Reproduced by kind permission uf Messrs. Maull <fe Fox, Ltd.. /<S/, Piccadilly, W
LORD EUSTACE CECIL
PROCEEDINGS
of the
DORSET NATURAL HISTORY
and
ANTIQUARIAN FIELD CLUB
From MAY, 1920, to MAY, 1921.
Edited by
J. M. J. FLETCHER.
VOLUME XLII.
DORCHESTER:
Printed by F. G. Longman, at the Cornhill Press.
1922.
f'AY 2 8 1SS5
i
9 8 4 6 3 f
DA
CONTENTS.
List of Officers of the Club since the Inauguration ... ... ..
Rules of the Club .....................
List of Officers and Committees ... ... ... ... ... ...
List of Members ... ... .. ... ... ... ... ...
List of New Members elected since the Publication of Volume XL ...
Publications of the Club... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Societies and Institutions in Correspondence with the Club ... ...
THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB FROM MAY, 1920, TO MAY, 1921 :
FIRST SUMMER MEETING ... ... ... ... ... ...
SECOND SUMMER MEETING ... ... ... ... ...
THIRD SUMMER MEETING ... ... ... ... ... ..
FIRST WINTER MEETING ... " ... ... ... ... ..
SECOND WINTER MEETING ... ... ... ... ... ..
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING ... ... ... ... ..
The Hon. Treasurer's Financial Statement ... ... ... ..
In Memoriam, Lord Eustace Henry Brownlow Gascoyne Cecil, F.R.G.S.
xxiv.
xxvii.
xxvii.
xxviii.
xxxi.
xxxv.
xxxix.
xlv.
li.
Iviii.
lix.
Anniversary Address of the President ... ... ... ... ... 1
Notes on a few of the Insects and Plants at Portland, by Nelson Moore
Richardson, B.A. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25
Eggardun Hill, by The Rev. H. Shaen Solly, M.A. ... ... ... 31
The Helstone, by Vere L. Oliver, F.S.A. 36
The Travels of Peter Mundy in Dorset in 1635, by Nelson Moore
Richardson, B.A. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 42
The Apple Tree Wassail A Survival of a Tree Cult, by W. O.
Beament, M.A. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 51
The Church Screens of Dorset, by E. T. Long 61
Dorset Gulleries, by the Rev. F. L. Blathwayt, M.A., M.B.O.U. ... 81
The Founding of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and the Rev. John White,
by Captain J. E. Acland, F.S.A 87
Phonological Report on First Appearances of Birds, Insects, etc., and
First Flowering Plants, in Dorset during 1920, with other Notes of
Local Natural History, by the Rev. F. L. Blathwayt, M.A., M.B.O.U. 96
Return of Rainfall in Dorset in 1920, by the Rev. H. H. Tilney Bassett, R.D. 107
Sturminster Marshall (Bailie House) Tube Well facing 114
Index to Volume XLI 115
INDEX OF PLATES.
Lord Eustace Cecil
Memorial Brass, to the Rev. John White
FRONTISPIECE
facing 95
V.
ZTbe Dorset
IRatural fnstor anD Hntiquarian ffielb Club.
INAUGURATED MAUCH 26TH, 1875.
Presidents :
1875-1902 J. C. Mausel-Pleydell, Esq., B.A.. F.G.S., F.L.S.
1902-1901 The Lord Eustace Cecil, b'.R.G.S.
1901 * Nelson M. Richardson, Esq., B.A.
Vice-Presidents :
1875-1882 The Rev. H. H. Wood, M.A., F.G.S.
1875-1884 Professor James Bnckman, F.S.A., F.G.S., F.L.S.
1880-1900 The Rev. Canon Sir Talbot Baker, Bart., M.A
1880-1900 General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S.
1880-1917 The Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S.
1885 * The Earl of Moray, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., F.G.S.
1892-1904 Nelson M. Richardson, Esq., B.A.
1904-19^1 ( The Lord Eustace Ceci1 ' F.R.G.S.
1900-1909-W. H. Hudleston, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.L.S., Past Pres.
Geol. Society :
1900-1904 Vaughan Cornish, Esq., D.Sc., F.C.S., F.R.G.S.
1900 * Captain G. R. Elwes.
1902-1916-H. Colley March. Esq., M.D., F.S.A.
1904 * The Rev. Herbert Pentin, M.A.
1904-1916-The Rev. W. Miles Barnes, B.A.
1904 * The Rev. Canon J. C. M. Mansel-Pleydell, M.A.
1904-1908 R. Bosworth Smith, Esq., M.A.
1908-1909 Henry Storks Eaton, Esq., M.A., Past Pres. Roy. Met. Society.
1909 * The Rev. Canon C. H. Mayo, M.A., D.Litt., F.R. Hist. S., Dorset Editor of
" Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries."
1909 * E. R. Sykes, Esq., B.A., F.Z.S., Past Pres. Malacological Society.
1911-1912 The Rev. C. W. H. Dicker, R.D.
1912
191H
1918
1915
1916
1918
1918
Alfred Pope, Esq., F.S.A.
Henry Symonds, Esq., F.S.A.
His Honour J. S. Udal, F.S.A.
Captain John E. Acland, M.A., F.S.A.
Sir Daniel Morris, K.C.M.G.. D.Sc., D.C.L., F.L.S.
The Re?. Canon J. M. J. Fletcher, M.A.
W. de C. Prideaux, Esq., F.S.A., F.R.S.M.
Hon. Secretaries :
1875-1884 Professor James Buckman, F.S.A., F.G.S., F.L.S.
1885-1892 The Earl of Moray, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., F.G.S.
1892-1902 Nelson M. Richardson, Esq., B.A.
1902-1904 H. Colley March, Esq., M.D., F.S.A.
1904 * The Rev. Herbert Pentin, M.A.
Hon. Treasurers:
1875-1882 The Rev. H. H. Wood, M.A., F.G.S.
1882-1900 The Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge, M.A., F.R.S., F.Z.S.
1901-1910 Captain G. R Elwes.
1910-1915 The Rev. Canon J. C. M. Mansel-Pleydell, M.A.
1915 Captain John E. Acland, M.A., F.S.A.
Hon. Editors:
1875-1884 Professor James Buckman, F.S.A., F.G.S., F.L.S.
1885-1892 The Earl of Moray, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., F.G.S.
1892-1901 Nelson M. Richardson, Esq., B.A.
1901-1906 The Rev. W. Miles Barnes, B.A.
1906-1909 The Rev. Herbert Pentin, M.A.
1909-1912 The Rev. C. W. H. Dicker, R.D.
1912-1917 Henry Symonds, Esq., F.S.A.
1917 * The Rev. Canon J. M. J. Fletcher, M.A.
The asterisk indicates the present officials of the Club,
VI.
Rules
of the
Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian
Field Club.
OBJECT AND CONSTITUTION.
1. The Club shall he called The Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian
Field Club, and shall have for a short title The Dorset Field Club.
The object of the Club is to promote and encourage an interest in the study
of the Physical Sciences and Archaeology generally, especially the Natural
History of the County of Dorset and its Antiquities, Prehistoric records, and
Ethnology. It shall use its influence to prevent, as far as possible, the
extirpation of rare plants and animals, and to promote the preservation of
the Antiquities of the County.
2. The Club shall consist of (i.) three Officers, President, Honorary
Secretary, and Honorary Treasurer, who shall be elected annually, and
shall form the Executive body for its management ; (ii.) Vice-Presidents,
of whom the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer shall be two, ex qfficio ;
(iii.) The Honorary Editor of the Annual Volume of Proceedings ;
(iv.) Ordinary Members ; (v.) Honorary Members. The President, Vice-
Presidents, and Editor shall form a Council to decide questions referred to
them by the Executive and to elect Honorary Members. The Editor shall
be nominated by one of the incoming Executive and elected at the Annual
Meeting.
There may also be one or more Honorary Assistant Secretaries, who
shall be nominated by the Honorary Secretary, seconded by the President
or Treasurer, and elected by the Members at the Annual Meeting.
Members may be appointed by the remaining Officers to fill interim
vacancies in the Executive Body until the following Annual Meeting.
The number of the Club shall be limited to 400, power being reserved
to the Council to select from the list of candidates persons, whose member-
ship they may consider to be advantageous to the interests of the Club, to
be additional Members.
Vll.
PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENTS.
3. The President shall take the chair at all Meetings, and have an
original and a casting vote on all questions before the Meeting. In addition
to the two ex officio Vice-Presidents, at least three others shall be nominated
by the President, or, in his absence, by the Chairman, and elected at the
Annual Meeting.
HON. SECRETARY.
4. The Secretary shall perform all the usual secretarial work ; cause a
programme of each Meeting to be sent to every Member seven days at
least before such Meeting ; make all preparations for carrying out Meet-
ings and, with or without the help of a paid Assistant Secretary or others,
conduct all Field Meetings. On any questions arising between the
Secretary (or Acting Secretary) and a Member at a Field Meeting, the
decision of the Secretary shall be final.
The Secretary shall receive from each Member his or her share of the
day's expenses, and thereout defray all incidental costs and charges of the
Meeting, rendering an account of the same before the Annual Meeting to
the Treasurer ; any surplus of such collection shall form part of the General
Fund, and any deficit be defrayed out of that Fund.
HON. TREASURER.
5. The Treasurer shall keep an account of Subscriptions and all other
moneys of the Club received and of all Disbursements, rendering at the
Annual General Meeting a balance sheet of the same, as well as a general
statement of the Club's finances. He shall send copies of the Annual Volume
of Proceedings for each year to Ordinary Members who have paid their
subscriptions for that year (as nearly as may be possible, in the order of
such payment), to Honorary Members, and to such Societies and individuals
as the Club may, from time to time, appoint to receive them. He shall
also furnish a list at each Annual Meeting, containing the names of all
Members in arrears, with the amount of their indebtedness to the Club.
He shall also give notice of their election to all New Members.
ORDINARY MEMBERS.
6. Ordinary Members are entitled to be present and take part in the
Club's proceedings at all Meetings, and to receive the published
41 Proceedings " of the Club, when issued, for the year for which their
subscription has been paid.
7. Every candidate for admission shall be nominated in writing by one
Member and seconded by another, to both of whom he must be personally
known. He may be proposed at any Meeting, and his name shall appear
in the programme of the first following Meeting at which a Ballot is held
when he shall be elected by Ballot, one black ball in six to exclude.
Vlll.
Twelve Members shall form a quorum for the purpose of election. A
Ballot shall be held at the Annual and Winter Meetings, and may be held
at any other Meeting, should the Executive so decide, notice being
given in the programme. In the event of the number of vacancies .being
less than the number of candidates at four successive Meetings, the names
of any candidates proposed at the first of such Meetings who have not been
elected at one of them shall be withdrawn, and shall not be eligible to be
again proposed for election for at least a year after such withdrawal.
Provided that if at any Meeting there shall be no vacancies available, it
shall not be counted in estimating the above named four Meetings.
8. The Annual Subscription shall be 10s., which shall become due and
payable in advance on the 1st of January in each year. Subscriptions paid
on election after September in each year shall be considered as subscriptions
for the following year, unless otherwise agreed upon by such Member and
the Treasurer. Every Member shall pay immediately after his election the
sum of ten shillings as Entrance Fee, in addition to his first Annual
Subscription.
9. Xo person elected a Member shall be entitled to exercise any
privilege as such until he has paid his Entrance Fee and first Subscription,
and no Member shall be entitled to receive a copy of the " Proceedings " for
any year until his Subscription for that year has been paid.
10. A registered letter shall be sent by the Hon. Treasurer to any
Member whose Subscription is in arrear at the date of any Annual
Meeting, demanding payment within 28 days, failing which he shall cease
to be a Member of the Club, but shall, nevertheless, be liable for the
arrears then due.
11. Members desiring to leave the Club shall give notice of the same in
writing to the Treasurer (or Secretary), but, unless such notice is given
before the end of January in any year, they shall be liable to pay the
Annual Subscription due to the Club on and after January 1st in that year.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
12 Honorary Members shall consist of persons eminent for scientific or
natural history attainments, and shall be elected by the Council. They
pay no subscription, and have all the privileges of Ordinary Members,
except voting.
MEETINGS.
13. The Annual General Meeting shall be held as near the first week in
May as may be convenient ; to receive the outgoing President's Address
(if any) and the Treasurer's financial report ; to elect the Officers and Editor
for the ensuing year ; to determine the number (which shall usually be
three or four), dates, and places of Field Meetings during the ensuing
summer, and for general purposes,
IX.
14. Two Winter Meetings shall usually be held in or about the months
of December or February for the exhibition of Objects of Interest (to
which not more than one hour of the time before the reading of the Papers
shall be devoted), for the reading and discussion of Papers, and for
general purposes.
The Dates and Places of the Winter and Annual Meetings shall be
decided by the Executive.
15. A Member may bring Friends to the Meetings subject to the
following restrictions : No person (except the husband, wife or "child of
a Member), may attend the Meeting unaccompanied by the Member intro-
ducing him, unless such Member be prevented attending from illness, and
no Member may take with him to a Field Meeting more than one Friend,
whose name and address must .be submitted to the Hon. Secretary and
approved by him or the Executive.
The above restrictions do not apply to the Executive or to the Acting
Secretary at the Meeting.
16. Members must give due notice (with prepayment of expenses) to the
Hon. Secretary of their intention to be present, with or without a Friend at
any Field Meeting, in return for which the Secretary shall send to the
Member a card for admission to the Meeting, to be produced when required.
Any Member who, having given such notice, fails to attend, will be liable
only for any expenses actually incurred on his account, and any balance
will be returned to him on application. The sum of Is., or such other
amount as the Hon. Secretary may consider necessary, shall be charged
to each person attending a Field Meeting, for Incidental Expenses.
17. The Executive may at any time call a Special General Meeting of
the Members upon their initative or upon a written requisition (signed by
Eight Members) being sent to the Honorary Secretary. Any proposition
to be submitted shall be stated in the Notice, which shall be sent to each
Member of the Club not later than seven days before the Meeting.
PAPERS.
18. Notice shall be given to the Secretary, a convenient time before each
Meeting, of any motion to be made or any Paper or communication desired
to be read, with its title and a short sketch of its scope or contents. The
insertion of these in the Programme is subject to the consent of the
Executive.
19. The Publications of the Club shall be in the hands of the Executive,
who shall appoint annually Three or more Ordinary Members to form
with them and the Editor a Publication Committee for the purpose of
deciding upon the contents of the Annual Volume. These contents shall
consist of original papers and communications written for the Club, and
either read, or accepted as read, at a General Meeting ; also of the
X.
Secretary's Reports of Meetings, the Treasurer's Financial Statement and
Balance Sheet, a list to date of all Members of the Club, and of those
elected in the current or previous year, with the names of their proposers
and seconders. The Annual Volume shall be edited by the Editor subject
to the direction of the Publication Committee.
20. Twenty-five copies of his paper shall be presented to each author
whose communication shall appear in the volume as a separate article, on
notice being given by him to the Publisher to that effect.
THE AFFILIATION OF SOCIETIES AND LIBRARIES TO THE CLUB.
21. Any Natural History or Antiquarian Society in the County may be
affiliated to the Dorset Field Club on payment of an annual fee of Ten
Shillings, in return for which the annual volume of the Proceedings of the
Field Club shall be sent to such Society.
Every affiliated Society shall send the programme of its Meetings to the
Hon. Secretary of the Field Club, and shall also report any discoveries of
exceptional interest. And the Field Club shall send its programme to the
Hon. Secretary of each affiliated Society.
The Members of the Field Club shall not be eligible, ipso facto, to attend
any Meetings of affiliated Societies, and the Members of any affiliated
Society shall not be eligible, ipso facto, to attend any Meetings of the Field
Club. But any Member of an affiliated Society shall be eligible to read a
paper or make an exhibit at the Winter Meetings of the Field Club at
Dorchester.
Any Public Library or Club, or School or College Library, in England
or elsewhere, may be affiliated to the Dorset Field Club on payment of an
annual fee of Ten Shillings, in return for which the annual volume of the
Proceedings of the Field Club shall be sent to such Library.
SECTIONAL COMMITTEES.
22. Small Committees may be appointed at the Annual General Meeting
to report to the Club any interesting facts or discoveries relating to the
various sections which they represent ; and the Committee of each section
may elect one of their Members as a Corresponding Secretary.
NEW RULES.
23. No alteration in or addition to these Rules shall be made except
with the consent of a majority of three-fourths of the Members present at
the Annual General Meeting, full notice of the proprosed alteration or
addition having been given both in the current Programme and in that
of the previous Meeting.
ftbe 3>orset
Natural Ibistors anfc antiquarian ffielfc Club,
INAUGURATED MARCH 26th, 1875.
xi.
President :
NELSON M. RICHARDSON ESQ., B.A.
Vice-Presidents :
THE RKV. HERBERT PENTIN, M.A., (flow. Secretary)
CAPTAIN JOHN E. ACLAND, M.A., F.S.A. (Hon. Treasurer)
CAPTAIN G. R. EL WES, J.P.
THE REV. CANON J. M. J. FLETCHER, M.A. (Hon. Editor)
THE REV. CANON J. C. M. MANSE L-PLEYDELL, M.A.
THE REV. CANON MAYO, M.A., D.Litt.. F.R. Hist. S. (Dorset Editor of " Somerset
and Dorset Notes and Queries").
THE EARL OF MORAY, M.A., F.S.A. Scot., F.G.S.
SIR DANIEL MORRIS, K.C.M.G., D.Sc., D.C.L., F L S
ALFRED POPE, ESQ., F.S.A
W. de C. PRIDEAUX, ESQ., F.S.A., F.R.S.M.
E. R. SYKES, ESQ., B.A., F.Z.S. (Past Pres. Malacological Society).
HENRY SYMONDS, ESQ., F.S.A.
His HONOUR J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.
Executive Body :
NELSON M. RICHARDSON, ESQ., B.A. (President)
THE REV. HERBERT PENTIN, M.A., (Hon, Secretary), St. Peter's Vicarage, Portland
CAPTAIN JOHN E. ACLAND, M.A., F.S.A. (Hon. Treasurer) Dorset County
Museum, Dorchester.
Hon. Editor :
THE REV. CANON J. M. J. FLETCHER, M.A., The Close, Salisbury.
Publication Committee :
THE EXECUTIVE, THE HON. EDITOR, and E. R. SYKES, ESQ.
Sectional Committees :
Dorset Photographic Survey
THE MEMBERS of the EXECUTIVE
BODY ex ofiicio
C. J. CORNISH BROWNE, ESQ.
(Hon. Director)
The Rev. S. E. V. FILLEUL, M.A.
Dr. E. K. LE FLEMING
C. H. MATE, ESQ.
A. D. MOULLIN, ESQ.
The Rev. J. RIDLEY
EDWIN SEWARD, ESQ., F.R.I.B.A.
Eartlnvorks
Captain J. E. ACLAND (Chairman)
Chas. S. PRIDEAUX, ESQ. (Corres-
ponding Secretary)
THE PRESIDENT
F. E. ABBOTT, ESQ.
Lieut. J. G. N. CLIFT, R.E.
Lieut.-Colonel F. G. L. MAINWARING
P. H. MORTON, ESQ.
VERE L. OLIVER, ESQ., F.S.A.
ALFRED POPE, ESQ., F.S.A.
W. DE C. PRIDEAUX, ESQ., F.S.A.
The Rev. W. RHYDDERCH
Miss E. E. WOODHOUSE
Numismatic
H. SYMONDS, ESQ., F.S.A. (Corres-
ponding Secretary)
Captain John E. ACLAND, F.S.A.
Captain G. R. ELWES
Lieut.-Colonel F. G. L. MAINWARING
The Rev. Canon J. C. M. MANSEL-
PLEYDELL, M.A.
VERE L. OLIVER, ESQ., F.S.A.
W. DE C. PRIDEAUX, ESQ., F.S.A.
H. F. RAYMOND, ESQ.
Tke Rev. A. C. ALMACK, M.A.
(Corresponding Secretary)
J. ALLNER, ESQ., A.R.I.B.A.
R. BARROW, ESQ.
H. W. CRICKMAY, ESQ.
The Rev. James CROSS, M.A.
The Rev. Canon FLETCHER, M.A.
G. W. FLOYER, ESQ., B.A.
Restored Churches
The Rev. H. HAWKINS
R. HTNE, ESQ.
The Rev. Canon MAYO, M.A.
The Rev. G. C. NIVEN, B.D., F.R.G.S.
W. B. WILDMAN, ESQ., M.A.
The Rev. A. C. WOODHOUSE, M.A.
The Rev. H. M. WELLINGTON
Xll.
Xiet of Members
OF THE
Detect IRatural 1biston> ani> antiquarian
jfielfc Club
FOR THE YEAR 1921.
Honorary Members :
Year of
Election. (The initials " O.M." signify "Original Member."
O.M. \V. CARRUTHERS, Esq.. Ph.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.L.S., British Museum
(Xat. Hist.), South Kensington, London.
1889 A. M. WALLIS. Esq., 29, Mallams, Portland.
1900 A. SMITH WOODVVAKD, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., British Museum
(Xat. Hist.), South Kensington, London.
1904 SIR WM. THISELTOX, DYER, K.C.M.G., C.I.E., LL.D., Sc.D., Ph.D.,
F.K.S., The Ferns, Whitcombe, Gloucester.
1904 Sir FREDERICK TREVES, Bart., G.C.V.O., C.B., LL.D., 16, Riding
House Street. Portland Place, London, W.I.
1908 THOMAS HARDY, Esq., O.M., D. Litt., LL.D., Max Gate, Dorchester.
Members :
1903 The Most Hon. the Marquis of
Salisbury, M.A., C.B. The Manor House, Cranborne
1903 The Most Hon. the Marchioness
of Salisbury The Manor House. Cranborne
O.M. The Right Hon. the Earl of
Moray, M.A., F.S.A. Scot.,
F.G.S. (Vice-President) Kinfauns Castle, Perth, X.B.
1919 The Right Hon. the Earl of
Eldon Encombe, Corfe Castle
Xlll.
1911 The Right Hon. the Earl of
Ilchester
1902 The Right Hon. the Earl of
Shaftesbury, K.P., K.C.V.O.
1892 The Right Rev. the Lord
Bishop of Coventry, D.D.,
F.S.A.
1907 The Right Hon. Lord Wynforci
1907 The Right Hon. Lady Wynford
1910 Abbott, F. E., Esq.
1893 Acland, Captain John E., M.A.,
F.S.A. (Vice-President and
Hon. Treasurer]
1892 Acton, Rev. Edward, M.A.
1921 Aldous, Rev. F. W.
1907 Allner, Mrs. George
1921 Allner James, Esq.
1908 Ahnack, Rev. A. C., M.A.
1920 Aston, Captain Harold
1920 Aston, Mrs. Harold
1907 Atkinson, George T., Esq., M.A.
1920 Atkinson, E. H.' Tindal, Esq.
1921 Atkinson, Mrs.
1912 Baker, Rev. E. W., B.A.
1919 Ball, Rev. H., B.A.
1919 Ball, Miss Evelyn
1906 Bankes, Mrs.
1912 Bankes, Jerome N., Esq.,
E.S.A.
1902 Bark worth, Edmund, Esq.
1904 Barlow, Major C. M.
1921 Barnes, Mrs.
1906 Barrow, Richard, Esq.
1919 Barrow, Colonel, R.A.M.C.
1895 Bartelot, Rev. R. Grosvenor,
M.A.
1904 Baskett, Mrs. S. Russell
1913 Bassett, Rev. H. H. Tilney,
R.D. (Hon. Editor of the
Dorset Rainfall Reports)
Melbury, Dorchester
St. Giles, Wimborne
Bishop's House, Coventry
Wynford House, Maiden Newton,
Dorchester
Wynford House, Maiden Newton,
Dorchester
Shortwood, Christchurch, Hants
Wollaston House, Dorchester
Wolverton Rectory, Basingstoke
The Rectory, Shaftesbury
National Provincial Bank, Stur-
minster Newton
91, High Steet, Poole
The Rectory, Blandford St. Mary
Preston House, Iwerne Minster,
Blandford
Preston House, Iwerne Minster
Durlston Court, Swanage
4, Essex Court, Temple, E.C.
Buckland, Kodwell, Weymouth
The Rectory, Witchampton
Tremel, Ferndown, Wimborne
Tremel, Ferndown, Wimborne
Kingston Lacy, Wimborne
63, Redclffe Gardens, London, S. W.
Hilly mead, Seaton
Southcot, Charminster
Victoria, Mount Pleasant, Weymouth
5, Claremont Terrace, Exmouth
3, Westerhall, Weymouth
Fordington St. George Vicarage,
Dorchester
Totnell House, Leigh, Sherborne
Whitchurch Vicarage, Blandford
XIV.
1917 Beament, W. O., Esq., M.A.
1888 Beckford, F. J., Esq.
1908 Benett-Stanford, Major J.,
F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.
1921 Here, H. De la, Esq., C.B.
1920 Billington, E. K., Esq.
1920 Billington, Miss F. A.
1910 Blackett, Rev. J. C., B.A.
1917 Blathvvayt, Rev. F. L., M,A.,
M.B.O.U, (Hon. Editor of the
Dorset Phenological Report)
1919 Blomefield, Mrs.
1903 Bond, Gerald Denis, Esq
1903 Bond, Wm. Ralph G., Esq.
1913 Bone, Clement G. Esq., M.A.
1889 Bovver, H. Syndercombe, Esq.
1900 Bower, Rev. Charles H.S., M.A.
1921 Bradley, Lieut.-Col. Sylvester,
R.A.M.C.
1898 Brandreth, Rev, F. W., M.A.
1921 Brown Basil, Rev. H.
1907 Bulfin, Ignatius, Esq,, B.A.
1900 Bullen, Colonel John Bullen
Symes
1921 Burgess, G. B., Esq.
1907
1905
Bury, Mrs. Henry
Busk, W. G., Esq.
1905 Busk, Mrs. W. G.
1903 Butler-Bovvden, Mrs. Bruno
1911 Butlin, M. C., Esq., M.A.
1921 Cameron, Miss Violet
1919 Carroll, Mrs.
1920 Carroll. Lt.-Col. E. R. W.
1891 Carter, William, Esq.
1919 Castleman Smith, Miss E.
1913 Champ, Miss Edith
1897 Chudleigh, Mrs,
Beaminster
Witley, Parkstone
Hatch House, Tisbury, Wilts
Melbury Bubb, Dorchester
Wyke End, Bincleaves. Weymouth
Wyke End, Bincleaves, Weymouth
Compton Rectory, Winchester
Melbury Osmond Rectory, Dor-
chester
Meadowside, Sherborne
Holme, Wareham
Tyneham, Wareham
6, Lennox Street, Weymouth
Fontmell Parva, Shillingstone,
Blandford
Childe Okeford Rectory, Shilling-
stone, Dorset
12, Greenhill Terrace, Weymouth
Buckland Newton, Dorchester
Affpuddle Vicarage, Dorchester
The Den, Knole Road, Bourne-
mouth
Catherston Leweston, near Char-
mouth
Withleigh, Spa-road, Radipole,
Weymouth
Mayfield House, Farnham, Surrey
Wraxall Manor, Cattistock, Dor-
chester
Wraxall Manor, Cattistock, Dor-
chester
Upwey House, Upwey
7, Westerhall Road, Weymouth
Sherborne House, Sherborne
The Warren, Glendinning Avenue,
Weymouth
Glendinning Avenue, Weymouth
The Oaks, Parkstone
The Close, Blandford
St. Katherine's, Bridport
The Castle, Dudsbury, Longham,
Dorset
XV.
1918 Chudleigh, Captain C. A. E.
1894 Church, Colonel Arthur
1905 Clark, Mrs. E. S.
1895 Clarke, R. Stanley, Esq.
1920 Cochrane, G., Esq.
1883 Colfox, Miss A. L.
1878 Colfox, Colonel T. A., T.D.
1904 Collins, Win. W., Esq., K.I.
1920 Collins, W. F., Esq.
1921 Colson, Mrs.
1912 Cooke, Rev. ]. H., M.A.,
LL.D.
1903 Cornish-Browne, C. J., Esq.
1917 Corrie, E. Rowland, Esq.
1920 Cosens, Mrs. W. B.
1921 Crawford, Miss
1921 Crichton, Mrs. Hew
1909 Crickmay, Harry W.. Esq.
1884 Cross, Rev. James, M.A.
1914 Cross, Miss Florence
1885 Curme, Decimus, Esq.,
M.R.C.S.
1896 Curtis, C. H., Esq,
1897 Curtis, Wilfred Parkinson,
Esq., F.E.S.
1903 Dacombe, J. M. J., Esq.
1918 Dacombe, Miss
1914 Dalton, Mrs. E. E.
1907 Daniell. G. H. S., Esq., M.B.
1894 Davis, Geo., Esq.
1904 Deane, Mrs. A.M.
1910 Devenish, Major J. H. C.
1907 Dicker, Miss Eleanor H.
1919 Dicker, C. G. Hamilton, Esq.
1912 Dickson, Colonel W. D.
1912 Dickson, Mrs. W. D.
1921 Digby, Major F. J. B. Wingtield.
D.S'.O.
West India Regiment, Kingston,
Jamaica
St. Alban's, Rodwell, Weymouth
St. Aldhelm's, Wareham
The Ship Hotel, Crediton, Devon
Athelhampton Hall, Dorchester
West mead, Bridport
Coneygar, Bridport
Stoborough Croft, Wareham
Vellore, Overcliff Drive West,
Bournemouth
Hope Bank, Grosvenor Road,
Weymouth
Shillingstone Rectory
Coryton Park, Axminster
Coombe Wood, Branksome Park
The Gables, Dorchester
West Hill House, Wyke Regis,
Weymouth
Osmington House, Weymouth
49, St. Mary Street, Weymouth
Baillie House, Sturminster Marshall,
Wimborne
Lydlinch, Sturminster Newton
1, Nelson Road, Bournemouth
Blandford
Drake North, Sandringhani Road,
Parkstone
27, Holdenhurst Road, Bourne-
mouth
27, Holdenhurst Road, Bourne-
mouth
Cerne Abbas, Dorchester
Brentry, Blandford
West Lodge, Icen Way, Dorchester
Badbury, 3, Park Road, Bourne-
mouth
Springfield, Weymouth
Great Toller, Dorset
Keble College, Oxford
Southill, Dean Park, Bournemouth
Southill, Dean Park, Bournemouth
Sherborne Castle
XVI.
1921 Digby, Rev. Canon Wingfield,
M.A.
1911 Dillon-Trenchard Miss
Margaret
1908 Dominy, G. H., Esq., M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P.
1919 Dominy, H., Esq.
1912 Dru Drury, G. Esq., M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P.
1921 Drummond, Mrs.
1905 Duke, Mrs. Henry
1907 Duke, Miss M. Constance
1908 Duke, Mrs. E. Barnaby
1910 Eaton, Rev. A. E., M.A., F.E.S.
1916 Edwards, Rev. R. D. St. G.,
M.A.
1913 Ellis, Henry, Esq., F.R.A.S.
1885 Elwes, Captain G. R. (V ice-
President)
1921 Elwes, Colonel L. C.
1921 Elwes, Mrs. L. C.
1913 Facey, C. S., Esq., M.B.
1886 Falkner, C. G., Esq., M.A.
1903 Fairer, Colonel Philip
1912 Ferguson, Miss Constance
1904 Ffooks, Mrs. E. Archdall
1904 Fielding, Thos., Esq., M.D.
1892 Filleul, Rev. S. E. V., M A.
1910 Filliter, Mrs. W. D.
1911 Fisher, Rev. J. Martyn, M.A.,
R.D.
1907 Fletcher, Rev. Canon J. M. J.,
M.A., (Hon. Editor and Vice-
President)
1890 Fletcher, W. H. B., Esq.
1885 Floyer, G. W., Esq.. B.A.
1895 Forbes, Mrs
1897 Forde, Henry, Esq.
1910 Forder, B. C., Esq.
1921 Forder, Mrs. B. C.
1893 Forrester, Mrs. James
The Vicarage, Sherborne
The Ridge, Durlston Park Road,
Svvanage
Burbage, Marlborough
The Homestead, Cerne Abbas
Corfe Castle, Wareham
Trent Manor, Sherborne
Manor House, Godmanstone, Dor-
chester
The Limes, Dorchester
Maen, Dorchester
Richmond Villa, Northam, North
Devon
Longbredy Rectory, Dorchester
Boat Close, Lyme Regis
3, Jarborough Road, Southsea
Burnt Hill, Broadstone
Burnt Hill, Broadstone
The Elms, Chickerell, near Wey-
mouth
Ireton Bank, Rusholme, Manchester
Binnegar Hall, Wareham
Elwell Lea, Upwey, Dorchester
Kingscote, Dorchester
Genesta, West Hill Road, Bourne-
mouth
Sandford House, Wareham
Arishmel, Parkstone, Dorset
St. Paul's Vicarage, Weymouth
The Close, Salisbury
Aldwick Manor, Bognor, Sussex
West Stafford. Dorchester
Culverhayes, Shillingstone, Blandford
Luscombe, Parkstone
Lyston, Branksome Park, Bourne-
mouth
Lyston, Branksome Park, Bourne-
mouth
Westport, Wareham
XV11.
1921 Foster, J. J., Esq., F.S.A.
1910 Freame, Major B. E.
1921 French, Mrs. Harvey
1895 Fry, Edward Alexander, Esq.
1903 Fry, George, S., Esq., C.B.E.
1921 Fudge, Mrs. J. Whittle
1896 George, Mrs.
1921 Gerard- PearseJ. Esq., F.R.C.S.
1921 Gerard-Pearse, Mrs.
1921 Girling, Dr. C. J., M.B.
1890 Glyn, Captain Carr Stuart
1920 Gordon, Frank. Esq.
1906 Gowring, Mrs. B. W.
1920 Grazebrook, Lieut.-Col. G. C.,
C.M.G., D.S.O.
1888 Greves, Hyla, Esq., M.D.
1921 Grimley, A. F., Esq.
1920 Grimsdell, H. J., Esq.
1904 Groves, Major Herbert J.
1906 Groves, Miss S. J.
1912 Groves, Miss
1906 Gundry, Joseph, Esq.
1912 Haines, F. H., Esq., M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P.
1920 Haines, C. E.. Esq.
1920 Haines, Mrs.
1903
1913
1921
1903
1908
1920
1893
1911
1911
1899
1916
1912
1910
Hambro, SirEverard, K.C.V.O.
Hamilton, Miss
Hastings, Mrs. J.
Hawkins, Miss Isabel
Hawkins, Rev. H.
Haydon, Clement J., Esq.
Hayne, R. Esq.
Hellins, Rev. Canon,
LL.B.
Hellins, Mrs.
Henning, Mrs.
Hewgill, Chas. W. Esq.
Hichens, Mrs. T. S.
Hill, Miss Pearson
M.A.,
Aldwick, Holland Road, Sutton,
Surrey
The Chantry, Gilllingham
Manor Farm, St. James', Shaftesbury
Sunnyside, Bulstrode Way, Gerrard's
Cross, Bucks.
15, Walsingham Road, Hove
Glen View, Dorchester
Fleet House, near Weymouth
11, Royal Terrace, Weymouth
1 1 , Royal Terrace, Weymouth
Cranborne
Woodleaze, Wimborne
5, Lansdowne, Weymouth
49. High West Street, Dorchester
The Verne Citadel, Portland
Rodney House, Bournemouth
St. Crispin's, Sherborne
16, Brunswick Terrace, Weymouth
Clifton, Weymouth
Thickthorne, Broadwey, Dorset
Blackdown, Weymouth
Red House, Queen's Avenue, Dor-
chester
Brookside, Winfrith, Dorchester
Cranham, Glendinning Avenue,
Weymouth
Cranham, Glendinning Avenue,
Weymouth
Milton Abbey, Dorset
Affpuddle Vicarage, Dorchester
Wincombe Park, Shaftesbury
Ryme, Elwell Street, Upwey
1, Westerhall, Weymouth
Ben Vuela, West Cliff Road,
Bournemouth
Spring Bottom, Osmington
Marnhull Rectory, Dorset
Marnhull Rectory, Dorset
Frome House, Dorchester
Compton Lodge, Weymouth
Flamberts, Trent, Sherborne
Rax, Bridport
XV111.
1902 Hine, R, Esq.
1902 Homer, Miss E. C. Wood
1907 Homer, Mrs. G. Wood
1921 Hyde, Edward, Esq.
1903 Jenkins, Rev. T.Leonard, M.A.
1912 Jordan, Miss
1915 Kentish, G. C. A., Esq.
1920 Knight, Alexander, Esq.
1920 Knight, Mrs.
1895 Lafontaine, A. C. de Esq.,
F.S.A.
1876 Langford, Rev. Canon, M.A.
1919 Le Breton, Captain J. G.
1907 Lees, Rear-Admiral Edgar,
R.N.
1907 Lees, Mrs. Edgar
1910 Le Fleming, E. K., Esq., B.A.,
M.B.
1900 Legge, Miss Jane
1902 Lewis, Rev. A., M.A.
1890 Lister, Miss Gulielma, F.L.S.
1921 Lithgow, Major H. L.
1905 Llewellin, W., Esq., M.A.
1892 Lock, His Honour Judge B.
Fossett
1911 Long, Rev. H. R., B.A.
1888 MacDonald, P. W., Esq., M.D.
1902 Mainwaring, Lieut. -Col. F.
G. L.
1920 Manning, H. C., Esq., M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P.
1890 Mansel-Pleydell, Rev. Canon J.
C. M., M.A., (Vicc-Prcsident)
1883 Marriott, Sir W. Smith, Bart.
1920 Marshall, Major E. T.
1918 Marston, Miss
1907 Mate, C. H., Esq.
1920 Maturin, Rev. M. Persse, M.A.
O.M. Mayo, Rev. Canon, M.A., D.Litt.,
F.R. Hist. S. (Vice-P resident)
1912 McDowall, A. S., Esq., M.A.
1905 Morgan, Mrs,
Beaminster
Bardolf Manor, Puddletown
Bardolf Manor, Puddletown
Lloyds Bank, Wimborne
Leigh Vicarage, Sherborne
The Ridge, Durlston Park Road,
Swanage
Longcroft, Windsor Road, Parkstone
Long Lynch, Childe Okeford,
Shillingstone
Long Lynch, Childe Okeford,
Shillingstone
21 Vale Avenue, Chelsea, S.W. 3.
Southbrook, Starcross, S. Devon
Loders Court, Bridport
Springfield, Cann, Shaftesbury
Springfield, Cann. Shaftesbury
St. Margaret's Wimborne
Allington Villa, Bridport
Highfield, Portishead
High Cliff, Lyme Regis
Walton Lodge, Rodwell, Weymouth
Upton House, Poole
The Toft, Bridlington, East Yorks
Tolpuddle, Dorchester
Grasmere, Spa Road, Weymouth
Wabey House, LTpwey
1 , Royal Cresent, Weymouth
19. Moore Street, Cadogan Square,
London, S.W. 3.
The Down House, Blandford
Notley Farm, Owermoigne, Dor-
chester
Corfe Castle
Elim, Surrey Road South, Bourne-
mouth
West Parley Rectory, Wimborne
Gillingham, Dorset
Wannwell Mill House, Dorchester
The Vicarage, Yetminster
XIX.
1911 Morris, Sir Daniel K.C.M.G.,
D.Sc., D.C.L., F.L.S., (Vice-
President)
1920 Morton. P. H., Esq.
1914 Moule, Kev. A. C., B.A.
1897 Moullin, Arthur D., Esq.,
1919 Murdoch, Mrs.
1921 Nash, Miss
1921 Nash, Miss Helen
1919 Negus, Rev. A, E., M.A.
1905 Nicholson, Captain Hugh
1921 Nevvbery, F. H., Esq.
1920 Niven, Rev. G.C., B.D., F.R.G.S.
1921 Nix, Miss M. M.
1906 Oke, A. W., Esq., B.A,, LL.M.
F.S.A.. F.G.S.
1886 Okeden, Colonel U. E. Parry
1908 Oliver, Vere L., Esq., F.S.A.
1908 Oliver, Mrs. Vere L.
1904 Oliver, Weston, Esq., M.A.
1908 Ord, W. T., Esq., M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P., F.G.S.
1911 Ouless, W. W., Esq., R.A.
1911 Ouless, Miss Catherine
1919 Paine, Mrs.
1919 Paine, Miss Ruth
1921 Palmer, Colonel H. I. E.
1921 Palmer, Mrs.
1914 Pass, Alfred Douglas, Esq.
1890 Patey, Miss
1908 Patterson, Mrs. Myles
1919 Patterson, Myles, Esq., B.A.
1907 Paul, Edward Clifford, Esq.,
M.A.
1894 Payne, Miss- Florence O.
1918 Peachell, G. E., Esq., M.D.
1906 Pearce, Mrs. Thos. A.
1909 Pearce, Edwin, Esq.
1921 Pearce, E. J. Esq.
1894 Penny-Snook, S., Esq., M.R.C.S..
L.R.C.P.
14, Crabton Close, Boscombe
High West Street, Dorchester
Trumpington Vicarage, Cam-
bridge
Fermain, Rempstone Road, Swanage
3, Dunmarklyn Mansions,
Weymouth
12, Waterloo Place, Weymouth
12, Waterloo Place, Weymouth
Steepleton Rectory, Dorchester.
Nettlecombe, Melplash
Corfe Castle
St. Peter's Rectory, Dorchester
11, Alexandra Road, Weymouth
32, Denmark Villas, Hove, Sussex
Turn worth, Blandford
Greenhill House, Weymouth
Greenhill House, Weymouth
Castle House, Weymouth
18, Littledown Road, Bournemouth
12, Bryanston Square, London, W.
12, Bryanston Square, London, W.
The Warren, Uplyme, Lyme Regis
The Warren, Uplyme, Lyme Regis
The Merse, Grosvenor Road, Wey-
mouth
The Merse, Grosvenor Road, Wey-
mouth
Wootton Fitzpaine, Charmouth
185, Oakwood Court, Kensington
London, W.
Conygar, Broadmayne, Dorchester
Conygar, Broadmayne, Dorchester
Eastbrook House, Upwey
Rydal, Wimborne
Herrison, Dorchester
27, Icen Way, Dorchester
Fore Street, Taunton
K 4, New Court, Sidney Sussex
College, Cambridge
Netherton House, Weymouth
XX.
1907 Penny-Snook. Mrs. S,
1901 Pentin. Rev. Herbert, M.A.
(Vict-Presidcnt and Hon.
Secretary]
1920 Peter, Mrs.
1894 Peto, Sir Henry, Bart.
1908 Phillips, Rev. C. A., M:A,
1898 Pickard-Cambridge, A.W., Esq.,
M.A.
1908 Pike, Leonard G., Esq.
1920 Pirn, W. Malcolm, Esq.
1920 Pirn, Mrs. W. Malcolm
1908 Pitt- Rivers, A. L. Fox, Esq.,
F.S.A.
1904 Plowman, Rev. L. S..
1896 Pond, S., Esq..
1894 Pouting, Chas. E., Esq., F.S.A. ,
O.M. Pope, Alfred, Esq., F.S.A. (Vice-
President).
1906 Pope, Major Alfred Rolph, M.A.,
1906 Pope, Mrs. Alfred Rolph
1914 Powell, H. Holland, Esq..
A.M.I. C.E.
1921 Powys, A. R.. Esq.
1920 Prideaux, A. E. D. ( Esq.. L.D.S.
1896 Prideaux, C. S., Esq., L.D.S. ,
F.R.S.M., F.R.A.I.
1900 Prideaux, W. de C., Esq., L.D.S.,
F S.A., F.R.S.M.fF/ce-
P resident)
1905 Pringle, Henry T., Esq., M.D.
1905 Pringle, Mrs. Henry T.
1921 Pugh, Rev. C. S.
1888 Pye, William, Esq.
1921 Quick, R., Esq., F.S.A.
1905 Ramsden, Mrs.
1912 Rawlence, E. A, Esq., F.S.A.
1921 Rawlence, Major A. R.
1919 Raymond, Lt.-Col., R.G.A.
1919 Raymond, Mrs.
Netherton House, Weymouth
St. Peter's Vicarage, Portland
Westdown, Weymouth
Chedington Court, Misterton,
Somerset
Walton House, Bournemouth
St. Catherine's, Headington Hill,
Oxford
Kingbarrow, Wareham
Woodstock, Dorchester Road. Wey-
mouth
Woodstock, Dorchester Road, Wey-
mouth
Rushmore, Salisbury
Ibberton Rectory, Blandford
Blandford
Lockeridge, Parkstone,
South Court, Dorchester
Cullilord House, Dorchester
Culliford House, Dorchester
Bowland, Westminster Road,
Branksome Park, Bournemouth
13, Hammersmith Terrace,
London, W.
Wadham House. Dorchester
Ermington, Dorchester
12, Frederick Place, Weymouth
Ferndown, Dorset
Ferndown, Dorset
Buckland Ripers Rectory, Dorchester
Dunmore, Rodwell, Weymouth
Sec., Russell-Cotes Museum, Bourne-
mouth
Meerhay, Beaminster, Dorset
S. Andrew's, Churchfields, Salisbury
Dyrham, Sherborne
The Croft, W r imborne
The Croft, W T imborne
XXI.
1921 Rees, Surgeon-Captain O.
R.N. (ret.)
1886 Reynolds, Mrs. Arthur
1887 Richardson, N. M.. Esq. B.A.
(President)
1920 Ricardo, Miss K.
1901 Ridley, Rev. J.
1911 Robson, Colonel H. D.
1911 Robson, Mrs. H. D.
1886 Rodd, Edward Stanhope, Esq.
1907 Roe, Miss M. M. E.
1909 Roe, Rev. Prebendary Wilfred
T M M.A.
1912 Romilly, Geo.. Esq., M.A.
1907 Roper, Freeman, Esq., F.L.S.
1905 Sanderson-Wells, T. H., Esq.,
O.B.E., M.D.,F.R.C.S.
1905 Saunt, Miss
1905 Saunt, Miss B.V.
1910 Schuster, Mrs. W. P.
1883 Searle, Alan, Esq.
1919 Seward, Edwin, Esq., F.R.I.B.A.
1906 Shephard, Colonel C.S., D.S.O.
1919 Sheridan, M. O., Esq.
1920 Sheridan, Mrs. M. O.
1884 Sherren, J. A., Esq , F.R.Hist.S.
1914 Sherring, R. Vowell, Esq.,
F.L.S.
1913 Shields, Rev. A. J., M.A.
1897 Simpson, Jas., Esq.
1920 Smerdon, E. Wilmot, Esq., M.D.,
F.R.C.S.
1916 Smith, Rev. Edward, M.A., R.D.
1919 Smith, Frederick W., Esq.,
F.S.A.
1899 Smith, Howard Lyon, Esq.,
L.R.C.P.
1909 Smith, Nowell C., Esq., M.A.
1908 Smith, Mrs. Spencer
1888 Solly, Rev. H Shaen, M.A.
1919 Sotheran, Miss Gertrude
1919 Stephens, Major J. A.
1921 Stephen, Major F. A., D,S.O.
1918 Stote, Rev. A. W., M.A.
Abbotsbury, Dorchester
Wyncroft, Bridport
Montevideo, Chickerell, near
Weymouth
Berghmote, Wimborne
Pulham Rectory, Dorchester
Oswald, Lul worth Cove
Oswald, Lulworth Cove
Chardstock House, Chard
Trent Rectory, Sherborne
Trent Rectory, Sherborne
The Grange, Marnhull
Forde Abbey, Chard
16, Victoria Terrace, Weymouth
The Cottage, Upwey
The Cottage, Upwey
Broadstone House, Broadstone
Hawkmore, Paignton, S. Devon
12, Victoria Terrace, Weymouth
Shortlake, Osmington, Weymouth
Halsdon, Warmwell, Dorchester
Halsdon, Warmwell, Dorchester
Helmsley, Pen Hill Avenue, Parkstone
Hallatrow, Bristol
Battleford, Axminster
Brampton Kinlet, Canford
Bournemouth
Cliff
38, Cornwall Road, Dorchester
Hazelbury Bryan Rectory, Blandford
The Manor House, Poyntington,
Sherborne
Mount Pleasant, Inkbarrow,
Worcestershire
The School House, Sherborne
The Vine House, Sturminster Newton
5, Denewood Road, Bournemouth West
The New House, Norden, Corfe Castle
Hayden Lodge, Holywell, Dorchester
Moorfields, Ferndown, Wimborne
Colehill Vicarage, Wimborne
XX11.
1920 Stole, Mrs. A. W.
1.920 Streatfeild, C., Esq., I.C.S.
1895 Sturdy, Leonard, Esq.
1896 Sturdy, Philip, Esq.
1907 Sturdy, Alan, Esq.,
1905 Sturdy, E. T.. Esq.
1914 Sturrock. J., Esq., C.I.E.
1920 Sugden, E. Percy. Esq.
1920 Sugden, Mrs.
1898 Suttill, H. S., Esq.
1905 Suttill. Mrs. John
1903 Swaffield, A. Owen. Esq.
1912 Swinburne Hanham, J. C., Esq.
1893 Sykes, E. R., Esq., B.A., F.Z.S.
(Vice-President]
1889 Symes, Colonel G. P., M.A.,
B.C.L., M.V.O.
1904 Symonds, Arthur G., Esq.
1904 Symonds, Henry, Esq., F.S.A.
'(Vice-President)
1912 Symonds, F. G.. Esq.
1913 Symonds, Wm. Pope, Esq.
1921 Tanner, Rev, E. V., M.A., M.C.
1901 Telfordsmith, Telford, Esq.,
M.A., M.D.
1906 Thomson, Chas. Bertram, Esq.,
F.R.C.S.
1920 Thresher, Miss Maud
1898 Troyte-Bullock, Mrs.
1921 Tyrwhitt-Drake, Mrs.
O.M. Udal, His Honour J. S., F.S.A.
(Vice-President}
1908 Udal, N. R M Esq.. B.A.
1890 Usher wood. Rev. Canon, M.A.
1919 Veitch, W. Hardie, Esq.
1921 Vidler, Oscar C., Esq.
1910 Vivian, S. P., Esq.
1887 Walker, Rev. S. A., M.A.
1916 Ward, The Yen. Algernon, M.A.,
F.S.A., Scot.
1905 Ward, Samuel, Esq.
1904 Warry, Mrs. King
Colehill Vicarage, Wimborne
Champions. Beaminster
Trigon, Wareham
The Wick Cottage, Branksome. near
Bournemouth
Linden, East Lul worth
Norburton, Burton Bradstock,
Bridport
12, Greenhill, Weymouth
Uplands, Wimborn ;
Uplands, Wimborne
Pymore, Bridport
24, West Street, Bridport
Rod well Lodge, Weymouth
106, Goldhurst Terrace, N.W.
West Lodge, Iwerne Minster,
Blandford
Monksdene, Dorchester Road.
Weymouth
10. South Street. Dorchester
Staplegrove Elm. near Taunton
The Firs. Sturminster Newton
Newton House. Sturminster Newton
The College House, Weymouth
The Knoll, Parkstone
Romansleigh, Wimborne
Corfe Hill, Weymouth
Silton Lodge, Zeals, Bath
Crundle Court, Milborne Port
24, Neville Court. London, N.W. 8.
Gordon College, Khartoum
Bagdale, Parkstone
Lullingstone, Wimborne
Widcombe, Dorchester
22, Royal Avenue, Chelsea, S.W.
Charlton Manor, Blandford
Sturminster Newton Vicarage
Ingleton, Greenhill, Weymouth
99, Gossom's End, Berkhamsted,
Herts.
XXI 11.
1904 Warry, Win., Esq.
1917 Waterston, C., Esq.
1905 Watkins. Wm., Esq., F.R.G.S.
1921 Wellington, Rev. H. M., M.A.
1908 Whitby, Mrs. J.
1921 White, E. Barton, M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P., F.E.S.
1914 Widnell, Edward, Esq., M.A.
1903 Williams, Captain Berkeley
C. W.
1884 Williams, Colonel Sir Robert,
Bart., M.P.
1908 Williams, Miss Rhoda
1921 Wilkinson, W. T., Esq.
1906 Winwood, T. H. R., Esq., M.A.,
1921 Wingrave, Wyatt, Esq., M.D.
1910 Woodd, A." B., Esq., M.A.,
M.R.I.
1903 Woodhouse. Miss Ellen E.
1906 Woodhouse, Frank D., Esq.
1906 Woodhouse, Mrs. Frank D.
1920 Wentworth-Forbes, Mrs.
1920 Woodhouse, Major H. S.
1902 Wright, Rev. Herbert L., B.A.
1921 Yeatman, Captain L. L., B.A.
Westrow, Holwcll, Sherbornc
Bucknowle House, Corfe Castle
Ethelburga House, 91-93, Bishopsgate*
London, E.G., 2.
Athelhampton Rectory, Dorchester
Preston, Yeovil
Herrison, Dorchester
Royston, Wimborne
Herringston, Dorchester
Bridehead, Dorchester
Bridehead, Dorchester
Kildare, Dorchester Road, Weymouth
Syvvard Lodge, Dorchester
Lyme Regis
Heckfield, Milford-on-Sea, Hants
Chilmore, Ansty, Dorchester
Old Ford House, Blandford St. Mary
Old Ford House, Blandford St. Mary
10, Greenhill, Weymouth
Norden, Blandford
Church Knovvle Rectory, Gorfe Castle
Stock House, Sturminster Newton
AFFILIATED LIBRARIES (Rule XXL).
1911 Central Public Library
1915 Sherborne School Library
1920 New York Public Library
Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
39, Christchurch Road, Bournemouth
Sherborne
per Messrs. Stevens & Brown,
4, Trafalgar Square, W.C. 2.
31, Paternoster Row, E.C. 4,
" Export No. 1, Dept. L.B."
(Any omissions or errors should be notified to the Hon. Secretary)
Ittew fIDembers.
ELECTED SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF THE LIST CONTAINED
IN VOL. XLI.
Nominee.
Mrs. Drummoncl, of Trent
Manor, Sherborne.
Mrs. Harvey French, of The
Manor Farm, St. James',
Shaftesbury.
Miss Nash, of 12, Waterloo
Place, Weyrnouth.
Miss Helen Nash, of 12,
Waterloo Place, Wey-
moutli.
Miss M. M. Nix, of 11,
Alexandra lload, Wey-
mouth.
Surgeon-Captain O. Rees,
E.N. (ret.), of Abbotsbury,
Dorchester.
E. Barton White, Esq.,
M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., F.E.S.,
of Herrison, Dorchester.
The Rev. H. M. Wellington,
M. A., of Burleston Rectory,
Dorchester.
ELECTED MAY IOTH, 1921.
Proposer.
Mrs. Hichens.
Vere L. Oliver, Esq.
Nominee.
Mrs. Colson, of Hope Bank,
Grosvenor Road, Wey-
mouth.
J. J. Foster, Esq., F.S.A., of
Aldwick, Holland Road,
Sutton, Surrey.
Edward Hyde, Esq., of
Lloyds Bank, Wimborne.
The Rev. J. B. Johnson.M.D.,
of Chedington Rectory,
Misterton, Somerset.
Colonel H. I. E. Palmer, of
The Merse, Grosvenor
Road, Weymouth.
Mrs. Palmer, of The Merse,
Grosvenor Road, Wey-
mouth.
E. J. Pearce, Esq., of The
Lodge, Corpus Christ! Col-
lege, Cambridge.
Oscar C. Vidler, Esq., of
Widcombe, Dorchester.
Dr. C. S. Facey.
Dr. W. Hawkins.
Mrs. Gowring
The Rev. H. R. Long.
ELECTED JULY 28TH, 1921.
Proposer.
Miss M. H. Saunt.
Captain J. E. Acland.
Dr. E. Kaye Le Fleming.
Sir Henry Peto, Bart.
S. Ward, Esq.
Nowell Smith, Esq.
A. E. D. Prideaux, Esq.
Seconder.
Captain Berkeley
Williams.
The Rev. Edward Acton.
Colonel C. S. Shephard.
W. de C. Prideaux, Esq.
Col. F. G. L. Mainwaring.
Dr. G. E. Peachell.
Miss Hamilton.
Seconder.
W. T. Fletcher, Esq.
The Hon. Secretary.
Dr. C. B. Thomson.
Captain J. E. Acland.
The President.
The Rev. W. T. Roe.
Myles Patterson, Esq.
XXV.
Nominee.
James Allner, Esq., of 1)1,
High Street, Poole.
H. De la Bere, Esq., C.B., of
Melbury Bubb.Dorchester.
Mrs. B. C. Forder, of Lyston,
Branksome Park, Bourne-
mouth.
Major F. A. Stephens, D.S.O.,
of Moorfields, . Ferndown,
Dorset.
ELECTED AUGUST BOTH, 1921.
Proposer.
The Rev. A. C. Almack.
Major J. A. Stephens.
Miss B. V. Saunt.
Dr. H. T. Pringle.
Seconder.
Mrs. Allner.
The Rev. F. L. Blathwayt.
E. R. Sykcs, Esq.
Mrs. Prmgle.
ELECTED SEPTEMBER 22ND, 1921.
Nominee.
Colonel L. C. Elwes, of Burnt
Hill, Broadstone.
Mrs. L. C. Elwes, of Burnt
Hill, Broadstone.
Major H. L. Lithgow, of
Walton Lodge, Rodwell,
Weymouth.
A. R. Powys, Esq., of 13,
Hammersmith Terrace,
London.
R. Quick, Esq., F.S.A. Scot.,
of the Russell-Cotes Mu-
seum, Bournemouth.
Major A. R. Rawlence, of
Dyrham, Sherborne.
Mrs. Tyrwhitt- Drake, of
Crundle Court, Milborne
Port.
W. T. Wilkinson, Esq., of
Kildare, Dorchester Road,
We> mouth .
Major F. J. B. Wingfield
Digby, D.S.O., J.P., of
Sherborne Castle.
The Re\. Canon Wingfield
Digby, M.A., of The Vicar-
age, Sherborne.
Captain L. L. Yeatman, B. A.,
of Stock House, Dorset.
Proposer.
E. Percy Sugden, Esq.
Dr. C. S. Facey.
The President.
Sir Daniel Morris.
E. A. Rawlence, Esq.
Miss Catherine Ouless.
Dr. C. S. Facey.
E. A. Rawlence, Esq.
The Lord Bishop of
Coventry.
Seconder.
Dr. E. Kaye Le Fleming.
Miss Thresher.
Vere L. Oliver, Esq.
C. H. Mate, Esq.
The Rev. Prebendary
W. T. Roe.
The Rev. Canon C. H.
Mayo, D.Lit.
The President.
The Hon. Secretary.
ELECTED DECEMBER BTH, 1921.
Nominee.
The Rev. F. W. Aldous, of
The Rectory, Shaftesbury.
Mrs. Barnes, of Victoria,
Mount Pleasant, Wey-
mouth.
Lt.-Col. Sylvester Bradley,
R.A.M.C., of 12, Greenhill
Terrace, \Veymouth.
Miss Violet Cameron, of
Sherborne House, Sher-
borne,
Proposer.
The Rev. Canon Fletcher.
W. Malcolm Pirn, Esq.
Dr. T. H. Sanderson-
Wells.
Mrs. Hichens.
Seconder.
The Hon. Secretary.
Miss Nix.
W. de C. Prideaux, Esq.
The Rev. A. J. Shields.
XXVI.
Mrs. J. Whittle Fudge, of
Glen View, Dorchester.
J. Gerard - Pearse, Esq.,
F.R.C.S., of 11, Royal
Terrace, Weymouth.
Mrs. J. Gerard -Pearse, of 11,
Royal Terrace, Weymouth.
A. F. Grimley, Esq., of St.
Crispin's, Sherborne.
Mrs. J. Hastings, of Win-
combe Park, Shaftesbury.
The Rev. C. S. Pugh, of
Buckland Ripers, Rectory,
Dorchester.
Wyatt Wingrave.Esq., M.D.,
of Lyme Regis.
Proposer.
Mrs. T. A. Pearce.
Dr. T. H. Sanderson-
Wells.
Captain J. E. Acland.
E. R. Sykes, Esq.
The Rev. R. Grosvenor
Bartelot.
W. de C. Prideaux, Esq.
Seconder.
Mrs. Maurice Sheridan.
W. de C. Prideaux, Esq.
Lt.-Col. M. J. Raymond.
Mrs. Harvey French.
Miss Thresher.
Dr. F. H. Haines.
XXV11,
PUBLICATIONS.
Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club.
Price 10s. 6d. each volume, post free. Some Volumes cannot be supplied.
General Index to Proceedings, I. XLI. Price Is.
The Church Bells of Dorset. By the REV. CANON RAVEN, D.D., F.S.A. Price
(in parts, as issued), 6s. 6d., post free.
By the PRESIDENT.
Second Supplement to the Lepidoptera of the Isle of Purbeck. Compiled from the
notes of Eustace R. Bankes, M.A., F.E.S. Price Is.
The Volumes of Proceedings and General Index can be obtained from the Hon.
Treasurer (Captain John E. Acland, Dorset County Museum) ; the Lepidoptera of
the Isle of Purbeck, from the President.
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BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON.
BRITISH MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, SOUTH KENSINGTON, LONDON.
BRITISH ASSOCIATION, BURLINGTON HOUSE, LONDON, W. 1.
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TAUNTON.
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WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, DEVIZES.
OF THE
Dorset IRatural 1biston> anb antiquarian
Ifielb Club.
FROM MAY, 1920, TO MAY, 1921.
FIRST SUMMER MEETING
6th July, 1920.
In consequence of the difficulty of arranging hotel accom-
modation for a large party, it was thought advisable that there
should be no "long" excursions this year; but that the
summer meetings should be confined to places which are
easily accessible by train. The Secretary was, however, able
to arrange three " one day" meetings, the first of which was
held on Tuesday, July 6th, at
PORTLAND.
About 60 tickets had been applied for beforehand ; but,
owing to the heavy downpour of rain in the early morning,
the number of members, &c., present was reduced to less
than 40. Amongst these were the President (Mr. Nelson M.
Richardson), three of the Vice- Presidents (Rev. H. Pentin,
Capt. G. R. Elwes, and Canon Fletcher) with the Assistant
Secretary (Mr. H. Pouncy). The journey from Weymouth
was made by motor car, via Wyke Regis and along the Chesil
Beach road. The visitors alighted in Easton to view the
spacious and dignified new church of All Saints, under the
guidance of the REV. H. PENTIN, who kindly acted as cicerone
throughout the day. Attention was drawn to the quaint,
typical Portland building which bears over its porch the
FIRST SUMMER MEETING. XXIX.
incised inscription "John Stevens, 1734," and is known as
Charles Wesley's Cottage. The Jacobean Free School, the oldest
educational establishment in the Island, was pointed out, as,
too, was The Girt House, all that now remains of what was
once the spacious Jacobean building supposed to have been
erected by the Governor of the Island for the transaction of
official business. Here it was that Governor John Penn
resided while Pennyslvania Castle was being built. The Girt
House, or to speak more correctly, what remains of the Girt
House, is now divided into three tenements. The thatched
Carolean cottage, dated 1662, also attracted notice; and Mr.
Pentin pointed out in the stone porch of a cottage (79
Wakeham Street) the holy water stoup, which is said to have
been taken from the ruined church of St. Andrew at Church
Ope. The party was then conducted to the Chalklands Quarry,
where the PRESIDENT stated that
All over the top of Portland one got fresh-water Purbeck strata, and,
therein, the dirt bed with fossil trees and cicads growing. The stumps of
trees were to be found in the dirt bed, and the trunks of trees lying in the
stratum above it. In the beds below were cicads only tree ferns. Then
came the Portland stone, a marine formation, in which were found marine
fossils, including the cimoliosaurus. Of this he had in his procession, at
Montevideo, a tooth, which, so far as he was aware, was unique.
Beneath the Portland stone was Portland sand, and, below that,
Kimmeridge clay. Geologists had called attention to the curious
formation called the " Weymouth saddle " an anticlinal.
The party then descended to the Weares, where a short
paper was read by the PRESIDENT on "Insects and Plants
found in Portland" (Printed on pages 25 to 30 of this volume).
For further details his hearers were referred to a paper by the
late Mr. W. Bowles Barrett, printed in Vol. XXXIII. of the
Club's Proceedings*, and also to a paper which he had himself
written on the Butterflies and Moths of the Island, and which
would be found in Vol. XVI I. f of the same series. Mr.
Richardson pointed out that the development of the quarrying
industry, which had destroyed the great Neolithic burying
* Proceedings of the Dorset N. H. and A . Field Club, Vol. XXXIII. pp. 96-143.
f Ibid. Vol. XVII, pp. 146-191.
xxx. PIRST stfMMER MEETING.
place and many of the ancient dene holes, had also been
instrumental in removing not a few of the objects which were
of interest to naturalists.
Luncheon was partaken of in picnic fashion on the Weares,
after which, by the courtesy of Mr. Henry Sansom, the
members were conducted into the grounds of Pennsylvania
Castle. On the way Mr. Pentin pointed out, with regret, the
ruinous condition of the picturesque Carolean Cottage, bearing
the date 1640, which Mr. Thomas Hardy made the home of
Avice in his novel The Well Beloved. The party then visited
Baron Nolcken's lodge, Governor Penn's billiard house, Rufus
Castle, and the ruined Church of St. Andrew, where ash and
sycamore trees are springing up in the nave.* After rambling
round the gardens of Pennsylvania Castle, tea was partaken of,
and hearty votes of thanks were accorded to Mr. Sansom for
his kindness in permitting the members to visit his grounds,
and to Mr. Pentin for so ably acting as a guide.
A short business meeting followed, when six members w r ere
elected by ballot, and six were nominated for membership.
The President took the opportunity of congratulating Canon
Fletcher on " the beautifully-produced book,t which had been
prepared under his editorship, and was mainly due to his pen,
and which was marked by the fine qualities of antiquarian
knowledge and scholarship." It had been written by request
of the Cathedral Chapter for presentation to the Bishops and
Deans from various parts of the world who took part in the
commemoration of the 700th anniversary of the stonelaying of
the present Cathedral at Salisbury which had taken place a
fortnight previously.
On the way homewards the party stopped at the offices of
the Bath Stone Firms in order to inspect the line collection of
fossilised cicads, ammonites, &c., and their casts.
* The antiquities of Portland are dealt with at some length in an Article
in D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXVII, pp. 228-253.
t Xotcs on. Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury Messrs. Brown, The Canal,
and Mr. H. Simmonds, High Street. Price, 3/6.
SECOND SUMMER MEETING. XXXI.
SECOND SUMMER MEETING.
12th August, 1920.
The second meeting of the session was held on Thursday,
August 12th, at
EGGARDON HILL AND POWERSTOCK.
It was a glorious summer day, and there was an excellent
attendance of members, &c., who numbered about 70. To
the regret of all, the President, Mr. Nelson M. Richardson,
was unavoidably prevented from being present. But his
place was taken by one of the Vice- Presidents, Mr. Alfred
Pope, F.S.A., who acted as President for the time being. The
itinerary had been admirably arranged by the Hon. Secretary,
the Rev. Herbert Pentin. "The party assembled at
MAIDEN NEWTON
and the hour during which they had to wait for the Power-
stock train was spent in an inspection of the church. The
mutilated churchyard cross was examined, and the Norman,
Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular details of the
church were carefully observed. The sundial bears the date
1638. The remains were afterwards visited of \vhat was once
one of the finest village crosses in the county, standing
opposite the White Horse Inn.
On alighting at Powerstock station the members of the
party made the two-mile ascent to the prehistoric fastness of
EGGARDON
where pinic luncheon was partaken of. Although it was some-
what hazy, the members were able clearly to identify the
outstanding heights of Shipton and Thorncombe Beacons,
Golden Cap, Lambert's and Conig's Castle, Pilsdon Pen, and
the wooded slopes of Lewesdon Hill, upon which the Rev.
William Crowe, rector of Stoke Abbott, wrote his famous
descriptive poem. The contours of the tree-plumed crests of
Loders Hill and Boarsbarrow were also visible. After
XXX11. SECOND SUMMER MEETING.
luncheon and a short rest, Mr. Pope called upon the
REV. H. SHAEX SOLLY to read a paper on Eggardon Hill.
(This will be found printed on pages 31 to 35 of this Volume).
MR. C. S. PRIDEAUX stated that he had spent two months
on Eggardon Hill under canvas with the intention of opening
several of the hut circles. A large trench stone at the bottom
of one of them proved to be a broken quern, which it was
discovered afterwards had come from a place near Exeter.
Some of the burial places he had found excavated. The skulls
of the interred were neither long-headed nor round-headed.
The skeletons were lying upon their backs with their heads
towards the east and their feet towards the west. Nothing
was buried with them which would have helped to identify
them. He drew the attention of the members to a fine ring
barrow a short distance away.
MR. A. POPE, in proposing a hearty vote of thanks to Mr.
Solly for his paper, said that he would have liked some
comparison to have been drawn between Eggardon and
Maiden Castle. To his mind Eggardon was considerably the
older, and justified the saying common in that neighbourhood
" as wold as Haggardon."
Upon descending the hill
KING JOHN'S CASTLE*
was next visited. The REV. R. W. H. DALLISON, a former
Vicar of Powerstock, thought that King John's object in
building a Castle in such an out-of-the-way place was that he
might levy tolls upon the merchants who travelled by that
route from Bridport to Dorchester. They had only to scrape
the earth of the grassy mounds on which they were sitting to
find the masonry of the foundations. The whole of the castle
was demolished and the stone worked into the houses of
Powerstock, while inferior stone appeared to have been
burnt in a kiln near by.
D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XX, p. 138.
SKCOXl) SUMMER MEETING. XXXlii.
MR. C. S. PRIDEAUX said that a fortnight, which he had also
spent there in digging, seemed to prove that a Norman house
of some sort had been erected on that spot. He had taken
away three barrowloads of pottery. It was debased spun
pottery, very crude and rough. He had also found a bronze
implement and a quantity of hewn stone. He called attention
to the following names in the vicinity which supported the
theory that there had once been a castle at that spot: Castle
Brow, Castle Drang, Knights' Mead, Castle Mill, Spy way, &c.
The REV. R. G. BARTELOT said
Once possessed of Poorstock, King John started building operations
with great vigour. On April 7th, 1205, the Sheriff of Devon was ordered
to deliver at Bridport one hundred-thousand nails " for building our houses
at Poorstock;" and on November 13th, the Sheriff of Dorset was ordered
to be repaid " what he had laid out on the repair of the King's houses at
Poorstock and for stocking the manor thereof." On June 1st, 1206, the
sum of 104 was ordered to be paid for work done on the King's houses
at Poorstock, and fifty pounds more in 1208; and on February 18th, 1207,
one barrel of wine was ordered to be sent there by the King. He also had
one tun of wine carried there on July 6th, 1207, and three barrels of
Anjou wine on March 21st, 1208. Nor was Poorstock only an expense,
for on March 31st, 1208, the King received in his Chamber by the hands of
Robert Peverell 130 of the issue of the lands and appurtenances which the
said Robert had as custos of Poorstock. The place where this castle stood
is still visible above Nettlecombe, near Bridport. Huge mounds, covered
with grass, now mark the site of the old Norman keep and the inner and
outer wards, enclosing an acre or more of hill-top and dominating the
whole stretch of fertile hill and vale from the ancient British fortress of
Eggardon on the East to Shipton Beacon, Golden Cap, Hardown Hill,
Pillesdon Pen and Lewesdon Hill on the South, West and North. The
excavation of the ruins of Poorstock Castle would bring to light most
interesting details concerning this Dorset home of that sovereign, whose
erratic rule endowed succeeding generations with the Great Charter of all
Englishmen. King John was visiting at Poorstock on August 25th, 1205,
to inspect his new building. Two years later he appears to have kept his
house-warming there, March 29th and 30th; visiting there again on
September 8th, 1207, and doubtless made merry with the wine which the
Sheriff of Dorset had procured at his orders. Again in 1210 the King
spent September 27th, at Poorstock; this time with larger retinue, for
three tuns of Anjou wine had been maturing in Poorstock's capacious
cellars ! In 1213 he paid a summer visit to this delightful spot, from
July 29th to 31st, this being probably his last sojourn in the castle which
uvved its existence to the most cruel of English sovereigns. On the death
XXXIV. SECOND SUMMER MEETING.
of King John, October 9th, 1216, leaving the crown to his son Henry, then
aged only ten years, the royal hunting parties in the Chase of Poorstock
came to an end, though its castle remained in royal hands until 1266,
when Henry granted it to Sir Ralph de Gorges, of Bradpole.
Tea was subsequently partaken of on the lawn of Powerstock
Vicarage, by kind permission of the Rev. W. F. and Mrs.
Rickman. A short business meeting followed when six
members were unanimously elected by ballot, and the names
of five others were proposed for membership.
The HON. SECRETARY mentioned that Mr. C. J. Cornish
Browne had kindly again undertaken to be a Director of the
Dorset Photographic Survey, a work which had been almost
entirely in abeyance during the war. Mr. Cornish Browne
had recently added more than 350 photographs to the
magnificent collection in the Dorset Museum at Dorchester.
Few of their members realised the immense wealth of this
collection.
The club sanctioned the expenditure of 5 on mounts for
the photographs.
POWERSTOCK CHURCH
was then visited, under the guidance of the Vicar, the REV.
W. F. RICKMAN, who drew attention to the following
features : The Tower, the lower part of which is early
Norman; the Chancel Arch with its sculptured capitals and
ornamented pillars, (circ. 1100) and two Hagioscopes (15th
century) ; the Early Decorated Columns of the South Aisle ;
the 14th century opening to the Rood Loft in the North
Aisle : The South Doorway, with carved figure of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and on either side a King and Queen.
Reference was made to the bells, the fourth of which, is
dated 1684, and to the Parish Registers, which go back to
1568.
THIRD SUMMER MEETING. XXXV.
THIRD SUMMER MEETING
AT PORTESHAM.
16th September, 1920.
The last of the summer meetings, which was held at
Portesham on Thursday, September 16th, proved most
interesting, and was attended by about 80 members. By the
kindness of Mr. and Mrs. W. Hardy Manfield, who now
occupy
. PORTESHAM HOUSE,
the ancient home of Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy
was thrown open for the inspection of the members, who
were thus enabled to see the remarkable collection of relics
of Nelson's trusty and favourite flag captain.
In the garden is a picturesque sundial, dated 1767 and
bearing the name of Joseph Hardy. A considerable amount
of interest, too, was shown in the collection of fossils. With
respect to these the PRESIDENT said that the fossil tree stumps
came from beds corresponding to the Portland beds, nearly
all being portions of fossilised coniferous trees. Up in the
quarry at Portesham was what the men called a "fossil
elephant." In reality it was only a large tree coated with a
deposit. The so called " fossil bird's nest " was a cicad such
as could be seen at Portland growing out of dirt beds.
The attendance was so large that the members of the Club
had to be conducted in parties over the house, which for
many years was the home of the great seaman who was flag
captain to Nelson on board the Victory at the crowning
battle of Trafalgar. It was immediately after the battle of
the Nile that Hardy was invited by Nelson temporarily to fill
the place, on the flagship Vanguard, of his flag captain who
had been sent home with despatches. It was then that the
long and intimate association of these two bosom friends
began. Hardy served his idolised chief on no fewer than six
XXXvi. THIRD SUMMER MEETING.
or seven ships. He afterwards became Admiral Sir Thomas
Hardy, and ended his life as Governor of Greenwich Hospital.
Some number of the articles comprised in this unique and
priceless collection of Nelson and Hardy relics are usually
deposited for security in the strong room at the Bank, but
they had been brought out in readiness for the visit of the
Club, and were set on tables, or hung on the walls of the
house, for convenience of inspection. Perhaps earliest in
date was the will of Thomas Masterman of Kingston Russell
(1763). It was from him that Hardy got his two Christian
names; and it was in the line old manor house of the Bedford
family at Kingston Russell that he was born in the year 1769;
and not, as is so often wrongly stated, at Portesham, though
his family removed there afterwards. Amongst the pictures
on the walls were contemporary engravings of some of the
famous engagements in which Captain Hardy took part,
including three of the battle of the Nile. Amongst the most
interesting objects exhibited might be noted miniature
portraits of Hardy; his Nile medal; his shirts and ruffles; his
buckskin breeches; his Prayer Book; pieces of old cabin
furniture; printed playing cards; a ship's lantern from the
victory; some number of his letters, in one of which, dated
August 18th, 1805, a little more than a month after the battle
of Trafalgar, he writes li We fancy ourselves very unfortunate,
after so many anxious moments, to have missed the combined
squadrons. 1 ' Then there was a beautifully executed painting
in profile of Nelson as Duke of Bronte with the corresponding
portrait of the King of Naples. Hardy's portrait by R. Evans
was accompanied by a richly-illuminated vellum conferring
upon him the freedom of the City of London, on January 30th,
1806, and a sword of honour for which 100 guineas had been
voted. This was dedicated " as a testimony to the high sense
which this court entertains of his excellent behaviour on Lord
Nelson's flagship Victory on the 21st October, 1805, at the
memorable defeat and capture of the combined fleets of
France and Spain off Trafalgar." On one of the tables was
laid a copy of the special edition of the Times, of Friday,
THIRD SUMMER MEETING. XXXV11.
January 10th, 1806, which contained a full descriptive report
of the funeral of Lord Nelson, in which solemn pageant Hardy
bore a very prominent part. Perhaps the most touching of
the exhibits was the thin lock of Nelson's hair placed under a
glass, given by Lady Hamilton to the Prince of Wales.
There was also on view the patent conferring the Baronetcy
upon Hardy. Like the Duke of Wellington, Admiral Sir
Thomas Hardy once fought a duel. It is thus recorded in
Bell's Weekly Messenger of June 18th, 1816: " Affair of
Honour. Yesterday afternoon, in consequence of a dispute
at the Opera House on Saturday night, a meeting took place
between the Marquis of Buckingham and Sir Thomas Hardy.
After an exchange of shots the seconds declared that enough
had been done to satisfy the honour, of both parties, and the
affair concluded."
When the members had reassembled on the lawn the
PRESIDENT expressed the warm thanks of the Club to Mr. and
Mrs. Hardy Manfield for their great kindness in allowing the
members to visit their interesting home and to view their rare
collection of Hardy and Nelson relics. For himself it had
been a revelation, as no doubt it had been to others. He had
no idea that there was such a wealth of these objects in their
possession, and he heartily congratulated them upon being the
possessors of such treasures.
The hillside' of Ridge Hill, where stands the grizzled
cromlech called
THE HELLSTONE
was then climbed. Here luncheon was partaken of, and the
expansive prospect of sea and land was enjoyed. After
luncheon MR. VERB L. OLIVER read a short paper on the
Hellstone, which consists of a dolmen of upright stones with
a table stone 1 1 feet long. (The paper is printed in full on
pages 36 to 41 of this Volume).
The PRESIDENT, in heartily thanking Mr. Vere Oliver for
his paper, observed that he had not touched upon the origin
of the sarsen stones. They were supposed to have come from
XXXV111.. THIRD SUMMER MEETING.
a bed of sand in the Tertiary formation in which these large
concretions were formed. The sand was washed away by
denudation, leaving behind them these large sarsen stones.
Numbers of them might be seen in the Valley of Stones not
far away. He believed that there was no trace of them
/';/ situ in their original place anywhere.
MR. OLIVER, in reply, stated that, in the sand beds at
Bagshot, they found large hard cones which the local people
probed for and then broke up for building stone.
After, by the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Saunders,
inspecting the line Tudor Manor House at Portesham, which
is now their residence, the party proceeded to
PORTESHAM CHURCH
which was briefly described by the Vicar, the REV. SIR JOHN
C. MOLYNEUX, BART. There are clear evidences, especially on
the north side, of the old Transition-Norman structure, though
the greater part of the present church is of the Perpendicular
period. In the North wall the abaci with quirk and chamfer
of the old Norman pillars of the Nave are to be seen. The
priest's doorway, the tower arch and font are of the 13th
century. The fine embattled tower with bell turret was
noticed with interest, as, too, were the small carved weather-
worn stone panel containing a representation of the Madonna
and Child; the dole table; and, within the church, the
Jacobean pulpit; the panelled semi-circular vaulting; the two
hagioscopes; and the remains of the rood loft. Some curious
tombstones were observed in the Church and Churchyard,
e.g., those of William Weare (1670), Mary Weare (1675) and
the Rev. John Galpin (1681).
Upon leaving the Church, the party repaired to the gardens
of the King's Arms Hotel for tea. A short business meeting
followed, when live, who had been previously nominated,
were unanimously elected members, in addition to which ten
candidates for membership were nominated.
The HON. SECRETARY stated that the membership of the
Club, which, as might be expected, had suffered a set-back
during the war, was rapidly recovering.
FIRST WINTER MEETING. XXXix.
FIRST WINTER MEETING.
7lh December, 1920.
About forty members were present at the opening meeting
of the Winter Session of the Field Club, which was held in the
Reading Room of the County Museum at Dorchester, on
Tuesday, the 7th of December, at 12-30 p.m.
Owing to an attack of influenza, the President, Mr. Nelson
M. Richardson, was obliged to be absent, and Mr. Henry
Symonds, F.S.A., one of the Vice- Presidents, was voted to the
chair. He was supported by the Rev. Herbert Pentin (Hon.
Secretary), Capt. J. E. Acland, F.S.A. (Hon. Treasurer) and
Canon Fletcher (Hon. Editor), with Mr. H. Pouncy (Assistant
Secretary).
On the proposition of MR. H. SYMONDS and CAPTAIN ACLAND
it was decided that a letter of congratulation should be sent
to Mrs. Richardson on her receiving the Order of the British
Empire. CAPTAIN ACLAND said that Mr. and Mrs. Richardson
had proved invaluable during the war. They had shown
great kindness to the Australian troops who had been located
in the camp opposite Montevideo. Their house had been
quite a home to the men, who \vould, he felt sure, join the
club in sincere pleasure that this small recognition of her
devoted work had been conferred upon Mrs. Richardson.
ELECTION OF MEMBERS. Ten persons who had previously
been nominated as Candidates for membership in the Club
were balloted for and unanimously elected. And, in addition,
there were eight nominations for membership.
It was stated that the New York Public Library had become
affiliated to the Field Club.
CONFERENCE OF DELEGATES TO THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.
SIR DANIEL MORRIS, K.C.M.G., D.Sc., D.C.L., one of the
Delegates from the Field Club to the British Association
Meeting, at Cardiff, August 24th to 28th, 1920, who was
prevented by illness from being present, sent the following
report.
XI. FIRST WINTER MEETING.
The first meeting of the Conference of Delegates took place on
Wednesday, August 25th, when the Presidential Address was delivered by
M r. T. Shepherd, M.Sc., F.G S., on " The Evolution of Topographical
and Geological Maps." This was illustrated by an interesting series of
maps of great value. The second meeting was held on Friday, when a
discussion was opened by Mr. William Whitaker, F.R.S., on " The Status
of Local Societies, the means of developing their objects, of getting new
members, of making announcements and of publishing papers." As Mr.
Whitaker has been clearly associated for many years with the making of
local Scientific Societies, the suggestions put forward by him for their
extended usefulness were received with general approval. At both
meetings of the Conference there was a good attendance of Delegates ;
and it is proposed that a report of the Proceedings will be published in due
course. In the meantime, in accordance with a resolution adopted by the
Conference, the Council of the Association was asked to call a further
meeting, to be held in London, at which the Officers of Local Societies,
as well as Delegates, might be present and discuss more fully the best
means for developing the aims and objects of Local Naturalist Societies.
December 4th, 1920. D. MORRIS.
MANSE L-PLEYDELL PRIZE. It was reported that the
Mansel-Pleydell medal and prize of 10, for 1922, would for
the first time be offered for an entomological subject: " The
distribution of any one Order of Insects in Dorset, with
suggestions as to the limiting causes."
EXHIBITS.
(1). By CAPTAIN ACLAND:
(a). A photo-reproduction of a map of Great Britain in
the British Museum, drawn by Matthew Paris, A.D. 1250.
(b). An earthenware jar, recovered from the bottom of
Portland Harbour, while sweeping for a lost paravane.
(c). A stoup (?), found (at Westw'orth) near Edmondsham.
(2). By Miss E. HAMILTON DICKER:
Some Chinese embroideries.
(3). By MR. HENRY SYMONDS, F.S.A.:
Five old, beautifully ornamented, keys, three of the 16th
century, one of the 17th, and the other of the 18th century.
The latter one was supposed to be of the Chippendale or
Hepplewhite period.
FIRST WINTER MEETING. xli.
(4). By CANON FLETCHER :
" The Archdeacon of Dorset's Book,"- upon which he
read the following notes:-
This MS, as may be seen, is neatly written, in a quarto volume of some
170 "folios," and is bound in vellum. It is generally known as "the
Archdeacon's Book," and has been in the custody of successive
Archdeacons of Dorset from the time when it was written. It has
recently been placed by Archdeacon Dundas in the custody of the
Cathedral Librarian at Salisbury, to be deposited as a perpetual loan in
the Cathedral Library. It has apparently been compiled mainly from
replies given to the enquiries made at various Archidiaconal Visitations,
although some use appears to have been made of Bishop Smalridge's*
Visitation returns. The Institutions to the various parishes are also recorded.
The book includes a period of upward of 40 years : viz., from 1736
to 1780, during which time Edward Hammond (1732-1762) and John
Walker (1762-1780) held the office of Archdeacon : and there were no
less than nine Bishopsf of Bristol !' The Volumne is in the same hand-
writing throughout. Consequently some part of it must be a fair copy of an
older document, or of rough notes previously compiled. It is of
considerable value, because of the light which it throws upon the condition
of Church Life and Church Services in the County of Dorset in the middle
of the 18th Century. It omits all records of Wimborne Minster with the
other Royal Peculiars, as well as of the 37 Churches belonging to the Dean
of Salisbury, as being outside the pale of Archidiaconal Jurisdiction.:}: But
it gives particulars, in the parishes of the County, as to the value of the
livings, the Stipends paid to Curates, the Institution of new Incumbents,
the Services held, the number of times the Holy Communion was
celebrated in the year (usually four times, though both at St. Peter's and at
Holy Trinity, Dorchester, it was six times). Catechising the children was
in most places confined to the summer months, although in some number
of cases it took place in Lent. At Manston it was " as often as the parents
will send them"; and at Toller Fratrum "every Sunday with Lewis'
Exposition." Statistics are frequently given as to the population, with the
number of ' Papists,' ' Presbyterians,' ' Dissenters,' (i.e., Independents or
Congregationalists), ' Methodists,' and ' Anabaptists.' The proportion of
Communicants varies considerably. Thus Swanwich with 228 families has
* He was Bishop of Bristol, 1714-1719. The County of Dorset was in
the Diocese of Bristol from 1542 until 1836, when it was restored to its
former Diocese of Salisbury.
t During the 18th Century Bristol had 19 Bishops.
J Gillingham, however, and'Milton Abbey, which are stated to have been
il Peculiars," are included in the Archdeacon's Book.
cf. D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXVIII, pp. 94-96.
xlii. FIRST WINTER MEETING.
174, while Stoke Abbot with 100 families has seldom more than four.
But few Churches have Service on Good Friday. Ascension Day I have
found no mention of at all. In 1737 John Hutchins, who was Incumbent
of Swyre, resided at Melcomb Horsey. Svvyre was worth 47. The
Curate was paid 17 a year. In 1766 the historian of Dorset, while still
holding Swyre, was " residing at his other living of Wareham." He died in
1773.
The following, typical extracts, refer for the most part to parishes in, or
in the neighbourhood of, our County town :
Dorchester All Saints depended chiefly on contributions. The
Incumbent, John Jacob, was resident. There were one Papist and some
Presbyterians. There is an Anabaptist meeting-house : their teacher was
Mr. Seymour, a taylor. The Church hath a tower and three bells. Seth
Banks, B.A., was instituted February 19th, 1759. In 1766 there were about
80 families, 5 of which were Presbyterians ; No Methodist ; No Baptists.
Mr. Banks lives at Fordington and serves Brodmain as well as his own
Church. Services every Sunday one in the morning, the other in the
afternoon. Children are catechised in Lent, and at other times occasionally.
July 15th, 1769, John Kendall, B.A., instituted. On September 29th, 1774
Thomas Bryer, B.A. ' was instituted at Bristol after taking Orders."
Dorchester St. Peter and St. Trinity with Frome Whitfield St. Michael
(the last mentioned a peculiar under the Dean of Sarum). 200, but this
belongs to the small Church of ye Trinity. All Saints the large Church is
of no value. Incumbent, Wm. Leigh, Rector also of Litchet Matravers.
Resident here, the Curate, John Ellis. Three or four Papists, one
person lately perverted. A Dissenting meeting-house, teacher, Baruch
Nowell. In 1752 John Hubbock, M.A., instituted, resident. In 1766,
number of families in Holy Trinity 124, in St. Peter's 108 ; five or six
only Dissenters of the Independent sect ; No Methodists, ; No Papists.
Mr. Hubbock, Master also of the Free Grammar School and lives in the
School House. The Parsonage House being only a poor thatched cottage.
He does all the duty and preaches twice every Sunday once in each
Church alternately. Prayer, Wednesdays, Fridays and Holy Days at
Trinity and every Sunday at St. Peters. Sacrament administered every
first Sunday in the month at each Church alternately. Communicants
150, but sometimes 200. In 1767 no Papists.
Portland St. Swithin. Patron, Bishop of Winchester. 120 or 140.
Incumbent, Daniel Harris, resides at Weymouth, the Parsonage House
being destroyed long ago. Parish governed by Select Vestry of long
standing. Rector uneasy about it, but advised to acquiesce. No Dissenters
or Papists. Their way of conveyance is by delivering a straw in the
Church porch. Their accounts is by notches cut in sticks. The Church
has a Tower, but no bells. There has been no Confirmation. In 1763
whilst the Church was rebuilding, Service was performed in a Tabernacle.
The Church was consecrated in 1766,
KIKST WINTER MEETING. xliii.
Chickerill. The Incumbent, Timothy Terrall, resides at Litchett
Matravers as Curate. The Minister of Langton, the next parish, serves
this. In 1749, John Jessett was instituted. On his death Thomas Stevens
was instituted by me|| at Bristol, July 31, 1750. He proposes to employ
Mr. Franklyn. Richard Dauberry, licensed Curate in absence of Mr. Stevens
aboard the Fleet, May 6, 1762, with a Salary of 22.
Frame Vauchurch. John Hubbock, M.A., instituted by me|j June 8. 1738.
(He was promoted to the livings in Dorchester in 1752).
Fled. William Allen, senior, witholds the accustomary tithes of Fish,
and others do it after his example.
Chalbury. No children that can read.
Catti stock. R. Incumbent, John Haynes, Chaplain to Bishop Hall,
resides, hath built a Parsonage House and repaired the Chancel. Middle
sized parish. No Papists or Dissenters. Belongs to Milton Abbey.
Incumbent, Mr. Haynes, was instituted to this living in 1700, and appeared
at the Visitation 1752 in high health, having recovered of the Small-pox
about two years before. William Churchill instituted September 18, 1758.
Frampton. Market Town. Large Parish. 17 Presbyterians ; 20
Papists. Mr. Colson, excused residence here on account of the strange
behaviour of the present Esquire, lives at Dorchester. The whole country in
a manner petitioned in his favour giving him the best and the Esquire the
worst of characters. 1766, about 70 families : No Papist: No Dissenters :
No Methodists.
MR. H. SYMONDS observed that the method of keeping
accounts by means of notches cut in sticks, alluded to by
Canon Fletcher, was a survival of the old Exchequer tallies.
THE HON. SECRETARY and CAPTAIN ACLAND reminded the
Chairman of the reeve staves* by which the accounts of the
Royal Manor of Portland are still kept in connection with the
Court Leet.
|| The Institution was apparently regarded as an Archidiaconal and not
as a purely Episcopal act. ! !
* D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXVIII, pp. 5358.
xiiv. FIRST WINTER MEETING.
PAPERS.
(1). A Paper on " Portland, extracted from the Travels of
Peter Mundy, Cornishman, in England, in 1635, edited by Sir
Richard Temple, Bart., for the Hakluyt Society" (the extracts
being made by his kind permission) had been prepared by the
President, MR. NELSON M. RICHARDSON. In his unavoidable
absence it was read by the Hon. Secretaiy. (Printed).
(2). A Paper on " The Apple Tree Wassail: A survival of a
Tree Cult," by MR. W. O. BEAMENT, M.A., was, in his absence,
also read by the REV. HERBERT PENTIN. (Printed).
MR. S. RODD stated that orchard wassailing was still kept
up in his own parish, Chardstock. He referred, also, to
parishes which have a permanent Maypole, and alluded to the
old custom of " crying the neck," practised in Cornwall and
Devon as well as (he thought) in West Dorset and elsewhere
in the olden days an ancient ritual celebrating the garnering
of the last sheaf in the harvest field.
(3). " The Church Screens of Dorset," by MR. E. T. LONG.
(Printed).
SECOND WINTER MEETING. xlv.
SECOND WINTER MEETING.
1st February, 1921.
There was again a largely-attended gathering of members in
the Reading Room of the County Museum at Dorchester, on
Tuesday, the 1st of February, for the Second Meeting of the
Winter Session of the Club. The Chair was taken at 12-30 p.m.
by the President (Mr. Nelson M. Richardson), who was
supported by four Vice- Presidents: the Hon. Secretary (the
Rev. Herbert Pentin), the Hon. Treasurer (Capt. J. E. Acland,
F.S.A.). the Hon. Editor (Canon Fletcher), and Mr. Alfred
Pope, F.S.A., with the Assistant Secretary (Mr. H. Pouncy).
Between forty and fifty members of the Society were present.
ELECTION OF MEMBERS. Seven persons, who had been
nominated at the previous meeting, were balloted for and duly
elected. There were, in addition, eight nominations for
membership.
REPORT OF DELEGATES TO CONGRESS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SOCIETIES. The Report of the Delegates (Canon J. C. M.
Mansel-Pleydell and His Honour J. S. Udall, F.S.A.), of the
proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Congress held in
the rooms of the Society of Antiquaries, on 26th November,
1920, was read, in their absence, by the Hon. Secretary.
(a) The Report of the Council of the Congress was submitted, in which
it was stated that, as the result of the report of the Bishop of London's
Commission upon the City Churches, the Council had forwarded to the
Secretary of the Commission an intimation of its desire to be associated
with the Society of Antiquaries in protesting against the threatened
demolition. (6) Sir Hercules Read, P.S.A., in speaking about the
" Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act, 1913," advocated
the appointment of competent adivsory bodies to which the Dean and
Chapter of the Cathedral, or, with regard to Parish Churches, the
Chancellor, could apply for advice. Even though the Dean and Chapter,
or the Bishop and Chancellor, need not consult such a body, yet its existence
would have a good effect, (c) Mr. J. Watson Taylor introduced the subject
of "The best means of preserving ancient documents in private hands.'*
Xlvi. SECOND WINTER MEETING.
It was generally thought that the county was the natural area for the
preservation of such documents, and that there should be in every county
an associalion for that purpose. Opinion was divided as to whether these
should be the local archaeological societies, or whether the County Councils
would be the better custodians, (d) Mr. O. G. S. Crawford (Ordnance
Survey) opened a discussion upon " The necessity for the more systematic
survey of British Antiquities." The Ordnance Survey Authorities were
willing to insert such upon their maps, if the necessary materials were
supplied to them by the proper local authorities; and a new officer had
been appointed to see to this. For this purpose large scale maps are
being issued to local Archaeological Societies; and the results, when
completed, will be published in the ordinary survey maps, and possibly
also in special archaeological maps.
SYMONDSBURY CHURCH. Mr. Alfred Pope, F.S.A., had been
asked to lay before the Society the Report made by Mr. C. E.
Winmill to the Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries (Mr.
A. R. Powys) relative to the proposed alterations to Symonds-
bury Church, one of the few churches remaining in an
eighteenth century condition, and which formed an excellent
illustration of scenes in Thomas Hardy's Books. The
PRESIDENT, CAPT. ACLAND, MR. W. DE C. PRIDEAUX, REV. H.
PENTIN and CANON FLETCHER all commented upon the Report,
the latter pointing out strongly that, while he yielded to no
one in his interest in antiquities and in his desire that there
should be no unnecessary tampering with ancient features, yet
it must be remembered that the object of a Church was
the worship of God and the edification of the worshipper.
He knew from experience what Symondsbury church was like.
Twice he had, in the dead of winter, conducted " Call of the
War Missions " there. The central tower was the only old
feature of the Church, and the ground had gradually been raised
within and without the Church, so that the arches had become
very low. Nearly half the seats had their backs to the altar.
There were high pews. The Church was lighted by means of
one candle stuck between each pair of pews. There was no
means of heating. Stone tracery had been removed from the
windows and replaced by iron. The whole place was
SECOND WINTER MEETING. xivii.
depressed and depressing. There could be no hope of
attracting a congregation without radical alteration and
thorough restoration, and he rejoiced to know that a move
was being made.
EXHIBITS.
1 . By the PRESIDENT :
(a). A miniature of S. John the Baptist, on a leaf of a 15th
century Antiphonarium.
(b). Two small editions of the Bible in verse, by Simon
Wastell, 1629, and Samuel Wesley, 1715.
On these he read the following note :
It is interesting to remember, in connection with the two little books
which I have brought for exhibition, that the first attempt of which we
have any record at a translation of the Bible into the language of this
country took the form of a poem by Caedmon (d. 680), the cowherd of
Whitby, afterwards a monk, in the 7th century. The story is related by
Bede (672 735) of how he was unable to sing, but, being encouraged by a
divine messenger in a dream, he produced this poem, which comprised
much of the Old and New Testaments. His work is preserved in a MS.
of the 10th century at Oxford. A 12th century metrical version of part of
the New Testament is known, and there were others in verse, of the Psalms
and other parts specially suited for metrical rendering. King Alfred is
said to have been one of these poet translators.
The first metrical version of any portion of the Bible in English, since
the appearance of Coverdale's English Bible in 1535, is the celebrated
metrical version of the Psalms by Sternhold & Hopkins, which appeared
in a modified form in 1549 and afterwards went through a great number
of editions. A metrical version of Solomon's Song by Wm. Baldwin
appeared the same year, and Proverbs by John Hall in 1550, part of Acts
by Christopher Tye in 1553, and part of Daniel by Thos. Cotsforde in
1555. This last poet lived at Geneva, for, Mary being on the Throne, such
a book could not have been produced by an English Author without the
greatest danger. Other parts of the Bible versified in the 16th century
were " The Book of Wisdom," " The Waitings of the Prophet Hierimiah"
u Genesis," also " The Hoiie Historic of King David," and " The Life and
Death of Joseph." u An abridgement of the Canonical Books of the Old
Testament " by William Samuel, Minister, in 1569, sounds a fuller version,
as does also " A brief c, of the Bible's Historic in verse" by Henoch Clapham
which had three editions, in 1596, 1603 and 1608. In 1611 came "The
Historical part of the Holy Scripture " by Edmund Graile. We now come
to the author of my first little book, Simon Wastell, who in 1623 published
xlviii. SECOND WINTER MEETING.
"A true Christian's daily delight, being the summe of every chapter of
the Old and New Testaments, set down alphabetically in verse." How the
alphabetical part is arranged I do not know, but there is a copy in the
Bodleian, which seems to be the best hunting ground for these scarce
little books. I am afraid that I cannot call the volume which you have
before you, " Microbiblion or The Bible's Epitome in verse" a very high-
class production; and George Wither in his commendatory verses at the
beginning does not say more than that it will " helpe the memorie." But
300 years give it a certain sanctity, and it is certainly a curiosity and has
much matter in a little space.
Passing over any other 17th century versions, I come to my other book.
The first (engraved) title calls it " The History of the Old and New
Testaments attempted in verse, by S. Wesley, 1704," the second title " The
History of The Old Testament in verse in two volumes 1715," which looks
as if there had been a previous edition of the whole Bible in 1704, with
330 cuts instead of the 180 in the present volumes. The cuts, or ' sculptures"
(copperplate engravings), by Start, are rather attractive, though there is a
good deal of imagination in some of them, as in Jacob's altar on p. 47,
where the stone that he set up is represented as an elaborate pillar with a
moulded base, with large and handsome vessels which he could not
possibly have carried with him. The verse is immensely superior in
quality to Simon Wastell's, and gives one a much better idea of the
original. But I am not aware of any metrical version of the whole Bible
that could be called a translation in the same way that the metrical Psalms
are. I may mention that Samuel Wesley* was the father of John and
Charles Wesley, and all seem to have had the poetical faculty more or less
developed. Other books that have been partly or wholly turned into
metre are Jonah, Job, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Habbakuk, The Song of the three
Children, Deuteronomy, Exodus, i Corinthians, Esther, &c.
There is an edition of "The Bible in verse" by John Fellows in four
vols., 1778, which from the number of vols. may be a full translation, but
I have not seen a copy.
2. By CAPTAIN ACLAND, F.S.A.
An exchequer tally-stick (Dorset), 1825, on which he read
the following note :
* Samuel Wesley was born at Winterborne-Whitchurch, of which parish
his father John Wesley was rector from May, 1658, until 1662. His mother
was a daughter of the celebrated Rev. John White, rector of Holy Trinity,
Dorchester, "the patriarch of Dorchester." Samuel was baptised at
Whitchurch, 17th December, 1662, and was educated at the Dorchester
Grammar School. (D.N.B.). J.M.J.F.
SECOND WINTER MEETING. xlix.
The EXCHEQUER-TALLY [Dorset, 5th May, 1825] was presented to
the Dorset Museum by Mr. E. Hollis, 28th August, 1920.
This tally is 2ft. Sin. long one end is pointed, the other square, lin.
There are 17 notches, consecutive, about fin. wide, but cut very shallow
and flat. The tally is an old device formerly used in the English Exchequer
for the purpose of keeping accounts. An account of the transaction was
written on two opposite sides of the stick, the notches being made right
across an intermediate side ; the stick was then split down the middle
through the notches; one half, called " the tally," was given as a receipt to
the person making the payment, the other half called " counter tally " was
kept in Exchequer.
Different sized and shaped notches represented different sums ; e.g. :
a notch lin. deep (V-shape)=^100; gin. deep=10; fin. deep but of a
different shape=l; others represented I/- and Id. This custom was
finally discontinued in 1826, and all the old tallies collected. They were
used some years later as fuel for stoves in the Houses of Parliament; and, by
overheating a stove with tallies, the great fire was caused which destroyed
the buildings in October, 1834.
The Encyclopaedia Brit, gives an example of a Tally with various shaped
notches, and an inscription, which appears to read De Edv'o Ironside
p' ip'um K' q' mutuat' p' annuit' iijl p' sent, solubil' ex le Sinking Fund
a xj R' R' Georg' se'di cone'. Mag. Brit. Michs xxvj die Octobr' a Ri
Ris Georg' se'di xij.*
The above is a Tally acknowledging the receipt oi 236 4s. 3^d. on
26th October, 1738f, from Edward Ironside, Esq., as a loan to the King on
3 per cent, annuities, payable out of the Sinking Fund on account of
500,000 granted by Act 11, George II, c. 27. The date is written on the
upper side of the tally. The 200 is notched on one of the intermediate
sides, the remaining 36 4s. 3d. on the other.!
3. By MR. VERB OLIVER, F.S.A.
An ancient sword recently recovered from the Backwater,
Wey mouth.
4. By MR. R. HAYNE.
(a). A late 12th century French M.S. of the Gospel of S.
Matthew on vellum in Latin, with paraphrase and notes.
* Encyd. Brit, llth Edit., Vol. XXVI.. p. 379.
t Not 7759, as given in Encyd. Brit.
See Archaologia, Vol. LXII, pp. 368-380; Proceedings of Society of
Antiquaries, Vol. XXX11I, pp. 334-337 ; D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXVIII,
p. 53-58.
1. SECOND WINTER MEETING.
(b). A 15th century M.S. The Hours of the Virgin, with
12 to 15 miniatures.
(c). A 17th century Persian M.S., written on 238 leaves in
four columns, dated, 1614, on seal at end, in native binding
of leather, richly ornamented in gold, bronze and various
colours : containing (1) The dawn of Light. (2) The book
of Alexander, Nizami. (3) Khusran va Shirin, Nizami. (4)
The sight heavens. (5) Laila va Majnun, Nizami.*
5. By COLONEL F. G. L. MAINWARING.
Fossil of a bivalve found embedded in the roots of a large
beech near Upwey Wishing Well. The soil being shallow,
the rootlets go down into the crevices of the lias, or limestone
rock, some fossils thus getting caught.
6. By MR. E. SEWARD, R.G.A.
A bronze dagger, 18 inches in length, found in a quarry at
Stoford. The base being mutilated, it is difficult to give the
exact age ; but it would probably date back from before
1300 B.C.
7. By MR. W. DE C. PRIDEAUX.
Model of font at Melbury Bubb. An old pillar reversed
and scooped out.
PAPERS.
. 1. "The Founding of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and the
Rev. John White," by CAPTAIN ACLAND. (Printed).
2. " Dorset Brasses," in continuation of the series, by MR.
W. DE C. PRIDEAUX, F.S.A.
3. " Dorset Gulleries," by the REV. F. L. BLATHWAYT.
(Printed).
4. " Dorset Church Roofs," by MR. E. T. LONG.
* Cf. Emycl. Enf., llth Ed. under Xizami, J.M.J.F.
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING, li.
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING.
10th May, 1921.
The Annual Business Meeting was held iu the Reading
Room of the County Museum, at Dorchester, on Tuesday,
10th May, 1921, at 12-30 p.m. The Chair was taken by the
President (Mr. Nelson M. Richardson), who was supported by
five Vice- Presidents the Rev. Herbert Pentin(Hon. Secretary),
Captain J. E. Acland, F.S.A. (Hon. Treasurer), Canon Fletcher
(Hon. Editor), Captain G. R. Elwes, and Mr. W. de C. Prideaux,
F.S.A., with the Assistant Secretary (Mr. H. Pouncy). In
spite of the difficulty of locomotion, owing to the coal strike,
between 30 and 40 members were present. As an instance
of the effect of the strike, the journey by train from Portland
to Dorchester, that morning, had occupied three hours.
ELECTION OF MEMBERS. Eight persons, who had been
nominated as candidates for membership at the preceding
meeting were balloted for, and duly elected members of the
Club. The Hon. Secretary reported that eight further
nominations had been received.
MEDALS AND PRIZES. It was reported that the Cecil Medal
and Prize of 10, for the best paper on " Uses of Electricity
in reconstruction after the war, and its practical generation,"
had not been awarded this year. The subject for the Mansel-
PleydelJ Medal and Prize of 10 to be awarded in May, 1922,
was stated to be " The distribution of any one Order of Insects
in Dorset, with suggestions as to the limiting causes."
ELECTION OF OFFICERS. The Officers of the Club were
unanimously re-elected, viz. : The President, Mr. Nelson M.
Richardson; the Hon. Secretary, Rev. Herbert Pentin; the
Hon. Treasurer, Captain J. E. Acland; the Hon. Editor, Canon
Fletcher; and Mr. H. Pouncy was re-appointed Assistant
Secretary. With slight changes, the sectional Committees for
111. ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING.
the Dorset Photographic Survey, Earthworks, Numismatics
and Restored Churches were also re-appointed. Colonel and
Mrs. Dickson having retired from the Photographic Survey,
Mr. Edwin Seward, F.R.I. B.A., of Weymouth, was appointed
on the Survey, on the motion of Mr. Vere Oliver. Mr. Oliver
was placed on the Numismatic Committee, and the Rev. H.
M. Wellington on that for Restored Churches.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. MR. NELSON M. RICHARDSON
delivered his seventeenth Presidential Address. In the course
of it he mentioned with deep regret the loss suffered by the
club through the deaths of Lord Digby, the Bishop of
Durham, and the Bishop of Salisbury. And, in conclusion,
he offered his congratulations to two of the Vice- Presidents
upon distinctions which had been received by them: Canon
Mayo, one of the four surviving original members of the Club,
who had just taken the degree of Doctor of Letters at Oxford,
and Mr. W. de C. Prideaux, who had been made a Chevalier
de VEtoile Noire in recognition of his valuable inventions in
machine gunnery. MR. PRIDEAUX, in acknowledging the
compliment, reminded the gathering that the man in front of
the guns was, so to speak, more worthy of honour than the
man behind them. He referred to two noted Dorset airmen :
Lieut. Moorhouse, V.C., of Parnham, who came down mortally
wounded after making an important reconnaissance, but
"made his report" before he expired; and the late Major
Hawker, V.C., D.S.O., of Weymouth, who wanted machine
belts very badly, and worried him (Mr. Prideaux) until he got
on with them.
A very hearty vote of thanks was accorded with acclamation
to Mr. Richardson, on the proposition of CAPTAIN ELWES, for
another most admirable anniversary report. Their President,
he added, always surprised and delighted them with the wide
extent of the knowledge he showed, and the extraordinarily
lucid and interesting way in which he brought matters before
them.
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. liii.
REPORT OF THE Hox. SECRETARY, (The Rev. H. Pentin).
The membership of the Club has increased considerably during the past
year; but there are still vacancies to be filled. The attendance at the
winter meetings has been abnormally large, and the three summer
meetings were well attended. The work of the Sectional Committees has
been retarded by the aftermath of the war. But on the whole the Club
has made a real forward movement during the year.
MR. PENTIN drew attention to the 24 page Index of all the
41 volumes of the Proceedings which had been painstakingly
prepared by the Assistant Secretary. It would be bound up
with vol. XLI, which was just completed; and, in addition, 100
copies would be struck off, and be on sale at I/- each. This
would be appreciated by future members.
CAPTAIN ACLAND, as Hon. Treasurer, presented his balance
sheet, wbich had been audited by Messrs. Edwards and
Edwards. The year began with a credit balance of 146, and
ended with a credit balance of 150. The accounts were
passed on the proposition of Capt. Elwes and the President.
The PRESIDENT congratulated Capt. Acland on having done
so well under adverse circumstances. He mentioned that
there was a sum of 37 standing to the credit of the Mansel-
Pleydell and Cecil Medals Fund.
The HON. EDITOR, Canon Fletcher, read the following
report.
It is a matter of disappointment that the 41st volume of the Proceedings
of our Club has not been in the hands of our Members some months ago;
but Mr. Longman has prepared a specimen volume which he has given to
Mr. Pouncy in order that it may be exhibited to those who are present
to-day. The publication therefore will not be delayed much longer. The
delay has been due to the addition of what will be found a most useful
feature. An Index to the whole number of volumes which have been
issued since the formation of the Club. This has been the work of our
painstaking Assistant Secretary.
But we are gradually getting nearer to the normal time of issue. And
it is to be hop'ed that after this year the annual volumes will be issued to
the members some time during the summer months which follow the
Annual Meeting in May.
llV. ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING.
The next volume will include accounts of the excursions to Portland,
Povverstock and Portesham, with reports of the Winter Meetings and of
to-day's Annual Business Meeting. It will contain the usual Rainfall
Statistics and Notes, and the Report of the Phenological Editor. There
will also be the following papers: The Presidential Address; with Mr.
Richardson's " Notes on a few of the Insects and Plants of Portland," and
a paper by him on " Portland, extracted from Peter Mundy's Travels in
7655." " Eggardon Hill," by Rev. H. Shaen Solly; " The Hellstone," by
Mr. Vere Oliver ; " The Apple Tree Wassail," by Mr. W. O. Beament ;
" The Church Screens of Dorset," by Mr. E. T. Long; " The Founding of
Dorchester, Massachusetts, and the Rev. John White," by Capt. Acland;
and" Dorset Gulleries," by Rev. F. L. Blathwayt.
It is to be regretted that the cost of production has so materially
decreased the number of illustrations as well as the size of the volumes.
But to a certain extent this must continue unless the rule is altered which
limits the numbers of the Club, and there can be a large addition to the
membership, or unless, which appears to be inadvisable (although it has
been carried out by the Derbyshire and, I think, some other societies), the
amount of the annual subscription is raised.
DORSET PHOTOGRAPH^ SURVEY. MR. C. J. CORNISH-BROWNE,
Director of the Survey, reported that
during the past year, 353 photographs had been added to the collection.
Two of these were by Capt. Acland, 24 by Mr. Ridley, and 140 by himself,
whilst the remaining 187 were photographs which had long ago been
mounted on Manilla sheets for binding into volumes, but which he had
remounted on mounts in general keeping with the collection. The remain-
ing photographs, 568 in number, had, with the unanimous consent of the
members of the Committee, been removed from the volumes, remounted
and placed in the boxes. The whole collection was now boxed together
and arranged under Parishes. The expenses for the year had amounted
to 6 18s. Towards these 5 had been granted by the Club at a summer
meeting. The deficit had been met privately. For the purpose of the
survey, the county had been divided into 12 areas, corresponding with the
12 Poor Law Divisions. Representatives were urgently needed for the
Blandford, Beaminster, Shaftesbury, Sturminster and Sherborne Divisions.
Additions to the collection of photographs were asked for. The collection,
though perhaps little considered at the present time, will be of great
interest to the future generations.
The PRESIDENT said that Mr. Cornish- Browne had done
admirable work during the past year, and proved a worthy
successor to the Rev. W. Miles Barnes, who started the survey.
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING. Iv.
The following report of the ACQUISITIONS TO THE DORSET
COUNTY MUSEUM, May, 1920 May, 1921, was read by the
Curator, CAPT. J. E. ACLAND, F.S.A.
During the past 12 months we have been specially fortunate in receiving,
either as gifts or as loans a number of objects (mostly of the pre-historic
or Roman periods) which have greatly enriched the different collections
in the County Museum.
In October, 1920, Mr. A. D. Pass, of Wootton Fitzpaine, presented 32
fine Palaeolithic flint, or chert implements, which were found about 20 years
ago in the well-known Broom gravel pits, in the valley of the Axe, near
Hawkchurch. They are a welcome addition to those we already possessed
from the same locality; some from Mr. E. Cunnington's collection purchased
in 1889, and others given by B. A. Hogg, in 1896.
A still more important collection of Palaeoliths will be placed in The
Museum before long, the result of many years research work in Dorset by
the late Rev. W. Marsden of Moreton. I am not able to speak of them in
detail to-day; but they have been examined by Mr. Reginald Smith of the
British Museum, and by Mr. Sebastian Evans, and considered by these
authorities to be a remarkable and valuable addition to the pre-historic
relics of the County. Mrs. Marsden is most generously providing a new
case to contain the whole collection, which will be deposited here on loan,
and be called " The Marsden Collection,"
I must next refer to the Bronze-age Sword recovered from the
Weymouth Backwater during the construction of the new bridge, having
been brought up in the " grab " from a depth of four feet below the present
bed of clay. This sword having been exhibited at the Club's meeting in
February last by Mr. Vere Oliver, and having been carefully described by
him at the time, I need only say that it remains in the Museum as a loan
from the Weymouth Corporation. At the same meeting we acquired
(also as a loan) from Mr. Edwin Seward, F.R.I.B.A., of Weymouth, a
remarkably pretty Bronze-age rapier. It was found in a fissure of a
quarry, which appears to have expanded into a small cavern formed in the
Inferior Oolite stratum near Clifton Maybank, Bradford Abbas. The
fissure was filled with the yellow sand of the locality, the rapier being
12 feet from the upper surface.
It may be remembered that some years ago the Club held a summer
meeting at Ringwood and Moyles Court, when, under the guidance of Mr.
Fred. Fane, the sites of Roman Pottery Kilns were visited, the description
of which is given in Volume XV, of our Proceedings. The investigation of
the New Forest Pottery sites has been carried on energetically by Mr.
Hey wood Sumner, F.S.A. , who has presented us with specimens of typical
sherds found at Ashley Rails and Sloden, and also with the printed reports
of his excavations at Old Sloden Inclosure, and Black Heath Meadow,
JVI. ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING.
Linwood, where he uncovered five Roman Pottery Kilns so successfully
that he has been able to prepare accurate sections and plans of the
component parts of the original kilns. Mr. Sumner has also presented to
the Library a copy of his Ancient Earthworks of Cranbornc Chase, one of
the 1913 edition which was limited to 200 copies.
Another acquisition of the Roman period is of much interest. In digging-
trie foundations of the Stables of Somerleigh Court, Dorchester, more than
20 years ago. five spoons of the usual Roman '' curved-neck " pattern were
found, and close by a number of the common 3rd Brass Roman Coins.
These have all been given us by Mr. T. Lynes. One of the spoons bears
an inscription " AVGVSTINE VIVAS," another spoon shews on the bowl
the outline of a fish. This may suggest an original Christian ownership,
rendered the more possible by the date of the coins, viz.: 360420. A.D.
They are at present in London to be exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries'
meeting on the 12th inst.
Through the kindness of Lt.-Col. C. Troyte Bullock, of Benville Manor,
a new Roman site has been brought to notice by the discovery of Roman
red roof tiles, at Norwood Farm, % mile N.E. of Corscombe Court. If a
systematic investigation could be carried out, no doubt other Roman relics
would be found there.
Brief mention only need be made of the fine model of the Melbury
Bubb font, as it was exhibited and described by the donor, Mr. W. de C.
Prideaux, at a recent meeting of the Club. It is of course of exceptional,
even of unique, interest, and is referred to in Fonts and Font Covers, by F.
Bond ; in Christian Symbolism, by Romilly Allen ; and in Proceedings of
the Society of Antiquaries, Vol. XXVI.
In addition to these Dorset Antiquities, and a few modern exhibits, there
is only one Natural History specimen to be noted : A Molar f Elephas
Primigenius has been presented by Mr. J. C. Tozer, of Didlington, near
Wimborne, found at Brookside Cottage, Witchampton, 18 inches below
the surface of the ground, where there once ran the River Allen.
MR. VERE OLIVER alluded to a Roman spoon which had
been dug up at Rodwell a few weeks previously \vith a pointed
bowl and spatula. He also exhibited a silver denarius of the
Emperor Trajan, issued between 103 and 111 A.D., which had
been dug up in the garden at Monksdene by Mr. Geoffrey
Symes. He added that they were shortly about to start a
local museum at Weymouth. They did not want the collection
in the County Museum; but the Weymouth Corporation con-
sidered that there were so many local relics at Weymouth
which the owners would give or loan to a local museum, that
they thought it most desirable to establish one.
ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETINGS. Ivii.
The PRESIDENT expressed apprehension that a local museum
established at Weymouth might prove a serious rival to the
County Museum at Dorchester, and divert objects of value
and interest which ought to go to the senior institution. He
trusted that Mr. Vere Oliver would use his influence in that
direction.
The PRESIDENT read an interesting letter, which he had
received from Mr. E. R. Billington of Wyke End, who had
been travelling in Palestine, descriptive of his journey.
VICE-PRESIDENTS. The President re-appointed the existing
Vice- Presidents. They were fourteen in number and he did
not propose to add to them.
Sir Daniel Morris and Mr. Alfred Pope were re-elected
delegates to the British Association, and Canon Mansel-
Pleydell and His Honour J. S. Udall were re-appointed
delegates of the Club to the Congress of Archaeological
Societies.
SUMMER MEETINGS. It was resolved to hold three one-day
summer meetings during the year, if railway communications
and labour troubles permitted. Twelve places had been
suggested, of which Sherborne, Corfe Castle, and Shaftesbury
were selected by the votes of those present. The dates and
other arrangements were left in the hands of the Hon.
Secretarv.
Iviii.
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February 19tl
3n flDemoriam
LORD EUSTACE HENRY BROWNLOW GASCOYNE
CECIL, F.R.G.S.
By NELSON MOORE RICHARDSON, B.A.
The Dorset Field Club has sustained one of its greatest
losses in the death of its former President, Lord Eustace Cecil,
which took place at Lytchett Heath on July 3rd, 1921. He
was a member of the Club in its early days, having been
elected in 1884, and from the beginning always took a
personal and practical interest in its doings and welfare.
By his presence at its Meetings and his support in other
ways, which were highly appreciated by the late Mr. J. C.
Mansel-Pleydell, its first President, as well as by the present
writer and the other members, he greatly contributed to make
it a scientific and social success. On the sudden and lamented
death of Mr. Mansel-Pleydell on May 3rd, 1902, and at the
earnest wish of the members, Lord Eustace consented to
undertake the Presidency of the Club, and I cannot better
describe the manner in which he carried it out than in the
words of Captain Elwes when proposing a vote of thanks to
him at the end of the two years during which he held that
post: "They had found him everything that could be desired
Ix. THE LATE LORD EUSTACE CECIL.
in a President of such a Society. Not only had he made his
mark by the extraordinarily lucid and interesting summaries
of the year which he had delivered that day and twelve
months ago, but they had also all felt that in him they had
had a fit head of a County Club. They were especially
indebted to Lord Eustace Cecil for the efforts which he had
made in obtaining important accessions to the membership, as
was shewn by the fact that the Club was now supported by
the most influential residents in the County and was assuming
its proper position." Mr. Bosworth Smith added that "he
had thrown himself into the work with all that energy which
was characteristic of the great Cecil family." During his
Presidency he read to the Club two Addresses, chiefly on the
advances of Science during the past year, dwelling perhaps
especially on Archaeology in connection with primitive man.*
Shortly after his retirement from the Presidency, in May,
1904, when the present writer was appointed to be his
successor, Lord Eustace wrote to him a letter which will be
found printed in full.f In it he alludes to the raising of a fund
in memory of the late Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, from which, after
paying for the execution of a portrait which now hangs in the
Dorset County Museum, there remained a substantial balance.
This balance he proposed to increase by the very handsome
donation of 300 Foreign American and General Trust Co.
deferred stock, bringing in altogether about 18 per annum,
and to found therewith two medals to be called the Mansel-
Pleydell and Cecil Medals respectively, with a prize of 5
attached to each, the former to be awarded for the best paper
on some subject, preferably Dorset in Natural History or
Archaeology, and open to any member of the Dorset Field
Club, the latter for Chemistry or Electricity, and open to any
person born in Dorset or resident there, with certain other
conditions. A resolution was unanimously passed accepting
this generous gift and the scheme, which would be a lasting
memorial of the two first Presidents of the Club.
* Proceedings Dorset F. Club, XXIII, lxxix,and XXIV, Ixxii.
| Ibid, XXVI, xxix.
THE LATE LORD EUSTACE CECIL. Ixi.
These competitions have produced a number of papers, some
of great excellence, on a variety of subjects, some of which
are printed in the Club's Proceedings. But Lord Eustace's
interest in the Club did not cease when he resigned his office,
for he was present on many occasions at its meetings, often
accompanied by Lady Eustace Cecil and other members of
his family, and when he was able to do so, he presented the
medals.
On July 27th, 1907, the members of the Club, about 130 in
number, were hospitably entertained at Lytchett Heath by
Lord and Lady Eustace Cecil, during a meeting held in the
neighbourhood, a full account of which will be found at
p. Ixxiii of Vol. XXIII of the Club's Proceedings. The chief
feature of the visit was the inspection of the interesting and
beautiful gardens, in which were growing a large number of
curious and rare plants. The Hon. Mrs. Evelyn Cecil, the
author of A History of Gardening in England and other works,
acted as guide and pointed out and described many of the
rarities.
Lord Eustace Henry Brownlow Gascoyne Cecil, born April
24th, 1834, was the third son of the second Marquis of Salisbury,
and brother of the third Marquis, the Prime Minister. After
passing through Harrow and Sandhurst, he was given in 1851
a commission in the 43rd Regiment of the Line by his mother's
friend, the Duke of Wellington. From this he was transferred
to the Coldstream Guards, with which regiment he served in the
Crimea. In 1865 he left the Army with the rank of Lieut.-
Colonel, and was elected M.P. for S. Essex, and later for W.
Essex. From 1874-80 he held the post of Surveyor-General
of the Ordnance, retiring from Parliament in 1885.
He was chairman of several Trust Companies and a director
of the Great Eastern Railway. In 1873-4 he bought his
estate at Lytchett Heath and built there the present house and
chapel. He took an active part in County business, both as a
magistrate and as an alderman of the Dorset County Council
and otherwise.
Ixii.
THE LAfE LORD EUSTACE CECIL.
In 1860 Lord Eustace married Lady Gertrude Scott,
daughter of the second Earl of Eldon, by whom he had two
sons, the Rt. Hon. Evelyn Cecil, M.P. for the Aston division
of Birmingham, and Mr. Algernon Cecil, and a daughter, Miss
Blanche Cecil. He celebrated his golden wedding on
September 18th, 1910, on which occasion the Dorset Field
Club presented him and Lady Eustace Cecil with a silver-gilt
tazza, subscribed for by the Members. Lady Eustace pre-
deceased him on April 30th, 1919.
Hfc&ress of tbe
By NELSON MOORE RICHARDSON, Esq., B.A.
(Read May, 10th, 1921.)
IN this, my seventeenth Annual Address to the
Dorset Field Club, I am happy to say that the
obituary roll of our members which I have to
record, is one of the shortest that I have ex-
perienced, though I greatly regret their loss. Lord Digby is
the oldest member, having been elected in 1889, and has
always been a good friend to the Club, as our pleasant and
interesting visits to Minterne testify. Of his excellent qualities
and his work in other directions I will not attempt to speak,
as that has been done elsewhere. The same remarks apply to
the Bishop of Durham who has also passed from us and who
joined our ranks in 1904. He belonged to a family of whom
to one member in particular, the late Mr. Henry Moule, the
Club is greatly indebted in many ways, and whose name occurs
perpetually in our earlier volumes. I am glad to say that we
still have the name on our list of members. Mr. Francis John
Pope who joined in 1909, was a Fellow of the Royal Historical
2 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
Society and the Royal Archaeological Institute. I should like
also to refer to a lady, Mrs. M. E. Ratcliff who was formerly
a member, having joined in 1896, and was, so long as her
health permitted, a frequent attendant at our meetings.
Though not actually a member of the Club, we also regret the
loss of the wife of our Vice-president, Mr. Alfred Pope, one of
our four surviving original members, and offer him our
sympathy. Since writing the above, I have in addition to
record with great regret the loss of another of our members,
the Bishop of Salisbury, who passed away only a few days ago.
He joined the Club in 1912, and though we have had his good-
will, his episcopal duties have prevented him from taking part
in our meetings, which have of course been very few owing to
the War.
ZOOLOGY.
The iron bacteria form an interesting group of small
organisms and have played an important part in the formation
of bog-iron ores. They collect the iron from the water in
which they live, placing it in the condition of ferric hydroxide
in the sheaths which form their dwellings, and sometimes
cause troublesome incrustations in water pipes. A book
dealing with these has lately been published, in which six
species are described. A national collection of type cultures
of bacteria has lately been established at the Lister Institute
of Preventive Medicine and will be of great use to bacterio-
logists in their investigations. There are still many common
diseases, probably of bacteriological origin, of which the cause
is not known, such as measles, scarlet fever, mumps, &c., so
that there is room for research. Experiments have shewn
that flies, which often have various germs attached to them,
will completely free themselves of them in a few days, probably
by mechanical means. One often sees a fly cleaning itself. It
has been discovered lately that the red corpuscles of the blood
alter in size, being smallest the first thing in the morning and
increasing to a maximum about noon and becoming larger with
any violent exertion. The life history of the lobster in its
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 3
youngest stages up to about an inch in length is well-known,
but between that size and four inches, specimens are extremely
rare, and we have been ignorant of their habits. It is now
found that they live in a burrow, \vhich prevents their capture
by the dredge. This burrow has two entrances, at either of
which the young lobster can emerge in case of danger, and it
is very active in its movements. An Imperial Entomological
Conference was held in London last June at which many
important matters were discussed, such as the immunity from
attacks of certain strains of plants, the destruction of harmful
insects by introducing parasites or fungi which kill them, the
cotton pests, especially in Egypt, which caused a loss of
10,000,000 in 1917, and which are controlled by destroying
yearly all material in the field in which the insects might
survive. The experiment of destroying all big game in a
district in Rhodesia is being tried as a means of preventing the
deadly sleeping sickness. The tsetse fly infects the big game
with the bacillus, and other tsetse flies are infected when they
suck the blood of the infected animal, but the wild animal
itself is not affected by the bacillus, which is so fatal to man
and domestic animals. But it was not expected at the Con-
ference that this method would be successful. I do not think
that this African disease has any connection with that of a
somewhat similar name, which has been given a very undue
prominence lately in the newspapers. It is satisfactory to hear
that a beetle, Anomala orientalis, the larva of which lives in
the roots of the sugar cane and had been doing immense
damage in Hawaii, has been nearly exterminated by a small
wasp, Scolia manilce, introduced from the Philippines, which
lays its egg on the beetle grub, which is devoured by the wasp
larva when it hatches. Some interesting observations on our
English wasps shew that a very large number of queens are
produced. From a strong nest no less than 1,118 were counted
as well as 995 drones, whilst the workers bred during the
season were estimated at 40,000. Each of these queens is
capable of producing a new nest the next year, but hardly any
are successful. The number of eggs laid by most insects is
4 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
very great, and if a good proportion reached maturity, the
world would be overwhelmed by them, but fortunately they
have many enemies, and the numbers keep fairly constant.
Given however, propitious circumstances, this fact will easily
account for the swarms which occasionally appear, and for an
insect which is rare one year being common the next. The
same observer noted that the tenants of a rather small nest
of the common wasp, Vespa germanica, brought home about
2,000 flies in a day. In speaking of wasps, I should like to
allude to the most interesting and, I believe, hitherto unnoticed
colour sense in a solitary wasp (Odynerus parietinus, L.)
which was observed by Major Platt of Dorchester, and
which is the subject of a paper by myself contained
in our last volume of Proceedings. The wasp showed its
preference for light blue (a colour to which honey bees
are partial) by choosing three reels of this colour in which
to make its nests, out of about 32 reels of variously coloured
cottons. For further particulars I must refer you to the paper
in Vol. XLI of our Proceedings. From investigations carried
on in the Parasitical Laboratory at Aberdeen, it would appear
that the Isle of Wight Bee disease is caused by a small mite
(Tarsenemus) which inhabits the respiratory system of the bee,
where it breeds and finally stifles the bee by cutting off the
air supply by its numbers. The disease had been believed to
be due to a Protozoon. I referred just now to our ignorance
of an early stage in the growth of the lobster. Until recent
years the method in which fresh water eels were propagated
was a complete mystery and there was some excuse for the
ancient idea, probably still much believed, that they were
developed from horsehairs. It is now known that eels live for
years in fresh water, and when at length they attain maturity,
they migrate to the depths of the sea and there spawn, though
so far, no one has seen a spawning eel. The young ones, about
a third of an inch long, in what is called the Leptocephalm
stage, have however been met with at a depth of 2,000 fathoms.
Our ignorance of even the best known fishes was much insisted
on by the President of the Zoological section of the British
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 5
Association in his Address, but the actual quantities of fishes
or lower animals in the sea are almost too gigantic for the
mind to grasp. Recently numbers of dead sea-birds have been
picked, up on the Yorkshire coast with their plumage saturated
with oil, and this is also believed to have injured the fish, but
the origin of the oil, probably from ships, seems uncertain and
the occurrence may not be of permanent importance. Some
observations of flying fish would tend to shew that their flight
is real like that of a bird and not merely a leap or glide. They
are said to be able to turn at less than a right angle, to move
their fins very fast when in flight, and to fly to such distances
and heights as would not be possible on the strength of the
original impulse when leaving the water. Unfortunately I
have also read an account of some recent observations of the
same nature, in which the observer flatly contradicts the above
and states that flying fish do not move their fins like wings, and
depend entirely for their flight on the impetus gained by the
movement of the tail on leaving the water, and in the tops of
any waves they may happen to touch, if their flight is low.
Both observers seem to have made many observations and
sound reliable, but which is right I cannot undertake to say,
but positive evidence is generally better than negative and I
personally incline to the flapping theory. Of course, like birds,
they may sometimes glide through the air without moving their
wing- like fins. A wonderful observation of the laying of the
eggs of a cuckoo is recorded, in which it is stated that the
observer watched the cuckoo deposit 21 eggs in different nests
during a period of six weeks, one being laid on alternate after-
noons. It never laid in a nest which had not already one egg,
and always abstracted one of the eggs of the rightful owner.
All the eggs except one were laid in the nests 'of meadow
pipits. How the observer knew it to be the same female on
different days I do not know, but I have not seen the full
account. The nesting of a pair of bee-eaters is recorded from
Musselburgh last June, but unfortunately the parents did not
live to hatch their brood, one being captured and the other
killed by a cat. Cats lead us naturally to rats, on which an
6 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
interesting pamphlet has lately been published by the British
Museum (Nat. Hist.) including methods of capture. Full-grown
rats are difficult to trap, but I have been very successful by my
plan which I described in one of my early Addresses to our
Club, of making them slightly inebriated with rum and sugar
before they take the bait. We may think ourselves in any
case more fortunate than the S. Africans who are said to have
24 species of rats, one reaching the length of two feet without
counting the tail. It may not however be generally realized
that our common rat is about 18 inches long (including of
course the tail) when full grown. The birth of a chimpanzee
in the New York Zoological Gardens is only the second event
of the kind that has taken place in confinement, the other
being at Cuba in 1915. The baby weighed 31bs. and was 16in.
long but only lived a few days. The protection of the fur
seals of Alaska for five years has had most satisfactory results, the
seals having greatly increased in numbers, whereas many fur
animals are threatened with extermination. The mammalian
fauna in Australia suffers much from foxes, from the poisoning
of rabbits, from cats, and from bush fires and other causes
which are reducing it very seriously and are perhaps more
difficult to control than even fur hunters. On the other hand
efforts are being made to set apart as a reservation for pre-
serving the fauna, the Oketinoke swamp in Georgia, covering
700 square miles, in which the animals are suffering from the
effects of drainage and cultivation. Something may perhaps
be said on the utilitarian side, but probably this swamp which
appears to be in many respects of unique character, could be
spared for at least a few generations.
BOTANY AND AGRICULTURE.
A novel and very useful and interesting exhibition was held
in London last summer of many hundreds of different kinds
of wood from various parts of the British Empire, many being
practically unknown in this country and of great value for their
strength, permanence, beauty or other qualities. Even Indian
woods seem little known or used here and African still less,
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 7
but it is hoped that this will be somewhat remedied by this
exhibition. The same wood varies so much in appearance in
different trees or different parts of the tree especially if of an
ornamental nature, and also according to the direction in which
it is cut, that it is often very difficult to identify even in our
more familiar woods, but probably the qualities remain more
or less constant. Besides this there are sometimes several
distinct species which go under the same name, such as satin-
wood and mahogany, of which last there were some beautitul
specimens from Africa. Attempts have been made to grow
camphor in various British dependencies, with success in some
cases, especially in Trinidad. Cotton also and sugar-cane cul-
tivation are receiving special attention, and good varieties are
being raised in Government establishments for distribution.
Jerusalem Artichoke tubers are recommended as a source of
sugar in this country, and it has been also suggested that alcohol,
at least for other purposes than drinking, might be obtained from
various plants which occur in abundance, such as couch and
other grasses, bracken, &c., as well as the cabbage stalks which
are now thrown away in great masses. Experiments with
wheat weevils (Calandra) tenet to shew that air-tight storage is
successful in destroying this pest, but the practical difficulties
of making a large granary really air-tight are great. I have
had a little experience during the war of the extremely
destructive powers of these insects, which increase very fast and
in the autumn wander in search of places in which to hibernate,
and turn up in all sorts of unexpected positions, at considerable
distances from their food. It is said that the rate of increase
may be as high as 700-fold in 16 weeks, which accounts for
their ravages. I believe that they are found in all parts of the
world wherever wheat is stored. This " air-tight storage " is
probably what the makers of underground covered granaries
aimed at, and corn has been found in some of the dene holes
which have been discovered at Portland and which are well
illustrated in " Damon's geology." The most recent experiments
on the electrification of seeds do not shew any special effect of
this process in most cases. A machine called the Crescograph
8 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
has been devised for measuring the growth of plants, and con-
sists of a lever with a long and short arm, the latter being
attached to the shoot, whose growth is much magnified by the
movement of the end of the long arm. The effect of various
treatments of the plant on its growth can in this way be noted.
It is generally considered that light is necessary for the
development of chlorophyll, the green colouring matter of
plants, but an alga (Scenedesmus acutus), which has been culti-
vated in the dark for eight years, is as green as others grown in
the light, shewing that light is not always necessary. We have
been accustomed to look upon the common ragwort (Senecio
jacobcea) as a troublesome weed but harmless. In Nova Scotia
however it appears to be poisonous to cattle and to give rise to
a disease of the liver, and another species in S. Africa produces
similar effects. I have seen this plant growing in rough pastures
in such masses that one would hardly expect any cattle to survive
if it were really poisonous in this country. It is fortunately
not one of the most difficult weeds to exterminate. One of
the most destructive plant pests is the prickly pear in Australia,
where it is said to cover 1,000,000 acres of fresh land every
year and no satisfactory cure has yet been found. The wart
disease in potatoes was first noticed in 1878, but has now
spread over a considerable portion of this country. Fortunately
some varieties are immune and these should be grown. In
this connection it is interesting to note that the Potato was
first tasted by Europeans in 1519, in Brazil, by Magellan, who
sailed from Spain and stayed there for some months. One
wonders what these potatoes were like. The first picture of
the potato plant is found in the first edition of Gerarde's
Herbal, 1597, and the tubers look rather small and would
probably now be much despised. I exhibited a copy of this
book to the Club some time ago.
GEOLOGY.
The knowledge of the earliest fossil plants has made con-
siderable strides in recent years owing chiefly to the discovery
of well preserved specimens in the early Devonian rocks at
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 9
Rhynie in Aberdeenshire and Sweden, especially the former,
where the fossils are preserved in chert and their structure can
be well seen. Some of these plants are without leaves or roots
and spring from rhizomes, whereas others have leaves of a
simple type with cylindrical stems bearing sporangia. Their
nearest living allies (Psilotacece) seem to grow in much the
same way and have appendages about which it appears to be
still undecided whether they are to be classed as leaves or
branches. It is also only lately that much light has bee"n
thrown on the fossil insects of the coal measures, of which
about 40 or four-fifths of the whole number known to science,
have been discovered or identified in the last few years.
Impressions of moths' wings have been recently found in
numbers in the stalagmite in a cave at Cheddar, most probably
from wings dropped by bats, but I do not suppose that these
would be very ancient. The larger portion of a skeleton of the
giant marsupial Nototherium has been found in Tasmania. It is
believed to have had a horn on the nose, like a rhinoceros.
One of my Australian friends has sent me an elaborate
account, published by the Queensland Museum, of an extra-
ordinary animal (Euryzygoma dunense) of which a fine fossil
head was found on Darling Downs. This head is about 25
inches in length by 27 inches in width, with very large
processes at the sides, which are supposed to have formed
huge cheek pouches. Little seems known about the rest of
its body, but this immense marsupial mammal must have had
a very grotesque appearance. It seems to be allied to
Nototherium just mentioned. Remains of Ursus spelceus, the
cave bear, excavated from the caves of Equi, Italy, were
found to be much affected by tuberculosis, which it is
suggested may have conduced to its extinction. I am not
aware whether this disease has before been noticed in
fossil animals. What it is hoped may be a very valuable
and useful find has been made in N.W. Canada, where an
oilfield has been discovered which promises to be of great
extent and to afford a large yield, but knowing the
proverbial uncertainty of such things, we must not be too
10
sanguine. On the drill reaching a depth of 800 feet, the oil
gushed out in a column 15 feet high. Its source is stated to
be a thick deposit of black bituminous shales and limestones,
which cover an area of enormous extent. A huge mass of
rock, shewn by the arrangement of its fossils to have been
inverted, it is assumed by ice action, has been detected at
Shenley near Leighton Buzzard. It consists of Gault and
Cenomanian strata and is 250 yards long by 150 wide. There
seem to have been more notable earthquakes than usual in the
past 12 months including one at Milan on September 7th,
being the most violent ever known there and causing great
destruction over a considerable area. Another destructive
earthquake occurred in the isthmus of Tehuantepec on the
Gulf of Mexico on February 4th last. On December 16th the
seismographs in this country and elsewhere indicated that a
great earthquake was taking place in some part of the world.
Considerable speculation ensued as to the locality, which
was doubtless N.W. China, as a very severe earthquake,
affecting an unusually large area, was afterwards reported to
have taken place there on that day. On September 10th a
slight earthquake occurred on Exmoor, but no damage was
done beyond the fall of a chimney. Perceptible earthquakes
are however so unusual in this country that I think it worthy
of record.
ASTRONOMY.
Einstein's theory of Relativity about which I endeavoured
to say something in my last address, continues to interest the
astronomical mind, but can hardly perhaps yet be looked upon
as thoroughly accepted. The third test that I mentioned,
namely the slight differences which should according to the
theory, occur in the position of lines in the spectrum, between
those in light proceeding from the sun and similar light produced
on the earth, do occur, but the differences are not what they
ought to be according to Einstein's calculations, and they
seem moreover to vary according to the part of the sun from
which the light is taken, suggesting that there is some other
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 11
cause at work. It is proposed to again observe the second
test, that of the bending of the ray of light from a star passing
close to the sun, at an eclipse of the sun which will take place
on September 20th, 1922. The rare event of an annular
eclipse of the sun visible in the British Isles occurred on
April 8th last, but as the annularity was complete only in the
more northern parts of Scotland, I fear that it was not seen by
many from this county. The sky was fortunately clear and
the eclipse was well observed, I believe, everywhere. The
temperature fell as much as 9 and the colour of the sky was a
curious leaden hue, elsewhere described as purplish. On Jan-
uary 24th, 1925, there will be a total eclipse of the sun in which
the track of totality will just graze the Western Hebrides, but
on June 29th, 1927 a total eclipse will occur which will be visible
from St. David's Head to Whitby. As the next British one
will not take place until 1999, we had better take advantage of
this opportunity. Many new minor planets have been dis-
covered of late years, chiefly by the aid of photography, two
plates taken of the same portion of the sky shewing the
movement in the interval of any planet included. A much
brighter one than usual was discovered in January, 1920, and
given the name of Alphonsina by a Spanish Astronomer.
Another, believed to be a planet, has a cometary orbit, but no
nebulosity has been observed in it. The Lyrid meteors appeared
about April 21st, 1920, in fair numbers, and the show of
Taurid meteors in the first few days of November was
exceptionally good, but the November Leonid meteors, about
November 14th, celebrated from the magnificent shower in
1866, of which I had the good fortune to be a witness, were
few in number. There is some reason to believe that a shower
of meteors which was observed on June 28th, 1916, is con-
nected with the Pons-Winnecke comet which is now faintly
visible, and that, as this comet will on this visit pass nearer to
the earth than on the last occasion, we may have a more
brilliant shower about June 27th next. Some fine meteors
were seen on March 1st and 2nd, at Bristol and elsewhere.
A splendid detonating fireball was observed on March 16th,
12 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
and others on March 25th and 29th. Meteorites, or meteors
which reach the surface of the earth without being dissipated
by their combustion, have a rather romantic interest, as rare
objects coming to us from outside our world, though they do
not, I think, contain any substances that are not found on the
earth. One which fell in Kentucky on April 9th, 1919, is
described as " a meteoric breccia, composed of fragments of
two quite dissimilar stones," and it is stated to be so different
in character from most meteorites, that unless it had been seen
to fall, its meteoric origin would not have been suspected.
A new star was discovered in the constellation Cygnus on
August 20th last and was afterwards observed on a photo-
graphic plate taken on August 16th, though it was absent from
one on August 9th. It very quickly reached its maximum
brightness of the 2nd magnitude on August 24th, and then
quickly declined, being below the 4th magnitude by the end
of the month, and the 8th by the end of September. There
was nothing unusual about its spectrum. It is now possible to
measure the distances apart of the two components of double
stars with great accuracy by a device called an interferometer,
in which the light passes through two movable slits on to the
reflector, which adds much to our knowledge of their relative
movements. It has also been found that many of the brightest
stars are in a very gaseous condition and consequently of large
dimensions. These have been called giant stars, and the
denser and smaller ones, dwarfs. The diameter of Betelgeux,
one of the brightest stars in Orion, has been calculated to be
260,000,000 miles or about 300 times that of the sun, but this
being the first calculation of this sort must probably be received
with some reserve, though the strides in astronomical instru-
ments, methods and knowledge have been immense of late
years. In contrast to this I may mention two early Chinese
equatorial telescopes constructed in 1279, which were taken
by the Germans in 1901, and have, with other early instruments,
now been restored to the Chinese. Pictures of these two
equatorials are given in Yule's book on Marco Polo, who was
in China when they were erected nearly 650 years ago.
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 13
METEOROLOGY.
It would appear from old records that the freezing of the
Thames was a much commoner event in the seventeenth
century than in modern times, as Evelyn records no less than
seven such freezings in his diary which extends from 1620 to
1706, and Pepys, 1660-1669, also records three which are not
mentioned by Evelyn. The Thames was also probably frozen
in 1657-8 which was a very cold winter, which makes eleven
in 84 years or rather more than one in 8 years, which is
certainly not the case now. This would suggest that our
winters are less severe on an average than 250 years ago and
the last very mild winter would perhaps have occasioned
surprise to the people of that time. The period from
December 21st January 10th was warmer than in any year
for the past 80 years, and the mean temperature about 10
above the normal. It is stated that the weather for October
and November, 1919, was the coldest for 80 years, whilst that
for December, 1919, to April, 1920, was the warmest for 80
years. Last October was exceptionally warm. So that the
weather lately has been curiously uncertain. Last summer
was a particularly cool one, about 2 cooler than the normal.
The Meteorological Report of the British Antarctic Expedition
of 1910 13 has lately been published. The violence of the
wind seems to have been very much less than that experienced
by the Mawson Expedition at a more westerly station. On
May 29th, 1920, a dreadful disaster took place at Louth, the
small stream which passes through the town suddenly swelling
into a huge flood, rising 15 feet in half-an-hour and carrying
away everything, including buildings, in its course. This was
caused by a very heavy thunderstorm which fell in that part
of Lincolnshire to the extent of about five inches in about two
hours and not apparently by any waterspout, though the
resemblance to some such phenomenon was noted by at least
one observer. The height of a brilliant aurora seen in Norway,
on March 22nd, 1920, was measured and found to be about
300 miles. The distances at which gunfire was heard caused
14 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
much interest during the war, but the transmission of the
sound was generally looked upon as taking place through the
air. It has however been found that these sounds are trans-
mitted very clearly through the earth and often audible in
gravel pits or other excavations, or by putting the ear to the
ground, when they cannot otherwise be heard.
ELECTRICITY.
At the annual visitation of Greenwich observatory at which
many astronomers and others were present, on June 5th last,
it was stated that the mean magnetic declination for 1919 was
14 18-2' and that it is decreasing about 9.6' annually so that
it should reach zero about the end of the century. One of the
most remarkable inventions in connection with wireless tele-
graphy is that of a machine which automatically prints off the
message received in ordinary type. A perforated strip in the
Morse code is first produced which is used as a guide for the
printing of the letters in ordinary type. By means of a
telephone receiver with a trumpet attachment, wireless mess-
ages can be heard by a large audience, and developments in
wireless telephony continue. Arrangements have been made
for the diffusion of astronomical information from Nauen in
Denmark, so that cases in which immediate observation is
desired in different countries, may not be delayed. Longitude
can be also very accurately determined in this way, as at
Adelaide, Australia, where signals from Lyons can be received,
and where the accepted longitude has been slightly corrected
by these means. A valuable recent invention for navigating
purposes is a submarine cable laid in the track along which a
ship has to pass in entering a harbour. An alternating
current is sent through the cable, and wire coils are placed on
each side of the ship and connected with two telephones on
the bridge. When the sounds in each telephone are of equal
intensity the ship is over the cable, and if they become unequal
the course can be adjusted until equality is restored. A cable
of this sort has been laid at Portsmouth, with satisfactory
results. Experiments have been carried out to a depth of 30
fathoms, but it will probably be effective at greater depths.
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 1 5
CHEMISTRY.
A good deal of experimental work has lately been done in
connection with the structure of the atom and similar subjects,
but the exceedingly small size of the objects dealt with makes
the experiments very delicate and the results perhaps rather
theoretical. The sort of size of the constituent parts of the
atom, which is supposed to be made up of hydrogen atoms
and electrons, is a fraction of an inch represented by unity as
the numerator and a number of about 17 figures as the
denominator, a smallness immensely beyond the power of the
strongest microscope. The basis of these experiments is the
observation of the particles thrown off by radium and their
movements in connection with other particles. The a particles
which proceed from radium are the nuclei of atoms of helium,
the ft particles being electrons. It is now reported that the
Chilian supply of nitrate of soda upon which we have hitherto
relied for the nitrates we required, is not nearly exhausted as
stated, but sufficient for 200 years, which fact if confirmed may
prevent the development of methods of nitrate production
which are carried out in some countries where much more
water power is available for the purpose than in Great Britain.
This would be a disadvantage, as it is most desirable that we
should be self-supporting in all important things, as far as
possible. The passing of the Dye stuffs bill will it is hoped
give an impetus to the manufacture of dyes in this country.
An agent greatly used during the war for sterilising water, was
chloride of lime. I have used this for many years for destroying
the small crustaceans and insect larvae which are often so
abundant in rain water. The former are killed by a small
dose, the latter require a considerably stronger one.
ENGINEERING.
One of the most wonderful inventions that has lately come
into notice is the optophone, an instrument by means of which
the blind are enabled to read ordinary print. In this, by the
use of selenium cells, different sounds are produced by different
16
letters, the eye of the instrument being directed to one letter
at a time, and the blind can be trained to recognise these
sounds and form them into words, which were read by a blind
operator at a rate of about 25 a minute. At the National
Physical Laboratory tests are now made of the resistance to
shock and fatigue of materials, as well the tests for tension
and strain, as the strongest materials are not always those that
will last best when the strain is long continued. Measurements
are also made to a millionth of an inch. The British Scientific
Instrument Research Association, formed in 1918, has carried
out many important investigations and produced various things
and methods which were much wanted, such as improvements
in glass polishing, solders for aluminium and cements.
Another useful invention is for de-sensitizing photographic
plates, so that the extremely sensitive ones can be developed
with more light. A very rapid X-ray plate has also been
produced and a kinematograph projector with a rotating ring
of mirrors, which is said to prevent the flickering caused by
the shutter. It is found that a good deal can be learnt about
the bottom of the sea from photographs taken from aeroplanes,
which shew to a certain extent its features. In view of the
great increase in the cost of coal, power derived from other
sources is much under consideration, especially perhaps tidal
power, and an elaborate scheme for utilizing the high tides of
the Severn has been proposed. The variable heights of tides
are one difficulty, but the power is there, and it is chiefly a
question of the primary expense in developing it. The inland
water power of this country is also considerable, though very
inferior to that of Norway and elsewhere. The pressure wave
in water resulting from an explosion is found to travel at
practically the same rate as the sound wave in water, 4,900 feet
per second. Oil is being more used in ships instead of coal
and the extraction of oil from coal at the pit's mouth has been
proposed. By the use of fuel oil on a large ship, the Aquitania,
the stokehold staff was reduced from 350 to 84 men, and there
are also great economies in loading, three men being required
for six hours instead of 50 for 108, as well as in weights and
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 17
storage. Another possible source of power is alcohol, but a
satisfactory way of producing it in this country has yet to be
found. A Smoke abatement Committee has been appointed
by the Ministry of Health with a view to reducing the smoke
nuisance in our large manufacturing towns. A method of
building cottages formerly in use, called pise-de-terre, was by
ramming nearly dry earth between shutters to form a wall.
I have seen garden walls in Dorset which appear to be made
by this method and when thatched to last well, and with the
price of cottages at its present height, this cheaper method
might be adopted with advantage. One of the largest buildings
yet made of steel electrically welded has been erected and
measures 27 by 50 feet. In America ships have now for some
little time been fabricated from separate parts, manufactured
by different firms. These have shewn themselves very sea-
worthy, and any damages are repaired by the introduction of
a new standard part in a fraction of the time which would
otherwise be required. The raising and repairing of an Italian
battleship sunk in six fathoms of water by an explosion, w r hich
made an enormous rent, has been successfully carried out, the
ship being floated by compressed air, upside down, towed to a
dry dock, repaired, and afterwards righted at sea. The rent
covered more than 500 square feet. The increase of the
population in Egypt and the increased cultivation have made
increased irrigation necessary, for which a scheme is proposed
involving two immense dams on the Nile, one being near
Khartoum and having a length of more than four miles. Some
experiments with balloons have shewn that the most visible
colour for pilot ballons is red if white clouds are present, but
white if the sky is blue. The mean rate of ascent was 530
feet per minute, but the rate varied a good deal under different
conditions. Experiments have also been made with aviators
by placing them in a large tank of cold rarified air, correspond-
ing to different heights, and observing its effect. Different men
can stand different amounts of cold and rarefaction, but about
19,000 feet appears to be the limit and oxygen becomes
necessary at about 12,000 feet. However, the record height
18 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
attained by an aeroplane is now given as 10,979 metres, which
is not far from double the experimental result. In this con-
nection it may be interesting to mention that the greatest
depth reached by boring is in Silesia and amounts to 7,350 feet.
GEOGRAPHY.
One important result of the war has been a great deal of
alteration in the political geography of Europe, into the details
of which I clo not propose to enter, as it hardly comes within
the limits of either Natural History or Archaeology. Though
the world may be considered now to be well known compared
with what it was 50 years ago, such remote and difficult spots
as the N. and S. Poles even having been reached, there seems
at present to be no lack of enthusiasm for expeditions of
exploration. Amundsen is proposing a five years drift in the
ice in the Arctic circle, having been for some time cruising
there for that purpose. An expedition has been organized at
Oxford to visit Spitzbergen this summer to investigate its
ornithology, botany and palaeontology, and to ascend some of
the unsealed peaks. A Danish Arctic expedition is also in
progress. It was found by the Canadian Arctic expedition
(1913-18) that the tides in that region were generally less than
1ft. and rarely lift. At the head of the Amundsen gulf the
tide occasionally rose 2ft. A British expedition has gone to
survey certain unexplored regions in the Antarctic circle, and
on its return, it is intended to develop a still more elaborate
one in which a large aeroplane will take part. Preparations
are being made for an attempt to ascend Mount Everest, but
I cannot imagine that this will be more than very partially
accomplished. With help from the Chinese, the American
Museum of Natural History is sending out an expedition to
work out the fauna and flora, including I believe palaeontology,
of the interior of China, Central Asia, Manchuria and Kamchatka,
about which very little appears to be known. The results of
a similar expedition from the same museum, which spent
more than six years in the Congo and returned in 1915 with
120,000 Zoological specimens, besides those in other branches,
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 19
are to be published shortly. An Orinoco expedition has lately
returned with valuable geographical and meteorological infor-
mation amongst other results. The organization of an ocean
expedition like that of the Challenger, has been much urged,
but I fear that the present is considered an unsuitable time
and that lack of funds will prevent it from being carried out.
A new edition of the lin. and Jin. to the mile Ordnance
Survey Maps is being issued and a good deal of colour is used,
which will bring into prominence the contours and different
features such as rivers, woods, &c. The roads are divided
into no less than ten categories, the main roads being coloured
red. It is an unfortunate fact that deserts in several parts of
the continents of America, Asia, Europe and Africa, are
spreading. It is believed that they have been caused, in at
least some cases, by alterations in the courses of rivers, and
that it would be possible at all events in S. Africa to divert
these rivers into their old courses and improve an area of
more than 1,000,000 square miles. When the need of more
food for the earth's growing population becomes more pressing
this matter will perhaps be seriously taken in hand.
ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY.
By the liberality of the Prince of Monaco, who has already
done much for several other branches of science, an Institute
of Human Palaeontology has been opened in Paris for the
study of all problems relating to the origin and development
of man. In the New York Museum, five large halls are devoted
to the different geological types, from Invertebrates, through
Fishes, Reptiles and the lower Mammals, to the Hall of the
Age of Man, where Palaeolithic man is represented in four
large Mural paintings, with mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses
and other animals amongst which he lived. These are founded
chiefly on cave paintings in France and Spain, and human and
other remains of that early period. Besides these, hypothetical
reproductions of the various types of early man and his
nearest allies, such as Pithecanthropus, have been made,
and even one of Neanderthal man is attempted, though this
20 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
especially must be to a great extent theoretical. The Mackie
Ethnological expedition to Central Africa has just finished its
labours and brought back much information about the cere-
monial and religious observances of the different tribes, most
of whom have as yet been little influenced by civilization.
The work of the Indian linguistic survey is also progressing,
179 languages and 544 dialects having been so far dealt with,
an immense number for only one country. Investigations
amongst the cliff dwellings of the Pueblos in Colorado tend to
shew that they are not derived from either the Mexicans or
the Aztecs, and, as no trace of European objects has been
found, they w r ere doubtless anterior at least to Columbus. A
series of rock inscriptions relating to the early history of this
race, and mentioned by the first Spanish explorers, have been
transcribed. Tracings of prehistoric rock engravings from the
shores of Lake Onega, N. Russia, have been made, this being
the only place in Western Russia where they occur. A book
on the ancient Maya civilization in Honduras and Guatemala,
has been published, dealing with the inscriptions and fine ruins.
These people who were before the Aztecs, had an elaborate
hieroglyphic script and their inscriptions chiefly relate to
matters connected with the calendar; the others, which are
probably religious, seem to be harder to decipher. Numerous
excavations have been made in different places. Those at
Motya, Sicily, shew an ancient Phoenician colony, which came
to an end in 397 B.C. Here have been found a number of
urns containing cremated remains of animals, mostly ruminants.
No human remains were found in this animal cemetery. In
Crete, in a Minoan palace have been found a series of colossal
bronze double axes, some being several feet in length. From
a cave in the Mendips have been unearthed objects of worked
bone and stone, bronze hubs and bands of chariot wheels,
bronze bracelets and rings, an iron key, iron slave shackles,
and pottery, which had affinities w r ith that found in Brittany.
It is supposed that the occupants belonged to the race who
built the Lake village at Glastonbury and inhabited Wookey
Hole and other neighbouring places, Further work at
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 21
Stonehenge has shewn the existence of an earlier megalithic
monument on the same site, and suggests a later date for the
present circle than had been attributed to it. An enlargement
of a mortise in the underside of one of the lintel stones which
is believed to have been made after the stone was elevated,
owing to a mistake in measurement, to cause it to fit the tenon
on the upright stones, suggests, if this theory is correct, that
there must have been something in the nature of a primitive
crane with ropes to raise the lintel. But the evidence seems
rather uncertain. In Kent's Hole, Torquay, a Palaeolithic bone
implement has been found which appears to be for use as a
needle for sewing skins, and to be so far unique as regards
that period, but possibly others may exist elsewhere in
collections. A curious mould in red sandstone, both pieces of
which are preserved, has been found at the Worm's Head near
Swansea. The objects which could be moulded are four
rings of different patterns. A gold disc with extremely fine
work and other gold objects have been discovered in a bog in
Co. Cavan, and are now in the National Irish Collection. At
Graig-lwid, Penmaenmaur, a Neolithic stone axe factory has
been discovered which appears to have done a large trade.
Very fine series of specimens illustrating the manufacture have
been obtained. A large factory of eoliths made by natural
agency, by means of subsoil pressure, has been found to exist
beneath the Thanet sand in the Bullhead bed at Grays and it
is said that the process can be traced out by careful examin-
ation of the eolith in situ. Sometimes even more formed
implements occur, and if found away from their bed would it
is said be apt to deceive experts. The valuable Egyptian
collection at Manchester University has lately benefited by a
bequest of 30,000. Very large sums are often given in
America for scientific purposes but comparatively rarely in this
country. It would seem that Aerial photographs are likely to
be of much use to the Archaeologist, as in some cases at all
events they give a meaning and a plan to what looks on the
earth a meaningless medley of mounds and hollows. This is
strikingly exemplified in a photograph of the ancient site of
22
Samarra in Syria which produces a definite plan of the town
out of apparently formless heaps.
GENERAL.
There are two subjects which are by tacit consent supposed
to be excluded from the deliberations of our Club and of
similar institutions, namely Politics and Religion. And I
would not have touched on the latter to-day, except that it
seemed desirable to express the feeling of disapprobation, in
in which I believe I shall find around me many sympathizers,
at the official sermon preached to the British Association at
Cardiff last August by Canon Barnes, F.R.S. This dealt chiefly
with evolution, which, although he admitted it to be no more
than a theory, (though he elsewhere derived all life from "some
fundamental stuff in the universe " from which electrons, the
next stage, arose,) he dealt with as quite superseding any parts
of the Bible which seemed to be opposed to it.
Some of his words are "Evolution was, and still is, not an
observed fact, but a very probable theory." "in our own
times the leaders of Christian thought have, with substantial
unanimity, accepted the conclusion that biological evolution is
a fact; man is descended from the lower animals." -"The time
has come when we must not try to evade any implications of
the theory of natural evolution. We must, not silently, but
explicitly, abandon religious dogmas which it overthrows."
There is much of the Bible that we cannot fully understand,
but that seems to me no reason for supplanting these parts by
a theory which though apparently supported by many observed
facts, is absolutely unknown to us as regards its methods of
working. It is the fashion to-day for everyone to pick out
parts of the Bible which for some reason they object to, and
either deny or ignore them. I will not enter further into this
matter, but, as it caused much discussion at the time, I thought
it well to allude to it as a protest against its repetition here or
elsewhere. I do not mean by this to say that I do not believe
in the existence of any evolution in nature, for I think that it,
PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 23
or, as I prefer to say, Natural Selection, has probably played
and is playing a part in the development of the animal and
vegetable life on our globe, but our ignorance on the subject
is great. Even if the theory of evolution is carried back to its
extreme limits, it must have had something to work upon, and
that something must either have existed eternally or been
created. But where creation ended and evolution began, it is,
and probably always will be, impossible for any man to tell.
The subject of Psychology has increased of late years to such
an extent at the British Association that a new section has
been constituted to deal with it. In spite of the admission of
women, in so many cases, to positions until recently open only
to the male sex, Cambridge has had the hardihood to deny
them an equal share of the rights of the University which it
was proposed to allot to them ! An interesting Scientific
Exhibition was held at Olympia recently under the auspices of
the Daily Mail, at which many new and other processes and
instruments were shewn, especially perhaps in matters con-
nected with electricity. A report recently issued on American
Museums shews some differences from our methods, especially
perhaps in the fact that the Americans carry out more in the
way of explorations than ourselves, the National Museum
having for instance at present an exploring party in Africa.
But this is rendered possible by the large bequests and other
gifts which they receive, which are comparatively small and
rare in this country. In Australia it has been decided to set
apart reservations for the preservations of the aborigines, who
are steadily decreasing. At the same time doleful prophecies
are being made about the future overstocked condition of the
earth by more civilized white nations who are said to be
increasing at a rate of something like 1 per cent, per annum.
There does not seem even at present to be a great super-
abundance of food available and if the population were doubled
in, say, 100 years, it is doubtful how they would manage to
exist. It is however our remote decendants who will have to
solve this momentous question, and who knows what discoveries
may be made in the next century ! In conclusion I would
24 PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.
offer our congratulations to our two Vice- Presidents, the Rev.
Canon Mayo, one of our four surviving original members who
helped to found the Club in 1875, who has just taken the very
important degree of D. Litt. at Oxford, and to Mr. William
De Courcy Prideaux, who has received from the French
Government the Order of Chevalier de 1'Etoile noire for his
valuable inventions in machine gun belting during the war.
motes on a
few of tbe 3n0ecta anb plants at portlanb,
By NELSON MOORE RICHARDSON, Esq., B.A.
(Read at Portland, July 6th, 1920.)
would of course be impossible on this occasion
to give more than a few fragmentary notes on the
the insects and plants found in this most interest-
ing and, in many respects, unique locality; and
for full lists, so far as the plants are concerned, I must refer
those who wish for further information to a paper by
the late Mr. W. Bowles Barrett in Vol. XXXIII of our
Proceedings, and for the butterflies and moths to "A
List of Portland Lepidoptera" in Vol. XVII by myself,
and several other papers which I have written on this
subject in other volumes. My own knowledge of plants being
principally of those which form the food of various caterpillars,
I shall deal chiefly with them in this connection; but I will
first mention a few of the rarer species. Limonium recurvum,
C. E. Salmon, the Recurved Sea Lavender, has not been
26 INSECTS AND PLANTS AT PORTLAND.
identified with certainty from any other part of the world, but
as the botanists have taken 60 years to decide that it is a
distinct species, and as it occurs here with a variable allied
species, L. binervosum, I feel that the next generation of
botanists may reverse this decision ! The other specially rare
plants given by Mr. Barrett are Polycarpon tetraphylhun,
Sedum rupestre, var. minus, Valerianella eriocarpa, V. dentata,
var. mixia, Hieracium platyphyllwn, and Muscari racemosum.
One or both of these species of Limonium forms the food plant
of a plume moth Agdistes bcnnctii which used to be common at
a spot at the end of this undercliff, but lower down by the sea
and reached by a very steep and somewhat perilous descent.
This is now, alas, destroyed, like the great Neolithic burial
ground, many dene-holes and other things of great interest, by
quarrying. But \vhen Mrs. Richardson and I used to spend about
two nights a week here, during the summer and autumn, collecting
moths, from 1886 to about 1900, this end of the undercliff was
comparatively untouched, and a splendid place for many rare
species. Here we first took Epischnia bankesidla, Richardson,
a species new to science in 1887; and at the bottom of this
perilous descent, six years afterwards, she discovered the larva
on that beautiful plant Inula crithnioides, Golden samphire,
common along the cliffs by the sea. In 1894 she also found two
larvae on this plant which produced the very rare Plusia ni.
They closely resembled the larvae of the very common Silver Y
moth (Plusia gamma), and I urged her not to keep them, but she
insisted, with this grand result ! At the same place occurred
Acidalia rusticata, a local species, and a relative of the well-
known Portland wave (Acidalia degenerarid), which is not
uncommon under the prison, and can be beaten out of bushes
in the day time, when it generally flies a little way and then
flops down on the ground with its wings spread. It occurs
nowhere else in England. . Tinea subtilella, a very small dark
cream-coloured moth, is also confined to Portland as far as
this country is concerned, and was discovered by Mrs. Richard-
son near here. We hunted in vain for the unknown larva,
much worse than a needle in a bundle of hay, as there was no
INSECTS AND PLANTS AT PORTLAND. 27
clue to the food, and I eventually found some small unknown
Lepidopterous cases under stones, constructed of silk and the
microscopic lichen on which the larva feeds they are by no
means common and we naturally assumed that they were
this species. However, after three years we bred some moths,
black with silver markings, which turned out to be new to
science, and which Lord Walsingham did me the honour to
name after me, Tinea richardsoni. Both this and E. bankesiella
were afterwards found on the Swanage coast by Mr. Eustace
Bankes, after whom I had named the latter species ; and I have
also found this at Lulworth. A variety of the common
Scoparia mercurella, named var. Portlandica, was formerly
regarded, like many other forms now proved to be varieties
only, as a species, S. phceoleuca. It is a little grey moth which
sits on the rocks and is rather hard to see until it flies off. It
differs from the common mainland form in having a broad
white band; but intermediate forms occur here commonly.
A great rarity, Diasemia ramburialis, the only Portland speci-
men, was taken here on July llth, 1889, under the Verne by
the late Rev. C. R. Digby. He and I and Mr. Bankes had
just reached our collecting ground when he stooped down and
picked a four-leaved clover and said " Hullo, here's luck for
me!" Within half-an-hour he took this rarity! Evidently
the first thing for us to do to-day is to find a four-leaved
clover! The wormwood (Artemisia absinthium}, which grows
so abundantly in the disused quarries on top of Portland, affords
food for three moths, as well as for hosts of snails. The larva
of Cucullia absinthii, the wormwood shark, feeds on the
flowers and is difficult to see, owing to its close resemblance
to them. It is a great cannibal when kept in confinement.
Another feeds in the stems (Ephestia dnerosella), and a third
very beautiful little moth (Catoptria pupillana) in and close to
the roots. A few flowers, such as crowsfoot trefoil, the kidney
vetch (Anthyllis vulnerarid), thyme, milkwort, squinancy-wort,
and others occur in great masses and form beautiful floral
carpets; others larger and more imposing, as Echium vulgar c
(Viper's bugloss) are splendid in some seasons when they
28 INSECTS AND PLANTS AT PORTLAND.
appear in quantities in certain spots; and on a good night when
the Echium and wild sage, which we found quite the most
attractive plants, were covered with moths sucking honey,
including many rare ones, especially some of the genus Agrotis,
the sight was one that an entomologist would not easily forget.
No less than 17 of this genus are included in my list, the
scarce A. pyrophila (simulans) being not uncommon in some
seasons on these two flowers. They also came more or less to
sugar, which we sometimes put on flower-heads, with the
exception of Agrotis lucernea, which disdained such coarse fare.
It and A. lunigera were fairly common. In the bramble
bushes on the West Cliff is found a rather scarce smallish
spotted grey moth, of an exceedingly wild and active nature,
Eupithecia constrictata, the wild thyme pug, which feeds on
thyme. You stand on a shaky stone with net erect, and lightly
beat the bramble bush with a stick. It rushes out, flying in all
directions alternately, and you aim at it and generally catch a
bramble and get a great hole in your net, if you do not over-
balance and fall headlong into the brambles, as I once saw a
friend do, much, I regret to say, to the delight of his youthful
son! Indeed the person who named it the " wild thyme " pug
was not mistaken, as it certainly does give one the "wildest
time " of any Portland moth in my experience. Perhaps the
most exciting form of collecting here is with a big lamp
(acetylene was not in common use, so I had a paraffin lamp
enclosed like a street lamp) in the autumn. On a good night,
numbers of moths, nearly all Noctuce and males, keep on flying
to it and flutter lip and down the glass, including Heliophobus
hispidus, one of the well-known Portland moths, which used to
be considered rare when people searched carefully for it by
day amongst the grass and stones, Epunda lichenea, a light
form, a beautiful form of Aporophyla australis and other species.
At ivy bloom also we used to get some, but light was by far
the most productive. The females of H. hispidus, &c., could
be found crawling up grass stems, but hardly ever came to
INSECTS AND PLANTS AT PORTLAND. 29
light. Thirteen other plume moths with their beautifully
divided wings like feathers occur here, but no very rare ones.
There is a little moth with a purplish black gloss (Psychoides
verhiiellella), of which the larva feeds in the leaves, but
generally in the sori of the hart's tongue fern. Speaking of
ferns, the true maidenhair fern used to be found as lately as
1877, in crevices of the cliffs, but is now believed to be extinct
owing to quarrying. It may however linger somewhere.
I have found Asplenium marinum in recesses of rocks close to
the sea. Madder (Rubia peregrina) grows abundantly on the
west undercliff and to a less extent on the east side, and
produces Botys asinalis. The bee orchis is sometimes common
in the west quarries, and borage, hounds-tongue, mullein,
vervain, marjoram, golden rod, samphire, carline and other
thistles, wild carrot, Portland and other spurges, are all
common on the East Weare or undercliff, and mostly
interesting entomologically. Sambucus ebulus (Danes blood)
grows in masses a little further on, and there is a quantity of
fennel, probably an escape from cultivation close by. If time
permits, which is not generally the case, the miniature under-
cliff on which it grows, and which starts a few hundred yards
beyond the end of this one, is worth seeing. It begins just
beyond the engine-house, if that institution has survived the
universal quarrying. I will end by mentioning a very minute
but beautiful and rare moth (Neplicula centifolielld) the larva
of which mines into the leaves of the sweet briar (Rosa
micrantha), bushes of which grow abundantly on the under-
cliff North of Pennsylvania. When the larva is full fed, it
comes out of the leaf and spins its cocoon in the axil of the leaf,
w r hich is therefore easily found. The common species of this
genus, which feeds on garden and wild roses almost every-
where, I have never found on these bushes, nor has N.
centifoliella occurred elsewhere in Dorset. If anyone desires
further information about the plants or moths, I have a copy
of Mr, Barrett's and my own lists which he can study. To
30 INSECTS AND PLANTS AT PORTLAND.
make you cautious I may mention that Portland has always
had a bad reputation amongst entomologists (not altogether
unfounded) for the dangerous nature of its collecting ground,
as well as its fogs, and this, with a story of an entomologist
who fell down and "bruised his liver," did much to deter
collectors, especially from night work, so that little had been
done except in the day-time. We, however, never met with
an accident, though some of the places we went to certainly
rather invited such a result !
By The Rev. H. SHAEN SOLLY, M.A.
(Read 12th August, 1920.)
GGARDUN Hill* is a spur at the western extremity
of the chalk plateau which stretches across the
South of England. Only a few outliers, such as
Beer Head, represent a further western extension
of the chalk. At the base of this formation is the chloritic
marl, highly fossiliferous, and then comes the greensand
forming the summits of the ring of hills that can be
seen surrounding the heights and valleys of Jurassic beds.
Eggardun, from which the scene may be surveyed, is itself
800 feet above sea level, and the steepness of the escarpment
admirably adapted it for the site of a promontory fort. Two
such forts have evidently been made here. The first is
represented by an entrenchment which crosses the spur from
side to side and formed a comparatively small camp at the
western end of the spur. Here much wastage of the chalk
Proceedings,'^ o\. XX, pp. 174-178.
32 EGGARDUN HILL.
has taken place, and there were probably lateral ramparts
which have disappeared down the slope. The larger camp,
enclosing 20 acres, lies wholly to the east of the earlier fortifi-
cation. Its greatest strength is concentrated at its eastern
end, where it is approached from level ground, and where the
defences of the main entrance w r ere most elaborate. It should
be remembered that the object of defenders was not to
conceal themselves in trenches, but to obtain a vantage ground
from which to hurl missiles, and if possible to attack the right
side of assailants unprotected by the shield. If we ask who
made these camps, there are only two possible claimants for
the achievement. They w r ere certainly occupied by the men
of the Bronze Age, Celts belonging to the Aryan Family, who
possibly enlarged and strengthened their defences. But it
seems equally clear that they were originally made by the men
of the New Stone Age, that wonderful race, to whom the
w r orldowes its megalithic monuments and its " magic/' which
may be traced as far afield as America, the islands of the
Pacific Ocean, and Australia. They are sometimes called the
Mediterranean race, and they certainly made that sea a
Neolithic lake much as the Romans afterwards made it a
Roman lake. Their modern descendants are to be found
among the Basques and the Finns, and the most convenient
name by which to call them is the term Iberian. Some
evidence for saying that the earliest makers of these forts
were Iberians was furnished by Professor Boyd Dawkins when
he addressed the Club at Hod Hill, on September 20th, 1898.*
He connected the Hod Hill camp with the long line of
similar camps which extends from the Mendips to the
Sussex Downs, and with the lake dwellings at Glastonbury,
all of which were inhabited down to the Iron Age, and
refers to the pit dwellings that are still to be traced
within the ramparts. Then, speaking I suppose of Hod Hill,
he says: " In one of the huts we have been so fortunate as to
find a perfect skeleton. It belongs to the slightly long-headed
* Ibid, Vol. XIX, pp. Ixxx, &c.
EGGARDUX HILL. 33
oval type' of skull, absolutely identical with those skulls which
General Pitt- Rivers has found at Woodcuts and elsewhere,
belonging to the aboriginal population, the small dark Iberian
stock which were in this country in the remote age of polished
stone. Thus we can at once realise that the people who lived
here before the Roman times were a small dark race, by no
means barbarians, but farmers, iron smelters, spinners and
weavers." It is rather disconcerting to mid our Professor
ignoring the whole of the Bronze Age and cpnquest of Neolithic
Man by Celtic invaders. But there is one fact for which
ample evidence can be found to-day, and that is, the persistence
of this Iberian stock in the county of Dorset. It was not
extirpated by the Bronze Age Celts.
What General Pitt- Rivers has to say in the matter will be
found in his Excavations in Cranbonic Chase, Vol. II, pp. 62 sq.
He refers to the investigations of Dr. Thurnam which showed
that the long barrows contained, besides relics of the New
Stone Age, the bones of a particular race. Their height
averaged 5ft. 5-4in. Their skulls were long, the proportion
of the breadth to the length being as 71 to 100 much longer
than that of any race now inhabiting Europe.
In the round barrows the average height of skeletons was
5ft. 8.4in., and the proportion of breadth to length of skull
being 81 to 100 a rounder head than that of any race now
inhabiting Europe. These are the Celts whom Caesar speaks
of as the Belgae. The first invaders of this race were the
Goidels. Afterwards came the Brythons. The Durotrigae, who
may have given their name to our county, belonged to the
long-headed Iberian race. Their skeletons were found in the
British villages excavated on the Rushmore estate, often buried
in refuse pits where the ground was easier to dig than in
the undisturbed chalk. The bones showed that their owners
had been afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis, or " poor man's
gout." The race was clearly not exterminated by the Celts,
but perhaps it was reduced to slavery and badly fed. The
average height of these village skeletons is three inches less
34 EGGARDUN HILL.
than that of those buried in the long barrows. They continued
to use the long barrows for further interments up to and
after the Roman occupation. In the skulls found in the
village interments the average proportion of breadth to length
rises to 74; and there are a few quite exceptional skulls, one
or two having the proportion of 82, and one or two that of
only 68. These are results which might be expected from an
admixture of the two races, the long-headed and the round-
headed.
Returning now to Eggardun Hill, we find that among its
interesting features are a number of pit-dwellings indicated by
circular depressions. Of these there are at least 123 within the
area of the main camp. There are none in the neighbourhood
outside, which shows that they were constructed later than the
ramparts. Five of them were carefully examined by Dr.
Colley March and myself in 1900, and the results of the
explorations are fully described in Vol. XXII of our Proceedings.
The most interesting feature disclosed by our excavations is
shown in a diagram there given. The top of the chalk down
is here covered with a patch of clay in \vhich a pit-dwelling
would quickly become a pond. So, beneath the floor of the
hut there was a drainage system consisting of a hollow filled
in with coarse flints through which the rain would drain away,
exactly as it is expected to do in all the houses now built in
Parkstone, where it is not allowed to be taken into the sewers.
Professor Boyd Dawkins has some words about these dwellings.
He says : " Each of these depressions had a wall of wattle
and daub, and, fortunately, some of them got burnt, so that
you can see little fragments of burnt stick which have the
marks of the vertical uprights of the hurdles on which the
clay was plastered. They were round and absolutely identical
in general construction with the circular huts built upon piles
and platforms in the Glastonbury marshes." In some places
there is evidence that these dwellings were used after the
Roman conquest, but on Eggardun we found no trace of post-
Roman occupation. Nor was any trace of metal found. The
finds, indeed, were meagre. This negative evidence, however,
EGGARDUN HILL. 35
indicates an historical fact which has hardly received the
attention it deserves. These hill-top forts were camps of
refuge, needed to save from extermination tribes that were
waging ruthless war against one another. They were not
needed after the establishment of the " Roman peace." See
how this is confirmed by the Roman roads. From Bokerly
Dyke the Ackling Dyke (a continuation of the Icknield Via)
points straight to Badbury Rings. It may well have been
made in connection with the reduction of that British fortress.
But having served this end, it does not enter Badbury Rings.
This is not worth doing. A little north of the place the road
divides, one branch passing east of the camp and going to the
sea at Hamworthy, the other part turning west and entering
Dorchester, which was worth entering, and leaving it to strike
further west over the downs and bring up the legions and
their supplies to attack the camp on Eggardun Hill. But
when this camp was taken, the Romans had no use for it,
and the road leaves it on one side and goes on its way to
Bridport and Exeter. The Roman occupation of Britain was
indeed a blessing to those who dwelt in the land. The slight
hexagonal embankment in the centre of the camp is a modern
enclosure made with the idea of sheltering young trees.
One final word about the " magic " stone which Dr. Colley
March found in one of the pit-dwellings which we explored,
and on which he wrote an appendix to our report. In recent
years fresh discoveries have added to our knowledge of magic
stones found in this and other countries. The key to their
meaning seems to be furnished by the totemism of a tribe in
Central Australia. The " cup-and-ring " markings, of which
we have an example at Came near Dorchester, the circular
and spiral scrolls and other devices, inscribed on stones worn
as amulets, were the heraldic devices of those days, identifying
the tribe, if not the individual, and determining the totem of
a new-born baby. The subject has no very close connection
with Eggardun Hill, but it indicates a line of investigation
which is being actively pursued, and which may any day yield
interesting and important results.
Ibelstone*
By VERE L. OLIVER, F.S.A,
(Read 1 6th September, 1920).
HE Helstone is situated on Ridgehill, one of the
spurs running up North to Blackdown from
Portisham. It stands on a slight mound, which is
more noticeable on the North side, but to the
South there are only hollows, whence soil has evidently been
removed. A held wall (older than 1803) runs across the
mound North and South.
Hutchins, in his History of Dorset (1st edition), wrote, in
1774, that nearly all the upper stones were thrown down, the
table-stone leaning on only one at the North, and that
shepherds had dug a hole beneath it for a shelter. He gave
a ridiculous plate of its supposed restoration, which looks like
a round table on thick legs. In the 2nd edition, of 1803, an
artistic illustration appeared showing the table-stone tilted and
the existing held wall in the back-ground. What we now see
may well be the remains of a long barrow which was placed
N.W. and S.E. Hutchins stated that there was a terrace to
to the N.W. leading to it 60ft. long, 30ft. broad at one end
and 10ft. at the other; but the plough has obliterated all traces
of this,
THE HELSTOm 37
The Helstone is a Neolithic dolmen consisting of nine
menhirs about 6ft. high out of the ground, surmounted by a
cap or table-stone lO^ft. long, 6ft. wide and 2\ii. thick all
rough natural sarsens devoid of tool marks. Hutchins stated
that the under part of the table-stone seemed roughly chiseled;
but I cannot see any tool marks, not even of stone hammers.
The gentlemen who restored or rather rebuilt the dolmen
have not I think rerixed the uprights as they should have been;
for it was customary when one of the surfaces of a stone was
fairly flat to place that side inwards, but some of these have
been re-fixed edgeways like a slice of cake.
As this dolmen has been already described in three articles
in our Proceedings I shall briefly recapitulate the various points
raised.
The 1st article by the then editor, the late Professor
Buckman, appeared in 1878." It was accompanied by a
rough illustration together with that of a similar one in the
Morbihan for comparison. He stated that the stones were
derived from the local sandstone of the tertiary formation, and
pointed the resemblance to dolmens in the Channel Islands.
A very excellent illustrated article in Archceologia, Vol. LV, on
dolmens in Japan, proves that they also resemble ours.
At Long Bridy there is a very large menhir 10ft. high, called
Hell-stone; there is another near Cerne; and a town in
Cornwall (Helston) bears the same name. It has been
thought that such stones were dedicated to "Hell" the
goddess of the dead. Others derive the name from A.S. Hele,
to cover, or from Halig, holy.
The 2nd article by the late Mr. E. Cunnington appeared in
1893,t and he was of the opinion that this had been a long
barrow. The dolmen was rebuilt by the late Mr. Manfield
about 1866.
The 3rd description, printed in 1908, was by the late Dr.
Colley March, t and was illustrated.
* D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. II, 104.
t Ibid, Vols. XV. 52-54; XVI, 175-177.
J Ibid, Vol. XXIX. pp. Ixxv-lxxviii.
38 THE HELSTONE.
The word Dolmen is derived from two Celtic words daul
a table and maen a stone, but the French nomenclature is I
think preferable. They define menhir as an unfashioned
upright stone; lech as a dressed menhir; cromlech as a group of
menhirs in a circle; and dolmen as a chamber formed by
menhirs covered by table stones, often approached by a gallery
and usually covered by earth.
The Helstone, as we now see it, is therefore not in its'
original state ; but Dr. Colley March thought that its restoration
was satisfactory, as it is the only complete one in the county.
When such stones have become dislodged within recent times,
as in the case of Stonehenge, it has been considered per-
missible to re-instate them, otherwise it would be injudicious
to interfere with them.
Dolmens were usually covered over with earth, constituting
a chambered long barrow, such as this and the one at Gorwell
two miles away ; but occasionally they were intended to stand
free or uncovered as in France. In our example the stones do
not occupy a prominent site, and I believe they were originally
covered. In that case the interstices between the uprights
were filled in with rough walling, to keep back the soil. The
numbers 9 and 3, often used for grouping the menhirs, have a
mystic meaning. Long barrows may be simple or chambered,
sometimes with an external dolmen, and enclosed by a
peristalith of menhirs.
There are no circular chambered barrows in England, but
there are elsewhere.
Dr. Thurnam estimated that there were 60 long barrows in
Wilts*; and as there were 2,000 barrows of all sorts, he
calculated that they averaged one long barrow to 35 round
ones. He stated that Dorset contained only 12 long ones,
mostly to the North towards Wilts. They were also found in
Gloucestershire, Somerset and Hants (13 examples, Dr. W. F.),
but very rarely in the rest of England. They were invariably
isolated, quite two or three miles apart, from 100ft. to 400ft.
* ArchccQlogia, Vol. XLII.
THE HELSTONE. 39
long, by 30ft. to 50ft. wide, of moderate height, with a trench
along the sides, but not at the ends in fact pear-shaped
usually lying east and west, the chambered east end being
wider and higher; but one in six lie north and south. They
were always associated with giants by local tradition, and that
name often survives as a place name. A very interesting
account of a chambered long barrow opened in Somerset in
1909 may be seen in a little book " Records by Spade and
Terrier " by the Rev. J. Wickham. Canon Greenwell describes
13 which he opened in Yorkshire; but the most complete
excavation ever made was that of Worbarrow on Handley
Down by the late General Pitt- Rivers.
Chambered ones naturally occur more frequently in stone
districts, sarsens being often utilised for their construction;
but at Worbarrow, in North Dorset, there were traces of
wooden supports. The plan varies, the simple ones having a
passage leading to an inner chamber, sometimes divided into
several cells. No sculpture is found as in Scotland, Ireland
and Brittany, no metal, and as a rule no sign of cremation.
Leaf flint arrow-heads and scrapers, bone implements, and a
little coarse pottery, with bones of animals, such as deer, wild
boar and cattle, are occasionally found. The numerous
skeletons lie in a contracted position, but human bones are
often found piled up promiscuously, possibly from the chamber
having been used as an ossuary, or this may be due to rifling
by treasure hunters.
Skulls (dolichocephalic) are the important factor, for,
taking the length as 100, they average a breadth index of 69,
much longer and narrower than any present race in Europe.
The height of these men was not more than 5ft. 4ins., often
less than 5ft. The Iberian type still to be noticed in the
West of France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Wales, is
supposed to have descended from the builders of Avebury and
the long barrows.
The finest dolmens (3,000) are in France; but England is
noted for its great circles, such as Avebury and Stonehenge.
40 THE HELSTONE.
In the Morbihan in Brittany, there are huge chambered
tumuli, some with many carved stones. I had the pleasure of
visiting them and also Carnac in 1914, with a few Salisbury
friends, under the guidance of Mr. Doran Webb.
The long-headed race was undoubtedly the older, and must
have been conquered and absorbed by the round-headed
(brachycephalic) Bronze Age man, for long skulls may be also
found in round barrows, but never round ones in long barrows.
As to the origin of these barrow builders: Tumuli are to
be seen in North Africa, especially Algeria, and West Asia
beyond the Jordan. There is then a gap of 2,000 miles to
India, and further east they occur in Burmah and Japan. In
the steppes, North of Circassia, there are hundreds of
thousands near the home of the Aryans whence they may
have spread to the Baltic, but it is uncertain if Asia or Africa
was the cradle of the race or cult. There are no dolmens in
the Valley of the Nile, in Phoenicia, or its colonies. There is
no record of any great migration; so it may be that a certain
religion spread to many races across the world.
In Europe they are diffused over the Western side only,
where they mark the course of prehistoric commerce, which
skirted the shores of Africa as far as the Atlantic, and after
passing along the coasts of Spain, Portugal, and France, ended
at the British Isles. Another commercial route passed through
Italy, the Islands of Sardinia and Corsica, across France and
Brittany, to the English Channel.
The movement was probably from the Aegean to the North,
rather than from Scandinavia to the South. The tombs of
New Grange in Ireland resemble those of Crete and Mycenae
in Greece.
The last period of the Neolithic Age in Italy may be fixed at
about 4,000 B.C., but stone tools may have been used in the
North centuries after the introduction of copper or bronze in
the South. No fixed dates are possible, for there was much
overlapping, and authorities disagree; but by studying sections
of ancient sites, such as in Crete, approximate dates are
THE HELSTONE. 41
obtainable. Pottery is also an invaluable guide in estimating
the progress of Neolithic civilisation. Its decoration was first
made with the thumb and finger nails, and there was an
absence of curvilinear design.
Parallel lines, zigzags, striated triangles and dotted patterns
abound. Later the incised lines on black ware were filled
with a white substance; and colours and even slip work were
introduced. Drinking cups, incense holders, urns, with clay
figures of women, animals and birds, were made.
The Neolithic occupation of Knossos, in Crete, covered
more than 3,000 years, and supplies dates for the rest of
Europe, the whole period lasting perhaps 7,000 years.
The incised axes on certain stones in the Morbihan tumuli
represent votive ones, and were a cuitus object and symbol of
divinity. There are menhirs in France and Sardinia which
apply to the mother goddess of nature and are a link with the
East. It is noteworthy that paleolithic ivory female figures
have been discovered in France far superior to anything
neolithic. And the study of all these prehistoric remains leads
one to realise that our predecessors of the stone age were
possessed of considerable skill and artistic talent with which
they had not been usually credited.
We are fortunate to possess, in this neighbouthood, this
dolmen, also a chambered long barrow and a cromlech. The
downs about here are so crowded with barrows and megalithic
remains as to constitute a veritable Mecca of the Neolithic and
Bronze Ages. The Bronze Age barrow 45 yards S.E. was
opened by Mr. Cunnington in 1894 and contained an urn of
burnt bones with a stone covering its mouth resting on the
undisturbed soil." There are several large stones lying about,
one of which especially seems to resemble a menhir.
* D.F.C. Proceedings, Vol. XXXVII, p. 47.
travels of peter
in 1635.
in Dorset
By NELSON MOORE RICHARDSON, Esq., B.A.
(Read December 7th, 1920.)
OME years ago, I was applied to for information
on certain points by Miss Anstey, who was
assisting Sir Richard Temple in editing for publica-
tion by the Hakluyt Society, the MS. of Peter
Mundy, a Cornishman, who spent most of his life in travelling
in Europe and Asia, as well as in various parts of England.
Two volumes of his travels had been published and the third,
which deals chiefly with his voyage to China and contains the
portion relating to Dorset, has only lately been printed,
having been much delayed by the War. It having occurred
to me that the Dorset portion would be of much interest to
our Club, I obtained Sir Richard Temple's kind permission to
read this at one of our meetings and print it in our " Proceed-
ings" if thought suitable. Peter Mundy seems to have been a
most observant man and, as far as I can judge from the little I
have read of his travels, to have endeavoured to state and
THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUNDY IN DORSET. 43
describe what he saw and heard with more accuracy than
some of these early travellers. The editor has taken much
pains to obtain information which will throw light upon the
present and former condition of things described in the travels
and has added many valuable notes.
Before reaching Dorset, Mundy speaks as follows of lobster
boats coming from Cornwall to Weymouth.
LOBSTER BOATES.
" Beinge safely arrived and welcomed home by my friends,
in feiwe daies after I returned to London to sell some Indian
Commodities that would not off [go off, sell] in the Countrey,
and tooke my passage in a Lobster boate. There are 2 of
them that all the Sommer longe doe goe and come to the west
countrey to carry away such Lobsters as are there provided
against their Comeinge downe by men lefte there on purpose,
whoe buy them of the fishermen, and keepe them in potts till
they come for them. Theis boats may carry each about 100
dozen, somewhat more or lesse, and in one Sommer they may
carry away about 14 or 15000 Lobsters att the least. They
take them not aboard until the wynde be faire for them, and
then they lay them on the Ballace [ballast, i.e., in the hold],
and comonly within 48 howres they arrive att Weymouth.
What [with being] in the boate and on Horseback before
they arrive att London, they are neere 3 part dead of them,
which are little esteemed of and sold att low prices. With
the rest the King's Kitchin is supplied and then the Court and
Cittie 1 ."
After a short allusion to Falmouth and Torbay he comes
to Portland.
PORTLAND.
" Next morninge wee departed and soe arrived att Wey-
mouth, where haveinge occasion to staye a day or two, I went
to the Peninsula of Portland, about 2 miles from the Towne 2 .
1 A century later Cornish lobsters were sent direct to London by
"Well-boats." See Borlase, Natural History of Cornwall, p. 274.
2 Four miles by land and three by water.
44 THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUNDY IN DORSET.
It is almost an Island, only a narrow Beach extendinge six
miles 1 in length almost by the mayne, and Joyneth with it
neere to Abbottsbury. Betwene the said beach and the Land
the sea runneth upp Neere 6 miles as aforesaid, somewhat
broad within, although att the passage not J a stones Cast over,
Heere bredd many Swanns, the Royaltie apperteyninge to Sir
George Stranginge dwellinge neere by 2 . Theis have their
Winges pinnioned or unjoynted to barre them from flyeing
away' 5 . They breede among the Sedges on the Shoare and
feede on the rootes and tender part of the grasse that growes
in the water. There come divers wild ones amonge them,
and in winter flock thither in aboundance all sorts of
Waterfowle.
" This indraught which cometh about by the Easter end of
Portland was in hand to bee dreyned to make Pasture Land,
whereon was spent great sommes of money in makeinge of
sluces, trenches, etts. [and other] Inventions to keepe the
Tide from comeing in, as also to lett out what is within. But
as yet all is to litle purpose (This was in July 1635), the
maine sea soakeing through the beach all alonge. It is sayd
they will proceed afresh 4 .
1 The beach is ten miles in extent.
2 Muncly means Sir John Strangwayes. The Swannery, which still
belongs to the Earl of Ilchester, a descendant of the Strangwayes, was
granted to Giles Strangwayes in 1544 and to Sir John Strangwayes and
his heirs in 1637. See Hutchins, History of Dorset, n. 723.
3 The Abbotsbury swans are no longer pinioned, but are marked in the
web of the foot.
1 I have been unable to find any confirmation of this scheme for
draining "the Fleet in 1635, and the Dorset archaeologists whom I have
consulted can throw no light on the matter. Such a scheme nowadays
would be hopeless unless an embankment were made all along the beach
to keep out the water. Mr. Nelson Richardson, however, thinks it probable
that in 1635 the mouth of the Fleet, by the present Ferry Bridge, was
much shallower than it now is, for before the building of the breakwater,
/'.('., in the early part of the 19th century, it was possible to ride or even
walk across at low water.
THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUNDY IN DORSET. 45
" Now back to Portland, and somewhat of what is in it and
about it. In compasse it may bee 5 or 6 miles highe land,
especially the Easter end, much noted by Seamen as one of
their marks saylinge alonge the Chanell, it makeing an
excellent road betwene it and the mayne, with 2 Castles, one
of each side, the one named Portland Castle and th'other
Sandfoote Castle, whoe Commaund the said Road and
landinge places thereabouts 1 . The Southermost low Cleaves
[cliffs] are worth notice, for passing betwene the Race and it
with our boate they appeared like so many gates, portalls, or
entrances, soe proportionable by nature, that scarce any would
bee perswaded but that they were Cutt out by Arte, except
hee were att and in one, as I was in one which was intirely
seeled [ceiled] over with one flake [layer, sheet] of stone, 6
or 7 yards over, supporting the upper earth.
" Hard by in those Cleaves breed a Certen sea fowle named
Pewitts 2 ; many of them from hence carried to London, where
they are kept, fedd and used for dainties.
u Right off lies the Race of Portland, avoyded by seamen by
reason of the tumblinge, ripplinge, tempestuous, swelling waves,
occasioned, as they say, by a very strong tide runninge over
uneven ground, for in one place there may bee but 12 or 13
fathom, and neere to it 30 or 40 againe. On the Cleaves, 2 or
3 fathom above full Sea marke, are store of great Oyster shells,
not as others groweing or sticking fast to the rocke, but
encorporated into the same, some halfe out, some more, some
lesse. The like is on Weymouth sides on the bancks where
now the Sea cometh not neere, nor the Springe or wash of it.
I have seene in other places Rocks whollye compacted of
1 Portland Castle, commanding Weymouth Road, was built by Henry
VIII, and Sandesfoot or Weymouth Castle was probably erected at the
same time, c. 1530. See Hutchins, History oj Dorset 11. 806 830 and
Maton, Observations . . . of the Western Counties of England, I. 51.
2 By pewitt, Mundy means the black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus).
which, as Plot says, was "accounted a good dish at the most plentifull
Tables." See Nat, Hist, of Staffordshire (1686), ch. vii. paras. 712,
46 THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUNDY IN DORSET.
shells, as well within as without. The reason may bee that
those places in former tymes were under water, Oaze or Mudd,
where those shelfishes did breede and feede. In tyme, the
sea retireinge, as it is scene by experience, for where there
was land and Townes now there is Sea, And where once
shipps rode and boates did rowe are nowe howses built and
corne reaped; Many that, are now Islands in former tymes
questionlesse joyned to the Mayne 1 . I say, the sea with-
drawing it selfe, it was exposed to the heate of the Sunn, by
whose virtue Mudde, shellfish and all became one Rock.
"There I went to the hewers of stone, which was carried
for the reparation of St Paules church in London. There
were about 200 workemen, some hewing out of the Cliffe
alofte, some squareinge, some carryeing down, others ladeinge.
Some stones there were ready squared and formed, of 9, 10
and 11 tonnes weight, as they said; some of them ready
squared aloft and sent downe in Carts made of purpose 2 .
1 I wonder that he does not refer this to the Flood which used to be
considered the cause of sea things appearing inland. [N. M. R.]
2 Portland stone began to be freely used for public buildings in the
reign of James I. and was employed in the repairs of St Pauls and the
erection of the Banqueting House, Whitehall.
Mr. A. M. Wallis has most kindly furnished me with a description of the
trolleys which Mundy saw. These were in use up to about the year 1880,
when cranes and four-wheeled wagons took their place. The two-wheeled
carts were 4 ft. wide and 18 ft. long, made of three ash planks 5 in. thick,
fastened by flat pieces of iron on the under side. The middle plank was
shorter than the two outer ones, which were cut away to form the shafts
and accommodate the horse. The wheels were of solid wood and boxed,
more often oval than round; the axle was also of wood with a bar of iron
let in on the under side. A back strap of knotted rope fitted on the back
pad of the horse and took the weight of the load. There were no brakes.
These carts carried 5 tons, and were drawn by a plow of eight horses,
*'.., eight horses in a string.
NOTE BY N.M.R.
It would seem impossible for one horse in the shafts to hold back a load
of 5 tons on the Portland hills. When I first knew Portland about 1886, to
the best of my remembrance, the carts were four-wheeled, but much other-
wise as Mr. Wallis describes them, but on the slope horses were sometimes
harnessed behind to hold back the weight, and a man with an iron bar
THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUNDY IN DORSET. 47
Other rough peeces as they were hevven out of the Rocke,
were tumbled downe to bee squared belowe, The Rocke or
quarry begininge alofte within halfe a Yard of the Surface of
the earth which is of a reasonable good Mould.
"The Island, for soe it is also called, affoards noe fewell of
Wood, there being very few trees'or bushes on it 1 . Perchance
by industrey more might bee made to growe in it. But I
rather thinck the Earth is naturally not soe apte to produce
them, It beinge high, drye, a shallow mould, and somewhat
stoney in most places. With the loose stones they make their
hedges or partitions by only pileing them one upon the other
(beinge flatt), which resemble Park walls 2 . It yieldeth good
store of Corne, grasse and some hey, store of Cattle, especially
sheepe, some excellent plaines and levell ground.
" For Fewell they use Cowdung, kneaded and tempred
with short strawe or strawe dust, which they make into flatt
Cakes, and Clapping them on the side of their stoney walls,
they become dry and hard, and soe they use them when they
pushed it through a hole made near the rim of one of the hind wheels till
the end caught against some part of the cart underneath and stopped the
rotation of the wheel, making a very effective brake. I do not remember
the use of a slipper for this purpose. These massive carts impressed us a
good deal, as we never enjoyed meeting them on the hill when driving.
The road was narrow and also rough and full of ruts, and thqy swayed
about in an uncertain manner, whilst in parts there was only a very low
wall of loose stones or even a mud bank between us and a precipitous slope
ending in a pile of broken rocks. Later on traction engines were used,
but the greater part of the stone went down in wagons on a little steep
railway, the full wagons pulling up the empty ones. [N.M.R.]
1 Except round Pennsylvania Castle, there are still only a few
scattered trees on Portland.
2 Stone hedges are still a notable feature in the landscape of the
district.
NOTE BY N.M.R.
Even the field gates were until recently, made, like the hedges, of piled
flat stones, which had to be taken down and rebuilt each time anything
went through ! This method will hardly stand the present labourer's
wages !
48 THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUXDY IX DORSET.
have occasion. The very same fewell, and ordered in the
same manner, doe they use in India as [Pall] the Country
over, by Hindowes [Hindus], and Baneanes [Banians, Banya,
Hindu trader] especially, which seemed strange to mee 1 .
They rinde on the sea side a Flatt stone which the poorer sort
use to burne, but it stincketh abhominably in burninge".
" Heere I saw a black fowle with Yellow Bill and Leggs,
commonly called Cornish Dawes, many beinge of opinion that
there were none elswhere to bee seene but in Cornewall or
neere adjoyninge. For my part, untill now, in all that I have
gone, I never sawe none out of that sheire 3 .
" Moreover, Portland Oysters are most esteemed in theis
parts 4 . It consists of one parish. They say it hath a Lord
whoe hath his Title from it''. A strange alteration betwene
1 Coker, Survey of Dorsetshire, ed. 1732, p. 38, remarks of Portland:
" The Grounde verie good for Corne, and indifferent pasture but soe
destitute of Woode and Fuell, that the inhabitants are glad to burne their
Cowe Dung, beeing first dried against Stone Walls, with which Groundes
are enclosed altogether." Cowdung fuel was still in use in the middle of
the 19th century. Exactly the same custom is still common all over India.
2 Maton, Observations . . . oftJic Western Counties of England, (1794
1796), i. 33, 54 55, describes this "fossil-coal " as an " argillaceous slate
in a high degree of impregnation with bitumen, and of a blackish brown
colour . . . when burnt to ashes it is used as manure," Mr. Nelson
Richardson informs me that the " flatte stones " were doubtless shale from
the Kimmeridge Clay which is the formation at the base of Portland. He
adds that Mundy is quite correct in his description of the smell.
3 The Cornish chough, Pyrrhocorax (Frcgillus) Gracuhis, a rare bird,
but Mr. W. L. Sclater informs me that it is occasionally found out of
Cornwall on the British coasts as well as in parts of Europe, Asia and
Africa. See Carew's remarks on this bird, Survey of Cornwall, ed. Tonkin,
p. 110. See also Borlase's amusing description, Natural History of
Cornwall, pp. 243244.
4 Mr. Nelson Richardson is of opinion that Portland oysters are
unknown at the present time. They were formerly found in the Fleet.
5 The Manor of Portland belonged to the Crown from the time of
Edward IV. until 1800, when it was put up to auction. The first Earl of
Portland, however, was Sir Richard Weston (15771635), Charles I.'s
Lord High Treasurer, cr. 17th February, 1633; and it is probably to him
that Mundy alludes,
THE TRAVELS OF PETER MUXDY IN DORSET. 49
this and the Maine, the distance being soe small. From the
foote of the Island to the passage 1 is about a mile along by
the beach, where in tyme past were store of Connies, now
none, only their burroughes and holes yett to bee scene. And
soe, leaveing the Island, I returned to the Mayne.
WEYMOUTH SXAILES.
" When I came over to Weyinonth side, I found there on
the grass a multitude of small Coulord shell snailes, ^ as bigg
as pease 2 . The people report they dropp out of the Ayre,
rindeing them on their hatts as they walke the feilds :i . The
like is reported of the raineing of small froggs in the Isle
of Jersy (where I had formerly bene) 4 . My brother 5 also
told mee that neere Weymouth 'hee himself e saw one of theis
walking Fires called Ignis fatuus, which only Crosse[d] his
way without any more hurt". The natural Cawses of theis
things must be left to the decision of the Learned, as also of
that light which is reported to appear on Shipps in or after
stormes, termed by the Spaniard St. Elmo 7 , heere being of
our Company that have scene them, gon to them and found
a Jelly or froth, which soe shined by night, stickinge on their
Mast Yards, etts.
DORCHESTER MAIDEN CASTLE.
" From Weymouth I went to Dorchester. About the
Middway is a place called Maiden Castle, because they say it
3 The mouth of the Fleet, now known as Ferry Bridge.
2 These shells now also swarm on Portland, and are said to give the
Portland mutton its excellent flavour, being eaten by the sheep! [N.M.R.]
> For notes on showers of living creatures, see Notes and Queries, 8th
series, vol. vi. 104, 189, 395; vn. 437; vni. 493.
l Mundy went to Jersey in 1627. See vol. I. 144.
n No further clue is forthcoming with regard to this individual. See
vol. ii. p. Ixxv.
Ignis fa tints, popularly called Will-o'-the-wisp, Jack-o'-lantern, corpse-
candle, &c.
7 St. Elmo is the patron saint of navigation.
50 THE TKAVELS OF PETER MUXDY IX DORSET.
was never overcome 1 . It is now a little playne of about J mile
in compasse, somewhat ovall, neere to roundnesse, on the
round topp of a hill, environed with 3 high bancks which
made two cleepe ditches or trenches, either of them beinge
about 9 or 10 fathom high or cleepe, and the circumference of
the outer banck above i a mile a Worke of great labour;
some Monument of the Danes or Saxons Fortification. Also,
neere to Dorchester is another small place environed with a
very high and steepe bancke, with a little plaine in the midle,
of an ovall forme, resemblinge an Amphitheater 2 , n- part of a
mile about. Lykewise hereabout, as on Salsburye plaines, I
savv and have scene divers longe trenches, one within another
the plaines, of greate use in Auntient tymes questionlesse."
After this Mundy returns to London and shortly makes a
tour into Hampshire.
1 Maiden Castle in the parish of Winterbourne St. Martin, two miles
south-west of Dorchester, is one of the largest British earthworks in the
West of England. Mundy is repeating the popular legend regarding the
name, which became attached to it at least as early as the twelfth century.
The origin of the term "Maiden" in English place-names seems to be still
unsettled. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the sense may be
a fortress so strong as to be capable of being defended by maidens."
But the approved derivation of the Dorchester specimen is from British
inai dun, great hill, the hill of the citadel or burgh. See Hutchins, History
of Dorset, ed. 1863, n. 575.
- Maumbury King, an amphitheatre south-west of Dorchester, on the
Roman road to Wevrnouth.
Hpple {Tree Wassail-
Survival of a ftree Cult
By W. O. BEAMENT, M.A.
(Read 7 tli December, 1920}.
PROPOSE for the purpose of this paper to
consider firstly the ceremonies accompanying the
Apple Tree Wassail which are, or were until
lately, observed in the South West of England,
and secondly to consider certain parallels to the rite which
may be found at various stages of the civilisation of
Western Europe. It may then be possible to indicate some
connection between the two, and to suggest a theory which
accounts for what I believe to be a genuine pre-historic
survival on English Soil. At the outset, I ought to explain
that the theory which I shall outline at the conclusion of this
paper is not intended to be the result of any research. It is
simply an indication of the lines along which I believe a
possible solution of the problems presented by the Apple Tree
Wassail may be found.
At the present day the custom of wassailing the apple trees
does not appear to be observed in Dorset; and when I first
commenced collecting material for this paper I was not aware
52 THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL.
that it had been practised in our own county in recent times.
However, our Vice- President, Judge Udal, has very kindly
forwarded to me an extract from the manuscript of his forth-
coming book on Dorset Folklore with permission to make
use of it for the purposes of this paper.
Judge Udal refers to an article in Folklore for 1918 from
which it appears that the ceremony observed in Dorset did
not differ in any important particular from those still to be
found in the sister county of Somerset. When we turn to the
latter county, there is an abundance of material for consider-
ation ; and I propose to take as a representative account, and
one which forms an excellent basis for discussion, the
description of the ceremony given by Mr. Cecil Sharp in his
note to Song 128, Folk Songs, from Somerset, 5th Series.
The rite appears to have been observed at Bratton on the
17th January, and the procedure as described by several
witnesses is roughly as follows :
Meeting about seven in the evening, the wassailers proceed
to the orchard which is to be the scene of their first celebration,
and, forming a ring round one of the oldest of the trees, dance
round, singing a particular song, to the words of which I will
presently revert. Cider, sometimes warmed, is then thrown
upon the tree or poured over the roots to the accompaniment
of much shouting, stamping of feet, and firing of guns.
Before leaving the tree a piece of toast soaked in cider is
placed in the fork of the branches. Mr. Sharp states that, on
enquiry of one of the revellers as to what became of the toast,
he was informed that " some say that the birds eat it, but I
don't know."
There are five points in this ceremony which are worth
considering :
(1) The Tree.
(2) The Song and Dance.
(3) The Libation of Cider.
(4) The Noise.
(5) The Offering of Toast,
THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL. 53
It may be interesting to consider them briefly in detail as
they appear to-day.
1. SONG AND DANCE. I cannot obtain any very clear idea
of the dance itself. Whatever it may have been in the past, it
does not seem to-day to be a set figure; it rather has the nature
of a wild gambol round a tree by a number of men joining
hands in a ring. Probably the fact that theY have already
wassailed each other in cider before setting out has spme
effect upon their gyrations. The words of the song are at
the present day more or less doggerel. As given by Mr. Sharp
they run as follows:
Old Apple Tree we'll wassail thee
And hoping thou wilt bear
The Lord doth know where we shall be
To be merry another year:
So blow well and bear well
And so merry let us be
Let every man drink up his can
And health to the old Apple Tree.
Then follows a spoken piece, cheering, shouting, stamping and
gun-firing. I have come to the conclusion, as a result of
comparison between this and similar ceremonies, that the
words have in comparatively modern times been substituted
for more ancient formula having practically the same meaning.
It is perfectly clear that the wish expressed is for a good crop
of apples in the ensuing year.
It is rather curious that, in the Sedgemoor district, verses of
the New Year Wassail Song are added to the Apple Tree
Wassail.
2. SHOUTING, GUN-FIRING, ETC. The use of gunpowder, a
comparatively modern invention, has led certain corres-
pondents on this subject to suggest that we have a survival of
a primitive method of pruning. The theory is that in early
clays pruning was accomplished by beating the tree with a
stick; and subsequently the firing of shot into the branches
was used to obtain the same result. I am inclined myself to
think that the gun-liring is merely a method of making a noise.
Lieut. Latrobe-Bateman in describing his Congo Explorations
54 THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL.
in the middle of the last century has noted that natives
belonging to the Mohammedan faith fire off guns at certain
religious celebrations. In this case he knows that the object
is simply that of making a noise. It seems rather more likely
that the idea of noise-making should be predominant in a
rustic ceremony such as wassailing, rather than that it should
be necessary to prc-suppose a primitive method of pruning,
for which not only does no evidence exist, but which is more-
over rather insulting to the intelligence of our ancestors.
3. THE LIBATION. This as it survives scarcely requires
any comment. It can best be considered in the next section
of the paper.
4. OFFERING OF TOAST. This is undoubtedly a real
offering. Mr. Sharp's informant was clearly of the opinion
that it was not eaten by the birds, although twentieth century
materialism had made him rather shy of expressing this belief
openly.
None of the participants in the ceremony, however, appear
to have any very clear idea as to whom the offering was made.
It seems that we have here a case in which folk-memory is
rapidly failing. Toast is still placed in the branches because
it is remembered that once the offering was made to someone
or something. But in a few years, if the ceremony lasts as
long, the reason will have been entirely forgotten; and I think
this particular part of the rite will disappear entirely or we
shall be definitely told that it is intended as an offering to the
birds, probably in the hope that they will not attack the crop
during the year.
In considering one or two interesting parallels to the Apple
Tree Wassail, I should like to begin with a reminder that tree
worship still survives in twentieth century England in other
forms. The simplest, and the one which comes most readily
to mind, is the Maypole dance. The Maypole is usually a dry
pole perhaps with a sprig of green at the top, but was once, as
Sir James Frazer has pointed out in the Golden Bough, a living
tree freshly cut from the forest. It was also not so long ago
that the "Jack in the Green" was a well-known figure in
THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL. 55
village festivities. It is rather curious that, while Sir James
Frazer lays great stress upon these two survivals, he does not
in the Golden Bough refer to the Apple Tree Wassail.
Bearing in mind then that ceremonies, which at the present
time appear to have a value only as burlesque, are none the
less religious survivals, we shall he less surprised to find that
our West Country Apple Tree Wassail has behind it a long
and honourable history.
I must apologise for proceeding to state one or two facts
which are probably well known to most of those present to-day,
but my excuse is that their clue remembrance is essential to
the considerations I wish to advance.
It must be kept in mind that religions, and especially
primitive religions as distinct from magical cults, fall generally
speaking into one of two classes they are connected with
earth spirits or with sky gods. Without being irreverent, it
may be stated that Christianity, following its predecessor
Judaism, falls into the latter class; but this class is, at any rate
in Western Europe, by no means the older. Men worshipped
spirits of the earth before they worshipped spirits of the sky.
If one may make an extremely rough generalisation of the
work of archaeologists in the classical lands of the Mediter-
ranean, it may be laid down that the first peoples of that
region of whom we have knowledge were agriculturists who
worshipped earth deities, and buried their dead ; while, at a
later date, they were encroached upon by, and ultimately fused
with, pastoral invaders from the north, a taller fairer race
who worshipped sky and storm deities and practised cremation.
If in the light of some of these researches we consider the
various points of the Apple Tree Wassail we shall begin to see
some connection between our folk custom and the religions of
the ancient world.
The ritual song and the ritual dance are both expressions of
the same idea. The dance expresses the result in action, the
song is an expression of the wish in words. Thus the first
men to dance round the tree, in the hope that a crop might be
secured to them, were performing in their early world a
56 THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL.
species of primitive ballet, endeavouring to depict in action
and to sing in words the ideas of life and fertility; they
imitated the desired result by showing themselves in possession
of health, vigour, strength and agility.
The problem that presents itself at this point is: why they
should dance round the tree ? The answer is that, just as gods
have been made in the form of men and in the form of animals,
so we are beginning to learn they have also been made in the
form of plants. The tree is, if it may be so expressed, a kind
of super-plant. It has an intimate connection with the
earth. It towers in the air and it is strong and, generally
speaking, has a long life. It is extremely likely that
originally the ceremony which we are considering was not
performed round an Apple Tree at all, but round some forest
tree, in all likelihood an Oak. This is perfectly easy to under-
stand if it be remembered that primitive man has connected
the idea of life, as expressed in plant or animal, not merely
with the plants which he eats or the animal which he uses for
food, but with those which are not good for this purpose.
Thus we have Snake Tribes and Rat Tribes when, generally
speaking, the snake or rat is not a common article of diet.
Totemism is far older and has exercised far more influence in
religious developement than any idea of prayer for actual food.
Thus assuming that originally our tree was a forest tree, that
the religious idea grew weaker and weaker, and that people
began to query why they did this thing, the ceremony, to make
it appear more rational, would be transferred to a tree whose
crop was actually of value as food, and in such a district as
South-west England the natural tree to select would be the
apple tree.
In the libation of cider we have an obvious magical survival.
The cider is simply apple-juice, the blood of the tree, drawn
from it last year. It may be assumed still to contain the life
of the tree and is, therefore, poured back upon the roots or
upon the trunk during the dead season of the winter in order
that the tree may once more blossom and bear fruit. It
carries from one season to another life and growth.
tHE APPLE TREE WASSAIL. 57
In this connection it may be interesting to note that the
sacred tree and the sacred pillar are considered to be merely
two aspects of the same thing. The tree is a living sacred
pillar, a pillar is a petrified tree. Each is the house of a god
or spirit, the place of its indwelling, a central point between
the spiritual and material worlds.
Jacob, when he set up the Stone of Bethel, poured on it .wine
and oil in consecration and named it the " House of God,"
thereby indicating that for him at least it w r as the dwelling-
place of the God of his fathers whom he proposed to serve.
The cider poured on the tree is not a drink for the spirit
dwelling there. It is a rather more magical rite, indicating
that the celebrant is trying to bring about a desired result by
assuming it done. He pours cider because he wants cider
next year.
In the sacred dance we have imitated the desired result; in
the song we have expressed our wishes and hopes in words;
by pouring cider we have done our best by physical means to
secure that a comparatively dead tree will come to life. All
this belongs to a very .early stage in religious thought, when
gods and spirits are scarcely as yet conceived as such.
Primitive man thinks not so much of deities as of divinities
vague, half understood forces at work something like that
which the natives of Melanesia call " mana." And this word
is so expressive that it has passed into current anthropological
jargon. Thus we have hitherto dealt only with forces which
are more or less impersonal and can be controlled by magic,
spirits not requiring to be sought in prayer because they are
not regarded as possessing definite personal wills. It is the
great distinction between magic and religion as we know it.
With the former it is a matter of knowing how to do the
right thing, while the latter is a question of personal relation-
ship with a being. Now the noise brings us to the stage in
which a being is introduced.
The shcuting, stamping, and gun-firing, while they may in
some measure express the joy of life, yet none the less are
intended to awaken the spirit in the tree who has fallen asleep
58 THE APPLE TREE WASSAtL.
during the winter and must be aroused in good time if he is to
do his work in the coming spring. Elijah's taunt to the
prophets of Baal was not merely sarcastic : to those w r ho heard
it meant something real. They were used to shouting to wake
up their god when they had any particularly heavy work on
hand for him to do. So the Wassailers shout to arouse the
spirit of the tree.
The toast in the branches takes us one step further.
Toast which is intended to disappear is obviously of no use
unless it is consumed by somebody or something, and we
have here an instance of the actual offering made to a god or
spirit. It is rather interesting to query whether it is
given in order that the god may do something in return, or
as a bribe to induce him to refrain from doing harm. As a
matter of fact in early religion God and the Devil are very
much one and the same. It might be noticed in this
connection that the vegetation spirit in Syrian mythology is
Adonis, and his connection with Aphrodite is a matter of
common knowledge. Aphrodite is always accompanied by
birds her doves have become a proverb. Is it then too
fantastic to suggest that here in Central Somerset we have a
direct survival of rites which in the golden days of Greece
centred round the worship of the Maiden of the Sea-Foam?
I have already hinted at what is possibly an explanation of
the survival of such rites as tree-cults in Britain. There seems
very little doubt that such cults were originally the property
of a people who were agriculturists, whose religion was the
worship of earth divinities and who buried their dead. We
know as a matter of certainty that this was the case in
pre-historic times in Greece and other lands around the
Mediterranean.
The early culture of Crete, of Mycenae and of the traditional
site of Troy has afforded abundant evidence of the fact that
the phenomena which I have just mentioned occurred
together. Moreover from the same sources we know that at
some time a pastoral people worshipping Olympian deities
came down upon the Mediterranean from the North and were
THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL. 59
fused with the original inhabitants of the basin, the result of
which fusion can be seen in the strangely assorted collection
of gods and goddesses which make up the Hellenic and Latin
Pantheons.
Now it is a well-known fact that, even when one race is
conquered by another, the ideas and institutions of the
conquered survive with strange persistence. Thus there will
be no cause for surprise if it be suggested that vegetation cults
have persisted from very early times, and through various
stages of civilisation, down to the modern world. It remains
for us now to endeavour to connect the known facts of the
Mediterranean area with the survivals which we find in our
own country. I would suggest as a basis for further
investigation a theory somewhat on these lines:
Tradition and modern research alike lead us to believe that,
when the Mediterranean race was squeezed between the
mountains and the sea by the increasing pressure of the
northern invaders, an outlet of escape was found in the far
west, along the Spanish shores and into Gaul. The peculiar
religious observances of an agricultural people can be traced
along this route and into Britain. The traces of Neolithic
culture in this country show that we are dealing with a' people
whose physical features, as far as can be ascertained, resemble
those which Sergi has ascribed to the Mediterranean race; a
people whose religious observances, so far as any evidence
remains to us, were akin to those of primitive dwellers in the
Mediterranean basin, and whose belief in future life and survival
after death was connected with the under-world rather than
with a heaven in the sky. I would suggest then that, in
common with other survivals of tree-worship and vegetation
cult, the Apple Tree Wassail is a survival of that common
stock of religious experience possessed by those early inhab-
itants of Southern and Western Europe whom tradition has
called in various places by the names of Pelasgians, Ligurians
and Iberians.
These people, whom we know to have contributed to later
Greek religion those elements dealing with the under-world,
60 THE APPLE TREE WASSAIL.
the gods of the sea, the vegetation demons and those divine
or semi-divine beings who possess the power of appearing in
the form of beasts such as Dionysus would, as long as they
remain agriculturists, practise their particular cults; and that
these would, moreover, be learnt by any races who came into
contact with them who wished to change from the wandering
pastoral life to the more settled occupation of agriculture.
Primitive man knew very \vell that it w r as useless to carry on
an occupation until he had first of all put himself right with
the spirits whose special concern that occupation was. This
fact alone would explain how the ceremony could survive
through various changes of civilisation and religion, and w r ould
also explain why so many of these customs have been able to
make honourable terms even with triumphant Christianity.
The Apple Tree Wassail is one of the more obscure of these
ancient rites, but it is none the less interesting, and I have
endeavoured to put forward an analysis of its elements and a
suggestion as to the lines on which further investigation may
be pursued.
XOTK. An article in Folk-lore, Volume XXXI, page 307, by
Miss M. A. Berkeley, in commenting on some of the conclusions
reached by Miss J. L. Weston in her work From Ritual to
Romance, points out that Avalon in Afalon has the traditional
interpretation of the " Isle of Apples," and that Mr. Cook has
in the " European Sky and Tree God " connected the " Apple
tree of Avallach " the "god" of Avalon with magic trees of
Irish legends and with the grove of Nemi. After shewing the
connection of the Holy Thorn with sacred trees in general
Miss Berkeley proceeds to set out evidence for the existence
of an important and widely-known cult of the life principle at
Glastonbury in early, and even in historic, times. The whole
of the article is most suggestive in connection with the
persistence of the apple cult in Somerset in modern times.
Cburcb Screens of JDorset
By E. T. LONG.
(Read 7th December, 1920).
HE county of Dorset, unlike its near neighbours
Somerset and Devon, is not famous for its church
woodwork, and the remains of screens are compar-
atively few and unimportant. There can be little
doubt that originally every church possessed its rood screen,
and frequently parclose and chantry screens as well; but the
destroying hand of fanatic and "restorer" has been very busy
in this county. It is painful to reflect that during the last
century several line screens have been completely swept away,
and among others we may specially mention those at Cran-
borne, I \verne Minster, Okeford Fitzpaine and Hawkchurch,
the first three of which retained the rood loft practically
intact. Also we must not forget the shameful vandalism
perpetrated at Wimborne Minster in 1855, when the line
Jacobean screen and stalls were mutilated, and the canopies
of the stalls completely destroyed on the plea of obstructing
the view so dear to Victorian restorers. However, in spite of
much grievous vandalism and ignorant restoration, Dorset still
retains a few examples of screen work which deserve careful
62 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
study, and which contain features which differentiate them
markedly from the screens of the adjacent counties. One
outstanding feature is the stone screens, which are located
principally in the north of the county. These stone screens
are all closely related, and consist of a plain solid base against
which the lateral altars stood, and narrow openings above
with cusped arches and central doorway. There is usually an
embattled cornice on the top. These screens are to be found
at Bradford Abbas, Thornford, Batcombe, Nether Compton
and Cerne. The best is probably that at Nether Compton,
which has traces of colour; and it is the oldest, since it seems to
date from the latter part of the 14th century. At Cerne there
was formerly no chancel arch, and the screen \vas surmounted
by a stone tympanum. At the restoration the tympanum was
removed and a chancel arch erected. At Thornford the
hooks of the door remain. Wool and Knowle have mural
screens consisting of triple arcades, and the lateral openings
at Knowle were formerly filled breast high with walls against
which the altars were placed. The noble Abbey Church of
Milton retains the massive stone pulpitum, but the upper part
has been largely rebuilt. It is of very plain construction, and
has two flights of steps.
The first thing to be noted \vith regard to wooden screens
is the fact that they are practically all of the rectilinear type,
as opposed to the Devon and Somerset screens, which for the
most part are of the arched form. It is true that both these
counties contain a few rectilinear examples, particularly the
latter county ; but the finest and most characteristic are
arcuated. So much so is this the case that the only arched
example now remaining in Dorset is at Trent ; and, as this
parish belonged to Somerset until 1896, the screen too being
in every sense a product of that county, it is hardly fair to
consider it an exception to the general rule. Of course it is
quite likely that some at least of the destroyed screens were of
the arched type, especially those on the Devon and Somerset
border, The majority of the surviving screens are late, and
probably were erected at the end of the 15th or beginning of
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 63
the 16th century. At Winterbourne Monkton, however, are
the remains of a screen which dates from the latter part of
the 14th century and has tracery which is almost flamboyant.
The remains of figure painting are very small, though probably
several of the larger churches had screens adorned with
saintly figures. Hilton possesses twelve well-preserved panels
of the Apostles which originally came from Milton Abbey and
are of considerable artistic merit as well as archaeological
interest. In the Convent Chapel at Spettisbury is part of the
base of a screen from the desecrated chapel of Whitford near
Axminster, which retains some 14th century figure painting
much anterior to any existing work in Devon, to which county
of course this screen really belongs. Though it cannot be
included under church woodwork, mention should be made
of the fine screen in the refectory at Milton Abbey, which
bears the date 1498, and the rebus of Abbot Milton, a mill and
a tun. Although so few rood screens now remain, the rood
stairs have survived in a large number of cases. There are
very perfect specimens at Holwell, Stourton Caundle and
Aff puddle; and at Belchalwell the loft was approached from the
tower stairs, and the upper door still remains. At Stourton
Caundle corbels for supporting the brestsummer of the loft
remain at the south side. No rood loft now exists, but
several carved and painted panels from the destroyed loft are
preserved at Okeford Fitzpaine, while Trent retains the fan
vaulting on which the loft stood. The three wooden figures
of Apostles at Upwey supposed to have come from the rood
loft are in reality Flemish, and were brought from the
continent about 100 years ago so the present Rector
informed the writer.
Dorset is fortunate in possessing some good post-reformation
screens which all date from the first half of the 17th century.
Parts of the fine screen erected at Wimborne c. 1608 still
remain, but are greatly mutilated. The screen and stalls here
were erected when the choir was restored after the fall of the
central spire in 1600, and were excellent specimens of
Jacobean woodwork; but their evident and marked excellence
64 THE CHURCH SCREEN'S OF DORSET.
did not preserve them from the ignorance of the Victorian
restorers in 1855. Judging from a woodcut in ttre last edition
of Hntchins the stalls must have been among the finest pieces
of Jacobean woodwork in the country, and their loss cannot
be too deeply deplored.* The remains of the stalls have
been made up into wooden choir stalls without canopies.
Koike church was, with the exception of the tower, rebuilt on
an extended scale in 1628, and is an interesting example of
17th century Gothic with many delightful details. The
sumptuous contemporary fittings remain for the most part in
spite of injudicious restoration. The screen, pulpit, font, altar
rails and bench ends are all of excellent workmanship. The
Chapter House at Forde Abbey was fitted up as a private
chapel by Edmund Prideaux, Cromwell's Attorney General,
in 1649, and contains an exceedingly rich screen of classical
design. Iwerne Courtney and Melcombe Bingham have
excellent parclose screens, both due to the liberality and piety
of Sir Thomas Freke. The latter is dated 1619. The small
church of West Stafford, restored in 1640, has an excellent
screen of that date ; while at Ibberton there is some 17th
century screenwork in the tower arch with turned balusters,
but it is in a rather dilapidated condition and has been much
pulled about and altered.
Before passing on to the examination of the surviving
screens in the county, a few words on the use of rood loft will
not be out of place, especially as considerable misunder-
standing seems to exist in some quarters on this question. It
is frequently stated as an absolute fact that it was the custom
to sing the Gospel and chant the lessons at Matins in the loft
at the Mass on Sundays and feasts. Now, while it is quite
certain that in Cathedral, Monastic and Collegiate Churches
this was actually the case, there is no evidence to prove that
this was done in the smaller churches. In the first place it
would be decidedly inconvenient for the priest single-handed
* Illustrations of the screen and canopied stalls, as they were before the
' restoration/' may be seen in N. Whittuck's Views of Wimborne Minster,
published by Henry Herbert, Wimborne, 1839. [Editor].
THK CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 65
to come from the altar and ascend to the loft for this purpose.
In the second place the stairs to the loft which survive in a
large number of cases are quite unsuitecl for use by the priest
in his vestments, since they are steep and narrow. On the
other hand there is considerable documentary evidence that it
was customary to place an organ in the rood loft, as the
following extracts will show. In 1473 in an Exeter church
there was paid " for making a seat in le roode lofte, when
playing on the organys...7s." In the inventory of St. Stephen
Walbrook, London, occurs " In the same rood loft is a pair of
organs the gift ot Borton Wyns, grocer." In 1 509 at Louth
occurs the following entry, " for setting of the Flemish organ
in the rood loft by four days xxd." The loft w r as also of
use for supporting the rood with the Mary and John and the
candles that burnt before the rood, and made it easier to
attend to these lights, which on great feasts were often very
numerous. It is likewise possible that the loft was used for
the solemn Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament which took
place on certain occasions of great importance, though this
would only be at comparatively rare intervals and by special
permission of the Bishop. In addition to the organ it is
probable that the village choir was located there, and this fact
would account for the worn condition of the stairs to the loft
which is so often noticeable. Almost the only instance of the
rood loft in a parish church being used for chanting the
Gospel is at Long Melford, Suffolk, where it is recorded that
" on Good Friday a priest then standing by the rood sang the
passion," but, as Mr. Francis Bond pointed out, this does not
necessarily mean that he was standing on the rood loft; and
in any case Long Melford is a church of enormous size and in
pre-reformation days had a large staff of clergy, so that the
services would be carried out more or less as in a Collegiate
Church. As to what \vas the usage in Cathedral and Collegiate
Churches, Tattershall in Lincolnshire furnishes a good
example. Here the fine stone screen and loft remain in good
preservation, and in the centre of the east side of the loft is a
projecting ambo with stone desk, which doubtless served for
chanting the lessons at Matins, and possibly also for singing
66 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
the Gospel at High Mass. Another supposition is that the
loft was, used for preaching. However there is no evidence
that this was ever the case before the reformation, though
there are several instances of this use in post-reformation
times. Another use of the loft was to support an altar. At
York Minster there was an "altar of the Saviour at the little
rood loft." Dr. Cox quotes an endowment at Grantham for
masses to be said "in solario (i.e. the loft) before the great
rood in the midst of the church." Numerous piscinas or
traces of them remain in lofts or high up in the jambs of
chancel arches, e.g. Bilton, Warwick; Deddington, Oxon;
Maxey, Northants; New Shoreham, Sussex; Ross, Hereford;
Tenby, Pembroke. At Malpas in Cheshire mention is made
of the " chauntrie priest who singeth in the rood loft."
There is one further use of the loft which is beyond all doubt,
but it is a post-reformation use. The loft was frequently used
as a private pew by the principal parishioners during the 17th
and 18th centuries, and instances of this survived at Mineheacl,
Taunton and Totnes until the latter half of the last century.
Besides the rood screen there are parclose and chantry screens.
Parclose screens divide the chancel from the aisles and are
albO placed across the aisles, while chantry screens enclose
chapels and are frequently constructed in two sections at
right angles. In these chapels were the altars of guilds and
private persons endowed for the performance of masses for
the souls of the donors. Occasionally also screens were
placed across the tower arch with an altar on the west side, as
at St. Andrew's, Norwich, where was the altar of Our Lady.
We will now proceed to give a description of the surviving
screenwork of Dorset in alphabetical order, dealing first with
the stone examples.
STONE SCREENS.
BATCOMBE.
This church was largely rebuilt in 1864, but the stone rood
screen was fortunately retained and is in good preservation.
It bears a close resemblance to the other examples in this part
of the county, and consists of a solid base with narrow openings
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 67
above with quatrefoil heads, and an embattled cornice. It is
constructed of Ham Hill stone, and has been carefully restored.
The base is quite plain and the west side shows traces of the
lateral altars; grooves for half door remain. At each end are
engaged crocketed pinnacles and slight traces of colour.
BRADFORD ABBAS.
The screen here, like that at Batcombe, has a solid base
with traces of the lateral altars, and narrow openings above
acutely pointed with cusped arches and pierced trefoil
spandrels; the central doorway is so cusped with trefoiled
spandrels. The cornice is plain, and it seems probable that
the wooden loft rested directly on it. This screen dates from
the end of the 14th century, when the present church was
rebuilt. We may add that this church contains some fine
bench ends, and a good panelled timber roof painted with red
and white roses.
CERNE ABBAS.
The screen is late Perpendicular and originally supported a
solid stone wall, there being no chancel arch. However, at
the restoration, the stone wall was removed and a chancel arch
constructed, while the screen was provided with a cornice.
The base is plain, and clearly formed a background for the
lateral altars. The screen has been much restored and the
original effect lost.
COMPTON NETHER.
This screen is an excellent piece of work and seems to date
from the latter part of the 14th century. There are traces of
colour. The base as usual is solid and the outline of the altars
is clearly defined. The upper part on the north side consists
of an open arcade, but the south side has one large opening in
which it is possible that a wooden reredos for the altar was
plac'ed originally; but of this no traces remain. The space
above the screen was formerly filled with masonry.
68 THE CHURCH SCREEN'S OF DORSET.
KNOWLE.
This is a 13th century example of a mural screen and
consists of a plain triple arcade. Formerly the lateral openings
were lilled with a wall breast high, hut this has unfortunately
been removed, and the original effect quite spoiled.
MILTON ABBAS.
The noble Abbey Church of St. Sampson still possesses its
massive stone pulpitum at the west end of the choir, but the
upper part is largely modern work. The west side as it now
exists is severely plain with central doorway and string course
above. The loft is approached by two flights of stone steps
on either side of the choir entrance. The loft is wide and
spacious. The east side is plain and has been largely re-
constructed with odd pieces of material. Two ancient
paintings now stand on each side of the door on the east side,
one of which represents King Athelstan founding the Abbey,
and the other a Queen with a hawk. Possibly these came
from the loft, but it seems more probable that they formed
part of the wainscot of the canopies of the stalls.
THORNFORD.
The screen here has considerable affinity to its neighbour
at Bradford Abbas, and was evidently copied from it. The
detail however is inferior, and it is considerably later. One of
the door hinges is in situ, which shows that these screens were
originally provided with wooden doors.
WOOL.
Here is a mural screen of 13th century date consisting
of a triple arcade. It is undoubtedly the oldest screen in
Dorset, and shows the transition from the narrow Norman
chancel arch to the wide Early English and Decorated
examples. Doubtless the lateral arches were originally filled
up solid breast high, as at Knowle,
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 69
WORTH MATRAVERS.
In a squint on the south of the chancel arch were some
fragments of stone tracery which probably formed part of the
screen. Traces of colour remained. These fragments were
discovered by a former Rector in a farmhouse in the neigh-
bourhood, and placed by him in the church. On making
recent enquiries no traces of this screenwork could be found.
WOODEN SCREENS.
(1) Prc- Reformation.
AFFPUDDLE.
Part of the rood screen is now in the tower arch. It is
early 16th century, but has been much pulled about. The
cresting is of cast iron ! The wainscot is now in two tiers,
but the lower has Jacobean panelling like that behind the
altar. The upper division has cusped arches. The frame of
the doorway is modern. The middle rail is chamfered. Above
are ogee cusped arches with dagger- shaped quatrefoils in the
spandrels. The top beam is plain. There was formerly
a tympanum in the chancel arch. The screen is spoilt by
varnish. In the altar rails are eleven tracery heads from the
screen and two modern ones. The reading-desk incorporates
part of the panelling of the rood loft with tracery.
BERE REGIS.
The vestry screen in the north aisle is composed largely of
early 16th century panelling mostly linenfold. It is possible
that this originally formed part of a screen, but it is more
probable that it belonged to the old seating in the nave, some
of which is still in use. There are two corbels, one bay west
of the chancel arch, and these probably supported the front
of the loft. As the rood stairs are on the north side of the
chancel arch, the loft must have extended the width of the
first bay, and was therefore of imposing dimensions.
70 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
CRANBORNE.
Until the year 1855 this church possessed an excellent
wooden rood screen. In that year the screen was pulled
down and stored in a neighbouring barn by the then Lord
Salisbury. Some years later the barn was destroyed and the
remains of the screen were removed piecemeal by the villagers.
At the present time only one small fragment can be traced.
This was discovered by the Vicar in a carpenter's shop. It is
about one foot in length by three inches in breadth, and
consists of two tracery heads. These heads are plain and
rounded. The whole is covered with brown paint, but traces
of the original colouring can be detected in places. Apparently
the background was white picked out with red and gold. The
loss of this fine screen cannot be too deeply deplored,
especially as it had survived the fanaticism of the 16th and
17th centuries only to fall before the onslaught of the
Victorian restorers.
DORCHESTER ALL SAINTS.
This church was rebuilt in 1845, and replaced an edifice
erected in 1613, which in its turn succeeded a pre-reformation
church. Behind the choir stalls are two pieces of screenwork
identical in design. These must have belonged to the pre-
reformation fabric. The wainscot in two tiers is Jacobean,
and resembles some bench ends in the church. The standards
are not framed up, being cut short at the wainscot. The
upper part is late Perpendicular, and has tracery heads with
crocketed ogee arches. The top beam is ornamented with
detached leaves. There is a large cresting with pinnacles,
which are clumsy and evidently do not belong to their present
position. At present both screens are smothered in thick
brown paint.
FONTMELL MAGNA.
In the tower arch is a good wooden screen of early 16th
century date, formerly in the south aisle before the church
was rebuilt. The wainscot is formed of linen fold panels, and
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 71
the lights above have tracery of rather curious design, and in
two of the lights are roundels containing a man's head in
early 16th century garb with monsters in the spandrels formed
by the roundels. The door is old, but it is probable that
originally it formed part of the screen proper, as both door-
posts are modern. The base beam is modern; but the top
beam is original and has banded stiff foliage. The tracery has
considerable Renaissance detail, and the whole screen is an
interesting example of the beginning of the classical revival.
GILLINGHAM.
Between the chancel and the north chapel is a portion of a
Perpendicular screen of rather commonplace design. It has
been much restored. The wainscot is plain, and the upper
part consists of tracery heads with cusped arches. Both base
beam and top beam are almost entirely modern. The
standards are massive, and are the best feature of the screen.
In the last edition of Hutchins it is stated that it originally
formed part of the rood screen; but it was probably always a
parclose.
HILTON.
On the north and south walls of the tower of this church
are twelve painted panels of the Apostles, omitting St.
Bartholomew and including St. Paul. These panels were
apparently originally on the pulpitum of Milton Abbey, and
were removed to Hilton towards the end of the 18th century.
The figures are about four feet in height and the panels fully
six feet. The painting is well executed, and there is much
expression in the faces, especially that of St. Peter, which is
very fine and evidently a portrait. As usual, he has the priestly
tonsure. The figures have a checkered background and stand
on pedestals. The names are on scrolls above the figures.
Red, white and blue (now faded to grey) predominate. When
Hutchins wrote in 1774 there were six other panels with the
following saints, Our Lady, St. Bartholomew, St. Martin, St.
Benedict, St. Nicholas, St. Sampson. It is much to be
regretted that these have disappeared. The remaining twelve
are in good preservation.
72 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
OKEFORD FITZPAINE.
This church retained its sumptuous rood screen and loft
until the early part of the the 19th century. Only a few
fragments now remain of its ancient glory. These are four
panels from the front of the loft, each having three quatrefoils
with paterae in the centre one above the other, also three
panels with cusped ogee heads, which seem to have come
from the east side of the loft. The front panels are consider-
ably higher than the others. All the panels bear traces of
gold, red and blue. A few pieces of the cornice enrichments
remain, with trailing vine and traces of colour. There is a
good description, in Hutchins, of the loft as it appeared prior
to its destruction.
PORTESHAM.
The rood screen remains in tolerable preservation, but has
suffered much from injudicious restoration. The base beam
is modern, as is the panelling on the north side. The wains-
cot has rather meagre tracery on the panels, in the upper part
of which holes have been bored, probably during the
restoration. This tracery was most probably applied at the
same time that the holes were bored. The middle rail is plain.
The doors remain and have ogee tracery heads on the panels.
The upper part of the screen has thick moulded muntins, and
tracery heads with ogee foliated arches with quatrefoils in the
spandrels. The top beam has a deep moulding. In the
spandrels of the doorhead are Tudor roses. Both top beam
and middle rail have a poor modern cresting.
PULHAM.
In the "squints on either side of the chancel arch are
inserted some pieces of wooden tracery of excellent design,
which formerly belonged to the rood screen. Beyond these
two fragments nothing now remains of the screen, but, judging
from what has survived, it must have been a line piece of
work. Both fragments show traces of gilding and painting.
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 73
SANDFORD ORCAS.
Until 1896 this church was in Somerset. It retains in the
tower arch an excellent late Perpendicular screen, with the
doors intact, which is said to have come from Sherborne
Abbey. The base beam is modern, and the top beam is
disfigured by a clumsy modern cornice. It is framed up
with massive moulded standards. The wainscot has cusped
ogee heads breaking into foliage above, the whole being
contained beneath two cusped heads. The middle rail of
the screen is plain; but that of the doors has foliage. The
lights have narrow ogee heads with foliage above surmounted
by two trefoils. The cloorhead is level with the spring of
the screen lights, and is capped by ogee heads similar to
the rest. Below is a four-centred arch with cusped roundels
containing each a conventional flower in the spandrels.
The door lights have plain trefoiled heads. The west side
of the wainscot has ogee arches without foliage.
SHERBORNE ALMSHOUSE CHAPEL.
The chapel of the ancient hospital of St. John Evangelist
and St. John Baptist is divided from the ante-chapel by a 15th
century wooden screen. The doors remain. The upper part
of the lights has ogee heads, and the lower part below the
transom is solid. There is a good cornice on both sides with
trailing oak leaf. Over the ante-chapel is a gallery for the use
of the female inmates. The screen is not improved by having
the lights filled with appalling tinted glass. The gallery rail
is 17th century work.
SPETTISBURY.
In the modern convent chapel is preserved part of the base
of a painted 14th century screen which came from Whitford
Chapel in Devon. It is of rough and massive construction.
On the panels are four figures; Our Lady, St. Katharine, a
King and a Bishop. The background of the figures is
checkered. On the immtins is a rude floral design. The
figures stand on brackets like those at Hilton. Red is the
74 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
predominant colour, and the robes are striped with dark blue.
The base beam is gone, but the middle rail remains.
STANTON ST. GABRIEL.
The ruins of the ancient church stand in a lonely position
near the sea. In 1841 the present church was erected a mile
and a half inland. The old rood beam was transferred to the
new building and erected at the entrance to the chancel. It
has been much restored. The cornice and standards at either
end are modern. Both sides of the beam are ornamented
at regular intervals with conventional flowers attached to a
banded roll moulding. The beam is in good preservation, and
probably dates from the latter part of the 15th century.
STOCK GAYLARD.
In the vestry is preserved a single painted panel with a
figure in scarlet robe with ermine tippet, holding a book. It
probably represents St. Jerome. This panel was discovered
during the restoration of the church in 1885. It was found
embedded in the north wall of the nave near the chancel arch.
There can be little doubt that it formed part of the rood
screen. The panel is much decayed and the face almost
obliterated; but it is an interesting example of figure painting
which is so rare a feature of Dorset screenwork. During the
restoration some remains of the rood beam were discovered,
and the present beam is a conjectural restoration of the
original.
TRENT.
Here is a magnificent rood screen of five bays with elaborate
tracery of the usual Somerset type, but having a transom, in
which respect it resembles the screens at High Ham and
Queen Camel in Somerset, though it is not so lofty or well
proportioned. It is practically intact, except that the north
end bay has been deprived of its tracery to accommodate a
doorway in the east wall of the nave, and the south-end bay
has lost half of the tracery. The detail of the lights is very
similar to Queen Camel; but here, the screen being low^er, the
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 75
doorhead rises higher than the level of the transom. The
lierne vaulting is intact on the west side only, and displays an
unusual feature in the girdle rib which intersects the lierne
ribs, and runs round the lierne vaulting half-way up its height.
The cornices are very sumptuous and contain three rows of
enrichment with a top cresting, all of which retain much
colour and gilding. The lowest cresting has been repaired
with plaster. The wainscot is ornamented with a sort of
foliated canopy design similar to that on the screen of St.
Decuman in Somerset. The doors are intact, though the upper
part has been repaired. There is now no trace of the rood
stairs, since the walls have been much pulled about and
modernised. There is no doubt that this is the finest and
most perfect screen remaining in Dorset, though, as we pointed
out above, Trent was only transferred to this county in 1896,
before which it was included in Somerset. This church also
retains some fine bench ends and the remains of a rich 15th
century pulpit similar to those at Queen Camel and Long
Sutton. Part of it has been renewed in deal. This pulpit at
present serves as a reading-desk. Both screen and pulpit are
evidently copied from those at Queen Camel; but the detail in
each case is inferior and rougher in execution.
WHITCOMBE.
There is no chancel arch in this church; but, until about 30
years ago, there was a plastered tympanum, which was at that
time unfortunately removed. The beam which formerly
supported this tympanum still remains in situ. It is roughly
cut and devoid of all ornamentation. It is probable that the
foot of the rood was fastened to this beam, and that the
tympanum formed a painted background to the sacred figures.
Occasionally the rood was painted on the tympanum, as at
Ludham, Norfolk, and this may have been the case here.
WINTERBOURNE CAME.
Here is a good, but much restored, early 16th century
screen. There is no chancel arch, and no traces of rood
stairs. The base beam is modern. The wainscot has linen
76 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
fold panels, those on the north being modern, as is also the
greater part of the middle rail. The doors remain, and are of
the same design as the rest of the screen. The upper part
has diamond-shaped muntins and ogee tracery heads. With
the exception of those in the doors both muntins and tracery
are modern. The tracery heads are picked out in gold. The
top beam is original, and has a well-moulded cornice with one
row of enrichment consisting of trailing vine. The top beam
has an Elizabethan black-letter text : " Let us hear the
conclusion of all things Fear God and keep his commandments
for that toucheth all men for God judgeth all things."
WIXTERBOURXE MONKTON.
Some remains of a line late 14th century screen were
discovered in 1870. The base, which consisted of an oak
framework with three plain panels on either side, was too
decayed to be preserved; but the tracery heads have been
incorporated in the wainscot of the modern screen erected in
1870. These heads are most interesting, since they are the
earliest wooden screenwork in the county. The tracery is
Decorated in style, approaching flamboyant. The mouldings
are deep and excellent. In the modern pulpit are incorporated
two linen fold panels of early 16th century date.
WIXTERBOURNE STICKLAND.
In this church between the chancel and the north chapel
are the remains of a late Perpendicular screen of the usual
rectilinear form. It was discovered during a recent restoration
and probably dates from the early part of the 16th century.
The wainscot has been removed and it has no tracery. The
cornice is of a somewhat unusual design, and is similar to the
wall plate of the restored chancel roof, which is probably
contemporary with the screen. At present the screen is built
into the wall, with no arch above; but, as the chapel only dates
from the 18th century, the screen is evidently not in situ.
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 77
YETMINSTER.
As recently as 1890 the base of the rood screen remained in
situ. Since that date all traces of it have disappeared. It is
probable that it was swept away during the restoration of the
chancel in the nineties. It was apparently a good piece of
Perpendicular work, and its destruction is greatly to be
deplored. Two corbels for the rood beam remain on either
side of the chancel arch, but that on the north is a restoration.
There are some good early 16th century bench ends in the
nave; and both nave and aisles have excellent painted timber
roofs.
(2) Post-Reformation.
FOLKE.
This church was, with the exception of the tower, completely
rebuilt in 1628, and it still retains most of the excellent wood-
work erected at that time. The screen is of three bays with
pointed arches, each having a pendant at the apex. The
wainscot, which is in two unequal tiers, seems to be modern.
The doors only reach the level of the wainscot, and have each
a round arch in the panels fitted with iron stanchions. The
standards and front of the arches are well carved with
Jacobean designs, including roundels. The entablature is
plain, and surmounted by large ornaments and scroll work
in the centre. The east side of the screen is somewhat
plainer. In the central arch of the north arcade of the nave
is a wooden arch closely resembling the screen. It is probable
that it formed part of a manorial pew.
FORDE ABBEY.
The ancient Chapter House of this Cistercian Abbey was
fitted up as a private chapel by Edmund Prideaux, Cromwell's
Attorney General, in 1649, and still retains the magnificent
screen erected at that time. It consists of three bays, of
which the central is occupied by the doors. Each of the side
bays is sub-divided into two with plain round arches, which
78 THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
rest on moulded square shafts and responds with well carved
capitals. The entablature has dentil ornamentation and is
surmounted by a rounded pediment broken in the centre by a
shield. The pediment has dentil ornamentation. The
standards have bunches of flowers and elaborate capitals.
The wainscot is plain, but the middle rail is richly carved.
The doors have plain wainscot and middle rail, and the upper
part consists of plain open frame. The space above the door-
head is rilled with open work consisting of an elaborate floral
design, which is most effective.
IBBERTON.
Iii the tower arch of this church are the remains of a 17th
century screen. It is of very mediocre design, and much
decayed. The wainscot consists of plain panelling, and the
upper part has turned balusters surmounted by a plain cornice.
The door remains, but it does not seem to be in its original
position, and the whole screen shows signs of having been
much pulled about and dislocated.
IWERNE COURTNEY.
The nave and aisles of this church were rebuilt in the first
quarter of the 1 7th century by Sir Thomas Freke, who erected
a chapel at the east end of the north aisle for his own use,
and enclosed it' on the west and south by excellent wooden
screens. That on the west retains the doors with original
lock and hinges. There is an elaborate entablature supported
on lions and heads of men, and surmounted by scroll work
and ornaments, while in the centre is a coat-of-arms, of Freke
on the west and Taylour on the south. The wainscot is in
two tiers of plain panelling. Above, the screens consist of
lights with curious stiff tracery having a chained bull's head
in each light (the crest of Freke). The lights are divided by
turned balusters with square bases and capitals, the latter
being very elongated. The eritablature is ornamented with
trailing flowers. With the exception of the armorial bearings
THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET. 79
the screens are identical in design, and they are in good
preservation. This is probably the best post-reformation
screenwork in the county.
LONG BURTON.
Quite recently two portions of Jacobean screenwork were
recovered from the Vicarage stable here, and after being
carefully restored were erected in the church at Easter, 1921.
Each portion consists of two bays, and there is no doubt that
originally they were placed in the two arches' which separate
the chancel from the north chapel. At present only one
portion has been replaced in its original position, and the
other has been placed in the tower arch. This second portion
contains the door, which is treated in the same way as the
other bays. The base beam and cornice are modern, as is
the frame, but almost all the rest is original, and it has been
conservatively restored. The wainscot consists of two tiers,
the lo\ver having plain moulded panels, while the upper has
fluted fan-shaped ornaments. The middle rail and uprights
have strap work, as has the top beam. The north side of the
wainscot is plain. The space above the wainscot has iron
.stanchions, and on the top are more stanchions with arrow
heads. These upper stanchions are shaped to the arch, rising
gradually to the centre. In the stable there is another bay of
screenwork, much later and plainer, with the same stanchions
above and below. The older work probably dates from circa
1630, and is therefore contemporary with the woodwork at
Folke.
MELCOMBE BINGHAM.
Between the nave and the south chapel is a wooden screen
erected by Sir Thomas Freke in 1619. It has plain wainscot,
while the middle rail is ornamented with interlaced circles on
the north side. The upper part consists of turned balusters
banded. The top beam is ornamented on both sides with
alternate circles and squares. On a shield on the south are
the initials S. T. F., and on the north the date 1619. The
standards have deep continuous moulding. The doorway is
at the west end, but it is doubtful whether there was ever a
(SO THE CHURCH SCREENS OF DORSET.
door. In this chapel are two Jacobean benches with carved
backs. Sir Thomas Freke, who died in 1633, was a consider-
able benefactor to church fabrics in Dorset. Besides rebuilding
the nave of Iwerne Courtney and erecting screens there
and at Melcombe Bingham, he also rebuilt the chapel at
Melcombe Horsey about a mile from the parish church. This
chapel is now desecrated, and used for secular purposes.
WEvST STAFFORD.
This church was considerably restored and embellished c.
1640, and to this date belongs the fine screen. The wainscot
consists of three tiers of panelling the two lower being plain,
while the top tier is carved with the interlaced circles so
common in woodwork of this period. The upper part consists
of round arches of wide span with turned mullions. There
are no doors, but the doorway has a wide arch supported on
corbels. The south end of the screen is cut short one bay
from the wall to accommodate the pulpit. It is doubtful if this
arrangement is original. The cornice is well carved on both
sides. The muntins on the south side have been removed, and
the east side of the top tier of the wainscot on the south is
plain, while the north is carved on both sides.
WIMBORNE MINSTER.
The remains of the Jacobean stalls and screen\vork are so
jumbled together since the vandalism of 1855 that it is
difficult to decide exactly what does really belong to the
screen. At the present time there is a low screen composed
of portions of the wainscot of the stalls. This consists of
round-headed arches with keystones supported on turned
columns with some excellent carving above. There is how-
ever a portion of the old screen worked up into the modern
tower screen. This portion consists of part of the wainscot,
and is of plain and massive construction. Of the upper part,
which consisted of three open arches, there seem to be no
remains, at any rate in the church. The mutilated stalls still
retain their misericords with well-carved babeuries, and also
some excellent elbow rests and desk fronts.
Dorset (Bulleries.
By the Rev. F. L. BLATHWAYT, M.A., M.B.O.U.
(Read 1st February, 1921}.
the present time it is probable that only two
species of gull breed in Dorset, the Herring Gull
and the Black-headed Gull. It is unlikely that
the great Black- backed Gull was ever a regular
breeder on the sea cliffs of the county, though a few
somewhat doubtful records exist, and the same may be said
of the Lesser Black- backed Gull, though as regards the latter
species it is just possible that a very few pairs may breed, as
examples are frequently seen consorting with the nesting
Herring Gulls throughout the breeding season.
It is not proposed to say very much in this paper about the
Herring Gull colonies, as these would rather fall into an
account of the birds breeding on the Dorset cliffs; but as the
paper is headed u Dorset Gulleries" it would not be right to
omit mention of the colonies of these splendid sea-birds.
The Herring Gull breeds in large numbers on the Dorset
sea cliffs, apparently preferring the chalk and Purbeck
formations. Starting from the East we find the first colony on
the high chalk cliffs where Ballard Down fronts the sea, some
82 DORSET GULLERIES.
of the birds choosing the isolated pinnacles of chalk a little
distance from the shore. No more are found breeding until
Durlston Head is rounded ; but between that point and
S. Aldhelm's Head there are numerous and almost continuous
colonies on the Purbeck cliffs which there fall steeply into the
sea.
The colonies are thickest just west of Anvil Point, east of
Dancing Ledge, and especially along the east face of S.
Aldhelm's headland from Seacombe to the Head, along which
stretch there must be some 300 pairs of nesting birds. A good
many breed on the cliffs at the S.W. end of S. Aldhelm's
Head, but from that point I do not think many breed on the
intervening Kimmeridge clay until Gadd cliff and the high
chalk eastern, sea-face of Bindon Hill are reached, and the
lower cliffs just east of Lulworth Cove. A few nest along the
cliffs between the Cove and Durdle Door, but the next large
colonies are on the high chalk cliffs at Swyre Head and
immediately to the west of Bat's Head, and from there along
the chalk to White Nose. From this point the species does
not appear to breed until Portland is reached, the coast
presenting few suitable stations, and the Portland colony, small
on the east side near the Convict Prison, and numerous on the
west from Blacknor Battery to the Bill, appears to be the
most westerly one in Dorset, as, so far as I am aware, the
species is not met with again breeding in any numbers, if at all,
until the Beer Headland in Devon is reached.
So much for the larger species, which has probably been a
resident on the Dorset coast from time immemorial.
Let us turn now to the Black-headed Gull. Here we
are faced with an interesting problem. Is this species a
recent colonist in the county, or has it returned to haunts
formerly colonized and since deserted ? We perhaps cannot
say, but at the last meeting of the Dorset Field Club an
interesting point in our President's paper came to my notice
which I will refer to. The paper was on u Portland " from
Sir Richard Temple's edition of the Travels of Peter Mundy,
Cornishman, in England in 1635,
DOKSKT GULLKRIKS. 83
" Hard by in those cleaves," wrote Mundy, " breed a certain
sea fowle named Pewitts, many of them from hence carried to
London, where they are kept fedd and used for dainties,"
Sir Richard, in a note on them, states that Mundy, by "Pewitt,"
meant the Black-headed Gull, " Pewitt " or " Puit Gull " being
a local name for the species; but I cannot bring myself to
believe that even three centuries ago this marsh-breeding gull
ever displayed such habits, different from the present day, as
to nest in sea cliffs, and I think that, as has been pointed out
to me by the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, the term "Pewitt" was
used in a loose and inaccurate wav by Mundy, and that the
young Herring Gulls were the species taken from the Portland
cliffs to be fattened for food, as the young of this species as
well as those of the Black-headed Gull were in old days con-
sidered a dainty. If however the word "cleaves " could possibly
mean, not cliffs, but marshy land (i.e. cleaving, sticky), and if
three centuries ago such land existed on, or around, Portland ;
then we have in Mimdy's statement perhaps the earliest
reference to the breeding of the Black-headed Gull in Dorset.
So far as I am aware, it is less than half-a-century ago that
the Black-headed Gull began to colonize, or possibly re-
colonize Dorset. I have searched old records of the occur-
rence of this Gull in Dorset and cannot find that it was
regarded as anything more than a Winter visitor until 44
years ago. The late T. M. Pike records, in the Zoologist of
1877, that, in June of that year, about seven pairs of curious
birds unknown to the keeper were reported by him as breeding
on Littlesea, which birds on investigation he found to be
Black-headed Gulls; and elsewhere he records that about the
same time the species was breeding on a pond made for ducks
on Rempstone Heath, so it is reasonable to suppose that
somewhat less than half-a-century ago this species began to
establish itself as a breeding species in the county.
The present breeding range of the Black-headed Gull in
Dorset extends along the S. & W. sides of the Poole basin. I
cannot pretend to give anything like a complete history of the
various stations the birds have from time to time selected.
84 DORSET GULLERIES.
This is a marsh- loving species in the nesting season, the presence
of rushes, water and swampy tracts appearing to be indispensible,
and a very dry season often drives the birds from one district
to another. It must also be remembered that the eggs are
quite palatable and possess some market value under the name
often of " Lapwing's" eggs (hence perhaps the name " Pewitt
Gull"), and the Dorset colonies have from time to time, in
spite of attempted protection, been severely raided, this
process if carried to extremes alarming the birds and causing
them to move off in a body to safer haunts.
A short account of the usual breeding stations may however
be of some interest.
I. We will start with the colony on Littlesea, separated from
Studland Bay by a low range of sand hills. As already stated,
this appears to have been founded in 1877, and the late
J. C. Mansel-Pleydell, in his Birch of Dorset, states that the
birds were driven away by a dry summer at some date
previous to 1888. Exactly when they returned I do not know,
but I gather from correspondents that they were not there at
the close of the 19th century, but began to return some six
or seven years ago. I am informed that there was a strong
colony in 1917 and apparently not so many in 1918. When
I visited the spot on June 18th, 1919, some 60 pairs were
breeding among the rushes on the west side a little to the
south of the keeper's cottage.
II. The next colony going westward, is that on the Duck
Pond on Rempstone Heath, belonging to Captain Marston,
R.N. of Rempstone Hall. The birds have bred here,
probably fairly continuously, for at least 44 years, and at
times the colony has been a very large one. In 1894 a visitor
stated that over 2,000 birds were th'ere, and another
observer a few years later described it as the densest colony
he had ever seen. The largest estimate I know of, referring
to the early years of the century, put the numbers at no less
than 2,000 pairs! Some five or six years ago the numbers
seem to have begun to dwindle, possibly through over-
crowding, and in 1918 I am told the colony was not a large
DORSET GULLERIES. 85
one. On June 18th, 1919, I only saw about 30 pairs nesting
there; but I was told that in spite of protection many of the
eggs had that year been robbed, so possibly a large
proportion of the birds had in consequence been driven to
nest elsewhere. This pond is an ideal spot for the birds,
there being a certain amount of open water, large tufts of
rushes for the nests, swampy spots, and a thicket of large
sallows; and, if the spoilers can be kept away, the breeding
birds will probably soon increase again to something like
their former numbers.
III. N.W. of the Rempstone Heath colony, and no doubt an
offshoot from it, is what we may call the Arne colony. The
main establishment, consisting, when I saw it in 1919, of
perhaps 800 pairs, is situated out in the spartina grass about
half-a-mile S.W. of Round Island. Many others also nest
nearer to Grip Heath and along the shore of Arne Bay; and
in 1919 there were about 150 pairs at Patchin's Point. The
birds however seem somewhat unsettled, and continually
shift their stations, a high tide sometimes flooding out parts
of a colony. A part of the Arne or Rempstone colony
seems on one occasion to have shifted to Hartlancl Moor,
a little to the S.W., where, in May, 1918, about 150 pairs
were said to be nesting. These however had their eggs
plundered, and moved elsewhere, and when I visited the
spot on June 24th, 1919, only one pair was breeding there.
IV. The next colony is to the N.W. of Wareham, on
Morden Heath. *I have never visited this, but it is probably
also an offshoot of the colonies further east, and, from the
evidence I have received, appears to have started some-
where about the year 1908. The numbers vary from time
to time, but when at full strength there are perhaps over 500
pairs, breeding for the most part on the Old Decoy Pond
and on another smaller pond not far distant. Several
correspondents have described to me their visits to these
* Since the above was written I visited this colony with Dr. Haines,
on May 26th, 1921, and estimated that from 800 to 900 pairs of gulls were
breeding on two ponds on the heath. F.L.B.
86 tiORSET GULLERIES.
ponds, and the numbers reported are very variable, the
probable explanation being that the birds, as has already
been said, shift their stations a great deal from both
natural and unnatural causes. Dr. Haines of Winfrith has
lately sent me very interesting accounts of the Morclen
colonies, and these, if left alone, will probably flourish.
So much for the main colonies; but other little settlements
have from time to time occurred. Thus a few pairs have
occasionally bred on the Chesil Beach, and I have seen eggs
taken there about 1910. Many birds are also seen about
Lodmoor, near Wey mouth, through the summer; and, if none
have as yet bred there, they may very possibly do so in the
near future, as the spot is suitable. Mr. Parkinson Curtis also
informs me that a few have sometimes bred on Brownsea
Island in Poole Harbour; and elsewhere in the same district
pairs are met with nesting away from the main colonies. A
colony has also existed on Parley Common, east of Wimborne,
starting, it seems, about the year 1900, and at times being of
considerable size; but though the birds have certainly nested
on the Hants side of the Common, I have never been able to
prove that they were breeding on the Dorset side, the
evidence being somewhat conflicting.
And so this sketch of Dorset Gulleries must end. A visit in
summer, whether to the Herring Gulls on the cliffs or the
Black-heads on the heath and marsh, is always a source of
great pleasure to the bird lover. The Black-heads are the
earlier to start laying, April being the time, if they are not
molested; while, though some Herring Gulls lay quite at the
end of the month, May is the normal time. The usual clutch
of eggs for each species is three, and the habits and cries of
each species have their own charms, and add much to the
attraction of the sea cliffs, the swampy heath-pools and the
marshes of our beautiful county.
ft be jfoim&incj of Borcbester, flfeaesacbueetts,
anb tbe IRev. 3obn Wbite,
By Captain J. E. ACLAND, F.S.A.
Read February, 1st, 1921.
|HE founding of Dorchester, Mass., dates from
the year 1630, i.e., ten years later than the better
known expedition of the Mayflower to Province-
town and Plymouth. The movement that induced
"The Pilgrims," to leave their homes, and face the risks and
hardships of the "Great Enterprise," was in its origin of a
definitely religions character, thus quaintly recorded by a
chronicler of the period.
He writes "When many most godly and religious people
that dissented from the way of worship then established by
law in the realm of England were being denied the free
exercise of religion after the manner they professed according
to the light of God's Word, and their own consciences, they
did remove themselves and their families into the Colony of
the Massachusetts Bay in New England, that they might
Worship God without any burthensome impositions, which
was the very motive and cause of their coining."
88 FOUNDING OF DORCHESTER, MASS.
In connection with this Puritan (or Separatist) movement,
definite and combined action may be traced as early as 1607.
when William Brewster, a gentleman of good social position,
organized a Church of Puritans at the little village of Scrooby
in Nottinghamshire, where " on the Lord's Day he entertained
the members with great love " in the Manor House. William
Bradford of the near-by village, Austerhelcl, who became
afterwards Governor of Plymouth (Mass.), was closely allied
with Brewster in this movement. In the following year, 1608,
being threatened with imprisonment (for the Act of 1593 made
Puritanism an offence against the Statute law), they and their
friends left England for Amsterdam, under the leadership of
Rev. John Robinson, removing to Leyden in Holland in 1609.
Not wishing to lose their English nationality, \vhich must
have been the case had they remained in Holland, they once
more started on their travels, sailing to Southampton in the
Speedwell, August, 1620. Here they found other Puritan
Pilgrims waiting for them in the Mayflower with the object of
crossing the Atlantic, and founding new Colonies in a new
land, with freedom of laws and religion w r hich they could not
hope for at home.
The Mayflower and Speedwell started down channel in
company, but after delays at Dartmouth and Plymouth,
Speedwell was finally abandoned, some of her passengers
being taken on board Mayflower, which little vessel of 180
tons, with 102 passengers, left Plymouth on 6th September,
and after a dangerous voyage reached Provincetown, Cape
Cod Harbour, on 21st November, and New Plymouth, 21st
December, (N.S.) 1620.
Although, up to this time, Dorset had made no important
contribution to the How of settlers into the New Country,
there can be no doubt that the movement was coming
more and more under the influence of the Rev. John
White, Rector of S. Peter's and Holy Trinity, 16061648,
" Patriarch of Dorchester, 1 ' known later as " Father of the
Massachusetts Colony." Born at Stanton St. John in Oxford-
shire in 1575, he was educated at Winchester and New College,
AND THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 89
Oxon, being elected Fellow of the College, 1595. A man of
conspicuous piety, learning, and power, a moderate but
earnest Puritan, he was in touch with the struggle for religious
freedom from its earliest days. Living in Dorchester at the
time, he would have been specially interested in the emigrations
of the 4 ' Pilgrims " from the Southern ports, Southampton,
Weymouth and Plymouth, and gave both sympathy and
assistance to the original emigration in the Mayflower. In
1623 he personally organized the formation of a trading
post," or station for fishing vessels, at Cape Ann, under Roger
Conant. Near the spot where the first settlers landed there
is now a fine bronze tablet set in a rock at State Fort Park,
with the words
On this site in 1623 a Company of Fishermen and Farmers from
Dorchester, England, under the direction of the Rev. John White, founded
this Massachusets Bay Colony.
About 20 years later, this Cape Ann settlement was given
the name " Gloucester," as at that time a large number of
emigrants from the English town of that name had arrived
there.
White next devoted all his energies to the acquisition of a
Massachusetts Bay Charter, a most important event in the
history of New England; it being mainly due to his skill and
perseverance that the Company was ultimately formed. He
journeyed frequently to London to create and cement the
great alliance between the wealthy London merchants, and
the seamen of the West of England. Before the final con-
summation of this work, other enterprises closely connected
with Dorchester and Dorset were undertaken by Parson
White, which prepared the way for future developments.
The founding of Charlestown, in which the Spragues of
Upwey took a leading part, is recorded in a pamphlet written
by Mr. Henry Sprague, published in Boston, U.S.A., in 1910.
He proves by evidence from early records that the first
permanent settlement in Massachusetts Bay was due to three
brothers, Ralph, Richard, and William Sprague, sailing from
Weymouth in the Abigail in June, 1628, reaching Naumkeag
90 FOUNDING OF DORCHESTER, MASS.
(now Salem) on 6th September. He quotes from an
independent historical account of the settlement," that
" the inhabitants that hirst settled in this place, and brought it
into the denomination of an English town, was in Anno 1628,
as follows, viz.: Ralph, Richard and William Sprague, John
Meech, Simon Hoyte, Abraham Palmer, Walter Pamer,
Nicholas Stowers, John Stickline, with Mr. Bright, Minister to
the Company." The father of the three brothers was Mr.
Edward Sprague, a fuller, and owner of the old mill at Upwey.
There seems little doubt that the Spragues went out in the
Abigail with John Enclecott, himself a native of Dorchester,
selected as supervisor of a Company organized by J. W T hite
(more or less in the Puritan interest) for the purchase of land
between the Merrimac and Charles Rivers. They would have
been of great assistance in promoting this undertaking, being
described as men of " character, substance and enterprise,
excellent citizens, and generous public benefactors." In the
following year, 1629, his Company was re-inforced by
emigrants lilling three ships, one of them called the Lyon's
Whelp, consisting entirely of passengers from Weymouth and
Dorchester.
Endecott had full power to take charge of the plantation,
and to begin the " Wildernesse work." As a ruler he was
zealous and courageous, behaving to the Indians with marked
justice. It is recorded of him that, together with his Puritan
Council, he objected to the growing of tobacco, as they
" believed such a production, except for medicinal purposes,
was injurious both to health and morals." They also insisted
on the abolition of the use of the Book of Common Prayer,
Endecott earning the title of " Puritan of Puritans." He
exercised the chief authority as Deputy Governor, until the
arrival of John Winthrop, the lirst Governor elected under
the Charter of the home authorities. The original Mass.
Plantation thus became a self-governing community, by
John Greene, appointed to transcribe the records of Charlestown, at
a meeting of the Select men, 18th April, 1664.
AND THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 91
Royal Charter, sealed 4th March, 1629, to the Governor and
Company of Massachusetts Bay, in New England.
The embarkation of Winthrbp and his company from
Yarmouth in the Arbella, in March 1630, was the occasion
of the issue of a remarkable letter entitled ".The humble
request of his Majesties Loyall subjects, the Governor and the
Company late gone for New England, to the rest of their
brethren in and of the Church of England for the obtaining
of their prayers and the removal of suspitions, and miscon-
struction of their intentions." It was printed in London,
in all probability drawn up by John White himself, although
not one of the emigrants, being in fact a formal leavetaking,
and exhibits very clearly the spirit in which the enterprise
was undertaken. It has been re-printed, facsimile, by the
New England Society of New 7 York, a copy being presented
to our Museum Library by the John Carter- Brown Library,
Providence, Rhode Island, from which a few extracts are now
taken, of special interest with reference to the reputed author.
It begins
" Reverend Fathers and Brethren, the general rumour of this solemn
Enterprise, wherein ourselves with others are ingaged, as it may spare us
the labour of imparting our occasion unto you, so it gives us the more
incouragement to strengthen ourselves by the procurement of the prayers
and blessings of the Lord's faithfull servants We beseech you therefore
to consider us as your Brethren, standing in very great need of your helpe,
and earnestly imploring it."
u And howsoever your charity may have met with some occasion
of discouragement through the misreport of our intentions, or through
the disaffection, or indiscretion, of some of us, or rather amongst us,
yet we desire you would be pleased to take notice of the principals and
body of our company as those who esteeme it our honour to call the
Church of England from whence we rise our deare Mother, and cannot
part from our native Countrie where she specially resideth without much
sadness of heart and many teares in our eyes Be pleased therefore
Reverend Fathers and Brethren to helpe forward this worke now in hand,
which if it prosper you shall bee the more glorious."
u It is an usual and laudable exercise of your charity to commend to the
prayers of your congregations the necessities and straights of your private
neighbours ; Doe the like for a Church springing out of your own
bowels What goodness you shall extend to us in this or any other
92 FOUNDING OF DORCHESTER, MASS.
Christian kindness, wee shall labour to repay in what dutie wee are or
shall he able to performe, promising, so farre as God shall enable us, to
give him no rest on your behalfes, wishing our heads and hearts may be
as fountaines of teares for your everlasting welfare, when wee shall be in
our poore Cottages in the wildernesse, overshadowed with the spirit of
supplication through the manifold necessities and tribulations which may
not altogether unexpectedly, nor, we hope, unprofitably befall us.
Your assured Friends and Brethren
From Yarmouth Jo. Winthrope, Gov. Rich. Saltonstall
aboard the Arbella Charles Fines Isaac Johnson
April 7, 1630 George Philips Tho. Dudley
&c. William Coddington
About a month in advance of the Arbella, a company met
at Plymouth, where the Mary and John, a vessel of 400 tons,
had been chartered for the voyage, the first ship of the fleet of
1630 to arrive in Massachusetts Bay. These are the
Pilgrims that are termed the " Founders of Dorchester."
Among them were, Roger Clap, Henry Wolcott, Thomas
Ford, George Dyer, William Gaylord, William Phelps, William
Rockwell, Israel Stoughton, George Minot, George Hall,
Richard Collicott, Nathaniel Duncan, and Captains Mason
and Southcote.
The 17th June, 1630, (N.S.) may be safely named as the
official birthday of our namesake in Massachusetts. It is fixed
by two reliable authorities. In the First Parish Church,
Dorchester, is a tablet bearing the following inscription :
u Dorchester, named from the town of Dorchester in Dorset, England.
The first settlers sailed from Plymouth, England in the Mary and John,
one of the Winthrop fleet, March 20, 1630, arrived at Nantasket, now
Hull, May 30, and landed in Dorchester June 6, 1630.* "
Also, at the great gathering in Dorchester to celebrate the
250th aniversary of the planting of the Church, and foundation
of the Town, the 17th June (N.S.), was the date observed.
Thus as the Mayflower stands in history for the founding
of the New England States at Provincetown and Plymouth,
so does the Mary and John mark the commencement of the
colony of Massachusetts Bay, composed for the most part of
* These dates are Old Style.
AND THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 93
emigrants from Dorset and the Western Counties. When
she was ready to leave Plymouth, John White was on the spot
to speed the Pilgrims on their way. Although the commercial
aspect of the emigration was not forgotten, the religious
character of the movement was always kept in view. A proof
of this is the fact that before leaving these shores the Pilgrims
on the Mary and John selected their pastors, and organized
themselves as a Christian Church. One of the passengers
has left on record that " a solemn day of fasting and prayer
was held, and that Mr. John White of Dorchester was present
and did preach unto us the Word of God; the people did
solemnly make choice of and call those godly ministers to be
their officers, so also the Rev. Mr. Warham and Mr. Maverick
did accept thereof, and expressed the same."
Two hundred and fifty years after this scene was enacted,
two great religious gatherings took place in The First Church
and Parish, Dorchester, Mass., on 31st March, and 17th June,
1880, to commemorate the gathering of the Church at
Plymouth (just mentioned), and the arrival of the Dorset
Colonists in America. The celebration was an important
event, the Governor of the State being present, with his staff,
and also the pastors of the Dorchester and Boston Churches
and many descendants of the early settlers. An address was
delivered by Rev. Dr. Hale, an authority on the early history
of New England, who pronounced with no uncertain voice
the debt they owed to John White. He said :
" If we build statues to our heroes and founders, it would be
to John White of Dorchester, the founder of Massachusetts,
that we should build the first. Let him be clad in his
ministerial robes and bands, as when he spoke his farewell to
the colonists. Let him bear in his hand the Sacred Book he
was so fond of illustrating. So let us show who conceived the
idea of this free State, and who was the very hero who called
this free State into existence. Do not think simply of
Dorchester. Let us remember that it is the birth of Mass-
achusetts that we are celebrating. It is the birth of the
Colony of the Bay that we are celebrating. The hero of the
94 FOUNDING OF DORCHESTER, MASS.
Colony, the founder of the Colony, is John White of Dor-
chester, England. It was he who made the great alliance
between the London Merchants and the sea-men of the West
of England. It was he who taught Old England what it was
which was waiting for them in the pre-emption of New
England. It was John White who blew that Gospel trumpet.
(Gather yourselves together, your wives and little ones, the
people of Christ oppressed and denied, and be shipped for
His Service in the Western world, the united colonies of New
England). Yes John White is the hero of this day,"
Grand words surely for us to remember, a testimony to his
character and life work that had stood the test of two
centuries and a half, uttered by one who had personal and
impartial experience of the fruitfulness of his labours.
Another glimpse into his personality is given by Thomas
Fuller, a contemporary (1608 1661) and indeed Rector of the
Dorset parish of Broadwindsor, who gives a characteristic
sketch of White in the Worthies of England.
l> A grave man, yet without moroseness, as he would willingly contribute
his shot of facetiousness on any just occasion. A constant preacher, so
that in the course of his ministry he expounded the Scripture all over, and
half over again, having an excellent faculty in the clear solid interpreting
thereof. A good governor, by whose wisdom the town of Dorchester was
much enriched; knowledge causing piety, piety breeding industry, industry
procuring plenty unto it. He absolutely commanded his own passions
and the purses of his parishioners, whom he could wind up to what height
he pleased on all important occasions."
Verily he had " a strong sway in the town," as is recorded
of him in the porch of S. Peter's Church.
There is not much more to be said of Master W T hite and
his connection with the Puritan emigration. Our Dorchester
declared for the Parliament party at the commencement of
the Civil War, with which the Puritan Patriarch would have
agreed most heartily. In 1642 a troop of Prince Rupert's
Horse attacked the town, broke into Parson White's house,
carrying off or destroying his books. Taking refuge in
London he was given duty as Minister of the Savoy, and
Rector of Lambeth, being appointed also one of the West-
*i
IN
THIS PORCH
LICS THE BOfcY OF
THE .Rev* 40 HN WHITEM*
?..CCE
He wx$ sosN
VI I
HE
Memorial brass erected in the Porch of St. Peter's
Church, Dorchester, Dorset, to the Rev. John White,
the inscription written and designed by the late Mr.
Henry Moule.
AND THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 95
minster "Assembly of Divines." He was able, however, to
return to his old home and Rectory, where he died 21st July,
1648, and was buried in the Porch of the Church of St. Peter.
Another Memorial to the " Patriarch of Dorchester " maybe
seen in Holy Trinity Church, Dorchester. An oak panel at
the West end of the Church gives a list of Rectors dating from
the year 1302 A.D. (The two parishes of Holy Trinity and
S. Peter having been united clown to 1824 A. n.). It is recorded
that this panel, erected in 1902, is " In Memory of the Rev.
John White, 45 years Rector of Holy Trinity and St. Peter's,
Dorchester, by Members of Holy Trinity Church and those
who revere his memory in Dorchester, Massachusetts."
Xamcs of Ships trading from England to America. 1620, onwards.
Speedwell James from Bristol
Mayflower Elizabeth
Mary and John Hercules
Abigail John and Dorothy
Arbella The Rose
Lyon's Whelp Defence
Sparrowhawk wrecked James
Books consulted in preparing this paper.
The Founding of Charlestown, by H. H. Sprague, Boston, U.S.A., 1910.
Proceedings at the 250/7* Aniversary of First Church and Parish,
Dorchester, Mass., Boston, U.S.A., 1880.
Towns of Xcw England and Old England, State Street Trust Company,
Boston, 1920.
History of Dorchester, Antiquarian and Historical Soc.. Boston. 1859.
Xarratii'c History of Good Old Dorchester, Orcutt.
pbenolOQical IRcport on
If irst appearances of 3Birb$, Snsects,
an& jf irst jf lowering of plants
IN DORSET DURING 1920.
Mitb tber IRotes on Xocal Iftatural IMstorg.
By the Rev. F. L. BLATHWAYT, M.A., M.B.O.U.
Notes have been received from :
(W.J.A.) \V. J. Ashford, Blandford.
(F.L.B.) The Rev. F. L. Blathwayt, Melhury Osmund,
Dorchester.
(W.P.C.) W. Parkinson Curtis, Drake North, Sandringham
Road, Parkstone.
(G.D.D.) Dr. G. Dru Drury, Corfe Castle.
(S.E.V.F.) The Rev. S. E. V. Filleul, Sandford House,
Wareham.
(F.H.H.) Dr. F. H. Haines, Winfrith.
(C.W.H.) C. W. He\vo-ill, Compton Lodge, Weymouth.
(R.H.) R. Hine, Beaminster.
(A.B.H.) The Rev. A. B. Hutton, Loders, Bridport.
(W.W.M.) W. W. Male, Bridport.
(F.G.P.) Dr. F. G. Penrose, East Cliff, Bournemouth.
(N.M.R.) Nelson M. Richardson, Monte Video, Weymouth,
FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 97
(J.R.) The Rev. J. Ridley, Pulham Rectory, Dorchester.
(L.R.) Leigh Robinson, Netherbury.
(E.S.R.) E. S. Rodcl, Chardstock House, Chard.
(J.H.S.) Dr. J. H. Salter, Verwood.
(J.E.S.) J. E. Symond, late Tank Corps, Wareham.
(E.E.W.) Miss Ellen E. Woodhotise, Chilmore, Ansty.
NOTES ON MAMMALS.
Natterer's Bat. Two specimens obtained at Loders Vicarage,
on August 29th and 30th. (A.B.H.)
This is a very interesting record, and the only other record
for Dorset appears to be from the extreme East of the county
about the year 1874 (see Proceedings, Vol. XXIV, p. 19).
NOTES ON BIRDS.
The following notes, some of unusual importance, will be of
assistance in tracing the distribution of the rarer species in
the county.
Marsh Warbler. Several pairs hatched successfully, Blandford
district. (W.J.A.)
Dartford Warbler. Observed in many new localities in E. of
county. (W.J.A. and J.E.S.) Three fully-fledged young,
May 18th, and the young of a second brood had not left
the nest on June 28th. (J.H.S.)
Grasshopper Warbler. Nesting Hooke. (R.H.) Several pairs
breeding in Wareham district. (J.E.S.)
Black Redstart. On Church, Blandford, Oct. 30th. (W.J.A.)
Verwood, Nov. llth. (J.H.S.) Swanage, Dec. 17th. (F.G.P.)
Redstart. Passing, but not breeding, Verwood. (J.H.S.)
Breeding Melbury Park. (F.L.B.)
98 FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC.
White Wagtail. A party of 6 or 7 on migration, on Lodmoor,
Weymouth, May 6th. (F.L.B.)
These were easily identified in their spring plumage, and
appeared tamer and more silent than Pied Wagtails ; the
alarm note was also weaker than that of the commoner
species, and was a treble rather than a double note. This
species has not often been recorded for Dorset, but it probably
passes through every year at the periods of migration.
Girl Bunting. Winterborne Abbas, April 6th. (F.L.B)
Weymouth, May 6th. (F.L.B.) Bridport, May 21st.
(W.W.M.)
Woodlark. Increasing in the Heath and Pine district in East
of county. (J.H.S.) Breeds also in West Dorset, newly
hatched young, May 8th. (F.L.B.)
Dipper. Records of breeding or probable breeding from
Loders, Netherbury, Melbury Osmund, Weymouth, Sher-
borne, Dorchester, and also on the rivers Piddle and Frome
nearly as far as Wareham. The neighbourhood of
Wareham apparently marks the most eastern breeding
station of this species in the South of England.
Wryneck. Common in many parts East Dorset. (W.J.A.)
Three seen April 6th, and heard April 14th, Winfrith.
(F.H.H.) Not common Netherbury; heard there March
22nd. (L.R.)
Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Often seen, Netherbury (L.R.),
and Melbury Osmund district. (F.L.B.)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Rare, Netherbury. (L.A.) Fairly
common, Melbury. (F.L.B.) Heard March llth, Winfrith.
(F.H.H.)
Montagu's Harrier. Noticed on Heath towards Corfe Castle,
on April 19th (W.J.A.), and at Abbotsbury by the Decoy-
man and others on May 2nd. A pair about Mordcn Heath
during the summer. (S.E.V.F.)
FIRST APPEARANCES OE BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 99
Common Buzzard. Melbtiry Park, during February. (F.L.B.)
Slonc Curlew. Three localities on Downs, N.E. Dorset.
( j.H.S.) Heard about Bulbarrow during summer. (F.G.P.)
Eggs near Beaminster (seen F.L.B. and R.H.) One
trapped autumn not far from Bridport. (A.B.H.)
Curlew. Nested near Vervvood, unusual. (J.H.S.) Three pairs
nesting on heath South of Wareham. (J.E.S.)
Gadwall. On Sherborne Lake there were two pairs on Feb.
4th, one pair on April 23rd and one pair on June 3rd.
(F.L.B.) The late date points to the possibility of breeding,
though the fact was not established.
Pintail. Two pairs on Sherborne Lake, Feb. 4th (F.L.B.)
Shove ler. Sitting on ten eggs, Abbotsbury Decoy, May 7th.
(F.L.B.)
Goldcn-cyc. One immature, Melbury Park, Nov. 4th. (F.L.B.)
about 30 Poole Harbour (one adult male), Dec. 26th.
(F.G.P.)
Long-tailed Duck. One immature, Abbotsbury Swannery,
April 6th. (F.L.B.)
Roseate Tern. Seen on the Chesil by F.L.B. on May 14th,
May 24th (3) and June 9th. A pair were probably breeding,
but no absolute proof.
Sandwich Tern. Two, Chesil, April 6th ; a party of eight,
Lodmoor, May llth; one, Chesil, May 15th; five or six,
Chesil, June 9th ; no proof of breeding. (F.L.B.)
Lesser Tern. Two, Lodmoor, May 4th ; 12, Chesil, May 6th,
and found breeding later in the summer, but apparently in
somewhat reduced numbers. (F.L.B.)
Little Gull, Swanage, Sept. 23rd. (F.G.P.)
100 FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC.
Slavonian Grebe. C.W.H. noticed small parties of six or seven
in Weymouth Bay between Feb. 16th and April 6th, and
F.L.B. noticed them there on March 22nd.
Black-throated Diver. A pair, Weymouth Bay, May 3rd, in
full breeding plumage, (F.L.B.); seen in same place,
May 13th. (C.W.H.)
Water Rail. Nest of eight eggs, Poole Harbour, April 28th.
(J.H.S.)
NOTES ON MACRO-LEPIDOPTERA.
Colias Ednsa. One, Swanage, May 30th; 26, mostly on coast,
July 28th Sept. llth; one var. helice, Chapman's Pool,
Aug. llth. (G.D.D.) One, Melbury Osmund, one near
Sherborne, June 3rd ; one, Melbury Osmund, Aug. 3rd;
two, Swanage, Sept. 10th. (F.L.B.) Two, (Aug. 2nd and
Sept. 10th), Monte Video, (N.M.R.) From August 8th
onwards in some plenty. (F.H.H.) From August 12th
Sept. 12th, great numbers on coast near Bridport. (W.W.M.)
Liminilis Sibylla. Two seen, Purbeck, July 13th, the only
specimens noticed this season. (G.D.D.)
Polygonia C-albiun. A specimen was seen in March in the
Vicarage garden at Winterbourne Whitchurch by the Rev.
H. H. Tilney-Bassett, who also saw tw r o specimens in a
collection at Milton Abbas, caught in a lane near that place
in August. There are scarcely any recent records of the
appearance of this species in Dorset.
Melitaea Aurlnca. Appearing May 21st, common by the 25th,
near Yetminster. (F.L.B.) Out by May 20th. (W.P.C.)
Two larvae, Broadwindsor, April 18th. (W.W.M.)
Pararge egeria. On wing as late as Oct. 14th, Melbury
Osmund. (F.L.B.)
FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 101
Cyaniris argiolus. Spring brood out April 24th. (G.D.D.)
Second brood, July 20th. (F.H.H.) A few in the spring,
Bridport. (W.W.M.) .Abbotsbury, May 24th; June 1st,
Melbury Osmund ; June 3rd, Sherborne. (F.L.B.)
Adopcca actccon. On wing, May 24th, (F.H.H.) an early date.
Dcilephila livoniica, A female captured at Parkstone, May
19th. (W.P.C.)
Acherontia atropos. A perfect specimen in a barn at Shipton
Gorge, May 12th ; one taken at Charmouth, Oct. 7th.
(W.W.M.)
Acronycta alni. Full fed larva on plum tree, Melbury Osmund,
August 7th, (emerged May 8th, 1921). (F.L.B.)
102
FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, ETC., 1920.
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Meadow Lady's Smock
Sisymbrium alliaria
Garlic Hedge-mustard
Viola Reichenbachiana
Dog Violet
Stellaria holostea
Greater Stitch wort
Geranium robertianum
Herb Robert
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Horse Chestnut
Vicia sepium
Bush Vetch
Prunus spinosa
Black Thorn
Rosa canina
Dog Rose
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IReturn of IRainfall, &c, in 2>oreet,
in 1920.
By the Rev. H. H. TILNEY BASSETT, R.D.
HE year 1920 was marked by no exceptional or
heavy rainfalls, but by constant rain and unusual
dull weather, and this was particularly a feature
of the summer months, one station recording the
total rainfall for July at 7 ' 67in. The warmest day of the year
was May 24th, maximum temperature 79*0; the summer was
generally cold. February was remarkable for being the driest
month of the year and for producing the exceptionally high
shade temperature of 60 '0, February 18th, and on the same
day 61*0 in London and Bath, and in Leamington (Warwick-
shire), 63*0. The only period of frost occurred between
December 10th and 16th, when a good deal of snow fell in
parts of Dorset, but the falls were local.
There were no very long spells of rainless w r eather, the
longest being from August 18th to September 2nd, and
November 2nd to 12th; the average rainfall for the year
calculated from 15 stations, marked with an asterisk in the
tables, was 34'831in., the average for the 65 years 1853 to
1920, 34'763in.
108 RAINFALL IX DORSET.
The heaviest fall in the 24 hours throughout the County
occurred on January 10th, the greatest fall being registered on
that day at 11 stations. Four observers record the greatest
fall on January 28th, two on August 4th, two on October 1st,
two on December 1st and two on April 14th. The heaviest
fall in the 24 hours was registered at Bryanston, l'64in.,
October 1st.
Days with fall of one inch or more in 24 hours: Only one
station records two such days, and 15 stations record one such
day.
The maxima of wet clays were recorded at Sherborne Castle,
211; Lyme Regis, 209; Iwerne Minster, 208; Turn worth, 204;
Maiden Newton, 203; Beaminster, 199; the minimum, Wim-
borne, 131 . There was a remarkable absence of thunder-storms
during the year, a feature of several years past.
OBSERVERS' NOTES.
BEAMINSTER. The average yearly rainfall here for 23 years
is 38'56in., and the average number of rainy days for the same
period, 180. The rainfall of 1920 was therefore as nearly as
possible ij inches above the average, and the rainy days
1 9 above. The wettest month was July, with a fall of 6 ' 30in. ;
and at the end of that month the rainfall of the year to that
date was 7J inches above the average, which will show the
exceptionally dry weather of the autumn months.
FIENNES TROTMAN.
CHICKERELL, MONTEVIDEO. June 14th, slight thunderstorm
and some thunder. July 3rd, a little thunder a long way off.
December 13th, the first snow. N.M.R.
DORCHESTER, WOLLASTON HOUSE. No severe thunderstorm
occurred during the year. Thunder was heard on 15th June,
and on July 3rd and 4th.
No high temperature was recorded here ; even during July
and August. The maximum exceeded 70 only three times,
viz.: 13th, 14th and 15th August, when 75 was reached once
and 71 on the other two days.
The snowfall on 12th and 13th December measured six
inches in depth. J.E.A.
RAINFALL IN DORSET. 109
MAIDEN NEWTON, WYNFORD HOUSE. December 12th, the
measurement of * 20 inches was result of a fall of nearly three
inches of snow, and it was noticed that morning, on my way
up to London, that beyond Evershot Tunnel at Melbury Bubb
far less snow had fallen, at Yetminster hardly any, and at
Yeovil none at all; at Reading the ground was white as also
from there to London. W.
SHAFTESBURY. Rainfall for 1920, 31'76in. Average for
years 1881 1920 (40 years), 32'57in., with probable error
of 0*51in. Average monthly rainfall for years 1881 1920,
Jan., 2*66in.; Feb., 2'29in.; March, 2'38in.; April, 2* 13in.;
May, 2'06in.; June, 2'28in.; July, 2'75in.; Aug., 3'06in.;
Sept., 2'66in.; Oct., 3'80in.; Nov., 3'13in.; Dec., 3'57in.,
Total 32'57in.
Greatest fall on one day in 1920 1*19 inches, July 3rd.
Greatest fall in one month in 1920 6*81 ,, July
Least fall in one month in 1920 0*79 ,, February
Greatest yearly rainfall during years
18811920,44*82 in 1882.
Least yearly rainfall during years
18811920,22*78 in 1908.
STURMINSTER MARSHALL. Thursday, April 29th, the *18in.
measured fell between 4-40 and 5-40 p.m. in a heavy storm
of hail followed by moderate rain. Tuesday, June 5th, sharp
frost. Saturday, July 3rd, very heavy rain suddenly came on
at noon for about i-hour, *40in.; 5p.m., *32in.; but heard no
thunder till about 3. August 20-1, Ice on pool of rain on rick-
cloth covering a wheat rick at Badbury Farm. December 12th,
first smattering of snow. J.C.
WINTERBORNE WHITCHURCH. January was extremely mild
with the exception of the night of the 6th, when the temperature
fell to 16*0 Rain fell on 22 days; the heaviest fall in 24 hours
occurred on 28th, 0'77in. The warmest day was the 12th
when the temperature rose to 55 ' 0, on the same day reading
58'0 in Bath and 57 '0 in London,
110 RAINFALL IX DORSET.
February. Exceptionally mild and dry month for the
season. Rain was measured on eight days, the heaviest fall in
24 hours, 0"16in. on the 20th. The highest temperature was
registered on the 18th, when the thermometer rose to 60"0 in
the shade; on the same day it reached 61 '0 in London and as
high as 63 ' in Leamington. This was the warmest day I have
ever registered in February, the actual highest that as yet has
been observed in 'February, is 68*0, recorded in London,
February 10th, 1898. The lowest temperature registered was
28 '0, the night of the 20th; the coldest day was the 21st, 40*0
maximum; warmest night the 14th, 45*0. Total rainfall,
0'60in.
March. Mild weather prevailed throughout the month;
there were 15 clays on which rain fell; the heaviest fall in 24
hours occurred on the 13th, 0'53in. The warmest day was
the 22nd, when the temperature rose to 66*0; the lowest
the night of the 3rd, 21*0. The coldest day was the 8th,
when the thermometer did not rise above 41*0; the warmest
night was the 27th, 48 '0. Snow fell lightly on the 9th and
14th. Total rainfall, 3'03in.
April. A very cold wet month. Rain fell on 21 days; the
heaviest fall in 24 hours occurred on the 14th, 0'90in.; there
was a very heavy hurricane from 7 p.m. the 14th to midnight
15th. The highest temperature occurred on the 23rd, 64*0 ;
the lowest on the night of 29th, 30*0. The coldest day was
the 2nd, 47 '0. The warmest night, 9th, 49'0. Heavy hail
and snow fell together from 4-15 to 5, quite covering the
ground, on the 29th. Total rainfall, 4'52in.
May. Rain fell on 13 days; the heaviest fall in the 24 hours
occurred on the 1st, 0'39in. There was faint lightning
during the night of the 28th. The hottest day was the 24th,
79 * in the shade (which indeed proved to be the hottest day
of the summer. The coldest was registered on the night of the
19th, 34 '0. The warmest night was the 28th, when the
temperature failed to fall below 56*0. The coldest day was
the 8th, with a maximum of 53*0. Total rainfall, r75in.
RAINFALL IN DORSET. 1 1 1
June. A cold unsettled month. Rain fell on '14 days; the
heaviest fall in 24 hours occurred on the 10th, 0"50in. The
prevalence of dull cloudy weather for days together was a
marked feature of the month. The highest temperature was
registered on 24th, 7'20; the lowest, the night of the 4th, 34'0.
The coldest day was the 12th with a maximum of 58'0; the
warmest night was that |of the 28th, 58'0. Total rainfall,
279in. On the 15th there was thunder to the S.W. 2-15 to
3 p.m., and again from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. to the S.E. and N.
July. A cold wet month. The temperature did not exceed
70 in the shade on any one day. Rain fell on 22 days; the
heaviest fall in 24 hours was 0'70in., on the 25th. The
highest shade temperature was 70 which was registered on
the 15th, 23rd and 30th ; lowest observed, the night of the
25th, 40, Thunder was heard to the S.E. from 12-30 to 2 p.m.,
to the N. and N.W. from 2-30 to 4 p.m. on the 3rd; on the 4th,
distant thunder was heard to the N., 2-30 to 6 p.m. The
coldest day was the 1st, when the temperature did not rise
above 60'0; warmest night, 56'0, night of 24th. Total
rainfall, 5'53in.
August. The first seven days of the month were very stormy,
but from that period onward conditions improved greatly; no
rain fell during the rest of the month except on the 18th. "The
heaviest fall in 24 hours was registered on the 4th, 0'70in.
Highest temperature observed, 73'0, on the 13th; lowest, night
of the 31st, 37'0. Total rainfall, Win.
September. A fine month. Rain fell on seven days. Highest
temperature, 74'0, on the 12th; lowest, night of the 10th, 37.
Heaviest fall of rain in 24 hours occurred on the 17th, 0'27in.
During the night of the 16th there was a heavy squall with two
peals of thunder; and on the 19th a thunderstorm of slight
intensity passed from N.W. to S.E. between 3 and 4 p.m.
Total rainfall, l'09in.
October. Up to the 6th of the month stormy and wild
weather prevailed; very heavy rain, accompanied with several
peals of thunder, fell on the morning of the 1st. Rain was
112 RAINFALL IN DORSET.
measured on 11 davs ; heaviest fall in 24 hours occurred on
the 1st, l'06in. Highest temperature was registered on the
7th, 68'0; lowest, the night of the 31st, 31'0. Total rainfall,
3'64in.
November. The special feature of the month perhaps was
the high daily temperature for the time of year. Rain fell on
nine days ; the greatest fall in the 24 hours occurred on the
29th, 0'55in. Highest temperature was registered on the 8th,
60'0; lowest, the night of the 16th, 28*0. Total rainfall, 2'18in.
December. The month of December was generally mild, the
last ten days exceptionally so, the thermometer rising to 50
and above on each day, and on the 26th reaching the
exceptional height of 56 '0 in the shade. But there was a
sharp touch of real wintry weather from the llth to 17th.
From the evening of the llth till the morning of the 14th the
temperature did not rise above the freezing point, heavy snow
showers being frequent during the period, especially one
between 4 and 5 p.m. on the 13th. The highest temperature
was registered on the 26th, 56'0; the lowest, the night of the
15th, 20'0. Total rainfall, 3'34in.
RAINFALL IN DORSET.
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INDEX TO VOLUME XLII.
Acland, Capt. J. E., F.S.A., Vice-
President and Hon. Treasurer,
xxxix, xl, xliii, xlviii, 1, li, liii, Iv,
87.
Affpuddle, 69.
Anniversary Address, President's, 1.
Apple Tree Wassail, 51.
Archdeacon of Dorset's Book, xli.
Associated Archaeological Societies,
Report of Delegates, xlv.
Balance Sheet, Iviii.
Bartelot, Rev. R. G., M.A., xxxiii.
Bassett, Rev. H. H. Tilney, R.D.,
Hon. Editor of Rainfall Returns,
107.
Batcombe, 66.
Beament, W. O., M.A., xliv, 51.
Bere Regis, 69.
Billington, E. R, Ivi.
Birds, Dorset, 81, 97.
First Appearances of, 102.
Blathvvayt, Rev. F. L..M.A., M.B.O.U.
Hon. Editor of Phenological
Report, 1, 81, 96.
Bradford Abbas, 67.
British Association, Report of
Delegates, xxxix.
Cattistock, xliii.
Cecil, Lord Eustace,'' In Memoriam,"
lix.
Cerne Abbas, 67.
Chardstock, xliv.
Chickerill, xliii.
Church Screens of Dorset, xliv.
Clifton Maybank, Find of Bronze-
age rapier, Iv.
Compton, Nether, 67.
Cornish-Browne, C. J., xxxiv, liv.
Cranborne, 70.
Dallison, Rev. R. W. H., M.A., xxxii.
Delegates, Reports of, xxxix, xlv.
Dicker, Miss E. H., xli.
Dorchester, All Saints, xlii, 70.
Churches, xlii.
Maiden Castle, 49,
,, Museum, Acquisitions, Iv.
Dorchester, Massachusetts, 87.
Dorset, Archdeacon's Book, xli.
Church Life in 18th cen-
tury, xli.
Church Roofs, 1.,
Dorset Church Screens, xliv, 61.
Galleries, 81.
Photographic Survey, xxxiv, liv.
Eggardun Hill, xxxi, 31.
Elvves, Capt. G. R., Vice-President,
lii.
Fish, Tithes of, xliii.
Fleet, xliii.
Fletcher, Rev. Canon J. M J., Vice-
President and Hon. Editor, xxx,
xli, xlvi, xlviii (n), li, liii.
Folk Lore, 51, 60.
P^olke, 77.
Fontmell Magna, 70.
Forde Abbey, 77.
Founding of Dorchester, Massa-
chusetts, 87.
Frampton, xliii.
Fromc Vauchurch, xliii.
Gillingham, 71.
Gulleries, Dorset, 81.
Hardy, Admiral Sir Thomas M., xxxv,
Hayne, R., xlix.
Helstone, The, xxxvii, 36.
Hilton, 63, 71.
Hutchins, Rev. John, xli.
Ibberton, 78.
Insects, First Appearance of, in
Dorset, 106.
Iwerne Courtney, 78.
King John at Poorstock, xxxiii.
Knowle, 68.
Libraries, Affiliated, xxiii.
Long, E. T., xliv, 1, 61.
Longburton, 79.
Maiden Castle, 49.
Maiden Newton, xxxi.
Mainwaring, Col. F. G. L., 1.
Manfield, W. Hardy, xxxv.
Mansel-Pleydell, Canon J. C. M., xlv.
Mayo, Canon, D. Litt., &c., lii.
Melbury Bubb, 1.
Members of the Field Club, List of, xii.
,, Honorary, xii.
,, ,, New, xxiv.
Milton Abbas, 68.
Molyneux, Rev. Sir John C., Bart.,
xxxviii.
INDEX continued.
Morris, Sir Daniel. K.C.M.G., D.Sc.,
I). C.L., Vice-President, xxxix, Ivii.
Mundy, Travels of Peter, in Dorset.
42.
Museum, Dorset County. Recent
Acquisitions. Iv.
Nelson, Lord. Relics, xxxvii.
Notes on Portland Plants and
Insects, xxix, 25.
Obituary Notices, lix, 1. 2.
Officers of the Field Club, v, xi.
,, Election of, li.
Okeford Fit'/paine, 73.
Oliver, Vere L., F.8.A.. xxxvii. xlix,
Ivi, 36,
Pentin, Rev. H., M.A., Vice-
President and Hon. Secretary,
xxviii, xxxiv, xxxviii, xliii, li.liii.
Phenological Report, 96,
Photographic Survey, xxxiv, liv.
Plants, Earliest Dorset Records
(1920), 104.
Poorstock, xxxiii.
Pope, Alfred, F.S.A.. Vice-President,
xxxii.
Portesham, xxxv, 72.
Portland, xxx. xliv. 43.
,, Notes on Insects and
Plants, xxx, 25.
St. Swithin, xlii.
Travels of Peter Mundy
in, 42.
Pouncy, Harry, Assistant-Secretary,
li, liii.
President, see Richardson, N. M.
President's Annual Address
Agriculture, 6.
Anthropology, 19.
Archaeology, 19.
Astronomy, 10.
Botany, 6.
Chemistry, 15.
Electricity, 14.
Engineering, 15.
General, 22.
Geography, 18.
Geology, 8.
Meteorology, 13.
Obituary, 1.
Zoology, 2.
Prideaux, C.S., F.R.S.M., &c., xxxii,
xxxiii,
Prideaux, W. de C., F.S.A.. F.R.S.M.,
&c., Vice-President, 1, lii.
Rainfall Returns (1920), 107.
Richardson, Mrs., N. M., xxxix.
Richardson, N. M., B.A., President,
xxix. xxxv, xxxvii, xliv, xlvii, li,
lii, Ivii, lix, 1, 25.
Rickman, Rev. W. F., M.A., xxxiv.
Rodd, E. S., xliv.
Rodwell, Discovery of Roman
Spoon at, Ivi.
Sandford Orcas, 73.
Sarsen Stones, xxxvii.
Screens, Dorset Church, xliv, 61.
Seward, E., F.R.I.B.A., 1, lii.
Sherborne. 73.
Solly, Rev. H. Shaen, xxxii. 31.
Spettisbury, 63, 73.
Stanton S. Gabriel, 74.
Stock Gaylard, 74.
Stoford, Bronze dagger found at, 1.
Sturminster Marshall, 114 (a).
Symonds, H., F.S.A., Vice-President,
xxxix, xl, xliii.
Syinondsbury Church, xlvi.
Tally Sticks, xliii, xlviii.
Thornford, 68.
Tithes of Fish, xliii.
Travels of Peter Mundy in Dorset, 42.
Trent, 62, 74.
Tube Well, Sturminster Marshall,
114 (a).
Udall, His Honour J. S., F.S.A., Vice-
President, xlv.
Vice-Presidents, List of, v, xi.
Wesley, Rev. Samuel, xlvi.
West Stafford, 80.
Weymouth, Iv, Ivi, 43, 49.
Whitcombe, 75.
White, Rev. John, xlviii (n), 88, 95 (a).
Wimborne Minster, 63, 80.
Winterbourne Came, 75.
,, Monkton, 76.
Stickland, 76.
W T ool, 68.
Worth Matravers, 69.
Yetminster, 77.
DA
670
D69D6
v.42
Dorset Natural History and
Archaeological Society
Proceedings
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