigendi, ac canonice
puniendi, et super ipsis novas injunctiones insuper faciendas,
sicut et prout opus fuerit et nobis videbitur expedire, nobis
eciam specialiter reservamus. In quorum omnium testimonium

APPENDIX. 451

sigillum nostrum fecimus hiis apponi. Dat. apud Wynton
vicesimo septinio die mensis Septembris anno Domini millesimo
ccc" octogesimo septimo et nostre consecrationis anno vi-
cesimo.

( L.S. )

NUMBER IV.

(No. 50.)

Indentura Prioris de Selborne quorundam tradit. Petru
Barnes sacristcE ibidem aim. Hen. 6. - - - una cum conjiss.
ejusdem Petri script,

JlEC indentura facta die lune proxime post flfestum natalium

Dni anno regis Henrici sexti post conquestum anglie v.

inter fFratrem Johannem Stepe priorem ecclesie beate Marie de
Selborne & Petrum Bernes sacrist, ibidem videlicet quod pre-
dictus prior deliveravit prefato Petro omnia subscripta In primis
xxiT amit xxxx aubes vid. v. sine parura pro quadragesimaxxii
manicul. Item xxii stole Item viii casule vid. iii albe pro qua-
dragesima Item xi dalmatic, vid. i debit. Item xvi cape vid.
nil veteres Item unam amittam i albam cum paruris unum
manipulum i stolam i casiuam et duas dalmaticas de dono Jo-
hannis Combe capellani de Cicestria pro diebus principalibus
Item I amittam i aubam cum paruris i manupulum i stolam i

3 M 2

452 APPENDIX.

casulam de dono fFiatris Thome Halybone canonicis Item i
amittam i aubam cum paruris i manupulum i stolam i casulam
pertinentem ad altare sancte Catherine virginis pro priore Item
I amittam ii aubas cum paruris ii manipul ii stolas et ii casula*
pertinentes ad altare sancti Petri de dono patris Ricardi holte.
Item de dono ejusdem ii tuella vid. i cum fruictello et i canvas
pro eodem altare Item i tuellum pendentem ad tenam pro qua-
dragesima Item vi tueil cum fFruictibus xv tuell sine ffruictell.
Item iiii tuell pro lavatore Item v corporas Item ii ffruictell
pro summo altare sine tuellis Item ii coopertor pro le ceste
Item II pallias de serico debili Item i velum pro quadragesima
Item I tapetum viridi colons pro summo altare ii ridell cum
iiii ridellis parvis pertinent, ad diet, altare Item vii offretor
vid. V debit. Item iiii vexilla Item iiii pelves iii quessones
vid. I de serico Item ii super altaria Item quinq; calices vid.
nil de auro Item ii cruettes de argento de dono dni Johannis
Combe capellani de Cicestre Item viii cruettes de peuter Item

I coupam argent, et deaur. Item ii osculaior argenL Item r
osculatorium cum osse digiti auricular S>' Johamiis Baptisie
Item I crux argent, et deaur. non radicat. Item turribulum
argent et deaur. Item i anuluni cum saphiro Item i aliud
anulum i politum aureum Item i anulum argent, et deauratum
-V". EdmuncU. Item i concha cum pereo infixo Item i cistani
argent, et deaur. Item i imaginem beate Marie argent, et
deaurat. Item i parvam crucem cwn v reliquiis Item ijunc/o-
rium S'i. Ricardi Item i tecam pro reliquiis imponend Item i
calej'actor Sii. Ricardi Item iiii candelebra vid. ii de stagno ct

II de f'erro Item i pecten S>''. Ricardi Item ii viell de cristall In
parte fract Item i pelvim de coper ad lavator Item ii osculat. de
coper Item i parvum terribiilum de latyn Item i vas de coper

APPENDIX. 453

pro frank et sence cotisecrand Item i pixidem de juery pro cor-
pore Christi Item ii vasa de plumbo pro oleo conservando Item
I patellam eneam ferro ligat. Item t tripodem ferr. Item 1 cos-
trell contum ir lageu et i potrell. Item ii babyngyres Item ir
botelles de corio vid. i de quarte et i de pynte Item in anul.
arg. et i pixidem S'" Marie de Waddon Item ( ) Instru-

menta pro Sandyng Item i ledbnyfF Item i shasshobe Item i
securim Item ii scabell. de ferro pro cancell Item i plane Item
I cistam sine cerura Item xiiii sonas Item xix taperes ponder
XIII lb et dimid. Item ir torches ponder xxJb Item xiilb
cereetdimid. Item de candelis de cera ponder vi lb Item ilb de
frank et sence Item i lagenam olei Item ix pondera de plumbo
(Vide de stauro in tergo) et in tergo scribuntur
hffic, " II vacce i sus nil hoggett et iiii porcell"

454 APPENDIX.

NUMBER V,

(N. 38 1.)

A Paper confei/mng the value of the Manors atid Latids perfayning
to the Priorie of Selborne. iv. Edw. 3. With a note of charges
yssuing out of it.

SELEEORNE PRIORATUS.

feuMMA totalis valoris manerioium tenarum tenementorum et premisso-
lum ejusdein Prioratus in fFesto S". Michaelis Archaug. anno secundo
Regis Edvaidi 4''. ut patet Rotul. de valoribiis liberat.

nil VI li. (i. e. Lxxxvi li.) x s. vid.

Inde in redditibus resolutis domino pape domino Archiepiscopo et in
diversis ffeodis certis personis concessis ac aliis annualibus reprisis in
eisdem Rotul^ile valoribus annotatis per annum xiiii li. xix s. v d.

Etremanet de claro valore lxxi li. x s. viii d.

. Quatuor canonicis et quatuor ffamulis dec et ecclesie ibid, ser-
' vientibus pro eorum vadiis vestur. et diet, ut patet per bill inde fact,
per annum xxx li.

Diversis creditoribus pro eorum debitis persolvendis ut patet
per parcell inde fact, xv li. xv s. iiii. d.

Repnracionibus Ecclesiarum domorum murorum et clausura-
lum ejusdem Prioratus jjer annum xv li. xv s. iiii d.

Annna pcncione Domini Prioris ei assignata per annum quous-
que renianet x li.

APPENDIX.

45 i

a

SELBORNE PRIORATUS.

3fodo sequitor de Reformatione premissoi'um.

C Summa total, valorum. ibid, misis et 1

despeiatis inde deductis piout patet per I lxxi li. x s. vind

declaracionem Dni Petri Prioris de Sele- ) unde per ipsuin dI^j

<{ borne ad man. Dni nostri ^^>nton apud > nostruniWynton assig-

Palaciumsuura deWolsleypresentat. per j nantur in fforma se-

ipsum ultimo die ffebr. Ann. Domini quente videlicet.

(_MccccLxii. et penes ipsum remanet. j

Pro quatuor canonicis et quatuor ffa
mulis deo et ecclesie ibid, servient!
eorum Diet, vadiis et vestur
bill inde facT^

quatuor ffa- '\
rientibuspro f ^xx
ut patet per C

Pro annua pencione Prioris quousque
remanet.

J X li.

I" XV li. XV S. nil d.

^ g Pro divei-siscreditoribus pro eorum de- I P^'" " ""°°^ ^^ ^^^^

g I" , bitis persolvendis ut patet per bill inde ^ ''' '^ ^- '^"^ ^ "''''a

■^^ fa^. I ^'^- '^""" d- de ven-

^ ^ j dit. stauri.

XV li. XV s. nil d.

per II annos ad xxxi

li. X s. VIII d. Sum-

Prodiversisreparacionibusecclesiarum ma total, valoris pro

domorum murorum et clausurarum ut.| debitis et reparacioni-

patet per bill. bus assignat. cum lv

li. xiiii d. de vendit.
Stauri ut supra cxviii
L li. n s. VI d.

L

456 APPENDIX.

Debita que debentur ibid, per diversos tenentes et ffirmarios ad festum

S '. Michaelis anno tertio Regis Edvaidi 4". videlicet.

Abbasde Derfoid de fleod ffinne suaad ixli. VI s. ) ,. ,

VIII d. per annum a retro )

Thomas Perkyns armig. ffirmarius Rectorie de •,
Estworlam pro uno anno finiente ad fiestum S". J-lxs.
Mich. anno ii. Regis Edvardi 4". ^

Johannes Shahnere ball, de Selborne debet Lxxvs.

Ricardus Cawry debet de eodein anno vis.

Summa xxviili. viiis, xi d*

Thomas Perkyns armig. debet de ffirme sua pre- ,
dicta ad tcbtum S''. Mich. ann. vii et ultra feod. v vii li. vi s. viii d.
suum ad xx s. per annum J

Thomas lusher debet pro ffirme sua ad xl s. per i
annum cum feed, suis ad xx s. per annum J

Hugo Pakenham debet de reddit. suo ad xx s 1 „
per ann. i

Abbas de Deilbrd debet de ffeod ffirme sua ultra j
XX li. VII. s. XI cl. ut supra pro annis III. nil. et V. /-xxviii li.
Regis Edvardi ^

Walterus Rerlond ffirmarius de Skene debet ix li. v s. iid.

Ilenr. Shafter ffamaiius Jfcod de Basynstoke xii li. mi d.

Heiir. lode nuper ffirmarius manerii de Chec'e debet xx li.
Total Lxxxxiv li. xii d.

Summa lxvi li. xii s. vid.

A

COMPARATIVE VIEW

OF THE

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR,

AS KEPT AT

SELBORNE, IN HAMPSHIRE,

BY THE LATE

REF. GILBERT WHITE, M. A..

AT CATSFIELD. NEAR BATTLE.
IN SUSSEX,

BY WILLIAM MARKWICK, ESQ. F. L. S.

FROM THE YEAR 1768 TO THE YEAR 1793.

3 N

N. B. The dates in the following calendars., when more tlian one, express the
earliest and tlie latest times in which the circumstance noted was observed.

459

A COMPARATIVE VIEW OF WHITE'S AND MARKWICK'S
CALENDARS.

Of the abbreviations used, y. signifies jfoTi/mnf; /. leafing; and ap. the first afpenrame

Redbreast 'sylvia ruhecula) sings
Larks (alauda arvensis) congregate
Nuthatch (sitta europaea) heard
Winter aconite (helleborus hiemalis) fl.
Shelless snail or slug (limax) ap.
Grey&T . r(motaci!laboarula)ap.'

White J ° {^(motacilla alba) ap.
Missel thrush (turdus viscivorus) sings
Bearsfoot (helleborus fetidus) fl.
Polyanthus (primula polyantha) fl.
Double daisy (bellis perennis plena) fl.
Mtzereon (daphne mezereum) fl.
Pansie (viola tricolor) fl.
Red dead-nettle (lamium purpureum) fl
Gi'oundsel (senecio vulgaris) fl.
Hazel (corylus avellana) fl.
Hepatica (anemone hepatica) fl.
Hedge sparrow (sylvia modularis) sings
Common flies (musca domestica) seen in

numbers
Greater titmouse (panis major) sings
Thrush (turdus musicus) sings
Insects swarm under sunny hedges
Primrose (primula vulgaris) fl.
Bees (apis mellifica) ap.
Gnats play about
Chafijnches, male and female, (fringilla

caelebs) seen in equal numbers
Furze or gorse (ulex europaeus) fl.
Wall-flower (cheiranthus cheiri; seu

fruticulosus of Smith) fl.
Stock (cheiranthus incanus) fl.
Emberiza alba (bunting) in great flocks
Linnets (fringilla hnota) congregate
Lambs begin to fall
Rooks (corvus frugilegus) resort to their

nest trees
Black hellebore (helleborus niger) fl.

AV'HITE.

1 — 12

1 — IS

1—14

I. Feb. 18.

2.

Jan. 2—1 1

Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan

Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.

Jan.
Jan.

Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.
Jan.

Jan.
Jan.

2—14
2. Feb. 14
2. April 12

2, Feb. 1

3. Feb. 16
3
3.-21

3 — 15

3. Feb. 28

4. Feb. 18
5—12

5. Feb. 3

6. Feb. 6.
6—22

6

6. April 7
6. March I9
6. Feb. 3

6—11
8. Feb. 1

8. April 1

8—12

9

9

9—11

10. Feb. 11
10

MAUKWICK.
Jan. 3 — 31, and again
Oct. 1 6. Feb. 9. [Oct. 6
March 3. April 10
Feb. 28. April I7
Jan. 16. May 31
Jan. 24. March 26
Dec. 12. Feb. 23
Feb. 19. April 14
March 1 . May 5
Jan. 1 . April 9
March 17. April 29
Jan. 2. April 4
Jan. 1. May 10
Jan. 1. April 5
Jan. I. April Q
Jan. 21. March 11
Jan. 17. April y
Jan. 16. March 13

May 15

Feb. 17. March 17

Jan. 15. April 4

Jan. 3. March 22
Jan. 31. April 11, last
[seen Dec. 30

Dec. 2. Feb. 3
Jan. 1. March 27

Feb. 21. May 9
Feb. 1. June 3

Jan. 11

Jan. 6. Feb. 21

Jan. 23
April 27

460

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

WHITE.

Snow-drop (galanthus nivalis) fl. Jan. 10. Feb. 5

White dead-nettle (lamium album) fl. Jan. 13

Trumpet hone3'-suckle, fl. Jan. 13
Common creeping crowfoot (ranunculus

repens) fl. Jan. 13

House sparrow (fringilla domestica) chirps Jan. ] 4

Dandelion (leontodon taraxacum) fl. Jan. 16. March 1 1

Bat (vespertllio) ap Jan. l6. March 24

Spiders shoot their webs Jan. 16

Butterfly, ap. Jan. 16

Brambhng (fringilla montifiingilla) ap. Jan. l6

Black-bird (turdus merula) whistles Jan. 17

Wren (sylvia troglodytes) sings Jan. 17

Earth-worms lie out Jan. 18. Feb. S

Crocus (crocus vernus) fl. Jan. 13. March 18

Sky-lark (alauda arvensis) sings Jan. 21

Ivy casts its leaves Jan. 22

Helleborus hiemalis, fl. Jan. 22 — 24
Common dor or clock (scarabseus sterco-

rarius Jan. 23

Peziza acetabulum ap. Jan. 23

Helleborus virid fl. Jan. 23. March 5

Hazel (corylus avellana) fl. Jan. 23. Feb. 1

Woodlark (alauda arborea) sings Jan. 24. Feb. 21

Chaffinch (fringilla cselebs) sings Jan. 24. Feb. 15

Jack-daws begin to come to churches Jan. 25. March 4

Yellow wagtail (motacilla flava) ap. Jan. 25. April 14

Honeysuckle (lonicera periclymenum) 1- Jan. 25
Field or procumbent speedwell (veronica

agrestis) fl. Jan. 27. March 15

Nettle butterfly (papilio urticse) ap. Jan. 2/. April 2

White wagtail (motacilla alba) chirps Jan. 28

Shell-snail (helix nemoralis) ap. Jan. 28. Feb. 24

Earth-worms engender Jan. 30

Barren strawberry (fragaria sterilis) fl. Feb. 1 . March 26

Blue titmouse (parus caeruleus) chirps Feb. 1

Brown wood-owls hoot Feb. 2

Hen (phasianus gallus) sits Feb. 3
Marsh titmouse begins his two harsh

sharp notes Feb. 3

Gossamer floats Feb. 4. April 1

Musca tenax ap. Feb. 4. April 8

Laurustine (viburnum tinus) fl, Feb. 5
Butcher's broom (ruscus aculeatus) fl. Feb 5.

Fox (canis vulpes) smells rank Feb. 7

Turkey-cocks strut and gobble Feb. 10
Yellow-hammer(emberizacitnnella) sings Feb. 12

MARKWICK.

Jan. 18. March 1
March 23. May 10

April 10. May 12
Feb. 17. May 9
Feb. 1. April 17
Feb. 6. June 1, last seen
[Nov. 20
Feb. 2 1 . May 8, last seen
Jan. 10—31 [Dec 22
Feb. 15. May 13
Feb. 7. June 12

Jan. 20. March 19
Jan. 12. Feb 27, sings till
[Nov. 13
Feb. 28, April 17

Feb. 12. April 19, last
[seen Nov. 24

Jan. 27. March 11
Jan. 28. June 5
Jan. 21. Feb. 16

April 13. July 3, last seen
Jan. 1. April 9 [Sept 8

Feb. 12. March 29
March 5. April 24, last
March 16 [seen June 6
April 2. June 1 1

Jan. 13. March 26
April 27

March 8 hatches

Jan. 1. April 5
Jan. 1. May 10
May 19 young brought

JFeb. 18. April 28

[forth.

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

461

Brimstone butterfly (papilio rhamni) ap.
Green woodpecker (picus viridis) makes a

loud cry
Raven (corvus corax) builds
Yew-tree (taxus baccata) fl.
Coltsfoot (tussilago farfara) fl.
Rooks (cor\'us frugiiegus) build
Partridges (perdix cinerea) pair
Peas (pisum sativum) sown
House pigeon (columba domestica) has

young ones
Field crickets open their holes
Common flea (pulex irritans) ap.
Pilewort (ficaria verna) fl
Goldfinch (fringilla carduelis) sings
Viper (coluber berus) ap.

Wood-louse (oniscus asellus) ap.

Missel thrushes pair

Daffodil (narcissus pseudonarcissus)fl.

Willow (salix alba) fl.

Frogs (rana temporaria) croak

Sweet violet (viola odorata) fl.

Phalaena tinea vestianella ap.

Stone curlew (otis oedicnemus) clamours

Filbert (corylus sativus) fl.

Ring-dove cooes

Apricot-tree (prunus armeniaca) fl.

Toad (rana bufo) ap.

Frogs (rana temporaria) spawn

[foha fl.
Ivy-leaved speedwell (veronica hederi-
Peach (amygdalus persica) fl.
Frog (rana temporaria) ap.
Shepherd's purse (thlaspi bursa pastoris) fl.
Pheasant (phasianus colchicus) crows
Land tortoise comes forth
Lungwort (pulmonaria officinalis) fl.
Podura fimetaria ap.
Aranea scenica saliens ap.
Scolopendra forficata ap.
Wryneck (jynx torquiUa) ap.
Goose (anas anser) sits on it's eggs
Duck (anas boschas) lays
Dog's violet (viola canina) fl.
Peacock butterfly (papilio io) ap.
Trouts begin to rise

WHITE.
Feb. 13. April 2

Feb. 13. March 23
Feb. 14—17
Feb. 14. March 27
Feb 15. March 23
Feb. Id. March 6
Feb. 17
Feb. 17. March 8

Feb. 18

Feb. 20. March 30
Feb. 21—26
Feb. 21. April 13
Feb. 21. April 5
Feb. 22. March 26

Feb. 23.
Feb. 24
Feb. 24.
Feb. 24.
Feb. 25
Feb. 26.
Feb. 26
Feb. 27.
Feb. 27
Feb. 27.
Feb.
Feb. 28.
Feb. 28.

March 1.
March 2.
March 2.
March 3
March 3-
March 4.
March 4.
March 4
March 4
March 5-
March 5.
March 5
March 5
March 6.
March 6
March 7-

Aprll 1

April 7
April 2

March 31

April 24

April 5

March 24
March 22

April 2
April 17
April 6

-29
May 8
April 16

-16
April 25

April 18
-14

MARKWICK.
Feb. 13. March 8, last
[seen Dec. 24
Jan. 1. April 17
April 1, has young ones
Feb. 2. April 1 1 [June 1
Feb. 18. April 13
Feb. 28. March 5
Feb. 16. March 20
Feb. 8. March 31

Februaiy 8

Jan. 25. March 26
Feb. 28. May 5
Feb. 23. May 6, last seen
[Oct. 28
April 27. June 17

Feb. 26. April 18
Feb. 27. April 11
March O. April 20
Feb 7. April 5

June 17

Jan 25. March 26
March 2. August 10
Feb. 28. April 5
March 15. July 1
Feb. Q. April 10, tadpoles
[Mar. 19
Feb. 16. April 10
March 4. April 29
March 9
Jan. 2. April 16
March 1. May 22

March 2. May 19

[seen Sept. 14
March 26. April 23, last
March 21
March 28
Feb 28. April 22
Feb. 13. April 20. last

[seen Dec, 15

462

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

Field beans (vicia faba) planted

Blood-worms appear in the water

Crow (corvus corone) builds

Oats (avena sativa) sown

Golden crowned wren (sylvia regulus)

sings
Asp (populus tremula) fl.
Common elder (sambucus nigra) 1.
Laurel (prunus laurocerasus) fl.
Chrysomela Gotting. ap
Black ants (formica nigra) ap.
Ephemersebisetae ap.
Gooseberry (ribes grossularia) 1.
Common stitchwort (stellarla holostea) fl.
Wood anemone (anemone nemorosa) fl.
Blackbird (turdus merula) lays
Raven (corvus corax) sits
Wheatear (sylvia oenanthe) ap.
Musk wood crowfoot (adoxa moschatel-

lina) fl.
Willow wren (sylvia trochilus) ap.
Fumaria bulbosa fl.
Elm (ulmus campestris) fl.
Turkey (meleagris gallopavo) lays

House pigeons (columba domestica) sit
Marsh marigold (caltha palustris) fl.
Buzz-fly (bombylius medius) ap.
Sand martin (hirundo riparia) ap.

Snake (coluber natrix) ap.

Horse ant (formica herculeana) ap.

Greenfinch (loxia chloris) sings
Ivy (hedera helix) berries ripe
Periwinkle (vinca minor) fl.
Spurge laurel (daphne laureola) fl.
Swallow (hirundo rustica) ap.

Black-cap (sylvia atricapiUa) heard

Young ducks hatched

Golden saxifrage (chrysosplenium oppo-

sitifolium) fl.
Martin (hirundo urbica) ap.

WHITE.
March 8
March 8
March 10
March 10—18
March 12. April 30

March 13
March 13—20
March 15. May 21
March 15
March 15. April
March l6 [22

March 1". April 1]
March 17. May 1
March 17. April
March 17 [22

March 17
March 18—30

March 18. April 1.?
March 19. April 13
March I9
March IQ. April 4
March IQ. April 7

March 20
March 20. April 14
March 21. April 28
March 21. April 12

Maich 22—30

March 22. April 18

March 22. April 22
March 23. April 14
March 25
March 25. April 1
March 26. April 20

March 26. May 4

March 27

March 27. April Q
March 28. May 1

MARKWICK.
April 29 emerge

July 1 has young ones
March 16. April 13
April 15. May 22, seen

[Dec. 23. Jan. 26
Feb. 20. March 2S
Jan. 24. April 22
April 2. May 27

March 2. May 18

Feb. 26. April 9
March 8. May 7
Feb. 27. April 10
April 14, 3'oung ones May
April 1 builds [IQ

March ^3. May 23, last
[seen Oct 26
Feb 23. April 28
March 30 May 16, sits
i\Tay27, last seen Oct. 23
Feb 17. April 25
Vlarch 18 — 25, sits April
[4, young ones April 30
March 20 young hatched
March 22. May 8
March 15. April 30
April 8. May id, last
seen S^'pt. 8.
March 3. April 29, last
[seen October 2
Feb. 4. Mar. 26, last seen
[Nov. 12
March 6. April 20
Feb. 16. May I9
Feb. (i. May 7
April 12 — 22
April 7 — 27, last seen
[Nov. IS
April 14. May IS, seen
April 14. May 20, last
seen Sept. 19
April 6. May 16

Feb. 7. March 27
Apr. 14. Mays, last seen
[Dec. S

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

46-3

Double hyacinth (hyacinthus orientalis fl.
Young geese (anas anser)
Wood sorrel (oxalis acetosella) fl.
Ring ouzel (turdus torquatus) seen
Barley (hordeum sativum) sown
Nightingale (sylvia luscinia) sings

Ash (fraxinus excelsior) fl.
Spider's webs on the surface of the ground
Checquered daffodil (fritiUaria melea-
Julus terrestris ap. [gris fl.

Cowslip (primula veris) fl.
Ground-ivy (glecoma hederacea) fl.
Snipe pipes

Box-tree (buxus sempervirens) fl.
Elm fulmus campestris) 1.
Gooseberry ribes grossiilaria) fl.
Currant (ribes hortense) fl.
Pear-tree (pyru5 communis) fl.
Lacerta vulgaris (newt or eft) ap.

Dogs mercury (mercurialis perennis) fl.
Wych elm (ulmus glabra seu montana of

Smith) fl.
Ladysmock (cardamine pratensis) fl.
Cuckoo (cuculus canorus) heard

Black-thorn (prunus spinosa) fl.
Death-watch (termes pulsatorius) beats
Gudgeon spawns
Red-start ^sylvia phasnicurus) ap.

Crown imperial (fritillaria imperialis) &.
Tit-lark (alauda pratensis) sings

Beech (fagus sylvatica) 1.

Shell-snail (helix nemoralis) comes out

in troops
Middle yellow wren ap.
Swift (hirundo apus) :ip.
Stingmg-fly (conops cilcitrans) ap.
Whitlow grass (draba vernal fl.
Larch-tree (pinus-iarix rubra) 1.
Whitethroat (sylvia cinerea) ap.

Red ant (formica rubra) ap.

WHITE.

March 29. April
March 29 [22

March 30. April 22
March 30. April 17
March 31. April 30
" May 1

April.

April. 1 May 4
April 1
April 2—24
April 2
April 3—24
April 3 — 15
xApril 3
April 3
April 3
April 3 — 14
April 3 — 5
April 3. May 21
April 4

April 5 — 19

April 5
April 6 — 20
AprQ 7—26

April 7. May 10
April 7
April 7
April 8 — 28

April 8—24
April 9—19

April 10. May 8

April 1 1 . May Q
April 11

April 13. May 7
April 14. May I7
April 14
\pril 14
April 14. May 14

April 14

MARKWICK.
March 13. April 24
March 29. April 19
Feb. 26. April 20
October 11
April 12. May 20
April 5. July 4, last seen
[Aug. 29
March 16. May 8

April 15. May 1

March 3. May 17
March 2. April 16

March 27. May 8
April 2. May I9
March 21. May 1
March 24. April 28
March 30. April 30
Feb. 17. April 15, last
[seen Oct. 9
Jan. 20. April 16'

April 19. May 10 1.
Feb. 21. April 20
April 15. May 3, last
[heard June 28
March 1 6. May 8
March 28. May 28

April 5, sings April 25,
[last seen Sept. 30
April 1. May 13
April 14 — 29, sits June
[16-27
April 24. May 25

May 17. June 11 ap.

April 28. May 19

Jan. 15. March 24
April 1. May 9.
Aprill4. May5,sing.sMay
3 — 10, last seenScpt 23
April 9. June 26

464

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

Mole cricket (gryllus gryllotalpa) churs
Second willow or laughing wren ap.
Red rattle (pedicularis sylvatica) fl.
Common flesh-fly I'musca carnaria) ap.
Lady cow (coccinella bipunctata) ap.
Grasshopper-lark (alaudalocustae voce) ap
Willow wren its shivering note heard
Middle willow wren (regulus non crista-

tus medius) ap.
Wild cherry (prunus cerasus) fl.
Garden cherry (prunus cerasus) fl.
Plum (prunus domestica) fl.
Harebell (hyacinthus non-scriptus seu

scilla nutans of Smith) fl.
Turtle (columba turtur) cooes
Hawthorn (Crataegus seu mespilus oxy-

cantha of Smith) fl.
Male fool's orchis (orchis mascula) fl.
Blue flesh fly (musca vomitoria) ap.
Black snail or slug (limax ater) abounds
Apple-tree (pyrus-nialus sativus) fl.
Large bat ap.
Strawberry, wild wood (fragaria vesca

sylv.) fl.
Sauce alone (erysimum alliaria) fl.
Wild or bird cherry (prunus avium) fl.
Apis hypnorum ap.
Musca meridiana ap.
Wolf-fly (asilus) ap.
Cabbage butter-fly (papilio brassicae) ap.
Dragon-fly (libellula) ap.

Sycamore (acer pseudoplatanus) fl.
Bombylius minor ap.
Glow-worm (lampyris noctiluca) shines
Fern-owl or goatsucker (caprimulgus

europseus) ap.
Common bugle (ajuga reptans) fl.
Field crickets (gryllus campestris) crink
Chaffer or may-bug (scarabaeus melolon-

tha) ap.
Honeysuckle (lonicera periclymenum) fl.
Toothwort (lathraea squamaria) fl.
Shell-snails copulate
Sedge warbler (sylvia salicaria) sings
Mealy tree (viburnum lantana) fl.

WHITE.

MARKWICK.

April 14

April 14—19—23

April 15—19

April 10. June 4

April 15

April 16

April 16—30

April 17. May 7

April 28. Maj 14

April 17—27

April 18. May 12

March 30. May 10

April 18. May 11

March 25. May 6

April 18. May 5

March 24. May 6

April 19—25

March 27. May 8

April 20 — 17

May 14. Aug. 10 seen

April 20. June 1 1

April 19. May 2S

April 21

March 29. May 13

April 21. May 23

April 22

Feb. 1. Oct 24ap.

April 22. May 25

April 11. May 26

April 22. June 1 1

April 23—29

AprU 8—9

April 23

March 3 1 . May 8

April 24

March 30. May 10

April 24

April 24. May 28

April 25

April 28. May 20

April 29. June 15

April 30. May 21

April 18. May 13, last

[seen Nov. 10

April 30. June 6

April 20. June 4

IMay 1

May 1. June 11

June 19. Sept. 28

May 1—26

May 16. Sept. 14

May 1

March 27. May 10

May 2—24

May 2—26

May 2. July 7

May 3—30

April 24. June 21

May 4—12

May 4. June 17

May 4

June 2—30

May 5—17

April 25. May 22

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR

465

Plycatcher(stoparolas.muscicgpagrisola)ap

Apis longicovnis ap.

Sedge warbler (sylvia salicaria) ap.

Oak (quercus robur) fl.

Admiral butter-fly (papilio atalanta) ap.

Orange-tip (papilio cardamines) ap.

Beech (fagus sj'lvatica) fl.

Common maple (acer campestre) fl.

Barberry-tree (berberis vulgaris) fl.

Wood argus butter- fly (papilio segeria) ap.

Orange lilly (lilium bulbiferam) fl.

Burnet moth (sphinx filipendulx) ap.

Walnut (juglans regia) 1.

Laburnum (cytisus laburnum) fl.

Forest-fly (liippobosca equina) ap.

Saintfoin (hedysarum onobrychis) fl.

Peony (pasonia officinalis) fl.

Horse chesnut (aesculus hippocastanum) fl.

Lilac (syringa vulgaris) fl.

Columbine (aquilegia vulgaris) fl.

Medlar (raespilus germanica) fl.

Tormentil (tormenlilla erecta seu offici-
nalis of Smith) fl.

Lily of the valley (convallaria majalis) fl.

Bees (apis mellifica) swarm

Woodroof (asperula odorata) fl.

Wasp, female, (vespa vulgaris) ap.

Mountain ash (sorbus seu pyrus aucuparia
of Smith) fl.

Birds-nest orchis (ophrys nidus avis) fl

White-beam tree (Crataegus seu pyrus
aria of Smitli) 1.

Milkwort (polygala vulgaris) fl.

Dwarf cistus (cistus hehanthemnm) fl.

Gelder rose (viburnum opuliis) fl.

Common elder (sambucus nigra) fl.

Cantharis noctiluca ap.

Apis longicornis bores holes in walks

Mulbeiry-tree (moras nigra) 1.

Wild ser\'ice-tree (Crataegus seu pyrus
torminahs of Smith) fl.

Sanlcle (sanicula europaea) fl.

Avens (geum urbanum) fl.

Female fool's orchis (orchis morio) fl.

Ragged Robin (lychnis flos cuculi) fl.

■Burnet (ppterium sanguisorba) fl.

AVHITE. 1

MARKWICK.

May 10-

-30

April 29. May 21

May 10.

June 9

May 11-

-13

Aug. 2.

May 13-

-15

April 29. June 4

May 13

May 14

March 30. May 19

May 15-

-26

April 23. May 28

May 16

April 24. May 27

May 17-

-26

April 28. June 4

May 17

May 18.

Jnne 1 1

June 14. July 22

May 18.

June 13

May 24. June 26

May 18

April 10. June 1

May 18.

June 5

May 1 . June 23

May 18.

June 9

May ly.

June 8

May 21. July 28

May 20.

June 15

April 18. May 26

May 21.

June 9

April 19. June 7.

May 21

April 15. May 30

May 21-

-27

May 6, June 13

May 21.

June 20

April 8. June 19

May 21

April 17. June 11

May 22

April 27. June 13

May 22.

July 22

May 12. June 23

May 22-

-25

April 14. June 4

May 23

April 2. June 4, last seen
[Nov. 2

May 23.

June 8

April 20. June 8

May 24.

June 1 1

May 18. June 12

May 24.

June 4

May 3

May 24.

June 7

April 13. June 2

May 25

May 4. Aug. 8

May 26

May 10. June 8

May 26.

June 25

May 6. June 17

May 26

May 27.

June 9

May 27.

June 13

May 20. June 1 1

May 27

May 13. June 19

May 27.

June 13

April 23. June 4

May 28

May 9. June 1 1

May 28

April 17. May 20

May 29.

June 1

May 12. June 8

May 29

April 30. Aug. 7

466

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

Foxglove (digitalis purpurea) fl.
Corn-flag (gladiolus communis) fl.
Serapias longifol. fl.
Raspberry (rubus idaeus) fl.
Herb Robert (geranium Robevtianum) fl.
Figwort (scrophularia nodosa) fl.
Gromwell (lithospermum officinale) fl.
Wood spurge (euphorbia amygdaloides) fl.
Ramsons (allium ursinum) fl.
Mouse-ear scorpion grass (myosotis scor-

pioides) fl.
Grasshopper (gryllus grossus) ap.

Rose (rosa hortensis) fl.

Mouse-ear hawkweed (hieracium pilo-

sella)fl.
Buckbean (menyantlies trifoliata) fl.
Rose chaffer (scarabaeus auratus) ap.
Sheep (ovis aries) shorn
Water-flag (iris pseudo-acorus) fl.
Cultivated rye (secale cereale) fl.
Hounds tongue (cynoglossum officinale) fl.
Helleborine (serapias latifolia) fl.
Green-gold fly (musca csesar) ap.
Argus butterfly papilio moera ap.
Spearwort (ranunculus flamniula) fl.
Birdsfoot trefoil (lotus corniculatus) fl.
Fraxinella or white dittany (dictamnus

albus) fl.
Phryganea nigra ap.
Angler's may-fly (ephemera vulg.) ap.
Ladies finger (anthyllis vulneraria) fl.
Bee-orchis (ophrys apifera) fl.
Pink (dianthus deltoides) fl.
Mock orange (philadelphus coronarius) fl.
I,ibellula virgo ap.
Vine (vitis vinifera) fl.
Portugal laurel (prunus lusitanicus) fl.
Purple spotted martagon (lilium niarta-

gon) fl.
Meadow cranes-bill (geranium pratense)fl.
Black bryony (tamus communis) fl
Field pea (pisum sativum arvense) fl.
Bladder campion (cucubalus belicn seu

silene inflata of Smith) fl.
Bryony (bryonia alba) fl.

M'HITE.

MARKWICK.

May 30.

June 22

May 23. June 15

May 30.

June

20

June 9. July 8

May 30.

June 13

May 30.

June 21

May 10, June \Q

May 30

March 7. May 16

May 31

May 12. June 20

May 31

May 10—24

June 1

March 23. May 13

June 1

April 21. June 4

June 1

April 1 1 . June 1

June 1—

-14

March 25. July 6, last
[seen Nov. 3

June 1—

-21

June 7- July 1

June 1.

July

16

April 19. June 12

June 1

April 20. June 8

June 2-

-8

April 18. Aug. 4

June 2-

-23

May 23. June 17

June 2

May 8. June 9

June 2

May 27

June 2

May 1 1 . June 7

June 2.

Aug.

6

July 22. Sept. 6

June 2

June 2

June 3

April 25. June 13

June 3

April 10. June 3

June 3—

-U

June 9. July 24

June 3

June 3-

-14

June '1

June 1. Aug. 16

June 4.

July

4

June 5-

-19

May 26. July 6

June 5

May 16. June 23

June 5-

-20

June J.

July

30

June 18. July 29

June 8.

July

1

June 3. July 16

June 8-

-25

June 18. July 19

June 8.

Aug

1

June 8

May 15. June 21

June 9

May 15. June 21

June 9

May 4. July 13

June 9

May 13. Aug. 1/

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

467

Hedge-netde (stachys sylvatica) fl.

Bittersweet (solanum dulcamara) fl.

Walnut (juglans regia) fl.

Phallus impudicus ap.

Rosebay wiOow-herb (epilobiuru angusti-

folium) fl.
Wheat (triticum hyberuum) fl.
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) fl.
Yellow pimpernel (lysimachianemorum)fl.
Tremella nostoc ap.
Buckthorn (rhamnus catharticus) 1.
Cuckow-spit insect (cicada spumaiia) ap.
Dog-rose (rosa canina) fl.
Puff"-ball (lycoperdon bovista) ap.
Mullein (verbascum thapsus) fl.
Viper's bugloss (echium anglicum sen

vulgare of Smith) fl.
Meadow hay cut
Stag beetle (lucanus cervus) ap.
Borage (borago officinalis) fl.
Spindle-tree (evonymus europaeus) fl.
Musk thistle (carduus nutans) fl.
Dogwood (cornus sanguinea) fl.
Field scabious (scabiosa arvensis) fl.
Marsh thistle (carduus paluslris) fl.
Dropwort (spiraea filipendula) fl.
Great wild valerian (Valeriana officinalis)fl.
Quail (perdix coturnix) calls
Mountain wiUow-herb (epilobium mon-

tanum) fl.
Thistle upon thistle (carduus crispus) fl.
Cow-parsnep (heracleum sphondylium) fl.
Earth-nut (bunium bulbocastanura seu

flexuosum of Smith) fl.
Young frogs migrate
Oestrus curvicauda ap.
Vervain (verbena officinalis) fl.
Corn poppy (papaver rhoeas) fl.
Self-heal (pruneUa \ailgaris) fl.
Agrimony (agrimonia eupatoria) fl.
Great horse-fly (tabanus bovinus) ap.
Gieater knapweed (centaurea scabiosa) fl.
Mushroom (agaricus campestris) ap.
Common mallow (malva sylvestris) fl.
Dwarf mallow (malva rolundifolia) fl.
St. John'svvort (hypercium perforatum) fl.

July 4

WHITE.
June 10
June 11
June 12
June 12. July 23

June 12

June 13. July 22

June 13

June 13—30

June 1.5. Aug. 24

June IQ

June l6

June 17, IS

June ] 7. Sept. 3

June 18

June 19

June ly. Jnly 20

June 19

June 20

June 20

June 20.

June 21

June 21

June 21—27

June 22. July g

June 22. July 7

June 22. July 4

June 22
June 23 — 29

June 23

June 23

June 23. Aug. 2

June 24

June 24

June 24

June 24

June 24—29

June 24. Aug. 2

June 25.

June 2(?. Aug. 30

June 26

June 26

June 26

303

MARKWICK.

May 28. June 24
May 15. June 20
April 18. June 1

June 4. July 28
June 4—30'
May 4. June 23
April 10. June 12

May 25
June 2—21
May 24. June 21
May 6. Aug. 19
June 10. July 22

May 27. July 3
June 13. July 7
June 14 — 21
April 22. July 20
May 1 1 . June 25
June 4. July 25
May 28. June 27
June 16. Aug. 14
May 15. June 19
May 8. Sept. 3
May 22. July 21
July 23, seen Sept. 1— IS

June 5 — 21
May 22. July 22
May 27. July 12

May 4—3 1

June 10. July 1"
April 30. July 15
June 7—23
June 7- July 9

June 7- Aug. 14
April 16. Aug. )6
May 27. July 13
May 12. July 30
June 15, July 12

468

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

Broom-rape (orobanche major) fl.

Henbane (hyoscyamus niger) fl.

Goats-beard (tragopogon pratense) fl.

Deadly nightshade (atropa belladonna) fl.

Truffles begin to be found

Young partridges fly

Lime-tree (tilia europasa) fl.

Spear thistle (carduus lanceolatus) fl.

Meadow sweet (spircfia ulniaria) fl.

Greenweed (genista tlnctoria) fl.

Wild thyme (thymus serpyllum) fl.

Stachys germanic. fl.

Day-lily (hemerocallis flava) fl.

Jasmine (jasminum officinale) fl .

Holy-oak (alcea rosea) fl.

Monotropa hypopithys fl.

Ladies bedstraw (galium verum) fl.

Galium palustre fl.

Nipplewort (lapsana communis) fl.

Welted thistle (carduus acanthoides) fl.

Sneeze wort (achiUea ptarmica) fl.

Musk mallow (malva moschata) fl.

Pimpernel (anagallis arvensis) fl.

Hoary beetle (scarabsus solsit) ap.

Corn saw-wort (serratula ai-vensis seu

carduus arvensis of Smith) fl.
Pheasant's eye (adonis annua seu autum-

nalis of Smith) fl.
Red eyebright (euphrasia seu bartsia

odontites of Smith) fl.
Thorough wax (bupleurum rottmdifol.) fl
Cockle (agrostemma githago) fl.
Ivy-leaved wild lettuce (prenanthes mu-

ralis) fl.
feverfew (matricaria seu pyretlirum par-

thenium of Smith) fl.
Wall pepper (sedum acre) fl.
Privet (ligustrum vulgare) fl.
Common toadflax (antirrhinum linaria) fl.
Perennial wild flax (linum perenne) fl.
Whortle-berries ripe (vaccinium ulig.)
Yellow base rocket (reseda lutea) fl.
Blue bottle (centaurea cyanus) fl.
Dwarf carline thistle (carduus acaulis) fl.
Bull-rush or cats-tail (typha latifolia) fl.
Spiked willow-herb (lythruni salicaiia) fl

WHITE. 1

MARKWICK.

June 37.

July 4

Vlay 9. July 25

June 27

May 13. June 19

June 27

Junes— 14

June 27

May 22. Aug. 14

June 28.

July 29

June 28.

July 31

July 8—28

June 28.

July 31

June 12. July 30

June 28.

July 12

June 27. July 18

June 28

June 16. July 24

June 28

June 4. July 24

June 28

June 6. July 19

June 29.

July 20

June 2g.

July 4

May 29. June Q

June 29.

July 30

June 27. July 21

June 29.

Aug 4

July 4. Sept 7

June 29.

July 23

June 29

June 22. Aug. 3

June 29

Jime 29

May 30. July 24

June 29

June 30

June 22. Aug. 3

June 30

June 9. July 14

June 30

May 4. June 22

June 30.

July 17

July 1

June 15. July 15

July 1

April 1 1 . July 1 5

July 2

June 20. Aug. 10

June 2

July 2

May 14. July 25

July 2

June 2. July 25

July 2

June 19. July 24

July 3

June 8. July 12

July 3

June 3. July 13

Julys

June 21. Aug. 3

July 4

April 21. July 0'

July 4—

24

July 5

July 19.

Jdy 5

May 15. Oct. 14

July 5—

-12

June 30. Aug. 4.

July 6

June 29. July 21

. July 6

June 24. Aug. ] 7

NATURALISTS CALENDAR.

469

Black mullein (verbascum niger) fl.
Chrysanthemum coronarium fl.
Marigolds (calendula officinalis) fl.
Little field madder (sherardia arvensis) fl.
Calaraint (roelissa seu thymus calamintha

of Smitli) fl.
Black horehound (ballota nigra) fl.
Wood betony (betonica officinalis) fl.
Round-leaved bell-flower (campanula ro-

tundifolia) fl.
All-good (chenopodium bonus henricus)fl.
Wild carrot (daucus carota) fl.
Indian cress (epopaeolum majus) fl.
Cat-mint (nepeta cataria) fl.
Cow-wheat (melampyrum sylvaticum seu

pratense of Smith) fl.
Crosswort (valantia cruciata seu galium

cruciatum of Smith) fl.
Cranberries ripe
■ Tufted vetch (vicia cracca) fl.
Wood vetch (vicia sylvat.) fl.
Little throat-wort (campanula glome-

rata) fl.
Sheep's scabious (jasione montana) fl.
Pastinaca sylv. fl.
White lily (hlium candidum) fl.
Hemlock (conium maculatum) fl.
Caucalis anthriscus fl.
Flying ants ap.

Moneywort (lysimachia nummularia) fl.
Scarlet martagon(Iiliumchalcedonicum)fl.
Lesser stitchwort (steUaria graminea) fl.
Fool's parsley (aethusa cynapium) fl.
Dwarf elder (sambucus ebulus) fl.
Swallows and martins congregate
Potatoe (solanum tuberosum) fl.
Angelica sylv. fl.
Digitalis ferrngin. fl.
Ragwort (senecio jacobaea) fl.
Golden rod (solidago virgaurea) fl.
Star thistle (centaurea calcitrapa) fl.
Tree primrose (Oenothera biennis) fl.
Peas (pisum sativum) cut
Galega officin. fl.
Apricots (prunus armeniaca) ripe

WHITE.

MAKK'VVICK

Julys

Julys

May 28. July 28

July 6—g

April 20. July 1 6

July 7

Jan. 11. June 6

July 7

July 21

July 7

June 16. Sept. 12

July 8—19

June 10. July 15

Julys

June 12. July 29

July 8

April 21. June 15

July 8

June 7. July 14

July 8—20

June 11. July 25

July 9

July 9

May 2. June 22

July 9

April 10. May 28

July 9—27

July JO

May 3 1 . July 8

July 10

July ] 1

July 28. Aug. 18

July 1 1

June 10. July 25

July 12

July 12

June 21. July 22

July 13

June 4. July 20.

July 13

July 13. Aug. 1 1

Aug. 20. Sept. 19

July 13

June 14. Aug lO

July 14. Aug. 4

June 21. Aug. 6.

July 14

May 8. June 23

July 14

June 9. Aug. 9

July 14—29

July 14. Aug. 29.

Aug. 1 2. Sept. 8

July 14

June 3. July 12

July 15

July 15—25

July 15

June 22. July 13

July 15

July 7. Aug. 29

July 16

July 16. Aug. 16

July 16

June 12. July 18

July 17. Aug. 14

July 13. Aug. 15

July 17

July 17. Aug. 2 1

July 5; Aug. 16

470

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

Clown's allheal (stachys palustris) fl.
Branching willow-herb (epilobium ra-

mos.) fl.
Rye harvest begins

Yellow centaury (chlora perfoliata) fl.
Yellow vetchling (lathyrus aphaca) fl.
Enchanter's nightshade(circaealutetiana)fl.
Water hemp agrimony (eupatorium can-

nabinum) fl.
Giant throat wort (campanula trache-

lium) fl.
Eyebright (euphrasia officinahs) fl.
Hops (humulus lupulus) fl.
Poultry moult
Dodder (cuscuta europaea seu epitliymum

of Smith) fl.
Lesser centaury (gentiana seu chironia

centaurium of Smith) fl.
Creeping water parsnep (slum nodiflo-

rum) fl.
Common spurrey (spergula arvensis) fl.
Wild clover (trifolium pratense) fl.
Buckwheat (polygonum fagopyrum) fl.
Wheat harvest begins
Great bur-reed (sparganiura erectum) fl.
Marsh St. Johu's-wort (hypericum elo-

des) fl.
Sun-dew (drosera rotundifolia) fl.
Marsh cinquefoil (comai-um paUistre) fl.
Wild cherries ripe
Lancashire asphodel (anthericum ossifra-

gum) fl.
Hooded willow-herb (Scutellaria galericu-

lata) fl.
Water dropwort (oenanthe fistulos.) fl.
Horehouud (marrubium vulg.) fl.
Seseli caruifol fl.

Water plantain (allsma plantago) fl.
Alopecurus myosuroides fl.
Virgin's bower (clematis vitalba) fl.
Bees kill the drones
Teasel (dipsacus sylvestris) fl.
Wild marjoram (origanum vulgare) fl.
Swifts (hirundo apus) begin to depart
Small wild teasel (dipsacus pilosus) fl.

WHITE.

MARKWICK

July 17

June 12. July 14

July 17

July 17.

Aug. 7

July IS.

Aug. 15

June 15. Aug. 13

July 18

July 18

June 20. July 27

July 18

July 4. Aug. 6

July 19

July 13. Aug. 14

July 19

May 28. July 29

July H).

Aug. 10

July 20. Aug. 1 7

July 19

July 20

July 9. Aug. 7

July 20

June 3. July 19

July 20

July 10. Sept. 1 1

July 21

April 10. July 16

July 21

May 2. June 7

July 21

June 27. July 10

July 21.

Aug. 23

July 11. Aug. 26

July 22

June 10. July 23

July 22-

-31

June 16. Aug. 10

July 22

Aug. 1

July 22

May 27. July 12

July 22

July 22

June 21. July 29

July 23

June 2. July 3 1

July 23

July 23

July 24

July 24

May 31. July 21

July 25

July 25.

Aug. 9

July 13. Aug. 14

July 25

July 26

July 16. Aug. 3

July 26

July 17. Aug. 29

July 27-

-29

Aug. 5.

July 28,

29

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

471

Wood sage (teucrium scorodonia) fl.
Everlasting pea (lathyrus latifolius) fl.
Trailing St. John's wort (hypericum hu-

mifusum) fl.
White hellebore (veratrum album) fl.
Camomile (anthemis nobilis) fl.
Lesser field scabious (scabiosa columba-
ria) fl.
Sun-flower (hellanthus multiflorus) fl.
Yellow loosestrife (lysimachia vulgaris) fl.
Swift (hirundo apus) last seen
Oats (avena sativa) cut
Barley (hordeum sativum) cut
Lesser hooded willow-herb (Scutellaria

minor) fl.
Middle fleabane (inula dysenterica) fl.
Apis manicata ap.
Swallow-tailed butterfly(papilio machaon)

ap.
. Whame or burrel fly (oestrus bovis) lays

eggs on horses
Sow-thistle (sonchus arvensis) fl.
Plantain fritillary (papilio cinxia) ap.
Yellow succory (picris hieracioidesj fl.
Musca mystacea ap.

Canterbury bells (campanula medium) fl.
Mentha longifol. fl.
Carline thistle (carlina vulgaris) fl.
Venetian sumach (rhus cotinus) fl.
Ptinus pectiniconiis ap
Burdock (arctium lappa) fl.
Fell-wort fgentiana amarella) fl.
Wormwood (artemisia absinthium) fl.
Mugwort (artemisia \'u!garis) fl.
St. Barnaby's thistle (centaurea solstit.) fl.
Meadow saffron (colchicum autumnale) fl.
Michaelmas daisy (aster tradescanti) fl.
Meadow rue (thalictrum flavum) fl.
Sea holly (eryngium marit.) fl.
China aster (aster chinensis) fl.
Boletus albus ap.
Less Venus looking glass (campanula hy-

brida) fl.
Carthamus tinctor. fl.
Goldfinch (fringlUa carduelis) young

broods ap.

■WHITE.

MARKWICK.

July 28

June 17. July 24

July 28

June 20. July 30

July 29

May 20. June 22

July 30

July 18—22

July 30

June 21. Aug. 20

July 30

July 13. Aug. 9

July 31.

Aug. 6

July 4. Aug. 22

July 31

July 2. Aug. 7

July 31.

Aug. 27

Aug. 11

Aug. 1 —

-16

July 26. Aug. 19

Aug. 1—

-26

July 27. Sept. 4

Aug. 1

Aug. 8. Sept. 7

Aug. 2

July 7. Aug. 3

Aug. 2

Aug. 2

April 20. June 7. last
[seen Aug. 28

Aug. 3—

-19

Aug. 3

Jnne 17. July 21

Aug. 3

Aug. 4

June 6—25

Aug. 5

June 5. Aug. 11

Aug. 5.

Aug. 7

July 21. Aug. 18

Aug. 7

June 5 July 20

Aug. 7

Aug. 8

June 17. Aug. 4

Aug. 8.

Sept 3

Aug. 8

July 22. Aug. 21

Aug. 8

July 9. Aug. 10

Aug. 10

Aug. 10

Sept. 13

Aug. 15. Sept. 29

Aug. 12.

Sept. 27

Aug. 11. Oct. 8

Aug. 14

Aug. 14

Aug. 14.

Sept. 28

Aug. 6. Oct. 2

Aug. 14

May 10

Aug. 15

May 14

Aug. 15

Aug. 15

June 15

472

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

Lapwings (tringa vanellus) congregate
Black-eyed marble butterfly (papilio se-

mele) ap.
Birds reassume their spring notes
Devil's-bit (scabiosa succisa) fl.
Thistle down floats
Ploughman's spikenard (conyza squar-

rosa) fl.
Autumnal dandelion (leontodon autum-

nale) fl.
Flies abound in windows
Linnets (fringilla linota) congregate
Bulls make their shrill autumnal noise
Aster amellus fl.
Balsam (impatiens balsamina) fl.
Milk thistle (carduus marianus) fl.
Hop picking begins
Beech (fagus sylvatica) turns yellow
Soapwort (saponaria otEcinalis) fl.
Ladies traces (ophrys spiralis) fl.
Small golden black-spotted butterfly (pa^

pilio phlaeas) ap.
Swallow (hirundo rustica) sings
Althaea frutex (hibiscus syriacus) fl.
Great fritillary (papilio paphia) ap.
Willow red under-whig moth (phalaena

pacta) ap.
Stone curlew (otis oedicnemus) clamours
Phal2ena russula ap.
Grapes ripen
Wood owls hoot

Saffron butterfly (papilio hyale) ap.
Ring ouzel appears on its autumnal visit
Flycatcher (muscicapa grisola) last seen
Beans (vicia faba) cut
Ivy (hedera helix) fl.
Stares congregate

Wild honeysuckles fl. a second time
Woodlark sings
Woodcock (scolopax rusticola) returns

Strawberry-tree (arbutus unedo) fl.
Wheat sown

Swallows last seen. (N. B. The house
martin the latest.)

WHITE.
Aug. 15. Sept. 12

Aug. 15
Aug. l6
Aug. 17
Aug. 17. Sept. 10

Aug. IS

Aug, 18

Aug. 18

Aug. IS. Nov. 1

Aug 20

Aug. 22

Aug. 23

Aug. 24

Aug. 24. Sept. 17

Aug. 24. Sept. 22

Aug. 25

Aug. 27. Sept. 12

Aug. 29
Aug. 29

Aug. 30. Sept. 2
Aug. 30

Aug. 31

Sept. 1. Nov. 7.

Sept. 1

Sept. 4. Oct. 24

Sept. 4, Noy. 9

Sept. 4

Sept. 4—30

Sept. 6—29

Sept. 11

Sept. 12. Oct. 2

Sept. 12. Nov. 1

Sept. 25

Sept. 28. Oct. 24

Sept. 29. Nov. 11

Oct. 1

Oct. 3. Nov. 9

Oct. 4. Nov. 5

MARKWICK.
Sept. 25. Feb. 4

June 22. Aug, 23

July 25

Aug. 22. Nov. 8

May 22 July 26
April 21. July 18
Sept. 1—15
Sept. 5—29
July 19. Aug. 23
Aug. 18. Sept. la

April 11. Aug. 20
July 20. Sept, 28

June 17

Aug. 31. Nov. 4

Aug. 5. Sept. 26

Sept. 4 — 30
Aug. 9. Oct. 14
Sept. 18. Oct 28
June 4. March 21

Oct. 1. Nov. 1. young
ones April 28, last seen
April 11

May 21. Dec. 10

Sept. 23. Oct, 19

Nov. 16

NATURALIST'S CALENDAR.

473

Kedwing (turdus iliacus) comes

Fieldfare (t.urdus pilaris) returns

Gossamer fills the air

Chinese holy-onk (alcea rosea) fl.

Hen chaffinches congregate

Wood pigeons come

Royston crow (corvus comix) returns

Snipe (scolopax gallinago) returns

Tortoise begins to bury himself

Rooks (corvus frugllegus) return to their

nest trees
Bucks grunt

Primrose (primula vulgaris) fl.
Green whistling plover ap.
Helvella mitra ap.
Greenfinches flock
Hepatica fl.

Furze (ulex europaeus) fl.
Polyanthus (primula polyanthus) fl.
Young lambs dropped
Moles work in throwing up hillocks
Helleborus foetidus fl.
Daisy (beUis perennis) fl.
Wall-flower (cheiranthus cheiri seu fru-

ticulosus of Smith) fl.
Mezereon fl.
Snowdrop fl.

IN SESE VERTITUK ANNUS.

WHITE.
Oct. 10. Nov. 10

Oct. 12. Nov. 23
Oct. 15 — 27
Oct. 19

Oct. 20. Dec. 31
Oct. 23. Dec 27
Oct. 23. Nov. 29

Oct. 25. Nov, 20
Oct. 27. Nov. 26

Oct. 31, Dec. 25
Nov. 1
Nov. 10
Nov. 13, 14
Nov. 16
Nov. 27

Nov. 30. Dec. 29
Dec, 4 — 21
Dec. 7—16
Dec. 11 — 27
Dec, 12 — 23
Dec. 14—30
Dec, 15

Dec. 15
Dec. 15
Dec. 29.

MARKWICK.
Oct. 1. Dec, 18. sings

Feb. 10, March 21.

last seen April 13
Oct 13. Nov. 18, last

seen May 1
July 7. Aug. 21

Oct. 13. Nov. 17, last
[seen April 15

Sept. 29, Nov, 11, last
[seen April 14

June 29. Oct, 20

Oct. 7, Dec. 30

Feb. 19.
Dec. 16—31
Dec. 3 1
Dec. 12. Feb. 21

Dec, 26 31
Nov, 5

3 P

OBSERVATIONS

ON

VARIOUS PARTS OF NATURE.

FROM MR. WHITE'S MSS.
WITH REMARKS BY MR. MARKWICK.

OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS.

BIRDS IN GENERAL.

In severe weather, fieldfares, red-wings, sky-larks, and tit-larks,
resort to watered meadows for food; the latter wades up to its
belly in pursuit of the pupse of insects, and runs along upon the
floating grass and weeds. Many gnats are on the snow near
the water, these support the birds in part.

Birds are much influenced in their choice of food by colour,
for though white currants are a much sweeter fruit than red,
yet they seldom touch the former till they have devoured every
bunch of the latter.

Red-starts, fly-catchers, and black-caps, arrive early in April.
If these little delicate beings are birds of passage (as we have
reason to suppose they are, because they are never seen in win-
ter) how could they, feeble as they seem, bear up against such
storms of snow and rain, and make their way through such
meteorous turbulences, as one should suppose would embarrass
and retard the most hardy and resolute of the winged nation?
Yet they keep their appointed times and seasons; and in spite
of frosts and winds return to their stations periodically, as if

478 ON VARIOUS PARTS

they had met with nothing to obstruct them. The withdrawing
and appearance of the short winged summer birds is a very
puzzUng circumstance in natural history !

When the boys bring me wasps' nests, my bantam fowls fare
deliciously, and when the combs are pulled to pieces, devour
the young wasps in their maggot state with the highest glee
and delight. Any insect-eating bird would do the same; and
therefore I have often wondered that the accurate Mr. Ray
should call one species of buzzard biiteo apivorus sive vespivorus,
or the honey buzzard, because some combs of wasps happened to
be found in one of their nests. The combs were conveyed
thither doubtless for the sake of the maggots or nymphs, and
not for their honey: since none is to be found in the combs of
wasps. Birds of prey occasionally feed on insects; thus have I
seen a tame kite picking up the female ants full of eggs with
much satisfaction. White.

That red-starts, fly-catchers, black-caps, and other slender-
billed insectivorous small birds, particularly the swallow tribe,
make their first appearance very early in the spring, is a well
known fact; though the fly-catcher is the latest of them all in
its visit (as this accurate naturalist observes in another place,)
for it is never seen before the month of May. If these delicate
creatures come to us from a distant country, they will probably
be exposed in their passage, as Mr. White justly remarks, to
much greater difficulties from storms and tempests than their
feeble powers appear to be able to surmount: on the other hand,
if we suppose them to pass the winter in a dormant state in this
country concealed in caverns or other hiding places sufficiently
guarded from the extreme cold of our winter to preserve their

OF NATURE. 479

life, and that at the approach of spring they revive from their
torpid state and reassume their usual powers of action, it will
entirely remove the first difficulty, arising from the storms and
tempests they are liable to meet with in their passage; but how
are we to get over the still greater difficulty of their revivifica-
tion from their torpid state ? What degree of warmth in the
temperature of the air is necessary to produce that effect, and
how it operates on the functions of animal life, are questions
not easily answered.

How could Mr. White suppose that Ray named this species
the honey buzzard because it fed on honey, when he not only
named it in Latin buteo apivonis et "cespivorus, but expressly
says that " it feeds on insects, and brings up its young with the
maggots or nymphs of wasps?"

That birds of prey, when in want of their proper food, flesh,
sometimes feed on insects 1 have little doubt, and think I have
observed the common buzzard, falco buteo, to settle on the
ground and pick up insects of some kind or other. Markwick.

ROOKS.

Rooks are continually fighting and pulling each other's nests
to pieces: these proceedings are inconsistent with living in such
close community. And yet if a pair offer to build on a single
tree, the nest is plundered and demolished at once. Some rooks
roost on their nest trees. The twigs which the rooks drop in
building supply the poor with brushwood to light their fires.
Some unhappy pairs are not permitted to finish any nest till the

480 ON VARIOUS PARTS

rest have completed their building. As soon as they get a few
sticks together, a party comes and demolishes the whole. As
soon as rooks have finished their nests, and before they lay, the
cocks begin to feed the hens, who receive their bounty with a
fondling tremulous voice and fluttering wings, and all the little
blandishments that are expressed by the young, while in a help-
less state. This gallant deportment of the males is continued
through the whole season of incubation. These birds do not
copulate on trees, nor in their nests, but on the ground in the
open fields. White.

After the first brood of rooks are sufficiently fledged, they
all leave their nest trees in the day-time, and resort to some dis-
tant place in search of food, but return regularly every evening,
in vast flights, to their nest trees, where, after flying round
several times with much noise and clamour, till they are all
assembled together, they take up their abode for the night.

Markwick.

THRUSHES.

Thrushes during long droughts are of great service in hunt-
ing out shell snails, which they pull in pieces for their young,
and are thereby very serviceable in gardens. Missel thrushes
do not destroy the fruit in gardens like the other species of
turdi, but feed on the berries of misseltoe, and in the spring on
ivy berries, which then begin to ripen. In the summer, when
their young become fledged, they leave neighbourhoods, and
retire to sheep walks and wild commons.

OF NATURE. 481

The magpies, when they have young, destroy the broods of
missel thrushes, though the dams are fierce birds, and fight
boldly in defence of their nests. It is probably to avoid such
insults, that this species of thrush, though wild at other times,
delights to build near houses, and in frequented walks and
gardens. White.

Of the truth of this I have been an e3'e-witness, having seen
the common thrush feeding on the shell snail.

In the very early part of this spring (1797) a bird of this
species used to sit every morning on the top of some high elms
close by my windows, and delight me with its charming song,
attracted thither, probably, by some ripe ivy berries that grew
near the place.

I have remarked something like the latter fact, for I remem-
ber, many years ago, seeing a pair of these birds fly up repeatedly
and attack some larger bird, which I suppose disturbed their
nest in my orchard, uttering at the same time violent shrieks
Since writing the above, I have seen more than once a pair of
these birds attack some magpies that had disturbed their nest,
with great violence and loud shrieks. INIarkwick.

POULTRY.

Many creatures are endowed with a ready discernment to
see what will turn to their own advantage and emolument; and
often discover more sagacity than could be expected. Thus my
neighbour's poultry watch for waggons loaded with wheat, and
running after them pick up a number of grains which are shaken

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482 ON VARIOUS PARTS

from the sheaves by the agitation of the carriages. Thus, when
my brother used to take down his gun to shoot sparrows, his
cats would run out before him, to be ready to catch up the birds
as they felL

The earnest and early propensity of the galhnae to roost on
high is very observable; and discovers a strong dread impressed
on their spirits respecting vermin that may annoy them on the
ground during the hours of darkness. Hence poultry, if left to
themselves and not housed, will perch the winter through on
yew-trees and fir-trees; and turkies and guinea fowls, heavy as
they are, get up into apple trees : pheasants also in woods sleep
on trees to avoid foxes; while pea-fowls climb to the tops of
the highest trees round their owner's house for security, let the
weather be ever so cold or blowing. Partridges, it is true, roost
on the ground, not having the faculty of perching; but then
the same fear prevails in their minds; for through apprehensions
from pole-cats and stoats, they never trust themselves to coverts,
but nestle together in the midst of large fields, far removed from
hedges and coppices, which they love to haunt in the day, and
where at that season they can sculk more secure from the ra-
vages of rapacious birds.

As to ducks and geese, their awkward splay web-feet forbid
them to settle on trees; they therefore, in the hours of darkness
and danger, betake themselves to their own element the water,
where, amidst large lakes and pools, like ships riding at anchor,
they float the whole night long in peace and security. White.

Guinea fowls not only roost on high, but in hard weather
resort, even in the day-time, to the very tops of the highest
trees. Last winter, when the ground was covered with snow.

OF NATURE. 483

I discovered all my guinea fowls, in the middle of the day, sit-
ting on the highest boughs of some very tall elms, chattering
and making a great clamour: I ordered them to be driven down
lest they should be frozen to death in so elevated a situation,
but this was not effected M'ithout much difficulty, they beino-
very uuwilling to quit their lofty abode, notwithstanding one of
them had its feet so much frozen that we were obliged to kill
it. I know not how to account for this, unless it was occasioned
by their aversion to the snow on the ground, they being birds
that come originally from a hot climate.

Notwithstanding the awkward splay web-feet (as Mr. White
calls them) of the duck genus, some of the foreign species have
the power of settling on the boughs of trees apparently with
great ease; an instance of which I have seen in the earl of Ash-
burnham's menagerie, where the summer duck, anas sponsa, flew
up and settled on the branch of an oak-tree in my presence;
but whether any of them roost on trees in the night, we are not
informed by any author that I am acquainted with. I suppose
not, but that, like the rest of the genus, they sleep on the
water, where the birds of this genus are not always perfectly
secure, as will appear from the following circumstance which
happened in this neighbourhood a few years since, as 1 was
credibly informed. A female fox was found in the morning
drowned in the same pond in which were several geese, and it
Avas supposed that in the night the fox swam into the pond to
devour the geese, but was attacked by the gander, which being
most powerful in its own element, buffeted the fox with its
wino-s about the head till it was drowned. jNIarkwick.

3Q2

484 ON VARIOUS PARTS

HEN PARTRIDGE.

A hen partridge came out of a ditch, and ran along shivering
with her wings, and crying out as if wounded and unable to get
from us. While the dam acted this distress, the boy who
attended me saw her brood, that was small and unable to fly,
run for shelter into an old fox-earth under the bank. So won-
derful a power is instinct. White.

It is not uncommon to see an old partridge feign itself
wounded and run along on the ground fluttering and crying
before either dog or man, to draw them away from its helpless
unfledged young ones. I have seen it often, and once in parti-
cular I saw a remarkable instance of the old bird's solicitude to
save its brood. As I was hunting a young pointer, the dog ran
on a brood of very small partridges; the old bird cried, fluttered,
and ran tumbling along just before the dog's nose till she had
drawn him to a considerable distance, when she took wing and
flew still farther off^, but not out of the field : on this the dog
returned to me, near which place the young ones lay concealed
in the grass, which the old bird no sooner perceived than she
flew back again to us, settled just before the dog's nose again,
and by rolling and tumbling about drew off his attention from
her young, and thus preserved her brood a second time. I
have also seen, when a kite has been hovering over a covey of
young partridges, the old birds fly up at the bird of prey,
screaming and fighting with all their might to preserve their
brood. Markwick.

OF NATURE. 485

A HYBRID PHEASANT.

Lord Stawell sent me from the great lodge in the Holt a
curious bird for my inspection. It was found by the spaniels
of one of his keepers in a coppice, and shot on the wing. The
shape, air, and habit of the bird, and the scarlet ring round the
eyes, agreed well with the appearance of a cock pheasant: but
then the head and neck, and breast and belly were of a glossy
black : and though it weighed three pounds three ounces and a
half, " the weight of a large full grown cock pheasant, yet there
were no signs of any spurs on the legs, as is usual with all grown
cock pheasants, who have long ones. The legs and feet were
naked of feathers, and therefore it could be nothing of the grous
kind. In the tail were no long bending feathers, such as cock
pheasants usually have, and are characteristic of the sex. The
tail was much shorter than the tail of a hen pheasant, and blunt
and square at the end. The back, wing feathers, and tail, were
all of a pale russet curiously streaked, somewhat like the upper
parts of a hen partridge. I returned it with my verdict, that it
was probably a spurious or hybrid hen bird, bred between a cock
pheasant and some domestic fowl. When I came to talk with
the keeper who brought it, he told me that some pea-hens had
been known last summer to haunt the coppices and coverts
where this mule was found.

Mr. Elmer, of Farnham, the famous game painter, was em-
ployed to take an exact copy of this curious bird.

• Hen pheasants usually weigh only two pounds ten ounces.

486 ON VARIOUS PARTS

N. B. It ought to be mentioned, that some good judges
have imagined tliis bird to have been a stray grous or black-
cock ; it is however to be observed, that Mr. W. remarks, that
its legs and feet were naked, whereas those of the gfous are
feathered to the toes. White.

Mr. Latham observes that " pea-hens, after they have done
laying, sometimes assume the plumage of the male bird," and
has given a figure of the male-feathered pea-hen now to be seen
in the Leverian Museum; and M. Salerne remarks, that "the
" hen pheasant, when she has done laying and sitting, will get
the plumage of the male." May not this hybrid pheasant (as
Mr. White calls it) be a bird of this kind;' that is, an old hen
pheasant which had just begun to assume the plumage of the
cock. Markwick.

LAND-RAIL.

A man brought me a land-rail or daker-hen, a bird so rare
in this district that we seldom see more than one or two in a
season, and those only in autumn. This is deemed a bird of
passage by all the writers: yet from its formation seems to be
poorly qualified for migration; for its wings are short, and placed
so forward, and out of the centre of gravity, that it tlies in a very
heavy and embarrassed manner, with its legs hanging down; and
can hardly be sprung a second time, as it runs very fast, and seems
to depend more on the swiftness of its feet than on its flying.

When we came to draw it, we found the entrails so soft and
tender, that in appearance they might have been dressed like

OF NATURE 487

the ropes of a woodcock. The craw or crop was small and lank,
containing a mucus; the gizzard thick and strong, and filled
with small shell snails, some whole, and many ground to pieces
through the attrition which is occasioned by the muscular force
and motion of that intestine. We saw no gravels among the
food: perhaps the shell snails might perform the functions of
gravels or pebbles, and might grind one another. Land-rails
used to abound formerly, I remember, in the low wet bean fields
of Christian Malford in North Wilts, and in the meadows near
Paradise Gardens at Oxford, where I have often heard them
cry crex, crex. The bird mentioned above weighed 7 -j oz,
was fat and tender, and in flavour like the flesh of a woodcock.
The liver was very large and delicate. White.

Land-rails are more plentiful with us than in the neighbour-
hood of Selborne. I have found four brace in an afternoon,
and a friend of mine lately shot nine in two adjoining fields;
but I never saw them in any other season than the autumn.

That it is a bird of passage there can be little doubt, though
Mr. White thinks it poorly qualified for migration, on account
of the wings being short and not placed in the exact centre of
gravity: how that may be I cannot say, but I kncvvthat its
heavy sluggish flight is not owing to its inability of flying faster,
for I have seen it fly very swiftly, although in general its actions
are sluggish. Its unwillingness to rise proceeds, I imagine,
from its sluggish disposition, and its great timidity, for it will
sometimes squat so close to the ground as to sufi^er itself to be
taken up by the hand, rather than rise; and yet it will at times
run very fast.

What Mr. White remarks respecting the small shell snails

488 ON VARIOUS PARTS

found in its gizzard, confirms my opinion, that it frequents
corn-fields, seed clover, and brakes or fern, more for the sake
of snails, slugs, and other insects which abound in such places,
than for the grain or seeds; and that it is entirely an insecti-
vorous bird. JMarkwick.

FOOD OF THE RING-DOVE.

One of my neighbours shot a ring-dove on an evening as it
was returning from feed and going to roost. When his wife
had picked and drawn it, she found its craw stuffed with the
most nice and tender tops of turnips. These she washed and
boiled, and so sat down to a choice and delicate plate of greens,
culled and provided in this extraordinary manner.

Hence we may see that graminivorous birds, when grain
fails, can subsist on the leaves of vegetables. There is reason
t6 suppose that they would not long be healthy without; for
turkies, though corn fed, delight in a variety of plants, such as
cabbage, lettuce, endive, &;c. and poultry pick much grass;
while geese live for months together on commons by grazing
alone.

" Nought is useless made ; •

" . On the barren heath

" The shepherd tends his flock that daily crop

" Their verdant dinner from the mossy turf

" Sufficient: after them the cacl<ling goose,

" Close-grazer, finds wherewith to ease her want."

Philips's Cydek.

White.

OF NATURE. 489

That many graminivorous birds feed also on the herbage or
leaves of plants, there can be no doubt: partridges and larks
frequently feed on the green leaves of turnips, which gives a
peculiar flavour to their flesh, that is, to me, very palatable : the
flavour also of wild ducks and geese greatly depends on the
nature of their food; and their flesh frequentlj- contracts a rank
unpleasant taste, from their having lately fed on strong marshy
aquatic plants, as I suppose.

That the leaves of vegetables are wholesome and conducive
to the health of birds, seems probable, for many people fat their
ducks and turkies with the leaves of lettuce chopped small.

Markwick.

HEN HARRlfiR.

A neighbouring gentleman sprung a pheasant in a wheat
stubble, and shot at it; when, notwithstanding the report of
the gun, it was immediately pursued by the blue hawk, known
by the name of the hen-harrier, but escaped into some covert.
He then sprung a second, and a third, in the same field, that
got away in the same manner; the hawk hovering round him
all the while that he was beating the field, conscious no doubt
of the game that lurked in the stubble. Hence we may conclude
that this bird of prey was rendered very daring and bold by
hunger, and that hawks cannot always seize their game when
they please. We may farther observe, that they cannot pounce
their quarry on the ground, where it might be able to make a
stout resistance, since so large a fowl as a pheasant could not
but be visible to the piercing eye of a hawk, when hovering

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490 ON VARIOUS PARTS

over the field. Hence that propensity of cowring and squatting
till they are almost trod on, which no doubt was intended as
a mode of security: though long rendered destructive to the
whole race of gallinte by the invention of nets and guns.

White.

Of the great boldness and rapacity of birds of prey, when
urged on by hunger, I have seen several instances; particularly,
when shooting in the winter in company with two friends, a
woodcock flew across us closely pursued by a small hawk; we
all three fired at the woodcock instead of the hawk, which, not-
withstanding the report of three guns close by it, continued its
pursuit of the woodcock, struck it down, and carried it off, as
we afterwards discovered.

At another time, when partridge-shooting with a friend, we
saw a ring-tail hawk rise out of a pit with some large bird in its
claws; though at a great distance, we both fired and obliged it
to drop its prey, which proved to be one of the partridges which
we were in pursuit of; and lastly, in an evening, I shot at and
plainly saw that I had wounded a partridge, but it being late
was obliged to go home without finding it again. The next
morning I walked round my land without any gun, but a
favourite old spaniel followed my heels. When I came near
the field where I wounded the bird the evening before, I heard
the partridges call, and seeming to be much disturbed. On my
approaching the bar-way they all rose, some on my right and
some on my left hand ; and just before and over my head, I per-
ceived (though indistinctly, from the extreme velocity of their
motion) two birds fly directly against each other, when instantly,
to my great astonishment, down dropped a partridge at my feet :

OF NATURE 491

the dog immediately seized it, and on examination I found the
blood flow very fast from a fresh wound in the head, but there
was some dry clotted blood on its wings and side; whence I
concluded that a hawk had singled out my wounded bird as the
object of his prey, and had struck it down the instant that my
approach had obliged the birds to rise on the wing; but the
space between the hedges was so small, and the motion of the
birds so instantaneous and quick, that I could not distinctly
observe the operation. IMarkwick.

GREAT SPECKLED DI\^ER, OR LOON.

As one of my neighbours was traversing Wolmer forest from
Bramshot across the moors, he found a large uncommon bird
fluttering in the heath, but not wounded, which he brought home
alive. On examination it proved to be colymbus glacialis Linn.
the great speckled diver or loon, which is most excellently
described in Willughby's Ornithology.

Every part and proportion of this bird is so incomparably
adapted to its mode of life, that in no instance do we see the
wisdom of God in the creation to more advantage. The head
is sharp and smaller than the part of the neck adjoining, in
order that it may pierce the water; the wings are placed forward
and out of the centre of gravity for a purpose which shall be
noticed hereafter; the thighs quite at the podex, in order to
facilitate diving; and the legs are flat, and as sharp backwards
almost as the edge of a knife, that in striking they may easily
cut the water: while the feet are palmated, and broad for swim-
ming, yet so folded up when advanced forward to take a fresh

3 R 2

492 ON VARIOUS PARTS

stroke, as to be full as narrow as the shank. The two exterior
toes of the feet are longest; the nails flat and broad, resembling
the human, which give strength and increase the power of
swimming. The foot, when expanded, is not at right angles to
the leg or body of the bird: but the exterior part inclining
towards the head forms an acute angle with the body; the in-
tention being not to give motion in the line of the legs them-
selves, but by the combined impulse of both in an intermediate
line, the line of the body.

Most people know, that have observed at all, that the swim-
ming of birds is nothing more than a walking in the water,
where one foot succeeds the other as on the land; yet no one,
as far as I am aware, has remarked that diving fowls, while
under water, impel and row themselves forward by a motion of
their wings, as well as by the impulse of their feet: but such is
really the case, as any person may easily be convinced, who will
observe ducks when hunted by dogs in a clear pond. Nor do I
know that any one has given a reason why the wings of diving
fowls are placed so forward : doubtless,, not for the purpose of
promoting their speed in flying, since that position certainly im-
pedes it; but probably for the increase of their motion under
water, by the use of four oars instead of two; yet were the
wings and feet nearer together, as in land-birds, they would,
when in action, rather hinder than assist one another.

This colymbus was of considerable bulk, weighing only three
drachms short of three pounds avoirdupois. It measured in
length from the bill to the tail (which was very short) two feet,
and to the extremities of the toes four inches more; and the
breadth of the wings expanded was 42 inches, A person
attempted to eat the body, but found it very strong and rancid,

OF NATURE. 493

as is the flesh of all birds living on fish. Divers or loons, though
bred in the most northerly parts of Europe, yet are seen with
us in very severe winters ; and on the Thames are called sprat
loons, because they prey much on that sort offish.

The legs of the colymbi and inergi are placed so very back-
ward, and so out of all centre of gravity, that these birds cannot
walk at all. They are called by Linnasus compedes, because they
move on the ground as if shackled or fettered. White.

These accurate and ingenious observations, tending to set
forth in a proper light the wonderful works of God in the crea-
tion, and to point out his wisdom in adapting the singular form
and position of the limbs of this bird to the particular mode in
which it is destined to pass the greatest part of it's life in an ele-
ment much denser than the air, do Mr. White credit^ not only as
a naturalist, but as a man and as a philosopher, in the truest
sense of the word, in my opinion; for were we enabled to trace
the works of nature minutely and accurately, we should find,
not only that every bird, but every creature, was equally well
adapted to the purpose for which it was intended; though this
fitness and propriety of form is more striking in such animals
as are destined to any uncommon mode of life.

I have had in my possession two birds, which, though of a
different genus, bear a great resemblance to Mr. White's Colym-
bus, in their manner of life, which is spent chiefly in the water,
where they swim and dive with astonishing rapidity, for which
purpose their fin-toed feet, placed far behind, and very short
wings, are particularly well adapted, and shew the wisdom of
God in the creation as conspicuously as the bird beforemen-
tioned. These birds were the greater and lesser crested grebe.

494 ON VARIOUS PARTS

podiceps cristatus et auritus. What surprised me most was, that
the first of these birds was found alive on dry ground, about
seven miles from the sea, to which place there was no commu-
nication by water. How did it get so far from the sea? its
wings and legs being so ill adapted either to flying or walking
The lesser crested grebe was also found in a fresh water pond
which had no communication with other water, at some miles
distance from the sea. Markwick.

STONE CURLEW.

On the £7th of February 1788, Stone Curlews were heard
to pipe; and on March 1st, after it was dark, some were passing
over the village, as might be perceived by their quick short
note, which they use in their nocturnal excursions by way of
watch-word, that they may not stray and lose their companions.

Thus, we see, that retire whithersoever they may in the win-
ter,' they return again early in the spring, and are, as it now
appears, the first summer birds that come back. Perhaps the
mildness of the season may have quickened the emigration of
the curlews this year.

They spend the day in high elevated fields and sheep-walks;
but seem to descend in the night to streams and meadows, per-
haps for water, which their upland haunts do not afford them.

White.

On the Slst of January 1792 I received a bird of this species
which had been recently killed by a neighbouring farmer, who
said that he had frequently seen it in his fields during the former

OF NATURE. 495

part of the winter; this perhaps was an occasional straggler,
which, by some accident, was prevented from accompanying its
companions in their migration. Markwick.

THE SMALLEST UNCRESTED WILLOW WREN,

The smallest uncrested willow wren, or chifF chaf, is the
next early summer bird which we have remarked; it utters two
sharp piercing notes, so loud in hollow woods, as to occasion an
echo, and is usually first heard about the 20th of March.

White.

This bird, which Mr. White calls the smallest willow wren
or chifF chaf, makes its appearance very early in the spring, and
is very common with us; but I cannot make out the three dif-
ferent species of willow wrens which he assures us he has dis-
covered. Ever since the publication of his History of Selborne
I have used my utmost endeavours to discover his three birds,
but hitherto without success. I have frequently shot the bird
which " haunts only the tops of trees and makes a sibilous noise,"
even in the very act of uttering that sibilous note, but it always
proved to be the common willow wren or his chifF chaf. In
short, I never could discover more than one species, unless my
greater pettychaps, sylvia hortensis of Latham, is his greatest
willow wren. Markwick.

496 ON VARIOUS PARTS

FERN OWL, OR GOAT SUCKER.

The country people have a notion that the fern owl, or churn
owl, or eve-jarr, which they also call a puckeridge, is very in-
jurious to weanling calves, by inflicting, as it strikes at them,
the fatal distemper know^n to cow-leeches by the name of puck-
eridge. Thus does this harmless ill-fated bird fall under a
double imputation which it by no means deserves — in Italy, of
sucking the teats of goats, whence it is called caprimulgus ; and
with us, of communicating a deadly disorder to cattle. But
the truth of the matter is, the malady above mentioned is occa-
sioned by the cestrus bovis, a dipterous insect, which lays its
eggs along the chines of kine, where the maggots, when hatched,
eat their way through the hide of the beast into the flesh, and
grow to a very large size. I have just talked with a man, who
says, he has more than once stripped calves who have died of
the puckeridge; that the ail or complaint lay along the chine
where the flesh was much swelled, and filled with purulent mat-
ter. Once I myself saw a large rough maggot of this sort
squeezed out of the back of a cow.

These maggots in Essex are called wornils.

The least observation and attention would convince men,
that these birds neither injure the goatherd nor the grazier, but
are perfectly harmless, and subsist alone, being night birds, on
night insects, such as scarabm, and phalcence ; and through the
month of July mostly on the scarabceus solstitialis, which ,in
many districts abounds at that season. Those that we have
opened, have always had their craws stuffed with large night
moths and their eggs, and pieces of chaffers: nor does it any-

OF NATURE. 497

wise appear how they can, weak and unarmed as they seem,
inflict any harm upon kine, unless they possess the powers of
animal magnetism, and can affect them by fluttering over them.

A fern owl, this evening (Angust 27) showed off in a very
unusual and entertaining manner, by hawking round and round
the circumference of my great spreading oak for twenty times
following, keeping mostly close to the grass, but occasionally
glancing up amidst the boughs of the tree. This amusing bird
was then in pursuit of a brood of some particular phalffina be-
longing to the oak, of whcih there are several sorts ; and exhi-
bited on the occasion a command of wing superior, I think, to
that of the swallow itself.

When a person approaches the haunt of fern-owls in an even-
ing, they continue flying round the head of the obtruder; and
by striking their wings together above their backs, in the man-
ner that the pigeons called smiters are kno\tn to do, make a
smart snap: perhaps at that time they are jealous for their
young; and their noise and gesture are intended by way of
menace.

Fern-owls have attachment to oaks, no doubt on account of
food; for the next evening we saw one again several times
among the boughs of the same tree; but it did not skim round
its stem over the grass, as on the evening before. In May these
birds find the scarabceiis ineMontha on the oak; and the scarabmis
solstitialis at midsummer. These peculiar birds can only be
watched and observed for two hours in the twenty- four: and
then in a dubious twilight an hour after sun-set and an hour
before sun-rise.

On this day (July 14, 1789) a woman brought me two eggs
of a fern-owl or evejarr, which she found on the verge of the

3 s

498 ON VARIOUS PARTS

Hanger, to the left of the hermitage under a beechen shrub.
This person, who lives just at the foot of the Hanger, seems well
acquainted with these nocturnal swallows, and says she has often
found their eggs near that place, and that they lay only two at
a time on the bare ground. The eggs were oblong, dusky, and
streaked somewhat in the manner of the plumage of the parent
bird, and were equal in size at each end. The dam was sit-
ting on the eggs when found, which contained the rudiments
of young, and would liave been hatcheil perhaps in a week.
From hence we may see the time of their breeding, which cor-
responds- pretty well with that of the swift, as does also the
period of their arrival. Each species is usually seen about the
beginning of May. Each breeds but once in a summer; each
lays only two eggs.

July 4, 1790. The woman who brought me two fern-owl's
eggs last year on July 14, on this day produced me two more,
one of which had been laid this morning, as appears plainly,
because there was only one in the nest the evening before.
They were found, as last July, on the verge of the down above
the hermitage under a beechen shrub, on the naked ground.
Last year those eggs were full of young, and just ready to be
hatched.

These circumstances point out the exact time when these
curious nocturnal migratory birds lay their eggs and hatch their
young. Fern-owls, like snipes, stone curlews, and some other
birds, make no nest. Birds that build on the ground do not
make much of nests. White.

No author that I am acquainted with has given so accurate
and pleasing an account of the manners and habits of the goat-

OF NATURE. 499

sucker as Mr. Wliite, taken entirely from his own observations.
Its being a nocturnal bird, has prevented my having many op-
portunities of observing it. I suspect that it passes the day in
concealment amidst the dark and shady gloom of deep-wooded
dells, or as they are called here gills; having more than once
seen it roused from such solitary places by my dogs, when
shooting in the day-time. I have also sometimes seen it in an
evening, but not long enough to take notice of its habits and
manners. I have never seen it but in the summer, between the
months of May and September. Makkwick.

SAND MARTINS.

March 23, 1788. A gentleman, who was this week on a
visit at Waverley, took the opportunity of examining some of
the holes in the sand banks with which that district abounds.
As these are undoubtedly bored by bank martins, and are the
places where they avowedly breed, he was in hopes they might
have slept there also, and that he might have surprised them
just as they were awaking from their winter slumbers. When
he had dug for some time, he found the holes were horizontal
and serpentine, as I had observed before: and that the nests
were deposited at the inner end, and had been occupied by
broods in former summers, but no torpid birds were to be found.
He opened and examined about a dozen holes. Another gentle-
man made the same search many years ago, with as little
success.

These holes were in depth about two feet,

March 21, 1790. A single bank or sand martin was seen
3 s 2

500 ON VARIOUS PARTS

hovering and playing round the sand pit at Short Heath, where
in the summer they abound.

April 9, 1793. A sober hind assures us, that this day, on
Wish-hanger common between Hedleigh and Frinsham, he saw
several bank-martins playing in and out, and hanging before
some nest holes in a sand-hill, where these birds usually nestle.

This incident confirms my suspicions that this species of
hirundo is to be seen first of any; and gives great reason to sup-
pose that they do not leave their wild haunts at all, but are
secreted amidst the clefts and caverns of those abrupt cliffs
where they usually spend their summers.

The late severe weather considei-ed, it is not very probable
that these birds should have migrated so early from a tropical
region, through all these cutting winds and pinching frosts:
but it is easy to suppose that they may, like bats and flies, have
been awakened by the influence of the sun, amidst their secret
latebriE, where they have spent the uncomfortable foodless
months in a torpid state, and the profoundest of slumbers.

There is a large pond at Wish-hanger, which induces these
sand-martins to frequent that district. For I have ever remarked
tliat they haunt near great waters, either rivers or lakes. White.

Here, and in many other passages of his writings, this very
ingenious Naturalist favours the opinion that part at least of
the swallow tribe pass their winter in a torpid state in tlie same
manner as bats and flies, and revive again on the approach of
spring.

I have frequently taken notice of all these circumstances,
which induced Mr. White to suppose that some of the hirun-
dines lie torpid during winter. I have seen, so late as Novem-

OF NATURE. SO]

ber, on a finer day than usual at that season of the year, two or
three swallows flying backwards and forwards under a warm
hedge, or on the sunny side of some old building; nay I once
saw on the 8th of December two martins flying about very
briskly, the weather being mild. I had not seen any considera-
ble number either of swallows or martins for a considerable time
before; from whence then could these few birds come, if not
from some hole or cavern where they had laid themselves up
for the winter? Surely it will not be asserted that these birds
migrate back again from some distant tropical region, merely
on the appearance of a fine day or two at this late season of the
year. Again, very early in the spring, and sometimes immediately
after very cold severe weather, on its growing a little warmer, a
few of these birds suddenly make their appearance, long before
the generality of them are seen. These appearances certainly
favour the opinion of their passing the winter in a torpid state,
but do not absolutely prove the fact; for who ever saw them
reviving of their own accord from their torpid state, without
being first brought to the fire, and as it were, forced into life
again; soon after which revivification they constantly die.

Markwick.

SWALLOWS, CONGREGATING AND DISAPPEARANCE OF.

During the severe winds that often prevail late in the spring,
it is not easy to say how the hirundines subsist : for they with-
draw themselves, and are hardly ever seen, nor do any insects
appear for their support. That they can retire to rest, and sleep
away these uncomfortable periods, as bats do, is a matter rather

502, ON VARIOUS PARTS

to be suspected than proved: or do they not rather spend their
time in deep and sheltered vales near waters, where insects are
more likely to be found? Certain it is, that hardly any individuals
of this genus have at such times been seen for several days
together.

September 13, 1791. The congregating flocks of hirundines
on the church and tower are very beautiful and amusing! When
they fly off together from the roof, on any alarm, they quite
swarm in the air. But they soon settle in heaps, and preening
their feathers, and lifting up their wings to admit the sun, seem
highly to enjoy the warm situation. Thus they spend the heat
of the day, preparing for their emigration, and, as it were, con-
sulting when and where they are to go. The flight about the
church seems to consist chiefly of house martins, about 400 in
number: but there are other places of rendezvous about the
village frequented at the same time.

It is remarkable, that though most of them sit on the battle-
ments and roof, yet many hang or cling for some time by their
claws against the surface of the walls, in a manner not practised
by them at any other time of their remaining with us.

The swallows seem to delight more in holding their assem-
blies on trees.

November 3, 1789. Two swallows were seen this morning
at Newton vicarage-house, hovering and settling on the roofs
and out-buildings. None have been observed at Selborne since
October 11. It is very remarkable, that after the hirundines
have disappeared for some weeks, a few are occasionally seen
again: sometimes, in the first week in November, and that only
for one day. Do they not withdraw and slumber in some hiding
place during the interval? for we cannot suppose they had mi-

OF NATURE 503

grated to warmer climes and so returned again for one day. Is
it not more probable that they are awakened from sleep, and
like the bats are come forth to collect a little food? Bats appear
at all seasons through the autumn and spring months, M'hen the
thermometer is at 50, because then phalasnte and moths are
stirring.

These swallows looked like young ones. White.

Of their migration the proofs are such as will scarcely admit
of a doubt. Sir Charles Wager and Captain Wright saw vast
flocks of them at sea, when on their passage from one country
to another. Our author, Mr. White, saw what he deemed the
actual migration of these birds, and which he has described at
p. 65 of his History of Selborne; and of their congregating to-
gether on the roofs of churches and other buildings, and on
trees, previous to their departure, many instances occur; parti-
cularly I once observed a large flock of house-martins on the
roof of the church here at Catsfield, which acted exactly in the
manner here described by Mr. White, sometimes preening their
feathers and spreading their wings to the sun, and then flying
off all together, but soon returning to their former situation.
The greatest part of these birds seemed to be young ones.

Markwick.

WAGTAILS.

While the cows are feeding in the moist low pastures, broods
of wagtails, white and grey, run round them, close up to their
noses, and under their very bellies, availing themselves of the
flies that settle on their legs, and probably finding worms and

504 ON VARIOUS PARTS

larvce that are roused by the trampling of their feet. Nature
is such an oeconomist, that the most incongruous animals can
avail themselves of each other !

Interest makes strange friendships. White.

Birds continually avail themselves of particular and unusual
circumstances to procure their food; thus wagtails keep playing
about the noses and legs of cattle as they feed, in quest of flies
and other insects which abound near those animals; and great
numbers of them will follow close to the plough to devour the
worms, &c. that are turned up by that instrument. The red-
breast attends the gardener when digging his borders; and will,
with great familiarity and tameness, pick out the worms, almost
close to his spade, as I have frequently seen. Starlings and
magpies very often sit on the backs of sheep and deer to pick
out their ticks. Markwick.

WRYNECK.

These birds appear on the grass-plots and walks ; they walk
a little as well as hop, and thrust their bills into the turf, in
quest, I conclude, of ants, which are their food. While they
hold their bills in the grass, they draw out their prey with their
tongues, which are so long as to be coiled round their heads.

White.

GROSBEAK.
Mr. B. shot a cock grosbeak which he had observed to haunt
his garden for more than a fortnight. I began to accuse this

OF NATURE. 505

bird of making sad havock among the buds of the cherries,
gooseberries, and wall-fruit of all the neighbouring orchards.
Upon opening its crop or craw, no buds were to be seen; but a
mass of kernels of the stones of fruits. Mr. B. observed that this
bird frequented the spot where plum-trees grow ; and that he had
seen it with somewhat hard in its mouth, which it broke with
difficulty; these were the stones of damsons. The latin orni-
thologists call this bird coccothraustes, i. e. berry-breaker, be-
cause with its large horny beak it cracks and breaks the shells
of stone fruits for the sake of the seed or kernel. Birds of this
sort are rarely seen in England, and only in winter. White.

I have never seen this rare bird but during the severest cold
of the hardest winters; at which season of the year I have had
in my possession two or three that were killed in this neigh-
bourhood in different years. Markwick.

3 T

506

OBSERVATIONS

QUADRUPEDS.

SHEEP.

The sheep on the downs this winter (1769) are very ragged,
and their coats much torn; the shepherds say they tear their
fleeces with their own mouths and horns, and they are always in
that way in mild wet winters, being teased and tickled with a
kind of lice.

After ewes and lambs are shorn, there is great confusion and
bleating, neither the dams nor the young being able to distin-
guish one another as before. This embarrassment seems not so
much to arise from the loss of the fleece, which may occasion
an alteration in their appearance, as from the defect of that
notus odor, discriminating each individual personally; which also
is confounded by the strong scent of the pitch and tar where-
with they are newly marked; for the brute creation recognize
each other more from the smell than the sight; and in matters
of identity and diversity appeal much more to their noses than

OBSERVATIONS, &c. 507

their eyes. After sheep have been washed there is the same
confusion, from the reason given above. White.

RABBITS.

Rabbits make incomparably the finest turf, for they not only
bite closer than larger quadrupeds, but they allow no bents to
rise; hence warrens produce much the most delicate turf for
gardens. Sheep never touch the stalks of grasses. White.

CAT AND SQUIRRELS.

A boy has taken three little young squirrels in their nest, or
drey as it is called in these parts. These small creatures he put
Tinder the care of a cat who had lately lost her kittens, and finds
that she nurses and suckles them with the same assiduity and
affection, as if they were her own offspring. This circumstance
corroborates my suspicion, that the mention of exposed and
deserted children being nurtured by female beasts of prey who
had lost their young, may not be so improbable an incident as
many have supposed; and therefore may be a justification of
those authors who have gravely mentioned, what some have
deemed to be a wild and improbable story.

So many people went to see the little squirrels suckled by a
cat, that the foster mother became jealous of her charge, and in
pain for their safety; and therefore hid them over the ceiling,
where one died. This circumstance shews her affection for these

508 OBSERVATIONS, &c.

fondlings, and that she supposes the squirrels to be her own
young. Thus hens, when they have hatched ducklings, are
equally attached to them as if they were her own chickens.

White.

HORSE.

An old hunting mare, which ran on the common, being taken
very ill, ran down into the village, as it were, to implore the
help of men, and died the night following in the street.

White.

HOUNDS.

The king's stag-hounds came down to Alton, attended by a
huntsman and six yeomen prickers, with horns, to try for the
stag that has haunted Hartley Wood for so long a time. Many
hundreds of people, horse and foot, attended the dogs to see the
deer unharboured; but though the huntsman drew Hartley
Wood, and Long Coppice, and Shrubwood, and Temple Hangers,
and in their way back Hartley and Ward le ham Hangers, yet
no stag could be found.

The royal pack, accustomed to have the deer turned out
before them, never drew the coverts with any address and spirit,
as many people that were present observed; and this remark
the event has proved to be a true one. For as a person was
lately pursuing a pheasant that was wing-broken in Hartley
Wood, he stumbled upon the stag by accident, and ran in upon
him as he lay concealed amidst a thick brake of brambles and
bushes. White.

509

OBSERVATIONS

INSECTS AND VERMES.

INSECTS IN GENERAL.

The day and night insects occupy the annuals alternately: the
papilios, muscEB, and apes, are succeeded at the close of day by
phalffinse, earwigs, woodlice, &:c. In the dusk of the evening,
when beetles begin to buz, partridges begin to call; these two
circumstances are exactly coincident.

Ivy is the last flower that supports the hymenopterous and
dipterous insects. On sunny days quite on to November they
swarm on trees covered with this plant; and when they disap-
pear, probably retire under the shelter of its leaves, concealing
themselves between its fibres and the trees which it entwines.

White.

This I have often observed, having seen bees and other
winged insects swarming about the flowers of the ivy, very late
in the autumn. Markwick.

510 OBSERVATIONS ON

Spiders, woodlice, lepismEe in cupboards and among sugar,
some empedes, gnats, flies of several species, some phatena; in
hedges, earth-worms, &c. are stirring at all times when winters
are mild; and are of great service to those soft-billed birds that
never leave us.

On every sunny day the winter through, clouds of insects
usually called gnats (I suppose tipula; and empedes) appear
sporting and dancing over the tops of the ever-green trees in
the shrubbery, and frisking about as if the business of generation
was still going on. Hence it appears that these diptera (which
by their sizes appear to be of different species) are not subject
to a torpid state in the winter, as most winged insects are. At
night, and in frosty weather, and when it rains and blows, they
seem to retire into those trees. They often are out in a fog.

White.

This I have also seen, and have frequently observed swarms
of little winged insects playing up and down in the air in the
middle of winter, even when the ground has been covered with
snow. Markwick.

HUMMING IN THE AIR.

There is a natural occurrence to be met with upon the
highest part of our down in hot summer days, which always
amuses me much, without giving me any satisfaction with
respect to the cause of it; and that is a loud audible humming
of bees in the air, though not one insect is to be seen. This
sound is to be heard distinctly the whole common through, from
the Money-dells, to Mr. White's avenue gate. Any person

INSECTS AND VERMES. 511

would suppose that a large swarm of bees was in motion, and
playing about over his head. This noise was heard last week,
on June 28th.

" Resounds the living surface of the ground,
" Nor uudelightful is the ceaseless hum

" To him who muses at noon."

" Thick in yon stream of light a thousand ways,

" Upward and downward, thwarting and convolv'd,

" The quivering nations sport." Thomson's Seasons.

White.

CHAFFERS.

Cockchaflfers seldom abound oftener than once in three or
four years; when they swarm, they deface the trees and hedges.
Whole woods of oaks are stripped bare by them.

Chaffers are eaten by the turkey, the rook, and the house-
sparrow.

The scarabaus solstitialis first appears about June 9.6: they
are very punctual in their coming out every year. They are a
small species, about half the size of the May-chaffer, and are
known in some parts by the name of the fern-chaffer. White.

A singular circumstance relative to the cockchaffer, or as it
is called here the May-bug, scarabceus melolontha, happened this
year (1800): — My gardener in digging some ground found,
about six inches under the surface, two of these insects alive
and perfectly formed so early as the £4th of March. When he
brought them to me, they appeared to be as perfect and as much
alive as in the midst of summer, crawling about as briskly as
ever: yet I saw no more of this insect till the 22d of May, when

512 OBSERVATIONS ON

it began to make its appearance. How comes it, that though
it was perfectly formed so early as the 24th of March, it did
not shew itself above ground till nearly two months afterwards?

Makkwick.

PTINUS PECTINICORNIS.

Those maggots that make worm-holes in tables, chairs, bed-
posts, &c. and destroy wooden furniture, especially where there
is any sap, are the larvae of the ptinus pectinicornis. This insect,
it is probable, deposits its eggs on the surface, and the worms
eat their way in.

In their holes they turn into their pupee state, and so come
forth winged in July: eating their way through the valances or
curtains of a bed, or any other furniture that happens to obstruct
their passage.

They seem to be most inclined to breed in beech; hence
beech will not make lasting utensils, or furniture. If their eggs
are deposited on the surface, frequent rubbing will preserve
wooden furniture. White.

BLATTA ORIENTALIS. COCKROACH.

A neighbour complained to me that her house was over-run
with a kind of black beetle, or as she expressed herself, with a
kind of black-bob, which swarmed in her kitchen when they
got up in a morning before day-break.

Soon after this account, I observed an unusual insect in one
of my dark chimney closets, and find since, that in the night

INSECTS AND VERMES. 513

they swarm also in my kitchen. On examination, I soon ascer-
tained the species to be the blatta orkntaUs of Linnseus, and the
hlatta molendinaria of Mouffet. The male is winged; the female
is not, but shows somewhat like the rudiments of wings, as if
in the pupa state.

These insects belonged originally to the warmer parts of
America, and were conveyed from thence by shipping to the
East Indies; and by means of commerce begin to prevail in the
more northern parts of Europe, as Russia, Sweden, &c. How
long they have abounded in England I cannot say; but have
never observed them in my house till lately.

They love warmth, and haunt chimney-closets, and the backs
of ovens. Poda says that these and house crickets will not as-
sociate together; but he is mistaken in that assertion, as Lin-
nseus suspected he was. They are altogether night insects,
lucifugce, never coming forth till the rooms are dark and still,
and escaping away nimbly at the approach of a candle. Their
antennse are remarkably long, slender, and flexile.

October 1790. After the servants are gone to bed, the kit-
chen hearth swarms with young crickets, and young blattcB
inolendinaricE of all sizes, from the most minute growth to their
full proportions. They seem to live in a friendly manner toge-
ther, and not to prey the one on the other.

August 1792. After the destruction of many thousands of
blattce molendinaricB, we find that at intervals a fresh detachment
of old ones arrives, and particularly during this hot season : for
the windows being left open in the evenings, the males come
flying in at the casements from the neighbouring houses, which
swarm with them. How the females, that seem to have no per-
fect wings that they can use, can contrive to get from house to

3 u

614 OBSERVATIONS ON

house, does not so readily appear. These, like many insects,
when they find their present abodes over-stocked, have powers
of migrating to fresh quarters. Since the blattee have been so
much kept under, the crickets have greatly increased in number.

White.

GRYLLUS DOM ESTICUS.— HOUSE CRICKET.

November. After the servants are gone to bed, the kitchen
hearth swarms with minute crickets not so large as fleas, which
must have been lately hatched. So that these domestic insects,
cherished by the influence of a constant large fire, regard not
the season of the year, but produce their young at a time when
their congeners are either dead, or laid up for tlie winter, to pass
away the uncomfortable months in the profoundest slumbers,
and a state of torpidity.

When house-crickets are out, and running about in a room
in the night, if surprised by a candle, they give two or three
shrill notes, as it were for a signal to their fellows, that they
may escape to their crannies and lurking holes, to avoid danger.

White.

CIMEX LINEARIS.

August 12, 1775. Cimices I'weares are now in high copula-
tion on ponds and pools. The females, who vastly exceed the
males in bulk, dart and shoot along on the surface of the water
with the n)ales on their backs. When a female chooses to be
disengaged, she rears, and jumps, and plunges, like an unruly
coltj the lover thus dismounted, soon finds a new mate. The

INSECTS AND VERMES. 515

The females, as fast as their curiosities are satisfied, retire to
another part of the lake, perhaps to deposit their foetus in quiet;
hence the sexes are found separate, except where generation is
going on. From the multitude of minute young of all grada-
tions of sizes, these insects seem without doubt to be viviparous.

White.

PHAL^NA QUERCUS.

Most of our oaks are naked of leaves, and even the Holt in
general, having been ravaged by the caterpillars of a small pha-
Icena which is of a pale yellow colour. These insects, though a
feeble race, yet, from their infinite numbers, are of wonderful
eflfect, being able to destroy the foliage of whole forests and dis-
tricts. At this season they leave their aurelia, and issue forth
in their fly-state, swarming and covering the trees and hedges.

In a field at Greatham, I saw a flight of swifts busied in
catching their prey near the ground; and found they were hawk-
ing after these phalcmcE. The aurdice of this moth is shining
and as black as jet; and lies wrapped up in a leaf of the tree,
which is rolled round it, and secured at the ends by a web, to
prevent the maggot from falling out. White.

I suspect that the insect here meant is not the phalaina
quercus, hut the phakena viridata, concerning which, I find the
following note in my Naturahst's Calendar for the year 1785.

About this time, and for a few days last past, I observed the
leaves of almost all the oak-trees in Denn copse to be eaten and
destroyed, and, on examining more narrowly, saw an infinite
number of small beautiful pale green moths flying about the

516 OBSERVATIONS ON

trees; the leaves of which that were not quite destroyed were
curled up, and withinside were the exuvice or remains of the
chrysalis, from whence I suppose the moths had issued, and
whose caterpillar had eaten the leaves. Markwick.

EPHEMERA CAUDA BISETA. MAY FLY.

June 10, 1771- Myriads of May flies appear for the first
time on the Alresford stream. The air was crowded with them,
and the surface of the water covered. Large trouts sucked
them in as they lay struggling on the surface of the stream,
unable to rise till their wings were dried.

This appearance reconciled me in some measure to the won-
derful account that Scopoli gives of the quantities emerging
from the rivers of Carniola. Their motions are very peculiar,
up and down for many yards almost in a perpendicular line.

White.

I once saw a swarm of these insects playing up and down
over the surface of a pond in Denn park, exactly in the manner
described by this accurate naturalist. It Avas late in the even-
ing of a warm summer's day when I observed them.

Mark^'ick.

SPHYNX OCELLATA.

A vast insect appears after it is dusk, flying with a humming
noise, and inserting its tongue into the bloom of the honey-

INSECTS AND VERMES. 517

suckle; it scarcely settles upon the plants, but feeds on the
wing in the manner of humming birds. White.

I have frequently seen the large bee moth, sphinv stellatarum,
inserting its long tongue or proboscis into the centre of flowers,
and feeding on their nectar, without settling on them, but keep-
ing constantly on the wing. Markwick.

WILD BEE.

There is a sort of wild bee frequenting the garden-campion
for the sake of its tomentum, which probably it turns to some
purpose in the business of nidification. It is very pleasant to
see with Avhat address it strips off the pubes, running from the
top to the bottom of a branch, and shaving it bare with all the
dexterit}' of a hoop-shaver. When it has got a vast bundle,
almost as large as itself, it flies away, holding it secure between
its chin and its fore legs.

There is a remarkable hill on the downs near Lewes in Sus-
sex, known by the name of Mount Carburn, which overlooks
that town, and affords a most engaging prospect of all the
country round, besides several views of the sea. On the very
summit of this exalted promontory, and amidst the trenches of
its Danish camp, there haunts a species of wild bee, making its
nest in the chalky soil. When people approach the place, these
insects begin to be alarmed, and, with a sharp and hostile sound,
dash and strike round the heads and faces of intruders. I have
often been interrupted myself while contemplating the grandeur

513 OBSERVATIONS ON

of the scenery around me, and have thought myself in danger
of being stung. White.

WASPS.

Wasps abound in woody wild districts far from neighbour^
hoods; they feed on flowers, and catch flies and caterpillars to
carry to their young. Wasps make their nests with the raspings
of sound timber; hornets, with what they gnaw from decayed:
these particles of wood are kneaded up with a mixture of saliva
from their bodies, and moulded into combs.

When there is no fruit in the gardens, wasps eat flies, and
suck the honey from flowers, from ivy blossoms, and umbellated
plants : they carry off also flesh from butchers shambles.

White.

In the year 1775 wasps abounded so prodigiously in this
neighbourhood, that, in the month of August, no less than seven
or eight of their nests were ploughed up in one field; of which
there were several instances, as I .was informed.

In the Spring, about the beginning of April, a single wasp is
sometimes seen, which is of a larger size than usual; this I
imagine is the queen or female wasp, the mother of the future
swarm. Markwick.

OESTRUS CURVICAUDA.

This insect lays its nits or eggs on horses' legs, flanks, &c.
each on a single hair. The maggots when hatched do not

INSECTS AND VERMES. 519

enter the horses' skins, but fall to the ground. It seems to
abound most in moist, moorish places, though sometimes seen
in the uplands. White.

NOSE FLY.

About the beginning of July, a species of fly (musca) obtains,
which proves very tormenting to horses, trying still to enter
their nostrils and ears, and actually laying their eggs in the lat-
ter of those organs, or perhaps in both. When these abound,
horses in woodland districts become very impatient at their
work, continually tossing their heads, and rubbing their noses
on each other, regardless of the driver, so that accidents often
ensue. In the heat of the day, men are often obliged to desist
from ploughing. Saddle-horses are also very troublesome at
such seasons. Country people call this insect the nose fly.

White.

Is not this insect the oestrus nasalis of Linneeus, so well
described by Mr. Clark in the third volume of the Linnaean
Transactions, under the name of oestrus veterinus? Makkwick.

ICHNEUMON FLY.

I saw lately a small ichneumon fly attack a spider much
larger than itself on a grass walk. When the spider made any
resistance, the ichneumon applied her tail to him, and stung
him with great vehemence, so that he soon became dead and

520 OBSERVATIONS ON

motionless. The ichneumon then running backward drew her
prey very nimbly over the walk into the standing grass. This
spider would be deposited in some hole where the ichneumon
would lay some eggs; and as soon as the eggs were hatched, the
carcase would afford ready food for the maggots.

Perhaps some eggs might be injected into the body of the
spider, in the act of stinging. Some ichneumons deposit their
eggs in the aurelia of moths and butterflies. White.

In my Naturalist's Calendar for 1795, July 21st, I find the
following note :

It is not uncommon for some of the species of ichneumon
flies to deposit their eggs in the chrysalis of a butterfly: some
time ago I put two of the chrysalis of a butterfly into a box
and covered it with gauze, to discover what species of butterfly
they would produce; but instead of a butterfly, one of them
produced a number of small ichneumon flies.

There are many instances of the great service these little
insects are to mankind in reducing the number of noxious in-
sects, by depositing their eggs in the soft bodies of their larva;
but none more remarkable than that of the ichneumon tipula,
which pierces the tender body and deposits its eggs in the larca
of the tipula tritici, an insect which, when it abounds greatly, is
very prejudicial to the grains of wheat. This operation I have
frequently seen it perform with wonder and delight.

Markwick.

INSECTS AND VERMES. 521

BOMBYLIUS MEDIUS.

The bomhylius medius is much about in March and the begin-
ning of April, and soon seems to retire. It is an hairy insect,
like an humble-bee, but with only two wings, and a long straight
beak, with Avhich it sucks the early flowers. The female seems
to lay its eggs as it poises on its wings, by striking its tail on
the ground, and against the grass that stands in its way, in a
quick manner, for several times together. White.

I have often seen this insect fly with great velocitj', stop on
a sudden, hang in the air in a stationary position for some time,
and then fly off again; but do not recollect having ever seen it
strike its tail against the ground, or any other substance.

Markwick.

MUSCiE.-FLIES.

In the decline of the year, when the mornings and evenings
become chilly, many species of flies (mtisccej retire into houses,
and swarm in the windows.

At first they are very brisk and alert; but as they grow more
torpid, one cannot help observing that they move with diflficulty,
and are scarce able to lift their legs, which seem as if glued to
the glass; and by degrees many do actually stick on till they
die in the place.

It has been observed that divers flies, besides their sharp
hooked nails, have also skinny palms, or flaps to their feet,

3 X

522 OBSERVATIONS ON

whereby they are enabled to stick on glass and other smooth
bodies, and to walk on ceilings with their backs downward, by
means of the pressure of the atmosphere on those flaps; the
weight of which they easily overcome in warm weather when
they are brisk and alert. But in the decline of the year, this
resistance becomes too mighty for their diminished strength;
and we see flies labouring along, and lugging their feet in win-
dows as if they stuck fast to the glass, and it is with the utmost
difficulty they can draw one foot after another, and disengage
their hollow caps from the slippery surface.

Upon the same principle that flies stick and support them-
selves, do boys, by way of play, carry heavy weights by only a
piece of wet leather at the end of a string clapped close on the
surface of a stone. White.

TIPULiE, OR EMPEDES.

May. Millions of empedes, or tipul(S, come forth at the close
of day, and swarm to such a degree as to fill the air. At this
juncture they sport and copulate; as it grows more dark they
retire. All day they hide in the hedges. As they rise in a
cloud they appear like smoke.

I do not ever remember to have seen such swarms, except
in the fens of the Isle of Ely. They appear most over grass
grounds. White.

APHIDES.

On the 1st of August, about half an hour after three in the
afternoon, the people of Selborne were surprized by a shower of

INSECTS AND VERMES 523

Aphides which fell in these parts. They who were walking
the streets at that time found themselves covered Avith these
insects, which settled also on the trees and gardens, and hlack-
ened all the vegetables where they alighted. These armies, no
doubt, were then in a state of emigration, and shifting their
quarters; and might perhaps come from the great hop-planta-
tions of Kent or Sussex, the wind being tliat day at North.
They were observed at the same time at Farnhani, and all along
the vale to Alton. White.

ANTS.

August 23. Every ant-hill about this time is in a strange
hurry and confusion; and all the winged ants, agitated by some
violent impulse, are leaving their homes, and, bent on emigra-
tion, swarm by myriads in the air, to the great emolument of
the hirundines, which fare luxuriously. Those that escape the
swallows return no more to their nests, but looking out for fresh
settlements, lay a foundation for future colonies. All the females
at this time are pregnant : the males that escape being eaten,
wander away and die.

October 2. Flying-ants, male and female, usually swarm
and migrate on hot sunny days in August and September; but
this day a vast emigration took place in my garden, and myriads
came tortli, in appearance from the drain which goes under the
fruit wall; filling the air and the adjoining trees and shrubs
with their numbers. The females were full of eggs. This late
swarming is probably owing to the backward, wet season. The
day following, not one flying ant was to be seen.

Horse-ants travel home to their nests laden with flies, which
3x2

524 OBSERVATIONS ON

they have caught, and the aurelise of smaller ants, which they
seize by violence. White.

In my Naturalist's Calendar for the year 1777, on September
6th, I find the following note to the article Flying Ants.

I saw a prodigious swarm of these ants flying about the top
of some tall elm-trees (close by my house); some were conti-
nually dropping to the ground as if from the trees, and others
rising up from the ground : many of them were joined together
in copulation; and I imagine their life is but short, for as soon
as produced from the egg by the heat of the sun, they propa-
gate their species, and soon after perish. They were black,
somewhat like the small black ant, and had four wings. I saw
also, at another place, a large sort which were yellowish. On
the 8th of September, 1785, I again observed the same circum-
stance of a vast number of these insects flying near the tops of
the elms and dropping to the ground.

On the 2d of March, 1777, I saw great numbers of ants
come out of the eround. Markwick.

GLOW-WORMS.

By observing two glow-worms which were brought from
the field to the bank in the garden, it appeared to us, that these
little creatures put out their lamps between eleven and twelve,
and shine no more for the rest of the night.

Male glow-worms, attracted by the light of the candles, come
into the parlour.

White.

INSECTS AND VERMES 525

EARTH-WORMS.

Earth-worms make their casts most in mild weather about
March and April; they do not lie torpid in winter, but come
forth when there is no frost; they travel about in rainy nights,
as appears from their sinuous tracks on the soft muddy soil, per-
haps in search of food.

When earth-worms lie out a-nights on the turf, though they
extend their bodies a great way, they do not quite leave their
holes, but keep the ends of their tails fixed therein, so that on
the least alarm they can retire with precipitation under the
earth. Whatever food falls within their reach when thus ex-
tended, they seem to be content with, such as blades of grass,
straws, fallen leaves, the ends of which they often draw into
their holes; even in copulation their hinder parts never quit
their holes; so that no two, except they lie within reach of
each other's bodies, can have any commerce of that kind; but
as every individual is an hermaphrodite, there is no difficulty in
meeting with a mate, as would be the case were they of different
sexes. White.

SNAILS AND SLUGS.

The shell-less snails called slugs are in motion all the winter
in mild weather, and commit great depredations on garden
plants, and much injure the green wheat, the loss of which is
imputed to earth-worms; while the shelled snail, the (pipeotwi,
does not come forth at all till about April 10th, and not only
lays itself up pretty early in autumn, in places secure from frost,

526 OBSERVATIONS ON

but also throws out round the mouth of its shell a thick opercu-
lum formed from its own saliva; so that it is perfectly secured,
and corked up as it were, from all inclemencies. The cause
why the slugs are able to endure the cold so much better than
shell-snails is, that their bodies are covered with slime as whales
are with blubber.

Snails copulate about Midsummer; and soon after deposit
their eggs in the mould by running their heads and bodies under
ground. Hence the way to be rid of them is to kill as many as
possible before they begin to breed.

Large, grey, shell-less, cellar snails lay themselves up abont
the same time with those that live abroad; hence it is plain
that a defect of warmth is not the only cause that influences
their retreat. White.

SNAKES SLOUGH.

There the snake throws her enamell'd skin.

Shakespeare, Mills. Night's Dream.

About the middle of this month (September) we found in a
field near a hedge the slough of a large snake, which seemed to
have been newly cast. From circumstances it appeared as if
turned wrong side outward, and as drawn off backward, like a
stocking or woman's glove. Not only the whole skin, but scales
from the very eyes, are peeled off, and appear in the head of the
slough like a pair of spectacles. The reptile, at the time of
changing his coat, had entangled himself intricately in the grass
and weeds, so that the friction of the stalks and blades might
promote this curious shifting of his exuvias.

INSECTS AND VERMES. 257

< " Lubrica serpens

" Esuit in spinis vestem. Lucret.

It would be a most entertaining sight could a person be an
eye-witness to such a feat, and see the snake in the act of
changing his garment. As the convexity of the scales of the
eyes in the slough is now inward, that circumstance alone is a
proof that the skin has been turned : not to mention that now
the present inside is much darker than the outer. If you look
through the scales of the snake's eyes from the concave side,
viz. as the reptile used them, they lessen objects much. Thus
it appears fom what has been said, that snakes crawl out of the
mouth of their own sloughs, and quit the tail part last, just as
eels are skinned by a cook maid. While the scales of the eyes
are growing loose, and a new skin is forming, the creature, in
appearance, must be blind, and feel itself in an awkward uneasy-
situation. White.

I have seen many sloughs or skins of snakes entire, after
they have cast them off; and once in particular I remember to
have found one of these sloughs so intricately interwoven
amongst some brakes that it was with difficulty removed with-
out being broken: this undoubtedly was done by the creature
to assist in setting: rid of its incumbrance.

I have great reason to suppose that the eft or common
lizard also casts its skin or slough, but not entire like the snake;
for on the iJOth of March, 1777, I saw one with something
ragged hanging to it, which appeared to be part of its old skin.

Markwick.

528

OBSERVATIONS

VEGETABLES.

TREES, ORDER OF LOSING THEIR LEAVES.

One of the first trees that becomes naked is the walnut; the
mulberry, the ash, especially if it bears many keys, and the
horse-chestnut come next. All lopped trees, while their heads
are young, carry their leaves a long while. Apple-trees and
peaches remain green very late, often till the end of November:
young beeches never cast their leaves till spring, till the new
leaves sprout and push them off: in the autumn the beechen-
leaves turn of a deep chestnut colour. Tall beeches cast their
leaves about the end of October. White.

SIZE AND GROWTH.

Mr. Marsham of Stratton, near Norwich, informs me by let-
ter thus: "I became a planter early; so that an oak which I
planted in 1720 is become now, at 1 foot from the earth, 12 feet

VEGETABLES. .529

6 inches in circumference, and at 14 feet (the half of the timber
length) is 8 feet 2 inches. So if the bark was to be measured
as timber, the tree gives 116 i feet, buyer's measure. Perhaps
you never heard of a laiger oak while the planter was living.
I flatter myself that I increased the growth by washing the
stem, and digging a circle as far as I supposed the roots to
extend, and by spreading sawdust, &c. as related in the Phil.
Trans. I wish I had begun with beeches (my favourite trees as
well as yours,) I might then have seen very large trees of my
own raising. But I did not begin with beech till 1741, and
then by seed; so that my largest is now at five feet from the
ground, 6 feet 3 inches in girth, and with its head spreads a
circle of £0 yards diameter. This tree was also dug round,
washed, &c." Stratton, £4 July, 1790.

The circumference of trees planted by myself at 1 foot from
the ground (1790.)

feet, inches.

Oak in 1730 ----- 4 5

Ash 1730 ----- 4 6\

Great fir 1751 ----- 5 0

Greatest beech 1751 ----- 4 0

Elm 1750 5 3

Lime 1756 5 5

The great oak in the Holt, which is deemed by Mr. IMarshana
to be the biggest in this island, at 7 feet from the ground, mea-
sures in circumfereiTce 34 feet. It has in old times lost several
of its boughs, and is tending to decay. Mr. IMarsham computes^
that at 14 feet length this oak contains 1000 feet of timber.

It has been the received opinion that trees grow in height
only by their annual upper shoot. But my neighbour over- the

3 T

530 OBSERVATIONS ON

way, whose occupation confines him to one spot, assures me
that trees are expanded and raised in the lower parts also. The
reason that he gives is this : the point of one of my firs began
for the first time to peep over an opposite roof at the beginning
of summer; but before the growing season was over, the whole
shoot of the year, and three or four joints of the body beside,
became visible to him as he sits on his form in his shop. Ac-
cording to this supposition, a tree may advance in height con-
siderably, though the summer shoot should be destroyed every
year. White.

FLOWING OF SAP.

If the bough of a vine is cut late in the spring, just before
the shoots push out, it will bleed considerably; but after the
leaf is out, any part may be taken off without the least incon-
venience. So oaks may be barked while the leaf is budding;
but as soon as they are expanded, the bark will no longer part
from the wood, because the sap that lubricates the bark and
makes it part, is evaporated oif through the leaves. White.

RENOVATION OF LEAVES.

When oaks are quite stripped of their leaves by chaflTers,
they are clothed again soon after Midsummer with a beautiful
foliage: but beeches, horse-chestnuts and maples, once defaced
by those insects, never recover their beauty again for the whole
season. White.

VEGETABLES. 531

ASH TREES.

Many ash trees bear loads of keys every year, others never
seem to bear any at all. The prolific ones are naked of leaves
and unsightly; those that are steril abound in foliage, and carry
their verdure a long while, and are pleasing objects. White.

BEECH.

Beeches love to grow in crowded situations, and will insi-
nuate themselves through the thickest covert, so as to surmount
it all: are therefore proper to mend thin places in tall hedges,.

White.

SYCAMORE.

May 12. The sycamore or great maple is in bloom, and at
this seasoji makes a beautiful appearance, and affords much
pabulum for bees, smelling strongly like honey. The foliage
of this tree is very fine, and very ornamental to outlets. All
the maples have saccharine juices. White.

GALLS OF LOMBARDY POPLAR.

The stalks and ribs of the leaves of the Lombardy poplar are
embossed with large tumours of an oblong shape, which by in-
curious observers have been taken for the fruit of the tree.

3 Y 2

532 OBSERVATIONS ON

These galls are full of small insects, some of which are winged,
and some not. The parent insect is of the genus of cynips.
Some poplars in the garden are quite loaded with these excres-
cences. White.

CHESTNUT TIMBER.

John Carpenter brings home some old chestnut trees which
are very long; in several places the wood-peckers had begun
to bore them. The timber and bark of these trees are so very
like oak, as might easily deceive an indifferent observer, but
the wood is very shakey, and towards the heart cup-shakey, (that
is to say, apt to separate in round pieces like cups) so that the
inward parts are of no use. They are bought for the purpose
of cooperage, but must make but ordinary barrels, buckets, &c.
Chestnut sells for half the price of oak; but has sometimes been
sent into the king's docks, and passed off instead of oak.

White.

LIME BLOSSOMS.

Dr. Chandler tells, that in the south of France, an infusion
of the blossoms of the lime tree, tUia, is in much esteem as a
remedy for coughs, hoarsenesses, fevers, &c. and that at Nismes,
he saw an avenue of limes that was quite ravaged and torn in
pieces by people greedily gathering the bloom, which they dried
and kept I'or these purposes.

Upon the strength of this information we made some tea of
lime blossoms, and found it a very soft, well-flavoured, pleasant,
saccharine julep, in taste much resembling the juice of liquorice.

White.

VEGETABLES. 533

BLACKTHORN.

This tree usually blossoms while cold N. E. winds blow; so
that the harsh rugged weather obtaining at this season, is called
by the country people, blackthorn winter. White.

IVY BERRIES.

Ivy berries afford a noble and providential supply for birds
in winter and spring; for the first severe frost freezes and spoils
all the haws, sometimes by the middle of November; ivy ber-
ries do not seem to freeze. White.

HOPS.

The culture of Virgil's vines corresponded very exactly
with the modem management of hops. I might instance in the
perpetual diggings and hoeings, in the tying to the stakes and
poles, in pruning the superfluous shoots, &c. but lately I have
observed a new circumstance, which was a neighbouring farmer's
harrowing between the rows of hops with a small triangular
harrow, drawn by one horse, and guided by two handles. This
occurrence brought to my mind the following passage.

- — " ipsa

" Flectere luctantes inter vineta juvencos." Georgic II.

Hops are di^cious plants : hence perhaps it might be proper.

534 OBSERVATIONS ON

though not practised, to leave purposely some male plants in
every garden, that their farina might impregnate the hlossoms.
The female plants without their male attendants are not in their
natural state: hence we may suppose the frequent failure of
crop so incident to hop-grounds; no other growth, cultivated
by man, has such frequent and general failures as hops.

Two hop gardens much injured by a hail-storm, June 5,
shew now (September 2) a prodigious crop, and larger and
fairer liops than any in tlie parish. The owners seem now to
be convinced that the hail, by beating off the tops of the binds,
has increased the side-shoots, and improved the crop. Query.
Therefore should not the tops of hops be pinched oft" when the
binds are very gross, and strong? White.

SEED LYING DORMANT.

The naked part of the Hanger is now covered with thistles
of various kinds. The seeds of these thistles may have lain
probably under the thick shade of the beeches for many years,
but could not vegetate till the sun and air were admitted.
When old beech trees are cleared away, the naked ground in a
year or two becomes covered with strawberry plants, the seeds
of which must have lain in the ground for an age at least. One
of the slidders or trenches down the middle of the Hanger, close
covered over with lofty beeches near a century old, is still called
strawberry sliddtr, though no strawberries have grown there in
the memory of man. That sort of fruit did once, no doubt,
abound there, and will again when the obstruction is removed.

White.

VEGETABLES. 535

BEAISS SOWN BY BIRDS.

Many horse-beans sprang up in my field- walks in the autumn,
and are now grown to a considerable height. As the Ewel was
in beans last summer, it is most likely that these seeds came
from thence; but then the distance is too considerable for them
to have been conveyed by mice. It is most probable therefore
that they were brought by birds, and in particular by jays and
pies, who seem to have hid them among the grass and moss,
and then to have forgotten where they had stowed them. Some
peas are growing also in the same situation, and probably under
the same circumstances. White.

CUCUMBERS SET BY BEES.

If bees, who are much the best setters of cucumbers, do
not happen to take kindly to the frames, the best way is to
tempt them by a little honey put on the male and female bloom.
When they are once induced to haunt the frames, they set all
the fruit, and will hover with impatience round the lights in a
morning, till the glasses are opened. Probatum est. White.

WHEAT.

A notion has always obtained, that in England hot summers
are productive of fine crops of wheat; yet in the years 1780 and
1781, though the heat was intense, the wheat was much mil-

536 OBSERVATIONS ON

dewed, and tlie crop light. Does not severe heat, v.-hile the
straw is milky, occasion its juices to exsude, which being extra-
vasated, occasion spots, discolour the stems and bladci, and
injure the health of the plants? White,

TRUFFLES.

August. A truffle-hunter called on us, having in his pocket
several large truffles found in this neighbourhood. He says
these roots are not to be found in deep woods, but in narrow-
hedge vows and the skirts of coppices. Some truffles, he in-
formed us, lie tM'o feet within the earth, and some quite on the
surface; the latter, he added, have little or no smell, and are
not so easily discovered by the dogs as those that lie deeper.
Half a crown a pound M^as the price which he asked for this
commodity.

Truffles never abound in wet winters and springs. Thc)'
are in season in different situations, at least nine mouths in the
year. "White.

TREMELLA NOSTOC.

Though the weather may have been ever so dry and burn-
ing, yet after two or three wet days, this jelly-like substance
abounds on the walks. White.

FAIRY RINGS.

The cause, occasion, call it what you will, o^ fairy-rings,
subsists in the turf, and is conveyable with it: for the turf of

VEGETABLES. 537

my garden-walks, brought from the down above, abounds with
those appearances, which vary their shape, and shift situation
continually, discovering themselves now in circles, now in seg-
ments, and sometimes in irregular patches and spots. Where-
ever they obtain, puff-balls abound ; the seeds of which were
doubtless brought in the turf. White.

3 z

538

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.

BAROMETER.

November 22, 1768. A remarkable fall of the barometer
all over the kingdom. At Selborne we had no wind, and not
much rain; only vast, swagging, rock-like clouds, appeared at a
distance. White.

PARTIAL FROST.

The country people, who are abroad in winter mornings
long before sun-rise, talk much of hard frost in some spots, and
none in others. The reason of these partial frosts is obvious,
for there are at such times partial fogs about; where the fog
obtains, little or no frost appears: but where the air is clear,
there it freezes hard. So the frost takes place either on hill or
in dale, wherever the air happens to be clearest and freest from
vapour. White.

THAW.

Thaws are sometimes surprisingly quick, considering the
small quantity of rain. Does not the warmth at such times
come from below? The cold in still, severe seasons seems to

METEOROLOGICAL, &c. 539

come down from above: for the coming over of a cloud in
severe nights raises the thermometer abroad at once full ten
degrees. The first notices of thaws often seem to appear in
vaults, cellars, &c.

If a frost happens, even when the ground is considerably
dry, as soon as a thaw takes place, the paths and fields are all
in a batter. Country people say that the frost draws moisture.
But the true philosophy is, that the steam and vapours conti-
nually ascending from tlie earth, are bound in by the frost, and
not suffered to escape till released by the thaw. No wonder
then that the surface is all in a float; since the quantity of
moisture by evaporation that arises daily from every acre of
ground is astonishing;. White.

FROZEN SLEET.

January 20. Mr. H.'s man says that he caught this day, in
a lane near Hackwood park, many rooks, which, attempting to
fly, fell from the trees with their wings frozen together by the
sleet, that froze as it fell. There were, he affirms, many dozen
so disabled. White.

MIST, CALLED LONDON SMOKE.

This is a blue mist which has somewhat the smell of coal
smoke, and as it always comes to us with a N. E. wind, is sup-
posed to come from London. It has a strong smell, and is sup-
posed to occasion bligiits. When such mists appear they are
usually followed by dry weather. White.

540 METEOROLOGICAL

REFLECTION OF FOG.

When people walk in a deep white fog by night with a Ian-
thorn, if they will turn their backs to the light, they will sec
their shades impressed on the fog in rude gigantic proportions.
This phenomenon seems not to have been attended to, but
implies the great density of the meteor at that juncture.

White.

HONEY DEW.

June 4, 1783. Vast honey dews this week. The reason of
these seem to be, that in hot days the effluvia of flowers are
drawn up by a brisk evaporation, and then in the night fall
down with the dews with which they are entangled.

This clammy substance is very grateful to bees, who gather
it with great assiduity, but it is injurious to the trees on which
it happens to fall, by stopping the pores of the leaves. The
greatest quantity falls in still close weather; because winds dis-
perse it, and copious dews dilute it, and prevent its ill effects.
It falls mostly in hazy warm weather. White.

MORNING CLOUDS.

After a bright night and vast dew, the sky usually becomes
cloudy by eleven or twelve o'clock in the forenoon, and clear
again towards the decline of the day. The reason seems to be,
that the dew, drawn up by evaporation, occasions the clouds;
which, towards evening, being no longer rendered buoyant by

OBSERVATIONS. 541

the warmth of the sun, melt away, and fall down again in dews.
If clouds are watched in a still warm evening, they will be seen
to melt away, and disappear. White.

DRIPPING WEATHER AFTER DROUGHT.

No one that has not attended to such matters, and taken
down remarks, can be aware how much ten days dripping wea-
ther will influence the growth of grass or corn after a severe
dry season. This present summer, 1776, yielded a remarkable
instance; for till the 30th of May the fields were burnt up and
naked, and the barley not half out of the ground; but now,
June 10, there is an agreeable prospect of plenty. White.

AURORA BOREALIS.

November 1, 17S7. The N. aurora made a particular
appearance, forming itself into a broad, red, fiery belt, which
extended from E. to W. across the welkin : but the moon rising
at about ten o'clock, in unclouded majesty, in the E. put an
end to this grand, but awful meteorous phenomenon. White.

BLACK SPRING, 1771.

Dr. Johnson says, that "in 1771 the season was so severe
in the island of Sky, that it is remembered by the name of the
black spring. The snow, which seldom lies at all, covered the
ground for eight weeks, many cattle died, and those that sur-

542 METEOROLOGICAL, Sec.

vived were so emaciated that they did not require the male at
the usual season.*' 'I he case was just the same with us here in
the south; never were so many barren cows known as in the
spring following that dreadful period. Whole dairies missed
being in calf together.

At the end of March the face of the earth was naked to a
surprising degree. Wheat hardly to be seen, and no signs of
any grass; turnips all gone, and sheep in a starving way. All
provisions rising in price. Farmers cannot sow for want of
rain. White.

543

OBSERVATIONS

ON SOME PASSAGES IN

MR. WHITE'S NJTURJL HISTORY

SELBORNE.

Page 7- There is a village in the west of England remarkable for the quantity
it possesses of the " Cornu Ammonis." The name of it is Keynsham, between
Bath and Bristol. ' This has given rise to a fabulous legend, which says, that St.
Keyna, from whom the place takes its name, resided here in a solitary wood full
of venomous serpents, and her prayers converted them into stones, which still retain
their shape.' See Espriella's Letters from England, v. 3. p. 362.

P. 20. The description of the conflagration arising from the heath-Jires here
mentioned, reminds the scholar of the ' stubble-burning' described in Virgil's
Georgics, i. 84, and the commentary on the passage, by the elegant and learned
Mr. Holdsworth, p. 52. Compare Virgilii ^n. 2. 304. Ovid. Epist. xv. g. Sil.
Ital. vii. 365.

P. 26. German Boars and Sows were also turned out by Charles the First in
the New Forest, which bred and increased. Their stock is supposed to exist now,
remarkable for the smallness of their hind quarters. See an engraving of one in
Gilpin's Forest Scenery, ii. 118.

P. 2g. The " Blaci-cap," which Mr. White calls a delicate songster, is
classed very highly by Mr. D. Barrington, in his scale of singing birds. See also
Pennant's Brit. Zoology, v. i. p. 374.

544 OBSERVATIONS.

P. 31. The most curious account of the " Cross-bill," (Loxia Curvirostra)
was published by Dr. Townson, who kept them tame. See his Tracts on Natural
History, p. 116.

P. 33. The • Falco Peregrinus,' sent by Mr. White to Mr. Pennant, Is a rare
bird. One of them was caught some )'ears ago in Norfolk, in a trap baited with a
woodcock. Another was killed in January 1812 (this present month) in Sussex,
while fighting with a raven. This falcon breeds on Glenmore, and other rocks in
the Higlilands. See Pennant's Scotland, v. i. p. 277-

P. 36. There certainly does exist a difficulty in conceiving how some of the
Birds of Pass.ige, such feeble and bad fliers, should be able to migrate to such a vast
distance ; but some of our wonder will perhaps diminish when we read the account
of the manner in which the Quail crosses the Mediterranean, for the coast of
Africa. ' Towards the end of September, the Quails avail themselves of a northerly
wind to take their departure from Europe, and flapping one wing, while they pre-
sent the other to the gale, half sail, half oar, they graze the billows of the Medi-
terranean with their fattened rumps, and bury themselves in the sands of Africa, that
they may serve as food to the famished inhabitants of Zara.' St. Pierre's Studies of
Nature, v. 1. p. 91.

P. 42. Mr. White mentions a notion among the country people in Hampshire,
that there exists a species of the ' Genus Mustelinum,' reddish, not much bigger than
a field-mouse, called a ' Cane,' and distinct from the weasel, stoat, &c. This I
believe to be a pretty general error among the country people also in other counties.
This imaginary animal in Suflxjik is called the ' Mouse-hunt,' from its being supposed
to live on mice. To discover the truth of this report, I managed to have several of
these animals brought to me ; all of which I found to be the common weasel. The
enor 1 conceive partly to have arisen from this animal, like most others, appearing
less than its real size, when running and attempting to escape, a circumstance well
known to the hunters in India, with respect to larger animals, as the tiger, &c.

P. 43. Mr. White has justly remarked, ' that food has great influence on the
colour of animals.' The dark colour in wild birds is a great safeguard to them
against their enemies; and this is the reason, that among birds of bright plumage,
the j'oung do not assume their gay colours till the second or third year, as the
cygnet, the gold and silver pheasants, &c. The remarkable change of plumage among
the gull tribe, is a curious and intiicate subject. Is the circumstance mentioned by
Mr. Pegge true, ' that butterflies partake the colour of the flowers they feed on?' I
<hink not. See Anonymiana, p. 469,

OBSERVATIONS. 545

P. 4Q. Concerning the reason of frogs coming out In rainy weather, the
reader will be amply gratified, by referring to the experiments made by Dr. Townson--
on his two frogs, Damon and Musidora. See his Tracts, p. 50. The general
result of which has proved the following curious fact: — " that frogs take in their
supply of liquid through the skin alone, all the aqueous fluid which they take in
being absorbed by the skin, and all they reject being transpired through it." One
frog in an hour and half absorbed nearly its own weight of water.

P. 62. The very beautiful, one may almost say poetical way, in which the
male bird procures a mate by the power of his song, may be seen in the preface to>
Mr. Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, p. xxx ; from which this corollary may
be inferred, that if a confined bird had learned the song of another, without
retaining any part of its natural notes, and was set at liberty, it is probable, it would,
never find a mate of its own.

P. 89. The 'bustard' is extinct in Scotland; and as it is now so scarce in
England, owing to population and enclosures, it becomes interesting to remark, that
two birds of this kind, (male and female) have been kept in tlie garden ground
belonging to Norwich Infirmary, and have but lately been sold by the owner of
them. The male bird was very beautiful and courageous, apparently afraid of
nothing, seizing any one that came near him by the coat ; yet on the appearance of
any small hawk high in the air, he would squat close to the ground, expressing strong
marks of fear. The female was very shy. A tolerably good resemblance of the male
is in Pennant's British Zoology, v. 1. p. 284.

P. 98. Concerning swallows, the reader will see, tliat Mr. White appears to ■
incline more and more in favour of their torpidity, and against their miaration.
Mr. D. Barrington is still more positive on the same side of the question. See his
Miscellanies, p. 225. The ancients generally mention this bird, as wintering in Africa,
See Anacreon, Ay. ed. Brunck. p. 38. The Rhodians had a festival called y^sXtSoytcc,
when the boys brought about young swallows; the song which they sang, may be
seen in the works of Meursius. v. 3. p. 974. fol..

*HA9f 'HA^e, x^XiSwv KaXas,
0,'pa.s ayo'jtra., jcai kclmu; 'Ewaurouj-
"Effj ydrrnpa. Xtvua, Kan vu/ra ij.i\Mva.-

4 A

546 OBSERVATIONS.

" He comes ! He comes ! who loves to bear
" Soft sunny hours, and seasons fair;—
" The swallow hither comes to rest
" His sable wing, and snowy breast."

And alluding to tliis custom, Avienus, (who may be considered only as a veiy bad
translator of an excellent poem, the Periegesis of Dionysius), thus says, v. 705,

" Nam cum vere novo, tellus se dura relaxat,
Culminibusg. cavis, blandum strepit ales hirundo
Gens devota choros agitat !"

From a passage in the ' birds' of Aristophanes, we leani, that among the Greeks, the
crane pointed out the time of sowing; the arrival of the kite, the time of sheep-
shearing ; and the swallow, the time to put on summer-clothes. According to the
Greek Calendar of Flora, kept by Theophrastus at Athens, the Ornithian winds
blow, and the swallow comes between the 28th of February, and the 12th of
March; the kite and nightingale appear between the 11th and 26th of March; the
cuckoo appears at the same time the young figs come out, thence his name. See
Stillingfleet's Tracts on Natural History, p. 324.

P. 125. Since this letter of Mr. White's much has been added to pur know*
ledge of the cuckoo, by the patient attention of Dr. Jenner. Concerning tlie singing
of the cuckoo, mentioned by Mr. White at p. 143, I will add the following curious
memoranda from the 7ili Volume of the Transactions of the Linnaean Society.
" The cuckoo begins early in the season with the interval of a minsr third, the bird
then proceeds to a major third, next to a fourth, then zjifth, after which his voice
breaks without attaining a minor sixth." This curious circumstance was however
observed very long ago; and it forms the subject of an Epigram in that scarce black-
letter volume, the ' Epigrams of John Hey wood, 158/.'

OF USE. 95.

" Use maketh maistry, this hatli been said alway,

" But all is not alway, as ail men do say,

" In Aprill, the koocoo can sing her song by rote,

" In June, of tune, she cannot sing a note:

" At first, koo coo, koo coo sing still can she do,

" At last kooke, kooke, kookej six kookes, to one koo!

OBSERVATIONS. 547,

p. 147. Mr. White says, it is strange that rooks and starlings accompany each
other : but this is the case with other birds ; the short-eared owl often accompaniei
fliglits of woodcocks to this country. See Pennant's Scotland, i. p. 11. In Greece,
the cuckoo migrates with the lurtle-Qocks, thence they call him trigono-kracti, or
turtle-leader.

P. 149. The motion of the tortoise's legs being, as Mr. White remarks,
ridiculously slow, is taken notice of in Homer's hymu to Hermes, v. 28.

" Feeding far off from man, the flowery herb.
Slow-moving with his feet."

P. 154. Mr. White has observed, that the owl returns to its young with food
once in_^i'e minutes. Mr. Montagu has observed, that the wren returns once in two
minutes, or upon an average thirty-six times in an hour; and this continued full
sixteen hours in a day, which if equally divided between eight young ones, each
would receive seventy-two feeds in the day, the whole amounting to five hundred
and seventy six. See Ornitholog. Diet. p. 35. To this, I will add, that the swal-
low never fails to return to its nest at the expiration of every second or thud
minute.

P. 167. Mr. White says, that no wheatears are taken to the westward of
Houghton bridge, on the river Aran ; it appears, however, that is not the case. See
the note to Mrs. Charlotte Smith's Poems, I8O7, p. 168.

P. 223. As our Saxon ancestors called the month of Febmary ' Sprout-Cale,'
so the names of many other months were equally significant; viz. March, Stormy
month ; May, Trimilki, the cows then being milked three times a day ; June, dig and
weed month ; September, barley montli, &c.

P. 269. What Mr. White has remarked of ihe fishes of Japan thriving in our
climate, is trae also of the plants ; tlie trees and shrubs brought from the Japonese
islands bearing our winters, and growing freely : as for instance, that beautiful tree,
the ' Gingko,' now called by Dr. Smith, the Salisluria; and the no less beautifiil
and scarce ' Sophora Japonica,' the finest specimens of which trees now in England,
are probably in the curious garden of John Orde, Esq. at Fulham. As I am on this
subject, I will mention that the garden belonging to the palace of tlie Bishop of
Loudon at Fulham, the earliest receptacle of scarce and foreign trees in this country,

4 A 2

548 OBSERVATIONS.

is now almost worn out. Not above twelve of the original trees could be found in
the survey made in 1793. I remarked in 1811, that some of these were gone, but
the pinaster and the ilex remain.

P. 297. To this most awful summerj of 1783, Cowper also alludes, in his Task,
Book ii. p. 41.

"A world that seems

To toU the deatli-bell of its own decease ;
And by tlie voice of all the elements
To preach the general doom." —

P. 478. Mr. White observes, that birds of prey, as hawks, feed on insects.
There is reason to believe, that insects form also part of the food even of the larger
leasts of prey. " Beetles, flies, worms, form part of the lion and tiger's food, as
they do that of the fox." See Jarrold's Dissert, on Man.

P. 485. Concerning the " hybrid pheasant," see the account by John Hunter,
in the Philosophical Transact. Art. xxx. 176O. "The subject of the account is a
hen pheasant with the feathers of the cock. The author concludes, that it is most
probable that all those hen pheasants which are found wild, and have the feathers of
tlie cock, were formerly perfect hens, but that now tliey are changed with age, and
perhaps by certain constitutional circumstances." It appears also, that tlie hen taking
tlie plumage of the cock, is not confined to the pheasant alone, it takes place also
with the pea-hen, as may be seen in the specimen belonging to Lady Tynte, which
was in the Leverian Museum. After many broods, this hen took much of the
plumage of the cock, and also the fine train belonging to that bird. See also
Montagu's Ornitholog. Diet. Art. Pheasant.

P. 507. The sqiiirrel's nest is not only called a drey in Hampshire, but also in
other counties J in Suffolk it is called a bay. The word ' drey,' though now pro-
vincial, I have met with in some of our old writers.

P. 540. It will hardly be deemed a discredit to an obseiTer so patient, so
accurate, and so faithful, as Mr. White, to mention, that his conjecture concerning
the origin of honey-dew is erroneous ; the subject has been elucidated by the obser-
vations of Mr. William Curtis, who has discovered it to be the " excrement of tht
aphides." See Transact, of the Linnxan Society, vol. vi. No. 4.

Benhall, Suffolk, 20th January, 1812. J. M.

SUMMARY

WEATHER.

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551

SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER.

1768. Begins with a fortnight's frost and snow; rainy during
February, Cold and wet spring; wet season from the begin-
ning of June to the end of harvest. Latter end of September
foggy, without rain. All October and the first part of Novem-
ber rainy; and thence to the end of the year alternate rains and
frosts.

1769. January and February, frosty and rainy, with gleams
of fine weather in the intervals. To the middle of March, wind
and rain. To the end of March, dry and windy. To the mid-
dle of April, stormy, with rain. To the end of June, fine wea-
ther, with rain. To the beginning of August, warm, dry
weather. To the end of September, rainy with short intervals
of fine weather. To the latter end of October, frosty mornings,
with fine days. The next fortnight rainy: thence to the end
of November dry and frosty. December, windy, with rain and
intervals of frost, and the first fortnight very foggy.

1770. Frost for the first fortnight: during the 1 4th and
15th all the snow melted. To the end of February, mild hazy
weather. The whole of March frosty, with bright weather.
April, cloudy, with rain and snow. May began with summer
showers, and ended with dark cold rains. June, rainy, chec-

552 SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER.

quered with gleams of sunshine. The first fortnight in July,
dark and sultry; the latter part of the month, heavy rain.
August, September, and the first fortnight in October, in general
fine weather, though with frequent interruptions of rain: from
the middle of October to the end of the year almost incessant
rains.

1771- Severe frosts till the last week in January. To the
first week in February, rain and snow : to the end of February,
spring weather. To the end of the third week in April, frosty
weather. To the end of the first fortnight in May, spring wea-
ther, with copious showers- To the end of June, dry, warn!
weather. The first fortnight in July, warm, rainy weather. To
the end of September, warm weather, but in general cloudy,
with showers. October, rainy. November, frost, with inter-
vals of fog and rain. December, in general bright, mild wea-
ther, with hoar frosts.

1772. Tothe end of the first week in February, frost and
snow. To the end of the first fortnight in March, frost, sleet,
rain and snow. To the middle of April, cold lains. To the
middle of Maj^, dry weather, with cold piercing winds. To the
end of the first week in June, cool showers. To the middle of
August, hot dry summer weather. To the end of September,
rain with storms and thunder. To December 22, rain with
mild weather. December 23, the first ice. To the end of the
month, cold foggy weather.

1773. The first week in January, frost; thence to the end
of the month, dark rainy weather. The first fortnight in Feb-
ruary, hard frost. To the end of the first week in March, misty,
showery weather. Bright spring days to the close of the month.
Frequent showers to the latter end of April. To the end of

SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER. 555

June, warm showers, with intervals of sunshine. To the end
of August, dry weather, with a few days of rain. To the end
of the first fortnight in Novemher, rainy. The next four weeks,
frost: and thence to the end of the year, rainy.

1774. Frost and rain to the end of the first fortnight in
March: thence to the end of the month, dry weather. To the
15th of April, showers; thence to the end of April, fine spring
days. During May, showers and sunshine in about an equal
proportion. Dark rainy weather to the end of the fid week in
July: thence to the 24th of August, sultry, with thunder and
occasional showers. To the end of the 3d week in November,
rain, with frequent intervals of sunny weather. To the end of
December, dark dripping fogs.

1775. To the end of the first fortnight in March, rain
almost every day. To the first week in April, cold winds, with
showers of rain and snow. To the end of June, warm, bright
weather, with frequent showers. The first fortnight in July,
almost incessant rains. To the 26th August, sultry weather
with frequent showers. To the end of the 3d week in Septem-
ber, rain, with a few intervals of fine weather. To the end of
the year, rain, with intervals of hoar-frost and sunshine.

1776". To January 24, dark frosty weather, with much
snow. March 24, to the end of the month, foggy, with hoar-
frost. To the 30th of May, dark, dry harsh weather, with cold
winds. To the end of the first fortnight in July, warm, with
much rain. To the end of the first week in August, hot and
dry, with intervals of thunder showers. To the end of October,
in general fine seasonable weather, with a considerable propor-
tion of rain. To the end of the year, dry, frosty weather, with
some days of hard rain.

4 B

554, SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER.

1777.. To the 10th of January, hard frost. To the 20th of
January, foggy, with frequent showers. To the ISth of Feb*
ruary, hard dry frost with snow. To the end of ISIay, heavy-
showers, with intervals of ^yarln dry spring days. To the 8th
July, dark, with heavy rain. To the 18th July, dry, warm wea-
ther. To the end of July, very heavy rains. To the ISth Oc-
tober, remarkably fine m arm weather. To the end of the year
grey mild weather, with but little rain, and still less frost.

1778. To the I'jth of January, frost, with a little snow:
to the 24th January, rain: to the 30th, hard frost. To the
23d February, dark, harsh, foggy weather, with rain. To the
end of the month, hard frost, with snow. To the end of the
first fortnight in March, dark, harsh weather. From the first,
to the end of the first fortnight in April, spring weather. To
the end of the month, snow and ice. To the iJth of June, cool,
with heavy showers. To the 19th July, hot, sultry, parching
weatlier. To the end of the month, heavy showers. To the
end of September, dry warm weather. To the end of the year,
wet, with considerable intervals of sunshine.

1779. Frost and showers to the end of January. To 21st
April, warm dry weather. To 8th May, rainy. To the 7th
June, dry and warm. To the 6th July, hot weather, with fre-
quent rain. To the 18th July, dry hot weather. To August 8,
hot weather, with frequent rains. To the end of August, fine
dry harvest weather. To the. end of November, fine autumnal
weather, with intervals of rain. To the end of the year, rain
with frost and snow.

1780. To the end of January, frost. To the end of Feb-
ruary, dark, harsh weather, with frequent intervals of frost. To
the end of March, warm showery spring weather. To the end

SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER. .^55

of April, dark harsh weather, with raiu and frost To the end
of the first fortnight in May, mild, with rain. To the end of
August, rain and fair weather in pretty equal proportions. To
the end of October, fine autumnal weather, with intervals of
rain. To the 24-th November, frost. To December \6, mild
dry foggy weather. To the 6t\d of the year frost arid snow.

1781. To January 25, frost and snow. To the end of Feb-
ruary, harsh and Windy with rain and snow. To April 5, cold
drying winds. To the end of May, mild spi-ing weather, with
a few light showers. June began with heavy rain, but thence
to the end of October, dry weather, with a few flying showers.
To the end of the year, open weather with frequent rains.

1782. To February 4, open mild weather. To February
22, hard frost. To the end of March, cold blowing weather,
with frost and snow and rain. To May 7, cold dark rains. To
the end of May, mild, with incessant rains. To the end of June,
warm and dry. To the end of August warm, with almost per-
petual rains. The first fortnight in September mild and dry;
thence to the end of the month, rain. To the end of October,
mild with frequent showers. November began with hard frost,
and continued throughout with alternate frost and thaw. The
first part of December frosty; the latter part mild.

1783. To January 16, rainy with heavy winds. To the 24th,
hard frost. To the end of the first fortniglit in February, blow-
ing, with much rain. To the end of February, stormy dripping
weather. To the 9th of ]\Iay, cold harsh winds (thick ice on oth
of May). To the end of August, hot weather, with frequent
showers. To the ESd September, mild, with heavy driving rains.
To November 12, dry, mild weather. To the 18th December,

4 B 2

556 SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER.

grey soft weather, with a few showers. To the end of the year,
hard frost.

1784. To February 19, hard frost, with two thaws; one
the 14th January, the other 5th February. To February 28,
mild wet fogs. To the 3d March, frost with ice. To March
10, sleet and snow. To April 2, snow and hard frost. To
April 27, mild weather with much rain. To May 12, cold dry-
ing winds. To May 20, hot cloudless M'eather. To June 27,
warm with frequent showers. To July 18, hot and dry. To
the end of August, warm with heavy rains. To November 6,
clear mild autumnal weather, except a few days of rain at the
latter end of September. To the end of the year, fog, rain, and
hard frost (on December 10, the therm. 1 deg. below 0.)

1785. A thaw began on the 2d January, and rainy weather
with wind continued to January 28. To 15th March, very hard
frost. To 2 1st March, mild with sprinkling showers. To April
7, hard frost. To May 17, mild windy weather, without a drop
of rain. To the end of May, cold with a few showers. To
June 9, mild weather, with frequent soft showers. To July 13,
hot dry weather, with a few showery intervals. To July 22,
heavy rain. To the end of September, warm with fiequent
showers. To the end of October, frequent rain. To 18th of
November, dry, mild weather. (Hay- making finished Novem-
ber 9, and the wheat harvest November 14.) To December
23, rain. To the end of the year, hard frost.

1786. To the 7th January, frost and snow. To January
13, mild with much rain. To 21st January, deep snow. To
February 1 1, mild with frequent rains. To 21st February, dry,
with high winds. To 10th March, hard frost. To 13th April,

SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER. 5bl

wet, with intervals of frost. To the end of April, dry mild
weather. On the 1st and 2d May, tliick ice. To lOtli May,
heavy rain. To June 14, fine warm (hy weather. From the
8th to the 11th July, heavy showers. To October 13, warm,
with frequent showers. To October 19, ice. To October 24,
mild pleasant weather. To November 3, frost. To December
16, rain, with a few detached days of frost. To the end of the
year, frost and snow.

1787. To January 24, dark, moist, mild weather. To Jan-
uary 28, frost and snow. To February 16, mild showery wea-
ther. To February 28, dry, cool weather. To March 10,
stormy, with driving rain. To March 24, bright frosty wea-
ther. To the end of April, mild, with frequent rain. To May
22, fine bright weather. To the end of June, mostly warm,
with frequent showers (on June 7, ice as thick as a crown piece.)
To the end of July, hot and sultry, with copious rain. To the
end of September, hot dry weather, with occasional showers.
To November 23, mild, with light frosts and rain. To the end
of November, hard frost. To December 21, still and mild, with
rain. To the end of the year, frost.

1788. To January 13, mild and wet. To January 18, frost.
To the end of the month, dry windy weather. To the end of
February, frosty, with frequent showers. To March 14, hard
frost. To the end of March, dark, harsh weather, with frequent
showers. To April 4, windy, with showers. To tlie end of
May, bright, dry, warm weather, with a few occasional showers.
From June 28 to July 17, heavy rains. To August 12j hot dry
weather. To the end of September, alternate showers and sun-
shine. To November 22, dry, cool weather. To the end of
the year, hard frost

558 SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER.

1789. To January 13, hard frost. To the end of the month,
mild, with showers. To the end of February, frequent rain,
with snow-showers and heavy gales of wind. To 13th March,
hard frost, with snow. To April 18, heavy rain, with frost and
snow and sleet. To the end of April, dark cold weather, with
frequent rains. To June 9, warm spring weather, with brisk
winds and frequent showers. From June 4 to the end of July,
warm, with much rain. To August 29, hot, dry, sultry weather.
To September 11, mild, with frequent showers. To the end of
September, fine autumnal weather, with occasional showers.
To November 17, heavy rain, with violent gales of wind. To
December 18, mild dry weather, with a few showers. To the
end of the year, rain and wind.

1790. To January I6, mild foggy weather, with occasional
rains. To January £1, frost. To January 28, dark, with driving
rains. To February 14, mild, dry weather. To February 2i5,
hard frost. To April 5, bright cold weather, with a few showers.
To April 15, dark and harsh, with a deep snow. To April 21,
cold cloudy weather, with ice. To June 6, mild spring weather,
with much rain. From July 3, to July 14, cool, with heavy
rain. To the end of July, warm, dry weather. To August 6,
cold, with wind and rain. To August 24, fine harvest weather.
To September 5, strong gales, with driving showers. To
November 26, mild autumnal weather, with frequent showers.
To December 1, hard frost and snow. To the end of the year,
rain and snow, and a few days of frost.

1791. To the end of January, mild, with heavy rains. T'-
the end of February windy, with much rain and snow. From
March to the end of June, mostly dry, especially June, March
and April rather cold and frosty. May and June, hot. July,

SUMMARY OF THE WEATHER. 559

rainy. Fine harvest weather, and pretty dry, to the end of Sep-
tember. Wet October, and cold towards the end. Very wet
and stormy in November. Much frost in December.

1792. Some hard frost in January, but mostly wet and
mild. February, some hard frost and a little snow. March,
wet and cold. April, great storms on the 13th, then some very
warm weather. May and June, cold and dry. July, wet and
cool; indifferent harvest, rather late and wet. September,
windy and wet. October, showery and mild. November, dry
and fine. December, mild.

POEMS.

4C

THE
INVITATION TO SELBORNE.

^EE Selborne spreads her boldest beauties round
The varied valley, and the mountain ground,
Wildly majestic! what is all the pride
Of flats, with loads of ornament snpply'd?
Unpleasing, tasteless, impotent expense,
Compar'd with nature's rude magnificence.

Arise, my stranger, to these wild scenes haste ;
The unfinish'd farm awaits your forming taste:

"Plan the pavilion, airy, light and true;

Thro' the high arch call in the length'ning view;

Expand the forest sloping up the hill ;

Swell to a lake the scant, penurious rill ;

Extend the vista, raise the castle mound

In antique taste, with turrets ivy-crown'd ;

O'er the gay lawn the flow'ry shrub dispread.

Or with the blending garden mix the mead ;

Bid China's pale, fantastic fence, delight.

Or with the mimic statue trap the sight.

Oft on some evening, sunny, soft and still.

The Muse shall lead thee to the beech-grown hill.

To spend in tea the cool, refreshing hour.

Where nods in air the pensile, nest-like bower ; "

' A kind of an arbour on the side of a hiU.

564 POEMS.

Or where the Hermit hangs the straw-clad cell,''

Emerging gently from the leafy dell ;

By fancy plann'd ; as once th' inventive maid

Met the hoar sage amid the secret shade;

Romantic spot ! from whence in prospect lies

Whate'er of landscape charms our feasting eyes;

The pointed spire, the hall, the pasture-plain.

The russet fallow, or the golden grain.

The breezy lake that sheds a gleaming light,

'Till all the fading picture fail the sight.

Each to his task; all different ways retire.
Cull the dry stick ; call forth the seeds of fire ;
Deep fix the kettle's props, a forky row.
Or give with fanning hat the breeze to blow.

Whence is this taste, the furnish 'd hall forgot,
To feast in gardens, or th' unhandy grot ?
Or novelty with some new charms surprizes.
Or from our very shifts some joy arises.
Hark, while below the village-bells ring round.
Echo, sweet nymph, returns the soften'd sound ;
But if gusts rise, the rushing forests roar.
Like the tide tumbling on the pebbly shore.

Adown the vale, in lone, sequester'd nook.
Where skirting woods imbrown the dimpling brook.
The ruin'd Convent lies; here wont to dwell
The lazy canon midst his cloister'd cell ;'
Wliile papal darkness brooded o'er the land.
Ere reformation made her glorious stand :
Still oft at eve belated shepherd-swains
See the cowl'd spectre skim the folded plains.

'' A grotesque building, contrived by a young gentleman, who used on occasion to
.tppear in the character of an hermit.

*■ The r\tins of a priory, founded by Peter de Rupibus Bishop of Winchester

POEMS. 565

To the high temple would my stranger go/
The mountain-brow commands the woods below ;
In Jewry first this order found a name,
When madding Croisades set the world in flame;
When western climes, urg'd on by Pope and priest,
Pour'd forth their millions o'er the deluged east ;
Luxurious knights, ill suited to defy
To mortal fight Turcestan chivalry.

Nor be the Parsonage by the muse forgot:
The partial bard admires his native spot;
Smit with its beauties, loved, as yet a child,
(Unconscious why) its scapes grotesque, and wild.
High on a mound th' exalted gardens stand,
Beneath, deep vallies scoop'd by nature's hand.
A Cobham here, exulting in his art.
Might blend the General's with the Gardener's part ;
Might fortify with all the martial trade
Of rampart, bastion, fosse, and palisade;
Might plant the mortar with wide threat'ning bore.
Or bid the mimic cannon seem to roar.

Now climb the steep, drop now your eye below.
Where round the blooming village orchards grow ;
There, like a picture, lies my lowly seat,
A rural, shelter'd, unobserv'd retreat.

Me far above the rest Selbornian scenes.
The pendent forests, and the mountain-greens
Strike with delight; there spreads the distant view,
That gradual fades till sunk in misty blue:
Here nature hangs her slopy woods to sight.
Rills purl between and dart a quivering light.

* The remains of a preceptory of the Knights Templars ; at least it was a farm dcpen-
tlant upon some preceptory of that order. I find it was a preceptory, called the preceptoru
of Sudington ; now called Southington.

566 POEMS.

SELBORNE HANGER.
A WINTER PIECE.

TO THE MISS BATTIES.

The Bard, who sang so late in blithest strain
Selbornian prospects, and the rural reign,
Now suits his plaintive pipe to sadden'd tone,
While the blank swains the changeful year bemoan.

How fall'n the glories of these fading scenes '
The dusky beech resigns his vernal greens ;
The yellow maple mourns in sickly hue.
And russet woodlands croud the dark'ning view.

Dim, clust'ring fogs involve the country round.
The valley, and the blended mountain-ground
Sink in confusion ; but with tempest-wing
Should Boreas from his northern barrier spring,
The rushing woods with deaf 'ning clamour roar.
Like the sea tumbling on the pebbly shore.
When spouting rains descend in torrent tides.
See the torn zigzag weeps its channel'd sides :
Winter exerts its rage; heavy, and slow.
From the keen east rolls on the treasur'd snow;
Sunk with its weight the bending boughs are seen.
And one bright deluge whelms the works of men.
Amidst this savage landscape, bleak and bare.
Hangs the chill hermitage in middle air;

poems; 567

Its haunts forsaken, and its feasts forgot,
A leaf-strown, lonely, desolated cot !

Is this the scene that late with rapture rang.
Where Delphy danc'd, and gentle Anna sang;
With fairy-step where Harriet tripp'd so late.
And on her stump reclined the musing Kitty sate?

Return, dear nymphs; prevent the purple spring.
Ere the soft nightingale essays to sing;
Ere the first swallow sweeps the fresh'ning plain.
Ere love-sick turtles breathe their amorous pain ;
Let festive glee th' enliven'd village raise,
Pan's blameless reign, and patriarchal days;
With pastoral dance the smitten swain surprize.
And bring all Arcady before our eyes.

Return, blithe maidens ; with you bring along
Free, native humour, all the charms of song ;
The feeling heart, and unaffected ease.
Each nameless grace, and ev'ry power to please.

Nov. 1, 1763.

568 POEMS.

ON THE RAINBOW.

" Look upon the Rainbow, and praise him that made it : very beautiful is it
in the brightness thereof." Eccles. xliii. 11.

On morning or on evening cloud impress'd.
Bent in vast curve, the wat'ry meteor shines
Delightfully, to th' levell'd sun oppos'd :
Lovely refraction! while the vivid brede
In listed colours glows, th' unconscious swaia
With vacant eye gazes on the divine
Phaenomenon, gleaming o'er th' illumin'd fields,
Or runs to catch the treasure which it sheds.
Not so the sage, inspir'd with pious awe ;
He hails the federal arch ; ' and looking up
Adores that God, whose fingers forni'd this bow
Magnificent, compassing heav'n about
With a resplendent verge. " Thou mad'st the cloud,
" Maker omnipotent, and thou the bow;
" And by that covenant graciously hast sworn
" Never to drown the world again : henceforth,
" Till time shall be no more, in ceaseless round,
" Season shall follow season ; day to night,
" Summer to winter, harvest to seed time,
" Heat shall to cold in regular array
" Succeed." — Heav'n taught, so sang the Hebrew bard.'

Feb. 13, 1783.

^ Gen. ix. 12— »7. ^ Gen. viii. 42. " Moses.

POEMS. 560

A HARVEST SCENE.

Wak'd by the gentle gleamings of the morn.
Soon clad, the reaper, provident of want
Hies cheerful hearted to the ripen'd field ;
Nor hastes alone ; attendant by his side
His faithful wife, sole partner of his cares,
Bears on her breast the sleeping babe; behind
With steps unequal trips her infant train :
Thrice happy pair, in love and labour join'd! —

All day they ply their task ; with mutual chat
Beguiling each the sultry, tedious hours :
Around them falls in rows the sever'd corn.
Or the shocks rise in regular array.

But when high noon invites to short repast
Beneath the shade of shelt'ring thorn they sit.
Divide the simple meal, and drain the cask :
The swinging cradle lulls the whimp'ring babe,
Meantime; while growling round, if at the tread
Of hasty passenger alarm'd, as of their store
Protective, stalks the cur with bristling back,
To guard the scanty scrip and russet frock.

4I>

570 POEMS.

ON THE EARLY, AND LATE BLOWING OF THE VERNAL
AND AUTUMNAL CROCUS.

Say, what impels ainidst surrounding snow
Congeal'd the Crocus' flamy bud to grow;
Say, what retards amidst the summer's blaze
Th' autumnal bulb; till pale declining days?
The God of Seasons! whose prevading power
Controls the sun, or sheds the fleecy shower;
He bids each flower his quick'ning word obey,
Or to each lingering bloom enjoins delay.

ON THE DARK, STILL, DRY WARM WEATHER, OCCASIONALLY
HAPPENING IN THE WINTER MONTHS.

Th' imprison'd winds slumber within their caves
Fast bound : the fickle vane, emblem of change.
Wavers no more, long-settling to a point.

All nature nodding seems compos'd : thick steams
From land, from flood up-drawn, dimming the day,
" Like a dark ceiling stand :" slow thro' the air
Gossamer floats, or stretch'd from blade to blade
The wavy net-work whitens all the field.

Push'd by the weightier atmosphere, up springs
The ponderous Mercury, from scale to scale
Mounting, amidst the Torricellian tube. •*

•i The Barometer.

POEMS. 57 J

While high in air, and pois'd upon his wings
Unseen, tlie soft, enamour'd wood-lark runs
Thro' all his maze of melody ; — the brake
Loud with the black-bird's bolder note resounds.

Sooth'd by the genial warmth, the cawing rook
Anticipates the spring, selects her mate,
Haunts her tall nest-trees, and with sedulous care
Repairs her wicker eyrie, tempest torn.

The plough-man inly smiles to see upturn
His mellow glebe, best pledge of future crop :
With glee the gardener eyes his smoking beds :
E'en pining sickness feels a short relief.

The happy school-boy brings transported forth
His long- forgotten scourge, and giddy gio- :
O'er the white paths he whirls the rolling hoop,
Or triumphs in the dusty fields of taw.

Not so the museful sage :— abroad he walks
Contemplative, if haply he may find
What cause controuls the tempest's rage, or whence
Amidst the savage season winter smiles.

For days, for weeks, prevails the placid calm.
At length some drops prelude a change : the sun
With ray refracted bursts the parting gloom ;
When all the chequer'd sky is one bright glare.
Mutters the wind at eve : th' horizon round
With angry aspect scowls : down rush the showers.
And float the delug'd paths, and miry fields.

4 D 2

INDEX.

A. Page
AmERIA, one of ihe wives of Sir Adam Giirdon, makes a grant of lands

to the Prior}'. ----- 345

Anne, queen, came to IVolmer-forest to see the red deer - - 17

Ants, particulars respecting - - . . 523

Aphides, great shower of, in August - - - - 522

April, 1770, the remarkable inclemency of its weather - - 130

Arum, the cuckoo-pint, eaten in hard weather, by the thrush. - - 43

Ashford, Thomas, last prior of Selborne - . - . 3^2

is pensioned by Magdalen College - - 402

Ash-tree, a rupture one, what - . . . 204

a shrew one, what - - - - - 204

particulars of - - - - - 53 1

August, the most mute month respecting the singing of birds - - 101
Aurora Borealis, singular appearance of, November 1, 17^7 - - 541
Ayles Holt, alias Alice Holt, the forest of - - - 24
its grantees - - - - - 25

B.

Barometer, remarkable fall of, November 22, 1768 - - 538

Barometers, Selhorne and Newton compared - - . 282

South Lambeth - - . . _ 283

Barragon, a genteel corded stuff, where manufactured - - 14

Bat, a tame one, some particulars about - - - 32

.... drink on the wing like swallows ----- 32
.... the large sort, some particulars about - - -76

.... nondescript in 1769, 76. More account of - - - 93

Beans, sown by birds ..... 535

Bee, wild, account of - - - . - 517

Beech-trees, love to grow in crowded situations - - . 531

.'574 INDEX.

Page

Tieech, loveliest of forest trees ... - 2

Beetles buz, at the time that partridges call - - - 509

Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, his register imperfect - - 3(58

Berne, alias Bernes, Peter, sacrist of Selborne Priory - - 27Q

appointed prior by lapse to the visitor - - - 3/9

... . resigned his priorship . . . . 330

is re-elected - - . . . 396

relinquishes again . - . . - 3S8

is pensioned - - . . . 3pi

the indenture delivered to him, as sacrist, from the prior of Selborne 451

Bill's, or Bean's-pond, for what remarkable - - - 21

Birds, common in England, that have no English name - - 29

summer, of passage, a list of - - - 4Q^ 115

living ones shewn here, when from distant regions, why usually of

the thick-billed genera - - - - 84

of summer passage — seen spring and autumn at Gii?'a//ar - - 88

soft-billed, that winter with us, how supported - - 106

of winter passage, a hst of - - - - I17

that continue in full song till after Midsummer - - 1 1 9

why fatten in moderate frosts - - - - 128

. ... what sorts are pulveralrices - - - - 133

what occasions their congregating - - . - 146, 147

in the season of nidification, tame ... 192

various manner of motion of - - - - 237

notes and language of - - - - 240

in general, observations on - - - - 477

of prey, boldness and rapacity of, when urged by hunger - 49O

Black-cap, an elegant songster - - - - 104

Black game seen at Selborne - - - - 16

Black-thorn, usually blossoms while cold winds blow - - 533

Black spring, 17/1, account of the remarkable severity of - - 541

Bohemian chatterer - - - - - 34

Bombylius medius, description of - - ... 521

Boy, an idiot, his strange propensity - - - - 201

.... eats bees, &c. . . . . . 201

j5r;mi/oHe-/orfo'e, some account of - - - - 21

INDEX. 575

Page

Brooks at Sellorne, what fishes they produce - . . 31

Bug, harvest, some account of - ... go

Bullfinch, turns black - . . . . 43

Bunting, a very rare bird at Sellorne - - . .38

Butcher-bird, red backed - . . . .56

Buzzards, honey, some account of - . - . log

C.

Cane, a species of weasel - - . - . 42

Caj6nmz;/o«^, or fern-owl, some new observations about - -04

Carta pro fundatione Prioratus de Selelurne - . - 421

Carta petens licenciam elegendi prelatum (i dom. episcop. W'mton. - - 424
Castration, its strange effects - - . - 2] 2

Cats, house, strange that they should be so fond of fish - - 82

Chaffinches, vast flocks of hens - . .37

r hens, more account of - - - . 136

Chalk.hills, why peculiarly beautiful . . . . 164

Charadrius himantopus described .... 258

Chestnut timber, very hke oak .... 533

Chiff-chaff, or willow wren .... 405

Chinese dog and bitch - - ... 277

Church, iSeZi'orne, particulars about - - . 310)316

Cimex Linearis, account of - - - - 514

Clouds, morning, occasion of - - . . 540

Cobwebs, shower of- -----192

Coccus vitis viniferce, strange and rare insect in England - 204, 267

Coins, Roman, found at Selborne in great abundance - - 305, 306

Cock-chaffers, particulars relative to . - . 511

Cock-roach, monography of - - - . . 512

Cold descends - .... 286

Colymbus Glacialis, description of - . . - 401

Comua ^mmonis, where found - - • - 7 8

Cricket, field, a monography of - . . . 250, 253

hearth, a monography of - - - 253, 255

mole, a monography of - - - . 256, 25?

Crista Galli, a fossil shell - - - . - 7

.576 INDEX.

Page
Crocus, the spring, and saffron, their diflFerent seasons of blossoming

wonderful, why - ... - 236

Cuckoo, particulars about . - - - 125, 126, 127

sing in different keys - - - - 143

a young one in the nest of a titlark - - - 133

several skimming over a pond, why . . - 134

Cucumbers set by bees ... - - 535

Cumberland, JFilliam, Duke of, takes away the red deer from U olmer-forest 17
Curlew, stone, some account of - - - - 43, 44

more particulars of - - - - 89, 9O

further remarks on - - - - 494

D.

Dastard, alias IVastard, natural son to Sir Adam Gurdon - - 347

Daws breed in unlikely places - - - - 59

Deer, red, in Wolmer forest , some account of - - - 17, 18

fallow. In Holt-forest - - - - 26

their spiracula, or breathing places - - - 40, 41

Derkam, Mr. mistaken - - - - -9^

Dew, honey, remarks on - - - - 540

Dispersion of birds, pretty equal, why ... 230

Diving birds, how their feet and wings placed - - - 402

Dogs, Chinese, from Canton .... 277

Domesday-book, account of Sellorne from ... . 307

Dove, stock, or wild winter-pigeon - - - . gg

stock, many particulars of - - - from 111 to 1 14

ring, food of the - .... 48s

Downs, Sussex, a lovely range - - - - - 164

Ducks, foreign, roost on trees .... 433

Ducks, betake themselves to the water in the night time, and why - 482

E.

Echo, a polysyllabical one - .... 224

.... why since mute - - - - - 227

several remarks on echoes .... 224, 226

a charming description of echoes from Z-7<frrfH« - - 229

INDEX. 577

Page

Echoes occasioned by the discharge of swivel guns - - _ 282

Elm, Wych, size of a transplanted one - - . 4

Empedcs, or Tipulie, vast swarms of in May - . . . 523

F.

Fair at Selloriie - - . . . _ ^jg

Fairy rings, occasion of - - - - . 53Q

Falcon, peregrine, particulars about - - . . 276

Fieldfires, strange that tliey do not breed in England - - 74

nor in Scotland - . . . - 74

roost on the ground - - . . 73

Fishes, gold and silver, why very amusing in a glass bowl - - 25/

Fly, bacon, injurious to the housewife - - - - go

. . . . Whame, or burrel, oestrus curvicauda - - . - gi

.... May, great swarms of, June 1771 - - - 510

.... ISIose, very tormenting to horses - - . . ^j^

.... Ichneumon, destroys spiders - - - - 5ig

Flies, many species of, retire into houses in the decline of the year - 521

Fly-catcher, some particulars of - - - - 104

Fogs, reflection of, a singular phenomenon - - _ s4q

Forms, five, respecting the choosing a prior - - , - 353

Frogs, migrate from pools - - - - - 4g

Freestone, analogous to chalk - - - - 3

makes the wood of trees growing on it shakey . . 4

Frost, gentle, fattens animals, &c. - - - - 127

that in January, 1768, described - . - . . 283, 287

dependent on ^^ at -.-... 258

that in January 1776 - ... 288,292

that in December, 1/84 ... . 292, 295

partial, reason of - ... . ^33

G.

Galls of Lomlardy poplar - - - - - 53 1

Gassendus, curious quotation from - - - 273

German Boars, turned out in Wolmer ... - 26

silk-ta'J, garrulus lohemicus, shot ... 34

Glow-worm, when it ceases to shine - ... 524

Gossamer, a wonderful shower of - ... 291, 194

4E

578 INDEX.

Page

Grange, the, belonging to 5eZ/orne Priory - - - - 415

Grealham, the manor farm of, its privilege in IVolmer-foresl • - 20

Grosbeak, account of - - - - - 504

Gurdon, Sir Adam, who and what ... - 335

where a man of rank and property - - 335

his wives ... - 33"

builds an oratory in his manor-house - - - 338

grants the Plestor to the Priory oi Selborne - - 340

becomes warden of IVolmer-forest ... 342

a distringas against him, 344. Enlists troops for the king 344

His advanced age, 346. His seal and arms - - 34Q

seems to have had no concerns with the Knights Templars 351

Gypsies, some particulars about - - - - 196> 197

H.

Hail-storm at iSe/iorne in summer 1734 - - - 299,301

Hanger, the ..-.-- 2

Hasel IVych ..---- 4

HawkUy-hanger, the amazing fall thereof ... 246, 249

Hawk, sparrow, the dread of housewives - - - 110

blue, henharrier, boldness of when urged by hunger - - 489

Haze, or smoky fog, the peculiar one which prevailed in summer 1783 297, 298
Heath-fires, why lighted up - - - - 20

Hedgehog, some account of - - - - - 77

cannot contract when young - - - 77

Heliotropes, summer and winter, how to make them - - 244

Hellebores, order of blowing ... - 233

Herissant, Monsieur, mistaken in his reason why cuckoos do not use

incubation ..... 209,210

Hirundines, British, when they arrived in three very distant counties IS9

Hogs, would live, if suffered, to a considerable age - - - 213

HoU Ayles, a royal forest ; some account of - - - 24

Hoopoes, seen at Selborne - . - - - 31

Hops, soil suited to ----- ^

observations on - - - - " ^^^

Horns, room containing many, at Lord Pembroke's - - 84

Hornets' nests, how made - - - --51S

INDEX. 579

Page

Horse and hen, curious instance of affection between - - 195

Hounds, the royal, do not draw the coverts with address, and why - - 508

House, vicai-age, at Sellorne - - - - . 313

Humming in the air - - - - - 510

Howe, General, turns out wild boars in Holt- forest - - 26

Huxham, Tii:. h\s accoMntoi X!un aX. Plymouth .... 281

I.

Jar-bird, what - - - - - .47

Indentura Prioris de Sellorne tradit. Petro Bernes sacristce - - 451

Insects have no organ of hearing .... 227

in general, observations on . . . - 509

Instinct, sometimes varies and conforms to circumstances ... 272

often perfectly uniform ...... 273

Johanna, daughter and heiress of Sir A. Gurdon, grants lands and tenements

to the Priory ..... 343

/)e/a?irf, why worthy the attention of a naturalist - - - - 108

Ivy-berries do not seem to freeze .... 533

K.
Knights Templars, had considerable property at Sellorne - - 347
lived in a mutual intercourse of good offices with the Priory 350

L.

Land-rail, generally deemed birds of passage, but appear to be ill qualified

for migration .... - 4s(J

Lanes, hollow, rocky, their peculiarities - - - - H

abound with filices - - - - - 1 1

Langelande, Rolert, severe on the religious ... 374
Langrish, Nicholas, who had been a chantry priest, sent by Magdalen col-
lege to celebrate mass at the dissolved Priory of Sellorne - 403
Larks, white, probably snow-flakes ... . . 43

grass-hopper, some curious circumstances about - - - 45

Leper, a miserable one in this village ... 220

Leprosy, why probably less common than of old - - - 221

Leveret, suckled by a cat - - - - - 215

4E2

680 INDEX.

Page

Liriie blossoms, infusion of, a remedy for coughs, &c. - • 532

Linnets, congregate and chirp - ' - - -v 37

Loaclies from Amlresbury - - - - - 53

Longspee, Ela, founds a chantry at Selborne - . . _ 353

who and what - - - - - 355

Loon, or diver, described - - - - - 49I

M.

Malm, black, what sort of soil - - - >• 3

Ditto, white .----.- 3

Manor and lands of the Priory of 5e/iorne - . _ . 454
March, the month of, two wonderfully hot days In March 1777; tlie

effects of that heat - - - - - 218, 2ly

Mare, singular incident relating to an old hunting one - - - 508

Martin, house, seen very late - - - ^ - 60

house, a monography of - - - - 158, l63

house, builds his nest only in themorning ... \sg

sand, or bank, a monography of - - - 176,180

house, further circumstances about - - - 26I

house, more particulars concerning - . . . 272

additional remarks on - - - - - 499

Martin, Pope, his bull touching the revoking of certain things alienated

from the Priory of 5ettorne .... 373

Mercatu de, etferid de Sekhirrie, a mistake in b'shop Tanner 416

Mice, small red, nondescript - - - - - 33

one of their nests described - - - - 34

some farther account of - - - - - 39

Migration, actual, somewhat like it - - - - 65

at Gibraltar, ocular demonstration of - - - 140

Mills, water, the Priory of Selborne in possession of several - - 408

Missel-bird, the largest singing bird - ... 120

pugnaceous - - ... \qq

Mist, called London smoke, usually followed by dry weather - - 539

Moose-deer, a female, some account of - - - - 79, 80

a male, where killed - - - - 83

A/o><o«, JoA;/, prior of /ft!/i,'«/t', appointed prior of 5e/^'j)7;r - - 381

INDEX. 5g|

Page

Motion of birds - - - - . , 237

Museum, countryman's, where - - - - - 30

Music, its powerful effect on some men's minds - - - 2/3

of birds, depends on incubation - - . - - 123

Myt'ilus crista galli, a ciu-ious fossil-sliell . . _ .7

N.

Naturalist's Calendar - - - . . 457

Newt, or eft, water, some account of - - - . ,50, 5i

Narehill ... _. . -3

Norttiern birds seen in the south . _ . ^ - 56

O.

Oak, a vast one planted on the Plestor - - - - 5

Oestrus Curvicauda, account of - - - - -518

Osprey, or sea-eagle, where shot . - - . - 97

Otter, one, where killed - - - - - 83

Owl, brown, a tame one - - - - - 3 1

white, or barn-owl, the young not easily bred up - - 31

hoot in different keys ... - . 143

Owls, white, do not hoot ... . 155

brown, live without water .... 15Q

white, several particulars of - - - - 154, 156

fern, superstitious notions of the country people respecting - - 4g6

some account of - - ... 4g2

P.

Paradise of Selhorne Priory . . . - . 40j

Partridges, hen, instances of their remarkable solicitude to save their brood 484

Passeres, order of, contains all the singing birds - - - 121

Peacocks, their train not a tail - - - - - - Q2

Pettichaps, a very rare bird at Selhorne - . - . . 275

PAa/«na Q««-ras, devour the leaves of oak trees - - . . 515

Pheasant, Hybrid, description of - - - - - 485

Pheasants, reason of their cowring and squatting - ... 450

Pigeons, drink like <iuadrupeds - . - . . jo3

582 INDEX.

Page
Plants, the more rare, in Selhorne ... 233

P/wror J the, in the midst of the village, what .... 5,340

Plover, the stilt, a rare and curious bird ... . 259

Poems ....... 561

Pond, Wolmer, its measurement, fowls, &c. - - - - '23

Ponds on elevations, why seldom dry - - - - 207

Porch, church, its gothic arch and folding doors - - - - 317

Poultry, endowed with great discernment to see what will turn to their own

advantage - - - - - - 481

reason of their propensity to roosting on high - - - 481

Preceptory , an unnoticed one, at Seliorne .... 347

an attempt to explain what a preceptoiy was - - 352

Priors of Selhorne, a list of - - - - - - 3g3

Priory of Selhorne, when and by whom founded _ . . 329

how endowed at first ... - 330, 333

its present state - - - - 412, 414

paper containing the value of the lands and manors - 452

Ptinus Pectinicornis, account of - - - --512

Puffins, breed in holes on the flat ground . - - - .59

Q.

Queen's bank, why so called - - - - .17

R.

Rabbits make the finest turf, and why - - - - 507

Rain, the mean of, not to be ascertained at any place till after many years 12

what has fallen at Selhorne of late years - - - 12

that of Selhorne compared with that of Plymouth - - - 281

measure of, in inches and hundreds, from 1782 to 1703 - - 550

Rat, water, whether two kinds of - - - - . 29

.... water, a curious anecdote concerning one - - - ^3

Raven, nest of, account of - - - - - 6

Ray, Mr. why a superior writer - - - - 145

Red-breasts, why supposed to sing in autumn only - - - 102

moves its tail horizontally - ... 101

Red-start, its singularities - - - - - 104

INDEX. 583

Page

Red-wings, die first birds that suffer by frost - - . . 144

Relics belonging to the Priory of Sellorne - - . . 37Q

Ring-ousel, where found - - - - - 35

more particulars of - - ... 57

farther account of - - - - - Qy

more of ditto - - - - - 7 1

breed in Dartmoor and the Peak of Derly - - - b5

farther remarks concerning - - - - 98

Rooks, perfectly white - - - - - 42

an amusing anecdote about - - . - 280

are continually fighting - - - - -479

have their wings frozen by the sleet . . - . 53^

Ruperta, whose daughter and wife - - - - 25

Rupert, Prince, a great mechanic - - - - 25

Rupilus, or Roche de la, Peter, who and what ... 328, 329

Rushes instead of candles, matter of much utility in humble life - - lg8, 200

Rutland, county of, what rain fell there - - - - 138

S.

Sand martin, seen before any of its congeners - - - . 500

Scallops, or pectines, where found ... - . g

Scopo/i, account of his works - - - - - 1 32

Scotland, in what its maps are defective . - . . 108

Secta molendini, claimed by the prior of Selborne ... 408

Sedge-bird, some particulars about - - - - 72

., more account of ... . . jqo

a delicate polyglot - - ... 124

Selborne parish, its situation and abuttals ... . 1

village, how circumstanced - - - - 2

the manor of, abounds with game - - 11

parish of, of vast extent, why - - • - - 11

population, births, and burials, of - - - - 12

rain, quantity of, considerable, why - - - 12

produces near half the birds of Great Britain - - 105

why a Saxon village - - - - 30/, 308

becomes a market town .... 340

8.54 INDEX.

Page
Serpent kind, eat but once a year - - - - 51

Sexes, of birds and beasts, when they separate - - - 136

Sharp, John, appointed prior - - - - - 389

Sheep, Sussex, horned and hornless - - - - l65

Shingles, 5eZior?!e church mostly covered with - - - 31^

Slugs,* very injuiious to wheat just come out of the ground, by eating off
the blade ; and by their infinite n umbers occasioning incredible
havock - - - - - - - 2ijr

'Snails, remarks on----- -- 525

Snake, water, vulgar error - - - - - 5 1

stinks se defcndendo - - - - - 73

"s slough, curious particulars concerning . - - 526'

Snipes, their piping and humming - - - - 47

Snow-fleck, sometimes seen at Selborne - • - - 7*

Sociality in the brute creation, instances of - . _ lQi,\Q5

S'oftbiUed birds, how many stay the winter - - - - - I17

Sow, prodigious fecundity of one - - ... 213

Sphynx Ocellata, account of - ..- - -5l6

Squirrels, three young ones suckled by a cat - - . - S07

Stock dove, bird of passage - - - - - 96

often confounded with the ring dove - - - 112

Stone, free, its uses and advantages - - " - 9

.... rag, its qualities and uses - • - "9

sand, or forest - - - - - lO

yellow or rust colour ... . . jo

Stone curlew, some account of - - - - -43

further account of - ... .43^ 44)^ gg

additional particulars concerning ... 4^4

Sropyi) of animals, several instances of - - - - 151

Sudington, a preceptory - .... 347

Summers, 178I and 1783, unusually sultry .... 295

* For the amazing ravages committed on turnips, wheal, dover, fidld cabbage-seeds, &c. by
j/u^j, and a rational and easy method of destroying tlleni, see a sensible letter by Mr. Henry f^iigg,
of Chihompton, in the county of Somerset, lately made public at the request of the gentlemen of thiit
neighbourhood.

INDEX. 585

Page

Summer birds of passage, list of - - - - 46,115

Swallow, the house or chimney, a monography of - - 166, 173

more particulars about - - ... 277

congregating and disappearance of - - - 501

Sweden produces two hundred and twenty-one birds - ' - - 104

Swift, or black martin, a monography of - - - 181, 18g

tlie same number usually seems to return to the same place - 229

more circumstances about - . . . . 263

Swift, and large bat, feed in the same high region of air - - -76

Sycamore tree, forms a beautiful appearance in May - . - 531

T.

Teals, where bred - - -- - -154

Teinple, a manor house so called, described - . - 338, 339

Tender plants, in what aspect to be placed ... . 284

Thaws, why sometimes surprisingly quick - - . . 533

Thrush, missel, very fierce and pugnacious - - . - 190

Thrushes are very serviceable in gardens ... . 450

reason of their building near houses - - - - 481

Timber, a large fall of, in the Holt-forest - - - - 26

Tit-mice, their mode of life and support - - - - 107

Tortoise, a family one . . . _ . 135

more particulars of - - - - 14C)

further circumstances about - - - - 200

more remarks respecting .... 413

Tower, the church - - - - - -3l6

its bells tuneable - - - - - 3 1 7

... . . motto on the treble bell, just as it is printed - - - 317

Trees, subterraneous, how discovered - - - - 15

why perfect alembics, how .... 205

order of losing their leaves .... 503

size and growth of - - - - - 528

flowing of sap from ... - . 530

renovation of leaves of - - - - - 530

Tremella nostoc, remark concerning ... . ^36

Truffles, observations on - - - - - 536

Tunlridge, by whom built . - - . . 407

4F

586 I N D E X.

V. ^"'

Vicarage of Selborne, some account of - - - - 322

Vicars of Selborne, a list of - - - - 323, 328

Vine, disease of - - - - - - 264

Viper, blind- worm, and snake, some account of - - - 51,52

Viper, pregnant one, some circumstances about - - - 2 1 1

Visitatio notabilis de Sdeburne, a curious document abridged - - 350, 36f

the original in Latin . - . . _ 429

W.

Wagtails, steers, larks, walk - - - - - 11/

run round the cows when feeding in moist pastures, and why 503

Waldon-lodge, what, and by whom kept up - - - - 21

Wiiltham blacks much infested Wolmer-forest • - - IJ

by their enormities occasioned the black act - - - 18

Wasps, observations on - - - - - 518

Water-eft, has no gills - - - - - 54

Waynjiete, William of, endeavours to reform the Priory of Selborne - 376

dissolves it - - - - - 394, 401

Weatlier, dripping after drought, influence of - - - - 541

summary of, from 1768 to 1/92 . - - . 551

Well-head, a fine perennial spring - - - - - 3

Wells, their usual depth in Selborne village - - - 3

Whaddon chapel, where . _ _ . - 406

Wheat, mistaken notion concerning .... 535

Wheatear, the bird so called, some account of - - - 38

Sussex bird, so called, more particulars of - - - I66

White-throat, some particulars about - - - - 103
TVinchester, Hoadly, bishop of, his humane objection to restocking Wal-

thani chace with deer. - - - - ig, 20

TVblmer, forest of, some account of - - - - 14, 24

how abutted upon - - - - - 15

has abounded with fossil trees - - - - 15

haunted by many sorts of wild fowl - - - 16

once abounded with heath cocks, or black game ... 16

with red deer - - - - - 17

INDEX. 587

Page

WoodcockSj sometimes sluggish and sleepy - • • 141, 145

Scopoli's assertion about - - - - - 86

hen, with egg, before she leaves England - - 230

Wood-fossil, where found . . - - , 2^9

Wood-Losel's, its taper oaks - - ... 5

its raven tree - - - - - 6

Worms, earth, no inconsiderable link in the chain of nature, some account of 216

further particulars of - - - - - 525

Worms, glow, put out their lamps between eleven and twelve - - 524

Wrens, willow, tliree species .... . 55^ 55

Wren, smallest uncrested willow, the second summer bird ... 4g5
Wryneck, walks a little ..... 504

TVykeham, IFiUiam of, his liberal behaviour towards the Priory of Selhorne 36/

his Visitatio notabUis de Selehurne - - - - 429

Wynchestre, John, chosen prior oi Selborne, "per viam, vel formam

simplicis cooi^roimiiV' .... - 369,371

Wyndesor, WiUiam, elected prior of Selborne irregularly, and set aside by

the visitor • - - - - - 383

Y.

Yard, church, of SeWornf, a scanty one - - - - 318

Yellow-hammer, sings later in the year than any otljer bird - - 12/

Yeoman-prickers, their agility as horsemen - - - 17, 18

Yew-tree, a vast one, in Selborne churchyard - - - 319, 322

LIST OF THE PLATES.

I. North-east View of Selborne, from the Short Lythe, to front the Title,

II. The Hermitage. Vignette in the Title to the Natural History.

III. View of the Residence of the late Rev. Gilbert White! Tailpiece

to the Biographical Sketch - - - - fO'ge ix.

IV. Mytilus Crista Galli, a fossil - - - - - 7

V. Charadrius Himantopus ..... 258

VI. Seal of the Priory. Vignette in the Title to the Antiquities

VII. South View of Selboene Church - - - - 311
yill. Copy of a Pictiure in Selborne church, supposed to be painted by

John de Maubeuge ; the Gift of the late Benjamin White, Esq. 314

IX. North View of Selborne Church .... 318

X. TemplEj in the parish of Selborne .... 338

XI. The Pleystow, vulg. the Plestor - . . . - 340

XII. A Hybrid Pheasant ...--. 485

r