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 ! 
 
THE 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 SELBORNE. 
 
 SHEEP-FOLD. 
 

 
 
 
 
THE 
 
 NATURAL HISTOKY AND ANTIQUITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 SELBORNE, 
 
 IN THE COUNTY OF SOUTHAMPTON. 
 
 BY THE LATE 
 
 Rev. GILBERT WHITE, 
 
 FORMERLY FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 EDITED BY 
 
 THOMAS BELL, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ZOOLOGY IN KINg'8 COLLEGE, LONDON. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE, SERMON, ACCOUNT-BOOK, 
 GARDEN KALENDAR, ANIMALS AND PLANTS, GEOLOGY, 
 ROMAN-BRITISH ANTIQUITIES, &c. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN VAN VOORST, 1 PATERNOSTER ROW 
 
 MDCCCLXXV1I. 
 
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, 
 RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 IN VOL. II. 
 
 Sheep-fold . Half-title 
 
 Front View of the Wakes. The small lower 
 window between the first and second rail-posts 
 belongs to the room in which the ' Natural 
 
 History ' was Written Frontispiece 
 
 West Portion of the Village, on the road to Newton Page 138 
 
 Coffin-lid Page 396 
 
 Ecclesiastical Tiles found in Selborne Church . . Page 398 
 
 Facsimile page of ' Expenses,' to show White's 
 distinct and beautiful autograph Page 410 
 
 139613 
 
CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 THE 
 
 REV. JOHN WHITE. 
 
 LETTER L* 
 
 Selborne, May 26, 1770. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 I am to acknowledge first the receipt of your kind letter of 
 February 19, which I should have answered before now, had 
 I not waited for your box of curiosities ; concerning which 
 you would naturally expect I should give some account. 
 Farther obligations are now due for a second letter of April 
 14 : but though I have not yet received the box, I must no 
 longer omit to take notice of your agreeable communications. 
 It is probable the box may be in London : but I have lately 
 intimated that j would not wish to have it sent down at 
 present, as I hope to be in town as soon as Whitsuntide is 
 over. 
 
 Your Vespce with purple wings are a beautiful and scarce 
 species: they are the Vespce crabroni congeneres in Italia eaptce 
 of Mr. Willughby, well described in Ray's His. Insect orum, 
 
 * [The first and second letters were written when his brother wa.s 
 Chaplain at Gibraltar.— T. B.] 
 
 B 2 
 
 D. H. HILL LIBRARY 
 North Carolina State College 
 
4 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 p. 250. Pray observe what they feed on ; and enquire into 
 their manner of nidification. Your butterfly-like insect with 
 long remiform wings is curious and rare, and proves to be 
 the Panorpa eoa Lin.: you see it is to be found in few places; 
 and Scopoli knows nothing of it, though Carniola lies in a 
 warm latitude. Send some more specimens. Pray observe 
 how and where they breed. I suspect much that they come 
 from the water, where they perhaps are hatched like the 
 Ephemerce (may flies) and the Pltryganece (cadews). 
 
 Here it will be proper to remark that Lin. is too general in 
 some of his assertions : too many exceptions occur under his 
 general rules : as you must have already observed in the 
 course of your reading the Syst. Nat. 
 
 You will be pleased to observe whether your ant-catching 
 Sphex (for a Sphex I certainly think it was, though we soon 
 lost our single small specimen) does not carry it's prey to it's 
 nest in order to feed it's maggots : in and with what sub- 
 stance does it make it's nest? I have named it Sphex formi- 
 carum falco. 
 
 The insect with a long slender petiolus between the thorax 
 and abdomen is a fine sort of Ichneumon. 
 
 Look after the genus of birds called Petrels ; they are very 
 peculiar in their way of life, and are in the Atlantic ; perhaps 
 may enter the Streights. 
 
 I am glad you begin to relish Linn. : there is nothing to 
 be done in the wide boundless field of Nat. Hist. Avithout 
 system. Now you are master of the ordlnes, you must attend 
 to the genera, and make yourself well acquainted with the 
 terms. Study well the introductions to the classes, and see 
 how the terms are explained. 
 
 Look still for the Myrmeleon (lion pismire) Syst. Nat. p. 913. 
 It has jaws like a wasp ; 4 pretty long palpi (feelers), no stem- 
 mata ; pimples like crowns on it's head ; antennas clavatce ! ! 
 Andalusia, I should think, must produce it. 
 
 Your embassy to Morocco, when well drawn up, will make 
 a good chapter in your History. Did you make no remarks 
 on the country ? You are to remember that you will want 
 an abundance of matter to fill up 200 or 300 pages : and no 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 5 
 
 publication will make a respectable appearance unless you 
 can swell it to somewhat of such a bulk. 
 
 What sorts of Land-tortoises do you find ? when do they 
 come forth, and when do they hide * ? 
 
 Have you no stone-curlews ( Charadrius cedicnemus) ? they 
 certainly leave us for some of the dead months of winter. 
 
 You will, I hope, settle that curious article concerning your 
 winter-martin f. In your letter of November last you seemed 
 to be puzzled, and say " that the winter-martins begin to 
 appear in a different dress : they are blacker on the back, and 
 whiter under the belly than last winter:" and "that you 
 suspect they are the real summer martins now undergoing 
 a change of colour, and possibly intending to winter here in 
 a browner habit." And yet in your letter of April 14 you 
 only say in general, " that you saw (March 23) swallows, 
 martins, and your brown winter-martins all flying together." 
 This most curious article of all your intelligence will not, I 
 hope, remain dubious, and unsettled. 
 
 Sure you must mistake when you say in your Journal, 
 April 15 th , 1769, " that the vines, though their shoots are but 
 6 or 8 inches long, have a good many grapes set." Do you 
 not mistake the buds of bloom for fruit? Vines are late 
 blowers in most climates : they show the rudiments of bloom 
 with us in April ; but do not blow 'til about July 1 : 'til the 
 shoots are two or three feet long. When in bloom they smell 
 sweetly. Are not some of your foxes jackalls (Lupus 
 aureus) ? that animal wants to be better described. 
 
 Don't be too hasty in pronouncing any species a nonde- 
 script. 
 
 Scopoli is very ingenious : he is publishing on birds. 
 
 Mr. Pennant has heard of your pursuits, and desires to pro- 
 mote them. As to fishes, he says you must get Briinnich's 
 history of those of Marseilles ; and Gouan on fish : the last 
 lives at Montpellier. Can't you contrive to correspond with 
 him ? He has written to Mr. Pennant. He expects the 
 
 * [The only species likely to be found in North Africa are Testudo 
 mauritanica and T. marginata. — T. B.] 
 
 t [Hirundo rupestris; see next page. — A. N.] 
 
6 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 birds and fishes of Leghorn and Naples soon, and is ready to 
 communicate them. 
 
 Mineralogy must not be neglected. 
 
 In order to assist your enquiries Mr. Pennant sends you a 
 list of such animals as are known to belong to the southern 
 parts of Europe. 
 
 Your wine proves very sound and good. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Selbome, Jan. 25, 1771. 
 Dear Brother, 
 I received your kind letter of October 19, and wrote you an 
 answer on November 6. I should have been very glad to 
 have seen Mr. Twisse : he just came to London, called on 
 Bro. Ben, and set out for Gibraltar again. No. five is Bay's 
 Junco, and the Turdus arundinaeeas of Lin.* The Merula 
 passer solitarius of Bay is said to be a fine songster, and is 
 supposed to be the bird mentioned Psalm cii. 7 f. Your winter 
 swallow is undoubtedly the Ilirundo rupestris of Scopoli: you 
 however will have the credit of discovering it's winter quarters. 
 Brisson mentions a tridactyl quail \ from Madagascar : he 
 calls it " Perdix interne cinerea, superne e cinereo rufo, & 
 nigro variegata, gutture & collo inferiore nigris ; coturnici 
 nostrati paululum crassitie cedens." His 'Ornithology' is ex- 
 
 * [See note to p. 9.— A. N.] 
 
 t [The Rock-Thrush, Monticola cyanus of modern ornithologists. — A.N.] 
 [This seems to show that John White had met with the " Gibraltar 
 Quail," which was first described by Latham (Gen. Synops. ii. p. 790) 
 from a specimen in the Leverian Museum. At the same time he also 
 described {torn. cii. p. 791) the " Andalusian Quail," though that had 
 previously been mentioned by Shaw (Trav. p. 300), and both are now 
 known to be specifically identical. A few years afterwards Desfontaines 
 described and figured the species (Mem. del'Acad. desScien. 1787, p. 500) 
 as Tetrao sylvaticus ; and it is the Turnix sylvatica of modern ornithologists. 
 The type of Latham's " Gibraltar Quail " passed at the sale of the Leverian 
 Museum to that of Vienna, but, says Herr von Tekeln (Ibis, 1873, p. 36), 
 " is no longer in the collection." — A. N.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 7 
 
 travagantly dear ; 7 or 8 guineas. Geoffroy will set you 
 right by means of his cuts in many genera of insects. 
 
 The motto from the Odyssey, Book iv. 566, is a description 
 of the Elysian fields, and will suit the climate of Andalusia 
 well. 
 
 Ou vtfperos, ovt' ap' ^eificov 7ro\vs, ovre ttot op^pos' 
 AAA' aiei Zvcpvpoio XiyvnveiovTas arjras 
 Queavos avirjaip, ava^vx^v avdpanTits. 
 
 Stern winter smiles on that auspicious clime ; 
 The fields are florid with unfading prime : 
 From the bleak pole no winds inclement blow, 
 Mould the round hail, or flake the fleecy snow ; 
 But from the breezy deep the blest inhale 
 The fragrant murmurs of the western gale. 
 
 The prose motto is perfectly suitable to your present situa- 
 tion, and prophetic of your undertaking. 
 
 " Certe si aliquis naturse consultus in maxime australi Hispanhi aves 
 observaret, quando accedant aut recedant austrum et septentrionem 
 versus, notatis scilicet diebus mensis et speciebus ; res hfec adeo obscura 
 brevi maxime illustraretur." — Amcenitates Academical, Lin. vol. iv. 
 
 Now Mr. Twisse is returned, be sure get his conjectures on 
 the currents of the Streights : you will want dissertations for 
 your work. Your embassy to the Emp. of Morocco with a 
 description of his person, manners, troops, &c. will make a 
 very good chapter. Have you not in Spain some crown- 
 flocks of sheep which migrate with the seasons from N. to S. 
 Get some anecdotes of them. Mr. Pennant makes his artist 
 take all your most curious birds ; and promises the drawings 
 shall be forthcoming if wanted to engrave from. Describe 
 the Vultur percnopt. most minutely, and learn if you have an 
 opportunity the difference of the sexes. Get the skin of the 
 Lupus aureus from Barbary, and describe it well. Scopoli's 
 new Hirundo alpina is nothing, I think, but the Hirundo 
 melba, which is indeed a noble swift : get all the anecdotes 
 you can about them. Write to Scopoli, he is very clever : 
 but ask him as gravely as you can how he is sure that the 
 woodcock, when pursued, carries off her young in her bill. 
 I have just sent your cargo, which I received in August, to 
 Mr. Pennant : but as to your collection shipped in October, I 
 
8 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 have never seen it yet ; for brother Thomas writes word that it 
 has been performing quarantine in Stangate-creek. Just as 
 I had penned the last sentence a letter arrived from brother 
 Tho. informing me that the box was got safe to his house ; 
 which is good news : for I was in pain for the curiosities and 
 Jack's shirts. When the Mantis casts his skin he is in his 
 pupa state, and advancing to perfection by casting aside 
 those exuvise. Scopoli's icones will probably disappoint you ; 
 Linna3us's engravings of insects are miserable : Geoffroy's 
 are the best I have seen. The bird you call a Parus (if it be 
 not the common black-cap) is a nondescript : if it should 
 prove new, call it Motacilla atricapilloides : Mr. Pennant 
 thinks it a new bird *. Your purple-winged Vespa is no doubt 
 the Crctbroni congener Raji ; and if you can find that it has 
 " thorax ad latera postice utrinque dente notatus," I shall 
 acknowledge it to be the Sphex bidens Linn. I am sending 
 all your insects to nephew Ben. White in town, and shall get 
 Mr. Lee the botanist of Hammersmith to inspect and ascertain 
 them, because he is the best entomologist that I know. The 
 reason that Linn, mentions so many insects from Barbary is, 
 because Mr. Brander the Swedish Consul at Algiers sent him 
 vast collections. In the little box which you sent me with 
 the sliding lid are two species of Myrmeleones. Geoffroy 
 seems to have a good cut of one. You will now be able to 
 measure the rain of your climate : the mean quantity pet 
 ann. in Rutland is 20f inches. Learn as much as possible 
 the manners of animals; they are worth a ream of descriptions. 
 You must produce some ingenious dissertations to entertain 
 the unsystematic reader. What do the Panorpm coce do with 
 their long remiform wings ? Frequent your markets, and 
 see what birds are offered to sale. Get some account of the 
 prickly heat, or fever, and the exact height of your mountain. 
 
 * [Mr. Pennant seems to have been quite right. The bird was most 
 likely that which is now known as Sylvia melanocepliala, and was first 
 described in 1776 by Oetti, who found it in Sardinia (Uccelli di Sard. 
 p. 218), but did not receive a name till Gmelin gave it one. If John 
 White's specimen, as his others appear to have been, was deposited in 
 the Leverian Museum, it must have been overlooked by Latham. — A. N.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 9 
 
 It seems to me no doubt that your Motacilla No. 5 is the Junco 
 of Ray ; but he does not seem to be so exact as usual, and 
 talks of a stiff tail, and omits mentioning the white and black 
 bars at the end of it's tail *. It will be worth our while to find 
 out Mr. Moore the botanist, or his representatives ; and to 
 endeavour to procure his flora of your district. 
 
 Ray does not take notice that the thighs of the Merops are 
 naked. 
 
 I had written thus far when your curious box of birds 
 shipped in October, and Jack's shirts and sweetmeats arrived : 
 the insects were left in town for the reason above mentioned. 
 Your kind letter of December 9 came the same day. Geoffroy 
 no doubt is too verbose; so are all his countrymen. Mr. Pen- 
 nant makes sad complaint of Gouan's book of fishes, and of 
 the obscurity of the Labrus and Spams genera. Dr. Shaw's 
 Natural part of his travels is said to be good. 
 
 You will do well to have two columns of thermometer 
 observations, especially as 1769 and 1770 were both on the 
 extremes. As matter flows in upon me I begin to think of 
 composing a Natural History of Selborne in the form of a 
 journal for 1769; we shall then be able to compare the cli- 
 mates. You mention the great eagle owl, and send me, I 
 think, a wing and claw of that majestic bird ; and yet you 
 call it Strix otus; sure you mean Strix bubo: the otus is our 
 common horned owl. I see none of your plants ; perhaps 
 they are lost : the sweet-smelling clammy shrub must be, I 
 suppose, a cistus ; has it not a single, rose-like, fugacious 
 flower ? You have classed all your last fine cargo of birds 
 so justly that there is no room for objection; where you 
 doubt, I doubt, though I think there is little room to doubt 
 about the Alauda cristata; but the pair of birds (if they are a 
 
 * [This statement of White's proves that this bird (already mentioned 
 p. 6) was not the Junco of Ray, which is the Great Heed- Warbler 
 (Acroeephalus arundinaceus) ; but it is doubtless the Reed-Thrush, var. A, 
 of Latham (Gen. Synops. ii. p. 33), who described a specimen from 
 Gibraltar in the Leverian Museum — most likely the very one sent by 
 John White. The species did not receive a name till 1^20, and is the 
 Aedon galactodes of modern ornithologists. See Yarrell, 'Brit. Birds,* 
 Ed. 4, i. p. 355.— A. N.] 
 
10 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 pair) which, I suppose, you call Alauda non-crlstata, seem 
 rather some species of the genus Motacilla *. Get the Pratin- 
 cola when you can. At present I am a stranger to your 
 (Eaanthe f. The Oriolus galbula must be a fine bird when in 
 perfection. Your barometer fluctuates much more than I 
 could have expected in so low a latitude and warm a climate : 
 in the tropics it hardly varies at all. Your last quail seems 
 to be a male, the former a female. You will pardon the 
 didactic air of my letters, which in our present way of corre- 
 spondence is perhaps unavoidable. The wing of the Stria: 
 bubo is " remigibus primoribus serratis:" had Linn, remarked 
 that, he would not have made that a specific difference to his 
 Strix aluco%. See Fauna Suec. p. 25. 
 
 I am, &c. &c. 
 
 LETTER III. § 
 
 Selborne, June 17 [1773]. 
 Dear Brother, 
 As you knew that the measles obtained very much in this 
 village, you could not much wonder if you were to hear that 
 
 * [It would, of course, be useless to attempt any identification of these 
 birds.— A. N.] 
 
 t [Besides our common Saxicola cenanthe, three other species of Wheat- 
 ear, according to Col. Irby (' Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar,' 
 p. 79), frequent the Rock. It would, of course, be impossible to say which 
 of them John White's bird was; but Latham gives Gibraltar as a locality 
 for that which he calls the Russet Wheatear, and described a specimen 
 in the Leverian Museum. This is S. stapazina. — A. N.] 
 
 \ [Herein White seems to have fallen into the error of supposing that 
 each particular feature included in the diagnosis given of a species by 
 Linnaeus needs be peculiar thereto. On the contrary it is the aggregate 
 of these features that forms a specific character ; and by naming certain 
 otber features Linnaeus sufficiently guarded himself from such a mistake 
 as is imputed to him in the text. As to what his <!?. aluco may have 
 been, see < Ibis,' 1876, pp. 101, 102.— A. N.] 
 
 § [This and the following letters were written after John White's return 
 to England, which took place in May 1773. — T. B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 11 
 
 your son had got them ; but you will be agreeably surprised 
 to be informed that he has had them, and got up this morning 
 for the first time. He drooped a little on Saturday and 
 Sunday, and went to bed on Monday, where he lay 'til this 
 morning without any cough, or fever, or any bad symptom at 
 all. Thomas lay in the little bed by him to help him to balm 
 tea, &c. in the night ; but last night he slept without taking 
 any thing at all. Tomorrow he takes physic. Mr. Budd and 
 Mr. Webb (who both came to neighbours) called in and said 
 he was in a fine way. Jack has behaved like a philosopher all 
 through, submitting to his confinement without reluctance or 
 murmuring. In general the neighbourhood has been severely 
 handled by this disorder ; and poor Nanny Woods had such a 
 fever afterwards, and was so reduced, that I thought we should 
 have lost her; she is still so weak as not to be able to walk. 
 Give my respects to my sister, whom I congratulate on this 
 event. I will write again in about a week. 
 
 I am not sure yet that I shall be able to procure timber for 
 my new building. 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Selborne, June 26 [1773]. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Your favour of tho 17th reached me Wednesday; and about 
 the same time, I presume, you received my account about 
 Jack's measles. My nephew continues perfectly well, and has 
 not, through the distemper nor since, had the least cough. 
 From the time that he came home he had somewhat of an 
 hoarseness in his voice, which I took at first to be a cold ; but, 
 upon considering the matter, it is owing no doubt to a cause 
 incident to young men about his time of life. 
 
 It pleases me much to find that you have heard the sibilous, 
 or shivering wren, since you know all the species ; and that 
 
12 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 you have hoard the sedge-bird, which for variety of notes, and 
 swift transitions from the song of one bird to that of another 
 is, I think, a wonderful fellow ; and was it not for the 
 hurrying manner, would be an elegant warbler. It is plain 
 Mr. Lever knows nothing of the grasshopper-lark ; if he did 
 he could not confound it with the sedge-bird, to which it bears 
 not the least resemblance, either in person, song, or manner 
 of life. Did the shivering wren make its noise in the tops of 
 tall trees ? Mr. Lever is, I perceive, a very adroit natural 
 naturalist ; it is therefore pity he does not allow himself the 
 advantage of books, and call in the assistance of system. 
 
 The sedge-bird sings all night when it is awake; therefore 
 when you throw stones or dirt into the bushes you rouse it 
 from its slumbers, and set it to work again. 
 
 You will be very busy, no doubt, in your repairs ; and will 
 meet, I hope, with no disappointments. I thought a fortnight 
 ago that I was going to build a chamber full speed. I had 
 bespoke a mason in the room of Long, who was pre-engaged ; 
 and Jack was to have been comptroller general of my majesty's 
 works ; but just as I was going to lay in all materials my 
 mason sent me word he had got another job, and could not 
 do mine 'til after harvest. 
 
 For these three days past we have had the king at Ports- 
 mouth ; and heard continual firing, which shook my house. 
 My st. foin is down ; but the w T eather is unsettled. Mr. 
 Lever has procured the canne petiere * in Lancashire ; Mr. 
 Pennant mentions one shot in Cornwall. Some boys killed 
 lately at Oakhanger-ponds some flappers or young wild-ducks; 
 among the rest they took some young teals f alive ; one I saw, 
 and turned into James Knight's ponds. Till now I never 
 knew that teals bred in England. So you see information 
 crowds in every day. 
 
 Was not the sibilous bird that you heard the real grass- 
 hopper-lark ? did it haunt the tops of the tallest trees, or low 
 bush-hedges ? did it sing by night or by day ? Many children 
 continue to die of the measles, amongst the rest the youngest 
 
 * [Otis tetrax, Liuu.— T. B.] 
 t [Anns crecra. — T. B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 13 
 
 of Mrs. Hale's this morning ; and the whooping cough rather 
 gets worse than better. Poor Nanny Wood's cough is very 
 bad ; and she is very weak and mends very slowly. Mr. 
 Knight of Street House is dead. With respects to my sister 
 I remain, 
 
 Your affectionate and obliged brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Selborne, Aug. 2, 1773. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 I find you still, as well as when you resided on the other 
 side of the Pyrenean mountains, my most steady and com- 
 municative correspondent ; and therefore it will be my own 
 fault if our epistolary intercourse should languish. 
 
 Jack * behaves very well and is very obliging, and, in his 
 readiness to assist and put an helping hand, often puts me in 
 mind of a gentlewoman that is very nearly related to himf. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Etty take a great deal of notice of him, and 
 have him to dine every Sunday |. 
 
 No doubt your wren that you saw was the shivering wren. 
 So Mr. Lever does not know the grasshopper lark ; that is 
 plain : but as it has done whispering there will be no procu- 
 ring one till next season. He seems also to be unacquainted 
 with the laughing sort. If you were to recollect, you would 
 call to mind that my letters to Mr. Pennant are full of accounts 
 of the sedge-bird. It was by my means that that bird, when 
 omitted totally in the Zool. was inserted in the Appendix. 
 Mr. P. had seen it in Lincolnshire, but did not at all know 
 what to make of it, nor how to ascertain it. He was misled 
 
 * [Now aged 15.— T. B.] 
 
 t [Alluding to Jack's mother, who, after her husband's death, resided 
 with Gilbert White. See Memoir.— T. B.] 
 
 \ [Gilbert White, being at this time curate of Faringdon, of course 
 did not dine at Selborne on Sundays. The Rev. Andrew Etty was vicar 
 of Selborne at that time. — T. B.] 
 
14 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 by Ray's classing it among the " Picis cifines." Your appel- 
 lative of polyglott pleases me so much that I shall adopt it. 
 It has the notes of many birds ; and could it be persuaded not 
 to sing in such a hurry, it would be an elegant songster. 
 They abound with us, especially on the verge of the forest, 
 and are sometimes at James Knight's ponds — in short, wher- 
 ever there are pools or streams. 
 
 Mr. Lever may very probably be right with respect to the 
 short-eared owl! I have always suspected that Mr. S.'s tawny 
 owl and brown owl were only different sexes of the same species. 
 I am sorry that you met with such a rebuff at Midsummer, such 
 a cold and dreary summer solstice ; for if these things be done 
 in the green tree, what will be done in the dry ? Indeed we 
 had at that season cold, wet, black weather ; but from July 7th 
 to this time have enjoyed the most lovely season that ever was 
 seen, both as to sun for our hay, and, since, soft showers for 
 our meadows, gardens and turnips. I have a prospect of a 
 very fine crop of grapes on the walls of my house. Pray 
 revise your journal without loss of time. The wind was very 
 far from being constantly N. with us for a month before 
 you wrote ; it was very much so indeed from June 27th to 
 July 3rd inclusive, but the week before was all S.W. to a 
 day; but then again from June 13th to the 19th it was pretty 
 much N.E. and N.W. at different ends of the week. 
 
 I shall write to Mr. Twisse soon and repeat my invitation. 
 
 From the time that the widow returned from her bathino- 
 in the sea, she began to be less cruel ; and last week she con- 
 sented to make Mr. Webb happy. They kept their wedding 
 at Newton. Mr. Y[alden] was so delighted with the event, 
 that he made verses on it, the strangest verses you ever saw. 
 He made also a copy on his new alcove ; they are alexandrines 
 and wonderfully unwieldy ; and very much like those before 
 ' Pilgrim's Progress.' It is a pity that so worthy a man should 
 be troubled with such an infirmity* ! 
 
 The story of the aurora is all contradicted. It is a pity that 
 you can't hear from Linnasus. You had better write again. 
 
 * [I have seen these lines ; it is almost a libel on Bunyan to compare 
 them with his, grotesque as they are. — T. B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 15 
 
 Some boys went to hunt flappers (young wild ducks) last 
 month in the forest : among the ducks they caught some 
 minute wild fowls alive. I examined them, and found them 
 to be young teals, but never had supposed that teals ever 
 bred in our parts till now. I redeemed one and turned it 
 into J. Knight's ponds. 
 
 Thomas Corston has brought Berriman a certificate of his 
 marriage with Mary Gregory in the church of St. George's, 
 Hanover Square, February 1771. The extract was taken 
 April 24, 1773. It is on a 5s. stamp and looks as if it were 
 genuine. Corston has called since. 
 
 This evening I expect from Fyfield brother Thomas and 
 master Brocket, and brother Henry and Tho. Holt White : 
 the two former are on their way to London. When did you 
 get into your house ? Jack joins in respects. 
 
 Your affec. brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Brother Harry was told in Oxford that Linnaeus was cer- 
 tainly dead*. 
 
 Harvest does not begin 'til next week. 
 
 & 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Selborne, Sept. 11, 1773. 
 Dear Brother, 
 Your last letter but one, and my last letter, crossed, I believe, 
 on the road. I am now to thank you for your frank of 
 August 25. 
 
 As to Jack he is no trouble or inconvenience to me, but of 
 real use ; and therefore I desire he may stay as long as ever 
 you can spare him. Moreover I wish you and my sister, 
 
 * [This was a false report. Linnaeus died January 8, 1778, aged 71. 
 Five out of the six letters from John White to Linnaeus were -written 
 after the return of the former to England. The last is dated October, 
 1774— T. B.] 
 
16 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 while jour bouse drys, would come and spend one more 
 winter with me. You might put in an elderly, grave person 
 for that period to make fires, and take care of your goods, 
 and defer the hiring of servants 'til spring. I will endeavour 
 to do everything to make the winter as easy to you as pos- 
 sible ; you shall have a bed put up in the drawing-room, and 
 a grate where you shall have a constant fire, by which you 
 may instruct your son, and fabricate your Fmina. As my 
 sister, I know by agreeable experience, is of an active dispo- 
 sition, she shall, if she please, manage my house, and see to 
 provisions ; and we shall, if it please Grod to bless us with 
 health, pass the dead season of the year in no uncomfortable 
 way ; and at the season of spring I will let you depart in 
 peace, and will follow you in the summer into Lancashire. 
 All this proposal is the result of a sincere intention; and there- 
 fore I hope you will think of it in earnest, and not let the 
 consideration of a long coach journey (which is not so for- 
 midable to you as to some others) prevent the comfort and 
 satisfaction I propose from such an undertaking. When you 
 write again I hope to discover that you have considered this 
 matter, and will be so kind as to think of putting it into exe- 
 cution. 
 
 Mr. Derham in his ' Physico-theol.' incidentally mentions 
 Dr. Leigh's ' Natural History of Lancashire,' which perhaps 
 Mr. Lever has got, and you shall see. If I err about the 
 Mot. ficedula, I err in good company ; for your bird is indis- 
 putably the bird that Lin. means by Mot./.; and yet he all 
 the while acknowledges that it has " mandibula superior utrin- 
 cme emarginata, et latere vibrissata," which are the charac- 
 teristics of a Muscicapa. In Edwards there are cuts of the 
 male and female. As to myself, I can't help thinking that 
 your bird is of a plumper and shorter habit than the cock 
 goldfinch with a white forehead ; besides you sent many like 
 the cocks that had no white in their foreheads. Mr. Shaw I 
 see is preferred. I am glad he continues to send you new 
 birds. The lark-like bird may probably be as you say. 
 
 From August 9 to 14 inclusive was most wonderfully hot. 
 My thermometer on the 13th was up to 78^°: on that day in 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 17 
 
 the evening came a violent thunderstorm, which about London 
 did great damage. Jack and I were all that week at Mr. 
 Mulso's at Meonstoke. In the night between the 18th and 
 19th of August there was a violent thunderstorm from the 
 north, which damaged all our hops to a great degree, and 
 particularly Sir S. Stuart's, which were very fine. Hops will 
 be dear and bad. 
 
 Mrs. W. Isaac is with me at present. She brought her 
 son Bap. that he might stand for a scholarship of TVinton 
 College : we went this week and left him with the usher, 
 
 O 7 
 
 where he is to continue as a commoner 'til taken into college. 
 
 My wall has produced about 10 dozen of most lovely 
 peaches and nectarines ; and I have a fine show of grapes. 
 
 I have written to Mr. Twisse and invited him to come ; but 
 he says he cannot possibly be spared from the fortifications 
 'til winter. 
 
 Swifts left us about the hot week. Young martins con- 
 tinue to come out daily. 
 
 Mr. Etty's Portugal brother is here at present. How can 
 Mr. Curtis* leave his shop, and go to Gibraltar in pursuit of 
 natural history ? 
 
 Jack makes English themes and writes letters. We have 
 gone through Phaed. and now read Virgil's Georg. and 
 Sallust. 
 
 Mr. Lever, I find, is an excellent ornithologist. If we are 
 to correspond, who is to break the ice ? and on what subjects 
 are we to exchange thoughts ? He will, I hope, study system. 
 
 We have now a very wet and windy season, a sad time for 
 barley-harvest and hop-picking. Most of our wheat was 
 housed in very nice order. 
 
 I have some hopes of seeing Skinner soon. 
 
 Mrs. Isaac and niece Molly White, who came with her, join 
 in respects. 
 
 Your affect, brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 * [The well-known nurseryman and botanist, author of the magnifi- 
 cent ' Flora Londinensis ' and of ' Lectures on Botany,' in three volumes. 
 — T. B.] 
 
 VOL. II. C 
 
18 LKTTEKS To Ills HKoTIIKU 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 2 [1773]. 
 I cannot den j that I did receive your letter while at Oxford; 
 but then my short time was so totally taken up with the 
 accounts, and the common room, and a little visiting, that I 
 never had the resolution to sit down to a regular letter. 
 
 Just before I came away, Skinner came up from a twelve- 
 month's sojourning at Brecknock to a regular residence in 
 college : he made me dine and sup and spend the whole day 
 with him, and is the same chatty, communicative, intelligent, 
 gouty, indolent mortal that he used to be. Moreover he had 
 written me a long letter ! just before I saw him ; which 
 arrived at Selborne some posts after I got home. He is now 
 fi rst oars with regard to college preferment ; and provided 
 Dr. Patten should die (who is in a very dangerous way), he 
 will succeed to a living of more than £400 per annum. 
 
 Jack did not go with me to college; for I well knew that if 
 he had I could not have been with him one tenth of the time; 
 however by means of his old friends at the Vicarage and at 
 Newton he was left very little with the servants. We are to 
 set out on Monday next on a visit to Eingmer; and nep. Pen. 
 who is visiting with his father and mother and sisters, is to 
 accompany us. We intend to stay two Sundays. Last week 
 I began taking away the earth of my grass plot and Avalk at 
 my garden door, so as to destroy the two steps, and to level 
 the ground quite on to the alcove. We were much inter- 
 rupted at first by rain, but now go on swimmingly. When 
 completed the job will be tanti; and the nuisance of two 
 slippery steps removed. 
 
 And now as to my visit into Lancashire : I am very desi- 
 rous, as indeed I ought, to make you a visit. But this cannot 
 be brought about 'til after Christmas ; for in the first place 
 our journey to Sussex will take up half the space between 
 this and that, and in the next place I am hampered with a 
 breaking tenant at Greatham whom I want to remove before 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 19 
 
 I leave these parts. And by Christmas, I fear, the severe 
 weather will much impede our expedition, which will be a 
 sort of migration reversed, to the north instead of the south. 
 However, if it please God to enable me, I hope to get to 
 you some time in January. I rejoice to hear that you have 
 at last got possession of your house ; and indeed, was I ready 
 now, some time would be needful for you to settle a little 
 before any visitors came upon you. 
 
 It is pleasant to hear that the spirit of natural enquiring sub- 
 sists still at Gibraltar. There is a muscle, perhaps your dactyl*, 
 that gets into the cliffs on the coasts of Sussex, and terebrates 
 the chalk in a most curious manner. You saw, I think, a 
 piece of chalk so bored at my house. I have received a most 
 violent complimenting letter from Mr. Pennant lately. He is 
 going to publish a second edition of ' Brit. Zool.,' and is to do 
 wonders with the information extracted from my letters. I shall 
 take the opportunity of laying before him the more glaring- 
 faults in the first edition. Ice this morning. My grapes are 
 now delicate. Pray write while I am at Bingmer. Jack joins 
 in respects to my sister and yourself. Ring-ouzels in plenty 
 this last September. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Eing-mer, Dee. 9, 1773. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Jack and I arrived here on Thursday, December 2nd, and 
 found that your letter of November 11th had waited for us for 
 more than a fortnight. We were very agreeably surprized to 
 find Mrs. Snooke f so much recovered after so great a plunge. 
 She is cheerful and chatty, free from pain, and able to walk 
 
 * [Pholas dactylus.—T. B.] 
 
 t [Mrs. Snooke, Gilbert White's cousin, the owner of Timothy the 
 tortoise.— T. B.] 
 
 c2 
 
20 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 to all parts of her house without a stick, rides out in her 
 chaise, and is, for her great age, an extraordinary woman. 
 
 In my last, as I wrote on a sunny day, I mentioned that 
 my levelling work went on swimmingly; but there came 
 immediately upon me a glut of wet for many weeks that 
 spoiled my metaphor, and drowned and floated all my works 
 and sadly embarrassed our operations in the clay, which was 
 all converted to mud and mire. Before we could dig we 
 were obliged to lade. However, by perseverance, in five 
 weeks instead of twelve days I finished my job ; which has a 
 very good effect, though neither the turf nor the pavement 
 can be expected to lie quite so smooth and regular as if all 
 had been moved in dry weather. The ground came out to 
 nothing on an hanging level on the grass plot short of the 
 mulberry-tree, and in the broad walk midway between the 
 farther wicket and the alcove on a dead level. I apprehend 
 no harm from the borders ; they will be lowered. We went 
 20 inches deep at the entrance of the long walk. My back 
 front looks higher and better. 
 
 I am sorry you have improved your parlor 'till it smokes ; 
 it is a common case ; but you must exert all your mechanic 
 powers to remove so sad a nuisance. 
 
 My horse Miller is very lame, and could not come ; as Jack 
 was trotting him in the north field he trod on an old track 
 and strained his knee in a wonderful manner. However, his 
 old friend Mr. Etty has lent Jack his poney, that carries 
 him well. The tortoise went under the ground about Novem- 
 ber 20, came out again for one day December 3, and now 
 lies in a swamp border in mud and mire ! 
 
 My letters to Mr. Barrington swell very fast. He has en- 
 gaged me in the monography of the swallow genus. I have 
 dispatched the house martin ; and my letter is to be read 
 before the R. S. I w T ish I knew a little more about the 
 bank martin. Does Mr. Lever know anything about the 
 bank martin that can be depended on ? 
 
 Harry's little folks, all but Har. Woods, are down with the 
 whooping cough. While brother Ben and family were at 
 Newton, Mrs. Pain discovered at London that James White 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 21 
 
 had got a cataract or film in one of his eyes. Brother Harry 
 is going to have a West-Indian boy at £100 per annum. If 
 Mr. H. Woods could be prevailed on to take an apprentice, 
 he would be the best master I know, as he is always at 
 home : but brother B. asked him the question with respect to 
 Edm. ; but he has never returned any answer. Jack is taller 
 somewhat than Mr. Yalden, and grows large in his limbs. 
 Poor Mr. John Warnford of C.C.C. is, I see, just dead, and his 
 lecture disposed of. If he had a college living, as I take for 
 granted he had, then there is a parsonage at Skinner's option. 
 I fear Mr. W. has left a widoAv. Easter I find comes this 
 year very early, and will cruelly intersect the spring, as I 
 must attend an election at Oriel in Easter week. If you 
 don't make haste I shall publish before you. All friends join 
 in proper respects. 
 
 Your affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTE11 IX. 
 
 Selborue, Jan. 12, 1774. 
 Dear Brother, 
 As I make no manner of doubt but that your many kind and 
 repeated invitations were very sincere, you will, I fear, feel 
 a little disappointed when you come to find the purport of 
 this letter. But I desire you would hear what I have to say 
 before you condemn me. 
 
 I wrote to Mr. Roman * signifying a desire of being set at 
 liberty from his cure, and fixing a day. He returned me a 
 very handsome friendly answer, in which he wished me still 
 to continue ; and as he understood a desire to visit distant 
 friends made me uneasy under restraint, he was ready at once 
 to advance my salary to £50 per annum : hoping that sum 
 would enable me to procure assistance from Oxon or else- 
 where whenever I wanted to take a long journey. 
 
 * [Whose curate lie was at Faiingdon. — T. B.J 
 
22 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 This proposal concurring, as you know, with my constant 
 wish of reserving an employ to return to, has at present put a 
 stop to my N. expedition, and has put me upon trying every 
 expedient for procuring a substitute by writing to J. Mulso, 
 Bro. H., — Skinner, &c. &c. What I could wish is to be at 
 liberty after Easter to visit you from Oxon. For I must not 
 pretend so totally to disregard College concerns as purposely, 
 and in good health, to decline appearing at an election. 
 
 For my own feelings, I often wish myself with you, and 
 make many comparisons between this and the last winter, not 
 much to the advantage of the present. Last winter I look 
 back upon as one of the most pleasant of my life, when I had 
 my friends about me in a family way, and enjoyed the 
 conversation of relations from whom I had been parted so 
 long. When I do come to see you, you may depend on it I 
 should w T ish to make you a good long visit, besides the stay 
 that I must make in Rutland. As to Jack, I should wish to 
 have him stay as long as ever you and his mother can spare 
 him. He does not altogether lose his time, because he con- 
 strues and translates, or looks over maps, or writes letters every 
 day. He has read all the three volumes of the ' Spectator ' 
 through with that relish that shewed he understood them ; 
 and is much pleased with Derham's ' Physieo-theology,' and is 
 now embarked in Brydone's and Sir W. Hamilton's Letters, 
 in which I make him refer all the way to maps. J. and I 
 want to go to Fyfield soon; and therefore wish to know from 
 my sister Avhether he has had the whooping cough, which all 
 Harry's boys labor under at present. 
 
 31 v monography on the house-martin is finished, and in the 
 hands of Mr. Barrington, who is so much prejudiced in its 
 favour, that he proposes soon to have it read before the E. 
 Society. Another on the house-swallow is nearly completed ; 
 from which I propose to proceed to the rest of the British 
 Hirundines. Can Lever send us any authentic remarks ? Pray 
 tell me over again the story of the swallow building on the 
 dead owl's wings, and on the coach, &c. : I think I could 
 make ;i good use of it. The barometer is very irregular of 
 late: we have now this day hard frost with the mercury at 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 23 
 
 "2d'22 ; and our last frost (which lasted from the 30th of 
 December till January 5th inclusive) began with the baro- 
 meter at 29*4. All last Saturday afternoon and night, and 
 all Sunday there was a most extraordinary rain from the N. 
 which perhaps was snow northward. Mr. and Mrs. Y. were 
 here and stayed all Saturday night. On Sunday there was 
 such a flood down at the Pond, that Thomas and I were over 
 the calves of our legs before we got to Peter Wells's ; where 
 we were told that if we proceeded any further our horses 
 would swim. So we returned back ; and the rain followed 
 on so the whole day, that I omitted going to my church at all, 
 the first time for weather since I have undertaken Farinedon 
 cure. People tell me they have known as big a flood, but 
 never one that lasted so long. On Sunday evening it snowed, 
 and then froze hard. Pray tell me a little about your frosts, 
 and weather ; what birds do you see ? Wild geese, I suppose : 
 have you any wagtails in winter ? and what other small birds ? 
 You will enliven, I hope, your fauna with some dissertations 
 and an agreeable journal, and some comparisons between the 
 climates, &c. of And[alusia] and Great Britain. Poor old 
 Miller is very lame still. Pray write soon. Jack joins in best 
 respects. 
 
 Yours aff. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Selborne, Eeb. 4, 177-1. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 By your writing so very quickly, your last letter arrived 
 much sooner than I could have expected. Since I wrote to 
 you I have talked to Mr. Robinson the curate of Colmer; and 
 he informs me that he has not the least doubt but at the end 
 of the summer he shall be able to take my cure off my hands 
 for some considerable time by the following means. The 
 owner of Colmer living, a young man in the N. is, it seems, 
 to take orders this summer, and to supply his own church. 
 
24 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 This event will remove Robinson to East Tisted, from whence 
 he can with ease undertake the full duty of Faringdon, and 
 will be glad of the emolument, having a large family. You 
 and my sister will therefore excuse me until October, I hope, 
 when I shall, God willing, wait on you with great pleasure. 
 Instead of your making excuses to me, I ought to make many 
 to you for detaining your son so long : but, if you can under- 
 go so much self denial, I should wish you could now spare 
 him until autumn, when we will come down together. He is 
 now of real service to me, a companion in my solitude. We 
 shall ride down to Fyfield soon ; and in March I shall carry 
 him to London. It would be cheaper as well as pleasanter for 
 me to travel this summer than to stay at home, because I 
 seem to be in danger of building. But if I do not stay at this 
 place in the summer, when can I think to enjoy it ? and was 
 I at liberty now, Easter would cruelly intersect my time, and 
 spoil all. Lever is a generous man, and is of great service to 
 you by lending you all his books: I hope Mr. P. will bethink 
 himself, and wipe off all the imputation of selfishness that he 
 lies under. Mr. Budd has just given his fine harpsichord to 
 Bro. Harry. Your weather and ours accord very much. A 
 neighbour carries this to London. So I am, in some haste, 
 
 Your affect. Bro. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 Jack joins &c. 
 
 Berriman has paid Th. Gorston the money ordered : I got 
 a bond paper; but not caring to go to an attorney, I drew up 
 as full a receipt on it as I could couch in words. The man 
 seemed staggered at first when he saw he must sign stamp- 
 paper : but complying at last he took the money, and getting 
 without the door, cursed us all in a most devout and liberal 
 manner, and so ended the negociation. B. was so provoked at 
 the usage, that he thinks that he should have thrashed him 
 had he been well and able. Let me hear soon. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 25 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Fariugdon, March 6 [not later than 1774]. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Mr. Webb, as you say, is, I believe, a good natured man, and 
 in good business. I have made some enquiries round about 
 by means of Mr. Yalden ; but the answer was, that at pre- 
 sent he did not think it convenient to take an apprentice. So 
 it is needless to say anything farther on that subject. 
 
 What is become of your friend Gen. Cornwallis ? I have 
 never seen any mention of his arrival. 
 
 You never let me know whereabout your expences came for 
 the fitting up of your house. I talk of building a parlor : but 
 when it comes to the point I have fears about the trouble ; 
 besides green walls will not be habitable till the second year. 
 In what language did you write to Linnaeus ? and in what did 
 he answer you ? 
 
 The late decree in the house of Lords concerning literary 
 property will make booksellers shy of publishing new editions, 
 as it renders such property very precarious. There is in Lon- 
 don a strange spirit of decrying Linn., which seems to obtain 
 more and more ; I think, without any reason. Just as infidels 
 rail at the S. S. tho' at the same time their minds are much 
 enlightened by them. Mr. Twiss had written me word that 
 he would come and see me in the winter. At Xmas I invited 
 him again ; but he was gone into Staffordshire on family 
 business, and when he returned had no more time to spare. 
 
 By the death of Mr. John Warnford, Skinner is put in the 
 possession of the living of Bassingham in the county of Lin- 
 coln, on the Witham, midway between Newark and Lincoln. 
 His living was set in 1663 st 8d per acre ; and so it continues; 
 was it let only at Is. 6d. it would be a noble parsonage, now 
 it rents about 200 guineas. Skinner is to stay in coll. 
 about five weeks longer. If you want to consult him about 
 your fauna why don't you write to him? Direct for Skinner, 
 after five weeks, at Passingham near Newark. 
 
26 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 Jack by no means wants a coat and waistcoat yet ; he shall 
 have a pair of fustian breeches. Bro. Tho. can hear of no 
 master as yet, but will continue to enquire. Prices are so 
 enormous, that a common seedsman asked him the astonish- 
 ing deposit of £300! to enable a young man to sell a penny- 
 worth of radish seed ! 
 
 I could get no Mus *, as nobody moved a rick. 
 
 Pray write very soon. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Friends join in respects. 
 
 If you have anything for Linn, send it up soon, because the 
 ship is likely to sail shortly. If you have any desiderata with 
 respect to Spain, now is your time, for Mr. Harrington f tells 
 me this morning that he has just compleated a nat. treaty with 
 the King of Spain, who is to send all the curiosities of S. 
 America, and the Pi. S. are to send him all the nat. productions 
 of N. America. 
 
 I remember you wished to know how far the Hirundo 
 melha extended up into Spain, and whether the Hirundo ru- 
 pestris was seen in summer in the internal parts. 
 
 Mr. B. shewed me and Jack the curiosities of the Pi. S. ; 
 there was a staffer packing and preparing the productions of 
 N. America for the use of the King of Spain. 
 
 Pray write soon. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Selborne, March 29, 1774. 
 Dear Brother, 
 The long contested drawings are lodged in Thames Street in 
 order to be sent down to you. I wish they had been better 
 executed, and the owner had behaved more like a gentleman 
 
 * [He alludes to the harvest-mouse, Mus messorius, of which White 
 was the discoverer in this country : see vol. i. p. 36. — T. B.] 
 
 t [Mr. Barrington was at this time commissary of the stores at Gib- 
 raltar, residing, however, in England. — T. B,] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 27 
 
 on the occasion. He showed me a letter which he intended to 
 send yon : and as Benj. and he have literary connections, I 
 hope you will forget and forgive. They always quarrel and 
 squabble by letter, but accord well when they meet. 
 
 You do well to send Linn, your most curious specimens, 
 and not only your most curious ones, but also such common 
 ones as by the circumstances of his country he seems to be 
 unacquainted with. He will, I trust, act with candour, and 
 give you the best information he can concerning your nonde- 
 scripts. No doubt when he sees the Pratincola he will remove 
 it from the Himndines. 
 
 As to my letters, they lie in my cupboard very snug: if you 
 will correct them, and assist in the arrangement of my journal, 
 I will publish. I have finished the monography of all the 
 Hirundines except the swift. 
 
 Cromhall is so dismally circumstanced that I think there 
 can be no doubt which way I had best act. The late incum- 
 bent insolvent, and too negligent to leave any papers of 
 information behind him; no barn; I believe, no stable; a 
 wretched house ; and all the parish offices for years past in 
 the hands of an attorney and a gentleman steward ; and to 
 complete all, the manor-farm belonging to Dr. Boswortk's 
 persecuting peer ! Mr. Pen told a man a little before he dyed 
 that he had made one year £160 of his living, but that in 
 general it produced only £150. Dr. Bosworth says it may be 
 raised to £200. 
 
 Write to Mr. Barrington under cover to the Bishop of 
 Llandaff in London. 
 
 I have not been at Hawkley yet : but the falling of the 
 fragment from the cliff is the least part of the story ; for a 
 slipping below has disordered and damaged near 100 acres of 
 land, and ruined two houses ! The ground is rumpled and 
 forced up as it were into waves*. I did not suppose your 
 repairs would inform me about new buildings, I only wished 
 to know what expense would put a good firm shell in com- 
 fortable condition. The vexation of workmen, I fear, is great. 
 I bought in town Dr. Campbell's Political Survey of Great 
 
 * [Sec vol. i. p. 230.] 
 
28 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 Britain, a work that has employed his thoughts more than 
 twenty years ; 2 vols. 4to, £2 2s. As far as I have seen, I 
 think his style is not so good as in his ' Present State of 
 Europe.' The new work seems to comprise a variety of 
 knowledge. 
 
 Some time ago I put Hume's History of England into 
 Jack's hands. The young man is much taken with the work, 
 and reads it with great earnestness and in preference to the 
 ' Spectator ' and Fathers, and makes pertinent remarks. With 
 respects to my sister we remain 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Selborne, April 29, 1774. 
 Dear Brother, 
 Out of all my journals I think I might collect matter enough, 
 and such a series of incidents as might pretty well com- 
 prehend the natural history of this district, especially as to the 
 ornithological part ; and I have moreover half a century of 
 letters on the same subject, most of them very long; all which 
 together (were they thought worthy to be seen) might make 
 up a moderate volume. To these might be added some 
 circumstances of the country, its most curious plants, its few 
 antiquities, all which together might soon be moulded into a 
 work, had I resolution and spirits enough to set about it. 
 
 As to your own work, your journal incidents will be the 
 most entertaining part of it. Skinner was much pleased with 
 them. You should moreover, I think, have some letters, or 
 dissertations, for the unsystematic part of your readers, who 
 will not so well relish a fauna alone. The comparative 
 account of the climates (where they will admit) would, I 
 think, be very engaging. You have by you an abundance of 
 your own letters. I should have told you before that I have 
 finished my monography on the British Hirundines. If you 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 29 
 
 can procure yourself a frank and will send it to me, Jack shall 
 transcribe you one sheet that you may see how I have ac- 
 quitted myself, and whether you approve of the manner. 
 My cold and feverish complaint hung so about me at Easter 
 that I did not go at all to the election, expecting every day to 
 be laid up ; but I wrote to the Provost, and sent a renuncia- 
 tion of the living of Cromhall ; as I have done since of the 
 living of Swainswick near Bath, which Ken also dyed pos- 
 sessed of. 
 
 Brother Thomas and Molly will be here, I think, next week 
 in order that Molly may be settled for a while under the care 
 of Mrs. Etty. 
 
 As to building, I have not yet absolutely determined about 
 it ; the next week will be the last week of asking, because 
 the bark of oaks (as I must cut some timber) will not strip or 
 run after that time. I am quite at a loss about the house- 
 martins, as they do not appear yet : the swallows and bank- 
 martins were early ; a pair of swifts came to the church 
 yesterday. 
 
 Mr. Lever, I find, continues wonderfully generous, and 
 helpful by means of his books ; if it was not for the General, 
 you should, I think, dedicate your work to him. In my 
 monography I have made honourable mention of his museum. 
 Pray where did he get his little mouse ? I mean by that to 
 enquire whether it is common in Lancashire. For I con- 
 cluded, as it had escaped Ray, that it did not extend far 
 northward. 
 
 When Brother Thomas comes I will enquire what farther 
 information he has procured with regard to a master for Jack. 
 It is a very difficult matter, it seems, to find a place where all 
 things concur to our wishes. Jack grows stout and tall, but 
 not upright. He says he is five feet six inches and a half 
 without his shoes. 
 
 We began to read Horace's Odes together; but found many 
 of them so indecent for a young man, that we have taken to 
 the Epistles, which are a fine body of ethics, and very enter- 
 taining, and sensible. Jack construes well ; but makes slips 
 with regard to quantity. He is become a very good tran- 
 
30 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 seriber. I believe such employ now and then is not bad for a 
 young man, since it teaches him the use and power of 
 stopping; a thing much neglected. Jack has read all the 
 Greorgics through. I wish I could read Reaumur and Do 
 Geer. 
 
 The spring is forward, and we have had some lovely weather; 
 but winter is returned to day. I want to know what Linn, 
 will say to the supposed Junco and the Turdus. 
 
 My wall trees promise much fruit. We join in respects to 
 my sister. Pray write soon. 
 
 Your affect, brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Selborne, June 18, 1774. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 It pleases me to find that my little monography entertained 
 you ; it makes its own excuse for being short. The next will 
 not offend in that way. Pray make all the objections freely 
 that occur. 
 
 Linnseus's letter is polite and entertaining and instructive. 
 But pray what does he mean by saying that your Hirundo 
 
 hyemalis (for so I shall still call it) is varietas opus ? for 
 
 the apus and melba only perhaps have omnibus quatuor digitis 
 anticis, while your swallow has a back toe like other birds ; 
 besides the bill of your opus and melba are much bent; but 
 that of the hirundo hyemalis is straight. 
 
 I have just received a letter from Mr. Pennant, wherein he 
 says that he has lately sent twenty-nine more drawings to 
 Mr. Ben., being the whole that were copied from your ' Gib.' 
 They are to be kept as long as wanted. 
 
 Humbledon is a place that I have a strong dislike to, on 
 account of its morals and dissipation, besides Mr. Hale has a 
 young partner, should he want to leave business by and by*. 
 
 [This remark lias reference to the intended apprenticeship of ' Jack,' 
 which at this time was a subject of much anxiety both to his father and 
 uncle.— T. P».] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 31 
 
 My anecdote from Valentia is taken from Willughby's 
 ' Ornithology.' In one of your letters you regret the trouble of 
 transcribing your Fauna. A writing master would take this 
 trouble off your hands for a small sum, but with this dis- 
 advantage, that no man can transcribe his own without seeing 
 places that he can alter for the better ; a benefit which is 
 entirely lost where a stranger is amanuensis. I wish Jack 
 would earn your book ; I mentioned the conditions, at which 
 he smiled. 
 
 Pray return the printed monography without fail. If Mr. 
 Lever desires to see my papers, let him have them ; he is a 
 man of honour, and will not suffer them to be transcribed. I 
 beg his objections and additions. After I have heard from 
 you again I will send your fourth monography with Mr. 
 Willis's receipt &c. 
 
 Lin. still allows your piscis thoracicus to be a new genus ; 
 he should give it a name and you an engraving. When he 
 talks of making honourable mention of you in his future 
 edition you may reply " orna me." 
 
 No doubt the ' Voyage to the Hebrides ' is an entertaining- 
 work ; I have seen the cuts, but not the book *. You should 
 observe when your summer birds come and depart, that we 
 may compare notes. It is a sickly time among young folks, 
 especially in Sussex. Thomas has had a pleurisy, and is not 
 yet recovered so as to do any work. Molly White likes 
 Selborne and looks well. Nanny Woods is very stout and 
 very brown ; she is all day in the sun. 
 
 Wall fruit abounds ; and vines promise to blow well. 
 
 Harry has just lost his best cart horse ; he is most un- 
 fortunate in horse flesh. 
 
 As my little mouse is so common in your parts and pro- 
 bably in all the intermediate, I am amazed that it should be 
 so long a nondescript. 
 
 Printers, I know, some of them get a deal of money ; but 
 their state of apprenticeship must be, I should suppose, very 
 
 * [Johnson's ' Tour to the Western Islands of Scotland,' which took 
 place in the previous autumn, was published only a short time before the 
 date of this letter.— T. R] 
 
32 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 low and servile, and unwholesome ; but of all this I am not 
 sure. Chemistry, Bro. Thomas says, is very unwholesome. 
 A packer's was, I have heard, a fine business ; but at present 
 they say merchants are their own packers. I have heard no 
 more of the ribbon man. Jack will by no means obstruct my 
 motions this summer, but is of use and service. We never 
 fall out much ; and then it is chiefly about quantity in verse, 
 and there is no moral turpitude in long and short feet. As to 
 law, I have nothing to say about it ; lawyers get all the 
 money. Our father, you know, did not approve of it. Sure 
 London is so large a field, and you have so many friends 
 there, that you cannot be long without hearing somewhat for 
 your son. That you may get a proper place to your mind 
 I heartily wish. 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 We join in respects to my sister. Pray write soon. I do 
 not know that our Coll. is Dutch. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Selborne, July 15, 1774. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Jack and I went down to Fyfield on June 22d, and stayed 
 there 'til July 6th, and found and left Brother Henry very 
 brisk and very busy ; for, what between seven boarders, six 
 children, some farming, three churches, and some building, he 
 has enough to do. He has a one hundred pound boy in the 
 room of Mr. Brocket, who by this time, I fear, is dead ; and 
 Jack and Jem from Fleet Street. The house, especially the 
 kitchen, is so small for twenty-two in family, that H. is 
 embarked in building a wing of 36 feet from the kitchen 
 towards the brewhouse : this wing is to consist of a staircase, 
 a large kitchen, a parlor over, and a large garret. The 
 kitchen is to communicate with the new staircase of tho 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 3:3 
 
 brewhouse by a narrow entry running against the chalk wall; 
 and thus the whole house may be made use of without a 
 person's going abroad. The chambers over the brewhouse are 
 finished, and very neat. All these buildings will cost a great 
 sum and prevent the laying up of money ; but as more room 
 was absolutely necessary, and things are all done in the way 
 of trade, I hope they will answer in the end. 
 
 I am glad to hear H. talk didactically about grammar 
 rules, and moods and tenses ; for unless a school master is 
 somewhat of a pedant, and a little self-sufficient in his way, 
 he must expect to be soon jaded with his drudgery. 
 
 Swifts, as I suspected, invariably lay but two eggs * ; and as 
 they breed but once, their increase is very small. I got 
 Harry's bricklayer one evening to open the tiles of his brew- 
 house, under which were several nests containing only two 
 squab young apiece ; and moreover his workmen all told me 
 that, when boys, they had invariably found only two eggs or 
 two birds. If I lived at Fyfield, I should be more learned in 
 swifts ; for as you sit in the parlour you see their proceedings 
 at the brewhouse. 
 
 I thank you for your strictures on my printed monog. and 
 wish you would extend yours to the rest. I had used the 
 pronoun personal to my swallows; but somebody objected; so 
 I put it in its place. But I think you are right, and shall 
 replace she and her ; though there is this objection, that in a 
 pair a male is implied as well as a female, and yet he would 
 sound awkward for a bird. 
 
 Linn, is wrong past all doubt with respect to your Hirundo 
 hyemalis. The Melba is undoubtedly affinis to the swift, but 
 not your new swallow; it can by no means be a variety of opus. 
 The rest of Mr. Pennant's drawings are here : you shall be 
 sure to have them as soon as I can find a safe method of con- 
 veyance. I am glad your Fauna swells so fast. You must 
 publish a quarto work : every man now publishes in quarto. 
 It is not to be wondered at that you do not readily find a 
 master for Jack ; for our Bro. B. you see, is under the same 
 
 * [This is not invariably the case, as has been shown by the late Mr. 
 Salmon (Yax-r. Brit. Birds, ii. p. 235).— T. B.] 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
34 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 difficulty with respect to Edmund. Jack's epistle is of his 
 own composing: I have altered here and there a word, but 
 inserted no sentence. 
 
 " Orna me," is a sentence very familiar to me ; it is, I 
 think, in Tully's letters. Mrs. Barker writes me word this 
 week, that now she and Mr. B. are come to a determination 
 not to stir from home this summer. They plead the ill health 
 of old Mrs. Barker, and a great deal of repairs to be done to 
 a farmhouse. 
 
 We have had continual showers for three weeks past; much 
 hay, especially clover, is totally spoiled ; and much meadow- 
 grass, and among the rest my own, is still standing, but 
 growing too old. Harry still preserves your Barbary breed 
 of fowls distinct : but they labour under a disadvantage not 
 very convenient for this climate ; for their down comes off 
 before their feathers appear, and so they are stark naked for 
 a fortnight — a condition not very suitable to a cold wet 
 summer. They are taller and more erect than our breed. 
 
 As to franks, pray think no more about them ; for, unless 
 any thing particular wants to be enclosed, I never wish to 
 receive one again : there is no money that I pay with more 
 satisfaction than postage of letters from friends. 
 
 If you will object to the rest of my monog. where you see 
 occasion, I shall be glad. 
 
 . My neighbour Mr. Robertson is disposed, and thinks he 
 shall be able, to take my curacy in the autumn, when I much 
 wish to see Lancashire. But then it must not be until the 
 beginning of November ; for I must be at Oxford in October, 
 and I am embarrassed with a broken tenant at Greatham, by 
 whom I shall lose a year's rent, if I do not look about me, at 
 Michaelmas. 
 
 Swifts breed but once in a summer, and but two at a time ; 
 swallows and martins breed twice in a season, and from four 
 to six at a time ; so the latter increase at an average five 
 times as fast as the former. With respects to my sister, I 
 remain 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 OIL. WHITE. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Selborne, Aug. 11, 1774. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 My best thanks are due for your strictures on my mono- 
 graphies, of which I shall avail myself in many particulars, 
 and hope you will extend them to the swift. But I am 
 greatly disappointed with respect to Mr. L.*, from whom, as a 
 good practical ornithologist, I expected several new remarks 
 and observations, but I don't find that he sent you one. 
 Surely that gent.'s scheme with regard to his museum is a 
 strange one ; for as I cannot suppose that a man of his spirit 
 will take money, so, if he entertains that great beast of a town 
 for nothing (gratis), it will cost him thousands and be quite a 
 ruinous expence ! Swifts may breed twice at Gibraltar^ as 
 far as I know, because they arrive there much earlier than 
 with us. But it is past all doubt that with us the case is 
 quite different; for they do not arrive 'til the first week in 
 May, do not hatch 'til the middle of June, and this year 
 and the last departed by the seventh of August. Down at 
 Fyfield I opened the eaves of some roofs on June 30, and 
 found sqUab helpless young, and invariably but two in a 
 nest ; so that their congeners, who lay all round from four 
 to six eggs, and produce invariably two broods iti a year, 
 increase five times as fast as they do. Linna3us is wrong even 
 in doubting whether the Hirundo hyemalis be a variety of the 
 apus; for the feet, the bill, the whole habit bespeak it an 
 absolute swallow, not a swift f . The melba is an absolute apus-. 
 Pray send me a copy of that gent.'s last letter ; I love to see 
 the letters of great and able men in any way. Don't regard 
 the want of franks. I pay 2^d. for a nonsensical newspaper, 
 and shall I hesitate to pay Id. for the sight of an epistle from 
 the greatest naturalist in Europe? He will insert you in the 
 
 * [Lever.] 
 
 t [See Liunpeus's letter of Jan. 2nd, 1774, afterwards printed. — T. B.] 
 
 D 2 
 
3G LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 next edition of his l Syst. Nat.:' say to him in your next, 
 " orna me." 
 
 I cannot procure a grass-hopper lark. They are such shy, 
 skulking varlets; such troglodytes, such hedge-creepers, there 
 is no knowing where to have them. When a good oppor- 
 tunity offers, I will send the drawings to town. Poor Nanny 
 White of Fleet Street is in a very declining way. Happening 
 to meet Mr. Edm. Woods lately at Newton, I pressed him 
 very earnestly to lend his assistance in looking out a master 
 for Jack. He promises to do his best, and is a likely man 
 to forward such a business. * You must read Lord 
 
 Chesterfield's letters ; they are very entertaining, though in 
 parts very exceptionable. 
 
 Bear is a sort of barley : Mr. P.f should have told his 
 readers as much in a note. Mr. and Mrs. Lort are now on a 
 tour round N. Wales. Mr. Leech has lost his cause with 
 respect to the lead-mines, and stands obliged to refund all his 
 gains. Molly White must lose her share, of course. Niece 
 Molly joins in respects 
 
 Your loving brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 I am mending my tiling and pointing against winter. A 
 stitch in my side makes writing irksome. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Selborne, Sept. 26, 1774. 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 Some years ago, when I met Sam Barker at Bingmer, I found 
 he had some propensity to poetry, tho' it had not then been 
 called forth. I therefore gave him a few instructions, and 
 this summer sent him some old verses, on Selborne, new fur- 
 bished up %. These small encouragements have occasioned the 
 lines above, which Jack transcribes for your amusement. By 
 all means recollect the specific difference, or else get new spe- 
 
 t [Pennant?] 
 
 \ [The 'Invitation to Selborne.' See the Poem? at the end of Vol. I. 
 — T. B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 37 
 
 cimens of the Sphex formiearum falco ; for it is a great pity 
 that so diverting an account as that which vou give of that 
 insect should be lost to your Fauna. 
 
 You must be sure to caution Linn, that the GUstrus curvi- 
 cauda is by no means the parent of the star-tailed water-maggot, 
 though Derham says it is ; Swam., Geoff 'roy, and others have 
 since discovered that wonderful maggot to be the offspring of 
 a Musca hydroleon : see Geof. ; he calls it Stratiomys. You 
 will be the means, I perceive, of correcting many mistakes, and 
 new arranging many misplaced articles in ' Syst. Nat.,' which I 
 wish to see as perfect as possible. I wish you may catch a 
 curvieauda before the autumn is over : you will at once be con- 
 vinced that it is an CEstrus. On nullum, punctls tribus, &c. : 
 it sometimes haunts upland fields, and teazes the horses at 
 plow ; but is more frequently found in swampy wet places, 
 and is probably aquatic in its larva state. The nits laid on my 
 horses at Meon-Stoke Aug 19th stick on their legs and flanks 
 still. * * * Skinner can if he pleases, send several ques- 
 tions and pertinent enquiries relative to 'Syst. Nat.,' which he 
 well understands, with its comparative merits and defects, as 
 far as the author has borrowed from or imitated Mr. Ray. 
 
 Next summer I will, if possible, get a grass-hopper lark: 
 but they are not easily procured ; they skulk in the hedges 
 like mice. 
 
 When you write to Linnams next, pray talk to him about 
 tortoises f. There are tortoises whose shells are always open 
 behind and before — " apertura testae anterior," as he says him- 
 self, " pro capite et brachiis, posterior pro Cauda et femoribus." 
 These apertures are supported as it were by pillars on each 
 side, and can never be closed. Of such construction is the 
 shell of Mrs. Snooke's present living tortoise, Timothy. But 
 then there are tortoises whose under shell has a cardo or hinge 
 about the middle of their bellies commanding one lid or flap for- 
 
 t [The letter from John White to Linnaeus, which was the result of 
 this suggestion of Gilbert's, certainly gave the great Swede the first idea 
 of the two distinct families of Testudinata in question ; but he failed 
 to name his brother as the real author of the observation. (See note to 
 p. 240, Vol. I.)--T. B.] 
 
38 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 ward, and one lid backward (like the double-lidded snuff-boxes) T 
 which when shut conceal the head and legs and tail of the reptile 
 entirely and keep out all annoyances. Two such (very small 
 they were) Mrs. Snooke had formerly ; the shells lie still in her 
 room over the hall. Now concerning shells of this construc- 
 tion Linn, makes no mention at all ; and this construction is 
 certainly the most curious, and perhaps the most uncommon. 
 But what I would infer from all this is that in his genus 
 Testudo express mention should be made of this diversity ; 
 and the genus should be divided into testis clausis cardinatis, 
 and testis apertis, or by some such expression. He loves, you 
 know, to subdivide his long genera ; and such subdivisions 
 are very consistent with system. I hope I have expressed 
 myself so as to be understood in this matter ; and I wish you 
 would mention it to him, and ask if such a subdivision would 
 not be proper. Thus he divides his genus of QZnas into " rostro 
 basi gibbo," and u rostro basi sequali," &c. &c. Can't you 
 hear yet where and how the Panorpa eoa feeds ? It is pity that 
 part of its hist, should escape you. I shall transcribe my 
 swift anew before it be read [redde]* to the R. S. I have alter- 
 ations of some consequence to make, such as the number of 
 its eggs, &c. It is remarkable that none of the martins round 
 my buildings have this year any second broods. Is this owing 
 to the cold, wet, uncomfortable equinox? We had sweet 
 weather this August till towards the end, but since, sad doings 
 — much corn damaged and our fruit spoiled. We have vast 
 quantities of hops ; but they are mostly distempered. My 
 thanks are due for your kind letter of Sept. 11th ; some of the 
 contents are very strange ! Over Leicester-house gate should 
 be written in letters of gold, Museum Leveriense. 
 Our respects to my sister. Yours affect. 
 
 GIL, WHITE. 
 
 Just as I had finished thus far, your entertaining letter of 
 Sept. 18 came to hand. I am convinced by Reaumur with 
 respect to the CEstrus bovis &c.,and much pleased that you have 
 
 * ["Redde" is the word repeatedly used a,t that period in the 'Philo 
 sophjcal Transactions.'— T, B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 39 
 
 discovered and seen with your own eyes, and caught with 
 your own hands a curvicauda : but it seems strange that you 
 did not see eggs on the horse's hair. Perhaps the color of 
 the horse might prevent your seeing them. Horses of dark 
 color are quite discolor'd by them. I wish to know the nidus 
 of the great Tabanus also : it haunts, I know, watery, moor 
 places. The Sturnus coll. * can't be a Fringilla, since it has no 
 conic bill. All grass horses now in watery places have nils : 
 I am pleased to find that insect extends to your district. You 
 may see with your own eyes the parent deposit each single 
 Ggg. Your remark concerning the bivalve straps of the egg 
 is a good one. 
 
 Oholderton lies again at my option f . 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Selborne, Feb. 1, 1775. 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 I HAVE been unusually dilatory in my answer to your last 
 letter ; and the reason was, tho' I was much vexed and disap- 
 pointed at your rebuff, which came so unexpectedly, yet I did 
 not know how to come to your assistance. Mr. Pinnock at the 
 same time mentioned a gent, of the law ; but that is a profes- 
 sion you do not seem to affect. 
 
 Brother Ben says you must have as many plates as possible 
 in your Fauna ; for it is the fashion now " to look in picture- 
 books." Insects being the most laborious, and probably to 
 most readers the most uninteresting part of your work, I am 
 glad you have run thro' them. The birds and quadrupeds 
 will pass off smoothly. I am sorry you will not work up your 
 tour to Mogador into a pretty chapter ; it is the fashion now 
 to publish tours : besides, some account of the person, man- 
 ners, and mode of life of that monarch who at present sets all 
 naval powers at defiance, would take with many readers. The 
 
 [This is the Accentor alpinus, or more property A. eollaris, <>f modem 
 ornithologists. — T. B.] 
 
 t [The living of < 'holderton was twice declined by him. See memoir. 
 T. B.] 
 
40 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 practice of gratifying such barbarians with elegant presents, 
 and the Moors turning Dollond's perspectives into walking- 
 sticks, would furnish matters for agreeable reflection. Dr. 
 Johnson has just published his journey through the Western 
 Isles. I have read it ; and you should read it. It is quite a sen- 
 timental journey, divested of all natural history and antiqui- 
 ties, but full of good sense, and new and peculiar reflections. 
 It does not at all interfere with Mr. Pennant's book. 
 
 John Neal and Dame Knight are dead. Berriman lies in 
 the same sad deplorable way. Mrs. Snooke writes me word 
 that she has been better than usual this mild winter. 
 
 For some days past we have had great rains and blustering 
 weather. This morning it is very wet and stormy ; the ther- 
 mometer at 50, the barom. 28-7. Every sunny day, insects 
 abound, and in warm lanes and under hedges the air swarms 
 with them. Within doors wood-lice, spiders, and Lepismceave 
 in motion, and many Muscce in the stable; earthworms come 
 forth everv mild evening ; so that in mild winters insects are 
 not so much laid up as is imagined. Some Phalcence fly also 
 all the winter. * * * On Jan. 20th many rooks were 
 caught, it is said, by a man near Hackwood Park ; their 
 wings, as he affirms, were frozen together by a wet sleet then 
 falling. Pray write soon. 
 
 Respects as due. Your affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Fyfield, March 9, 1775. 
 Dear Brother, 
 As you have long experienced that I am not usually a tardy and 
 negligent correspondent, you will, I suppose, conclude that 
 something has happened to prevent myAvriting sooner, as really 
 has been fhe case. I have had an heat and stiffness in my 
 eves from over much reading, that made writing very irksome 
 fur some; time ; they are now pretty well recovered again. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 41 
 
 After your disappointment in town I was glad to hear by 
 your last that you had a prospect of disposing of your son at 
 Manchester; but now I understand that farther difficulties 
 arise. The Scopoli from Mr. Pennant that you mention, is at 
 Selborne ; and I will send it, if you desire it ; but it affords no 
 information. 
 
 As you rather complain of some reserve on Benj.'s side re- 
 specting your work, suppose you write to him, and ask him 
 how much he will give you downright clear of the plates and 
 printing for your copy ; and then you will know your certain 
 gain, and will run no risk. Anything in the nat. way now 
 sells well. Or if he chuses to go shares in profit or loss, en- 
 quire of him what proportion he should think would pay him 
 for conducting the sale and publication. Booksellers have 
 certainly a power of pushing books into the world ; and it must 
 be a work of great merit to obtain and make its way invitis 
 bibliopolis. You mention also a want of books : might you 
 not also apply to Benj. to know on what terms he would fur- 
 nish you with the use of books proper for your purpose 'til 
 you had compleated your Fauna? It is highly proper, it 
 seems, to have a good many cuts. Mr. Curtis will superin- 
 tend your engravings. 
 
 Mrs. Chapone * sold her two first vols, for £50. Now she has 
 made up a third from essays, poems, adventures, &c. and sold 
 that to another for £250 ; so that it is expected the man will 
 lose considerably by the purchase. 
 
 Many thanks for the copies of your ' Gib. Letters,' which are 
 very entertaining. You have the advantage of me now, since 
 you have taken away my amanuensis. I am disturbed that 
 Mr. Shaw takes no manner of notice of the Hirundines ; nor 
 how far the melba and hybernce extend, as might have been 
 expected from his opportunities at Cadiz and elsewhere. Pray 
 let Cap. Shaw know, that if he comes to Alton I should be 
 glad to see him. The spirit for nat. hist, that you left behind 
 you is by no means evaporated ; neither is your mantle worn 
 out. 
 
 * [This lady was the early object of Gilbert White's regard and 
 addresses when Hester Mulso. (See memoir.) — T. B.] 
 
42 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 Lever has opened his museum at half a guinea per head. 
 Harry has got a fine roomy kitchen indeed, and will have a 
 fine parlor over. This addition shuts all his buildings finely 
 together; and nothing is to be regretted but the expense. 
 Sister Harry has got another fine boy, whose name is Edward. 
 Nanny White is in a poor languishing way, still at lodgings 
 near Vauxhall. Edward White is gone on trial to Mr. John 
 Hounsom, linendraper in Fleet Street. The father is to advance 
 with him a fee of £250 ; and the master makes a merit of 
 taking so little, and says that from a stranger he should have 
 demanded £300. 
 
 When opportunity serves, pray read Dr. Johnson's 'Journey 
 thro' Scotland,' and Dr. Burney's ' Tour thro' Europe to make 
 enquiries into the present state of musick.' Thanks for your 
 information about cotton-cnps. 
 
 Should you not produce in your work a short comparative 
 table of weather at Gib., Selborne, and N. America? Kalm 
 will furnish you with the barom., thermom., &c. of America. 
 I herewith send you my best account of the cobweb shower of 
 1741. What is said of spiders shooting webs, and flying &c. 
 in Ray's Letters is so much, that it cannot be transcribed. 
 You should consult Ray's Letters *. 
 
 When first I came I fully intended to have sent you my ac- 
 count of the cobweb shower : but this house is so full that I 
 have no opportunity of being long enough alone to think ac- 
 curately on any subject ; so I must defer that part till I write 
 again. We have continual wet weather: and farmers are sadly 
 hindered in their spring crop : stormy and wet this day, 
 March 11. 
 
 When Hesiod says that the chirping note of the Cicada 
 conies from under its wings, he expresses himself thus — 
 
 AevBpeco efpe^opevos Xiyvprjv KaraxeveT uoi8t)v 
 YIvkvov vno Trrepvyav. v. 5S4. 
 
 Is there not a Frenchman who claims this discovery? 
 
 Sure insects have been more abroad this winter than usual : 
 and lately, in our little interval of fine weather, many species 
 
 * [Seep. L82, Vol. I.— T. B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 43 
 
 of Muscat came forth. Chrysomela Gott'mgensis begins to come 
 forth. 
 
 Bro. Tho., Molly White, and myself came down to this place 
 on Tuesday last; on Wednesday next Harry's boy is to be 
 bapt. ; and on Friday we are to return to Selborne. 
 
 I have just dug away 40 loads of earth from the end of my 
 kitchen, and have now set my house above ground in all parts. 
 
 Mr. Halliday behaves very well, and improves so much, 
 that his friends are well pleased with the pains that have been 
 taken with him. His parts, tho' somewhat backward, and 
 slow, promise to be solid. 
 
 Building is very infectious and catching : I am so pleased 
 with H.'s new parlour, that I want to go home and build one. 
 
 A certain plea of license against the incumbent's taking all 
 the duty in person can avail him nothing. Every man may, 
 if he chooses, do his own business himself, certainly. 
 
 A flock of Spoon-bills was seen last winter near Yarmouth 
 in Norfolk : one was shot and sent to Curtis, who showed it 
 to Bro. Tho. This is a rare bird indeed in England, tho' com- 
 mon in Holland, and must have migrated across the German 
 Ocean, no narrow frith, in spite of all that Mr. Barrington can 
 say to the contrary*. That gent, is got into some fracas with 
 the R. S. ; so that, I suspect, no more of my Hirundines will 
 be redde. 
 
 I will send you in my next what Chaucer says about gossa- 
 mer : it is wonderful that so remarkable and prognostic a phe- 
 nomenon should escape Thomson, the naturalist poet. 
 
 As America is at present the subject of conversation, it may 
 be matter of some amusement to you to send you a quotation 
 from the Medea of Seneca, prophetic of the discovery of that 
 
 vast continent. 
 
 veneant annis 
 Secula seris, quibus oceanus 
 Pateat, tellus, Tiphysque novos 
 Detegat orbes; nee sit terra ultima Tbule. 
 
 * [It is now well known tbat the Spoonbill used to breed in Norfolk. 
 See Stevenson's 'Birds of Norfolk,' ii. p. 52G. Sir Thomas Brown also 
 says that they used to build in the Heronry at Claxton and Rudham, in 
 in that county.— T. B.] 
 
44 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 N.B. Tiphys was pilot to the Argonautic expedition ; and 
 a type of Columbus. 
 
 All friends join in respects yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Sure your Fauna should sell outright for £100 clear of all 
 deductions. Mr. Pennant gets that sum for his new edition 
 of ' Brit. Zool. ; ' and your work will contain much more new, 
 original information. I want to see you the first of faunists. 
 With regard to anecdote and real nat. hist, the less you borrow 
 from books the better ; you have a large fund of your own. 
 Benj. will get very largely by Mr. P.'s Scotch tour. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Selborne, Oct. 4, 1775. 
 Dear Brother, 
 From the hurry arising from a full house while the Lyndon 
 family were with me ; and by means of Mr. Thos. Mulso, who 
 came as soon as they were gone to Fyfield, I find that your 
 letter has lain unanswered for three weeks. It is proper 
 therefore to sit down now I am alone, and answer your last 
 before my friends return from Fyfield. 
 
 Mr. Barker sets out as this morning for Northamptonshire, 
 and takes his leave of Hants at my Bro. Harry's house ; but 
 the ladies and Sam return hither on Friday; and Harry accom- 
 panies them and stays with me a few days. How long my 
 sister &c. are to stay I cannot yet say. Your Fauna, to which 
 I think myself at least a foster-father, is become, I hear with 
 pleasure, a fine thriving child. I could be glad to examine 
 its features, and to dandle it, and remark how it shoots up 
 towards its rjXiKia ; but the old difficulty of my church stands 
 still in my way, and is like to prove as great a remora as usual : 
 I am making enquiries concerning some assistance, but can 
 hear of nothing yet to my satisfaction. Mr. Grimm has not 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 45 
 
 yet appeared ; the reason is because he has been detained so 
 long in Nottinghamshire. 
 
 ^S *K *(* 'It "SS" -^n 
 
 Our people here, you know, call coppice-wood, or hedge- 
 wood, rice or rise. Now Bro. Thos. has found that this word 
 is pure Saxon ; for hris* signifies frondes. Thus has he vindi- 
 cated this provincial word from contempt. I am lowering my 
 bank in my garden, and throwing its border on an hanging 
 slope : last winter I sank my walks so much, that this altera- 
 tion became necessary. Where is Wollet the draughtsman to 
 be found? Thos. Mulso, who draws sweetly, has taken hints 
 concerning the Hawkley Slip, to be finished in town ; bro 
 Ben has just purchased two freehold houses in S. Lambeth, 
 one of which is to be used as his country house, into which he 
 is to enter as soon as possible. He and Ben. are just gone 
 from us. My sister Bet and Jane and Nanny are still at 
 Newton ; the latter is most marvellously recovered, and will 
 now, I trust, do very well. Poor little Nanny Wood has been 
 ill and has lost her colour. Bro. Harry has got another young 
 man, a 50-pounder ; he has now a fine income, and will soon, 
 I hope, begin to lay by some money. Does your migrating 
 clergyman visit you again this winter ? Ring-ouzels came to 
 us in September. Your snuff-pincers extinguish my candles 
 in a very neat manner. 
 
 With respects to my sister, I remain 
 
 Your loving brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 London, Jan. 30, '76. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 As you have enjoined me to speak my sentiments with respect 
 to your work, you must not think me didactic and forward in 
 the following pages. It will be well to sweeten and diversify 
 your tables of weather &c. with an alternate page of zool. ca- 
 
 * The top of a tree : "top and lop." 
 
4U LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 lendar, and interesting coincidences ; for the generality of 
 readers are apt to skip over whatever looks like figures. Your 
 journal will be pretty long. An index perhaps has never en- 
 tered into your head ; yet such a thing may be expected in so 
 large a work. You may no doubt, if you please, invent your 
 system as well as Brown. You are not sworn to follow the 
 arrangement of Linn. By that means the subject certainly rises 
 on the reader. The Swedes admire Brown notwithstanding. 
 Faurw Calpensis primitice will no doubt be more modest ; yet 
 might your full history well deserve to be called a Fauna. In 
 strictness Linn.'s Fauna Suec. is no more a perfect Fauna than 
 your own, since some hundreds of animals must still have 
 escaped his observation. Bro. Ben objects to a Latin title to 
 an English book. Suppose you'call it, l Fauna Cal., or a Zool. 
 Hist, of Gib.' &c. ; for Natural Hist, it must not be called, since 
 the plants are wanting. There is such a spirit gone forth 
 against whatever is Linnasan, that I would not make the title 
 page Linnasan. Your bookseller must be consulted a little in 
 the title page and advertisements, as he knows best how to 
 throw in little savoury and alluring circumstances to quicken 
 the appetite of your buyer. By no means should you print, 
 Bro. Tho. and I both think, 'til you have sold your copy : book- 
 sellers know how to subscribe off an impression to the trade, 
 and to throw cold water on a work lying on the author's hand. 
 We do by no means like your " sequimur patrem," &c. : you 
 should have mottos relative to each class. Ovid, perhaps, 
 somewhere among his monsters will furnish for the Vermes. 
 Pray correspond with Padre Floroz, since Linn, will no longer 
 write*. We can by no means see how you can be off from 
 bringing up your work yourself: for no person will purchase 
 what they have not seen ; besides one hour's conversation will 
 do more business than an hundred letters. Might not Benj. 
 print and publish for you on the usual terms? We wish to 
 see your papers, and to correct here and there, not out of 
 vanity and a meddling temper, but because little errors un- 
 
 [In May 1774 Linnseus had his first attack of apoplexy, from which 
 he never wholly recovered. — T. B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 47 
 
 avoidably befall and escape every author. Be sure to pro- 
 cure a good perspective western view of the harbor, town, and 
 hill of Gib. to fold in as frontispiece, with references ; it will 
 contribute to explain many passages. You will have, I find, 
 near 1000 pages, and 800 species. 
 
 As an electrician you should see Priestley's ' Hist, of Elec- 
 tricity :' he sets the whole in a pleasing light. Just as you 
 wrote last my neighbours told me there were troops from Gib. 
 at Alton ; so I sent Thomas over with a note and invitation to 
 your friend Cap. Shaw. He brought word that Mr. S. had 
 passed through Alton, and was quartered at Farnham. I then 
 wrote by the post to Farnham renewing my invitation ; and 
 received a letter of thanks, and excuses that they expected 
 daily to be called for to march towards London, where the 
 king would review them. However, the deep snow came and 
 stopped their march; so that when I came to Farnham I 
 found the soldiers still there : I therefore called on C. Shaw 
 for five minutes in my postchaise at the Bush-inn-gate ; and 
 so ended the affair. He expressed his sense of my civility, 
 and says he will write to you very soon. He does not expect 
 to go to N. America. 
 
 As soon as Bro. Tho. is at liberty he proposes laying in 
 materials for a history of Hants : he is in possession of a fine 
 fortune. 
 
 I am glad John (for now he is very near six feet high I 
 must no longer call him Jack) behaves so much to your satis- 
 faction. He has lately written to me ; and I have answered 
 from hence, offering him a book of a guinea value, but desi- 
 ring him to consult you and his master. 
 
 We condole with you on the loss of your excellent friend 
 the Governor *. Perhaps by permission you may dedicate to 
 the Archbishop, and, as the General is dead, may be allowed to 
 speak with more warmth of him than you could have done to 
 
 * [The Hon. Edward Cormvallis, Lieutenant-General, and Governor 
 of Gibraltar, was the son of Lord Cormvallis, uncle of the earl, and twin 
 brother of the Archbishop of Canterbur}-. He died at Bird Place in 
 Hertfordshire, on the 14th of January 1 77G, only about a fortnight before 
 the date of this letter.— T. B.] 
 
48 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 him. Shall I desire Mr. Lort to enquire whether such a dedi- 
 cation would be permitted, and well taken. 
 
 Poor Brown the artist ! it is the fate of most ingenious fo- 
 reigners : they have no manner of economy. Forster will be 
 soon in the same condition : he and his son dress like noble- 
 men, and give £60 per aim. for an house! They have pub- 
 lished ' New T Genera of Antarctic Plants.' Benj. has a share in 
 this book. There is Barringtonia, a Shejjieldia, a Skinneria, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Their great work or ' Voyage ' is now under correction at 
 Oxford. Have your churchyards in the N. any yew trees ? 
 
 Pray send me Reaumur's ivhole account of the Ilippobosca 
 hirundinis. Pray write soon. London is now Petersburg ; 
 it freezes under our beds with shutters closed and curtains 
 drawn. Bro. Ben.'s new house at S. Lambeth was last Sunday 
 Archangel, with therm, at eleven, and every thing ice and 
 snow. 
 
 Yrs. affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 My love to my sister. 
 
 Look in Anacreon's Ode 43, and see if it affords any apt 
 motto for insects in general. I have been to Mr. Grimm*, and 
 am better pleased with his performances than I expected, and 
 think I must send for him next summer. Bro. Th. talks of 
 employing him some time hence. Excuse ; we are called to 
 supper. 
 
 * [Samuel Henry Grimm, the artist who was employed by Gilbert 
 White to draw the landscape illustrations of his book, was a native of 
 Berghortf, in the Canton of Beme, in Switzerland ; but the greater part 
 of his life was spent in England. He contributed to the ' History of 
 Selborne ' the vignette of the a Hermitage " in the title-page, both views 
 of the church, the Temple, and the Pleystow. Whether the large folding 
 frontispiece was drawn by him is uncertain, as no artist's name appears 
 on it ; but the style, both of the figures and the landscape, is much in the 
 same character as his other drawings. He died in London, about 1794. 
 — T. B.] 
 
THE KEY. JOHN WHITE. 49 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 Thames Street, Feb. 27. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Many thanks for your letter of the 18th, and for your extract 
 from Reaumur. We all much approve of what you intend to 
 inscribe to the Archbishop, thinking it neat and polite ; but, 
 like yourself, we do not much like your title page. Brother 
 Ben says he thinks that " Hist. Nat. : Observations in Lat. 
 Si} " should all be left out, and that it should begin with 
 " An Essay," &c. : but it is not worth while to be solicitous 
 about a title page. Swift says, " for a title page consult your 
 bookseller." But the term "Fauna Calp" they judged to 
 be too quaint and pedantic for the beginning of a title ; yet, 
 I think, must by no means be sunk, for the following reason, 
 because I believe you have always told Linnseus that you 
 should call your book by that name ; and therefore if he 
 mentions your work in his last edition (as he certainly will) 
 you will lose all the credit to be derived from such notice of 
 you, if you mention no such title. Supposing Linn, to be 
 dead, there can be no doubt that his son will put forth the 
 new edition. By what we remember of the specimen of 
 your work, we thought some articles too diffuse. It is 
 natural for you to fall a little into this extreme from the 
 regard you express for Reaumur, since all the French in 
 Nat. Hist, are Very circumstantial. Be so good as not to 
 forestall my cobweb shower. I wish I had two or three dozen 
 more of such anecdotes. An engraver has been with me ; 
 and I have been talking with him about his taking off 5 or 6 
 of my drawings : he says that my 4to drawings cannot be 
 well executed under 8 guineas a piece : now 5 times eight is 
 forty ! Grimm is reducing my Hermitage-view in order to 
 bring it to a proper size for a vignette * : he is also to take it in 
 a large scale for bro. Hen. 
 
 * [This forms the vignette in both the quarto editions. — T. B.] 
 VOL. II. E 
 
50 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 You will see in the papers a remarkable cause in the com- 
 mons between a patron and a rector who took two distant 
 perpetual curacies ; the matter was determined in favor of the 
 rector : had it gone against him the rector of Fyfleld Avould 
 have had cause to quake. I propose staying in town 'til the 
 14th of March. Respects to my sister. 
 
 Your affect, brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 If you think the mention of your degree of A.B. will occa- 
 sion any inconvenience, you may easily drop it. Brother Tho. 
 waits on the dean of Ely tomorrow at Lambeth : and will be 
 sure to desire him to represent you and Harry in a favorable 
 light to the new Bishop of Chester. Poor Nanny White de- 
 clines very fast, and is in a very languishing state *. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 Thames Street, March 5, 1770. 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 Brother Tho. and I both think that you should yourself 
 
 write to the Archbishop one of your best letters, and beg to 
 
 know of him whether you might dedicate to him, and tell him 
 
 the reason why ; and then you will act on sure grounds. If 
 
 you are not permitted, you might mention the Gen. in your 
 
 preface. 
 
 Brown, I think, is in gaol in St. George's Fields ; but artists 
 
 never work more steadily than when under confinement, 
 
 Forster has just received a letter from Linna3us, who wants to 
 
 publish a new Mantissa of plants in England. Brother Benj. 
 
 declines meddling. Forster says that when you write to 
 
 Linn, you should direct to him not as professor at Upsal, but 
 
 as academician, since all such letters go free, because the 
 
 academy is of royal institution. Forster's new genera of 
 
 * [After many fluctuations in the state of her health, she died in 
 1 letaber 1777. See page 64. — T. IS. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 5] 
 
 Antarctic plants do not sell : so that the Skinneria, the Shef- 
 fieldia, the Barringtonia are like to sleep. Botanists think 
 they shall never see the originals ; and other readers care not 
 a farthing about the matter. I marvel at the mildness of your 
 weather in January. I told you, I think, that on the 31st my 
 therm, was | helow 0. There seems to have been a peculiarly 
 severe current at Selborne. Mr. Y.* was so supine as never to 
 put his therm, out ! The therm, at S. Lambeth was at 6, at 
 Fyfield 15, at Lyndon 19 ; in London areas at 20. We join 
 in respects. I return home next week. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Nanny White l'ides out at her father's country-house every 
 day, and improves wonderfully. Molly White is at Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 Bro. Henry went away in January before the snow was 
 melted and went through between high walls of that meteor. 
 Bro. Tho. by no means approves of your title of " Zool. Anec- 
 dotes ;" he thinks the latter too mean and unworthy a great 
 book. He neither thinks that you should say, " The Nat. 
 Hist, of the quadrup. birds, fishes and insects of Southern 
 Spain," with &c. We wish also that you would throw some- 
 thing savoury into your title page concerning migration; for 
 many readers pay attention to that circumstance, without re- 
 garding any other parts of Nat. Hist. Say what you can 
 concerning vegetation; for the love of such knowledge in- 
 creases. Even Bishops (your Bishop in particular), in order 
 to recommend themselves, study botany. Mr. Curtis savs, 
 that men from the other end of the town call on him in their 
 coaches to desire private lectures for grown gentlemen. 
 
 But your bookseller, at last, will be your best adviser 
 respecting a title page ; for such men best understand the 
 pulse of the publick. Pray write to Selborne not long hence. 
 Jack should send me an account of the therm, at Manchester. 
 Mr. Lever has custom at his shop ; but whether adequate to 
 his boundless views, no man can guess. He is furnishing the 
 
 * [Mr. Yalden, Vicar of Newton.— T. B.] 
 
 E 2 
 
52 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 whole house with specimens ; still u Some Demon whispers, 
 Bubo, have a taste" *. 
 
 Sir Tho. Gatehouse is rained, and locked up in a garret 
 here in town for fear of his creditors ; and his lady, who 
 brought a £1000 per ami., will for his life be reduced to 
 poverty ! ! 
 
 LETTER XXIV, 
 
 Fyfield, May 15, 177G. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Brother Thomas and his daughter have been with me for a 
 week : yesterday we all three came down to this place, and 
 found all well. 
 
 As I had got a frank for you, I thought it best to take it 
 down with us, that all that had occasion might make use of it 
 together. 
 
 Forster was presented to his doctor's degree at Oxford on 
 account of his literary fame, and because he had hazarded 
 his life in a circumnavigation in the pursuit of natural know- 
 ledge. 
 
 Pray write to Linn. ; for if he only tells you of your new 
 genera, &c, and affixes no names, he leaves you in the lurch; 
 direct to him as an Academician, for reasons assigned in a 
 former letter f. 
 
 We are glad you find your heavy duty so easy ; for what 
 is paid to curates is all neat money and occasions considerable 
 deductions from a moderate living. Holdsworth I have pro- 
 cured ; but I can't say the work gives me so much pleasure 
 as it seems to have afforded you. I did not find so many 
 genuine criticisms drawn from the face of the country and the 
 modern practices in husbandry as I expected, but rather a 
 collection of parallel passages from Cato and Columella. So 
 much easier is it to compile, than to advance fresh remarks. 
 
 * " Some demon whispers, ' Visto have a taste.' " — Pope's Essays. 
 t [Linnanis's second and most severe attack of apoplexy occurred about 
 tliis time.— T. B,l 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 35 
 
 Mr. Yalden will not probably set out for Spain 'til next 
 spring : I shall exhort him by all means to take your recom- 
 mendations in his pocket. He is a decent zoologist, and 
 particularly an entomologist. He is returned, I hear, from 
 Edinburgh to Winton. 
 
 Your quantity of drawings, I find, are considerable ; no 
 doubt they should be engraved in London. As to your botany 
 it should be carefully overlooked by somebody ; in the zoolo- 
 gical part your powers are much more considerable and you 
 want only a friend, as all men do, just to remark those small 
 errors or slips which " incuria fudit." 
 
 You are the best judge whether you should address Mrs. 
 Cornwallis ; if you do, you may express your regard for her hus- 
 band with more warmth than if he was living : Quis desiderio 
 sit pudor aid modus ? Send me some account of the Hippo- 
 bosca hirundinis at your leisure. 
 
 Harry's little academy is in a flourishing way ; he will, it 
 is too probable, lose his £100 young gent, at Midsummer ; 
 but then at that time he is to have a fresh pupil of 14 years 
 of age at £150 per annum. His building has been heavy on 
 him ; but without considerable additions he could not have 
 stood on the present footing. So one must be set against the 
 the other. We are much distressed in Hants by the long dry 
 season ; no grass, and a poor prospect for spring corn ; butter 
 10c?. per pound, and hay at £4 10s. per ton ! 
 
 Mr. Chandler's stile and wording is very lame and defective 
 indeed. Sir Tho. Gatehouse's eftects are just sold off at both 
 his seats. My respects to my sister and Jack ; " John " I 
 mean, now he is six feet high. You cannot take another living 
 without becoming A.M. or LL.B., both which degrees will 
 require time, attendance, and expense ; if you take a second 
 living now, you render your first void ipso facto. 
 
 The bloom on all sorts of trees is this year very extraordinary 
 indeed ! 
 
 At present I think of sending for Grimm about the begin- 
 ning of July : I may employ him for perhaps a month. Mr. 
 Yalden of Newton then talks of taking him for a week to draw 
 his house and outlet ; and then he is to go to Penruddot- k 
 
• r >4 I, ("ITERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 Wyndham, Esq., at Warnford. So he will have a good stroke 
 of work. His price is two guineas and an half per week. 
 His buildings, human figures, quadrupeds, waters, perspec- 
 tive among trees are good ; but his trees are not so pleasing : 
 lie lias also a vein of humour; but that I shall not allow him 
 to call forth, as all my plates must be serious. At the last 
 exhibition he produced some very good draAvings. 
 
 Harry's outlet is now very neat and beautiful. Capt. Shaw 
 is but just gone from Farnham. I called on him in my return 
 from town : he seemed inclined I thought to make me a visit ; 
 but he never came. Mrs. Etty has been very ill indeed since 
 her lying-in, but is getting better; she lias got another son, 
 whose name is Simeon. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Munstoke, Aug. 9, 1770. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 By your unusual silence I began to fear what has really been 
 the case, ill health. You have perhaps by your attention to 
 your book and other matters been too free with your consti- 
 tution lately; you must therefore relax a little and allow 
 yourself more time for riding and walking. Particularly, I 
 think, vou should avoid contention though in ever so good a 
 cause ; for any earnest agitation of the mind is bad for the 
 stomach. 
 
 Lucomb's oak, we think, will at last probably turn out the 
 Queen's ayilops*: but this matter cannot well be determined 
 'til it comes to bear fruit. It carries its leaf all the winter in 
 Devon, but casts it at Selborne, Essex, and elsewhere, and is 
 probably a deciduous tree. Perhaps your Homo sapiens may 
 be too close a copying of the Linn, system, and may appea 
 pedantic to an anti-Linn, reader. I by no means want the 
 
 [Qitercxs lucombeana. Of this fine species there are figures and a full 
 description in Loudon's ' Arboretum,' vol. iii. p. 1852. Certainly distinct 
 fri mi cegilops, — T.B.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 55 
 
 Hippobosca hirund. just at any one particular day or week ; 
 only wish to see it at your leisure. Mr. Grimm was with me 
 just twenty-eight days; twenty- four of which he worked very 
 hard and shewed good specimens of his genius, assiduity and 
 modest behaviour, much to my satisfaction. He finished for 
 me twelve views. He first of all sketches his scapes with a 
 lead pencil ; then he pens them all over, as he calls it, with 
 indian-ink, rubbing out the superfluous pencil strokes ; then 
 he gives a charming shading with a brush dipped in indian- 
 ink, and last he throws a light tinge of water colour over the 
 whole. The scapes, many of them at least, looked so lovely 
 in their indian-ink shading, that it was with difficulty the 
 artist could prevail on me to permit him to tinge them ; as 1 
 feared those colours might puzzle the engravers ; but he 
 assured me to the contrary. From me Mr. Grimm went to 
 Mr. Yalden to take a scape of his outlet from above the 
 chalkpit. On Tuesday I brought my artist (at the desire of a 
 gent, who was visiting there) to Lord Clanricarde's at 
 Warnford, that he might take a drawing of an old building 
 in his lordship's garden, now a barn : it is a curious piece of 
 antiquity little known, and will prove an agreeable surprise to 
 many as I am sure it was to me, who never heard the least of 
 the matter before. 
 
 There is some reason to fear that Mr. Halliday's father may 
 be taken by the American privateers in his passage home from 
 Antigua. 
 
 Mulso has just got a second living near Winton ; the name 
 of it is Easton, it is worth £250 per annum. Our St. foin 
 was finely made, then we had a dripping time that spoiled 
 much clover, and some meadow-hay; and for the last fort- 
 night in July we had glorious weather to finish off the 
 meadow: now harvest is beginning and the weather dripping. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mulso join in respects, I saw one swift yester- 
 day. At present I cannot say when I shall be at liberty to 
 wait upon you and my sister ; but you may be assured that I 
 wish to have it in my power to see Blackburn. I conclude, 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
56 LETTERS TO HIS BKOTIIEU 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 Oxford, October*. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 
 Your letter of October 2d arrived just as I was prepared to 
 set out for this place, to which I was called a day or two 
 sooner than I intended on account of the Univ. election. I 
 left Bro. Thos. behind at my own house, and Bro. Ben. at 
 Newton, intending to club for a post chaise in a day or two, 
 and to return to town. Bro. Thos. has been bathing in the 
 salt water at Lymington for rheumatic complaints. Poor 
 Nanny White has been rather better for a day or two past, 
 and has rested, and shewed a little appetite, and slept a little ; 
 so that her friends were willing to flatter themselves that her 
 illness might take a better turn. She never had any cough. 
 
 I heartily wish it was as much in my power as in my incli- 
 nation to assist you in the concern you mention. As to Mr. 
 Hill, I never heard of him but at Fyfield, and therefore can 
 only echo my Bro. Harry with regard to his business and 
 reputation. He has, it seems, a partner, concerning whom it 
 will be as needful to enquire as about the principal. There is 
 also a Mr. Baverstock at Marlboro' (one of the Baverstocks of 
 Alton), a man in a flourishing way, with whom Bro. Ben. is 
 acquainted, who should be asked concerning the circumstances, 
 temper, &c. of Mr. Hill ; and the common trite observation, 
 that there is somewhat of adventure and hazard when a man 
 strikes out into many businesses, should not be totally disre- 
 garded. The variety and extent of the business must more- 
 over occasion the absence of the Mr. and subject his people 
 to be left pretty much to themselves. These matters I have 
 thrown together as they occur, though no doubt they have 
 all been considered well by you before. 
 
 As to the business of my journey I have carry ed it con- 
 
 * [There is no date of the year in which this letter was written. — 
 T. 13.] 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 57 
 
 tinually in my mind, and have been still labouring the point. 
 As to my neigh. Robertson of East Tisted, he is very willing 
 and desirous to help me ; but then he has it not in his power 
 without he can find somebody to take one of his churches off 
 his hands. He has met lately with a person that wavers about 
 it, and will send him a final answer soon. Upon this contin- 
 gency at present does my Lan. visit seem to hang. Pray 
 write soon. I return hence on Wednesday, Oct. 19. Respects 
 to my sister. 
 
 Your affect, brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Fine weather for a week, after astonishing rains. 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 Fyfield, Nov. 12, 1776. 
 Dear Brother, 
 As you have experienced so often how very necessary exercise 
 is for your health, you will no doubt be careful how any avo- 
 cation or pursuit, how laudable soever, shall again interrupt 
 that regimen so essentially needful. Our bro. Thos. has found 
 vast benefit from his journey to Bath ; the waters and the 
 bathing have quite quite removed for the present both his in- 
 ternal and his external ails. He advises, I find, if your 
 rheumatism returns, a journey to Buxton. Jack is very tall 
 indeed ! but if he continues healthy, it will be esteemed an 
 advantage to be a well-grown man. You have never told me 
 whether he was bound for five or seven years. 
 
 With respect to your MS., you seem a cup too low, and do 
 not assume the importance of an author. If Mr. P.* had got 
 such a work ready, he would feel little diffidence, and Avould 
 expect it would produce some money. If you desire it, I shall 
 be willing to look it over, and perhaps Bro. Thos. will do the 
 same when at leisure. By what I saw, perhaps some articles 
 
 * [Doubtless « Pennant."— T. B.] 
 
58 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 may be thought too long. The whale fishery is a fine new 
 circumstance, and worthy of a national attention, especially 
 as we may soon possibly have nothing to do with the N. 
 American seas. But in such narrow limits, and so warm a cli- 
 mate, how can such an offensive occupation be carryed on 
 without proving a vast nuisance to the garrison ? Train-oil and 
 whales' flesh must smell very vigorously in lat. 3<i. How wise 
 have all the naturalists proved themselves to be by laying it 
 down for granted that there were no whales in the Mediterra- 
 nean*. 
 
 Last night my bro. received a letter from the attorney near 
 Manchester, who wishes to be curate of Darwenf. He is 
 urgent for matters to be brought to a bargain. Sure the in- 
 junctions and provisions against simony have never reached 
 your part of the world. If disappointed, he will not, I hope, 
 stir up a clamour against the southern non-resident. 
 
 D — is with me ; he is good natured, but somewhat heady 
 at times. It is well he is intended for trade, since he loves 
 anything better than book : bodily labour he does not spare ; 
 for rolling, wheeling, water-drawing, grass-walk sweeping- 
 are his delight. I have taught him to ride ; and perhaps a 
 good seat on an horse mav be more useful to him than Virgil 
 or Horace. I tryed Phredrus, but my patience fail'd. How- 
 ever, he may procure health and strength and a little behaviour 
 at my house. We all join in respects. 
 
 Yrs. affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 My brother's outlet is still pleasing. 
 
 * [The occurrence of Whales in the Mediterranean can only have 
 been fortuitous, aud could not have led to the establishment of a regular 
 trade as here alluded to. — T. B.] 
 
 t [Darwen, a township in the parish of Blackburn, of which parish 
 John White was incumbent, and in whose hands the appointment rested. 
 — T. B.j 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 50 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 Selborne, May 4. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 I should have wished that you had found your book more 
 marketable, and that you could have sold it outright. Yet if 
 Benj. offers to join, it looks as if he did not fear the want of 
 success in the publication ; besides booksellers have ways and 
 means of subscribing off among the trade, in which authors 
 cannot avail themselves. 
 
 My thanks are due for your calling on Edm. Woods, who 
 will, I think, soon supply me with some windows. I wish I 
 could prevail on you to come down and spend a little time 
 with us, before you return northward. 
 
 As soon as I got to town I sent your hortus siccus by my 
 bro. Thos.'s boy to Mr. Curtis's own house, and was in hopes 
 he would have examined the plants. 
 
 No swifts appear yet, tho' we have soft weather. My left 
 hand is full of gout ; all my fingers look red and shoot and 
 burn. If I have gout about me, it is best to come out. I hope 
 you found and left Mrs. Snooke well. 
 
 The spirit of building prevails much in this district : 
 Rich. Butler the thatcher is going to enlarge his house ; John 
 Bridger of Oakhanger builds a new one next spring ; and Mr. 
 P. of Rotherfield began pulling down yesterday. 
 
 " The child that is unborn may rue 
 The putting of that day." 
 
 I am your loving brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Pray write often, and let me know what steps you take re- 
 specting your book. 
 
00 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 Selborne, July 16, 1777. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Somehow or other I had persuaded myself that you were to 
 write first ; and having little to say as we had seen each other 
 so lately, I thought I would stay 'till you gave the challenge, 
 before I attacked you with an epistle. 
 
 As yet I have not seen your work, but shall peruse it 
 with pleasure as soon as brother Thomas brings it. But he is 
 going to bathe on the coast of Dorset for a few weeks. As I 
 hoped and expected to see you derive some credit and emolu- 
 ment from your labours, I was sorry to hear that the whole 
 pursuit is thrown aside for the present in some degree of dis- 
 gust and chagrin. One thing I could never understand ; and 
 that is, you say in a former letter " that having so near a 
 relation a bookseller, should you not agree with him about 
 terms, no other publisher would meddle with your work, 
 because your relation is one of the first editors in the natural 
 history way." Now the force of this argument I could never 
 see ; for Cadell or any other man would be influenced alone 
 by his own judgment, and, if he saw merit in the work and 
 an interesting subject, would little regard, I should think, 
 another person's sentiments. Unless you have experienced 
 the inconvenience that you thought you foresaw, your sus- 
 picions were probably wrong. 
 
 The roof of my great parlor is finished ; and my walls in a 
 few days will be up to their proper pitch ; so that we shall 
 soon proceed to rearing. You do well in removing the earth 
 that lies above your floors : I have taken away much for the 
 same reason. I have not seen the Clergy Act, but am assured 
 that it has nothing to do with residence; there is nothing com- 
 pulsive in it, but it enables the clergy to borrow money on their 
 livings, which they may lay out on the repairs of their houses, 
 &c, and so exempt their representatives at their deaths from 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 61 
 
 heavy delapidations. For the money borrowed the resident 
 incumbent is to pay five per cent, and some small proportion 
 of the principall off annually ; a non-resident must pay ten per 
 cent. : and when the borrower dies the residue remains a debt 
 on the living 'till by degrees it is payed off. Mr. Etty, as far 
 as he knows of the matter yet, for neither has he seen the act, 
 approves much of the plan, and thinks he may avail himself of 
 the matter so as to save himself from heavy demands on his 
 family at his death. * * * * 
 
 We had wet weather all the month of May ; but from the 
 10th of June to the 9th of July it was the strangest summer 
 solstice I ever saw — nothing but wind and floods and clouds 
 and wintry doings, so that we kept fires in the parlor most 
 part of the time. We have now sweet weather. 
 
 Respects to my sister. Yours, &c, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 Ringmer, Sept. 11, 1777. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 Being informed that Mrs. Snooke was seized with the palsy, 
 and had lost the use of one side, and that her speech was much 
 impaired, and moreover that she was alone by herself without 
 any friend ; I set out at a day's warning, though surrounded 
 with workmen, and arrived here late last Saturday evening. 
 I found the poor old lady in a low languishing state, though 
 better, the people about her told me, than she had been some 
 days before. The next morning she was much mended, and 
 has continued to mend so fast every day that she is become 
 quite another woman ; and Mr. Manning informed me this 
 morning that he has now good hopes of a recovery. 
 
 Brother Harry brought your MS. to Selborne the first week 
 in August ; but, what between an hurry of business, company, 
 and building, I have been able as yet to pay little attention to 
 it. Yet, though I have not payed it that regard which I ought, 
 
62 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 a visitor of mine has read it through with great care, and, if 
 I may judge from the many hours he bestowed upon it each 
 day, should suppose he was well pleased. The person alluded 
 to is Dr. Chandler the traveller in Greece, who being no 
 naturalist has no partiality for the Linnsean system, but 
 avers that it will prevent your book from becoming popular. 
 He and I had much serious talk about the matter ; and he 
 asserts roundly that he is sure that if you could persuade 
 yourself to divest it of its quaint garb (those were his words) 
 that he is certain it would be worth £200 of anybody's money. 
 He advises (no, he does not, for he spoke with great modesty 
 on the occasion ; he hints, I should say) that if you could pre- 
 vail on yourself to exchange Classes and Or dines for Chapters, 
 and to throw all your tables back into an appendix, that your 
 book would be very much read. The generality of readers, he 
 observes, are very lazy, and afraid of figures ; though your 
 tables, he thinks, may be pleasing and useful to some. He 
 farther added that you might still refer to Linnaeus, &c. at the 
 bottom of each page. And I have observed myself that book- 
 sellers lately in new editions in natural works have added 
 Linnaean names : and the reason is, because, though it is the 
 fashion now to despise Linnaeus, yet many languish privately 
 to understand his method. 
 
 Pray weigh seriously what I have said, and consider about 
 the Doctor's £200. You have not been informed, I think, 
 that John Wells has at last consented to sell me the fields 
 behind my house, that angulus iste which the family have so 
 lon£ desired. For this little farm I have laid down some 
 money in part payment; so hope no untoward accident will 
 now deprive me of it. With respects to my sister, 
 
 I remain 
 
 Your affect, brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Pray write to Selborne, where I hope to be soon. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 63 
 
 LETTER XXXI.* 
 
 Selborae, Oct. 81, 1777. 
 Dear Brother, 
 Had I not been called the beginning of this month to Oxford, 
 where I spent all my time either in college business, or in- 
 specting and transcribing by means of an amanuensis many 
 curious papers from the archives of Magdalen College, relative 
 to the antiquities of Selborne, you had, heard from me some 
 time ago. In my pursuits as an antiquary Dr. Chandler has 
 been wonderfully friendly, and communicative ; and my dis- 
 coveries about this place are very great : we examined 366 
 parchments. 
 
 I have now read your work, all but the entomology, once 
 over, and am proceeding to read several parts twice over. 
 In the whole I much approve of your book. Your preface is 
 neat ; your history is what I call true natural history, because 
 it abounds with anecdote and circumstance ; and I verily think 
 your dissertations on the Hirundines are the best tracts I ever 
 saw of the kind, as they throw much light on the dark but 
 curious business of migration, and possess such merit as alone 
 might keep any book from sinking. If consulted, I therefore 
 protest loudly against the intention of throwing your papers 
 aside ; for I think in a thousand instances they will delight a 
 good naturalist. I therefore pronounce, as the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor of Oxon does on similar occasions, imprimatur. But 
 then, to act as an impartial critic, I must also say that some- 
 times (and others think so as well as myself) your language 
 is rather diffuse, and your sentences too long ; and what I most 
 wonder at is, that at times you not only use the same verb or 
 its derivations 5 or 6 times in a paragraph, but sometimes 
 twice or thrice in the same sentence. Being jealous of the 
 
 * [This appears to be the last letter to John White. On his decease 
 the widow came to live with Gilbert, with whom she remained till his 
 death.— T. B.] 
 
64 LETTERS TO HIS BROTHER 
 
 honor of your work, I cannot admit of these inaccuracies, and 
 have therefore presumed to amend some of them, hut with 
 what success I must leave you to judge; I must therefore de- 
 sire you, who are so perfectly capable, to bestow a fresh and 
 severe inspection on the language. 
 
 Brother Thomas is now in town ; and I wish you would 
 desire him to send me down your ' Entomology,' which I long 
 to see. No wonder that you did not much relish Dr. Chand- 
 ler's proposal of rejecting all system: the reason of sending 
 you that advice was that I thought then that system was the 
 stumbling-block between you and your chapman ; but note I 
 plainly perceive that warm words and some heats have arisen 
 between you, which I hope will all soon be forgotten. Indeed 
 I wonder that in these days any work should stick on hand of 
 your sort, as I cannot but think that it might sell. Would 
 it not therefore be best to make fresh advances in Fleet 
 Street, and so set your work a-going in some way. 
 
 When you print, pray correct the press yourself; pray, 
 before every class give an explanation of terms : Linnaeus does 
 so ; and I think by this means the town might be led on gently 
 to relish Linn, terms. But without a glossary how should 
 men know what the lorum of a bird is ! No wonder Linnaeus 
 does not answer your letters : poor man, he has grown child- 
 ish*! Poor Nanny White was buried last Monday night in 
 this churchyard ; she dyed at S. Lambeth f. If you lend money 
 on private security, pray be careful. Jack I hope will write 
 to me about the earthtmake. Brother Thomas has the best 
 interest with Mr. Lort ; I have none. Next week I put in 
 my sashes, and proceed to ceiling and plastering my great 
 parlor. Our weather is very tempestuous. The glass yester- 
 day at 28*375. My best respects to my sister. 
 
 Your affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 * [This was after his second attack of apoplexy. — T. B.] 
 t [She was the daughter of Benjamin White and was twenty-one 
 years of age when she died. — T. B.] 
 
65 
 
 LETTER FROM JOHN WHITE 
 
 TO 
 
 HIS BROTHER GILBERT* 
 
 1 have sent brother Benj. word of what Linn, says about his 
 new edition. This roundabout method will dispatch nothing. 
 Brother B. must write his own proposals, if he means to deal 
 with him at all. Surely you and I could manage to correct 
 the press ; at least in the Zoological part ; the Botanical I 
 must not pretend to. 
 
 Have you any queries to ask Linn, before I write again ? 
 You see he is willing to communicate, though busy enough. 
 
 This new enterprize of my friend Lever's disturbs me on 
 many accounts. In the first place, I wish'd you to see the 
 Museum in its native spot, Alkrington ; in the next it will be 
 gone from this country, of which it was one of the greatest 
 ornaments ; and thirdly it will rob me, I fear, of my friendly 
 neighbour for a great part of the year. I heard from him 
 immediately on his arrival in London. His plan is, he says, 
 " to pursue Nat. Hist, and carry the exhibition of it to such a 
 height as no one can imagine ; and to make it the most won- 
 derful sight in the world." 
 
 Upon this plan I think he is right to exhibit in London, 
 where he will not only collect with more speed, but also make 
 the thing defray its own expences, which no private fortune 
 alone could possibly equal. If you can send the drawings to 
 
 * [This is the only letter from John White to his brother which I 
 have ever seen, with the exception of one which relates exclusively to 
 private family matters, and was written from Gibraltar, and is mentioned 
 in the Memoir. The above letter was probably written in 1775. — T. B.] 
 
 VOL. II. " F 
 
66 LETTER FROM THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 
 
 town -while Mr. Lever is there, he will bring them. I shall go 
 to see him as he returns. 
 
 What leisure time I have I employ in collecting insects, 
 which I have promised Mr. Harrington as a beginning of his 
 ' Fauna Britannica.' I wish Jacky would pick up all the variety 
 that he can, put them into spirits, and there let them remain 
 till I can get them. Pray examine your sands for the Myr- 
 meleon. If in England I know no likelier place. Why 
 should not England have it as well as Sweden 9***1 now 
 recollect that I promised some remarks on your Swift in my 
 next. I have a few observations to make on that bird, but 
 no criticism on vour dissertation : and therefore I thought 
 you would be better pleased to see Linnams's letter. 
 
 I am drawing towards the conclusion of my insects ; and 
 shall then proceed to the quadrupeds, birds, and fishes. After 
 all there must be a general correction and transcript of the 
 whole, which will be no small undertaking. 
 
 We have had a sad, gloomy, wet, chilly season. We are 
 now sitting over a fire. I have brush'd up my house as spruce 
 as if it were for sale ; but it is to give you as agreeable an idea 
 of Lancashire as I can. * * * 
 
 Mrs. White is well, and joins in best wishes and respects 
 with, dear brother, 
 
 Your most oblig'd and affect. 
 
 J. W. 
 
 [It was proposed at one time that a new edition of the 'Systema 
 Naturae ' should be published in this countoy by Benjamin White. The 
 discussion of this project will be found in the correspondence between 
 John White and Linnaeus, in the letters numbered from IV. to IX. inclu- 
 sive. It was approved by John White, but positively declined by Ben- 
 jamin upon commercial grounds. For similar reasons he refused to 
 undertake a new edition of Linnseus's ' Mantissa Plantarum.' As this 
 proposition was made in the year 1776 (the formed edition, termed 
 'Mantissa altera,' having been published in 1771), it could scarcely have 
 been done with the author's knowledge, as he was in that year suffering 
 from a second attack of apoplexy, which had impaired his mental powers, 
 rendering him a very distressing object. This melancholy circumstance 
 is alluded to by Gilbert White in his letter to his brother John of the 
 date of October 31, 1777, as the cause of Linnaeus's not writing to him. 
 — T. B.] 
 
07 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNiEUS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 FROM THE REV. JOHN WHITE TO LINNAEUS. 
 
 Gibraltar, June 30, 1771. 
 
 Sir, 
 Be pleased to permit an humble admirer of your works, and 
 a lover of that study which your labours have rendered almost 
 universal throughout Europe, to present you with a small 
 specimen of his attempts to collect and class the animal pro- 
 ductions of Southern Europe and Northern Africa. Having 
 resided some years in this place, and been lately furnished 
 with your admirable writings from my friends in England, 
 and also with those of Ray, Scopoli, Geoffroy, Buffon, and 
 others, I thought it might be some satisfaction to all real lovers 
 of Natural Knowledge to see the several productions of this cli- 
 mate examined and displayed with some more accuracy than 
 has yet been done by travellers, who generally treat on Natural 
 History in a superficial way, and leave it the most defective 
 part of their works. My researches have hitherto been con- 
 fined to this fortress and its environs, as the duties of my 
 function require my constant residence in the place. I hope 
 to be able ere long to produce a tolerable ' Fauna Calpensis,' as 
 an introductory essay, and, if it please God to grant me health 
 and opportunity, to extend my plan by degrees. Your can- 
 dour and humanity will pardon the errors and defects of an 
 unexperienced adventurer, in consideration of his not uncom- 
 
 f2 
 
68 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 mendable intentions ; and if lie may be so happy as to be 
 honored with the instructions of so great a master, he humbly 
 hopes to approve himself not altogether an unworthy disciple. 
 As Mr. Stenbeck, the gentleman who does me the favour to 
 take charge of this letter, intends to travel by land, I could 
 not burden him with anything of greater bulk than one small 
 phial ; wherein I have ventured to send a few of the most re- 
 markable insects which I have collected this summer. The 
 large Hymenopt. which I suppose to be the Vespa crahroni 
 congener of Ray, seems also to answer to your Sphex bidens, 
 except that it wants the p>etiolus elongatus. The four speci- 
 mens which I send differ much from each other, and I judge 
 them to be the two sexes of two species. They have a most 
 remarkable difference in their sting (aeuleus), those with the 
 longest antenna? having the aeuleus tridentatus exsertus, the 
 others aeuleus simplex reconditus. The Panorpa coa cannot 
 abound more in that island than it does in this province. The 
 Gryllus turritus is not less frequent : antennae ensiformes in 
 all. The other large insect without wings I am unable to 
 class. It resembles the Mantis genus in form of the body 
 and legs ; but has not caput nutans. Nor can I reconcile it 
 with any Grylli. Sphex mauritanica is common here ; also 
 Sphex spirifer, — -fissipes, clavipes, appendig aster. Of the latter 
 I send two. I send likewise two species of Chrysis : your 
 Chrysis bidentata is frequent, but I have no specimens now ; 
 and several Apes (Bees), of which I cannot ascertain the species, 
 except Apis violacea. Mutillce are not uncommon here. I send 
 one, which seems to differ from those in the ' Syst. Nat.' by the 
 spot on the head and abdomen. The large Coleopt. is very 
 common here, and resembles the Lucanus cervus in its general 
 form ; but it has not the antennas of that genus, nor does it 
 ever fly. A much smaller species of the same insect inhabits 
 the sea-coast, where it devours the small Cancer pulex. I 
 have sent a Cancer brachyurus thorace Icevi, lateribus d-spinosis, 
 which I find not mentioned in your ' Syst. Nat.' 
 
 If any of these articles should be in the least worthy your 
 notice and acceptance, I shall be happy in having communi- 
 cated them, and shall be equally ready to supply you with any 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 69 
 
 other of the productions of these climates which you may wish 
 to see. I have made a considerable collection of the birds, 
 amphibia, and fishes, and remarked the circumstances of their 
 migrations. The Hit-undo melba breeds in thousands on this 
 rock. The Hir. rupestris Cauda emarginatd non forcipatd of 
 Scopoli breeds in the inland mountains of Andalusia and Gre- 
 nada, and in the winter, when those mountains are covered 
 with snow, resides regularly on these coasts, and migrates for 
 a short time only into Barbary. The Hir.pratincola, Trachelia 
 of Scopoli, sometimes appears in this country *. Alauda calan- 
 dra and Tardus arundinaceus, or junco, breed common in Spain 
 and Barbary. Turdus cyanus, or solitarius, abounds on this 
 rock. Also another species of Turdus, which I cannot find 
 in any author ; it is in all parts of a glossy black except the 
 uropygium and rectrices, which are snow-white, tipped with 
 black. Upupa epoj)s, Oriolus galbida, Merops apiastev, Jiuix 
 torquilla, Pho3tiicopterus y visit us annually in the spring ; Cha- 
 radrius cedicnemus in the winter. Among the fishes the most 
 remarkable are the Lepidopus and Lepadogaster, two new genera 
 of Dr. Gouan. The former is generally about six feet long, 
 and conies from the ocean in summer in abundance. This 
 species has the caudal fin forked, not subulate as described by 
 Dr. Gouan. As for other parts of Nat. Hist., I have for some 
 years kept a journal of the winds and weather, and variations 
 of the thermometer and barometer, and measured the quanti- 
 ties of rain fallen this last year. I have also attempted some- 
 thing of a Flora, or state of the vegetable world during each 
 month in the year ; but I am at present not sufficiently con- 
 versant in Botany to make much progress in that branch. 
 
 But if from these loose hints you should be pleased to judge 
 it to be in my power to furnish you with any satisfactory in- 
 telligence from this part of the world, you will give me great 
 pleasure in honouring me with your commands. And what- 
 ever instructions you may choose to favour me with, be pleased 
 to make use of the following address by any ships bound to 
 London, " To the Rev. Mr. John White, to the care of Mr. 
 White, Bookseller in Fleet Street, London." 
 
 * [Glareola pratincola of modern naturalists.] 
 
70 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 This Mr. White in London is my brother, and will very 
 punctually forward anything to Gibraltar. 
 
 I must now beg your pardon for the liberty I have thus 
 taken to trouble you with intelligence which to a person of 
 your extraordinary experience may be but trifling. However, 
 should any part of it prove in the least degree acceptable, it 
 cannot fail of giving much satisfaction to, good Sir, 
 
 Your sincere admirer, 
 
 And devoted humble servant, 
 
 JOHN WHITE. 
 
 Be pleased to write to me in any of the following languages, 
 English, Latin, French, or Italian. 
 
 LETTER II.* 
 
 fkom linn^us to tee eev. john white. 
 
 Viro Reverendissimo Dno. Johann. White 
 
 S. pi. d. 
 Car. Linne. 
 Literas tuas V. R. die 30 Junii ante octiduum plane con- 
 sternatus aperui, dum tu, cui nunquam mihi fortuna innotes- 
 cere concessit, mihi offers tuam gratiam, tuasque divitias 
 naturalium rerum. Mihi verba deficiunt explicandum affec- 
 tum meum sincerum in virum tanto virtutis robore. Gratulor 
 scientise quam ambo in deliciis habemus, quod qui fata rerum 
 gubernat, te excitaverit in admirationem mundani operis 
 Artificis. Nullum ego novi in regione quam inhabitas cui 
 Deus antea concessit apertos oculos intueri naturalia, ubi con- 
 currunt Hispanicse, Lusitanicae, Barbarian plantse, insecta, 
 aves,reliquaque animalia; ad fretum penetrabunt pisces omnes 
 qui ex oceano in M. Mediterraneum ire et redire debent. 
 
 * [This letter was printed in 'Contributions to Ornithology,' 1849, 
 pp. 28, 29.— A. N.] 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 71 
 
 Tu, profecto, si in Europa ullus, videbis plurima Oeatoris 
 miracula. 
 
 Piscium nominatoram nullum niajori desiderio examinarem, 
 quam Lepadoyastrum, cujus ideam nequeo inibi a Grouani 
 opere rite formare, ut certus evadam, utrum novum format 
 genus necne. 
 
 Hodie accipio lagenulam, a te generosissime mihi oblatam, 
 in qua reperio rarissima tua insecta. 
 
 Sphex ista cum maculis 4 dorsalibus abdominis a me nun- 
 quam antea visa fuit. Addidisti et ejus varietates cum capito 
 variegato, cum antennis luteis, cum maculis dorsalibus tantuin 
 duabus. 
 
 Sphex altera non minus rara et admodum singularis alis 
 (laciniatis, s. erosis ?) ferrugineis, apice nigris : neque ilia a 
 me visa fuit. 
 
 Mutilla an apud vos frequens ? hie rarissima: an innotuerit 
 ejus oeconomia ? babeo jam earn alatam. 
 
 Chrysis species varias vidi : sed quid in bis sit sexus dif- 
 ferentia non potui adbuc addiscere. 
 
 Gryllus turritus ad me antea tantum e Barbaria missus fuit. 
 Adbuc haesito de sexu. Alia mea individua babent antennas 
 magnas ensiformes ; alia antennas minutas setaceas : quasso 
 inquiras in tuis Gryllis turritis, num uterque sexus babent 
 similes antennas. 
 
 Tabanus iste forma muscat ibidem mihi novus, et rarissimus 
 fuit. 
 
 Panorpa coa, cum vobis vulgatissima, omnium in votis 
 esset, ejus metamorpbosin habere notissimam. 
 
 Gryllus turritus habet caput acuminatum, sed os versus 
 terrain, adeoq. nutans dici potest. 
 
 Nee Sphex fissipes, ueque clavipes erat in vitro, quas in- 
 clusas scribis. 
 
 CI try sis tua viridis, ano caeruleo, videtur nova species. 
 
 Mutilla tua vix diversa est a mea. 
 
 Lucanus tuus erat Lucanus parallelepipedes. 
 
 Cancer lateribus trispinosis mihi antea non visus fuit. 
 
 Si unquam capere posses, et me donare velles, Pratineola 
 Trachelia esset mihi munus quod cum Lepidog astro prse reli- 
 
72 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 quis maxime delectarer. Traclieliam aliquis mihi dixit debere 
 amandari ad Hirundines : sed niaxime adhuc dubito de 
 
 veritate *. 
 
 Pennant a te dives factus fuit raris naturae cimeliis. 
 
 Utinam possem aliquid tibi praastare pro tanto dono ; 
 anxius ero. 
 
 Upsaliae, 1772, 20 Januarii. 
 
 LETTER IH.f 
 
 from linn^us to the rev. john white. 
 
 Viro Reverendissimo Do. Jo. White 
 
 S. pi. d. Carol. Linne. 
 Accepi nuper Thesaurum tuum vere aureum, missum d. 13 
 Maii ; nee gratiorem unquam. Quibus verbis tuam in me 
 prredicabo gratiam effari nequeo. 
 
 Aviculas tuas rarissimas antea non vidi : eas studebo 
 diligenter, ubi museo s. bibliothecse reditus, qui nunc ruri 
 sestivo. 
 
 Hirundo melba, quarn antea non vidi, affinis Hirund. apod. 
 
 Hirundo rupestris mihi antea ignota, vere distincta. 
 
 Coturnix tridactylus % : an ex ordine Gallinarum aut Gral- 
 larura ? 
 
 Motacilla Tithys § longe a mea. aliena. 
 
 * [In a letter to Pennant (March 19, 1772) I find the following allu- 
 sion to this letter. " When I came to London I found a long letter from 
 Liimseus to my Bro. John, lying in Fleet Street, occasioned by an epistle 
 and some phials of insects sent by the latter to the former. The old 
 arch-naturalist writes with spirit still ; and is very open and communica- 
 tive, acknowledging that several of the insects were new to him. He 
 languishes to see a pratincola, being conscious that it belongs not to the 
 genus of Hirundo. ," — T. B.] 
 
 t [Printed in 'Contributions to Ornithology,' 1829, pp. 31, 32.] 
 
 1 [Turnix sylvatica of modern ornithologists.] 
 
 § [Ridici/la titys.— A. N.] 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINN.EUS. 73 
 
 1. Zeus an Perca ? Proprii generis Piscis et novi : capite 
 excoriato, reticulato, caslato. 
 
 Coryphcenoides vix videtur convenire cum generibus notis. 
 Doleo quod pinnse dorsi, ani et caudae erant mutilatae, at 
 radios numerare non licuerit. 
 
 2. Perca dipterygia rubra ad Percce genus forte pertinebit, 
 caput licet muticum : ob pinnas duas dorsales vix Sparus aut 
 Labrus erit. 
 
 Cancer arctos omnino. ^ Hae Sguillos aut valde affines 
 
 Cancer carinatus est. f videntur vere species dis- 
 
 Cancer antennis longissimis. i tinctas esse; cum pedes di- 
 Cancer rostro longissimo. J dactyli differunt in diversis. 
 Cancer minutus est. 
 Cancer brachiis birsutis, mihi antea non visus. 
 
 3. Lacerta lemniscata est. 
 Scarabceus hispanus est. 
 typlioeus est. 
 
 laticollis est, sed elytra non striata : an sexu ? 
 
 4. Scorpio australis est. Scorpio calpensis. 
 Scolopyendra morsitans est. 
 
 — forficata est. 
 
 Meloe majalis est. 
 Asilus barbarus est. 
 Chrysomela sanguinea est. 
 Carabus granulatus est. 
 Tenebrio tibialis est. 
 Cottus gobio est. 
 Mantis gongylodes, an larva ? 
 Cimex morio : qui copiosus erat. 
 Chrysomela goetingensis est. 
 
 staphylea est. 
 
 marginata est. 
 
 Curculio anguinus est. 
 
 nebulosus est. 
 
 barbaro similis sed triplo minor. 
 
 Whitei ! brevirostris, ater, undique punctatus, novus. 
 
 Silpha littoralis est. 
 ruqosa est. 
 
74 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 Silpha oblongata est. 
 Scarabceus sabulosus est. 
 
 Hister ater, nitidus, elytris striis quinq. dimidiatis ob- 
 literatisj novus. 
 
 Upsalise, 1772, d. 7 Augusti. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 from the rev. john white to linn.eus. 
 
 Sir, 
 Your first letter bearing the date 20th January met with 
 some delay in England, and did not reach my hands till the 
 first day of May ; and on the 17th of the same month, when I 
 sent a small collection of birds and insects, I was prevented 
 from writing to you so long a letter as I intended by the 
 sudden departure of the ship. The week following I was 
 called away in haste from Gibraltar to take possession of pre- 
 ferment in England, and have, since that time, been too con- 
 stantly engaged in my private affairs to afford that attention 
 to my studies in Natural History which I would otherwise 
 wish to do. Some time in December last I received your 
 second favour in London, and was desirous of sending you 
 some of my specimens of the most rare Calpensian animals ; 
 but I was informed that the frost had then shut up all navi- 
 gation to the Baltic Sea, for the winter season. As soon as the 
 communication opens again I will endeavour to send such as 
 I think best worthy of your acceptance. I now propose to 
 revise and correct my observations in Natural History made 
 at Gibraltar, and to reduce the fauna of that district into a 
 regular systematic form. Although I lived at that place 
 sixteen years in the whole, yet, to my misfortune, it was only 
 during the last four years that I became acquainted with this 
 science, and with your admirable works. However, if I have 
 leisure to model my materials, imperfect as they are, into any 
 tolerable form, I shall some day beg leave to submit a copy of 
 them to your inspection. Give me leave in the meantime to 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. lb 
 
 take some notice, in their regular order, of the several articles 
 mentioned in both your letters. 
 
 Of two specimens of the Lepadogaster which I sent to 
 England, one is lost, the other remains in my possession, and 
 shall certainly be forwarded to you the first opportunity. 
 
 Sphex maculis quatuor dorsalibus, &c, which you say you 
 had not seen before, seems to be Vespa crabroni congener 
 Rail. Indeed I at first supposed it to be Sphex bidens, Syst. 
 Nat., from which I think it differs nothing, except that it has 
 no spines on the thorax. That which has yellow antennae and 
 only two spots on the abdomen is the male, the other female. 
 I find no less than six varieties, which are probably the male, 
 female, and neuter of two distinct species. In some the 
 aculeus, or sting, is tricuspid, in others simple. 
 
 Sphex alis erosis, ferrugineis, apice nigris, was by me sup- 
 posed to be Sphex mauritanica ; but you will judge better on 
 farther examination. I have two species of Mutilla ; the 
 largest inhabits the sandy parts of the isthmus, the other the 
 high parts of the rocky mountain. I could not discover any 
 particulars of their oeconomy. The Chrysis which you remark 
 is inserted in Mr. Forster's ' Nova Insectorum Centura ' as a 
 new insect; he calls it C. cyanura, and another C. cyanochrysa. 
 All my Grylli turriti have ensiform antennae. I have not yet 
 remarked their sexual differences. Tabanus, forma muscae, 
 novus : be pleased to favour me with a specific distinction of 
 this insect. 
 
 I took much pains last summer to discover the metamor- 
 phosis of Panorpa coa, but with little success. It inhabits 
 sandy soils always, and its first appearance for three several 
 summers was precisely on the 18th of May. 
 
 I believe both Sphex fissipes and clavipes were among the 
 rest; perhaps they were lost by sticking close to other subjects. 
 
 If Cancer lateribus 3-spinosis be a new species, let me beg 
 your specific title to that also. 
 
 The insect which you say is Lucanus parallelepipedus, Mr. 
 Forster has also put among his new insects, by the name of 
 Tenebrio b uparius . 
 
 The only specimen that I have of Pratincola Trachelia is in 
 
76 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 bad preservation, but much at your service. It seems un- 
 doubtedly of the Grallce Ordo. Hirundo rupestris was ob- 
 served by me in the winter months as long ago as the year 
 1758, by Scopoli in the summer, about the year 1767. Co- 
 turnix tridactylus must without doubt belong to the Ordo of 
 Gallince; possibly its legs were stretched too much in drying, 
 and thereby made it resemble one of the Ordo of Grallce. It 
 differs from one in the ' Planches enluminees,' and, I hope, is a 
 nondescript species ; if so, be pleased to honour it with a 
 specific character. 
 
 Motacilla tiihys is the Grey-redstart of Edwards, and the 
 Ruttcilla gihraltariensis, No. 16, of Brisson. 
 
 Piscis novus, capite excoriato, reticulato, caslato ; as you 
 esteem it a new genus, demands likewise a generic, as 
 well as a specific, name, from the great father of Natural 
 History. 
 
 Corypha'noides rupestris not appearing in the ' Systema 
 Naturae,' Mr. Pennant gave it that name from Gunnerus. I 
 have more specimens, of which I will send you the best. 
 They are all found mutilated, being never taken alive in nets, 
 but cut out of the stomach of Squalus aeanthias. Perea 
 dipterygia rubra appeared to me rare and doubtful. You 
 will best ascertain its proper titles. 
 
 Cancer arctus* is, I suppose, Squilla caiata, Rondeletii. 
 
 C. carinatus't, videN. 16, Brunnichii spolia maris Adriatici. 
 C. antennis longissimis is certainly a distinct species. It's 
 colours beautiful. C. rostro longissimo must also be a peculiar 
 species. I have many specimens. C. braehiis hirsutis is 
 found in vast abundance under loose stones on the sea shore. 
 None larger than those which I sent you. 
 
 These four want Linnaean names. 
 
 Scarahams hispanus is sometimes found inclosed in a hard 
 oval ball of dung and sand mixed, through which, when 
 moist, it works its passage with its horn. Does it undergo 
 all its transformations in this prison ? Mantis gongylodes 
 
 * [Scyllarus arctus, Edw. Crust, ii. p. 282, a well-known Mediterranean 
 species. The Cancer arctus of Linn. Faun. Suec. — T. B.] 
 
 t [Most probably Sici/onia sculpta, Edw. Crust, ii. p. 409. — T. B.] 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 77 
 
 seems to be in its perfect state as you see it, for I never found 
 any winged, or in a different form. 
 
 Mr. Forster mistakes your Cimex morio for a new insect, 
 and calls it Cimex aterrimus. 
 
 On a review of my collection, I find about ten new species 
 of birds, viz. four Motacillce ; one Emberiza ; three Alaadce ; 
 and two Turdi : also several fishes, besides many insects. As 
 I hope to enlarge my collection still farther by the help of my 
 friends at Gibraltar, I shall with the utmost pleasure endea- 
 vour to supply the most illustrious master of the science with 
 every article that is valuable. I 
 
 Mr. White, a bookseller in Fleet Street, London, (who is 
 my brother, and to whose care I beg you to direct your future 
 favours for me,) is desirous of knowing who is the person in 
 Sweden, or elsewhere, that has the disposal of the last editions 
 of your works ; at what prices he may purchase many copies 
 of them ; and what new editions are now begun, or intended 
 soon, either of your own, or any other valuable publications. 
 If the proprietor will please to open a correspondence with 
 him, he may draw on him for the amount of what he pur- 
 chases, and depend upon immediate payment. My brother 
 leals more particularly in the branch of Natural History than 
 any other bookseller, and will probably have a large demand 
 for books of that sort. I beg leave to return my most grate- 
 ful thanks for your generous and instructive communications, 
 and with my most sincere wishes for your health, and a 
 prosperous progress in your most valuable labours, to sub- 
 scribe myself with all due esteem, 
 
 Your obliged disciple, and most obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN WHITE. 
 
 London, January 1, 1773. 
 
 ( 
 
78 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 FROM THE REV. JOHN WHITE TO LINSLEUS. 
 
 November 26, 1773. 
 
 Sir, 
 On the first day of this present year I had the honour to write 
 to you a very long letter, in answer to your kind favour dated 
 August 7, 1772, and also to inform you that I had left 
 Gibraltar, and was come to reside in England, as well as to 
 beg your farther sentiments concerning those birds which you 
 had not thoroughly examined when you wrote. 
 
 As almost ten months have now elapsed, without my 
 having any farther intelligence from you, I begin to fear that 
 either my letter was not duly conveyed to you, or that you 
 have not enjoyed that share of health which every lover of 
 science must wish may be continued to you, by the goodness 
 of providence, for many years. My letter was sent to the post 
 in London, a few days after the date thereof, and should 
 properly have reached your hands in the month of January 
 last. Therefore to avoid, if possible the imputation of the 
 least neglect of the honour conferred on me of being admitted 
 among the number of your correspondents, I beg leave to 
 communicate the above particulars, that you may be satisfied 
 no neglect has happened, on my side. I venture, also, as 
 before, to write in my own native language, supposing it 
 equally obvious to you, and being in want of practice to 
 express myself with equal readiness in the Latin tongue. 
 However, if it happens to occasion to you any inconvenience 
 in explaining an English letter, I will prevent it hereafter by 
 making use of the Latin. The affairs of my new preferment 
 engaged my attention the last summer, and prevented me 
 from executing my intended f Fauna Calpensis.' But I still 
 hope to finish it, having a quantity of materials, and more 
 specimens frequently ^ent by my friends at Gibraltar. 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 79 
 
 I mentioned in my last, that Mr. White, a bookseller, in 
 Fleet Street, London (who is my brother), desires to know who 
 is the person in Sweden, or elsewhere, who has the disposal of 
 the last editions of your works, at what prices he may 
 purchase a large quantity of them, and what new editions are 
 now begun, or soon intended to be published, either of them 
 or of any other valuable publications in your country. If 
 either yourself or the proprietor will please to open a corre- 
 spondence with him, you may always safely draw on him for 
 the amount of what he purchases, and depend on punctual 
 payment. My brother deals particularly in the branch of 
 Natural History, and will probably have a larger demand for 
 foreign books of that sort than any person who has hitherto 
 imported them into England. 
 
 If it appears that my former letter has failed, I will send a 
 copy of some particulars in it, because it contained many 
 enquiries which I flatter myself your usual benevolence will 
 condescend to resolve. 
 
 I have a Pratincola, Lepadog 'aster, and several other speci- 
 mens, which I think worthy your observation ; but my daily 
 expectation of hearing from you prevented my sending them. 
 
 With most sincere prayers for your health and happiness 
 and a prosperous perseverance in your studies, so universally 
 beneficial to mankind, I am, illustrious Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged and devoted servant, 
 
 J. WHITE. 
 
 Please to direct, 
 
 To the Rev. John White, 
 
 Vicar of Blackburn, Lancashire. 
 
 I hear Mr. Logie, formerly Swedish Consul at Algiers, lives 
 at Stockholm ; if he be of your acquaintance, I beg my best 
 respects to him and his family. 
 
80 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 LETTER VI.* 
 
 from linn^us to the rev. john white. 
 
 Reverendissime Domine, 
 Literas tuas V. R. diei 26 Novembri nuper habui. Gratulor 
 reditum in patriam. Laetor quod valeas. 
 
 Te non accepisse literas meas posteriores miror ; forte iis 
 non inscripsi nee dictam assignationem domus, quod non recor- 
 dor ; me rescripsisse optime recordor. 
 
 Inter tua erant multa quae seternae memoriae mandari de- 
 berent, et ego in meis MSS. auri instar asservo propediem 
 editurus, non sine inventoris bonorifica raemoria. 
 
 Tetrao tridactylus est tam singularis in suo online, ut, nisi 
 vidissem non credidissem. Quid de bac ave dicit D. Pen- 
 nant? 
 
 Piscis thoracicus novi generis est, cranio nudo suturis pluri- 
 mis exarato, diapbano. 
 
 Motacilla antea mibi non cognita. 
 
 Spheges tres videntur valcle affines, nee eaedem. 
 
 Cancri squillce 7 species, ni fallor, quamquam yalde similes. 
 Sic indicant partes, cbelae reliquaque distincte descripta. 
 
 Hxrundo rupestris, nescio an varietas apus. 
 
 Apis propria species, et reliqua omnia ; pro quibus dum 
 vixero, ero in tuo asre. 
 
 Exemplaria meorum operum omnia distracta sunt, ut nullus 
 ea comparare queat in patria : novam darem eorum editionem, 
 sed editor Salvius ante dimidium annum occubuit. Admodum 
 multi a me expetiere exemplaria, sed comparare nulla ratione 
 ipse possum. Si aliquis in Anglia ea edere vellet, possem 
 pra3bere exemplar observationibus innumeris, et speciebus 
 ultra mille auctum, cum ex omnibus Indiis gazopbylaciis in- 
 structus fui ab eo tempore quo ultimam dedi editionem ; ut 
 taceam synonyma auctorum plurium recentissimorum. Op- 
 
 * [Printed by Jardine, Contr. Orn. 1849, pp. 37, 38.] 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 81 
 
 tarem imprimis Systema Natural, Genera et species Plantarum, 
 nova Editione, me vivo, prodire. 
 
 Anglicam linguam loquentem satis intelligo, scriptam non 
 seque facile; ipse Anglice scribere nequeo. Dum lego scripta, 
 pleraque capio ; si unura alterumve verbum deficiat, istud 
 facile evolvo. Possum semper habere amicos qui optime lin- 
 guam explicant. Fauna tua Calpensis esset et mini et omni- 
 bus exoptatissima. 
 
 Pratineolam nunquam vidi ; quae de ea habeant Scopoli, 
 Pennant, Gmelin et recentiores alii, vidi. Ad Grallas earn 
 referunt plurimi, licet rostrum videtur multum differre. 
 
 Lepadogaster neque a me visus fuit ; videtur admodum sin- 
 gularis. 
 
 Logie, octogenarius, qui fuitf consul Algirensis, vivit adhuc; 
 et filius qui ibidem serius consul factus fuit, etiam mihi notus, 
 sed de eo, ab adventu Algeriam, non audivi ; scio tanien alium 
 consulem Suecicum nunc esse Algeria?. 
 
 Vale et fave tuo sincero cultori 
 
 Car. Linne. 
 
 Si novisti egregiam virginem Annam Blackburne, ipsam 
 
 plurimum salutes. Florae et Faunse filia est in cujus amores 
 
 ardeo. 
 
 Upsalite, 1774, 
 Jan. 2. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 from the rev. john white to linnaeus. 
 
 Viro Illustrissimo Car. Linn^eo, &c» 
 Literas tuas novissimas, Vir optime, diei 2 Januarii, accepi. 
 Tuas quoque priorss die 7 Augusti, 1772, datas accepi, pro 
 quibus gratum meum animum ad Calendas Jan. 1773, re- 
 scripsi ; quod te nunquam accepisse multum piget. 
 
 Historian Natural is Patrem atque Decus adbuc vale re plurir 
 mum gaudeo. Deum Opt, Max. plurimos felicesquo daturum 
 annos continuo exoro! 
 
 vol. ii. G 
 
82 CORB ESP< )N 1 )ENOE OF THE 
 
 Verba tua de Syst. Nat. exemplari novo atque adaucto ad 
 fratrem meum Benj. White, Bibliopolam Londinensem hand 
 incelebrem, retuli. Ille quidem libros multos quotannis edit; 
 oumque Ulustrissimi Linnaei Operum Editionem ditiorem 
 praelo lubentissime commissurum certior factus sum, utcunque 
 scire liceat quanti exemplar tuum, tantis observationimis 
 auctum, emendum sit. Die mihi igitur, Vir venerande, quot 
 nummos aureos Anglicanos, (vulgo Guineas nuncupates,) 
 pro hisce Chartis tuis MS. tibi dandos exoptas, easque fratrem 
 meum summo gaudio empturum nihil dubito. 
 
 Specimina jam habeo aliquot, et avium, pisciumque, & in- 
 sectorum, quae tibi mittenda retineo, donee navis aliquis ad 
 patriam tuam ab his regnis solvat. 
 
 Sphex iste, cum maculis 4, abdominis flavis, anne Sphex 
 bidens? an novus? sex ejus habeo varietates ; forsan Marem, 
 Foeminam Neutrumque duarum Specierum. 
 
 Marem esse, cui maculae sunt duse tantum dorsales, certe 
 scio ; majoremque, cui maculaa 4, cum capite variegato, anten- 
 nisque brevioribus, esse Foeminam. Quibusdam aculeus est 
 simplex, reconditus ; aliis exsertus, tricuspis. Sphegem alte- 
 ram, alis laciniatis, ferrugineis, apice nigris. Sphegem esse tuam 
 Mauritanicam judicavi ; sin alia sit, nomen specificum humil- 
 lime quaeso. 
 
 MutillcB species duag apud nos (Calpenses) frequentissimse. 
 Earum ceconomiam nondum observare licuit. Unam tantum 
 habeo alatam. 
 
 Gryllus turritus in Andalusia vulgatissimus. Sexus dif- 
 ferentiam nescio: omnibus sunt antennae ensiformes; setaceas 
 nunquam vidi. 
 
 Tabani novi, de quo mihi scribis, nomen characteresque a 
 te ediscere velim. 
 
 Anno praeterito summo studio laboravi ad Panorpce com 
 metamorphosin eruendam. Annis 1770, 1771, 1772, Panorpa 
 coa prodiit die 18° Maii ; cum ante banc diem ne unicam 
 videre possim; ipso die 17° singulis his annis, omnes latebant, 
 at die proximo passim occurrebant. Ex locis arenosis semper 
 nascuntur. Die mihi, rogo, Cancri novi lateribus tri-spinosis, 
 et aliorum quos novos judicas. nomina Linnaeana. 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNyEUS. 83 
 
 IRrundinem rupestrem antea, anno 1756, ad Calpem hye- 
 mare observavi : earn ad Alpes aestatem degere observavit D. 
 Scopoli 1768. 
 
 Coturnix tridactylus ad ordinem Gallinarum procul dubio 
 censendus. Ad Europam Africamque quotannis it, reditque, 
 cum Tetraone Coturnice. Crura forsan et femora in cadavere 
 sicco nimis protensa fuerint, ex qua causa e Grrallis videatur. 
 
 Piscis novi generis, cranio nudo diaphano, quserere mihi 
 liceat titulum Linnaeanum ; et Generis, & Speciei. In Freti 
 Gaditani aquis profundissimis raro admodum reperitur. 
 
 Coryphcenoidem in Syst, Nat. non video : et Speciei, et 
 Generis ejus sum ignarus. Percam dipterygiam, rubram, novam 
 aestimavi ; an recte ? Nomina quoque adscribas, Vir benevole, 
 rogo, Squillis meis omnibus novis, Cancroque novo brachiis 
 hirsutis ; hie, ut vides, summam attigit magnitudinem, nee 
 unquam major est. 
 
 Apis speciem novam, cujus meministi, nee jam habeo, nee 
 recordor : characterem ejus specificum a te requirere oportet ; 
 ne earn Faunas Calpensis ex agmine omittam. 
 
 Ad Faunulam meain Calpensem promovendam bodie laboro: 
 at ejus omnino me, Faunamtuam Suecicam intuentem, pudet! 
 In singula animalium Classe plurima desunt : Vermium pror- 
 sus sum ignarus. At tyrocinii mei primitias benigno animo 
 accipere velint Naturae consultiores. 
 
 Viri reverendissimi nomine salutari, non meum est. Apud 
 nos omnis Parochus atque Sacerdos, inter quos ego humilli- 
 mus, reverendus ; Episcopus reverendus admodum ; Arcbie- 
 piscopus solus reverendissimus. 
 
 Amicus quidam meus, D. Lever, provincias bujusce Lancas- 
 triensis incola, rerum naturalium expertissimus indagator, ad 
 Museum locupletissimum atque elegantissimum, Animalium, 
 Lapidum, Conchyliorum, accumulandum summo opere sum- 
 mis impensis ardet. Is quoque Aves quasdam suo more bel- 
 lissime conservatas, lapidesque quosdam schistosos, ex hujus 
 regionis carbonum fossilium fodinis, figuris miris ornatos, 
 tibi mittendos parat. Quandocunque navis aut a Londino, 
 aut a Liverpool, Holmiam tuam navigatura sit, hsec omnia 
 imponenda curabo, eorujnque te certiorem fieri scribendo ne- 
 
 G 2 
 
84 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 quaquam negligero. Virginem egregiam quam nominas, 
 nondum vidi ; famam ejus antea audivi ; temporibus aastivis 
 ipsam tuo nomine salutare studebo. Loeflingii iter Hispani- 
 cuin, ut ad meam quasi patriam pertineat, perlegere cupio ; 
 in Anglia vero haud venumdatur. Iter quoque C. Alstroemer 
 in Europam australem mibi forsan esset perutilis, at hie re- 
 periri nequit. Quomodo Lucanus meus & Lucanus tuus par- 
 allelipipedus idem sit, pa rum intelligo ; Lucani antennas non 
 habet, at Tenebrionis. De Motac'dlis tribus novis tibi missis 
 sententiam tuam spero. 
 
 Tenebrionem nisi femoribus anticis bispinosis ; an novus 
 est? Scarabceum laticollem Scarabcei sacri maritum esse mihi 
 visum est ex variis observationibus. 
 
 Valeas, vir dignissime, et epistolarum tuarum exoptatissi- 
 marum deliciis me iterum exhilarare ne dedijmeris ! 
 
 Sum tui cultor amicissimus 
 
 Johannes White. 
 
 Blackburn, 
 die l ra0 Martii, 1774. 
 
 Squali gland Calpensis dentes non granulati, sed acutis- 
 simi, serrati. Inter tua Addenda, Lacertce chalddicce pedes 
 tridactyli, minime 5-dactyli ; in meo specimine pedes tridac- 
 tyli. Turdum habeo novum, pygargum ; veram speciem, non 
 lusum. 
 
 Piscem babeo perpulcbrum, Calpensem, Bramam marinam 
 cauda forcipata Raii Synopsis, p, 115. Hunc in Syst. Nat. 
 hand invenio ; ad Chetodontis genus pertinet. 
 
 Mantis phihisica Calpensis est ; ut et Gryllus umbraculatu's. 
 
 Artedi Opera hie rarissima ; an venalia apud vos ? 
 
 Turdus pygargus. Parus cseruleus. 
 
 Turdus? an Motacilla? Motacilla regulus. 
 
 Emberiza nova ? 
 
 Passer syrium Anglorum Lepadogaster. 
 
 Pratincola. Squilla nova. 
 
 Corvus corone. 
 
 Junx torquilla. Mus minimus, novus. 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINN^US. 
 
 85 
 
 INSECTA. 
 
 Scarabasus excavatus, M. F. 
 
 lunaris? hispanus? 
 
 novus ? 
 
 variabilis? 
 
 rugosus, Scopoli. 
 
 Tenebrio uncinus, novus. 
 Leptura bimaculata, nova. 
 Attelabus Calpensis, novus. 
 Apis catorhynchos, nova. 
 
 pyrrhopleura, nova ? 
 
 , nova? 
 
 , nova? 
 
 -, nova? 
 
 Spbex , aculeo tricuspidi. 
 
 Cancer , brachyurus, novus ? 
 
 Esox sphyraena. 
 
 Cancer, e Pinna, muricatft. 
 
 Perca, lineis caeruleis. 
 
 Salmo Saurus. 
 
 Scomber ? an Gasterosteus ? 
 
 Sparus, Dentale della Corona, Brun. 
 
 Sparus , Cacbucbo Ilispan. 
 
 Perca gigas, Bruennicbii. 
 
 Chastodon. 
 
 Lepidopus. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 PROM THE REV. JOHN WHITE TO LINNAEUS. 
 
 Catalogus Animalium fyc. ad Illust. D. Linnceum missorum 
 
 die 19 Martii, 1774. 
 
 Aves Calpenses. 
 
 Muscicapa (Linn. MS.). 
 
 Sturnus collaris, Scopoli. 
 
 Pratincola. 
 
 Turdus pygargus, nova species. 
 
 Emberiza, n. s. 
 
 Motacilla,csLud.k albo nigroque niacu- 
 
 lata, n. s. [Defuit (Linn. M.S.)] 
 Motacilla, Passer sepium Anglor. 
 
 an Motac. curruca Linnaei ? 
 Corvus corone Anglor. 
 Junx torquilla. 
 Partis ccerulens. 
 Motacilla regulus. 
 
 Mns minimus, n.s. 
 Lapides quamplurimiscbistosie car- 
 bonum fossilium fodinis. ILec 
 
 omnia e Museo Domini A. Lever, 
 Lancastriensis. 
 
 Ln Lagenula. 
 
 Lepadogaster Gouani. 
 Squitta, nova ? 
 
 Insecta Calpensia. 
 
 Scarabceus excavatus, n. s. mas & 
 
 fcem. 
 Scarabceus lunaris ? hispanus ? 
 Scarabceus variabilis ? 
 Scarabceus rugosus, Scopoli. 
 Scarabceus novus ? 
 Tenebrio femoribus uncinatis, novus? 
 Leptura bimaculata, nova ? 
 Attelabus Calpensis, novus (Linn.) 
 
 Apiano affinis (Linn.) 
 Apis catorhynchos, nova ? 
 
86 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 Apis catorhgnchos, nova ? Perca, nova ? lineis obliquis cseruleis. 
 
 , nova ? Salino saurus. 
 
 , nova ? Scomber ? an Gasterosteus ? 
 
 pyrrhopleura, nova ? Sparua Dentate delta Coro/M,Bruenni- 
 
 Sphex aculeo tricuspidi. chii. 
 
 Sparus, novus ? Cochucho, vel Go- 
 Cancer, novus ? rdsses apud Hispanos. 
 Piscium quorundam Calpensiurn ad- Perca gigas, Breunnichii ? 
 umbrationes a J. White. CJartodon, Borneo Hispan. 
 Esox Sphgrcena. Lepidopus, novus ? a Lepidopo 
 Cancer, novus ? e Pinna muricatd. Gouani plane diversus. 
 
 Viro Illustrissimo Carolo Linsleo, 
 
 Equiti Aurato de Stella Polari, &c. 
 
 S.P.D. Johannes White. 
 
 Aviculas quasdam rariores, Insecta nonnnlla Calpensia dubia, 
 necnon & Piscium quorundum Admnbrationes mea manu, 
 rudi admodum atque imperita, delineatas, cum Avibus quoque 
 paucis, communioribus, et Museo amici mei D. Lever, more 
 suo perpulchro conservatis, Lapidibusq. figuris variis notatis, 
 Londinum jampridem misi ; ubi eas navi cuidam impositas 
 esse exaudivi, cui nomen Charlotta, Navarchi autem nomen 
 Osterman : Holmiam iste adnavigare paratus fuit, ubi base 
 omnia (quorum supra Catalogus) mercatoribus ibidem com- 
 morantibus, quibus nomina Dryer & Zelling, se traditurum 
 promisit. Cista lignea inclusa sunt : animo benigno acci- 
 pias rogo. 
 
 Literas meas diei 28 vi Februarii te accepisse, & proposita 
 tua de Systematis Natural Editione nova imprimenda brevi 
 redditurum spero. 
 
 Quid de Avibus meis novis, quid de Lepadogastro, quid de 
 Insectis hisce dubiis, quid de Lapidum figuris tarn miris exis- 
 timas, discipulo tuo humillimo interrogare liceat. 
 
 Piscium, (quorum en tibi Icones,) aliquos forsan esse novos 
 raihi visum est ; e. g. Percam lineis obliquis caeruleis ; Scom- 
 brum ; Sparum nucha tumida ; Sparum cui nomen apud His- 
 panos Cachucho ; Percam gigantem, an Bruennichii ? Lepido- 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 87 
 
 pum cauda forficata, a Lepidopo Gouani, cui Cauda rotun- 
 data, seu potius subulatii, longe differt. Cancer quoque ma- 
 crourus, quern in Pinna muricatd habitantem inveni, novus 
 mihi videtur. 
 
 Lanium Sengalum ab Algiria nuper. accepi ; 
 
 Cucahim glandarium a Monte Calpe. 
 
 Charadrius alexandrinus ibidem vulgatissimus. 
 
 Sturnum collarem D. Scopoli iisdem locis inveni. At revera 
 Sturnum esse dubito ; nonne potius Frinyilla ? Seminibus 
 Phalaridis vescitur ; vivum diu retinui. 
 
 Sunt qui Motacillam hanc meam rufescentem, cui cauda 
 maculis albis nigrisque infra ad apicem notata est, Turd urn 
 arundlnaceum esse, (seu Junco Raii) censeant. At rostrum 
 habet minime emarginatum, sed integerrimum ; pra^terea et 
 forma, et vita, moresque Motacillam indicant. Ad Hispa- 
 niam venit quotannis tempore vernali. 
 
 Tenebrio collaris, quern Africanum tu scribis, mihi missus 
 est nuperrime a Monte Calpensi. 
 
 Ichneumon quoq. bicolorus ab eodem loco venit, cui thorax 
 est bispinosus, antenna3 ferruginese, medio albidas. 
 
 Myrmeleonis quiescentis alas non solum defiexa* esse obser- 
 vavi, sed etiam utrinque involutas, totum abdomen tubulo quasi 
 cylindrico amplectentes. Myrmeleones (i. e. perfecta imago) 
 Diptera minora prasdantur. 
 
 Valeas, Vir celeberrime ! faveasque 
 
 cultori tuo amicissimo 
 
 J. White. 
 
 Blackburn, 1774, die 22 mo Aprilis. 
 
 Myrmeleon formicarium Calpense nee maculam habet 
 alarem marginalem albam, ut in Syst. Nat. & Schseffero, 
 nee maculas fuscas in limbo, ut apud Reaumurium et Geof- 
 roy; alas vero habet onmino immaculatas. 
 
 Ad quodnam piscium genus pertineat CorypJarnoides meus 
 rupestris adhuc hgesito. Pinnarum radios numerare nondura 
 potui. Annon novi sit generis? Piscatorum retibus nunquain 
 capitur. Omnes quos vidi in S<jiadi s/>inaci* stomacho in- 
 veniebantur. 
 
88 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 Quid sibi vult verbum Formycalyn, scilicet nomen tri- 
 viale quartae speciei Myrmeleonis in Syst. Nut., huud rite 
 intelligo. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 FROM LINN^US TO THE REV. JOHN WHITE. 
 
 Viro Reverendissimo et Venerando Dom° J. White. 
 S. pi. d. Car. Linne. 
 
 Accepi literas tuas ud Culend. Junuarii datas, suo tempore et 
 ud eas regessi. Accepi et datas d. 1 Martii, et 22 Aprilis. 
 Accepi et ante duos dies merces tuas et dona vere aurea ; pro 
 quibus omnibus ac singulis grates immortales reddo, reddamq. 
 dum vixero. 
 
 1. Sturnus collaris, Scop. An. i. p. 131. Fringilla sordone 
 Manett. On. t. 338 f. 1. 
 
 Avis Kyburgensis Gesn. Orn. app.725. Musncapa gula 
 alba fusco undulatu, tectricibus alarum nigricantibus 
 apiculo albo, collaris mihi dicenda. Rostrum admo- 
 dum parum est emarginatum. Diversa u Turdo arundi- 
 naceo. 
 
 2. Turdum pygargum non antea vidi : erit equidem Turdus, 
 apex rostri modice incurvus. 
 
 3. Pratincolam antea non vidi ; ad Grallas spectat, et proprii 
 generis est, D no Lever ne desinas grates meis verbis agere 
 pro egregie et pulcberrime conservatis aviculis quibus me 
 beare voluit. 
 
 Phytol'dhi jilicum erant certe optimi. 
 
 Isti lapides qui referunt tgenias non vidi ; an radicum planta- 
 
 rum aquaticarum rudimenta? 
 Istu impressio in scbisto ita refert Sertulariam quandam 
 
 Ellisii, utnisi magnitudo vetaret, dicerem earn Sertulariam. 
 
 Alia foliis atris linearibus est Zostera. 
 Quadrati politi, Quartzum coloratum, Syst. Nat. 3, p. 65. 
 
 Fuci rubri ot pilosi impressiones rariores. 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 80 
 
 Lepadogaster Gouani in lagenula est certe Cyclopterus nudus 
 
 meus, Syst. Nat. 414, 2. 
 Attelabus Calpensis. Hunc etiam ab aliis accepi. 
 Tenebrio femoribus uncinatis (bispinosis) T. Calpensis mi hi 
 
 dicendus. 
 
 4. Motacilla cauda albo nigroq. undulata, a me antea non visa. 
 Myrmeleon formicarum rostrum habet, in alis stigma album, 
 
 habeo jam insectum coram. 
 Artedi opera non prostant apud nos, sed Leidae. 
 Gryllus umbraculatus, ubi habitat? Quid agit cum umbraculo? 
 Te datore optimo multa animalia habeo. 
 
 5. Tetrao tridactylus pedibus nudis tridactylis. 
 
 6. Hirundo rupestris nigricans, rectricibussubaequalibus: 2. 3. 
 macula alba. 
 
 Piscis thoracicus capite excoriato, nondum nomen imposui. 
 Attelabus calpensis caerulescens, thorace piloso, elytris rubris 
 
 punctis 3 nigris. 
 Sphex mutabilis atra, pedibus hirtis, abdomine maculis luteis 4. 
 Sphex erosa capite, thorace, alis, pedibusq. ferrugineis. 
 Apis calpensis labio superiore acuminato inflexo, abdominis 
 
 segmentis punctis geminis nigris. 
 Cancer diceresis brachyurus, thorace la3vi, linea, transversa 
 
 insculpta, marginibus serratis, chelis lasvibus. 
 
 Cancer brachyurus subhirsutus manibus ciliatis. 
 
 Ex Squillarum prosapie 4 distinctse, nondum posui dif- 
 
 ferentias ; et numero plura, praster ultima, te inventore 
 
 alleganda. 
 
 Litera3 excrescerent in infinitum si simul et semel omnia 
 responso exponerem, nunc aliis negociis implicitus reservo 
 reliqua proximas epistolai. 
 
 Scripsi multa addenda Vol. i. Syst. Nat. idq. quotidie : ab- 
 solvi dimidiumtomum. Si tuus frater edat, certus sum quod hoc 
 prodest optimis typis, qui Anglis communes. Tarn multa quaa 
 quotidie prodiere, post priorem editionem operis, et qua3 alle- 
 gavi, multum laboris expostularuut. Si vixero, absolvam opus 
 in Autumnum. Quid mihi ofFerat in sostrum? An potent 
 habere optimum correctorem typi ? 
 
 Upsaliae 1774, d. 3. .Tulii. 
 
90 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 FROM THE REV. JOHN WHITE TO HIS BROTHER GILBERT 
 (with reference to Linnaeus's last Letter.) 
 
 Dear Bro. 
 Above you have the old Professor's last epistle. You will 
 see that Stiirnus collaris, Scop., is not a new bird ; that 
 Linn, allows it not to be a Sturnus but a Muscicapa ; and 
 that he makes a strange mistake in supposing I could take it 
 for Turdus arund. That which Mr. Pennant and you called 
 Turdus arund. or Junco of Ray is mark'd in the margin 4 ; 
 and Linn, agrees with me in calling it a Mbtacilla. He seems 
 satisfied now about the Pratinc. Gouan's new genus Lepa- 
 dogaster turns out to be nothing more than Cyclopterus nudus, 
 Linn. Tanta est discordia Doctorum. Linn, seems now so 
 fond of the specific Calpensis, that he will put that and 
 Whitei, I suppose, to all my nondescripts. He is wrong in 
 saying only 2, 3 maculatis cdbis in the tail of Hirundo rupest. 
 It ought to be 2, 3, 4, 5. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 from the rev. john white to linisleus. 
 
 Viro Illustrissimo Carolo Linn^o. 
 S. pi. dat Joannes White. 
 Nulla equidem ex re tantum et voluptatis et Scientise Natu- 
 ralis verae cultura?, quantum ex scriptis literisq. tuis, Vir 
 clarissime, recipio. Verba tua novissima de Syst. Nat. nova, 
 editione imprimenda ad Fratrem meum Londinensem man- 
 davi. At ille nummos prorsus ullos pro exemplari tuo offerre 
 jam reformidat. Timet enim ne editio haec reformata, Ba- 
 tavorum Germanorumq. typis furtivis vilioribusq., non sine 
 damno suo, extemplo prodeat contaminata. Quicquid igitur 
 in sostrum velles rogare, te prius nominare oportebit, ut ipse 
 inde sciat an periculum sibi erit faciendum. 
 
 Ad Faunam meam Calpensem perficiendam quotidie adhuc 
 
KEV. JOHN WHITE AND LINNyEUS. 91 
 
 allaboro. Dubia tamen multa zoologica continuo mihi obviam 
 accedunt. Ad hsec dimovenda nemo sane valet, nisi magnus 
 ille meus Apollo Suecicus. Si mutationes aliquas singula res 
 circa generum distributionem fecisti, Syllabum Genericum 
 mihi mittere ne dedignere, ne methodus mea a methodo Lin- 
 neana nimium discrepet. 
 
 Testudinum formas varias video. Sunt quibus testaa aper- 
 tura est anterior, posteriorq. pro capite membrisq. recipiendis. 
 Sunt quoq. quibus testa inferior valvis binis, quarum car- 
 dines transversi, clauditur, adeo ut animalis terrefacti caput 
 atq. membra omnia penitus abscondautur. Hujusmodi testas 
 in Syst. Nat. memoratas non invenis. Anne igitur generis 
 Testudinum * fieri possit divisio ? exempli gratia, testa clausd 
 seu cardinatd, testa apertd, &c. 
 
 Avem Kyburgensem Gesneri examinavi ; sed utrum hsec 
 sit Sturnus collaris Scopoli, mihi jam videtur dubitandum. 
 Gesneri figura est pessima ; de gula, maculata nihil dicit. 
 Sturnum collarem Scop., Turdum esse arundinaceum nun- 
 quam suspicitur ; at Motacillam meam testaceam, cauda albo 
 nigroq. maculata, esse Turdum arundin. quidam existimarunt. 
 Motacillam Krameri, Elench. p. 375. n. s. eandem esse avicu- 
 lam parum dubito, quum is a Turdo longe diversa sit. Mota- 
 cillce hujus nomen tuum specificum mihi desiderandum. 
 
 Quibus in locis Gryllus umbraculatus habitat, vel quid agit 
 cum umbraculo, nondum mihi innotuit : unicum tantum in- 
 veni in viis arenosis, pedibus hominnm conculcatum. 
 
 Hirundo rupestris Scop., mihi potius (pace tua) hyemalis 
 dicenda ; nam ipsa, sola forsan inter Hirundines, by ernes 
 nobiscum degit. Hujus rectrices 2. 3. macula alba dicis : at 
 revera 2. 3. 4. 5. albo maculantur. Piseis thoracici, capite 
 excoriato, &c. nomen Linna3anum, cum characteribus gene- 
 ricis valde desidero. Hujus specimen meum maximum lon- 
 itudinem attieit undecim unciarum. 
 
 '& 
 
 g 
 
 * [This distinction between the species of tortoises with the under 
 portion of the shell entire and immovable, and those in which the ster- 
 num is movable on a hinge, was the discovery of Gilbert, and given to 
 his brother to be communicated to Limueus. This he did in this letter, 
 but without auy reference to his brother as the real discoverer ! See 
 Vol. I. p. 240, note.— T. B.] 
 
92 CORRESPONDENCE OF THE 
 
 Si Attelabrum Calpensem ab aliis accepisti, nonne nomen 
 triviale a loco male sumendum ? 
 
 Sphex iste, quern tu mutabilem vocas, quando habeat raa- 
 culas quatuor abdominales, foemina est ; base quoq. major : 
 caeteri vel mares, vel forsan neutri. Maribus aculeus est tri- 
 cuspis. 
 
 Sphex, cui nomen imposuisti erosa, mibi videtur parum 
 discrepare a Spheye Mauritanico Syst. Nat. 
 
 Leptiira bimaculata an nova? Scarabmis thorace exca- 
 vato, an novus ? 
 
 (Estrus est apud nos vulgatissimus, in Syst. Nat. nondum 
 reperiendus. Hujus meminit D. Derbamus, Physico-Tbeol. 
 p. 250. et Mouffletus, pag. 62, cui nomen dedit Musca curvi- 
 cauda, sive crKoXiovpos. Historia tamen apud Mouffletum a 
 veritate multum aberrat. Nam ipsam (curvicaudam) equos 
 aculeo suo pungere, omnino i'alsum est, quippe aculeum nul- 
 lum babet. Nee stercora sua, ut quosdam putasse dicit, pilis 
 equi affigit. Sed equos solummodo persequitur ut ova sua 
 pilis eorum affigat, cujus rei testis non solum ipse J). Der- 
 bamus, sed etiam frater quidam meus, in agro Hantoniensi, 
 rerum naturalium peritissimus. Ipse etiam paucis abbinc 
 diebus Muscam curvicaudam ova sua pilis equinis affigentem, 
 manibus meis captavi, curatissime observavi, verumq. esse 
 CEstrum " ore nullo, punctis tribus, absq. rostra" certissime 
 attestor. Hunc tibi mittendum conservo ; interea cbaracterem 
 ejus specificum accipe bis verbis. 
 
 Oestrus alis maculatis, vultu albo, tborace nigro, 
 
 pilis rlavicantibus, abdomine elongato, 
 acuminato, incurvato. 
 Omnis equi qui in pascuis paludosis bospitalitur, mensibus 
 Septembri & Octobri, et in tota Anglia, & in Hispania, venter 
 crura, bumeriq. hujus CEstri ovis scatent. Haec ova juxta 
 pilorum summitates tarn fortiter adglutinantur, ut pilos ipsos 
 prius eradicares quam ova a pilis divelleres ; ideoq. ova omnia 
 simul cum pilis caducis ad terrain cadere necesse est. En 
 tibi igitur CEstrum, cujus larva non latet intra pecorum 
 corpus! at ubinam larvas ejus nutriuntur per totam byemem 
 nondum novi. Nam En<<-<i <jlabr<i cat/data, cujus meminit 
 
REV. JOHN WHITE AND LINN^US. 93 
 
 idem D. Derhamus, non est larva Musccv curvicaudce, ut 
 ipse falso suspicatus fuit, sed larva Muscat Hydroleonis Syst. 
 Nat, 
 
 Ergo Muscam banc curvicaudam nihil aliud esse quam 
 verum (Estrum. Te certiorem fieri conatus sum, si forsan 
 hoc tibi antea ignotum. Cancri macrouri iconem tibi misi, 
 quern intra Pinnam muricatam inveni ; an a te antea visus? 
 
 Cancer ursus Rondeletii, p. 564, ad Calpem perquam com- 
 munis. Hunc in Syst. Nat. nondum invenio. Malum puni- 
 cum valde refert, et colore, & figura, et magnitudine. Ron- 
 deletii figura mala est. 
 
 Cancer nutrix Scop., ut opinor, est Cancer pisum Syst. 
 Nat., a C. minuto diversus. Intus Ostreas latitantem saepius 
 comperi. 
 
 Descriptio Cancri varii sive marmorati, apud Rondel. 
 p. 56(3, cum Cancro meo lateribus tridentatis cui nomen 
 dedisti C. diaeresis, mire convenit ; at figura Rondeletiana 
 nihil valet. 
 
 Apis abdominis maculis fulvis lateralibus, an nova? Forsan 
 A. marucatce mas, uti videatur ex descriptione apud Greoflroy, 
 2. p. 408. n. 3. 
 
 Emberizam quoq. misi novam, mea sententia, an tua quoq. 
 nova sit quaerendum. 
 
 Mus minimus, quern tibi misit D. Lever pyxide vitrea in- 
 clusum a fratre meo praBdicto, Gilberto White, primo fuit in- 
 ventus. Species certe non antea descripta, quamvis in Anglia 
 vulgatissima. Vide ejus descriptionem apud Pennant, Brit. 
 Zool. Append, quam a fratre meo accipit. Omnium Qua- 
 drupedum facile minutissimus. 
 
 Amicus ille meus D. Lever Zoophylacium suum elegantis- 
 simum Londinum deferendum jam parat, ubi omnibus gnavis 
 ignavisq. eum conspiciendi dabitur facultas. 
 
 Deo optimo gratige meae maxini83 habenda?, quod mihi ani- 
 malia hasc pauca colligendi copiam dederit, quaa vel sagacis- 
 simo Scrutatori Naturse nondum innotuerunt. Qusecunq. 
 sunt nova vel inaudita tua omnia summo jure censeo : Dentnr 
 dignissimo. Nulla mihi gratior voluptas quam tanto viro 
 dandi libertas. De nomine meo scriptis tnis insereiulo lo- 
 
'.'4 CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN WHITE AND LINNAEUS. 
 
 queris. Verbis tuis laudari, Fama est! Orna me, Vir cele- 
 berrime, si non Scriptis tuis, attainen Doctrina, Amicitia tua ! 
 Faxit Deus ut opus quod instituisti feliciter absolvas ! Yaleas ! 
 Sic optat, sic precatur, suramo studio, 
 
 Tui cultor humillimus, 
 
 J. WHITE. 
 
 Blackburn, Lancashire, 
 die 8 Octobri, 1774. 
 
 P.S. Stria Scops uberiore descriptione dignissima. Ut 
 omnium Strigum minima, sic etiam pulcherrima est. Jungis 
 torquillce vel Caprimulgi perpulchris coloribus semulatur. 
 Aures, seu cornua, penna solitaria constare non credo, nam 
 certe plures pennae surgunt gradatim ad aurium formam, quse 
 in cadavere parum percipiendas. Aurium apertura in hac ave 
 modica est, ut in Passeribus. 
 
 Remiges primores serratos, pro charactere generico Strigis 
 sumendos existimo, nam hos vidi in omni specie mibi cognita, 
 nempe in Bubone, Oto, Scope, Nycted, Alucone, flammed, 
 Ululd, passerind. 
 
 Caprimulgi nomen aboleri optarem ; anilem enim fabulam 
 hanc avem carpere lactantia viscera rostro, credat Judaeus 
 Apella ! Hirundinis Melbce rectrices decern tantum (ut in 
 Hir. Apode), digiti omnes 4 antici. 
 
 Dicitur in Syst. Nat. p. 343 Hir. rusticam una cum urbicd 
 autumno demergi, vereq. emergere : scire vellem an haec opinio 
 fama tantum Yeterum, an observationibus certioribus Hodier- 
 norum, innititur. Ipse enim vidi, per plures annos, exerci- 
 tus innumeros Hirundinum autumni tempore ad Africam trans- 
 euntes ; eodem quoq. tempore Caprimulgos gregarios ad 
 austrum migrantes vidi. 
 
 o 
 
 [The above letter closes the correspondence of John White with Lin- 
 naeus. It is not improbable that it was never read by Linnaeus, as it was 
 in the previous May that he suffered an attack of apoplexy which 
 " obliged him to close his literary labours." — T. B.] 
 
!V) 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 TO THOMAS BARKER *. 
 
 October 25, 1770. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 By the register in my old bible it appears that 
 
 John White was bap. Feb. 12, 1601. 
 Richard White, June 10, 1605. 
 Henry White, Nov. 2, 1G06. 
 Samson White, Knight, Nov. 30, 1607. 
 Eliz. White, Dec. 26, 1600. 
 
 Marryed to Briscow. 
 Magdalen White, May 10, 1612. 
 
 Marryed to Sedge wick ; afterwards to Wood. 
 
 The children of Sir Samson White of Oxon. 
 
 John White born Nov. 30, 1636. 
 Richard White, Aug. 24, 1647. 
 
 These two men possessed Swan Hall. 
 Henry White of Oxford, father of Dr. White, Dec. 28, 
 
 1648. 
 Gilbert White (vicar of Selborne), Feb. 15, 1650. 
 Francis White, Fellow of Baliol Coll., 1652. 
 Mary White, Nov. 14, 1650. 
 
 These are all the traces that remain of our family. If you 
 had thought of it in time, it is pity you had not enquired 
 farther of Mrs. Isaac and Mr. White of Bradley. 
 
 It does not appear why Swan Hall went into the female 
 * [His brother-iu-law.— T. B.] 
 
96 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 line; but most probably John White, born 1636, dyed single, 
 and his Bro. Rich, born 1647, had a daughter who marryed 
 Ashworth. 
 
 Hoping you will have as good a journey to London as I 
 had to this place, I remain with due respects, 
 
 Yr affectionate humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 P.S. I shall hope to hear from Sam. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER *. 
 
 Selborne, Jan. 1, 1771. 
 Dear Sam, 
 I was much pleased to see so intelligent a letter from so 
 young a writer, and shall be very glad to have you continue 
 your correspondence. 
 
 The lines from the Odyssey are very apropos and will make 
 a very suitable motto for the climate of Andalusia. My 
 brother makes a very rapid progress in natural knowledge, 
 and, considering he has no person to confer with or to advise 
 him in his new study, does wonders. He sent me in October 
 a fresh cargo of birds and insects which ought to have been 
 here long ago ; but as they came in a Levant ship, they are 
 performing quarantine at Stangate Creek and will I fear be 
 tumbled about and damaged. 
 
 When I opened your letter all the Pamassia-seed fell out, 
 and 1 took it to be dust and dirt from the pocket of the 
 person who brought it; but luckily it fell in my lap, so that I 
 saved it all. I shall sow it soon in the sandy bogs, and see if 
 I can succeed better. 
 
 The last winter migration that we have in these parts is the 
 appearance of the CEnas sive Vinago Raii, the wild wood 
 pigeon or stock dove, which comes in great flocks about the 
 
 * [His sister'.'? only son. — T. B»] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 97 
 
 end of November, and does not breed in these parts, perhaps 
 not in the kingdom *. The pigeon that breeds in our woods 
 and hedge-rows, and cooes all the summer is the Palumbus f 
 or ring dove, the palumbes mentioned by Virgil in his eclogues: 
 " Nee tanien interea raucae tua cura palumbes." 
 
 Your Un. Harry was with me towards the end of November. 
 As we were walking in the evening we saw just after sunset a 
 star of a moderate magnitude, just above the sun, which we 
 concluded must be Mercury. My Bro. was much pleased to 
 see what he thought to be that planet, as it was new to him ; 
 and I had never seen it before but once, and that was at 
 Lyndon in 1760. You may let me know if Mercury was 
 visible at that time. 
 
 With the compliments and good wishes of the season I 
 conclude, 
 
 Yr affectionate Uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 The following is Mr. Sheffield's account of a visit to Mr. (afterwards 
 Sir Joseph) Banks, sent to Gilbert White, and by hiru to Samuel Barker, 
 Dec. 21, 1772. Banks returned from his well-known voyage in 1771 
 with the large collections described, augmented by his voyage to Ice- 
 land in July 1772. 
 
 " Dec. 2, 1772. 
 " My next scene of entertainment was in New Burlington 
 Street at Mr. Banks's. Indeed it was an invitation from this 
 gentleman that carried me to town. It would be absurd to 
 attempt a particular description of what I saw here ; it would 
 be attempting to describe within the compass of a letter what 
 can only be done in several folio volumes. His house is a 
 perfect museum; every room contains an inestimable treasure. 
 I passed almost a whole day here in the utmost astonishment, 
 
 * [Columba cenas. This species has for several years bred at Selborne, 
 in the hollow of a large pollard ash, which had been for many years pre- 
 viously the haunt of owls. See note, Vol. I. pp. 96, 97. — T. B.] 
 
 t \_Columba palumbus. — T. B.] 
 VOL II. H 
 
98 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 could scarce credit my senses. Had I not been an eye- 
 witness of this immense magazine of curiosities, I could not 
 have thought it possible for him to have made a twentieth 
 part of the collection. I have excited your curiosity ; I wish 
 to gratify it ; but the field is so vast and my knowledge so 
 superficial that I dare not attempt particulars. I will en- 
 deavour to give you a general catalogue of the furniture of 
 three large rooms. First the Armoury; this room contains all 
 the warlike instruments, mechanical instruments and utensils 
 of every kind, made use of by the Indians in the South Seas 
 from Terra del Fuego to the Indian Ocean — such as bows and 
 arrows, darts, spears of various sorts and lengths, some 
 pointed with fish, some with human bones, pointed very 
 finely and very sharp, scull-crackers of various forms and 
 sizes, from 1 to 9 or 10 feet long, stone hatchets, chisels 
 made of human bones, canoes, paddles, &c. It may be ob- 
 served here that the Indians in the South Seas were entire 
 strangers to the use of iron before our countrymen and 
 Monsieur Bougainville arrived amongst them ; of course these 
 instruments of all sorts are made of wood, stone, and some few 
 of bone. They are equally strangers to the other metals; nor 
 did our adventurers find the natives of this part of the globe 
 possessed of any one species of wealth which could tempt the 
 polite Europeans to cut their throats and rob them. The 
 second room contains the different habits and ornaments of 
 the several Indian nations they discovered, together with the 
 raw materials of which they are manufactured. All the 
 garments of the Otaheite Indians and the adjacent islands are 
 made of the inner bark of the Jforas pajjyrifera * and of the 
 bread tree Chitodon altilelf; this cloth, if it may be so called, is 
 very light and elegant and has much the appearance of 
 writing paper, but is more soft and pliant; it seems excellently 
 adapted to these climates. Indeed most of these tropical 
 islands, if we can credit our friend's description of them, are 
 terrestrial Paradises. The New-Zealanders, who live in much 
 higher southern latitudes, are clad in very different manner. 
 In the winter they wear a kind of mats made of a particular 
 * \_Broussonetia papyri/era. — T.B.] f [Artocarjms incisa. — T.B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 99 
 
 species of Cyperus grass. In the summer they generally go 
 naked, except a broad belt about their loins made of the outer 
 fibres of the cocoa nut, very neatly plaited; of these materials 
 they make their fishing lines, both here and in the tropical 
 isles. When they go upon an expedition or pay or receive 
 visits of compliment, the chieftains appear in handsome cloaks 
 ornamented with tufts of white dog's hair ; the materials of 
 which these cloaks are made are produced from a species of 
 Hexandria plant very common in New Zealand, something 
 resembling our hemp, but of a finer harl and much stronger, 
 and when wrought into garments is as soft as silk : if the 
 seeds of this plant thrive with us, as probably they will, this 
 will be perhaps the most useful discovery they made in the 
 whole voyage. But to return to our second room. Here is 
 likewise a large collection of insects, several fine specimens of 
 the bread and other fruits preserved in spirits ; together with 
 a compleat /tortus siccus of all the plants collected in the 
 course of the voyage. The number of plants is about 3000, 
 110 of which are new genera, and 1300 new species which 
 were never seen or heard of before in Europe. What raptures 
 must they have felt to land upon countries where every thing 
 was new to them ! whole forests of nondescript trees clothed 
 with the most beautiful flowers and foliage, and these too 
 inhabited by several curious species of birds equally strangers 
 to them. I could be extravagant upon this topic ; but it is 
 time to pay our compliments to the third apartment. This 
 room contains an almost numberless collection of animals ; 
 quadrupeds, birds, fish, amphibia, reptiles, insects and vermes, 
 preserved in spirits, most of them new and nondescript. 
 Here I was lost in amazement, and cannot attempt any 
 particular description. Add to these the choicest collection 
 of drawings in Natural History that perhaps ever enriched 
 any cabinet, public or private: — 987 plants drawn and coloured 
 by Parkinson ; and 1300 or 1400 more drawn with each of 
 them a flower, a leaf, and a portion of the stalk, coloured by 
 the same hand; beside a number of other drawings of animals, 
 birds, fish, &c. And what is more extraordinary still, all the 
 new genera and species contained in this vast collection are 
 
 H 2 
 
100 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 accurately described, the descriptions fairly transcribed and 
 fit to be put to the press. Thus I have endeavoured to give 
 you an imperfect sketch of what I saw in New Burlington 
 Street ; and a very imperfect one it is." 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 GILBERT WHITE TO SAMUEL BARKER 
 
 (on the same sheet as the foregoing extract from 
 Mr. Sheffield's letter). 
 
 Dec. 21, 1772. 
 Dear Sam, 
 As I have promised for some time to write to you without 
 fulfilling my promise ; I shall, by way of making you some 
 amends, send you the above written extract from my friend 
 Mr. Sheffield's letter instead of something of my own com- 
 posing. When you and I happen to meet, we will, if you 
 like, read Virgil's Georgics together, together with Martin's 
 translation and notes, and shall, I trust, find no small satis- 
 faction from that most beautiful of all human compositions. 
 Ben. White, while with me, read them thro' three several 
 times ; but he was at that time almost too young to relish so 
 masterly a work. 
 
 Give my respects to your father, and tell him I owe him a 
 letter which I intend to pay him soon ; and inform him that 
 hitherto our winter has been remarkably mild : within a fort- 
 night I have cut grass for my horses ; and nasturtiums abroad 
 are still in bloom ! Our mornings and evenings are full as 
 mild now as they usually are at this season at Gibraltar : tho' 
 at noon the therm r is much raised at that place. My therm r 
 yesterday morning stood at 52 ! As I have some suspicions 
 about the regularity of my barometer, pray send me a journal 
 of your barometer for any month past ; and let me know if 
 the surface of the quicksilver in the receiver of y r barometer 
 be exactly 28 inches beneath the lowest mark on the plate. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 101 
 
 My Bro. and sister John (who have been with me about a 
 fortnight) are much favoured by this delicate weather, and 
 will, I hope, be tolerably seasoned before severe frosts set in. 
 
 Bro. John is frequently incommoded by hoarseness, an 
 infirmity that is very troublesome to a clergyman. 
 
 You will I hope write soon, and let me know how you 
 succeed in y r studies, and how much you and y r sisters 
 improve in drawing, and particularly in designing. Your 
 sentiments on any subject will be very agreeable to me. All 
 friends join in respects. I am 
 
 Y r affectionate friend, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 This autumn I had plenty of most delicate grapes, such as 
 I have never seen since autumn 1762. The vines blowed 
 very late ; but the burning summer ripened the fruit at a vast 
 rate, and made grapes and bunches of a vast size ; and yet, 
 what is very strange, the bearing wood for next year is very 
 slender and poorly ripened. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 TO THOMAS BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Sept. 14, 1773. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I CAN readily give you credit for the change of colour that 
 befell the bulfinch, because when I first undertook the church 
 of Faringdon, the person where I used to dine on a Sunday 
 caught a cock bulfinch in the fields after it had arrived at its 
 full colours*. In about a twelvemonth it began to grow 
 dingy ; and losing by degrees its gay apparel, it became 
 leisurely, in I think about three years, as black or blacker 
 than a blackbird, all save some of its wing feathers, which 
 
 * [This fact is particularly mentioned in the XVth letter to Pennant. 
 See Vol. I. p. 45, and note. — T. B.] 
 
102 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 continued white at least in part. This bird remained in this 
 mourning garb to the day of its death, and lived, I perfectly 
 remember, altogether on hempseed, a kind of food which, I 
 have heard before, has a tendency to blacken those birds that 
 live altogether upon it. The owner of the bulfinch had at the 
 same time a skylark which was supported altogether in the 
 same manner and became very dusky but not black. 
 
 Be pleased to remember that tho' I happened to have seen 
 a similar case, yet I look upon the phenomenon as odd and 
 extraordinary, and am much obliged to you for your infor- 
 mation, and shall be for the future for any curious anecdote 
 that falls in your way. 
 
 From the 9 th of Aug. to the 14 th inclusive, the heat was 
 very severe night and day; and on the 13 th , in the evening, 
 arose from the S. that great tempest of thunder and lightning 
 which did so much damage in and about London. The rain 
 attending that storm was of signal service to the hops, which 
 before began to languish. But in the night between the 18 th 
 and 19 th of Aug. such a wind came from the N. that it well- 
 nigh demolished all the plantations. In S r S. Stuart's* gar- 
 den, consisting of 20 acres, not one pole was left standing for 
 many acres together ; and as his crop was remarkably fine, 
 he suffered the loss of many hundreds of pounds in that one 
 night. Since the storm hops have never thriven, and are 
 now picking, but are small and brown, and will be very dear 
 and very poor and ordinary. My therm 1 on the 13 th of Aug. 
 was at 78-| within doors. 
 
 In the beginning of wheat harvest we had some rain, which 
 frightened some farmers, and made them house some of then- 
 wheat too soon ; but, on the whole, wheat went in in most 
 curious order. As to the spring corn, both here and on the 
 downs it all lies abroad in a bad way ; for we have had no- 
 thing but rain since Sep. 1. Apples fail in general: I have 
 again, as I had last year, more than my share, but not one 
 pear. My apricots were almost all cut off in bloom ; but I 
 have on my wall about 10 dozen of the best-ripened peaches 
 
 * [Sir Simeon Stuart, Bart., of Hartley Park, of whose family several 
 monuments still remain in the church of that parish. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 103 
 
 and nectarines that I ever saw, that are now in high perfec- 
 tion. My crop of grapes is very great, of which I shall begin 
 gathering to-morrow; and they will supply my table constantly 
 'til the frosts strip the trees of their leaves. I wait much on 
 my vines, and have them trained with great care and exact- 
 ness. 
 
 My S* foin was much damaged ; but my meadow hay was 
 got up in nice order. Hay has proved a prodigious crop in 
 all parts. Bro. Tho. writes that some fanners in Essex offer 
 to sell it at Xmass next at 25s. per ton out of the rick ; and 
 an year ago it was with us at £4 4s. Qd. I cannot think that 
 with us the wheat is any thing of a crop. 
 
 Your affectionate brother and humble Servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER, FROM HIS COUSIN JOHN WHITE. 
 
 April 6, 1774. 
 Dear Cousin, 
 
 At the request of my uncle I intend doing myself the plea- 
 sure of giving you some account of an extraordinary event 
 which lately happened in the parish of Hawkley *. During the 
 vast rains, a large fragment of the Hanger, late my grand- 
 father's, slipped away for near two hundred yards in length, 
 and fell down the step to the depth of forty feet, carrying with 
 it the coppice-wood, hedge, and gate between the two fields, 
 <fcc. The sinking of this gate is very strange, as it stands at 
 present as upright as it used to do, and is as easy to be opened 
 and shut. 
 
 The next thing to be observed is a little hop garden and 
 pond, in the former of which there are two or three places 
 that are sunk four or five feet ; besides, many other parts of 
 the garden are very full of large cracks and openings. The 
 
 * [For a full account of this remarkable landslip see Letter XLV. to 
 Daines Barrington, Vol. I. p. 227, et seq.—T. B.] 
 
104 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 bed of the pond is also very much sunk, and the place from 
 whence the waste water used to run is now the highest part. 
 
 A lane which went down one side of this hill is sunk eight 
 or ten feet, and very much pushed forward, so as to be ren- 
 dered impassable. 
 
 Thei*e is situated in the same piece of ground with the pond 
 (which is meadow-land) a small cottage, the inhabitants of 
 which were greatly alarmed on the night in which this hap- 
 pened, by a gradual opening in their floor, till at last they 
 perceived that part of the cottage nearest the hill begin to 
 sever with very loud noises. The upper part of the cottage 
 is since entirely fallen down. 
 
 A neighbouring farm-house is also so much sunk, and is so 
 full of large cracks as to be rendered not habitable. 
 
 There is one field that was wheat last year, pretty well an 
 acre, so much sunk that it is impossible to be ploughed. All 
 the corn land which was affected by this event is full of large 
 chasms and cracks, some two feet wide ; the meadow land 
 has very few of these cracks in it, but seems to be pushed 
 forward, and is filled with large swellings of the turf, resem- 
 bling waves : in some places where the ground met with any 
 thing that resisted, it rose up many feet above its former 
 surface. 
 
 In one place four or five trees are driven all together in a 
 huddle. One tree is entirely bent down. 
 
 It is supposed eighty or an hundred acres of ground are 
 damaged by this accident. 
 
 There has been a great concourse of people to see this 
 event. It is computed that a Sunday or two after it happened, 
 there were pretty near a thousand from different parts of the 
 country. One of the persons to whom the cottage belonged 
 has lately been about with a petition in order to attempt to 
 rebuild it. Hoping that this account of mine will give you 
 some idea of this wonderful accident ; with duty to my Uncle 
 and aunt, and love to my cousins, 
 
 I remain your affectionate Cousin, 
 
 JOHN WHITE. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 105 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 TO THE SAME, FROM GIL. WHITE 
 
 (on the same sheet). 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 * * * 
 
 Jack and I are newly returned from London, 
 where I caught a great cold. Tell your papa and mamma that 
 I hope they will please to come and see me this summer, and 
 will bring you and as many of y r sisters as is convenient. 
 Among other things you will be glad to see the strange sight 
 described above. I have been prevented as yet by indisposi- 
 tion from seeing it myself. 
 
 Capt u Cook and Mr. Forster, it is expected, will be at 
 the Cape next Novem r and home about next March. The 
 S. and W. of England have suffered lately in a wonderful 
 manner by floods ; but I found by a gent, who arrived in 
 town from N. Wales in the midst of all those bad doings that 
 nothing extraordinary had happened in that way on the N.W. 
 side of the kingdom ; and so I find by my Bro. John's letters. 
 The land springs or lavants are higher on the Hants and Wilts 
 downs than ever they were known in the memory of man ; 
 and so they are at Faringdon. 
 
 Your affectionate Uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Pray write soon. 
 
 LETTER VII.* 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 3, 1774. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 When I sat down to write to you in verse, my whole design 
 
 * [A copy of this letter was given to me many years since by a near 
 relative of Mr. Barker's.— T. B.] 
 
106 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 was to show you how easy a thing it might be with a little 
 care for a nephew to excell his uncle in the business of versi- 
 fication ; but as you have so fully answered that intent by 
 your late excellent lines, you must for the future excuse my 
 replying in the same way, and make some allowance for the 
 difference of ages. 
 
 However, when at any time you find your muse propitious, 
 I shall always rejoice to see a copy of your performance, and 
 shall be ready to commend, and, what is more rare and more 
 sincere, even to object and criticise where there is occasion. 
 
 A little turn for English poetry is no doubt a pretty accom- 
 plishment for a young gentleman, and will not only enable 
 him the better to read and relish our best poets, but will, like 
 dancing to the body, have an happy influence even upon his 
 prose compositions. Our best poets have been our best prose 
 writers ; of this assertion Dryden and Pope are notorious in- 
 stances. It would be in vain to think of saying much here 
 on the art of versification : instead of the narrow limits of a 
 letter, such a subject would require a large volume. How- 
 ever, I may say in a few words that the way to excell is to 
 copy only from our best writers. The great grace of poetry 
 consists in a perpetual variation of your cadences : if possible 
 no two lines following ought to have their pause at the same 
 feet. 
 
 Another beauty should not be passed over ; and that is, the 
 art of throwing the sense and power into the third line, which 
 adds a dignity and freedom to your expressions. Dryden in- 
 troduced this practice, and carried it to great perfection ; but 
 his successor, Pope, by his over exactness, corrected away 
 that noble liberty, and almost reduced every sentence within 
 the narrow bounds of a couplet. Alliteration, or the art of 
 introducing words beginning with the same letter in the same 
 or following line, has also a fine effect when managed with 
 discretion. Dryden and Pope practised this art with won- 
 derful success. As, for example, where you say " the polished 
 beetle," the epithet " burnished " would be better for the 
 reason above. But then you must avoid affectation in this 
 case, and let the alliteration slide in, as it were, without de- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 107 
 
 sign ; and this secret will make your lines bold and nervous. 
 There are also in poetry allusions, similes, and a thousand 
 nameless graces, the efficacy of which nothing can make you 
 sensible of but the careful reading of our best poets, and a 
 nice and judicious application of their beauties. I need not 
 add that you should be careful to seem not to take any pains 
 about your rhimes ; they should fall in, as it were, of them- 
 selves. Our old poets laboured as much formerly to lug in 
 two rhiming words as a butcher does to draff an ox to be 
 slaughtered ; but Pope has set such a pattern of ease in that 
 way, that few composers now are faulty in the business of 
 rhiming. 
 
 When I have the pleasure of meeting you, we will talk 
 over these and many other matters too copious for an 
 Epistle. 
 
 Yours affectionately. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER VI11. 
 
 TO MRS. BARKER. 
 
 London, Nov. 26, 1774. 
 Dear Sister, 
 I have been indebted to you for some time in the letter way; 
 but as I have lately written to Sam, I was in hopes that a 
 letter to one of the family would express my regard for the 
 whole, and excuse my other obligations for a time. My busi- 
 ness in town is to meet my Bro. John, and to bring up Jack, 
 who is grown so tall and large that it is full time that he was 
 settled in the world. 
 
 Originally I intended to have met Bro. J. in town, and to 
 have accompanied him to Blackburn, and so to have spent the 
 winter between that place and Lyndon ; but just as I thought 
 I had at last procured help for my church, my assistant was 
 called into Devon, to return he knows not when : " ibi omnis 
 
108 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 effusus labor." Sam will tell you the meaning of the Latin. 
 Molly White thrives well at Selborne, and grows tall, fair and 
 handsome, and is a fine girl ; Nanny Woods also is very stout 
 and hardy, and is a nut-brown maid. Poor Nanny White, 
 who came to Newton in so deplorable a condition, has for 
 these last five weeks mended in a most marvelous manner, so 
 that her friends about her have good hopes — and, if she has 
 no relapse, will be again soon in a comfortable state, tho' 
 London, I fear, will be no ways fit for her for some time *. 
 Berriman lies still in the same sad deplorable way, helpless 
 and hopeless ! 
 
 Winter comes on with hasty strides this year ; and I begin 
 to fear we shall have a severe one. Tell my niece Betty that 
 I don't love snow now near so well as when I was of her age; I 
 then thought it a very amusing pleasing meteor. 
 
 Jack is five feet 8 inches and f high without shoes, and 
 proportionably large. Pray tell Sam that I shall expect to 
 hear from him in prose or in verse, in Latin or English, as he 
 likes best. The insinuation that Mrs. Chapone | is a papist is 
 a foolish slander, thrown out by somebody that envies her her 
 literary reputation. I have been assured since that she is an 
 Italian stage-dancer ! 
 
 I am, with all due respect to all friends, 
 
 Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 ;gil. white. 
 
 * [This young lady was the daughter of Benjamin White. The hopes 
 of her recovery were fallacious ; she died at Newton in October 1777, at 
 the age of 21, and was buried at Selborne. — T. B.] 
 
 t [This was the well-known authoress, to whom, when Miss Mulso, 
 Gilbert White was attached, and of whom an account is given in the 
 memoir. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 109 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 TO MRS. BARKER 
 
 (with the following letter to Samuel Barker). 
 
 Selborne, March 30, 1775. 
 Dear Sister, 
 I could have much wished to have spent part of last winter 
 with you ; but just as I thought I had got a gent, to supply 
 my church, he was called suddenly into Devon. Harry has 
 got a large family indeed ; Bro. Tho. and I were lately at the 
 Xtening of his last boy, whose name is Edward. Our brother 
 has lately much enlarged his house, which could no longer 
 contain his numerous family : a new kitchen, and a new par- 
 lour over that, and garrets over that, all very large and roomy, 
 make the house now very commodious ; and nothing is to be 
 regretted but the expence. As building is catching, I also 
 talk of some addition to my house next summer ; but I much 
 suspect my resolution in setting about it *. Bro. John was 
 disappointed in placing his son in London, and now thinks of 
 placing him with a linen-draper at Manchester — a scheme, I 
 think, much for the better in all respects ; for in London they 
 ask most enormous fees, and Bro. Ben has just given £250 
 with Edmund to Mr. Hounsom in Fleet Street. Alice Boxall, 
 who removed after her husband's death to her daughter's, is 
 lately dead, as is also John Neal. Poor Berriman lies in 
 the same deplorable way still! Nanny Woods continues 
 stout and well, and is a fine brown maid ; her hair is remark- 
 ably fine. Molly White is very well, and is stout and large 
 of her age, and a giant to Mrs. Etty. Your kind present 
 to your native place I have disposed of in part; such gratuities 
 in these hard times are very acceptable. Mrs. Isaac writes 
 me word that her aunt Weston died intestate, and that by 
 standing in her mother's shoes she shall come in for about 
 
 * [He, however, completed his drawing-room (24 ft. by 18, and 12 
 high) in 1777. — T. B.] 
 
110 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 £5000. Altogether her children will be finely provided for. 
 I am concerned to hear that Mrs. K. Isaac has such poor 
 health. With respects to all the family, I conclude, 
 Dear Sister, your affectionate and obliged Brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Etty and niece join in respects. Friends are 
 well at Newton. Bro. John is in pretty good forwardness 
 with his Fauna Calpensis, or Natural Hist, of Gibraltar. 
 
 I forgot to tell my nephew in the proper place that Dry- 
 den's ode on St. Cecilia is nothing else, for an hundred lines 
 together, but beautiful numbers, finely adapted to the sense. 
 
 He will, I hope, write soon. 
 
 Fierce frost at present, with snow. Woe to the wall-fruit ! 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 March 30, 1775. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 As I took no copy of my last hasty letter on Poetry, I am 
 not very certain how far I went in that subject, and what I 
 omitted. However, I think I said nothing concerning the 
 power that masterly writers possess of adapting their numbers 
 to their subjects, or rendering the sound an " echo to the 
 sense." 
 
 Homer and Virgil no doubt enjoyed this faculty in great 
 perfection, and have shewed wonderful instances of it ; but 
 then you must remember that fanciful commentators have 
 over-refined on this power, and have found numberless beau- 
 ties of this kind which the authors neither percieved nor in- 
 tended. 
 
 The English language is very capable of being conducted 
 to this perfection ; and Pope in particular, in his translation 
 of the Iliad, has frequently imitated the original most happily 
 in this way. In his essay on criticism (which he published, 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. Ill 
 
 as I remember, at 16 years of age) he has given several in- 
 stances of this sort of power, as 
 
 " And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows," &c. 
 
 But the finest instance that I remember in our own lan- 
 guage for several lines together, is in old John Dryden's 
 translation 1 of a simile in Virgil, which, though I have not 
 seen for these 20 years, I shall never forget on account of its 
 singular elegance *. 
 
 " As when a dove her rocky hold forsakes, 
 Rous'd,in a fright her sounding wings she shakes ; 
 The cavern rings with chattering, — out she flies, 
 And leaves her callow care, and cleaves the skies : 
 At first she flutters ; but at length she springs 
 To smoother flight, and shoots upon her wings." 
 
 u mox aere lapsa quieto, 
 Radit iter liquidum, celeres neque conmiovet alas." 
 
 In short, John Dryden is to me much the greatest master 
 of numbers of any of our English bards ; but then, contrary 
 to most men, he never arrived at perfection 'til he was very 
 old. 
 
 Rhime in itself is barbarous and Gothic, and unknown to 
 the ancients, who would have despised such a jingle ; but then 
 it must be remembered that modern languages being destitute 
 of the beauties derived from terminations and inflection, re- 
 quire some substitute. Besides, some of our best poets have 
 conducted rhime with such address that it seems to fall in of 
 its own accord, without their seeking; and if rhimes are 
 shackles, yet these people move so gracefully in them, that we 
 would not wish to see them divested of them. 
 
 Blank verse is, no doubt, when well conducted, full of dig- 
 nity ; but then perfection in that way is so rare that we never 
 had but two or three poems that were worth reading. A de- 
 sire of raising the diction above prose pushes men into fustian 
 and bombast. Even the great Milton, the father of blank 
 verse, is not always free from this vice, but ransacks the 
 
 * [This passage, with the original, appears afterwards at the close of 
 letter XLIV. (the last) to Pennant, at p. 112 of the 1st volume.— T. B.J 
 
112 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 whole circle of sciences for a set of hard words and rumbling 
 terms that make his readers stare. 
 
 As to Thomson (not Tompson), his seasons are sweet poems, 
 full of just description and fine moral reflections ; but then 
 this Scotch bard, thro' a desire of elevating his language above 
 prose, falls also into fustian sometimes ; and though he thinks 
 much like a poet, is often faulty in his diction. 
 
 The ' Cyder ' of John Philips, a didactic and Georgic poem 
 in blank verse, is worthy your attention. This man dyed 
 young ; but had he survived 'till he had acquired a little more 
 ease, and 'till time had somewhat mellowed his muse, he had 
 been an excellent poet. 
 
 Somerville, quite in advanced life, wrote his ' Chace,' a poem 
 full of warmth and spirit and all the enthusiasm of a young- 
 sportsman. 
 
 Thus have I given you my crude sentiments in a hasty way 
 on the subject of English poetry. If my remarks afford any 
 pleasure or information, my intention will be fully answered. 
 
 Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn appear now every clear 
 night, as it were in a line ; but how and when am I to find 
 Mercury ? Had it not been for your father, who shewed him 
 to me at Lyndon in 1760 for near a fortnight together, I 
 should never have seen him at all. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Ringmer, Aug- 84 12, 1775. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 Suspecting from the habits and shape that fern-owls might 
 resemble the cuckow in its internal construction, I procured 
 two, and found my suspicions not ill grounded ; for upon dis- 
 secting the crop or craw behind the sternum immediately on 
 the bowels, it was bulky and hard, and stuffed with Phalcence 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 113 
 
 of several sorts. Now, as it appears that this bird, which un- 
 doubtedly sits itself, is formed exactly as cuckows are, we may 
 reasonably conclude that Mr. Herissant's conjecture that 
 cuckows are incapable of incubation from the disposition of 
 their intestines becomes groundless, and we are still to seek 
 for the cause of that strange peculiarity. 
 
 G. W. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Sep. 6, 1775. 
 Dear Sam, 
 
 As you desired, I procured a cuckow which was in some 
 degree bare-breasted, yet showed no token of incubation from 
 any scurfiness of the skin ; besides, the bird had all the marks 
 of being a young one. When we had cut open the breast- 
 bone, and exposed the intestines to sight, we found that the 
 crop or craw did not lie before the sternum at the bottom of 
 the neck, as in the Gallince and others, but immediately over 
 the bowels. This stomach was large and round, and stuffed 
 very hard with food, which, upon examination, was found to 
 consist of various insects, such as small Scarahcei, Ptini, Elatri, 
 Aranece, Libelhdce, &c, the last of which I have seen cuckows 
 catching on the wing over Oakhanger pond more than once. 
 The farrago also was made up of maggots and many seeds, 
 which seemed to belong either to gooseberries, currants, cran- 
 berries, or some other berries ; so that these birds apparently 
 subsist on fruit and insects ; nor was there the least appear- 
 ance of bones, feathers or fur to support the idle notion of 
 their being birds of prey. The sternum of this bird seemed 
 to me to be remarkably short, between which and the anus lav 
 the crop or craw, and immediately behind that the bowels ; 
 and close to the backbone the parts that distinguished the bird 
 to be a male. Now it must be allowed, as the French anato- 
 mist observes, that the crop placed just upon the bowels must 
 VOL. II. 1 
 
114 COREESPONDENCP] WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 be in a very uneasy situation during the business of incubation; 
 yet the way will be to examine whether some birds that do sit 
 for certain are not formed in a similar manner, because then 
 the notion of incapacity in the cuckow from formation falls to 
 the ground. Now this enquiry I intend to make with a fern- 
 owl, and as soon as opportunity offers. 
 
 G. W. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 15, 1775. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 After some consideration I am in no manner of doubt but 
 that murmur electrician is an error of the press ; and that it 
 should be murmur elasticum. For what in the world has 
 electricity to do with hop-poles ? Why, if it had, should the 
 wind call it forth ? Now as to an elastic murmur, or a deep 
 humming sound, occasioned by the vibration of the naked 
 poles when agitated by the wind, I have heard it twenty 
 times in the months of March and April; and moreover, when 
 I came to question my servant Thomas, he readily recollected 
 to have heard such a rushing in hop-gardens in the spring 
 months, and added, pertinently enough, that such a murmur 
 might be observed every spring in gardens among kidney- 
 bean-sticks, as I perfectly well remember. Therefore read 
 (meo periculo) elasticum, instead of electrician. The only thing 
 that sticks with me is that since this murmur may be so easilv 
 and naturally accounted for by elastic vibration, why Linnaeus 
 should express any wonder, or be in the least pother about so 
 plain a matter, since it seems to me that it is as obvious why 
 a pole should hum when put in brisk motion, as why the 
 strings of an iEolian harp should, when brushed over by the 
 wind, produce those delicate chimings and unisons — that is, by 
 vibration. It is most probable, therefore, that there are no 
 hop-gardens in Sweden, and that Linnaeus never was witness 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 115 
 
 himself to such a murmur, but takes his cue from some hasty 
 and inaccurate correspondent. 
 
 I beg you would take two pieces of sponge of equal size, 
 weight, and softness, and hang them by strings over an upland 
 pond, in foggy weather, the one as near the surface as possible 
 the other several feet above the water; then I desire you would 
 squeeze the spunges in a morning and see which produces the 
 most water. Then if the lower spunge should prove from 
 repeated trials to be the moistest, I should hope the fact would 
 in some measure corroborate my suspicions that ponds and 
 pools do by condensation from the coolness of their surfaces, 
 assimilate to themselves fogs and vapours by contact, and that 
 is one reason why many very little upland ponds, tho' subject 
 to a continual waste by cattle &c, yet never fail in tie 
 severest droughts, while larger ponds in bottoms frequently 
 become dry. But as your father and you may probably hit 
 upon a better experiment, I desire you would try such as you 
 think most to the purpose *- 
 
 Moreover I desire that both of you would send me every 
 hint in Nat. Hist, that occurs to your minds after your recent 
 visit to these parts. My swallow monographies are printed 
 off by the R. S. in vol. 69, p. 258 : but the corrector of the 
 press has made sad work with my unfortunate letters ; for in 
 one place he makes me say that " swallows eat grass," and in 
 another uses caves instead of eaves ; moreover he has trans- 
 posed my letters so as to misplace them, though I numbered 
 them most exactly, and by that means has made a jumble of 
 dates, besides putting two whens in one sentence and many 
 more inaccuracies too numerous to mention ! fie ! for so 
 young a man to use glasses that magnify 200 times, when 
 Linnaeus planned and perfected his whole sexual system 
 nuclis oci/lis. 
 
 I wish you joy that Jupiter is restored to his liberty and 
 
 * [This subject is discussed in a very interesting manner in the XXIXth 
 letter to Daines Barrington, Vol. I. pp. 192 to 195. It is probable that 
 the experiments suggested above were carried out, as the more elaborate 
 observations addressed to Barrington are dated three months later than 
 this letter to his nephew. — T. B.] 
 
 1 ti 
 
116 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 dignity ; for the Cornish man has seized on him and appro- 
 priated him to himself as a new discovered world. 
 
 Mr. Etty and I live here by ourselves, and, having no wives 
 to controll us, do as we please : only we are deterred from 
 going to London by the influenza. Pray return my best 
 thanks to my sister for her agreeable present : and to your 
 father and sisters for their company and conversation at 
 Selborne. I acknowledge myself much in your debt, and 
 shall endeavour to pay you in kind. Did you find rushes as 
 much in use at Lyndon as Mrs. Rashleigh has done at * ? 
 Many gent, at Oxford had never heard of rushes, perhaps 
 because they were gent. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Jan. 5, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 Gossamer has from old times attracted the attention of the 
 curious. Chaucer mentions it among the phenomena of 
 nature not well understood or accounted for, such as thunder, 
 &c. 
 
 The Tabanus bovinus, I verily believe, has nothing in its tail, 
 or blood-sucking rostrum, but a Musea-like proboscis. I have 
 seen it suck the galled parts of Sir Sim. Stuart's working 
 oxen, without giving them any pain or offence. It abounds 
 most in moist places, and sultry weather. The (JEstrus curvi- 
 cauda lays its nits, I know, but in the warm hours of the day; 
 for my horses which are in stable all day, and out a-nights, 
 are never covered with these eggs at home. 
 
 Pray examine those little dancing Diptera ( Tipulce I suppose 
 they are) that sport the winter through, in fog, gentle rain, 
 and even in frost and snow when the sun shines. Every 
 
 [In the MS. the name of the place is quite illegible. — T. B. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 117 
 
 sunny day when the sun shines they abound ; and in warm 
 lanes and under hedges the air swarms with them. Within 
 doors woodlice, spiders, and Lepismce are in motion, and many 
 Muscce in the stable ; and earthworms come forth every mild 
 evening; so that in mild weather insects are not so much 
 laved up as is imagined. Some Phalcence fly also all the 
 winter. * * * * 
 
 G. W. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 TO MRS. BARKER. 
 
 Thames Street, Feb. 7, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sister, 
 Mr. Etty, Charles, and I came to town on Jan. the 22 and 23, 
 and found the public roads better than we expected. Mr. E. 
 brought up his son and has placed him at St. Paul's school, 
 hoping that by means of good friends he may procure him 
 some considerable exhibitions, that may help to support him 
 in an university education. 
 
 As to Mr. W. you must not wonder or resent because he 
 does not write ; for when his daughter had a fever more than 
 an year ago, Mrs. E. wrote to him every post for many 
 weeks ; yet he never returned one answer. However, when 
 all was over he sent her a very handsome set of tea-china. 
 And now during inoculation he never wrote once in the time 
 or since, but is going to make a very handsome present of 
 plate. Thus you see some men are of a very unwriting con- 
 stitution, and yet neither want gratitude nor generosity. 
 
 Bro. Tho. talks of leaving off, and is letting down his stock 
 in trade by degrees. Bro. Harry I found here : he was 
 snowed in for a fortnight or more, and when he went away 
 on Jan. 25 wrote word that it was with the utmost difficulty 
 that he got along, and that if he had attempted a week sooner 
 he would have been stopped by the way. 
 
118 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 I have been spending some days at my Bro. Ben's new 
 house at S. Lambeth, which is very commodious and very 
 handsomely furnished. The rooms are rather small ; but my 
 Bro. has removed the partition between the two parlors, and 
 so has made one good sitting room : he has besides an other 
 parlor below and a drawing room above stairs of 27 feet in 
 length ; but it is narrow. This room my sister has furnished 
 in a splendid manner. In short they, who have eleven children, 
 shame me who have none and yet make a pother about 
 building one room. Nanny recovers very fast by living in 
 the country ; and my sister looks much the better for being 
 out of town. In short this house will probably lengthen all 
 their days. Poor Berriman lies in the same sad state ! 
 Farmer Parsons has been near death with a fever; but is 
 better. Abram Loe is dead and has left a widow and five 
 small children. Farmer Turner has left his ale-house and is 
 retired to his new house. He is before this, I trust, marryed 
 to his House-keeper Rose Hawkins ; the Bridegroom is 71, 
 and the bride 69 ! I used to say that female beauty does not 
 last above a century ; but now 1 begin to retract. 
 
 (On the same sheet with the following to " Sam " and to 
 
 Mr. Barker.) 
 
 LETTER XVI, 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Thames Street, Feb. 7, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 I thank you for your kind and intelligent letter; but you 
 never told me whether the good people of Lyndon burn rushes 
 or not, nor what you think of my amendment of murmur 
 electricum of Linn. Dr. Hales, in Veget. Statics, settles the 
 point from experiment that the moister earth is, the more dew 
 it attracts, and that a surface of water attracts more moisture 
 from the air than a surface of moist earth. I wish I could 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 119 
 
 assist you in mosses : time and practice will render you more 
 adroit; but some lessons would be better. Dr. Forster has 
 already published a quarto volume of Antarctic genera, new 
 genera with cuts. It is a splendid book, in Latin, and dedi- 
 cated to the king. Bro. Ben. has a share. The Dr. has done 
 honour to his friends, and has got a Barringtonia, a Banksia, 
 a Shejjieldia, a Skinneria*, &c. The Barringtonia^ is a noble 
 flower and is jjolyatulria monogynia. The latin I think is 
 good. His nautical work, in English, is now under correc- 
 tion, as to stile and idiom, at Oxford. Pray be more explicit 
 about " the influence of the W. and S. exposure on our 
 trees." We that see y m daily do not so much observe. 
 Write very soon, and direct to this house. Send me all 
 manner of hints for Nat. Hist. I have made a visit to 
 Grimm. Bro. John has finished his Fauna. The work will 
 be large. Mr. Barr. wants me to join with him in a Nat. 
 Hist, publication ; but if I publish at all, I shall come forth 
 by myself. Bro. Tho. is laying up materials for a History of 
 Hants. He will some day take an artist down. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 TO THOMAS BAKKER. 
 
 Thames Street, Feb. 7, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Our snow r , like yours, was not very great, but most marvel- 
 ously drifted thro' the hedges, so as to fill all our lanes and 
 cover the gates. I was forced to dig my way out of the 
 village, and to ride for two Sundays following to Farr. 
 attended by Pioneers. As long as I stayed, the therm r con- 
 tinued abroad at 20. But on Jan. 2S (Thomas writes me 
 word) it fell to 7, on 29 to 6 ; on the 30 it was at 10 ; and 
 on the 31 it descended to half a degree below !! a degree of 
 cold beyond any instance that I have yet heard of! There 
 
 * [Skinneria was not finally removed from Fuchsia. — T. B.] 
 t [B, speciosa, Forst, Rumph. Herb. Amb. 3, 114.— T. B.] 
 
120 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 was a rime. At S. Lambeth it was at 7. It froze under our 
 beds in London ! 
 
 Thanks for your information respecting Mercury. Pray 
 throw out all sorts of Nat. hints. I have employed the keeper 
 of Domes-day Booh to transcribe all relating to Selborne; and 
 am to pay 4zd. per line : besides I have applyed for a transcript 
 of all relating to the Priory in Magd. Coll. archives. Pray 
 send me word what rivers were frozen in Italy ; were they in 
 Lombardy or in the more S. parts ? Virgil in the Georg. 
 mentions freezing rivers. Mr. Gibbon, a Hants Gent, pub- 
 lishes next week his 1 st vol. in 4 C0 of a Hist, of the latter Pom. 
 Empire ; there will be 4 vols, in all. I conclude respectively 
 Your affectionate Bro., Uncle, & Bro r , 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Respects to family. 
 
 Mr. Gibbon begins with Trajan *. Pray write soon. 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 FROM THOMAS BARKER TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Lyndon, Feb. 13, 1776. 
 
 Rev. Sir, 
 We received your three letters in one ; and as you desire to 
 hear before you go out of town, I here sit down to write one. 
 I find your cold was greater than ours. January 20 was 
 remarkable : it was a cloudy morning, and as long as it con- 
 tinued so the cold was moderate ; but as soon as it cleared up 
 about noon it grew sharper, and at eight at night it got down 
 to 11, after which it rose again. You asked Sam his opinion 
 of the west and south exposure : he may tell you his opinion ; 
 and I will tell you mine. The south-west sides of trees do 
 not suffer at all here, nor in most places where I go ; but I 
 
 * [Gibbon resided near Petersfield, and appears to bave been well 
 known to Gilbert Wbite. Tbe first volume of his celebrated work was 
 published on Feb. 17, 1776.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 121 
 
 believe on such burning chalk and flint as the South Downs 
 and Ambresbury* plains the scorching S.W. sun does more 
 damage than the wind. This agrees with what your brother 
 H. says, that wherever they can keep the ground moist the 
 trees always thrive. So at Eingmer the trees and hedges 
 toward the Downs are all cut ; but as soon as you have 
 passed Ringmer going towards Norlington you soon lose 
 sight of any cutting by the sea-winds, which probably injure 
 the plants as far as they blow the spray of the sea. 
 
 I do not know what rivers of Italy Mr. Heathcote spoke of 
 as having been frozen this winter. I find his information 
 came from Mr. Taylor, a clergyman whom I believe you 
 formerly knew at Oriel College. He is now in Italy. His 
 letter is dated at Rome, and says, " We have had colder 
 weather here than in England. The river Arno at Florence 
 has been frozen over, which it has not been these 13 years, 
 and a pond 5 miles over, made by Augustus near Ostium, 
 14 miles from hence, which has not happened in the memory 
 of man." The 13 years since the Arno was frozen will reach 
 back just to the 5 weeks frost of January 1763, when there 
 was that most remarkable rime, a most settled frost without 
 breath of wind or glimpse of sun. 
 
 Your sister and nieces join in compliments to yourself and 
 all friends, I being, dear brother, 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 T. BARKER. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 FROM SAMUEL BARKER TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Lyndon, Eeb. 13, 1776. 
 Dear Sir, 
 If Linnseus's murmur be nothing more than the rushing of 
 the wind among the poles of a hop-garden, it is wonderful, as 
 
 * [An old, perhaps the more correct, way of spelling what is now 
 Amesbury ?] 
 
122 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 you observe, that he should make any difficulty about it : on 
 the other hand, there is no apparent connection between 
 electricity and hops; so that probably it is some mistake of his 
 correspondent. 
 
 During the late frost we observed that the cold was con- 
 stantly most intense when the sky was clear. There was 
 little or no rime here till the 31st of January, the day before 
 the thaw. Does not a rime after a series of clear steady frost 
 frequently precede a thaw? The rime in 1763 lasted the 
 whole frost; but the sun had never appeared during the whole 
 time. 
 
 Since the breaking of the frost the weather has been in 
 general wet and windy. On the night of the 5th there was a 
 violent gust which lasted but few minutes, that blew down many 
 hay-stacks, stripped houses, &c. ; the windows of a gentle- 
 man's hot-house at Uppingham were shattered to pieces. 
 Wo be to his exotics ! 
 
 The influence of the S.W. exposure seems to consist in 
 weakening vegetation so that the heads of trees in such a 
 situation are thin of branches, and sometimes incline to the 
 N.E. Of the four firs on Baker's-hill the easternmost is 
 apparently the most thriving. Are the bodies of such trees 
 prevented from growing to their full size, or are the leaves 
 only and smaller boughs affected? Does grass and other 
 vegetables suffer from this exposure ? 
 
 The use of rushes as a substitute for candles is unknown in 
 Rutland. Some of the poorest people, particularly manu- 
 facturers, use a kind of lamps that scarcely serve to make 
 darkness visible ; if they could be persuaded to try rushes the 
 advantage would be considerable. 
 
 I should be glad to know how you like Mr. Grimm's per- 
 formances. As your views consist principally of woods, an 
 artist ought to be perfect in that difficult branch of drawing 
 to give you satisfaction. The beautiful scenes of woods rising 
 above one another, so pleasing to the eye, if not well ex- 
 pressed would on paper appear heavy and solid. 
 
 Aratus, in his ' Prognostics,' line 301, mentions dpa^via 
 11 floating in the still air" as an indication of settled weather. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 128 
 
 Are we to understand by this the spiders themselves, or gos- 
 samer ?, as the word admits of both senses. 
 
 The same poet observes that cattle feed eagerly at the 
 approach of storms — a circumstance that was taken notice of 
 here the night the snow began. A naturalist acquainted with 
 the plants and animals of Greece would receive much pleasure 
 and information from perusing the whole poem. 
 
 My uncle Thos. desired me last year to observe whether 
 the magnetic needle was affected during the appearance of 
 bright northern lights : there has been no opportunity of 
 remarking this, as during the whole winter there have been 
 very few of them, and those inconsiderable. He also wanted 
 to find an account of the ergot or horned rye, and the dis- 
 temper it occasioned : this I have met with in the 55th vol. 
 of the Phil. Trans, for the year 1765, no. 17, page 106 &c. 
 
 If during your stay in town you should happen to meet any 
 of your botanical friends, I should be extremely obliged to 
 you if you would ask which are the male and female flowers 
 of mosses, and how they are distinguished, as I can discern no 
 tokens of sexuality in the antherce ; and also what the recep- 
 tacle is, and where situated. 
 
 I wonder Linnaeus should not refer to Ray's ' Synopsis,' as 
 Morrison, whom he quotes, takes whole descriptions from it. 
 
 With my sincerest respects to yourself, my uncle Thos.j 
 and uncle Benj.'s family, I conclude, Sir, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 LETTER XX 
 
 TO THOMAS BARKER. 
 
 London, March 20, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 * * * * All our chalk barley was greatly damaged : we 
 have none good but from the sands, where their harvest was 
 earlier. The former sells for about 20.s, and the latter for 
 
124 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 about 26s. Farther west, where they have nothing but chalk 
 downs, all their barley was pretty well spoiled; so that Harry 
 complains he cannot, as yet, get any price at all for his crop. 
 What pigeons in a state of nature may do I cannot pretend 
 to say ; but this I know, that tame pigeons which are pam- 
 pered by high feeding and lie perhaps under more frequent 
 temptations from living together in crowds, are apt to forget 
 the rules of strict chastity, and follow too often the example 
 of people in high life. As to the smaller birds, it would be 
 very difficult to ascertain the identity of the man and wife in 
 different years. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 I thank you for this hint, and shall always be glad of more. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 London, March 20, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 You may comfort yourself that you are not the only person 
 that finds himself under difficulties respecting the sexuality of 
 mosses ; for Mr. Curtis is by no means satisfyed concerning 
 the distinctions made use of, but suspects very much that 
 there are not the same obvious distinctions in them which in 
 the more common plants so rationally support the Linngean 
 system. He is a very friendly man and always willing to 
 communicate, and has therefore desired me to send you down 
 the enclosed plate, containing representations of the fructifi- 
 cation &c. of his mosses, such as he uses in his own lectures 
 on the occasion. In the plate respecting the male and female 
 Vallisneria you will see a wonderful instance of the wisdom 
 of providence *. 
 
 * [The female flowers of Vallimeria are kept floating on the surface of 
 the water by the tendril-like construction of the flexible stalk ; the male 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 125 
 
 Mrs. Stebbing and I go down to S. together on Friday in a 
 p. chaise. I shall not forget to take my sister's present. 
 
 Yours affect., 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 The water-snails, two or three species now begin to be 
 
 buoyant, and to crawl with their bellies upwards on or 
 
 against the surface of the water. We have none round 
 Seleburne *. 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, July 1, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 In the larger plants in general I found no difficulty at all, 
 being assisted by Linn., Hudson, Ray's Synopsis Stirpium, 
 &c. : but as to the mosses, I did not care to meddle, because 
 they were become too minute for my eyes, before they begun 
 to be employed in those enquiries. As to the genera of Orchis, 
 Ophrys, and Serapias, there is great obscurity among them, 
 as Linn, tacitly acknowledges, by calling in the distinction of 
 their roots in his specific descriptions. In his system the 
 distinctions should lie in the corolla, stalks, leaves. As to the 
 different sorts of garden fruits, they are the production of 
 cultivation, and belong only incidentally to the Linn, system, 
 but are to be sought for in Miller's Diet. &c. As to the 
 
 flowers, when the pollen is ripe, become suddenly detached from the 
 plant, rise at once to the surface, burst open, and scatter the pollen over 
 the female flowers already open to receive it. — T. B.] 
 
 * [The buoyancy of the Limnreidse, floating with the body and shell 
 hanging down below the surface of the water, is caused not only by the 
 air within the pulmonary cavity, but also by a certain degree of hollow- 
 ing of the surface of the foot, the margin of which, by a sort of undulatory 
 motion, conducts the animal slowly along the surface of the water. — T. B.] 
 
120 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 Nympluva alba, the white water-lily, there are none in this 
 parish, hut are to be found in Wishanger pond in the parish 
 of Frinsham : if I knew when the seeds were ripe I would 
 endeavour to procure some. 
 
 Dr. Forster assured me that he saw, some few times, 
 appearances in the sky in the S. hemisphere, very similar to 
 those we call aurorce boreales. 
 
 Our first young brood of swallows was marvellously early, 
 appearing on June 15 : the first week in July is the usual 
 time. I have written to Grimm, and don't know but that I 
 may see him next Monday : I expect also my nep. Rich. 
 White, who is to stay with me some time. Nanny Woods is 
 to dine with me to-day : she is tender and has got a cough. 
 
 We have built a new Hermitage, a plain cot ; but it has 
 none of the fancy and rude ornament that recommended the 
 former to people of taste : this is strong and substantial, and 
 will stand a long while, fire excepted. 
 
 Our solstice is cool and shadv, but not very wet : I have 
 ricked my St. foin in fine order ; this day I begin to cut my 
 meadow grass, which will prove a bigger crop by one 3 rd than 
 that of last year. Cucumbers do not succeed well in general 
 this year. My bank, which was lowered when you were here, 
 is now very gaudy and full of flowers. I have much wall- 
 fruit, and a fine show for grapes ; pears, plums, apples and 
 cherries without number. As I was visiting last Tuesday at 
 Bramshot I saw on the Portsmouth road Burgoyne's light 
 horse marching down to embark for N. America. The horses 
 were fine and the men fine young fellows ; but they all look'd 
 very grave, and did not seem much to admire their destina- 
 tion. The Atlantic is no small frith for cavalry to be trans- 
 ported over : the expence will be enormous ! Brother and 
 sister Harry have been in town and at Mrs. Snookes's. At 
 Ringmer Ben. Woods caught the measles of John Mott, and 
 fell with it before he left town ; but his father sent him down 
 to Fyfield after it came out ! None of Bro. Harr.'s children 
 nor Bro. Thos's has had this distemper; so there will be a sick 
 house and much trouble ; but the children can never fall at a 
 better season of the year or time of life. Now, at Mids r 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 127 
 
 Harry is to have a young gent, at the noble priee of £150 pr 
 ann. Harry and his wife (no small personages) and seven 
 children, and two canary birds, and one aberdavine, and 10 
 parcels, a dormouse and a puppy-dog, all went down in two 
 post-chaises. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Ringmer, Aug. 19, 1776. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 A knowledge of the grasses is the most desirable part of 
 botany, because the most useful: but it is the most neglected; 
 for graziers and farmers do not seem to distinguish any one 
 sort of Gramen from the other — the annual from the perennial, 
 the succulent from the dry, or the aquatic from the upland ; 
 whereas by attention their meadows and pastures might be 
 much improved ; and it is an old maxim, that he is an useful 
 member of society, a good common-wealths man " who can 
 procure two blades of grass where only one grew before." 
 
 I am not a little pleased to find that you have got the 
 Hirundo riparia just at hand, because I shall expect from a 
 man of your accuracy some circumstances of information 
 which I cannot so well make myself master of at the distance 
 of Wolmer forest. You will be pleased an other year to 
 attend to the exact season of their coming and departure, 
 time of nidification, and bringing out their first and second 
 brood &c. &c. Pay attention also to the other three species ; 
 for I shall be glad of any well attested anecdotes, intending 
 some time hence to publish a new edition of my ' Hirundines'' 
 in some way or other*. 
 
 * [His two papers on this subject had been read at the Royal Society 
 respectively in February 1774 and March 1775. He here evidently fore- 
 shadows his future book. — T. B. J 
 
128 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 My artist Mr. Grimm stayed with ine 27 days, 24 of which 
 he worked very hard and displayed great tokens of genius and 
 assiduity. He finished twelve drawings, one of which was a 
 view of Hawkley hanger ; but that scape I think did not 
 succeed so well as some others. Bro. Harry made me a visit 
 and was very much delighted with what was going on, and 
 in particular with a view of the hermitage *, which G. is to 
 copy for him in town. From me my artist went to Mr. 
 Yalclen f, and took a view of his house and outlet at the edge 
 of his chalk-pit. The employer wanted and intended a view 
 from the alcove ; but the draughtsman, as well as myself, 
 objected much to the uniformity of that scene : so I carried 
 G. to the chalk-pit on the W. side of the house, from whence 
 he took a charming view. From Newton I carryed G. 
 to L d Clanricarde's at Warnford, where in the gardens he 
 took a perspective internal view, section, and elevation of a 
 very curious old hall or church, unknown to the anticpiaries, 
 for a gent, visiting there, who will one day oblige the world 
 with this neglected and obscure curiosity, now a barn. It is 
 supposed to have been built by K B John. The order is 
 Saxon. From hence G. went to Winton, to work there for a 
 week or ten days on his own account, and is to call at 
 Hartely on his return. I regret much that King John's Hall 
 had not remained unnoticed a little longer, 'til my Bro. Tho. 
 had been a little more at liberty ; for when he has done with 
 business he proposes to entertain himself with collecting 
 materials for an history of the county of Southton : and I 
 moreover marvel that I had never heard of this hall before. 
 
 Our people know nothing of the use of the rind or peel of 
 the Juncus effusus for cordage. 
 
 I rejoice to hear that you learn French: you will very soon 
 be able to read it. 
 
 The weather has been now very showery for just a fort- 
 
 * [This forms the vignette in the title-page of the first and several 
 subsequent editions of the book ; and the. original drawing in Indian ink 
 by Grimm is now before me, in a copy of the work belonging to the 
 Rev. Edmund Field.— T. B.] 
 
 t [Vicar of Newton Valence. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 12 ( J 
 
 night : our harvest is in a very bad way. When I arrived 
 last Friday evening I was surprized to find Mrs. H. Isaacs and 
 niece Becky at supper with my aunt. B. is grown beyond all 
 knowledge. Nep. Richard, who has left school, is here with me. 
 Mr. Shadwell has left Stoneham Farm, which is raised from 
 250 to 400 pr ami. Thanks to Molly White for her agreeablo 
 letter. On the Friday you mention my therm 1 ' rose up to 79 
 within doors — a pitch which I have scarce ever seen exceeded. 
 Wheat grows in the sheaf. You have the Stojxirolce, I find ; 
 but say nothing of the white-throat, black-cap, Reguli non- 
 cristati 3 species, the redstart. Respects to all. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 We have just weighed Timothy, who is encreased in weight 
 just one ounce and an half since last August. Stoparolw 
 come to Selborne May 20, depart about Sept. 7. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BAEKER. 
 
 Fyfield, Nov. 1, 1770. 
 Dear Sam, 
 
 Just as I thought you had been master of the maimers and 
 
 customs of the bank-martin, you write me word that you do 
 
 not know it when you see it. The case is, you did not begin 
 
 to look 'til the decline of summer, when all the Hirundines 
 
 cease to frequent their nesting-places. If you will pay some 
 
 attention to those holes in the spring, you will probably see 
 
 the owners busyed in the matter of niclification : besides they 
 
 are to be distinguished from their congeners by their small 
 
 size, their mouse-colour, and their toriggling desultory manner 
 
 of flying. Pray observe when they come first. 
 
 The instance you give of the swiftness of an hawk was 
 
 somewhat extraordinary. But a very intelligent person 
 
 assured me that he once saw a more extraordinary instance of 
 
 command of wing in a daw, which is not very remarkable for 
 
 VOL. II. Iv 
 
L30 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 feats of activity of that kind. As this person was riding on 
 Salisbury Plain he saw a bird on the wing dropping some- 
 thing from its bill, and catching it again before it came to the 
 ground, several times repeatedly : this unusual sight drew his 
 attention, so that he rode nearer, and saw the same feat 
 repeated to his great surprize. It appeared to him that the 
 ball dropped and recovered was a wallnut. Now a wallnut, I 
 should think, would fall much faster than a dead bird, whose 
 feathers would meet with resistance from the air. 
 
 In 24 days Mr. Grimm finished for me 18 drawings, the 
 most elegant of which are: — 1. a view of the village and Hanger 
 from the short Lithe*; 2. a view of the S.E. end of the 
 Hanger and its cottages, taken from the upper end of the 
 Street ; 3. a side view of the old hermitage, with the hermit 
 standing at the door ; this piece he is to copy again for Un. 
 Harry ; 4. a sweet view of the short Lithe and Dorton from 
 the lane beyond Peasecod's house. He took also two views of 
 the Church, two views of my outlet, a view of the Temple 
 farm, a view of the village from the inside of the present 
 hermitage, Hawkley hanger (which does not prove very 
 engaging), and a grotesque and romantic drawing of the 
 waterfall in the hollow bed of the stream in Silkwood's vale 
 to the N.E. of Berriman's house. You need not wonder that 
 the drawings you saw by Grimm did not please you; for they 
 were 3s. 6d. pieces done for a little ready money ; so there 
 was no room for softening his trees &c. He is a most elegant 
 colourist; and, what is more, the use of these fine natural 
 stainings are altogether his own : yet his pieces were so 
 engaging in Indian-ink, that it was with regret that I sub- 
 mitted to have some of them coloured. Mr. Wyndham of 
 Sarum has engaged G. next summer for 8 or 9 weeks in a 
 tour round N. and S. Wales. I rejoice to hear you are so 
 deep in French. 
 
 * [This forms the subject of the folded frontispiece to the first and to 
 the subsequent 4to editions. The persons represented in the plate are : — 
 1. The Rev. Richard Yalden, the vicar of Newton; 2. Mrs. Yalden; 3. 
 Mr. Etty, brother of the vicar of Selborne : 4. Mr. Thomas White, 
 Gilbert's brother.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 131 
 
 I am wonderfully delighted with the addition to my brother's 
 little common parlor*; " nequeunt expleri corda tuendo;" it 
 now altogether gives much ease to such a numerous family, 
 and is very peculiarly light, roomy, and convenient, containing 
 400 square feet. Mr. Amyand is a very genteel pleasing 
 youth. He puts me in mind of Mr. Brocket. 
 
 Yours affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Pray write soon to Selborne. 
 
 P.S. When the children are buzzing down at their spinnet, 
 and we grave folks sit round the chimney, I am put in mind 
 of the following couplet, which you will remember : — 
 
 " All the distant din that world can keep 
 Rolls o'er ray grotto and improves my sleep." 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 TO THOMAS WHITE, ESQ.f 
 
 Selborne, June 30, 1T77. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 The Dr.'s letter on the other side is very satisfactory and very 
 edifying : for it not only proves that our Temple belonged to 
 the Knights Templars, but that it was also a Preceptor*/, the 
 Preceptory of Sudington, now called Southington, not- 
 withstanding that B p Tanner asserts that he never could find 
 more than two preceptories in this county, viz. Godesfield 
 and S. Badeisley. Hence we may be certain that the B p did 
 not get access to the Magd. Coll. archives. 
 
 Tho' the lands of the convent and the Templars abutted on 
 
 * [Where he was staying, and whence he dates this letter. — T. B.] 
 f [This letter and that of Dr. Chandler are in substance embodied in 
 the Xlth letter of the Antiquities (Vol. I. p. 316). In this department 
 of his work the author's obligations to Dr. Chandler were very great ; and 
 a comparison of the present letter from him with the passage in the An- 
 tiquities referred to, will show this in a striking manner. — T. B.] 
 
 K 2 
 
132 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 each other, and were intermixed, yet we see that those two 
 societies of Religions lived on the best of terms, in an inter- 
 course of mutual good offices, exchanging lands and per- 
 mitting roads to be opened for each other's mutual conve- 
 nience. We see also that Blackmere and Bradshott, names 
 well known to modern ears, were also familiar to the neigh- 
 bourhood four or five hundred years ago. 
 
 I expect Dr. Chandler soon, and regret much (and he as- 
 sures me he does the same) that the statutes will not permit 
 him to bring with him the Archive papers to Selborne, which 
 contain much knowledge concerning the antiquities of this 
 place — information that has never been pryed into, but has 
 slumbered within the college walls ever since they were 
 founded. 
 
 We have drowning weather and a dismal black solstice. 
 Such rains make carriage very irksome, and the attendance on 
 building very comfortless, and brick-burning very precarious ; 
 but the walls, I trust, will be the stronger, since the mortar is 
 better blended into the chinks and crevices during so sloppy 
 a season. Let me hear how you have sold your oak timber. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 FROM DR. CHANDLER 
 (accompanying G. W.'s letter to his brother Thomas, June 30, 1777). 
 
 Oxford, June 14, 1777. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I find five deeds with the seal of the Temple annexed to them. 
 In the Index the first is No. 2. " Concessio Rob. Samford 
 militis Templi cum assensu Capituli Priori et Conventui de 
 Selborne totius tenementi cum omnibus pertinentiis hab. de 
 dono Aymerici de Vasci " sine dato. No. 26 "Concessio 
 similis priori." Of these the first is tolerably easy to be read. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. L83 
 
 The Templars convey to John the Prior, and to the Convent 
 for ever, " totum tenementum cum omnibus pertinentiis, sc. 
 in terris et . . . .in pratis et pascuis et nemoribus et in 
 omnibus aliis locis, quod habuimus de dono Aymerici de Vasci 
 [so I read] in villa de Seleburne," to be held " libere et in- 
 tegre et quiete ab omni seculari . . . . et exactione," as by 
 the Templars, in consideration of 200 marcs sterl. paid by the 
 convent to them for the purchase of other lands " in subsi- 
 dium Sanctce terrce" One of the witnesses is styled Preceptor 
 OF Sudington. The three remaining deeds are in the Index: — 
 No. 139. " Concessio fratris Rob 11 de Samford &c. de uno Che- 
 minio &c." sine dat. No. 140. " Concessio similis priori." No. 
 138. " Concessio fratris Rob" militis &c. 10 sol. annuatim in 
 perpetuum percipiend." sine dato. All these are likewise wit- 
 nessed by Richard Carpenter, Preceptor of Sudington. Nos. 
 139 & 140 are grants from Rob. de Samford and the Templars 
 of a way sufficient " ad ducendum carros et haretas, et ad fu- 
 gandum averia a via que se extendit de Sudington versus 
 Blakemere ultra terrain Ricardi de la Strete usque ad terrain 
 dictorum Prioris et Conventus quam habent in Bradesete." 
 No. 138 is an engagement of Robert and the Templars to pay 
 to the convent " decern solidos de camera nostra annuatim in 
 perpetuum percipiendos ad domum nostram de Sudington, 
 per manum Preceptoris vel BoMivi nostri, qui pro tempore 
 fuerit," half-yearly until the Templars should purchase lands 
 within a certain distance of the convent, and to be given as 
 an equivalent. 
 
 Yrs. R. CHANDLER. 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Seiborne, Nov. 7, 1777. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 No event that 1 have met with for some time has given me 
 more pleasure than the news of your being sent to the Uni- 
 
134 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 versify, because, I trust, you will make the best use of this 
 advantage, both in your literary pursuits, and by improvement 
 in the knowledge of men and manners. As to a proper ac- 
 quaintance, you have nothing to do but to lie by, and act a 
 little on the reserve, and you will soon discern what young 
 men are suitable to your purpose ; and besides, young people 
 of your own turn, when they know you a little, will naturally 
 make some advances. 
 
 All the house-martins withdrew about the 7th of Oct., and 
 seemed gone to a bird 'til Nov. 4th, when 21 were seen play- 
 ing about under the Hanger all day, and for that day only. 
 The circumstance seems the more odd and amusing to me, 
 because I have known it befal more than once or twice. 
 Where were they during the interval? and where are they 
 now ? This event militates strongly against emigration, and 
 in favour of hiding. The bats do just the same all the winter 
 and spring ; they sleep at intervals, and then come forth, and 
 feed, and retire again. 
 
 The order of Polygamic frustranea is constituted, you know, 
 from having the florets of the disk hermaphrodite, and those 
 of the radius neuter. Not knowing where to apply for a 
 common knapweed * in bloom, I know not how to solve your 
 difficulty. The district round Cambridge will furnish you in 
 the summer with the great aquatics. When you are a little 
 at leisure, I shall always be glad to hear from you. 
 
 I am your affectionate friend, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Don't fail to practise frequently in writing English. 
 * [Centaurea scabiosa. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 135 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 TO MRS. BARKER. 
 
 Selborue, Sep. '2, 177*. 
 
 Dear Sister, 
 My thanks are due for your kind letter. I have now the 
 pleasure of seeing my house full of friends. My niece Anne 
 Barker pleases me much, and is a sensible intelligent young 
 woman. Mrs. H. Isaacs has not been here for 25 years, and, 
 finding every thing much altered, hardly knows the place 
 again. Molly White and y v daughter seem well pleased to 
 meet again ; Jenny and Becky White are to come to Newton 
 this week. Mrs. Yalden pressed their mother much to come ; 
 but she is in a very poor way, and chose to wave the journey. 
 Mrs. Snooke has just written to me with her own hand ; she 
 did not complain much. Last post I had a letter from Black- 
 burn : my brother's state of health and spirits is much the 
 same ; my poor sister makes sad complaints, and laments the 
 state of their family ; indeed they both merit the compassion of 
 their friends. My great parlor * is now r of singular service ; 
 but while it is so empty the echo is very troublesome. I have 
 a new bed in my little red room, and have put my old white 
 bed up in my late drawing-room, where I lie as you ordered 
 mef. Bro. Harry's school thrives: he has just got three new 
 pupils, and expects one more; his house is now quite full. 
 My peaches ripen, but, the summer considered, are not so 
 fine as might be expected. We have fine wheat and a vast 
 crop of hops. Barley and oats are lean and poor. The failure 
 of turnips is miserable ! 
 
 Your loving brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 * [Built the previous year. — T. B.] 
 t [Iu which room he died. — T. B.] 
 
136 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Sept. 2, 1778. 
 Dear Sam, 
 I AM much pleased to find that the University and your stu- 
 dies there give you so much satisfaction. There is no fear 
 that you will neglect this opportunity of improvement, or 
 spend your time amiss. I should rather wish that you were 
 cautioned to remember that it is possible for a young man to 
 apply too earnestly ; and therefore I hope you will intermix 
 daily exercise with y 1 ' studies. To the generality of young 
 men I am well aware that this caution would be needless ; but 
 to you, who, I know, apply yourself to all laudable pursuits 
 with all y 1 ' might, it might not be improper. 
 
 Dr. Chandler the traveller has been with me a month, and 
 is just gone. He has furnished me with more curious matter 
 respecting the antiquities of this place, and in particular with 
 "Will, of Wyckham's Notahilis visitatio of this Priory. From 
 this long instrument, consisting of 36 injunctions and repri- 
 mands, it appears that this institution, which had then been 
 founded one century, had deviated much from its original 
 simplicity ; for they had become mighty hunters, and used to 
 attend junketings and feastings, had altered their mode of 
 dress, and used to let suspectce come into their cloisters after 
 it was dark, had suffered their buildings to dilapidate, had 
 pawned their plate, had administered the sacrament with 
 such nasty cups and such nasty sour wine that men abhorred 
 the sight {id sit hominibus horrori), had let down their num- 
 ber of brethren from 14 (the original number) to 11, had 
 suffered their friends and relations to hang on the convent 
 and eat it up, &c. They also were got into a method of lying 
 naked in bed without their breeches, for which they are 
 much reprimanded. Moreover I find that the Knights Tem- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 137 
 
 plars, by their statutes, were enjoined constantly to sleep in 
 their breeches, and to have candles constantly burning in their 
 dormitory. Should I ever be able to finish .my work respect- 
 ing this my native place, the old deeds and charters &c. will 
 furnish a large appendix. 
 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 TO MISS WHITE. 
 
 Selborne, Sept. 30, 1780. 
 Dear Molly, 
 Your letters are always agreeable to me ; but your last was 
 particularly so, because it brought so good an account of the 
 state of y r father's health. 
 
 Finding that Larby alone would never finish his job, I hired 
 a whole band of myrmidons, and set them to work on the 
 Bostal, where they have made great dispatch, and have but 
 half a day's work to come, which has been delayed by the 
 rains. They ran through the upper part a day sooner than I 
 expected, because as we advanced the soil grew shallower ; but 
 then we have been obliged to widen and raise all Larby's first 
 attempt, because his path was so narrow, hollow, and clayey 
 that it soon grew dirty and would have been impassable. By 
 and with the advice of our privy council, we took a higher 
 direction than was at first marked out, because it much 
 shortened the path, and brings us out straight at the top of 
 the slidder before you come to shop didder at the corner of 
 the Wadden. In our progress we found many pyrites in the 
 clay as round as a ball, and some large Covnua ammonis in 
 the chalk. All people agree, where party does not interpose, 
 that it is a noble work ; but there is a junto against it called 
 Zigzaggians, of which Mrs. Etty is the head : but Mr. E. and 
 Mr. Y. would be Bostalians, if they dared. The tall trees in 
 the Hanger are very fine when you are among them, and the 
 
138 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 views thro 1 them romantic. My nep. Barker sets out for Fy- 
 field on Monday, and regrets that he shall miss of you and y 1 ' 
 father. Bro. Ben. &c. came to Newton on Thursday. 
 
 The Bostal measures 400 yards, and the Zigzag, which is to 
 be nicely cleaned out, 426. 
 
 Mrs. E. and her young people set out to-morrow for Ox- 
 ford. Mr. E. is already in Oxfordshire. 
 
 All join in due respects and good wishes. 
 
 Your loving uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Oct. 1. Pray write soon. 
 My barom r is this evening at 28. 6. 10^ ! 
 Thomas's brother has his ague still ; he has taken the roots 
 of daffy-down-dillies. 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER, ESQ. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 23, 1780. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your letter, tho' rather late, was very acceptable. I was 
 glad to hear that you had a safe and pleasant journey back, 
 and that you were so well pleased with y r journey into Hants, 
 as to be able on a retrospect to speak of it with some degree 
 of satisfaction. The test will be whether you liked your late 
 reception by expressing a willingness to come again. Pray 
 give my respects to Mr. Brodrick, and tell him that I always 
 esteem my friend's friends, and therefore if he will come over 
 next summer, when you are here, from Pepperharrow, for a 
 night or two, that I shall be glad to see him, and we will 
 show him some such prospects in these parts as may not be 
 unworthy his attention. 
 
 To say the truth, the lower part of the Bostal began to be 
 dirty, so that the Zigzaggians (who have horns and hoofs) 
 

 
 § 
 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 139 
 
 began to triumph. Many of them, in the shape of horses and 
 heifers, ran up and down it, doing it great damage with their 
 feet ; but to silence all clamour, I had all the bad part well 
 bedded with a quantity of fern. Since this amendment, Mrs. 
 Etty and her sister Stebbing and Mrs. Y. have been up and 
 down it by night and by day, so that party feuds are likely 
 to be at an end. You do not, I hope, flatter me about my 
 Nat. Hist. ; if you do not, I am much pleased to find that an 
 intelligent person like yourself approves of it. Were it not 
 for the want of a good amanuensis, I think I should make 
 more progress ; but much writing and transcribing always 
 hurts me. All that I know about the sleep of fishes is, that 
 at the Black Bear inn, in Reading, there is a stream in the 
 garden which runs under the stables, and so under the road 
 into the meadows ; it is a branch of the Kennet. Now this 
 water all the summer is full of carps, which roll about, and 
 are fed by travellers, who divert themselves by tossing 
 them crumbs of bread. When the cold weather comes, 
 these fishes withdraw themselves under the stables, and are 
 invisible for months, during which period I conclude they 
 must sleep. Thus the inhabitants of the water, as well as 
 of the air and the earth retire from the severity of winter. 
 Timothy, your friend, retreated into his hybernaculum last 
 week ; he is laid up in the fruit border in a dry, wholesome, 
 sunny spot ; at Ringmer he was forced to lie in a swamp. 
 My nep. Richard has been here ; he was quite transported 
 beyond himself with the pleasures of shooting, and, after walk- 
 ing more than 100 miles, killed one woodcock, which, ill-fated 
 bird, took the pains to migrate from Scandinavia to be slain 
 by a cockney who never shot a bird before ! ! ! Pleasure is a 
 most arbitrary matter ! The pains my nephew took in his new 
 pursuit would have been a great misery to many. 
 
 I conclude, your affectionate friend, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 I made some remarks of moment on the house-martins just 
 before they withdrew. They do not amount to proof; but the 
 presumptions are very strong indeed. 
 
140 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 Now the leaf is clown, the Bostal discovers itself in a faint 
 delicate line running up the Hanger, such as would require 
 the hand of a Grimm to express it. 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 [Extract from Forster's ' Observations,' sent by G. W. to bis nepbew 
 Samuel Barker, Mar. 26, 1781.] 
 
 " I never heard or read of any one who had seen the southern 
 lights (Aurora aust?'alis) before us ; and tho' we spent three 
 different seasons in or near the Arktic circle, we, however, 
 observed them only the first time in the year 1773 for seven 
 different nights. We were at that time from 58 to 60 S. lati- 
 tude, and the therm, at 8 o'clock in the morning stood from 
 31 to 33 in the open air on deck. Their appearance was much 
 the same as that of the N. lights : They were observed shoot- 
 ing up to the zenith in columns or streams of a pale light 
 from a dark segment as a base near the horizon, and often 
 spread over the whole S. hemisphere. Sometimes these lights 
 were so transparent that stars could be observed thro' them ; 
 and at other times the stream seemed to be white, and more 
 dense and opaque, and Avould not transmit the light of the 
 stars. We saw these meteors on Feb. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 
 and on Mar. 15 and 16." — Forster's Observations in a Voyage 
 round the World, p. 120. 
 
 S. Lambeth, Mar. 26, 1781. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 Recollecting that you enquired of me once with some earnest- 
 ness whether our late circumnavigators had ever observed any 
 auroras in the S. hemisphere, I have sent you the quotation 
 above, which will put the matter beyond all doubt. My thanks 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 141 
 
 are due for y 1 ' entertaining account of the Testudo aquarian 
 dulcium*. 
 
 You do very right, I think, in looking into history, which 
 is a very gentlemanlike study. You, who have youth, health, 
 and a strong retentive memory on y r side, will soon make a 
 vast progress. 
 
 Pray tell y r mother that I thank her for her letter. Jack 
 White's time will not be out 'til the 16 of next June, when 
 he and his mother will come southward among his relations f- 
 What mode of life that young man will take up I have not 
 yet heard — whether he will walk the hospitals in town or be- 
 come for a time a journeyman. Poor Joe Woods, son of Mr. 
 Jos. Woods, a promising young man of 21, is just dead of a 
 decline, to the great sorrow of his parents &c. With all due 
 respects, I remain 
 
 Your affect, friend, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 I propose to return home on Thursday. 
 
 Having had no rain, not once enough to measure, at this 
 place since the last week in Feb., the degree of dustiness is 
 horrible, and not to be described ! As Bro. Th. and I walked 
 out this morning, a gale rose from the N. which filled the 
 whole atmosphere with such a cloud from road to road that 
 the prospect was quite obscured ! 
 
 On the 27 of Feb., Tuesday, the day I left Seleburne, we 
 had such a terrible storm of wind that vast mischief was done 
 in the S. and W. of England. I expected to hear of great 
 damage, especially in Sussex ; but was thankful to find that I 
 had escaped with the overturning of my alcove into the hedge, 
 the overthrow of my stone dial, and, what grieved me most, 
 because it cannot be repaired, the ravage of my great wall 
 and tree, which, they write word, is almost torn to pieces ! 
 The gale began at 11 A.M., wind W. ; bnt the great damage 
 
 * [There is no indication to what species he refers. — T. B.] 
 
 t [About this time Mrs. John White, who had recently become a 
 
 widow, came to reside with her brother-in-law, and continued with him 
 
 until his death.— T. B.] 
 
142 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 was done about 5 p.m., the wind N.W. Soon after, a calm 
 succeeded. Derham remarks that most tempests from the W. 
 vere a little at last to the N.W., and then the ravage and 
 damage take place. 
 
 Pray write, and on larger paper. 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKEK. 
 (From Mr. Field's copy.) 
 
 Selborue, Jan. 5, 1782. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 Gossamer has from old times attracted the attention of the 
 curious. Chaucer mentions it amongst phenomena of nature 
 not well understood or accounted for, such as thunder &c. 
 The Tabanus bovinus, I verily think, has no sting in its tail 
 or blood-sucking rostrum, but a 3fusca-\ike proboscis. I have 
 seen it suck the galled parts of Sir Simeon Stuart's working 
 horses without giving them any pain. It abounds most in 
 moist places and sultry weather. The CEstrus curvicauda 
 never lays its nits but in the warmer hours of the day; for my 
 horses which are in stable all day and out all night are never 
 covered with their eggs at home. Pray examine the little 
 dancing Diptera (Tipulce I suppose they are) that sport the 
 winter through in fog, gentle rain, and even frost and snow, 
 when the sun shines. Every sunny day insects abound, and 
 in warm sunny lanes and under hedges the air swarms with 
 them ; within doors wood-lice, spiders, and Lepismce are in 
 motion, and many Muscce in the stable; and earth-worms come 
 forth every mild evening ; so that in mild weather insects are 
 not so much laid up as is imagined. Some Phalcenai also fly 
 all the winter. 
 
 Y r affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 143 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 TO HIS NEPHEW 
 
 A Meteorological Diary for December 1782, kept in a village 50 miles 
 S.W. of London, in a woodland hilly district, and up at the head of 
 rivulets that run into the Thames at Weybridge. The thermometer 
 hangs within an open staircase. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Ther- 
 mom. 
 
 Ba- 
 
 rom. 
 
 Wind. 
 
 Rain. 
 
 Weather. 
 
 Day. 
 
 o 
 
 in. 
 
 
 in. 
 
 
 1. 
 
 39 
 
 29-0(1 
 
 N. 
 
 
 Sun pleasant; red evening. 
 
 2. 
 
 36 
 
 29-60 
 
 E. 
 
 
 Frost, fog, and rime. 
 
 s. 
 
 36 
 
 29-75 
 
 E. 
 
 
 Frost, rime, sun ; beautiful rimes on the 
 hanging woods. 
 
 4. 
 
 35 
 
 29-70 
 
 N.E. 
 
 
 Frost, dark ; lambs begin to fall. 
 
 5. 
 
 36* 
 
 29-50 
 
 E.S.E. 
 
 
 Frost, dark. 
 
 6. 
 
 37 
 
 29-40 
 
 S.E. 
 
 
 Dark, still, mild, moist. 
 
 7. 
 
 39 
 
 29-50 
 
 S.E. 
 
 
 Dark, mild, thaw. 
 
 8. 
 
 37 
 
 29-70 
 
 E. 
 
 
 Dark aud still. 
 
 9. 
 
 36 
 
 29-50 
 
 S.E. 
 
 
 Dark and moist ; rime on the lull. 
 
 10. 
 
 36 
 
 2940 
 
 E.N. 
 
 
 Fog, dark, and moist. 
 
 11. 
 
 36 
 
 29-65 
 
 N. 
 
 
 Dark and still, like February ; fro9t on 
 hill. 
 
 12. 
 
 36 
 
 29-35 
 
 W. 
 
 
 Pleasant, spring-like. 
 
 13. 
 
 37 
 
 29-40 
 
 S.W. 
 
 0-44 
 
 Frost, thaw, rain. 
 
 14. 
 
 37 
 
 29-30 
 
 w. 
 
 
 Frost, sun, wind. 
 
 15. 
 
 37 
 
 2940 
 
 w. 
 
 
 Frost, sun, wet. 
 
 16. 
 
 37 
 
 29 40 
 
 N.W. 
 
 0-47 
 
 Frost, thaw, rain. 
 
 17. 
 
 43 
 
 29-60 
 
 W. 
 
 
 Dark, wet, mild. 
 
 18. 
 
 47 
 
 29-80 
 
 S.W. 
 
 
 Blowing and wet ; vast condensations on 
 walls and wainscot ; vast halo round 
 the moon. 
 
 19. 
 
 43 
 
 30-25 
 
 S.W. 
 
 
 Sun, frost, gale. 
 
 20. 
 
 42 
 
 30-20 
 
 w. 
 
 
 Mild, with brisk gale. 
 
 21. 
 
 44 
 
 30-10 
 
 S.W. 
 
 
 Paths dry, grey, brisk air, pleasant. 
 
 22. 
 
 42 
 
 30-15 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Sun, cloudless ; flies came forth. 
 
 23. 
 
 40 
 
 29-85 
 
 W. 
 
 
 Grey, brisk air. 
 
 24. 
 
 43 
 
 29-75 
 
 W. 
 
 
 Grey, beetles fly in the evening. 
 
 25. 
 
 45 
 
 30-00 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Dark and mild ; boys play in their shirts, 
 they did so on Xmas Day 1781. 
 
 26. 
 
 45 
 
 30-20 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Crocus's shoot ; February weather. 
 
 27. 
 
 44 
 
 31-10 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Dark, still, rndd; large flock of wood- 
 pigeons. 
 
 28. 
 
 41 
 
 29-90 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Dark and still ; boys play at taw in the 
 dusty paths. 
 
 29. 
 
 43 
 
 29-80 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Do. sweet weather. 
 
 31. 
 
 42 
 
 29-90 
 
 N.W. 
 
 
 Frost, sun pleasant. 
 
 
 
 Total r 
 
 f rain i 
 
 i Dec. ] 
 
 
 Hares frequent the garden, and eat the celeri-tops, spinage, young cab- 
 bages, pinks, scabiouses, parsley, &c 
 
 * [Son of Benjamin White.— T. B.] 
 
I ■»■» CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 The raiii on the tower caught in a receiver since Nov. 3, 1782 I 42 inch. 
 On the ground at about 100 yards distance 1*97 „ 
 
 More caught on the ground than tower 0*55 
 
 " Grateful are these solar beams ; 
 And when the winds are hushed 'tis sweet to view 
 The level ocean, earth with verdure deck'd, 
 The plenteous waters of refreshing springs. 
 And there are many beauteous objects more, 
 Whose praise I might recount ; yet none more welcome 
 Than children, when they to the bouse of those 
 Who long despaired of issue give a lustre." 
 
 Woodhull. 
 
 Dear Nephew, 
 If Mr. Nichols approves of my diaries, he may have more ; 
 they may serve to oppose to y 1 " father's, kept near town. I 
 send you Mr. Woodhull's translation of the passage from Eu- 
 ripides, that you may compare it with mine *. Mr. W. has 
 preserved the force of the word <f>ao<; very well. The ague- 
 woman, Small, has been with me ; she had two slight fits 
 about a fortnight ago, but not since ; she complains she is 
 not stout. 
 
 Pray write to me, and let me hear what alterations y 1 ' father 
 is making ; and I desire you would send me the ichnography 
 of your father's house, above, below, with the dimensions of 
 rooms. In this matter nephew Richard will help you; he drew 
 my house in that way. Tell Miss White I thank her for the 
 pound of tea. We had a good journey to and from Fyfield. 
 
 Your loving uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 29, 1783. 
 
 Sweet weather lately. I have moved my outer wicket to- 
 wards the foot of the hill. I am in no manner of haste about 
 the stockings. If they do but fit, I shall be pleased. 
 
 * [Vol. I. p. 507.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 145 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 TO MARY WHITE. 
 _ Selbome, Jan. 22, 1783. 
 
 Dear Mary, 
 It is full time that I should acknowledge your late obliging 
 letter, and return you and your mother and sister my best 
 thanks for the agreeable visit that you made me in the 
 autumn. I have only to regret that you could not, con- 
 sistently with the respect that was due to other relations, 
 extend it out to a much greater length. 
 
 As to music, your lessons and those of your sister gave me 
 wonderful delight. I retain still a smattering of many pas- 
 sages on my memory, which I sing to myself when I am in 
 spirits. Indeed I am often too much affected with musical 
 harmony, especially of late years. The following curious 
 quotation strikes me much by so well representing my own 
 case ; and by describing what I have so often felt, but never 
 could so well express. " * * Praehabebat porro vocibus 
 
 humanis, instrumentisque harmonicis, musicam illam avium : 
 non quod alia quoque non delectaretur, sed quod ex musica 
 humana relinqueretur in animo continens qusedam, attentio- 
 nemque, et somnum conturbans, agitatio ; dum ascensus, ex- 
 census, tenores et mutationes illse sonorum et consonantium 
 euntque redeuntque per phantasiam; cum nihil tale relinqui 
 possit ex modulatione avium, qua?, quod non sunt perinde a 
 nobis imitabiles, non possunt perinde internam facultatem eom- 
 movere " *. When I hear fine music I am haunted with pas- 
 
 * [One might almost fancy that this passage from Gassendi must have 
 been in Izaak Walton's mind when he wrote his exquisite description of 
 the nightingale's song, which I cannot forbear quoting. " The Nightin- 
 gale, another of my airy creatures, breathes such sweet loud musick out of 
 her little instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think mira- 
 cles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps 
 securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet descants, 
 the natural rising and/ailing, the doubling and redoubling of her voice, might 
 well be lifted above earth, and say, ' Lord, what musick hast thou pro- 
 vided for the Saints in Heaven, when thou affordest bad men such musick 
 on Earth.* ' : Such hold had the passage from Gassendi taken of Gilbert 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
14G CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 sages therefrom night and day, and especially at first waking, 
 which, by their importunity give me more uneasiness than 
 pleasure, still teizing my imagination, and recurring irre- 
 sistibly to my memory at seasons, and even when I am 
 desirous of thinking of other matters : yet notwith- 
 standing all these fine things, I would give six pence to hear 
 you two maidens perform the wopses, the lesson with the jig, 
 and that with the lovely minuet, &c. &c* 
 
 The letter from Nobody puzzled the Mulso family for a long 
 time. At first they suspected me ; but the strange unknown 
 hand, the London postmark, and some other circumstances 
 threw them all out ; so that, to put them out of doubt, I was 
 foi'ced to own the imposture, and to acknowledge that you 
 were accessory. Mrs. Clement held her Xtening lately : I 
 was godfather, and we named the child Isaac. Mr. Ch. Etty 
 came in this morning from Spithead, where his ship, the 
 ' Duke of Kingston ' is lying at anchor in readiness for sailing 
 soon. This young gent, says that peace is the general talk, 
 so that he supposes they may possibly sail with a white flag, 
 and without any convoy at all. We have had all this winter 
 26 Highlanders of the 77th regiment quartered in this village 
 and at Oakhanger : where tho' they had nothing in the world 
 to do, they have behaved in a very quiet and inoffensive 
 manner, and were never known to steal even a turnip or a 
 cabbage, tho' they lived much on vegetables, and were asto- 
 nished at the dearness of southern provisions. Late last night 
 came an express ordering these poor fellows down to Ports- 
 mouth ; where they are to embark for India, near 100 of 
 them aboard Ch. Etty's ship. Un. Harry writes word that 
 he hopes his son Ch. will have a commission soon. 
 
 With all due respects I remain 
 
 Your affectionate uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Several of our soldiers came from Caithness. 
 
 AVhite's mind, that lie quotes it verbatim three times in his correspond- 
 ence.— T. B.] 
 
 * [See Letter LVI. to Daines Barrington, Vol. I. p. 251.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 147 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 TO MISS MARY WHITE. 
 
 Seleburne, Feb. 7, 1783. 
 
 Dear Molly, 
 As the Spring begins to advance, and as we propose now 
 being with yon about the first week in March, we can hardly 
 wish for half an hundred of salt fish so late ; and Mrs. Gr. and 
 Mr. Etty, I find, are of the same mind. We must therefore 
 desire a note to his fishmonger to stop his hand. 
 
 Having expected the Rector of Faringdon for some time 
 at my house, I could not so well say whenabout we should 
 endeavour to get to Town ; but as he has been here we shall 
 hope to be at liberty as above mentioned, and we should be 
 glad to know if that season would be convenient. 
 
 u Look upon the rainbow, and praise him that made it : very beautiful 
 is it in the brightness thereof." Eccles. xliii. 11. 
 
 'd* 
 
 (t On morning or on evening cloud impressed 
 Bent in vast curve, the wat'ry meteor shines 
 Delightfully, to th' level sun opposed. 
 Smit with the gaudy scene th' unconscious swain 
 With vacant eye gazes on the divine 
 Phenomenon, gleaming o'er th' illumined fields, 
 Or runs to catch the treasure which it sheds. 
 
 Not so the sage : inspired with pious awe 
 He hails the federal arch *, and looking up 
 Adores the God whose fingers formed this bow 
 Magnificent, compassing heaven about 
 With a resplendent verge : — ' Thou mad'st the cloud, 
 Maker omnipotent, and thou the bow, 
 And by that covenant graciously hast vow'd 
 Never to drown the world again : henceforth 
 Till time shall be no more, in beauteous train 
 Season shall follow season, day to night 
 Succeed : ' inspired so sung the Hebrew bardf." 
 
 Mimo-.Mii.tox 
 
 * Gen. ix. 12-17. t Moses. 
 
 t [Vol. r. p. 502.— T. r.. 
 
 I. 2 
 
1 I- CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 The end of Jan. and this month have been very wet ; so 
 thai I fear wheat will get very high, and that the season for 
 our spring-crops will be bad, especially if harsh weather 
 succeeds at once. How will your cellars come off? When 
 do the young men go to college ? 
 
 Your affect te uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Mr. Denison is chosen to Holiburn school * in the room of 
 Mr. Willis : poor Mrs. Robinson, who has 10 children, made 
 what interest she could for her husband, who is at present a 
 navy chaplain in the W. Indies : she got two votes, her 
 opponent three. There are but five feofees, one of them a 
 broken blacksmith. 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 FROM MISS MARY WHITE. 
 
 Feb. 10, 1783. 
 
 The Monthly Reviewers produce whole passages, which 
 Mr. Cookson has copied from their criticism on Mr. Madan's 
 work f. 
 
 Be so kind as to bring with you the account of the poplar 
 that we left at Selborne. 
 
 Since I began this, which was some days ago, I have had 
 the pleasure of receiving a letter from you, for which I am 
 
 * [An endowed school at Holyburn, near Alton, for the education of 
 the children of the parish itself, and of 12 from Alton. The master was 
 formerly required to be a clergyman of the Church of England, which is 
 not now necessary. — T. B.] 
 
 t [The work here alluded to was ' Thelyphthora,' published in 1780, 
 which was very generally read, and almost as generally reprobated. 
 Madan, although attached to the evangelical party in the Church, 
 offended the feelings and principles of the religious public by his bold 
 advocacy of polygamy and some other doctrines obnoxious to the views 
 of Christians in general. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 149 
 
 much obliged to you. We shall depend on seeing you 
 and Mrs. J. White the beginning of March; and I hope 
 the weather will continue mild and favourable for your 
 journey. 
 
 We are much obliged to you Sir for your rainbow ; and as 
 we are no poets I beg leave to send you in return two ready 
 made. " The fancy is infinitely more struck with the view of 
 the open air and sky that passes through an arch than what 
 comes through a square or any other figure. The figure of 
 the Rainbow does not contribute less to its magnificence than 
 the colours to its beauty, as it is very poetically described by 
 the son of Sirach : " Look upon the Rainbow and praise him 
 that made it ; very beautiful it is in its brightness : it en- 
 compasses the heavens with a glorious circle, and the hands of 
 the most High have bended it." 
 
 a * * * * Refracted from yon eastern cloud, 
 Bestriding earth, the grand etherial bow 
 Shoots up immense ; and every hue unfolds 
 In fair proportion, running from the red 
 To where the violet fades into the sky. 
 Here, awful Newton, the dissolving clouds 
 Form, fronting on the sun, thy showery prism ; 
 And to the sage-instructed eye unfold 
 The various twine of light by thee disclosed 
 From the white mingling maze. Not so the boy ; 
 He wondering views the bright enchantment bend 
 Delightful o'er the radiant fields ; and runs 
 To catch the fading glory : but amazed 
 Beholds th' amusive arch before him fly, 
 Then vanish quite away." * 
 
 * [The following charming lines from James Montgomery, embody 
 perhaps the most beautiful and touching figure suggested by the subject, 
 o be found in our language : — 
 
 u But, see, on Death's bewildering wave, 
 The rainbow Hope arise ; 
 A bridge of glory o'er the grave 
 That bends beyond the skies. 
 
ISO CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 You will probably see my brothers here before they go to 
 college, as I believe they will not leave home till the second 
 week in March. Mr. Grrimble has sent your wig*. 
 
 Please to remember me to Mrs. J. White and thank her for 
 her kind letter by Mr. Etty. My father and brother desire 
 best respects to yourself and all friends. 
 
 With almost constant pumping we have hitherto kept the 
 water out of the cellar ; but a few more wet days we fear will 
 get the better of us. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate niece, 
 
 M. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 TO THE REV. EDMUND WHITE f. 
 
 Selborne, Feb. 21, 1783. 
 
 Dear Nephew, 
 I could wish that you would make it a rule to read aloud to 
 yourself every day some portion of S. or the Common Prayer, 
 tho' ever so short, and that you would also sometimes read 
 before a judicious friend — but at the same time plainly and 
 unaffectedly ; and do not aim at anything theatrical or fine, 
 
 > 
 
 " From earth to heaven it swells, and shines 
 The pledge of bliss to man ; 
 Time with eternity combines, 
 
 And grasps them in a span." T. B.] 
 
 * [The following humorous lines formed the order sent by Gilbert 
 White to his wigr-maker in London : — 
 
 o 
 
 11 Ye worthy friends in Abchurch Lane, 
 
 Who do our noddles thatch, 
 Send me a wig, but not too big, 
 
 With care and with dispatch." T. B.] 
 
 t [Son of Benjamin White, and afterwards rector of Newton Valence. 
 — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 151 
 
 but only attend well to what you read ; and your own good 
 sense and ear will tell you at the time how to modulate your 
 voice, and lay your accents justly according as you are 
 affected by what is before you. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. W. Y. who are just gone, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Clements in the room, join with Mrs. J. Wh. in respects. 
 Remember me to Whites 3 tius , 4 tus , and 5 tus . I am, dear 
 White 2 ndus , 
 
 Your loving friend, 
 
 WHITE 1—. 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 FROM SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Lyndon, Oct. 8, 1783. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 You received, I imagine, some days ago a letter from my 
 father informing you of our return to Rutland and expressing 
 our acknowledgements for the very agreeable entertainment 
 we received at Selborne. The time I spent there I remember 
 with extreme pleasure, and have been told several times since 
 my return that I am grown much fatter in my excursion. 
 Great indeed must be the efficacy of the three things that 
 could produce a visible effect on a person who has in that 
 respect been hitherto quite incorrigible. 
 
 At leaving Fyfield I went to London by the Bath coach ; 
 and as you know my propensity for seeing, you will not 
 wonder that I prefered a seat on the box to one within the 
 carriage on a fine day : the road from Andover as far as 
 Hampshire reaches I think very pleasant; and in crossing 
 the dreary heath near Blackwater, a distant view of Hind- 
 head, Crooksbury Hill, Guildford Downs, &c. excited very 
 agreeable associations. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are expected in 
 Rutland this week ; and I have the satisfaction of informing 
 you that, when my sister wrote last, she thought herself 
 
152 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 entirely free from her cough, and was grown so hardy by 
 bathinor riclin<r, and walking as to bear the air during the late 
 windy weather without inconvenience. Still I cannot help 
 being rather sollicitous on her account ; for winter in the 53 d 
 degree of latitude, you know, must be tedious and may be 
 severe. 
 
 I have consulted Le Clerc's comment on the passages in 
 the books of Judges and Samuel that mention the deriving 
 presages or omens from accidental events and words spoken 
 without premeditation. He takes notice of the custom in 
 both places, and refers to the 24 th chapter of Genesis, where 
 Abraham's servant finds Rebecca to be the person he is in 
 search of, by her drawing water for him and his camels — and 
 mentions as parallel passages the omen given to Priam (Iliad, 
 24. 308 Ac), and the prayer of Anchises (^Eneid, 2. 689), 
 which I think are rather signs requested and obtained imme- 
 diately from heaven than presages drawn from incidental 
 events, of which nevertheless the Greek and Roman writers 
 are full. The following story, which, whether true or false, is 
 taken from oriental authors, shews that the same ideas have 
 been prevalent in Persia and Tartary. Scheik Sefi, the pro- 
 phet here mention'd, lived near Ardebil in Media, at the time 
 that Tamerlane (Timour) overran Asia; he was celebrated for 
 his sanctity and miracles, and was an ancestor of Ismael 
 Sophi, the first prince of the family that possess'd the throne 
 of Persia from about 1500 to 1722, when that country was 
 conquer'd by Maghmoud the Afghan. 
 
 Tamerlane, after his victory over Bajazet, was passing thro' 
 Media, and was much persuaded to pay a visit to this Scheik, 
 who lived the life of a hermit in a desert. 
 
 " Omnium autem cum esset rituum religionum, nationumq. 
 tolerans, ac superstitionibus astrologicis maxime addictus, mi- 
 t aeulis tamen aegre tribuisse fidem, vel ex hoc liquet ; quod a 
 familiaribus suis vix induci potuerit : ut ad visendum sasculi 
 oraculum paucis parasangis a via deflecteret; quoniam ipsum 
 impostorem esse, qui imperitiam vulgi luderet, firmiter .sibi per- 
 suasum erat. Ad explorandam veritatem dum viam ingreditur, 
 animo taciiais proponit, crediturum se pietati hominis, si is sibi 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 153 
 
 satisfaceret in tribus quas tunc excogitabat, conditionibus : 
 quarum prima erat si multum humanitatis, minus reverential, 
 nihil submissionis sibi exhibuerit; altera, si quid sibi, tunc 
 admodum famelico, vescendum obtulerit insoliti quod per vitam 
 nunquam comedisset ; tertia, si quid stupendi visendum osten- 
 derit. His praamunitus, religiosum adoritur; qui a discipulis, 
 adesse orbis domitorem,audiens; nihil mutato raltu ; nec inter- 
 missa, quae oculos distinebat, lectione, introduci eum jubet; & 
 intranti assurgens, locoq. cedens, sessum ut ad sinistram capiat 
 familiariter rogat ; est enim ea sedes in hac gente honoratior. 
 Turn blandis verbis salutato, de victoria gratulatur ; earn non 
 humanis viribus, sed Dei beneficio & Providentiae tribuendam, 
 gravi Laconismo monens ; ut caetera taceam. Obtutu longo 
 Imperator senis gravitatem miratus, tandem, quod esuriret, 
 jentaculum ab eodem poscit. Scheik desiderio satisfacturus, 
 lac et caseum promi e penu jubet, cum eremita aliud cibi 
 genus non haberet. Obsonium cum heros acri appetitu 
 manducasset, Deum testatur nunquam se satiatum cibo gra- 
 tioris succi, & loci sterilitatem contemplatus, quaerit, ubi sua 
 pascua, ubi pecora habeat. Ad quae Scheik, jugum indigitans 
 montium, vides illic fruticeta, inquit, haec pascua sunt : vide- 
 bis etiam pecora; & vibrato in altum candido linteo, assue- 
 factas hoc signo capricervas, ex summis culminibus in Timuri 
 conspectum provocat, ibi mulgenda praabentes ubera, more 
 mansueti pecoris. Quo viso, heros, conditionum recordatus, 
 eremitam vere pium & Dei 0. M. amicum agnoscit, prigris 
 quoq. poenitens odii, quod in caput ejus juraverat, si impos- 
 torem deprehenderet, nunc reverenter habet & ab eo se 
 prius discessurum negat donee Scheik a se documentum 
 petiisset conciliatas gratia?." — Kcempfer, Amamitates Exoticce, 
 Fascic. 1. 
 
 This interview, but without these particulars, is mentioned 
 by D'Herbelot, article Scheik Safi or Sefi : how milk and 
 cheese could be a new species of food to a Tartar prince I do 
 not understand ; that it was uncommonly excellent we are to 
 conclude from Tamerlane's asseveration. 
 
 In London I examined Dobson's translation of ' Paradise 
 Lost,' and find he has named Sin Ate, and Death Hades. The 
 Hades of the Greeks is I think a different person from 
 Milton's Death. Should not you have followed Mr. Warton's 
 advice and used the name Thanatos ? The difference of these 
 
]->l CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 two persons is I think well illustrated by a very striking 
 passage in the book of Revelations, Chap. 6, where Death is 
 seen riding on a pale horse and Hades follows to swallow up 
 the dead. 
 
 All here join in respects to yourself and Mrs. White ; and 
 I remain 
 
 Your obliged and affectionate nephew, 
 
 SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 TO MRS. BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Oct. 19, 1784. 
 Dear Sister, 
 From the fineness of the weather and the steadiness of the 
 wind to the N.E. I began to be possessed with a notion last 
 Friday that we should see Mr. Blanchard in his balloon the 
 day following ; and therefore I called on many of my neigh- 
 bours in the street, and told them my suspicions. The next 
 day proving also bright, and the wind continuing as before, I 
 became more sanguine than ever; and issuing forth in the 
 morning, exhorted all those that had any curiosity to look 
 sharp about one o' the clock to three towards London, as they 
 would stand a good chance of being entertained with a very 
 extraordinary sight. That day I was not content to call at 
 the houses only; but I went out to the plowmen and labourers 
 in the fields and advised them to keep an eye to the N. and 
 and N.E. at times. I wrote also to Mr. Pink* of Faringdon, 
 to desire him to look about him. But about one o'clock there 
 came up such a haze that I could not see the Hanger. How- 
 ever, not long after, the mist cleared away in some degree, and 
 people began to mount the hill. I was busy in and out 'till a 
 
 * [See note by Rev. Edmund White, p. 156.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 155 
 
 quarter after two, and took my last walk along the top of the 
 pound-field, from whence I could discern a long cloud of 
 London smoke, hanging to the N. and N.N.E. This appear- 
 ance, for obvious reasons, encreased my expectation ; yet I 
 came home to dinner, knowing how many were on the watch, 
 but laid my hat and surtout ready on a chair in case of an 
 alarm. At twenty minutes before three there was a cry in 
 the street that the balloon was come. We ran into the 
 orchard, where we found 20 or 30 neighbours assembled, 
 and from the green bank at the S.W. end of my house saw a 
 dark blue speck at a most prodigious height, dropping as it 
 were from the sky, and hanging amidst the regions of the 
 upper air, between the weather-cock of the tower and the top 
 of the may-pole. At first, coming towards us, it did not seem 
 to make any way ; but we soon discovered that its velocity 
 was very considerable ; for in a few minutes it was over the 
 maypole, and then over the Fox on my great parlor-chimney, 
 and in ten minutes more behind my great wall-nut tree. The 
 machine looked mostly of a dark blue colour, but sometimes 
 reflected the rays of the sun and appeared of a bright yellow. 
 With a telescope I could discern the boat, and the ropes that 
 supported it. To my eye this vast balloon appeared no bigger 
 than a large tea-urn. When we saw it first it was north of 
 Farnham, over Farnham heath — and never came, I believe, 
 on this side the Farnham road, but continued to pass on the 
 other side of Bentley, Froyle, Alton, and so for Medstead, 
 Lord Northington's at the Grange, and to y e right of Aires- 
 ford and Winton, and to Rumsey, where the aerial philo- 
 sopher came safe to the ground near the church, at about five 
 in the evening. I was wonderfully struck at first with the 
 phenomenon, and, like Milton's "belated peasant," felt my 
 heart bound with fear and joy at the same time. After a 
 while I surveyed the machine with more composure, without 
 that awe and concern for two of my fellow creatures lost, in 
 appearance, in the boundless depths of the atmosphere ! for 
 we supposed then that two were embarked in this astonishing 
 voyage. At last, seeing with what steady composure they 
 moved, I began to consider them as secure as a group of 
 
150 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 storks or cranes intent on the business of emigration, and 
 
 who had 
 
 " Set forth 
 Their airy caravan, high over seas 
 Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing 
 Easing their flight." 
 
 Mr. Taylor, our new vicar, has taken possession of S. living; 
 and I have reassumed the curacy, after an intermission of 26 
 years ! Mrs. Etty rents the V. house ; but has been gone 8 
 or 9 weeks, and does not return till winter. Mr. Yalden is 
 gone to Bath in company with Mr. Budd. Bro. Ben and 
 family are at Newton, but go next week. Bro. Tho. has been 
 expected here all the autumn, but is not yet come. Mrs. H. 
 White brought Lucy to my house lately for change of air : 
 the poor young woman is languid and has over-grown her 
 strength ; but I perceive no bad symptoms. We have apples 
 and pears innumerable, and very fine grapes. Mrs. Clement 
 is in a fair way, I suspect, to encrease her family. I wish 
 you joy of y r late grand-daughter, which makes my 41 
 nephew and niece ! I have very dutiful nieces, who seem 
 disposed to make me as great an uncle as they can. Mrs. J. 
 White joins in respects. I am with all due affection and 
 regard, 
 
 Your loving brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Sweet autumnal weather ! We have had no rain since 
 Sept. 27 th , not enough to measure. I miss poor Mr. Etty 
 every day : he was a blameless man, without guile. His son 
 Charles is in London making interest for an appointment to 
 India. His escape off Ceylon was wonderful ! 
 
 [The letter (to Mr. Pink) was the occasion of a very ludicrous circum- 
 stance. Mr. Pink, a very respectable yeoman, was on his way to Alton 
 market, the day after he received the letter, when he overtook a neighbour 
 who was going to the same place, and, after the first salutation, asked him if 
 he had seen or heard of Mr. White of Selborne lately. Being answered in 
 the negative, he said, " Ah ! poor man, he is very far gone indeed,'' pointing 
 to his head : " I had a letter from him yesterday ; and what do you think 
 he said to me, and desired me to do ? he told me to look out sharp to the 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 157 
 
 N.E. between one and three o'clock to-day, and perhaps I should see two 
 men riding in the air in a balloon ; " to which his neighbour replied, 
 " Then he must be pretty far gone indeed." Mr. Pink expressed great 
 sorrow, as he very much respected him. When they came to Alton 
 Butts, a small open common just as you enter Alton, a large concourse of 
 people were assembled together looking earnestly upwards. Mr. Pink 
 addressed the multitude, and asked them what they were about; to 
 which they replied that if he would look over the church he would see, 
 as well as themselves, two men riding in a balloon. After satisfying 
 themselves of the truth of this, Mr. Pink jogged his companion, saying, 
 " Neighbour, 1 think Mr. White is not so far gone as you and I thought 
 him ! "1 
 
 LETTER XLI. 
 
 MARY WHITE TO HER UNCLE GILBERT. 
 
 South Lambeth, May 17, 1785. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 By the kind letter I received from you last Friday *, we were 
 very sorry to hear that you have been so much affected by the 
 late cold weather, which indeed has been unusually severe. 
 Within these few days it has been rather milder with us ; and 
 I hope you likewise may have found it better than it was ; 
 but till the wind changes to a warmer quarter, I fear we shall 
 not have any soft fine weather. 
 
 Piers Plowman (printed in 1550) says, " by some who were 
 more acquainted with antiquity than myself, I have learned 
 that the autour was name Roberte Langelande, a Shropshire 
 man, born in Cleybirie, about eight myles from Malverne 
 Hilles." All that Mr. Warton says, in his observations on 
 the Faerie Queene of Spencer, which he refers to in his Hist. 
 of Poetry, is, " the author of Pierce Plowman is Robert Long- 
 lande, or Langelande, according to Bale, and Wood, who like- 
 wise calls him Malverne." It is probable neither Bale, Wood, 
 nor Warton had any other authority than that which I have 
 quoted above. From whence Mr. Warton calls him a Fellow 
 of Oriel my father cannot say. 
 
 * [The letter here referred to I have not found. — T. B.] 
 
158 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 We hope it will not be a long time before you and Mrs. 
 White favour us with your company at South Lambeth. My 
 father would be obliged to you to bring him some roots of 
 the Arundo donax with you*. 
 
 Mr. B. White told me he had answered your query about 
 Dugdale. I am glad to hear Mr. Dusueloy has been so 
 successful in his trial with the farmer, who, by all accounts, 
 behaved in a most unpardonable manner to him. The en- 
 closed card relating to " Sic " my father found in his drawer 
 the other day, and sends you. The following passages are 
 from Pezron's 'Antiquities of Nations:' — "The Spartans 
 called a swine sic, in Greek cuca ; and the Celtae and their 
 posterity even now when they hunt that animal use no other 
 word than sic, sic." " Sicatok. This anciently signified a small 
 hog, and is taken from sica, in old times a hog; and all of 
 them came from the Celtick sic, that denotes the same thing ; 
 and hence the Romans rightly enough called those stars su- 
 cula which now-a-days are placed in the head of Taurus, and 
 were named 'v a8e? (porcelli) by the Grecians ; for you must 
 observe that the word is derived from f ve?, sues, porci, and 
 not from 'veiv, pluere, to rain, as the Greeks would have it, 
 and as 'tis generally taken to be derived at this day. 'Tis 
 very likely that that knot of stars that are about the other 
 part of Taurus had formed another name in the Northern 
 barbarian sphear, which was the first and ancientest of any ; 
 for I shall shew in another place that the Grecians borrowed 
 it of them, but added to and made great alterations in it." 
 My father and mother desire to be remembered to you. 
 I am, dear Uncle, 
 
 Your affectionate Niece, 
 
 MARY WHITE. 
 
 [The plant here alluded to was sent to Gilbert White by his brother 
 John from Gibraltar. The original is still flourishing on my lawn. — 
 T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 159 
 
 LETTER XLII. 
 
 FKOM SAMUEL BARKER TO G. W. 
 
 Lyndon, Nov. 1, 1785. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 My best acknowledgements are due for the very friendly 
 treatment I received at Selborne, and the agreeable time I 
 passed there. You know, I presume, how large a party we 
 form'd at Fyfield. I stay'd there near a fortnight, and left 
 it on Monday sennight. From Fyfield my uncle H. and my- 
 self paid a visit to the venerable remains at Abury. The ap- 
 parent effects of time and weather, and the rude figure of the 
 stones, called one's ideas back to the remotest antiquity, and 
 to those primitive days when, as we read, the patriarchs used 
 to set up great stones in commemoration of any remarkable 
 event. 
 
 Silbury hill is a wonderful performance. A hill whose per- 
 pendicular height is 170 feet, the diameter of its base 500, and 
 of its top 100 (for such, according to Dr. Stukely, are its di- 
 mensions), is not the work of man in a state of barbarism, of 
 man the hunter nor man the herdsman, but of men collected 
 into towns and directed by governors. Surely such remains 
 prove that kingdoms have been erected and arts cultivated in 
 our island of which we have little suspicion. As I stood on 
 this wonderful tumulus I felt myself inclined to hope I had 
 seen a performance as extraordinary as the Egyptian pyra- 
 mids ; but on examining the accounts of their magnitude, I 
 find the works of our Druidical ancestors will bear no com- 
 parison with those of the Egyptian monarchs. 
 
 How much we walked at Fyfield, how much we laughed, 
 and how we play'd trios in five parts, I imagine you have 
 heard ; so that I have only to tell you of my western expe- 
 dition on my return. To keep up my character of e.rplorator, 
 it was incumbent on me not to travel a road with which I was 
 
1(10 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 acquainted; on which account I crossed Wiltshire in a N.AV. 
 direction, over the Marlborough downs by Chippenham and 
 Malmesbury, and concluded my first day's journey at Minchin- 
 ampton, by which means the vale of the Severn and the Mal- 
 vern hills were brought into my reach. The day had fa- 
 vour'd me much ; but in the dusk of the evening clouds arose 
 from the S.W., and scuds of small rain came on, which, had 
 they continued the next day, would have effectually prevented 
 my sight of the prospects I had promised myself the next 
 morning. I was seized with a terrible qualm, and could not 
 help thinking of our friend Ajax's prayer 
 
 Ao? S' ofyQcikjioicriv e8t(rdat 
 Ei> 8e (paei <ai oXtaaov. 
 
 My fears, however, were vain ; and the first object I saw on 
 Tuesday morning was Venus shining very bright thro' a hole 
 in the window-shutter. My ride this day was delightful, by 
 Stroud and Painswick to Gloucester. Exquisite indeed is the 
 prospect from the hills above the Severn, of the river, the city 
 of Gloucester, the Worcestershire hills, and the Welsh moun- 
 tains. In the afternoon I set out for Malvern, and made Lid- 
 bury in my road, to visit the county of Hereford : that even- 
 ing I crossed the hills, but in the dusk; so that the prospect was 
 undistinguishable. On the Wednesday morning the weather 
 again favour'd me, and from my chamber window at Great 
 Malvern I saw the sun rise behind Bred on hill. I then 
 ascended the hill, and saw all that part of the island in one 
 great map beneath me, from Clifton hill above Bristol to the 
 Wrekin near Shrewsbury, and from the S.W. parts of North- 
 amptonshire to Radnorshire mountains. My satisfaction was 
 much increased by having with me a very intelligent director, 
 whom I met with at Malvern, and who pointed out to me the 
 objects in view, and told me their names. Whether these 
 views, however, are superior to those from Black-down and 
 Leith-hill I am by no means certain. From Malvern I went 
 homewards thro' Worcester, Birmingham, Coventry, and 
 Leicester — but saw nothing remarkable except the view from 
 Lickey, a high ridge above Bromsgrove, from whence an im- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. L61 
 
 mense extent of country is visible, and think myself very for- 
 tunate in heaving head weather clear enough to afford a sight 
 of such distant objects so late in the vear. On mv return I 
 found all the family well. Your journey to Oxford, I hope, 
 has been of no disservice to you ; I think I heard at Fyfield 
 you were there. With best respects to yourself and all friends 
 with you, I remain, 
 
 Your obliged and affect. 
 
 SAM. BARKER. 
 
 LETTER XLIII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Seleburne, April 17, 1786. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Partly thro' idleness and partly thro' infirmity, I have too 
 long neglected your late letter. My thanks are due for y r 
 curious account of the climate of Zarizyn * : and I feel myself 
 the more obliged, because you know I love to study climates. 
 Whether you translate or abridge Dr. Pallas I do not know, 
 but should be glad to see the remaining part of that year, if 
 the subject does not give you too much trouble. I believe all 
 fervid regions afford instances of undulating vapours, that ;it 
 a distance appear like water : Arabia I know does ; and the 
 phenomenon is finely alluded to in the Koran. In what 
 language does Pallas write ? 
 
 The summer-like weather of last Friday fetched out Timothy. 
 There is something very forlorn and abject in that creature's 
 first appearance after a profound slumber of five months. 
 When a man first rouses himself from a deep sleep he does 
 not look very wise ; but nothing can be more squalid and 
 stupid than our friend, when he first comes crawling out of 
 his hibernacula ; so that some farther lines of Dryden's ode 
 
 * [This is to be found at pp. 641-646 of the third volume of the original 
 edition of Pallas's ' Travels ' (Reise, u. s. w. St. Petersburg: 1776).— A. N.] 
 VOL. II. M 
 
L62 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 (written, he supposes, on purpose to ridicule tortoises) may 
 well be applyed to him 
 
 " He lias raised up his head 
 As awaked from the dead, 
 And amazed he stares around." 
 
 There was, as I remember, one Abdon a judge of Israel, of 
 whom there is nothing memorial, but that he had 40 sons and 
 30 nephews. As a father this chieftain, I must acknowledge, 
 exceeded me much : but as to the matter of nepotism, I go 
 much beyond him ; for I had 42 neps. and nieces before, and 
 now Mrs. Brown's little daughter makes the 43 rd ; and I have 
 more at hand, if I do not reckon my chickens before they are 
 hatched. Nep. John of Alton, now Dr. White, has met with 
 an ugly accident : as he was descending from his hayloft, the 
 ladder turned and gave him a bad fall on the stones ; by 
 which he bruised his side and dislocated his left wrist : but he 
 was not confined one day, and is getting well. This young 
 man has found employ and much riding about ; but he must 
 have time to approve himself before he can expect much 
 prime business *. On March 26 th Mrs. and Miss Etty left us 
 for some weeks : and on the 30 th by permission came Mr. 
 Taylor our vicar and his bride Miss Lisle of Moyle's Court 
 near Eingwood, Hants. This lady is of a very good family in 
 this county, and niece to Mr. Lisle of Crookes-easton — the 
 gent, who stood and carried the grand contested election for 
 this county in 1733 ; but it cost him £10000. The lady was 
 desirous of spending part of her honeymoon at her husband's 
 parish. Charles Etty is expected home in June. Nep. Edm d f , 
 for which I highly commend him, is parting with all kinds of 
 farming whatsoever : he lets all his tithes, and all his glebe ; 
 reserving only to himself 3 or 4 fields for his horses and cows. 
 He will now know what he has to depend on, whereas both 
 his late uncles were much imposed on, and were subject to 
 all the rabble and hurry of common renters. Ed. I trust, 
 some time hence will make an excellent neighbour, but has 
 
 * [He afterwards removed to Salisbury, and became surgeon to the 
 Infirmary. — T. B.] 
 t [Vicar of Newton Valence.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 163 
 
 been as yet a very bad one; for his time has been so taken up 
 with various courtships that he has never been at home yet for 
 10 clays together. He marries, I think, in June, but first 
 keeps another term at Oxford. 
 
 All my apricots were cut off by that violent weather in the 
 middle of March ! So deep was the snow, and so starved the 
 birds, that the poor ring-doves came into our garden to crop 
 the leaves and sprouts of the cabbages ! Hay is become very 
 scarce and dear indeed ! My rick is now almost as slender as 
 the waste of a virgin : and it would have been much for the 
 reputation of the two last brides that I have married, had 
 their wastes been as slender. We have just covered the dirty 
 part of the bostal with small flints. The first swallow that I 
 heard of was on April 6 th , the first nightingale on Ap. 13 th . 
 The great straddle-bob Orion, that in the winter seems to 
 bestride my brewhouse, is seen now descending of an evening, 
 one side foremost, behind the hanger. The almanack an- 
 nounces Venus to be an evening star ; but I have not seen 
 her yet. 
 
 Miss Etty is not so well as could be wished: she is low and 
 languid, and often short-breathed. Miss Layton of Alton, 
 Mr. Charles Etty's niece, is lately dead. Mrs. J. Wh. and I 
 thank your mother for her kind letters : the former will write 
 soon. We think Mrs. Taylor an agreeable woman. I am, 
 with all due respects, 
 
 Your affect, uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XLIV. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKEK. 
 
 Selebume, Aug. 1, 178G. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 As you know I am fond of the history of various countries, 
 and in particular love to study and compare climates ; it was 
 
 m 2 
 
164 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 very kind of you to take so much pains to compleat the 
 history of Zarizyn for a year. 
 
 I return you my thanks for your making me your con- 
 fidant in a matter of so much moment as that of your taking 
 a wife*. You no doubt will make a prudent choice; and then 
 there will be a good prospect of your being happy in a state 
 where both parties must concur, to render the change agree- 
 able. As it is much the fashion now for the man and his wife 
 to set out on a visit as soon as the ceremony is over, we shall 
 be glad to see the lady and you here, where our new niece 
 will receive all proper respect and every attention from myself 
 and Mrs. J. White. Edm d 's wife made my nephews and 
 nieces 45 ; and we expect every day to hear that Mrs. Ben. 
 White has added one more to the number ; so that according 
 to appearances the lady we are talking of will be the 47 th . 
 
 We have experienced a very dry and hot summer ; most 
 part of June was sultry : yet we had a good crop of hay, and 
 have a fine prospect for wheat, which is very tall and even : 
 the hops also look well ; but of late the pastures and meadows 
 burn, and the gardens suffer greatly. My grapes are very 
 forward, and the crop large. Plums we have none, and no 
 wasps yet. 
 
 When I see you, you must tell me all the circumstances of 
 your long tour, which cannot fail to entertain. I only fear 
 that after your eyes have been stretched with the sight 
 of Skiddaw &c. you will despise the mole-hills of this 
 district, which once used to delight you so much. My in- 
 tended niece will I trust be pleased with our hanger and 
 prospects. Whitwell, 1 think, is a pretty situation. In the 
 year 1742 I spent a very pleasant vacation there. Tell your 
 mother that on the 10 th of this month she and I shall have a 
 new sister. Verses have been written on ladies' eye brows ; 
 but you talk of the beauty of y r Mrs.'s eye-lashes : in that 
 matter, as far as I remember, you speak like a Turk. 
 
 Now you talk of ladies, can you repeat " pretty, pretty 
 Peggy Haggitt " three times in a breath ? 
 
 * [Mr. Samuel Barker married Miss Haggitt, daughter of a gentleman 
 of Northamptonshire. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 168 
 
 We expect Mrs. Etty from Beaconsfield every day. Her 
 son Charles, it is to be hoped, will soon return from Bombay. 
 
 Your loving uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Little Tom Clement is visiting at Petersfiekl, where he 
 plays much at cricket: Tom bats; his grandmother bowls; and 
 his great grandmother watches out!! 
 
 LETTER XLV. 
 
 TO MRS. MARY BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Oct. 25, 178G. 
 Dear Niece, 
 
 I received your favour of Oct. 12, and rejoice to hear that 
 my nephew Mr. Barker has made so prudent a choice, and has 
 so fair a prospect of happiness in the matrimonial state. He 
 is to live, I find, at the parsonage house at Whitwell, where I 
 spent three very agreeable months as long ago as the year 
 1742, when I was a very young man. 
 
 Present my respects to y r father, and tell him that the 
 caterpillars of Phalcence devoured all the foliage of our oaks in 
 the bud, and therefore of course there could be no acorns, but 
 that the beeches were loaded with mast, and that I was not 
 unmindful of his injunctions, but have employed people to 
 pick up a quantity of seeds from those trees, which I intend 
 shall be cast into the bushes on the down. We had a wet, 
 cold August and September after a dry spring and hot 
 summer. We have grapes in vast abundance, that were very 
 forward in July ; but they are not so delicately ripened as in 
 some more favourable autumns, tho' now good. The begin- 
 ning of this month deluged all the country, and had like to 
 have blown us all away : the tempests and torrents wero 
 dreadful! From the 4 th to the 11 th of this month inclusive 
 the quantity of rain was 5*04 ! but now we have delicate 
 weather, and a fine wheat season. 
 
166 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 The late election at Salisbury has done my nep. John 
 much honour ; but neither he nor his mother is elated on the 
 occasion, because he quits a little certain business in hopes of 
 greater. He certainly was getting ground at Alton. Should 
 he succeed at Sarum, there will be more field-room for getting 
 money than in our poor rough district ; and so there had 
 need ; for the infirmary brings neither salary nor emolument, 
 but only credit, from the supposition that the surgeon is a 
 man of skill and merit in his profession. 
 
 Bro. Tho. is here, and Bro. and sister Ben. and Mary at 
 Newton : they join in respects. I am glad to hear that Mr. 
 and Mrs. Brown have left Uppingham. I am, with all due 
 respects, 
 
 Your affectionate uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Our hop-planters returned from Weyhill fair with cheerful 
 faces, and full purses, having sold a large crop of hops for a 
 good price. The reason was because the Kentish hops, which 
 were a fortnight behind, were blown away by the tempests. 
 The parish of Selborne will be much benefitted by the hop 
 plantations, to the amount, some say, of near £2000. The 
 women had a fine picking, and earned 2s. 6d. pr day. Uncle 
 Harry has built him a hermitage at Fyfield, on which Sam 
 White has written a good copy of verses. Mr. Twopeny is 
 just married. 
 
 LETTER XLVI. 
 
 TO THOMAS BARKER, ESQ. 
 
 Selborne, Jan. 10, 1787. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I have herewith sent you the Selborne rain, an account of 
 which, I think, has been kept very exactly, but know nothing 
 of the Fyfield and S. Lambeth rain. There fell such a glut of 
 rain in the beginning of Oct. that men were in some pain about 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 107 
 
 the wheat season: however such lovely weather followed quite 
 into Nov. that the sowing time was unusually good. Again 
 during the first 14 days of Dec. there fell 5 inch, of rain: this 
 deluge washed our malm grounds sadly. 
 
 Rain at Selborne in 1786. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 6-58 
 
 Feb. 
 
 1-27 
 
 Mar. 
 
 1-53 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1-63 
 
 May 
 
 2-16 
 
 June 
 
 1-05 
 
 July 
 
 1-81 
 
 Aug. 
 Sept. 
 Oct, 
 
 4 
 
 4-5 
 
 5-04 
 
 Nov. 
 
 4-38 
 
 Dec. 
 
 5-62 
 
 
 39-57 
 
 As to strong beer at Mr. Yalden's, I can say nothing about 
 the management of it, because John Pullinger, who had the 
 sole conducting of it, has left Edm d White: I only know that 
 my strong beer is much admired by those that love pale beer, 
 made of malt that is dryed with billet. My method is to 
 make it very strong, and to hop very moderately at first ; and 
 then to put in, at two or three times, half a pound at a time, 
 of scalded hops, before I tap it. This is the Wilts method, 
 and makes the beer as fine as rock-water. As my family is 
 small, I never brew more than half hogsh. at a time ; but then 
 I put malt at the rate of 13 bush, to the hogshead, and only 
 3 pounds and half of hops at a brewing. I tap my half hogs- 
 heads at about 12 months old, and always brew with rain 
 water when 1 can. The tank at Newton is made of brick : 
 their beer was, and is often good; but their water when drank 
 by itself, has a filthy taste of lime and moss. Their table beer 
 does not keep in summer. 
 
 Please to present my best thanks to my sister for her kind 
 charity, which will be very acceptable to our numerous poor. 
 Mrs. Etty is here, but will leave us soon, perhaps 'till 
 
 midsum r . 
 
 Your affectionate servant, 
 
 G. WHITE. 
 
 The crop of beech mast was prodigious, and of great 
 
108 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 service to men's hogs, which were half fat before they were 
 shut up. Between mast and potatoes, poor men killed very 
 large hogs at little expence. Tom Berriman's hog weighed 
 16 scores, yet ate only seven bush, of barley-meal; whereas 
 without the help above mentioned, he would have required 
 20 bush 5 . 
 
 Dame Berriman is much disordered in her mind, and very 
 violent. I sent a woman to scatter some beech seed in every 
 bush on the down. 
 
 Mrs. J. White joins in respects. 
 
 Barom r has been very high for some days ; on Monday it 
 was 30*3. 
 
 LETTER XLVI1. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BAKKER. 
 
 Seleburne, Jan. 8, 1788. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 It is to be hoped that you are not so punctual a man as to re- 
 gister all the letters that you write to your friends, because the 
 distant date of y r last epistle to me would reproach me with 
 neglect and negligence towards one of my near relations. I 
 have been very busy of late, and have at length put my 
 last hand to my Nat. Hist, and Antiquities of this parish. 
 However, I am still employed in making an Index — an occu- 
 pation full as entertaining as that of darning of stockings, 
 tho' by no means so advantageous to society. My work will 
 be well got up, with a good type and on good paper, and 
 will be embellished with several engravings. It has been in 
 the press some time, and is to come out in the spring. It 
 pleases me much to find that you still pursue y r botany. I 
 had reason to suspect that y 1 ' noble neighbour had a propen- 
 sity to the same enquiries, because I have sometimes met him 
 at Curtis's garden. Bro. Tho. thinks it may be best to cover 
 the Gingko * a little in severe weather. We have had a very 
 deep snow, which began on Sunday, Dec r 23, and lasted for 
 * [Salisburia adiantifolia. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 10'J 
 
 two or three nights and days, so that several of our hollow- 
 lanes became impassable. The turnpike thro' your village 
 must be a very pleasant circumstance, and prevent such in- 
 conveniences to which, I remember, in old days it was very 
 liable. I recollect to have heard Mr. Isaac say that they had 
 often been snowed up, and that he had shot woodcocks and 
 snipes from his bed-chamber window as they came to feed at 
 the fine perennial spring from whence y r parish * takes its name. 
 
 Mr. Charles Etty left us last Friday, and went to his ship, 
 the ' Duke of Montrose,' now lying at Gravesend, in which he 
 is soon to sail for Madras and China as third mate. The 
 wicked wood-cutters entered our hanger this day for the second 
 time in order to fell some more of our beautiful beeches. 
 Last year they cleared as far as the shop-slidder, and will 
 strip now as far as Hercules ! If my niece does not come and 
 see the remains of that sweet pendulous covert next summer, 
 she will never be able to conceive how lovely and romantic it 
 once had been. Sam White is a very fortunate lad ; for not 
 long since the provost and fellows of Oriel elected him to a 
 good exhibition, founded by Dr. Robinson, B p of London, 
 which he is to enjoy for three years. I have just sent y r 
 father an account of the Selborne rain during last year : it 
 wall again greatly exceed that of Rutland. 
 
 S. White | has undertaken to translate the ' Prognostics ' of 
 the Greek poet Aratus into English verse ; it has never, it 
 seems, been rendered into our language, but was so admired 
 by the Romans, that Cicero and others thought it worth their 
 pains to give a Latin version of it for the amusement of their 
 countrymen. Virgil, I fear, that notorious poacher of every 
 thing that was elegant in the Greek tongue, has gleaned up 
 every fine image, and transplanted them into his ' Georgics.' 
 It is remarkable enough that there is now sitting at my elbow 
 an Oxford gent. J, who is deeply employed in making an Index 
 
 * [ Whitwell.— T. B.] 
 
 t [Samuel, Son of G. W.'s brother Harry at Fyfield.— T. B.] 
 
 \ [The Rev. Mr. Churton, an intimate friend and correspondent of 
 
 G, "W. Many of the letters which passed between them will be found 
 
 further on in this volume. — T. B.l 
 
170 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 also ; so that my old parlor is become quite an Index-manu- 
 factory. Mrs. J. White joins in best respects, and the good 
 wishes of the season to you and lady ; and I am, with all due 
 affection, 
 
 Your loving uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XLVIII. 
 
 TO HIS NEPHEW BENJAMIN. 
 
 Selburne, Feb. [1788 ?] 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I received your letter concerning Mr. Pegge, but cannot, as 
 you well know, promise anything. At the same time, also, I 
 received by Molly six more sheets of clean proofs, so well cor- 
 rected that I have not met with one error ; and indeed the 
 errata are so few, that at present they will go into a small 
 compass, and are as follow : — 
 
 P. 31. line 15. For teems read teams *. 
 
 P. 91, line 7. d. comma, and for or read of *. 
 
 P. 219, line 15. For no the read not be*. 
 
 As I find you advance apace, I have by bearer sent up my 
 ' Antiquities,' because I do not find myself able to correct or 
 improve them any further. You will be pleased not to be 
 offended at the vague spelling of the names of men and places, 
 but to take them as you find them in their places, because 
 centuries ago men had no criterion to go by, but spelt just as 
 it happened, even their own names often not twice alike. 
 Should not the quotations from the documents be printed in 
 italics ? You will, I conclude, have a title-page to the ' Anti- 
 quities,' to which the Priory seal will make a proper vignette. 
 The great N. view of Selborne is engraving, I understand, and 
 will be opposite the first title page ; the view of the Hermit- 
 age will then best perhaps appear opposite p. 62, in which 
 mention is made of it. That the documents may be kept safe 
 1 [These misprints were not corrected.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 171 
 
 together, I have numbered them, and put them in a proper 
 bag. 
 
 As fast as I receive my proofs, I continue to enlarge my 
 Index. The title-page to the ' Nat. Hist.' is furnished with apt 
 mottos. My thanks are due for all your good offices, & 
 for your late trouble in purchasing me £200 stock. 
 
 Your loving uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 P.S. I take the liberty to return the book of Royal Forests, 
 &c, from which I have extracted some information. You will 
 also receive my Preface or Advertisement. Concerning the 
 disposition of the Hermitage print please to consult y r father 
 and father-in-law. 
 
 Might not the Hermitage print come in well at the back of 
 the first title-page, or as a tail-piece to the ' Natural History '* ? 
 
 Please to observe that all ce diphthongs, as musce, phalcence, 
 &c. are always written muse, phalene, &c. in old records. When 
 there is any very bad Latin in the evidences, please to put in 
 the margin, "sic" 
 
 LETTER XLIX. 
 
 i 
 
 TO THOMAS BARKEK, ESQ. 
 
 Jan. 8, 1789. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 You must have heard no doubt before now, of the sad 
 and afflicting news from Fyfield, of the sudden and unex- 
 pected event that has plunged a numerous family in the 
 deepest sorrow and trouble. How the poor man has left his 
 concerns, and how the widow and children are to proceed, I 
 have not yet heard ; however, as money will probably be 
 wanted, my two brothers and nephew Ben and self have each 
 began with a present. When the news arrived here I wrote 
 away immediately to Lady Young, entreating her to apply to 
 
 See note at p. 128.] 
 
172 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 th e Chancellor for the living of Fyfield for Sam * ; but she re- 
 tunied for answer that she had kept up no acquaintance with 
 Lord Thurlow, tho' a near relation, for many years. Bro. Ben 
 wrote immediately to the Chan r , and Bro. Tho. applyed by 
 means of Dr. Lort, who prevailed on the B p of Bangor, Dr. 
 Warren, to press the matter home, and to move the compas- 
 sion of the great man by representing the afflicted situation 
 of the family. For a short time we were almost ready to 
 flatter ourselves with some hopes of success : the great bar 
 seemed to be that Sam was not in orders ; however, two or 
 three days ago a note came to Bro. B. from the Chan, inform- 
 ing him that Fyfield was disposed of, but that Uphaven was 
 at his service. Now you must remember that Uphaven was 
 a very small vicarage indeed ; however, Bro. H., I hear, had 
 improved it not a little. 
 
 I now see more and more reason to be thankful to provi- 
 dence for enabling me to procure so many friends to assist 
 me in getting Sam* elected fellow. That young man, whom 
 all speak well of, may become the stay and support of the 
 family. By the statutes of his coll. he will not be able, I 
 fear, to take orders till June, when he may take possession 
 also of a fine curacy, now held for him. Charles also is in- 
 tended for orders, and has kept some terms at Oxford. 
 
 It is needless to tell you that we experience a long and se- 
 vere frost, which commenced Nov r 23, and has never been 
 out of the ground since. The snow in this district has been 
 very little. After a very dry spring and summer and autumn, 
 about ten days in Septem r excepted, the failure of water is 
 remarkable. The ponds are all dry, and most of the wells in 
 the village, and among the rest my own. As to Edm d White's 
 tank, it has failed for these seven weeks, and he is obliged to 
 fetch his water from the S. side of Nore hill. My column 
 on the other side makes a very small figure in respect to what 
 I used to send you. 
 
 Mrs. J. White returns my sister thanks for her late letter. 
 1 am disposing of her guinea among the poor. Never were 
 gratuities of that sort more acceptable than now. 
 * [The son of Henry White.— T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 173 
 
 Rain in Selborne. 1788. 
 
 
 in. h. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 1 60 
 
 Feb. 
 
 3 37 
 
 Mar. 
 
 1 31 
 
 Apr. 
 
 61 
 
 May 
 
 76 
 
 June 
 
 1 27 
 
 July 
 
 3 58 
 
 
 in. h. 
 
 Aug. 
 
 3 22 
 
 Sept. 
 
 5 71 
 
 Oct. 
 
 
 
 Nov. 
 
 86 
 
 Dec. 
 
 21 
 
 22 50 
 
 We hear now from all quarters that nep. John the surgeon 
 gets business very fast, and is allowed to be in a way to be- 
 come the first medical man in Salisbury. Little Ben thrives, 
 and grows very fast. 
 
 Mrs. J. Wh. joins in best respects and wishes. I am 
 
 Y r affectionate brother, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER L. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, May 6, 1790. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 We had heard that Mr. Haggitt * had been very ill, but were 
 not aware, till your letter came, that his disorder was of a dan- 
 gerous and alarming nature. On his own account, and for 
 the sake of his numerous family, we hope it will please God 
 to restore him to his former health, and preserve his life for 
 many years. 
 
 The Major Jardine that you mention was well known to 
 my Bro. John — an active, lively, intelligent Scotchman, that 
 had been a private in the artillery, but, having had some edu- 
 cation, was ready to enter into any pursuit where knowledge 
 was to be acquired. He showed a great facility in modern 
 languages, had a taste for music, and a smattering in Astro- 
 nomy, &c, was good-natured, clever, ready to assist, commu- 
 * [The father of Mrs. Samuel Barker.— T. B.] 
 
174 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 nicative and pleasant, but exceedingly poor, having married 
 a Spanish girl without a farthing, who brought him a house- 
 full of children and all her happy relations to live on him when 
 he was only lieutenant. He was supposed to be the son of a 
 Knight of Malta, whom he called his uncle. 
 
 What can be the meaning of the following advertisement, 
 which I have seen in the papers? " The life of the Hon. 
 Thomas Chambers Cecil, late Knight of the Shire for Rutland, 
 father of the present member for Stamford, and brother to the 
 Earl of Exeter." What makes me wonder because this man 
 was always represented formerly as little better than an idiot ! 
 Now you talk of biography, have you seen the life of Mr. 
 Elwes*, late member for Berkshire? 
 
 Dr. Chandler and lady, who have been abroad almost four 
 years, and who returned from the Continent only last Feb., 
 have borrowed Selborne parsonage-house for the summer, and 
 came to reside last week. The Dr., who is an unsettled man, 
 likes this method of procuring an habitation, because it looks 
 so like not settling. Roaming about becomes a habit with 
 gentry as well as mendicants, who, when they have once 
 taken up a strolling life, can never be persuaded to stay at 
 their own parishes. The lady is very big with child, and sent 
 for her midwife this morning ; so they reached Selborne just 
 in time. They brought a little son with them, a pretty boy, 
 who was born at Rolle in Switzerland, as it were by accident, 
 while posting home to England. Rome is the place that the 
 Dr. admires, where he can have his fill of virtu ; he has, I 
 find, secret languishing to return to that capital, to study in 
 the Vatican, and to dine with cardinals. In his passage to 
 Italy, they hired a ship at Marseilles, which was to land them 
 at Civita Vecchia ; for some time they had such prosperous 
 gales that the master told them they would be at their des- 
 tination presently. But as they approached Italy such squalls 
 came off from the Apennines that, after beating about for some 
 days, and fearing that they must ran for some harbour in 
 Sardinia, they with difficulty made Porto Longone, in the Isle 
 
 * [The celebrated miser, who died in 1789, leaving a fortune of 
 £500,000.— T B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 175 
 
 of Elba. Their return from Kolle in Novem r last was singular 
 enough. Not daring to venture thro' France, they set out for 
 Basle : here they went 50 miles to the right to see the falls of 
 Schaffhausen ! ! When the Dr. came to enquire of the water- 
 men at Basle what small craft they had on the Rhine, and 
 whether any house-boat, they said there was nothing but some 
 very small flat-bottomed wherries, but that they could tack 
 two of these together. On two such wallnut shells tyed to- 
 gether embarked the Dr. and lady, the nurse and child, and 
 the French valet, without oar or sail, or any awning that could 
 be kept up, and thus ran at the rate of near 80 miles a day 
 to Dusseldorf, amidst the damps and fogs of Novem 1 ", on the 
 expanded face of the Rhine, which was very full and very 
 rapid ! ! Here they turned off for Brussels, not being aware of 
 what was to befall them, but soon found themselves in a city 
 that expected every day to be cannonaded with hot balls. Here 
 they stayed till they saw the streets barricaded and intersected 
 with deep intrenchments, and at last escaped to Lisle, which 
 was not without its difficulties and embarrassments. The Dr. 
 and lady went twice by water down the Rhosne from Lyons ; 
 the scenery on its banks is grand and beautiful. I have just 
 received a letter from the Rev. James Anderson, LL.D., F.R.S., 
 F.A.S., of the Academy of Arts &c. of Dijon, &c* He directs 
 from Edinburg, and, having seen my book, desires my assist- 
 ance towards his ' Bee,' a weekly work which he proposes to 
 send forth as soon as he can settle a correspondence to his 
 mind. His prospectus to his work is curious, and promises 
 information. 
 
 Nep. John White of Sarum has got him an house and two 
 pupils. Nothing but want of health will hinder that young 
 
 * [James Anderson was an influential agricultural writer, and for some 
 time cultivated a large tract of barren land in Aberdeenshire for the pur- 
 pose of carrying on bis agricultural experiments and improvements. He 
 returned to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, where he had originally 
 resided, and afterwards conducted two periodical publications, ' Recrea- 
 tions in Agriculture ' and the ' Bee.' I do not find that Gilbert White 
 ever practically responded to the request mentioned. In 1780 the Uni- 
 versity of Aberdeen conferred on him the degree of LL.D. ; the title of 
 Rev. is, I believe, unauthorized. He died in 1808.— T. B.] 
 
170 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 man from being successful and prosperous. His business en- 
 creases. Mrs. J. Wh. joins in best respects to yourself and 
 
 Mrs. Barker. 
 
 Your affectionate uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 We expect bro. Tho. next week. 
 
 Mrs. Chandler is a pleasant woman, with a good person. 
 While I was writing she was brought to bed of a daughter. 
 Respects at Lyndon. 
 
 LETTER LI. 
 
 TO MISS MARY BARKER. 
 
 Feb. 18, 1792. 
 Dear Niece, 
 I herewith send you an account of the last year's rain, which 
 was very great, and in particular in Nov., when there fell 
 from the 13 th to the 19 th , both inclusive, about 5'10. We 
 were surprized to hear of the vast snows and severe weather 
 that you experienced in Dec r , because all the while we had 
 little snow, and no frost of any continuance. 
 
 Rain at Selborne in 1791. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 6-73 
 
 Aug. 
 
 1-73 
 
 Feb. 
 
 4-64 
 
 Sept. 
 
 1-73 
 
 Mar. 
 
 1-59 
 
 Oct. 
 
 6-49 
 
 Apr. 
 
 1-13 
 
 Nov. 
 
 8-16 
 
 May 
 
 1-33 
 
 Dec. 
 
 4-93 
 
 June 
 
 •91 
 
 
 
 July 
 
 5-56 
 
 
 44-93 
 
 We condole with you on the loss of old Mrs. Barker, who 
 yet seems to have been a happy woman ; for after a blameless 
 life, spent in affluence and comfort among affectionate rela- 
 tions, she departed this life in peace at the good old age of 90 
 and upwards. I have disposed of your mother's guinea with 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 177 
 
 much satisfaction among such old people as seemed to want it 
 most. Old Dewye and wife are alive, but almost childish — 
 and old George Tanner ; but he has been confined to his bed 
 for three months. Charles Etty did not come home in his 
 own ship (in which he was second mate), because, it was said, 
 he broke his leg at Madras the very evening before the 
 ship was to have sailed. Poor dear Caroline Bingham was a 
 most amiable girl, and a fine figure ; but she dyed suddenly 
 as soon as she left this place, to the great sorrow of her 
 parents ! They have several more children. 
 
 Dr. Chandler is in London settling the concerns of his 
 brother ; he was a clergyman in Surrey, and has left a 
 daughter grown up. Mrs. Chandler looks a little as if she 
 intended to encrease her family not long hence. The death 
 of my good friend Mr. Mulso is a sad loss to his children ; 
 where his daughters are to live we have not heard. My bro- 
 ther Benj., we hear, begins to think seriously of relinquishing 
 his business to his sons ; and meditates a retreat into Hants 
 for the remainder of his life, intending to leave S. Lambeth. 
 Perhaps he may settle at Marelands *, a beautiful seat between 
 Alton and Farnham, late the residence of Mr. Sainesbury, 
 uncle to Mrs. Edmund White, and agent to Lord Stawell, L d 
 Salisbury, the Marquis of Downshire, &c. &c. This gent, 
 dropped suddenly out of his chair and was dead in a moment 
 on the eve of his birthday, while his wife was preparing an 
 elegant entertainment for his friends the day following. Mr. 
 S. was a man of an excellent character, and beloved by every- 
 body. Mr. Clement, very fortunately, is to succeed his friend 
 in his agencies for Lord Stawell and Mr. Beckford ; these 
 employs will make a very handsome addition to Mr. Clement's 
 income, and will give him credit and reputation in the neigh- 
 bourhood. Mrs. J. White begs to join in best respects to all 
 your family and to friends at Whitwell and Stamford. 
 
 I remain v r loving uncle, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 * [Benjamin White died at Marelands, in the 60th year of his ape. 
 He was buried at Selborne, March 15, 1794.— T. R.] 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
178 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 Feb. 18, 1792. We have enjoyed lately sweet summer wea- 
 ther ; but last night a most severe frost came on, with snow, 
 and therm 1 " at 21 ! Newton friends lay here last night. 
 
 Marelands house and farm belong to Lord Stawell. 
 
 LETTER LII. 
 
 TO MRS. BARKER. 
 
 Selborne, Jan. 2, 1793. 
 Dear Sister, 
 While Mrs. J. White is employed in knitting, and Mr. Chur- 
 ton in reading and writing, I sit down, as I have usually done 
 at this season of y e year, to send Mr. Barker the quantity of 
 rain, and you some account of our welfare. 
 
 
 Rain in 1792. 
 
 
 
 in. 
 
 
 in. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 6-07 
 
 Aug. 
 
 4-25 
 
 Feb. 
 
 1-68 
 
 Sept. 
 
 5-53 
 
 Mar. 
 
 6-70 
 
 Oct. 
 
 5-55 
 
 Apr. 
 
 4-08 
 
 Nov. 
 
 1-65 
 
 May 
 
 3-00 
 
 Dec. 
 
 2-11 
 
 June 
 
 2-78 
 
 
 
 July 
 
 5-16 
 
 
 48-56 
 
 Ned White, you may have heard, is settled with a Banker 
 in London, where he gives satisfaction, and is allowed £50 
 p r annum. Gil. White has been so unfortunate as to lose his 
 master, an attorney at Bath, by death, after he had served 
 three years ; and what was worse, the man dyed insolvent. By 
 this untoward accident, the poor young man has been thrown 
 out of employ for three or four months, but, by the interest 
 of friends, was reinstated in business yesterday with a gent, 
 at Petersfield, where he is to stay three years more without a 
 premium, but must pay for his board. The first premium, 
 £200, is all lost! Mr. and Mrs. B. White have lately been 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 179 
 
 with us for a few days ; and both seemed very well. Poor 
 Nanny Woods's new husband is in a dangerous decline. Much 
 used to be said of his bad health ; and therefore it is a pity 
 that the match took place ! Dr. Chandler keeps improving 
 his parsonage house, and therefore, I conclude, has no thought 
 of moving. He has taken off an entry from the Hall, and 
 has made the rest of that room into a good parlor. Much 
 was the damage that we sustained by the late sad wet summer 
 and autumn in our hay, our fallows, our corn, and our forest 
 fuel, which lies rotting in the moors of Wolmer. Our brick 
 burner, after he had paid duty for a large cargo of bricks and 
 tiles, never could get them dry enough for burning. My 
 fruit never ripened, and especially my grapes. The year 1782, 
 part of which you spent here, was somehow less distressing, 
 tho' the rain was then upward of 50 in., as you may see by 
 my book. Y r grandson, I hope, will thrive, and become as 
 honest and good a man as his grandf 1 and father. Mrs. J. 
 Wh. thanks you for your late kind present. 
 
 Mr. Churton was lately presented by Braze-nose Coll. to 
 one of their best livings, the rectory of Middleton Cheney in 
 Northamptonshire but near Banbury, which he hopes will 
 neat him £400 per ann. He is obliged to rebuild part of the 
 house. Mr. Churton joins with us in all the good wishes of 
 the season. 
 
 I remain yours affectionately, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Old George Tanner is still in bed. The widow of James 
 Carpenter was buried yesterday, aged 93. 
 
 I will bestow y r charity in a proper manner, and return you 
 thanks for it. 
 
 N '} 
 
180 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 LETTER LILT. 
 
 TO SAMUEL BARKER. 
 
 Selborae. 
 
 Dear Sam, 
 I think Mr. Dobson would have done better to have followed 
 Mr. Warton's advice. Have you seen Mr. Colman's transla- 
 tion of Horace's Art of Poetry? In his comment the trans- 
 lator objects to Mr. Hurd's exposition of that epistle, and, I 
 think, with great reason. Mr. Hurd says the Epistle to the 
 Pisos was intended to illustrate the usages of the Roman 
 stage, whereas Mr. C. avers that it was purely a dissuasive 
 letter to the elder Piso not to be in too much haste to publish 
 some poem, probably a domestic one, which that writer, as a 
 nobleman, might have submitted to his friend Horace. I 
 would wish you to see the publication. I have just bought 
 Somerville, & am surprized to find, not having read it these 20 
 years, that his £ Chase ' exceeds most of our poets in its cadences 
 and the sweetness of its numbers. Mr. Warton highly extols 
 his ' Hobbinal,' which does not strike me so much, though its 
 numbers are elegant. 
 
 Your affect. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER LIV. 
 
 FROM THOMAS WHITE TO HIS BROTHER GILBERT. 
 
 London, Nov. 9, 1775. 
 
 Dear Brother, 
 I shall be glad to see you in town, but know not what to 
 say concerning the disorder that is very general here. I be- 
 lieve most people that have it felt ill some time ago; but I am 
 not conversant enough amongst sick people to say positively 
 there is no fear of your taking it now. Molly and the whole 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 181 
 
 family have had colds, coughs, &c, but are now nearly well ; 
 as to myself, I have escaped, Like John Woods's old horses, by 
 old age and other infirmities. Thank you for the elegant 
 quotation from Middleton *. Is not the ridicule some of our 
 wise governors would have thrown on America applicable to 
 Cicero's on Britain ? and may not America be to England ere 
 long what England is now to Rome? I cannot allow that the 
 Romans acquired their riches by virtuous industry ; the infa- 
 mous oppression these people exercised over mankind has been 
 handled too tenderly. 
 
 Hlinc is pure Saxon, a bank cast up for boundary ; hence 
 our " linch " and " linchot " between fields. As you seem to 
 allow me to frolick in conjecture (as Johnson says), I will 
 examine the fields. 
 
 Molly goes to-morrow with Dr. Thomas to Cambridge ; she 
 has had no return of her complaint, and is to use the cold 
 bath there. I want you to read Plot's treatise ' De origine 
 Fontium,' in which he states what has been advanced on all 
 
 * [The following is undoubtedly the passage sent by Gilbert White to 
 his brother, referred to in this letter. The intensity of Middleton's an- 
 tipathy to modern Rome and Romanism is manifested in more than one 
 of his works. The ' Life of Cicero,' from which the present passage is 
 taken, had appeared in 1741. It was published by subscription ; and there 
 were no less than six thousand subscribers to the first edition. 
 
 After quoting from letters to Atticus, to Cicero's brother Quintus, to 
 Trebalius, &c, Middleton proceeds in the following strain. 
 
 " From their railleries on the barbarity and misery of our island, one 
 cannot help reflecting on the surprising fate and revolutions of kingdoms : 
 — how Rome, once the mistress of the world, the seat of arts, empire, and 
 glory, now lies sunk in sloth, ignorance, and poverty, enslaved to the 
 most cruel as well as the most contemptible of tyrants, superstition and 
 religious imposture ; while this remote country, anciently the jest and 
 contempt of the polite Romans, is become the happy seat of liberty, 
 plenty, and letters, flourishing in all the arts and refinements of civil 
 life — yet running perhaps the same course which Rome itself had run be- 
 fore it, from virtuous industry to wealth, from wealth to luxury, from 
 luxury to an impatience of discipline and corruption of morals, till, by a 
 total degeneracy and loss of virtue, being grown ripe for destruction, it 
 falls a prey at last to some hardy oppressor, and, with the loss of liberty 
 losing every thing else that is valuable, sinks gradually again into its ori- 
 ginal barbarism." — T. B.] 
 
182 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 hands by former writers and favorers, the assertion of sub- 
 terranean connections with the sea, against Ray and others. 
 I cannot help looking on these communications as imaginary, 
 and am inclined to join with Ray, who asserts that rain and 
 dew are sufficient to supply all springs. When you describe 
 the perennity of the Selburn spring, it does not seem foreign 
 to the purpose for you to sum up the evidence on both sides, 
 remarking the peculiarity of upland ponds being supplied 
 when those in the vallies fail *, which I believe will prove a 
 new observation. Certainly hills and mountains are conden- 
 sers, and convert by their coldness the ascending vapours 
 into water ; but more of this when we meet. 
 
 I am, yours aff y , 
 
 THOS. WHITE. 
 
 TIMOTHY THE TORTOISE TO MISS HECKY MULSO. 
 
 From the border under the fruit wall, 
 
 Aug. 31, 1784. 
 
 Most respectable Lady, 
 Your letter gave me great satisfaction, being the first that 
 ever I was honor'd with. It is my wish to answer you in 
 your own way ; but I never could make a verse in my life, so 
 you must be contented with plain prose f. Having seen but 
 little of this great world, conversed but little and read less, I 
 feel myself much at a loss how to entertain so intelligent a 
 correspondent. Unless you will let me write about myself, 
 my answer will be very short indeed. Know then that I am 
 an American, and was born in the year 1734 in the Province 
 of Virginia in the midst of a Savanna that lay between a large 
 
 * [This subject is treated of fully and in a most interesting manner in 
 the XXIXth letter to Barrington (Vol. I. p. 192).— T. B.] 
 
 t [It is evident from this allusion that Gilbert White's amusing jeu 
 (Cesprit was occasioned by some verses addressed by Miss Mulso to 
 Timothy the Tortoise. These, however, I regret to say, I have not 
 succeeded in rinding. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 183 
 
 tobacco plantation and a creek of the sea *. Here I spent my 
 youthful days among my relations with much satisfaction, and 
 saw around me many venerable kinsmen, who had attained to 
 great ages without any interruption from distempers. Lon- 
 gevity is so general among our species that a funeral is quite 
 a strange occurrence. I can just remember the death of my 
 great-great-grandfather, who departed this life in the 160 th 
 year of his age. Happy should I have been in the enjoyment 
 of my native climate and the society of my friends had not 
 a sea-boy, who was wandering about to see what he could 
 pick up, surprized me as I was sunning myself under a bush; 
 and whipping me into his wallet, carryed me aboard his ship. 
 The circumstances of our voyage are not worthy a recital ; I 
 only remember that the rippling of the water against the sides 
 of our vessel as we sailed along was a very lulling and com- 
 posing sound, which served to sooth my slumbers as I lay in 
 the hold. We had a short voyage, and came to anchor on the 
 coast of England in the harbour of Chichester. In that city 
 my kidnapper sold me for half-a-crown to a country gentle- 
 man, who came up to attend an election. I was immediately 
 packed in an hand-basket, and carryed, slung by the servant's 
 side, to their place of abode. As they rode very hard for 
 forty miles, and I had never been on horseback before, I found 
 myself somewhat giddy from my airy jaunt. My purchaser, 
 who was a great humorist, after shewing me to some of his 
 neighbours and giving me the name of Timothy, took little 
 further notice of me ; so I fell under the care of his lady, a 
 benevolent woman, whose humane attention extended to the 
 meanest of her retainers. With this gentlewoman I remained 
 almost 40 years, living in a little walled-in court in the front 
 of her house, and enjoying much quiet and as much satisfac- 
 tion as I could expect without society. At last this good old 
 lady dyed in a very advanced age, such as a tortoise would 
 call a good old age ; and I then became the property of her 
 
 * [I have already stated that Timothy belonged to a North-African 
 species ; and I now add that there is only one species of the genus Testndo 
 inhabiting the United States, T. pok/phemus, which is very different from 
 Timothy in appearance and zoological character. — T. B.] 
 
184 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 
 
 nephew. This man, my present master, dug me out of my 
 winter retreat, and, packing me in a deal box, jumbled me 80 
 miles in post-chaises to my present place of abode. I was 
 sore shaken by this expedition, which was the worst journey 
 I ever experienced. In my present situation I enjoy many 
 advantages — such as the range of an extensive garden, afford- 
 ing a variety of sun and shade, and abounding in lettuces, 
 poppies, kidney beans, and many other salubrious and delec- 
 table herbs and plants, and especially with a great choice of 
 delicate gooseberries ! But still at times I miss my good old 
 mistress, whose grave and regular deportment suited best with 
 my disposition. For you must know that my master is what 
 they call a naturalist, and much visited by people of that turn, 
 who often put him on whimsical experiments, such as feeling 
 my pulse, putting me in a tub of water to try if I can swim, 
 &c. ; and twice in the year I am carried to the grocer's to be 
 weighed, that it may be seen how much I am wasted during 
 the months of my abstinence, and how much I gain by feast- 
 ing in the summer. Upon these occasions I am placed in 
 the scale on my back, where I sprawl about to the great di- 
 version of the shop-keeper's children. These matters displease 
 me ; but there is another that much hurts my pride : I mean 
 that contempt shown for my understanding which these Lords 
 of the Creation are very apt to discover, thinking that nobody 
 knows anything but themselves. I heard my master say that 
 he expected that I should some day tumble down the ha-ha ; 
 whereas I would have him to know that I can discern a pre- 
 cipice from plain ground as well as himself. Sometimes my 
 master repeats with much seeming triumph the following 
 lines, which occasion a loud laugh- 
 
 " Timotheus placed on high 
 " Amidst the tuneful choir, 
 H With flying Angers touched the lyre." 
 
 For my part I see no wit in the application ; nor know 
 whence the verses are quoted ; perhaps from some prophet of 
 his own, who, if he penned them for the sake of ridiculing 
 tortoises, bestowed his pains, I think, to poor purposes. These 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 185 
 
 are some of my grievances ; but they sit very light on me in 
 comparison of what remains behind. Know then, tender- 
 hearted lady, that my greatest misfortune, and what I have 
 never divulged to any one before, is — the want of society of 
 my own kind. This reflection is always uppermost in my own 
 mind, but comes upon me with irresistible force every spring. 
 It was in the month of May last that I resolved to elope from 
 my place of confinement; for my fancy had represented to me 
 that probably many agreeable tortoises of both sexes might 
 inhabit the heights of Baker's Hill or the extensive plains of 
 the neighbouring meadow, both of which I could discern from 
 the terrass. One sunny morning, therefore, I watched my 
 opportunity, found the wicket open, eluded the vigilance of 
 Thomas Hoar, and escaped into the saint-foin, which began to 
 be in bloom, and thence into the beans. I was missing eight 
 days, wandering in this wilderness of sweets, and exploring 
 the meadow at times. But my pains were all to no purpose ; 
 I could find no society such as I wished and sought for. I 
 began to grow hungry, and to wish myself at home. I there- 
 fore came forth in sight, and surrendered myself up to Thomas, 
 who had been inconsolable in my absence. Thus, Madam, 
 have I given you a faithful account of my satisfactions and 
 sorrows, the latter of which are mostly uppermost. You are 
 a lady, I understand, of much sensibility. Let me, therefore, 
 make my case your own in the following manner ; and then 
 you will judge of my feelings. Suppose you were to be kid- 
 napped away to-morrow, in the bloom of your life, to a land 
 of Tortoises, and were never to see again for fifty years a 
 human face ! ! ! Think on this, dear lady, and pity 
 
 Your sorrowful Reptile, 
 
 TIMOTHY. 
 
186 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. R. CHURTON* AND GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 TO THE REV. R. CHURTON. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 17, 1779. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 On opening your favour, I was much pleased to see your 
 name at the bottom; because you are a gentleman to whom I 
 am much oblioed, and to whom I wished for an occasion to 
 express my acknowledgements. 
 
 You are a fellow of a college as well as myself, and there- 
 fore must be well aware that with regard to elections it is not 
 in my power to enter into any promises : but you may be well 
 assured that I shall have the better opinion of Mr. Smith for 
 
 * [The Rev. Ralph Churton was born in the year 1754 at Bickley, a 
 township of the parish of Malpas, in Cheshire. He was educated at Ox- 
 ford, and became a fellow of Brazen-nose College. He was the author 
 of sermons, letters, and other works, and was highly esteemed by the 
 literary and religious society of his time. When his correspondence with 
 Gilbert White commenced, he could not have been more than about 24 
 or 25 years of age. — T. B.] 
 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE REV. R. CHURTON. 187 
 
 what you say of him, and, if I am able to attend at Easter, 
 shall mention your recommendation to the society. 
 
 When the summer is established, if you find within yourself 
 an inclination to visit Hants, I shall be very glad to see you 
 at my house, and to show you our prospects, which are 
 romantic enough. Your company and conversation, provided 
 you can bear with the infirmities of a deaf man, will be very 
 agreeable to me. Dr. Chandler is now sitting at my elbow, 
 and is deeply engaged in Bp. Waynflete's Registers, two vol. 
 fol. which I obtained to be sent to my house from Winton by 
 permission from the Bp. of that diocese : last summer we had 
 Bp. Wyckhame's registry of the same bulk and number of 
 vol. I am, Sir, 
 
 Your obliged servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Selborne, near Alton, Hants, 
 
 July 3, 1780. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 As I have always wished to express my gratitude for the 
 many good offices you have conferred on me, I must desire 
 that you would furnish me with an opportunity, by taking the 
 trouble to come to my house, where I shall rejoice to see you 
 in the course of this summer. 
 
 At present my beds are all like to be full for two or three 
 weeks to come ; but by the end of July at farthest I shall be 
 glad to see you for 4 or 5 weeks. It will probably be in my 
 power to shew you a new country, and a district not un- 
 pleasing in fine weather. If you can bear with the infirmities 
 of a deaf man, your company and conversation will be very 
 agreeable to me : and in yr answer I bar all proposals re- 
 specting some future summer, because at my timo of lifa 
 
188 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 there is little dependence to be made on distant engagements. 
 Pray take me, in the very words of Creech, "just as I am, 
 very much disposed to receive you, and ready to shew you all 
 civilities." 
 
 If you are a botanist, we have a very good Flora, to whom 
 I am willing to introduce you. You are, I find, learned in 
 yew-trees : we have at hand several noble ones. 
 
 We have just found a large stone-urn down at the Priory *; 
 for what use it was made it remains for you to inform us. 
 We will examine The Tenqile, King Johns hill, &c. &c. 
 I am, with great esteem, 
 
 Yr obliged, and humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Dr. Chandler, who is going to be very busy Avith Bp. 
 Beaufort's Register, fr Winchester, joins in respects. When 
 my beds are at liberty I will write : pray let me hear soon. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Fyfield, near Andover, Hants, 
 
 Aug. 31, 1780. 
 
 Dear Sie, 
 Your favour of July 10 th carried with it a very obliging air, 
 because it seemed to imply that you will endeavour to pay me 
 a visit. 
 
 Now let me (as old men love to be didactic) enjoin you to 
 leave the N. as soon as you conveniently can, and to get to 
 Selborne by the last week in Sep r at farthest ; for it seems 
 to me to be very unreasonable to desire you to come so far 
 
 * [The discovery of this urn and its destruction are mentioned in the 
 'Antiquities' (Vol. I. p. 370). An antiquarian friend, probably Dr. 
 Chandler, suggested that it might have been a standard measure for the 
 Priory.— T. B.J 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 189 
 
 only for a week or a fortnight. About the time that term 
 begins I should be glad also to go to Oxford, and, provided 
 health permits, will give you a cast in a post-chaise about the 
 12 th or 13 th of Octob r all the way to Coll. 
 
 Dr. Chandler left me the week before last. After much 
 delay we got one vol. of Bp. Beaufort's Register, the only one 
 that can be found : but it contained only 13 years of a long 
 episcopate of above 40. It did not afford much concerning 
 Selborne, but would, it seems, furnish much matter con- 
 cerning the Lollards, who were cruelly harassed in the reign 
 of Hen. 4. 
 
 The way to Selborne is Dorchester, Wallingford, Pangborn; 
 here leave the Reading-road, and go down the new turn-pike 
 for Aldermaston-wharf, Aldermaston; Basingstoke, Tunworth- 
 doxon under Hackwood-park pales, the Golden-pot ale-house, 
 Alton, Faringdon, Horse-and-J ockey , Selborne. 
 
 Please to direct to me as before at Selborne near Alton 
 Hants. If you know anybody in the N. whom it may 
 concern, you may assure them that the crop of hops in the S. 
 is prodigious ; and that they are very fine in quality. I 
 conclude 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Pray write soon. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Seleburne, near Alton, Hants, 
 
 Dec. 7, 1780. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 If you have no more fears about a winter-journey than I had 
 at your time of life, you might, I should hope, favour me with 
 a visit during the approaching vacation. The country indeed 
 
100 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 is now shorn of its tresses, and much in dishabille ; but we 
 have still pleasant foot-paths, wild views, and chearful neigh- 
 bours. I will give you some roast-beef, plum-pudding, and 
 other Xstmass-cheer. We do not, I believe now keep the 
 good season that is advancing so jollily as you do in the N. ; 
 but you will, I hope, be pleased with visiting S r Adam de 
 Gurdon's hall, where that old baron probably entertained his 
 tenants with an ox roasted whole, and floods of brown ale. 
 What I want is for you to try your hand at this place at this 
 disadvantageous season ; and then I shall not doubt but vou 
 will like it better in the summer. We have just finished a 
 walk f of 400 yards in length thro' an hanging wood just 
 above my house ; which we are apt to think will please 
 strangers, because we like it ourselves. From hence we look 
 on the village in a very pleasing light. If you are a draughts- 
 man, I can show you some stained views taken from nature by 
 an artist that came down to me from London. 
 
 My progress in Nat. Hist, is very slow indeed: I now and \ 
 
 *********** 
 
 advertised, I see, and will be out in Feb. I heartily wish he 
 may give no reason for complaint with respect to religious 
 matters : in other respects he will be secure of fame. 
 
 If I was to meet Gen. Arnold I should address him thus: — 
 
 " But wherefore thou alone p wherefore with thee 
 Came not all? * 
 
 • * * " had 'st thou alledg'd 
 
 To thy deserted host this cause of flight 
 Thou surely had'st not come sole fugitive." 
 
 I am, with due respect, 
 
 You most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Mr. G., I understand, will draw a comparison between 
 Xstianity papal, and Mohammedism ; and indeed I am at a 
 
 t The Bostal. 
 
 \ [A portion of this letter is lo>t. 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 191 
 
 loss to say which will make the most hideous picture. I 
 mean the popery of the darker ages *. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Selborne, Dec. 19, 1780. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 By your letter of the 14 th to Dr. Chandler, which the Dr. has 
 communicated to me, I am glad to find that you are so well 
 disposed to make me a visit, and hope you will meet with no 
 interruption. You will not, I hope, over-stay this unpre- 
 cedented run of fine weather, that has befallen us now for 
 more than three weeks, without rain, wind, or frost ! 
 
 If you have a friend in London to whom you can send y r 
 portmanteau, then you need only desire him to direct it for 
 you " at y e Rev d Mr. W. at Selborne, to be left at the Swan- 
 Inn at Alton, by the Southampton coach," which comes from 
 the Belle Savage-Inn on Ludgate hill ; but if you have no 
 such person, then direct it to Mr. Edm d White at Mr. 
 Hounsom's mercer in Fleet-street London, to be forwarded 
 to Mr. White &c. by the Southampton coach. 
 
 If you call at Caversham pray present my most respectful 
 compliments to Mr. Loveday, and the ladies. I have not the 
 pleasure to be known to Dr. Loveday. 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 * [At page 120, in a letter to Mr. Barker, the forthcoming work of 
 Gibbon is mentioned ; this referred to the first volume only. The allu- 
 sion in the above letter to Mr. Churton is to that further portion of the 
 history which, accordingly, made its appearance, in the second and third 
 volumes, in February 1781. — T. B.] 
 
192 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Selborne, May 9, 1781. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 When I called at Brazen-nose Coll. in the Easter week, I was 
 sorry but not disappointed in not finding you, because Mr. 
 Loveday bad intimated that probably you would be gone on a 
 visit to his son. 
 
 As you have seen Selborne, and the nakedness of the land 
 at Xtmas, you will not do it justice if you do not come and 
 visit it in all its glory, in its full foliage, and verdure. 
 
 I therefore exhort you and enjoin you to come and spend 
 the Whitsun vacation here, where your company and con- 
 versation will be very acceptable ; and, if I mistake not, my 
 neighbours will be glad to see you also. 
 
 If you come by Caversham, be pleased to ask for a parcel of 
 papers which I left with Mr. Loveday. 
 I am, with due respect, 
 
 Your most affectionate servant, 
 
 GILL. WHITE. 
 
 If you will direct y r portmanteau to be left at the Bell 
 Savage on Ludgate hill London, to be forwarded to the 
 Swan at Alton by the Southampton coach, it will, I trust, 
 come safe. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Seleburne, Jan. 4, 1783. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your long and communicative letter of Dec. 16 gave me 
 much satisfaction. After you went away my family became 
 
AND THE REV. K. OlIUKTOX. 193 
 
 very large for the rest of the summer. I had with me my 
 bro. Th. White, and daughter and two sons, my sister Barker 
 from Rutland and her two youngest daughters, and at times 
 my nep. J. White son of Mrs. J. White, who is just settle ! 
 at Salisbury as a surgeon, being invited by some friends who 
 seemed perswaded that there was an opening. My nieces, 
 Barkers, especially the eldest of the two who is 22 years of 
 age, have (I speak as a foolish uncle) very fine fingers, and 
 play elegantly on the harpsichord. These maidens enter- 
 tained us day after day with very lovely lessons from Niccolai, 
 Giordani, and several other modern masters, in a verv aeree- 
 able manner. But I find, as I grow old, that music, tho' 
 very sweet and engaging at the time, yet occasions very 
 unpleasing sensations afterwards. When I hear fine lessons 
 I am haunted with passages therefrom night and day, and 
 especially at first waking, which by their importunity give 
 me more pain than pleasure : airs and jigs rush upon my 
 imagination, and recur irresistably to my memory at seasons, 
 and even when I am desirous of thinking of other matters. 
 The following curious quotation strikes me much by so well 
 representing my own case, and by describing what I have so 
 often felt, but never could so well express. " Prashabebat 
 porro vocibus humanis, instrumentisque harmonicis, musicam 
 illam avium: non quod alia quoque non delectaretur ; sed 
 quod ex musica humana relinqueretur in animo continens 
 quaedam attentionemque & somnum conturbans agitatio; dum 
 ascensus, excensus, tenores, ac mutationes illae sonorum, & 
 consonantiarum euntque redeuntque per phantasiam : cum 
 nihil tale relinqui possit ex modulationibus avium, qua?, quod 
 non sunt perinde internam facultatem commovere." * — Be rit<'> 
 Peireskii per Gassendum. 
 
 I am glad that you met with the Star-sluch in Cheshire, 
 after you had examined the Tremella nostoc in Hants. Not 
 that I had any doubt myself that the former was a vegetable, 
 but because I met with intelligent people who are still per- 
 
 * [This is the third time this passage is quoted by Gilbert White : 
 first in the LVIth letter to Barring-ton, and again in a letter to his niece 
 Mary White.— T. B.] 
 
 VOL. II. <-> 
 
194 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 swaded that this substance is a mass of indigested food cast- 
 up out of the stomachs of crows ! and some have told me that 
 they have distinguished the limbs of frogs among it ! As to 
 a star-sluch growing on the bough of an oak ; this must have 
 been a matter of accident. The seeds of all Fungi, you know, 
 are lighter than air, and therefore float about in it ; and 
 vegetate only when they happen to fall on a proper nidus. 
 
 Dr. Ch. seemed a good deal chagrined about the behaviour 
 of his prime minister. If he had not come home just in time, 
 a bern would have been born unto him in the vicarage. Sim 
 Ettv, tutored by the Dr., runs about the village, and repeats 
 to every one he meets, with great vehemence ; — " Mulieri ne 
 credas, ne mortuee quidem." Ch. Etty is at the Nore aboard 
 the Duke of Kingston, and is expected every day at Spithead; 
 from whence he is to make a visit here for a day or two 
 before he sails for India. 
 
 I thank you much for procuring Mr. Hampton's pamphlet, 
 which you will please to leave at my brother's. You will, I 
 hope, make yrself known to him ; I have mentioned you to 
 him. You will see a roomy shop, well furnished, with old 
 gent, in leathern doublets. Timothy the tortoise would make 
 but a poor king : he would be so slow in his motions as to be 
 but a king Log at best ; and an alert enemy would deprive 
 him of half his dominions, before he could awake from his 
 profound slumbers. 
 
 I will take care of your Rex Platonicus, and hope I shall 
 bring it you at Exeter. My bro. Th. opened several of the 
 barrows on our down in the summer, but found nothing. 
 Now you talk of last summer, it was a strange summer 
 indeed ! Nothing like it, I believe, has befallen since the year 
 1725, when it rained every day, except about 10 in July, 
 from March 29 th to Septem r 29 th ; but then the first part of 
 said year was very dry. In 1782 the rain that fell at 
 Selborne was 50 inc. 26 hund. ! and of this the greatest part 
 came in the first 9 months ; for Oct r , Nov 1 , and Dec r were 
 comparatively dry ; Dec. afforded only inc. 91 h. I would 
 have you dine with my bro. Ben in Fleet street : he dines 
 always about three o'clock. If you would call some morning 
 
AND THE REV. R. UHURTON. 195 
 
 at my bro. Tho. White's at South Lambeth, just beyond 
 Vauxhall turnpike, he would be glad to see you. It is a 
 pretty walk from town to S. Lambeth ! If you will go there 
 and dine* (next?) Sunday, you will meet both families ; for 
 they both live * (there ?). 
 
 [Here followed the pleasing lines "On the early and late blowing of the 
 Vernal and Autumnal Crocus," which will be found among the Poems at 
 the end of the first volume ; they were first written in this letter to Mr. 
 Churton.— T. B.] 
 
 I am, with all due esteem, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Neighbours are all well. Mrs. J. White joins in the good 
 wishes of the season. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 Seleburne, Aug. 20, 1783. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Tho' my house is full of company, yet I must no longer 
 delay to answer your agreeable and intelligent letter from 
 Williamscot. Poor Mrs. Etty has been a great -sufferer both 
 in mind and body, having paid a long attendance on her son 
 Andrew, who languished from spring to midsummer, and 
 then dyed of a slow decay. What added to the affliction 
 was, that Miss C. Etty was lying all the while under the 
 same circumstances at Winchester, and dying first, was 
 brought to this place ; so that I had the sorrowful office of 
 burying these two young people, the one on one Saturday, 
 and the other on the following. Ch. Ettv has not been heard 
 of since he sailed for India in March; but the papers mention 
 
 * [These words, or some of similar meaning, have been torn from the 
 edge of the letter.— T. B.] 
 
 2 
 
196 CORRESPONDENCE OF (IILBERT WHITE 
 
 the Duke of Kingston (his ship) having culled at the Cape 
 Vrnls in April, all well. 
 
 We have experienced a long summer, with intense heats, 
 little rain, and no storms. But what has been very extra- 
 ordinary, was the long-continued haze, extending thro' this 
 island, and, I think, thro' Europe, attended with vast honey- 
 dews, which destroyed all our hops, and lasted more than a 
 month. Thro' this rusty coloured air, the sun, " shorn of his 
 beams," appeared like the moon, even at noonday. The 
 country people looked with a kind of superstitious awe on the 
 red lowering aspect of the great luminary, " Cum caput 
 obscurd nitidum ferrugine texit." And I have no doubt, but 
 that the unusual look of the sky at Caasar's death, mentioned 
 both by historians, and poets, was somewhat of the same 
 kind. As I love to trace natural appearances, I desire to 
 know if you saw a very large luminous meteor traversing the 
 sky from N.W. to S.W. on Monday even Aug. 18 about 
 9 o'clock. Pray hunt for star-sluch, because several intelli- 
 gent people, one at present in this house, stare and wonder 
 when I advance that the matter is vegetable; and Dr. Chandler 
 in particular shakes his head, and asserts that the mass is 
 frogs thrown up indigested. But I beg to know why crows 
 are not sometimes crop-sick, and have not weak digestions 
 in Hants (yet we have no such appearance) as well as 
 in Cheshire. Apply a magnifying glass to the substance, and 
 trv to discover the seeds. 
 
 I return you thanks for Hampton's pamphlet, and am 
 indebted to you whatever it cost. The notices concerning 
 Wolmer-forest in Gent. Mag. came, I conclude, from Dr. 
 Chandler, whose extracts from the Worldham Register are 
 genuine. We have this year a most lovely harvest, much 
 corn— but no hops. Our fruit is well ripened, and grapes 
 very forward. 
 
 You pay an high compliment to my crocuses, but were not 
 aware that it will bring more lines on your back. Read 
 them, as little exercises, made last autumn for the use of my 
 nephews (for such they really were), and then you will give 
 them all reasonable allowances. Some weeks ago Dr. Chandler 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 197 
 
 was at Portsmouth; but we have not seen him. The Dr. does 
 not seem disposed to settle. May I presume to send my 
 humble respects to Dr. Townson, whom 1 have sometimes 
 seen, a long time ago, at Magd. Coll. Sportsmen expect a 
 vast breed of game this season. Pray be so good as to favour 
 me with a letter at your leisure. Mrs. J. White joins in 
 respects. I am 
 
 Your obliged servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 I am glad that you are pleased with the passage from the 
 life of Peireskius, and that you, as well as myself, have been 
 haunted with passages in music. 
 
 If you will look in Gent. Mag. for June 1783, you will 
 find, under article " Metamorphosis," a copy of verses written 
 by a poor dear Oxford friend long since dead, who was 
 pleased, about 35 years ago, to make himself merry with my 
 attachment to gardening. 
 
 A HARVEST-SCENE*: 
 
 AFTER THE MANNER OF THOMSON. 
 
 Wak'd by the gentle gleamings of the morn, 
 Soon clad, the Reaper, provident of want, 
 Hies, chearful-hearted, to the ripen'd field : 
 Nor hastes alone, attendant by his side 
 His faithful wife, sole partner of his cares, 
 Bears on her breast the sleeping babe ; behind 
 With steps unequal trips the infant train f. 
 Thrice happy pair, in love and labour joined ! 
 
 All day they ply their task ; with mutual chat 
 Beguiling each the sultry, tedious hours : 
 Around them falls in rows the sever'd corn ; 
 Or the shocks rise in regular array. 
 
 * [These lines were inserted in the second and subsequent editions of 
 the work.— T. B.J 
 
 t [ . . . sequitur patreni non passibus aequis, 
 
 Pone subit conjux. /En, ii. 724. | 
 
198 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 But when high noon invites to short repast, 
 Beneath the shade of shelf ring thorn they sit, 
 Divide the simple meal, and drain the cask : 
 The swinging cradle lulls the whimp'ring babe 
 Meantime ; while growling round, if at the tread 
 Of hasty passenger alarm'd, as of their store 
 Protective, stalks the cur with bristling back, 
 To guard the scanty scrip and russet garb. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 South Lambeth, Mar. 30, 1784. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I take it very kind that you should remember me, when pro- 
 bably I owed you a letter all the while. As I propose to re- 
 turn to Selborne on Friday next, and to set out for Oxford on 
 Easter Tuesday, it does not seem very probable that we shall 
 meet. If you are in London on a Thursday, I would advise 
 you by all means to attend on the R. S. and Antiquary-meet- 
 ings in their new splendid rooms at Somerset-house. Dr. 
 Chandler can probably put you in a method of being intro- 
 duced ; if you do not see him, attend in the outer room, be- 
 tween the two rooms, at a quarter before seven in the evening, 
 and enquire for Dr. Lort, who, I trust, on your using my 
 name, will introduce you to both the meetings, where perhaps 
 you may hear somewhat worth your trouble. The Antiq. 
 Society, I find, is growing very fashionable ; for I observed 
 that many Right Honourables were balloted for on Thursday 
 se'nnight. The weather has been dismal and winter-like ever 
 since I left home ; however, I have great advantages in these 
 parts, having a bed at command both in town and country 
 and a carriage to take me to town. Tho. Davis, the book- 
 seller, has just published his memoirs on plays and players, a 
 pleasant book. He has a good stile, and language that no 
 man need be ashamed of, and abounds in curious and pleasant 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 199 
 
 anecdotes. Mr. Etty has heard twice from his son at the 
 Cape of Good Hope ; his ship was burnt in the Indian seas, 
 from which he had a miraculous escape, and was carried naked 
 aboard another ship in company ; he lost every thing. Molly 
 White's rhimes were Norwegian. If you see any lines in 
 Gent. Mag. on such soft weather as I have languished for in 
 vain the spring thro', treat them with what lenity you may. 
 
 Mrs. J. White joins in respects. If you hear nothing 
 curious at the K. S. or Antiq. meetings, at least you will see 
 two grand rooms and many respectable people, besides Somer- 
 set House, a national building as big as three or four colleges ! 
 
 I am, with due respect, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Brazen-Nose, Jan. 22, 1786. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Epic poets, with the approbation of Horace, " in medias ru- 
 unt res;" but a letter-writer, a much humbler being, com- 
 monly begins at one end, though it may happen to be the 
 wrong end. Let me inform you then, first of all, that on 
 Monday last I got to College safe and well, and found my 
 portmanteau in my room waiting my arrival. Of some parts 
 of my travels since I left Selborne you may possibly have 
 heard from your neighbours. This, however, you probably will 
 not have heard; and I know it will give you pleasure to hear, 
 that I found Mr. Loveday, excepting some slight remains of 
 a cough, very well, his hearing better than usual, and his 
 memory, in spite of all that he says, just as good as it has ever 
 been since I have had the happiness of his acquaintance. 
 Mrs. Loveday was confined, in consequence, I believe, of her 
 great attention to Mr. L. in his late illness. The rest of the 
 familv were well. Dr. and Mrs. Loveday returned to Wil- 
 
200 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 liamseot, whence a letter says a Lunelle of anecdotes, &c, re- 
 specting the spectators &c, was sent to London a year or two 
 ago. This is a little episode. Now for Caversham again, 
 whither I went to tea after dining in Reading ; and as I was 
 going in the dusk I was accosted in a manner that amused 
 me not a little — "Why, it looks very ghastly; all these mea- 
 dows are quite flooded entirely." From Caversham on Wed- 
 nesday I proceeded to Windsor, and thence next day as far 
 as Kensington, where I met Miss Chase in the street, and ac- 
 cepted an invitation to dinner. I found the family full of 
 joy with the very agreeable news which they had received the 
 day before, as you have probably heard, from the two Mr. 
 Chases in India. Next day I went on to London, had the 
 pleasure of seeing your brother very well in Fleet Street, and, 
 after making several other visits, dined with Mr. Lewis in 
 Frederick's Place, where I had the pleasure of finding him 
 and Mrs. Lewis and abundance of nephews and nieces (for 
 they call me Uncle Churton) very well, and a prospect of an 
 addition to the number very soon. Mr. L. had seen a letter 
 from Mrs. Chandler a few days before ; all well. Having 
 finished my business in town, which was to learn whether Mrs. 
 Winchester was at H. Wycombe, I returned to sleep in the 
 purer air of Kensington, and next day set forward for Wy- 
 combe ; but I had not gone far when I perceived a solitary 
 flake of snow approaching the ground. " Oh ! " quoth I, " is 
 this the sport I am to have?" and another and another fea- 
 ther, either from Wales or somewhere else, soon succeeded, 
 and I was as white and fair in my snowy plumes as you 
 please. After riding about ten or a dozen miles, a bit of 
 bread and a glass of brandy, " decus vita?," were no uncom- 
 fortable things ; and I got on to Wycombe, the snow still 
 continuing, neither wet nor fatigued. 
 
 I see Whitney's ' Emblems ' are in the Bodleian. Bellen- 
 denus, who published the work which I mentioned, " De tribus 
 luminibus Roman orum," from which Middleton is said to have 
 translated whole pages in his ' Life of Cicero,' published before 
 a small 12° tract which is called l Ciceronis Princeps;' and 
 rhr, like the ' Lumina,' is drawn up in the words of Cicero, and 
 
AND THE REV. R. OHURTON. 201 
 
 contains the scattered maxims &c. relating to government 
 from the different parts of his works ; it is addressed to Prince 
 Henry; and in the preface he mentions having drawn up from 
 the same author what he had said on the History and Anti- 
 quities of Rome, and digested in several books which he in- 
 tended to publish. He no doubt means the ' De tribus lum. 
 R.;' but he does not there call it by that name; and why he 
 did so call it, no account, as far as appears, can be given. J 
 have shewn the inscription on the ostrich shell at the vicarage 
 to a linguist. It is Dutch ; but the word on the flag of the 
 ship, which, if I copied it right, has no vowel, is as yet a 
 puzzle. I observed a circumstance in the late frost which 
 was new to me; but I daresay you are well acquainted with it. 
 Having pulled off, as I was going to bed, my silk stockings 
 and those I wore under them together, as I was separating 
 them I heard a great crackling, upon which I carried the 
 other into the dark, to see as well as hear the effect ; and 
 during the separation the sparks were so vivid and plenteous 
 that a person unacquainted with electricity would have thought 
 the stockings would be burnt. After this, holding the silk 
 stocking in one hand, I passed the other down it several times, 
 and as often as I did it a blaze, but without any noise, fol- 
 lowed my hand ; I think the stockings have been washed only 
 once. The next day, having an older pair on, the frost still 
 continuing, there was no noise or fire during the separation, 
 nor could I elicit the smallest spark with my hand. It seems 
 by this as if silk lost in some degree its electrical as well as 
 wearable properties by time. I dined yesterday in company 
 with Dr. Parr, late of Norwich, but now going to a living in 
 Warwickshire, where he means to take a few boarders. He 
 is a Cambridge man; and a sermon of his is reviewed in the last 
 Mag. He himself reviews sometimes ; the Oxford Cicero was 
 reviewed by him, where I had a little rap, having in the account 
 of MSS. said " licet fert " instead of "ferat." I suppose he 
 does not know who drew up the account. He seems a very sen- 
 sible and learned man ; but, pace tanti viri dixerim, dogmati- 
 cal and overbearing. * * * I began this two or three days 
 ago ; but one business or other prevented my finishing it. I 
 
202 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 have written to Dr. Chandler. Give my best respects to Mrs. 
 J. White, and comp ts to the surgeon, who I hope will get on 
 well in his new situation. I hope Mrs. Etty and the ladies 
 are well, and beg to be remembered to them. I owe you 
 many thanks for your kind hospitality, and, hoping to hear 
 from you at your leisure, I am, 
 
 Yours, &c, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Selborne, June 6, 1787. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I am just arrived from Waverley, and very sorry not to find 
 the master of this hospitable mansion at home. I did not 
 know that I should be at Waverley these holidays till just 
 before I set out thither; and when my plan was fixt I pur- 
 posed at several times to write to enquire whether you were 
 at Selborne ; but one or other avocation prevented me. So 
 here I am ; and your bread and butter, and cream and tea and 
 sugar, will shortly suffer great depredations. However, in 
 some respects I hope you will be the better, aye, and the richer, 
 for my visit. In the first place I bring you an Anglesey 
 penny from the fair hands of Miss Loveday, who, I hope, by 
 this time is in perfect health. When I called at Caversham 
 on Whit Tuesday a bad fever was just gone off, but she still 
 kept her bed. Of her friends, however, she was not unmind- 
 ful, and she sent me down this coin with a commission to 
 bring it hither. I never saw Mr. L. in better health or spirits, 
 though his leg, which he bruised some time ago and neglected, 
 is not well, as it would be soon if he would rest it before him; 
 but he prefers a wounded leg with activity to sound limbs and 
 idleness. This incomparable friend of ours, who knows every 
 thing, presently showed me the 'Annals of Waverley' in print. 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 203 
 
 among some other tracts published by Gale. Dr. Adee, M.D., 
 whom you knew probably, collected a Hist, of Waverley Abbey; 
 and my friend Dr. Bostock has a transcript of it. He has 
 made considerable use of the annals, and appears to have put 
 together all, or nearly all, that is to be met with on the sub- 
 ject. I left a paper for you at Fleet Street, which said that 
 the heart of Peter de Eupibus was buried at Waverley, and 
 his body at Winchester. The Hist, of Waverley mentions 
 this ; and Dr. Adee adds " that when Mr. Child first came to 
 the place, a heart was dug up in a leaden pot, and preserved in 
 some liquor." Simon de Montfort is also mentioned ; but 
 this, I think, I extracted on the said paper. 
 
 No Mr. White, no Mrs. J. White, no Mr. Edm. White, no 
 Mrs. Etty ! Alas poor Selborne ! thy grotesque lanes, thy 
 romantic vales, thy delightful walks, thy verdant hills, thy ex- 
 tensive prospects deserve to be honoured by other inhabitants 
 than the philosophic Timothy in the beginning of June ! Here, 
 however (for I have almost done mischief enough to the loaf), 
 here " Let me wander all unseen, By hedgerow elms and hil- 
 locks green," in fields somewhat more fertile than the Surrey 
 hills, where the largest of the trees first planted by 0. Hunter is 
 about 3 feet in girt, after groAving, I believe, more years than 
 I have been growing ; but then in height they have far out- 
 stript me, to say nothing of my friend the archer of Rolle *, 
 who honoured me with a letter yesterday after a half year's 
 silence. He says not a syllable about returning to England; 
 but if he has left Rolle, as perhaps he may before a letter ar- 
 rives, it will be forwarded. He says the English literature 
 and nation enjoy in Switzerland a degree of esteem which is 
 very flattering to a lover of his country, and that it is sur- 
 prizing to see the number of English authors to be met with 
 in the libraries of gentlemen in the delicious little town where 
 he was when he wrote to me. 
 
 I enclose you a letter from the ' Wanderer ' (" Thickness the 
 traveller ") ; how instructive it may prove I know not, Mr. 
 Burby tells me he saw a letter from C. Etty which was for- 
 warded to Mrs. Etty, and that he apprehends he is on the 
 
 * [Dr. Chandler.— T. B.] 
 
i>04 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 English coast, if he is not landed. I was much indebted to 
 the hospitality and conversation of S. Lambeth during my 
 visit to the metropolis at Easter, which was not so long as it 
 would have been if the smoke had not given me a wretched 
 cough, which the air of Oxford and the country removed some 
 time ago. I am afraid I shall not see Selborne again this 
 summer, as I am bound for Cheshire towards the end of the 
 Term, which begins to-day. I came across the country from 
 Waverley by the Holte, through Kingsley, and along the edge of 
 Wolmer, and never was much out of my way I believe. Some 
 of the hills hereabout I knew as I approached them ; but there 
 was a clump of trees on a promontory to the left of the Tem- 
 ple nearer Empsholt which disturbed me a good deal. I 
 thought I must have seen and remembered such a prominent 
 feature (if you allow fashionable expressions) in the land- 
 scape. I am much obliged to you for the kind letter which 
 I found in my room on my return to college after Easter. 
 And now let me enquire after friend Timothy. He looks very 
 well, and says not a syllable of a late elopement. Perhaps he 
 is ashamed of it ; and yet who knows whether he was not 
 going in quest of his master ; and if he had not speedily been 
 brought back he might possibly have surprized you by an un- 
 expected visit at S. Lambeth. Thomas tells me that C. Etty 
 is arrived in England, which I am very glad to hear. I saw 
 Mrs. Etty for five minutes at Beaconsfield on my way to 
 London. The rain, which is just set in, will, I hope, be of 
 service to the country ; but I could gladly have excused it for 
 three hours longer — one to walk about here, and two to ride 
 back to Waverley. My great coat I very wisely left at Read- 
 ing. I might make that in my way to Waverley ; but then 
 I should run a risk of losing my dinner, which, at a proper 
 interval after breakfast, is an object of some importance. It 
 still rains, and I am still, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient and much obliged servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTOX. '205 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 FROM ME. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Brasen Nose, Oct. 14, 1787. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I OUGHT to have written to you sooner ; but, besides other 
 reasons, my cold was rather worse, either from change of wea- 
 ther or travelling, or both, and I was not willing to send you 
 an unfavourable account. I hope I can now truly say that I 
 am still better than when I left Hants, though my cough is 
 not yet entirely gone. I lost my way to Waverley as usual ; 
 but I did not much regret it. I endeavoured to cut off angles 
 upon entering the Holt ; and keeping a good look out for the 
 great oak, I found myself under it before I was aware. I 
 rode round it, and must confess it the largest by far I ever 
 saw. The nearest to it, but " longo proximus intervallo," 
 grows at Marbury in Cheshire. Going on from the oak I 
 came to the Lodge, no very splendid house for a nobleman. 
 Here I got instructions from one of the servants, and pro- 
 ceeded without any more deviation to Waverley. I sheltered 
 once or twice for a few minutes in the Holt while a slight 
 shower passed over ; and the next day I stopt at Hartford 
 bridge (where I breakfasted) about two hours on a similar 
 occasion, and then got on safely to Caversham. Mr. Loveday's 
 cold, which had been better, was that day increased; but from 
 losing some blood twice since that, he is stronger, and his cold 
 much better. The next day was rather stormy; but by quick- 
 ening or retarding my pace, I slipt through the clouds without 
 getting wet, and got to Oxford in good time. The next day, 
 which was Saturday, not feeling very bold, I went in a post- 
 chaise to Williamscot; and good nursing and gentle rides, 
 though we could not procure a milch ass, soon made me 
 better. 
 
 Oct. 15. On my road from Reading hither I saw martins 
 
206 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 and swallows, perhaps half a score of each. On the 6th, 
 going to Williamscot, I saw two swallows ; and last Friday 
 (12th) I saw about half a dozen martins flitting about over 
 the village of Williamscot ; I have seen none since, though I 
 had some hopes of seeing some to day as I was riding at noon 
 about Headington ; for it was particularly fine. I thank you 
 for forwarding the letter, and will repay you with pleasure 
 whatever you may have advanced for me on that or any other 
 account when I have the happiness of seeing you again ; and 
 I do hope, please God, to live to see the day when my health 
 shall be established in such a degree that I may not be a bur- 
 den and plague to my friends wherever I am. I looked in 
 the ' De Senectute,' where a country life is celebrated, but do 
 not meet with any passage that I think quite applicable as a 
 motto. I saw your Provost at church to day, and thought he 
 looked very well ; his wig improves him much. At Wil- 
 liamscot I cast my eye over the account of Alien Priories; and 
 I see a great part of the account consists of extracts in Latin, 
 titles of deeds, or references to them, &c. ; so that if there is 
 Latin in the Selborne ' Antiquities,' it will be agreeable to good 
 authorities. However, for my own single opinion (and I 
 speak with the frankness of sincere friendship), I should like 
 it never the worse if in one or two of the letters Latin was 
 less introduced, provided the sense could without much diffi- 
 culty be given in honest English. I hope Mr. B. White, who 
 I suppose is still your neighbour or your guest, finds his 
 health before this time perfectly re-established. I beg my best 
 respects to him, and to Mr. T. White, and, in one word, to all 
 at Newton and Selborne. * * * I owe you indeed many, 
 many thanks for your most obliging friendship and hospi- 
 tality, which you will permit me to present with every good 
 wish for your welfare. 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your very sincere and faithful servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
AND THE KEY. K. CHURTON. 207 
 
 LETTER XIIL 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Williamscot, Banbury, July 31, 1788. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 You were kind enough in your last letter not to require an 
 immediate answer ; yet I made a discovery about a week ago 
 which I did intend to communicate earlier. Do not be alarmed; 
 it is not the hibernacula of the Hirundines that I have found 
 out, nor even the longitude, though I did indeed meet with a 
 person at Higham Ferrars who told me he had discovered that, 
 and the perpetual motion, and to square the circle. My disco- 
 veries are of a much more humble nature, and what any other 
 travelled gentleman, even if he did not ride a black horse but a 
 pale white one, might have made. In the course of my travels I 
 came to Bourn, a small market town in Lincolnshire. Inqui- 
 ring for curiosities, " You have heard, I dare say," said a de- 
 cent man in the street, " of Bourn well head, a spring that 
 turns three mills in the space of a mile," I think he said, but 
 certainly in the parish. I went to see it ; and I will extract 
 the account of it from my as yet inedited journal. " You 
 might take it at first for a stagnant pool ; but there are no 
 runners (as a man called them) into it, and the water is most 
 clear and beautiful, in extent perhaps 30 yards by 20 ; and 
 one if not two copious streams run out of it (I believe they 
 mostly run into one ; but the streams are divided in some 
 places for the convenience of the town) : yet it is in the midst 
 of a flat country, and I question whether there is any land 
 higher than this as much even as three feet within as many 
 miles. Indeed the sides of the pool are some of them higher 
 than the adjacent land, and seem to have been raised either 
 to give the streams issuing hence the direction wished or 
 greater force, or for both purposes. There are ' trenches,' as 
 they call them, close by, which perhaps surrounded this noble 
 
208 CORRESPONDENCE OE GILBERT WHITE 
 
 spring. The ' castle-yard' is adjoining on the side next the town. 
 The largest extent of the intrenchments in a quadrangular form 
 is beyond. An elderly man told me there are many very fine 
 springs in the parish ; the town doubtless has its name from 
 this spring. The mills are ' undershot ;' and one of them is 
 not above a hundred yards from the well-head, though by the 
 stream (that winds about) it may be more. There is higher 
 land (perhaps it may be called a hill) about three miles off, 
 perhaps not quite so much, and in appearance a wood upon 
 it." I send you this account, as it confirms your etymology 
 of Selborne, if it needs confirmation ; and if you think so you 
 may perhaps mention this in a note, if the work is not entirely 
 finished. I have not looked to see whether Camden says any 
 thing about Bourn, but it is likely he does. * * * 
 
 Your obliged servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO MR. CHURTON. 
 
 Selborne, Oct. 14, 1788. 
 Dear Sir, 
 I snatch this opportunity, by means of Mr. Ventris, who is 
 going to leave us, to return you thanks for your kind enqui- 
 ries, and to inform you that my brother was mending very 
 fast of his first complaint, but was seized last night with a 
 sharp fit of the gout, which we trust in the end may do him 
 good. The new Rector talks of coming to Faringdon to reside 
 immediately, tho' he is not yet in possession. We are glad 
 to hear that you got well to Coll. 
 
 Y r very humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 209 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO MR. CHUBTON. 
 
 Selborne, Dec. 3, 17- 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 There is an old maxim, which poor dear Mrs. Etty now and 
 
 then made use of, that when once " Stir up we beseech thee, 
 
 Lord, the wills of thy faithful people," &c. had been read 
 and passed over, the festival of Xtmass came creeping upon 
 us before we could be aware. Being reminded by this wise 
 saw, I began to think that I would write to neighbour 
 Churton, and invite him to S., when your agreeable letter 
 came in. 
 
 It is a very flattering account that you give of the reception 
 which my book met with at Caversham and vour lodgings. 
 There is reason to wish that the work may find many more 
 such candid readers: if not, what is to become of the Editors, 
 who have spared no expense in getting it up, and who have 
 printed off a large impression? 
 
 I am now reading every day yr friend Dr. Townson's dis- 
 courses, which give me, as you engaged that they would, 
 singular satisfaction: there is an acumen, and nicety of critical 
 discernment, not often to be met with. In his sermon, p. 282, 
 
 1 am particularly charmed with the author's remarks upon the 
 use Xt made of his parables, and the reasons why they were 
 so nicely adapted to the taste of his hearers ! * 
 
 We have just heard that Miss and Reb. Chase were on the 
 wing for India. Their motive must be, no doubt, a view of 
 settling in the married state. Celibacy has something in it so 
 abhorrent to the sex, that they will flie from pole to polo to 
 
 * [The reference is to Dr. Townson's ' Discourses on the Four Gospels,' 
 which were at that time much celebrated. Dr. Townson was a Fellow 
 of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Rector of Malpas, in Cheshire, Mr. 
 Churton's native place. He became Archdeacon of Richmond, and died 
 in 1792.— T. B.] 
 
 VOL. II. P 
 
210 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 avoid it. However, let their fate be what it may, I wish them 
 happy. 
 
 Pray bring what you transcribe respecting the Kopoovr] and 
 ^e/UoW ; some use may possibly be made of it. I rejoice to 
 hear that Dr. Chandler is well. I most readily condole with 
 you on the sad calamity that has befallen at Windsor ; and 
 pray to God that He will be pleased speedily to restore the 
 King to a right use of his faculties. Should the nation be 
 long deprived of one of its states, so necessary to the consti- 
 tution, such a spirit of party, it is to be feared, will break 
 forth, as may make what we remember of political struggles a 
 mere civil game to what may ensue. 
 
 Mr. Loveday has just written me a letter, in which he says, 
 " If in the perusal any things should occur worthy of remark, 
 such observations shall be transmitted to iSelborne." Now 
 pray tell that gent, that any strictures from such a quarter 
 will be most gratefully received ; and be sure to add, that 
 could such have been obtained before publication, they would 
 have been deemed inestimable. Pray come on the 24th; for 
 if you cannot be as regular in your migrations as a ring- 
 ousel or a swallow, where is the use of all your knoivledge ? 
 since it may be outdone by instinct. When L d Botetourt was 
 Governor of Virginia, a slave, meeting him, pulled off his cap, 
 and made him a bow, which the benevolent peer returned. 
 Good God ! says a by-stander, does your L d ship pay any 
 regard to such a wretch ? By all means, says the good 
 nobleman : would you have me outdone in common civility 
 by a negroe ? Mrs. J. Wh. joins in respects to you and J. 
 Etty ; and to Mr. Ventris, when you see him. 
 
 Yr most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 21] 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Malpas, July 31, 1789 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 Since my last I have heard of many instances of the 
 great havoc which the long frost of last winter made; with fish 
 in ponds. My brother says he has observed them in former 
 frosts when a hole was made in the ice, appear at it almost 
 dead, and after continuing there a short space, swim away 
 very alertly. But last winter was far worse. I should have 
 been glad to have seen your Goossander and Dun-diver, if they 
 were as beautiful in plumage or as curious in their formation 
 as the speckled diver which I did see ; and more beautiful or 
 more curious I think they hardly could be. At Whitsuntide 
 I went to Cambridge to examine old manuscripts ; but when 
 I was there I saw some other curiosities ; and amongst the 
 rest I was pleased to see the skeleton of a speckled diver in 
 the anatomy school. Dr. Harwood *, the Professor of Anatomy . 
 shewed me this among his collections ; and I think it was 
 done by himself. The feet with their web were entire. * 
 
 Mr. Gough's i Camden ' I have only had leisure just to look 
 into, but it seems a truly Herculean opus. Mistakes are un- 
 avoidable in much shorter works ; so that if this have some, as 
 it is said to have, it is far from being wonderful. He was of 
 Bene't College, Cambridge, and I am not certain whether the 
 master did not tell me that he was a pupil of his. His father 
 died when he was young, and his mother was a rigid presby- 
 terian, and he was brought up among persons of that stamp. 
 
 * [Sir Busick Harwood, M.D., of Christ's College, Cambridge, was 
 Professor of Anatomy in the University from 1785 to 1814. Ou his 
 death his private collections were purchased by the University, and with 
 them originated its present Anatomical Museums. His osteological speci- 
 mens were not numerous, and that spoken of above no longer exists.— 
 A. N.] 
 
 [■ -2 
 
212 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 When be was entered at Cambridge, and had been at prayers, 
 he turned to his Guardian who went to fix bim there, and 
 said with some emphasis, "This is a very rational form of 
 worship," or words to that effect ; and I hope his approbation 
 of what so highly deserves it continues unabated. When I 
 was in town at Easter I saw Mr. Grough twice and had great 
 reason to be pleased with bim. I had been told be had a 
 plate of our founder's monument. This was not true; but, 
 though I had heard an account of him rather different, I 
 found bim extremely civil and communicative. He came to 
 the coffee house and sat with me half an hour. 
 
 I was mucb obliged to Mr. B. White, Jun., for a seat for 
 myself and a friend to see tbe procession to St. Paul's ; but I 
 will not attempt to describe that truly magnificent spectacle, 
 of which you have had a better account by word of mouth 
 
 from those who saw it f. * * * * 
 
 I am, with cornp* to Mrs. J. White, to the family at 
 Newton, &c. &c, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your sincere humble servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 P.S. I believe Dr. Loveday desired me to say with his 
 comp ts you should have any notes Mr. L. had made, or him- 
 self, on the History of Selborne. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO MR. CHURTON. 
 
 Selehurne, Sept. 1, 1789. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your letter of July 31 st lies before me, and informs me that 
 you are now breathing your native air, which, I hope, will 
 agree with you : Malpas will moreover, I trust, prove a 
 
 f [This was on the occasion of the King, George III., going to St. 
 Paul's to return thanks fur his recovery, April 2-°>, 1789. — T. B.] 
 
AND THE REV. It. CHURTON. 213 
 
 mother to you, and not a step-mother. The reason that 
 Edm" White delayed his journey to Oxford was the badness 
 of the weather, which broke-up the party ; however he went 
 himself on the last day of term but one, and took his degree 
 on the last day. I rejoice to hear that y 1 ' good friend Dr. 
 Townson continues so well at his advanced time of life ; and 
 desire my respects to him. As to Dr. Chandler I have heard 
 from him twice in the course of this summer, and have 
 looked him out an house, the best in Alton : he seemed in his 
 last to pay some attention to my information; but I have 
 doubts about his settling, and do not depend on him as a 
 neighbour. He at present is much embarrassed by the 
 troubles in France, which would render a journey through 
 that kingdom truely dangerous. He talked in his last of 
 going up to Basil, and so down the Rhine to Holland. 
 While I was in town I turned over Mr. Gough's ' Camden ' : it 
 is truely a Herculean labour: no wonder that there should be 
 some mistakes. In the map of Hants I saw Wetmer Foresl 
 instead of Wolmer. Were I to live near you I verily believe 
 I should make an ornithologist of you. I have just found out 
 that the country people have a notion that the Fern-owl, or 
 Eve-jarr, Avhich they also call a Puckeridge, is very injurious 
 to weanling calves by inflicting, as it strikes them, the fatal 
 distemper known to cow-leeches by the name of puckeridge *. 
 Thus does this harmless, ill-fated bird fall under a double 
 imputation, which it by no means deserves, — in Italy, of 
 sucking the teats of goats, where it is called Caprimulgus : 
 and with us of communicating a deadly disorder to cattle. 
 But the truth of the matter is, the malady above mentioned is 
 occasioned by the (Estrus bovis, a dipterous insect, which lays 
 its eggs along the backs of kine, where the maggots, when 
 hatched, eat their way through the hide of the beast into the 
 flesh, and grow to a large size. I have just talked with a 
 man who says he has been called in, more than once, to strip 
 the calves that had died of the puckeridge; that the ail or 
 complaint lay along the chine, where the flesh was full of 
 * [These observations on the jmckeridffe will be found almost verbatim 
 in the « Observations on Birds," Vol. I. p. 439.— T. 11] 
 
214 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 purulent matter. Once I myself saw a large rough maggot 
 of this sort taken out of the back of a cow. These maggots 
 in Essex are called wornils. The least attention would con- 
 vince men that these birds, weak and unarmed as they are, 
 cannot inflict any harm on kine, unless they possess the 
 powers of animal magnetism, and can affect them by flutter- 
 ing over them. Pray ask y r brother whether he knows the 
 bird and the distemper, and whether Cheshire men are 
 persuaded that the latter is occasioned by the former. We 
 had experienced a most lovely wheat-harvest; but now there 
 is rain, which will respite the partridges for one day at least. 
 As soon as we came from town my house became full of 
 visitors ; we have had Mr. and Mrs. Sam Barker from Rut- 
 land, and Miss Eliz. Barker, a fine young woman, who is 
 allowed to be a very good lesson-player on the harpsichord. 
 They left us last Tuesday. We now expect my Bro. Tho. 
 White and family. My brother, I hear, is very well. Pray 
 present my respects to Dr. Loveday, and tell him I should be 
 very glad to see any notes or remarks made by him or his 
 venerable father on the history of Selborne : could they have 
 been procured before publication, they would have been more 
 valuable, because I might then have availed myself of their 
 corrections. My book is still asked for in Fleet Street. A 
 gent, came the other day, and said he understood that there 
 was a Mr. White who had lately published two books, a good 
 one and a bad one ; the bad one was concerning Botany Bay, 
 the better respecting some parish. The bookseller recom- 
 mended the parochial work; and told the enquirer that he did 
 not believe the author ever had been at Botany Bay, or had 
 ever written about it. 
 
 Mrs. J. White joins in respects. Mr. and Mrs. Ed. White 
 arc gone to Ramsgate in Kent, a watering-place on the coast. 
 Mr. and Mrs Taylor are here. W r e have again a very fine 
 crop of hops. 
 
 Yr most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
AND THE REV. R OHURTON. 215 
 
 LETTER XV1JI. 
 
 FROM MR CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Brasen-Nose, Oct. 2o, 1789. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 The date of your last and still unanswered letter 1 am 
 ashamed to mention. However, though I have not written to 
 you, I am glad to hear my friend Miss Reeve has been seeing 
 you. Very learned and, I hope you think, very civil, a 
 knight's eldest daughter with perhaps a thousand pound for 
 every year of her age, or at least half as many. Hendon 
 House near Maidenhead is in a most charming country, and 
 as yet perhaps a non-descript. As you are perfectly acquainted 
 with every quadruped and bird and insect and flower near 
 Selborne and have introduced them to the public and to im- 
 mortality, it will be a pleasant circumstance to vary the scene, 
 and add celebrity to Windsor and its neighbourhood. 
 
 " Methinks I see thee straying on the ' thicket 
 
 And asking every ' bird that roves the sky 
 ' If ever it have ' seen fair Selborne's down." 
 
 1 cannot say but I am interested in this expected migration. 
 I can then whip over to see you often and take a dinner or a 
 bed for a single night and return to college. But Selborne is a 
 long way off. And yet it is worth going a long way to see, 
 if it agrees at all with the account which a very curious and 
 interesting book in my room gives of it. You must know 
 that I am reading this work with great avidity in the very 
 few leisure moments that I can find or steal, and I am only 
 sorry that the Index to a volume containing such a variety of 
 useful and authentic information is not much more copious. 
 If you are acquainted with the writer of this " good book," 
 you may tell him, with my humble service, that I hope to be 
 able to give him some papers that may help in the second 
 edition to remedy this single defect. But it is time to answer 
 
216 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 your queries in regard to the distemper called " Puckeridge." 
 I consulted my brother and other persons on this subject and 
 minuted down the particulars he gave me, in which others 
 also concurred. The name of Pucheridge is unknown in 
 Cheshire. The disease along the chine, or rather the maggots 
 that cause it, they call "worrybrees" ' and a single one 
 " uorrybree." But they are so far from thinking these 
 maggots prejudicial, that, on the contrary, they judge the calf 
 that has these "worrybrees" in the back less likely to be 
 struck (as they call it) with the hyant, which is or is con- 
 sidered a distinct disorder. When they are affected with this 
 it is perceivable by the hand; for the skin is hard, and rustles 
 (if you know that word) under the hand when rubbed by it. 
 Sometimes there is one or more spots of this nature, and 
 sometimes the body is almost covered with them. When the 
 skin is taken off, the flesh in those parts is like jelly. It is 
 deemed almost incurable, and they die in a few hours. My 
 brother never knew or heard of more than one instance of a 
 calf thus stricken recovering. That was but slightly affected, 
 perhaps in a single spot ; and the owner took the skin off the 
 part and put in a rowel, or something of the sort. This 
 disorder prevails most in Spring and Autumn, and commonly 
 in calves of the first or second year, seldom in older cattle. 
 Quid existimas de hac questione, an Puckerigium sit Hyan- 
 tium? and Avhence comes this remarkable word? Are the 
 Hyades supposed to cause it? I have heard the expression 
 planet-struck, but whether of this disease I am not sure. In 
 Cheshire they call calves the first winter twinters, in the second 
 year sterks. The last is common, the other growing obsolete. 
 I take it to be a contraction of two winters; for it is applied to 
 them not as soon as calved, but when, if they were calved in 
 winter, they are two winters old. 
 
 Dr. Loveday had a letter, about six weeks ago, from Dr. 
 
 [The (Estrus bovis is commonly known in many parts of England by 
 the name " breeze.'' This is derived from the A.-S. " briose/' which had 
 originally a similar signification. The additional term ''worry" refers, 
 of course, to its effect upon cattle when attacked by it. Of the word 
 ''hyant " 1 run find no trace. — T. B.l 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 217 
 
 Chandler, still at Rolle, but talking of moving, but yet, if 
 possible, more unsettled in bis plans than ever. Yon mention 
 jack-daws building- in rabbit-burrows. It is not equally exi ra- 
 ordinary, but perhaps you may not know that they build in 
 Elden hole, a perpendicular aperture in a rock, about 90 yards 
 deep, in Derbyshire. I did not take any of their nests, nor, 
 indeed, did I see any; but I heard them chattering mosi 
 loquaciously, and perhaps "disturbed their ancient solitary 
 reign," by throwing stones into their little kingdom, when I 
 was in Derbyshire about 5 years ao'o. I go to town on 
 Saturday and return the Monday se'nnight. I shall probably 
 hear of* you in Fleet Street, and in a short time, I hope 
 (though I am unreasonable to expect it), be favoured with a 
 letter. You will be so good as to remember me with my best 
 wishes and respects to Mr. T. White, who, I understand, is 
 now with you, as also to Mr. Edm. White &c. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 Your sincere and much obliged humble servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 Dr. Bostock has gained a Chancery suit and another son. 
 Remember me to Miss Reeve when she calls next. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO MR. CHURTON. 
 
 Seleburne, Dec. 4. L789. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Tho' Oxford appears to my timid apprehensions to recede 
 every year farther and farther from Selborne; yet to you, 
 who are in the prime and vigour of life, Selborne ought not 
 to be one inch more removed from Oxford than when I firsi 
 knew you : therefore we shall depend much on seeing you at 
 Xtmass as usual. I have much to say to you : for surely we 
 live in a most eventful and portentous period: when wars, 
 devastations, revolutions, and insurrections crowd so fast upon 
 
21H CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 the back of one another, that a thinking mind cannot but 
 suppose that providence has some great work in hand ! But 
 of all these strange commotions, the sudden overthrow of the 
 French despotic monarchy is the most wonderful — a fabrick 
 which has been now erecting for near two centuries, and 
 whose foundations were laid so deep, that one would have 
 supposed it might have lasted for ages to come : yet it is 
 gone, as it were, in a moment !! 
 
 These troubles naturally put me in mind of Dr. Chandler, 
 who, the last time we heard of him, was at Brussels, in a most 
 uncomfortable situation, having his baggage seized and his 
 papers tumbled about, for which he was in great concern. A 
 man of his resolution and address, and who, by his long 
 voyage to the Levant, has, as it were, been inured to dangers 
 and difficulties, might by himself make his way thro' all the 
 misrule and uproar that prevail in all the provinces of the 
 Netherlands: but the case is very different where a man has a 
 wife and infant to protect and take care of ; and therefore I 
 heartily wish that he and family were safe at home. My 
 account of our visit from Miss Reeve, who paid us a great 
 compliment and did us much honour, I knew would make 
 you and Mrs. Ventris smile : I could tell you also, if I had a 
 mind, of a great honour received from Lady Coterel Dormer. 
 You are very kind in taking the trouble, amidst all yr busy 
 hours, of enlarging my index : when I had carryed it to its 
 present bulk, I desisted out of pure modesty, thinking I 
 should swell the vol. unreasonably; but, to say the truth, when 
 I showed it to my Bro. he expressed a wish that it had been 
 fuller: it was then too late. 
 
 Your worry bree is undoubtedly a corruption of breeze or 
 breese, a synonymous word with the gad-fly ', well known to 
 naturalists : as to hyant, we know nothing of the term, or of 
 the distemper intended thereby. When I was at Elden hole 
 I remember to have seen daws flying from out that horrible 
 and tremendous chasm. These birds, thought I, are wise in 
 their generation: for here they may breed uninterrupted from 
 age to age, since the most roguish boys dare not interrupt 
 their ancient inaccessible kingdom. 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 219 
 
 Are you a Whiteist ; or a Badcockist ? for 1 hear every 
 man in Oxford must be one or the other. 1 can tell you bow 
 you may do Edm d Wbite a good office. When he and wife 
 were in Oxford, last summer, they quartered at the Bear-inn, 
 where they left behind them the first vol. of the first edition of 
 Ditty's prose elegant extracts : it is a very odd-shaped vol. in 
 4 t0 , somewhat like a music book. If yon could recover tins 
 book, it would be received with thanks. 
 
 Mrs. J. Wh. and I join in respects to you and James Etty; 
 and in best wishes to Mr. Ventris, who, we hope, is re- 
 covering his health and strength very fast. When does Bp. 
 W. Smith, yr founder, appear ? We long to see you a bio- 
 grapher, and to read the result of your painful and curious 
 enquiries. 
 
 Yr obliged and humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 When you write, present my respects to Dr. Loveday and 
 Dr. Townson. How I wish that we had such a man as either 
 of them living at Selborne ! 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Brasen-Nose, Dec. 13, 17 s '.' 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your excellent letter deserves a much better answer than I 
 have time or ability to honour it with. But I can assure you 
 of one thing, which you, in your kindness to your friends, will 
 be glad to hear of. I depended upon having the pleasure, 
 V.D., of spending my Christmas at Selborne before your 
 obliging invitation arrived, and on that account declined Dr. 
 Loveday's invitation to pass the holidays at Williamscot, 
 where, however, I hope to be for two nights towards the latter 
 part of this week, and then, after speaking twenty pounds 
 
220 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 worth of Latin on St. Thomas's day, and eating mince pies 
 with the Principal, to set off for Reading, Tuesday the 22 nd , 
 and proceed for Selborne next day. So far so good. But 
 i liis is not all. I inquired for the volume left at the Bear; 
 and it is no discredit to the house that the book was found 
 safe in a drawer in the bar, and is now safe in my room 
 waiting to be put up in my portmanteau. Dr. Chandler, wife 
 and son arrived at Clapham about a week ago safe and well, 
 as you will probably have heard by some means or other 
 before this reaches you. Alas ! I have only found time to 
 read, and with much satisfaction, the History of Selborne, but 
 not to do much in enlarging the Index. However the loss is 
 less material as Dr. Lovedav has already or will soon under- 
 take it, and do it effectually. Marvellous indeed is the state 
 of things on the Continent, and when and how good order 
 and good government will be restored is far beyond my ken. 
 But an all-wise Providence, which can controul the madness 
 of the people, superintends the whole, and seems, as you justly 
 remark, to have some great work in hand. I did not know 
 till you told me that the " fatherlanders," as the papers call 
 them, seized Dr. Chandler's portmanteaus ; and 1 was afraid 
 they were lost through negligence. I hope they were re- 
 stored ; but I have not positively heard so. I shall be glad 
 to learn the particulars of the honour received from Lady 
 Coterel Dormer, and other matters, ex ore tuo. And among 
 these I am curious to hear more about worry-breese and 
 hyant ; for if the distemper known in Cheshire by the latter 
 name never visits Hampshire, the reason is well worth en- 
 quiring after. I scarcely know whether to call myself a 
 - Whiteist " or " Badcockist." The pamphlet of Dr. Gabriel 
 I think clearly shews that considerable assistance was re- 
 ceived, but by no means ascertains the degree. In my own 
 notion the Professor * would do well to state fairly and ex- 
 plicitly what was composed by Mr. Badcock, and what by 
 himself; and there are also some circumstances in his be- 
 haviour respecting the note which should be stated in a more 
 
 * [White was Professor of Chemistry at Oxford. He was no relation 
 of Gilbert White's.— T. B.] 
 
AND THE REV. K. CHURTON. 22] 
 
 favourable way to his character, if they ran consistently with 
 truth. 
 
 Bishop Smith sends his compliments and thanks you foi 
 your kind enquiries; but he says he shall not " walk the town 
 numbering good intellects " till next winter. His biographer 
 has lately had so much unavoidable business on his hands 
 respecting the living that he has had no time to talk with the 
 dead. I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your very sincere and obliged humble servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 LETTER XXL 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Braseu-Nose, April 1, 1790. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I am just returned from a short visit at Williamscot, whence 
 I fully purposed writing to you ; but yesterday, which was to 
 have been the day for that friendly office, I was totally 
 disabled by a bad headach, and the effects of it are far from 
 being gone at present. But expected business made my 
 return indispensable; and, now I am here, lest this memorable 
 day should lose its honour, the previous arrival of another 
 fellow made my presence unnecessary. However, let me 
 discharge my debt to you as well as I can; for if I wait 
 longer, you will perhaps be on your way hither before tlii- 
 can reach Selborne. Dr. Loveday and all his family are very 
 well. He desires his best respects to you, and had a hearty 
 laugh at the excellent parody of the "young idea," which I 
 had forgot to mention when I was there before for two nights. 
 The presents were wrapped and directed at Fletcher's shop ; 
 but yours, it seems, was spelt by some " unlettered muse." I 
 gave them a list of names with proper orthography. Your 
 little niece had a happy escape from a perilous situation. 1 
 remember being astonished at Mr. Warton's remark which 
 
222 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 you quote, where he says " Milton had a very bad car." As 
 to such lines as that you cite (" Shoots invisible virtues") I 
 think i hey were studiously rough, slow, or redundant, though 
 I do not pretend to determine the exact reason of each, or 
 undertake to justify them. But, as you justly observe, "his 
 manly melodies cannot but charm the judicious reader." 
 And if smoothness is required, Pope himself, with all his 
 polishing, has no lines more smooth and flowing than the 
 inimitable passage where he describes " smooth Adonis from 
 his native rock run[ning] purple to the sea." And the 
 numbers and pauses are so charmingly varied that they 
 "bring no satiety." I have not heard who is the author of 
 the ' Village Curate.' I think Mr. Crabbe wrote on some such 
 subject ; but of him I know but little, only I have heard his 
 poetry commended. I thank you for your intelligence about 
 Dr. Chandler, from whom Dr. Loveday and myself hear almost 
 as often as when he was at Rolle or at Rome. I am the more 
 surprised at his not writing to me as I sent him some papers 
 to Fleet Street about W. of Wainfleet, which he should have 
 told me he had received safe. I am glad you are likely to 
 have him for your neighbour during the summer; and I hope 
 your fine views will make him cease to languish for Switzer- 
 land or Italy. I hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing you 
 here next week. My motions are a little uncertain. My 
 immediate senior is going on Monday to look at Stoke 
 Bruern near Towcester, which his senior has declined accept- 
 ing, and he wants me to go with him ; but it is cold sport 
 looking at a living one is not sure of; and, to say the truth, I 
 do not at present wish for the option, as I wish to finish the 
 lives of our Founders before I accept a living from their 
 society ; and I have at present only written about four score 
 quarto pages of the bishop's life, and not yet translated him to 
 his second Bishopric. Excuse a shabby letter. Present my 
 best respects to Mrs. J. White and to the family at Newton. 
 I am, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your very sincere and most obliged servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
AM) THE REV. R. CHURTON. 223 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Brasen-Nose, Oct. 5, ] 792. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I take the opportunity of enclosing, in a packet to Dr. 
 Chandler, the two papers which I promised you, one of them 
 the epitaph of Mr. Ray, the other the extract from Aristotle 
 about the Caprimulgus, to which I have added a passage 
 about swallows in Italy that I thought you would like to see. 
 Mr. Armetriding, Rector of Steeple Aston, is a naturalist, and 
 as I called there, driven by stress of weather, on my way 
 from Williamscot, we were talking about the said Capri- 
 mulgus, and he took down Mr. Pennant and seemed to think 
 that Dor-hawk was one of the best names there given to this 
 bird. For other news of no great moment, I refer you to Dr. 
 Chandler's letter. I hope you are quite well, and beg my 
 best regards to Mrs. J. White. 
 
 Do you agree with Mr. A[rthur] Young about Lunar 
 years ? that every nineteenth is in its general features of wet, 
 dry, &c. very similar ? This Mr. Armetriding shewed me in 
 Mr. Young's annals, where, from some minutes of the nine- 
 teenth year backward from the present, it appears that that 
 also was extremely rainy. I have heard the same remark of 
 the Lunar Cycle before. I am, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your sincere humble servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 The following are the passages referred to in the above letter enclosed 
 
 to Dr. Chandler : — 
 
 [Ray was born at Black-Notley, in the county of Essex, in the year 
 1628, and died in the same place early in the year 170o. " lie was buried 
 (according to his own desire) in the church of that parish, where a monu- 
 ment is erected to him." The epitaph is too long for insertion here in 
 extenso. It commences with the following words : — 
 
224 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 • Eruditissimi viri Jobannis Raij, A.M. 
 
 Quicquid mortale fuit, 
 
 Hoc in angusto tumulo reconditum est. 
 
 At Scripta 
 
 Non una continet Regie : 
 
 Et Fania undequaque celeberriiua 
 
 Vetat mori." 
 
 It concludes 
 
 " Sic bene latuit, bene vixit Vir beatus, 
 Quern Prtesens ^Etas colit, Postera mirabitur." 
 
 See tbe ' Memorials of Ray,' edited by the late Or. Lankester, including 
 Dr. Derhani's ' Remains and Life of Ray.' Printed for the Ray Society, 
 1846.— T. B.] 
 
 Extract from Dr. Town&orfs Journal of his Tour into Italy, $c. 
 
 1768, 1769. 
 
 '" May 27 (1769), to Prescati [from Rome] 14 m.; about half way is 
 Pontano, famous for a good dairy and belonging to the Borghese family. 
 Here it was that Mr. Morison, once dining in the farmhouse in the large 
 room swarming with swallows, was desired not to disturb them because 
 they cut the air and rendered it wholesome, as the people of the family 
 alledged to him."' 
 
 6 Se naXovpevos aiyodrfXrjs ecrri pev opeivos, to 8e peyedos KOTTV(pov pev 
 piKpco pei^u>v, KOKKvyos 8' tXaTTav. TiKTii [x(v ovv aa 8vo t) rpia to TtXeicrTov, 
 to 8e t]fios icrTi fikaictKos*. 6'iXa^ei Se Tas aiya; irpoancTopevos' 66ev Kai 
 Tovvop ei\r](f)€. (pacri 8', 6rav OrjXaar] tov paadov mroa-fievvvadai re, kol ttjv 
 aiya aTTOTvcpXovadai.' eari 8' ovk o^vcottos tt]s fjpepas, aXXa tijs vvktos jiXenei. 
 
 Aeistot. Hist. Animal. 1. ix. cap. xxx. 
 
 Quern caprimulgum appellant, avis montana est, magnitudine paulo 
 major quam merula, minor quam cuculus, moribus mollior. Parit ova 
 duo, aut tria cum plurima. Sugit caprarum ubera advolans, unde nomen 
 accepit. Cum suxerit, uber extingui, capramque excascari aiunt. Parum 
 clare interdiu videt, sed noctu perspicax est. 
 
 The Latin translator, meaning, I suppose, to express this clause, has 
 "moribus mollior," and introduces it as if it followed " eAarrcoiv' "paulo 
 major quam merula, minor quam cuculus, moribus mollior," which may 
 be true : but besides the deranging of the text, which is the same in 
 other editions, I fear this is not the sense of the Greek ; for ftXaiciKos seems 
 rather an impeachment of the understanding than an encomium on the 
 gentleness of our friend the Caprimidgus. And yet rjdos, again, belongs 
 
AND THE REV. K. OHURTON. 236 
 
 P.S. Mr. Lewis has often seen the ( 'aprimulgus; and behold 
 
 he said " It was a foolish l)ird. ,, Here is your v 0o<; (SXuklko^ 
 again; and it is a curious coincidence of opinion with our 
 friend the Stagyrite, whose works certainly our friend the 
 Bank Director never read. The ground of this notion I leave 
 to your better discernment to account for. I will only pro- 
 pose one query. Does it appear foolish to English eyes, as 
 it did anciently to Grecian, because it hovers about, and if 
 put up, soon lights again, and does not wisely consult for its 
 own safety by distant flight? * 
 
 LETTER XXIU. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO MR. CHURTON. 
 
 Selborne, Nov. 15, 1792. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 As your own account of the bad state of your health, written 
 to Dr. Chandler, gave us much concern, so in proportion 
 your late cheerful letter to Mrs. Chandler afforded us no 
 small satisfaction. I sit down now to invite you to spend 
 part of your Xtmass holidays with us. But as yr usual time 
 of vacation, when divided into two parts, will be little or 
 nothing, we hope you will be able to extend yr furlow. You 
 have of late years paid me a compliment for varying my 
 
 rather to the qualities of the heart than those of the head. Judicent ent- 
 diti f . For the rest, exclusive of the fabulous accouut of sucking goats and 
 drying up their milk, &c, the author seems to give in a few words some 
 very characteristic traits of the bird described. But here I am the 
 rhetorician teaching Hannibal the art of war. 
 
 * [It entirely depends upon the time of day when it is observed — 
 stolid and stupid in the day time, bright and active in the evening, as 
 stated above by Aristotle. See Letter XXII. to Pennant and n<>t> 
 (Vol. I. p. 65).— T. B.] 
 
 t [Aubert and Wimmer translate the expression " und hat ein scheues 
 Wesen.''— A. N.] 
 
 VOL. J I. Q 
 
226 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 phrases of invitation : but all those terms of wonts are ex- 
 hausted, and I have now nothing loft but the plain, honest, 
 assertion of wishing to see you, as often and as long as you 
 can make it agreeable and convenient to yourself. 
 
 I return you my best thanks for your quotation from 
 Aristotle, of which I hope to avail myself soon ; and for a 
 correct copy of the inscription on the tomb of the great Mr. 
 Ray. It is pleasant to hear that friends to Genius are still to 
 be found, who, at periods, are ready to repair and beautify the 
 monument of departed worth, nor suffering it to be effaced 
 with weeds and filth. However his icork* will be, as the 
 inscription says, the most lasting monument of his fame. 
 Every time you come, I have been provided with a new book 
 for your inspection. In some respects you will think Mr. 
 Arthur Young's Journey in France reprehensible ; and will 
 not always subscribe to his politics. However the writer is a 
 man of observation, and has a curious chapter on Climate. 
 In three summers he threaded every corner of that vast king- 
 dom, and made an excursion thro' the Pyrenees to Barcelona, 
 and another over the Alps and Apennine to Turin, Venice, 
 Florence, &c. Mr. Y., I fear, is no friend to us parsons. 
 Mr. Marsham has just sent me a long letter; but he complains 
 of infirmities. Mrs. J. Wh. joins in good wishes; and desires 
 respects to the provost, when you see him ; and to the Cox 
 family, Dr. Nowell, &c. &c. With all due regard I remain, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 GIL, WHITE. 
 
 Take care of your health, and don't study too hard. When 
 the shell of yr House is compleat, insure it. A friend of 
 mine at Salisbury has just had a house, not quite finished, 
 burnt to the ground. It was to have cost 4000 ! 
 
AND THE REV. II. CHURTON. 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Brasen-Nose, Jan. 20, 1793. 
 Success to matrimony! and Caprimulgus. My friend and 
 tutor Dr. Radcliffe is married. Mr. John White is married : 
 and I cordially congratulate Mrs. J. White on the occasion. 
 as well as yourself on having- another agreeable addition to 
 the small number you before had of nephews and nieces. 
 My friend Mr. Banner, I think I perceive, will certainly take 
 Dudcote, if no better living falls during his option. Powerful 
 are female attractions and engagements ! However, the living 
 is more desirable than he expected. I wished to write sooner 
 but could not; and now have scarcely a moment to spare; 
 and tomorrow I must go about my buildings and enclosures 
 at Middleton. Dr. Loveday's family were well recovered 
 from the measles. The Provost of Oriel and Mrs. Everleigh 
 and daughter were very well when I drank tea there on 
 Sunday. Mrs. Cox is very well. Mr. Cox when I called was 
 in bed with a cold and gout, but not an unkindly fit. Mr. 
 Ventris somewhat better, but not perfectly well. You perhaps 
 have heard of me in London from Fleet Street. I slipt into 
 the pit to see his Majesty &c. in the Theatre, where I never 
 had seen them before. We were all loyalty. " God save the 
 King" twice after the play and twice after the entertainment. 
 "Rule Britannia' twice. The Queen sang, the King beat 
 time, &c. 
 
 The alien bill gives great content in London. There was 
 lately a report that poor Mr. Page was dying, and a canvass 
 out of the university began for the Speaker and Sir W. Scott, 
 Dr. Wenman having declined. Should there be a vacancy I 
 hope you will think of one who, besides having been my 
 brother pupil and class fellow — potent recommendations — is 
 universally esteemed as the best Speaker the II. of Commons 
 ever had. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 CORRESPONDENCE Of GILBERT WHITE 
 
 I have seen or dreamt (I hope not the latter) that L d 
 Malmsbury is descended from a daughter of Rob 1 Townson, 
 B p of Salisbury. But I cannot find it in any peerage here ; 
 and I wrote to Fleet Street; neither can they find it. If it is 
 in your peerage I shall be very glad if you will inform me of 
 it. I want to have it in a note which is or should be now set 
 for the first proof. When I saw it I neglected it, not know- 
 ing I should want it, or thinking I could turn to it again ; but 
 it is gone. Such a treacherous thing is memory, or mine at 
 least. I hope your cold is entirely gone and you are in 
 perfect health, of which I earnestly wish you long enjoyment, 
 and of every other blessing, and am with comp" at the 
 vicarage, Dear Sir, 
 
 Your ever obliged servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO MR. CHURTON. 
 (Endorsed by Mr. Churton, " The last from my dear Friend.") 
 
 Selborne, Jan. 26, 1793. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Had you staid onlv one day longer with us, you would have 
 seen J. White and his bride, late Miss Louisa Neave, who, 
 having been married at Downton near Sarum by Mr. Lear, 
 set off immediately for this place. We have good reason to 
 be pleased with our new relation, who is sensible, intelligent, 
 and in her carriage much of a gentlewoman. She is a nice 
 needlewoman and also a proficient in music, and can shoulder 
 a violin, out of which she brings a good tone, but could find 
 no one to accompany her. Tho' her husband is in stature 
 one of the sons of Anak, yet he has made choice of a little 
 wife, who, we all agree, in her profile resembles Miss Reb. 
 Chace, but exceeds her in her make and turn of person. 
 
 I am much obliged to you for the latin translation of the 
 Caprimulgus, which will be useful, but have lost my advocate 
 
AND THE REV. R. CHURTON. 229 
 
 with the U.S.; for on my applying to Mr. Barrington, who 
 used to present my papers, he writes me word that lie has no 
 longer any interest with that society, but that he will endea- 
 vour to find a member that shall present my dissertation. 
 This circumstance, as you may imagine, is not so pleasant :i> 
 when I had a friend who was often one of the Council, and 
 ready to abet my compositions. 
 
 There is, indeed, a curious coincidence of opinions between 
 Mr. Lewis and the Stagyrite ! for which I cannot advance a 
 better reason than what you have mentioned yourself. Yet 
 can I not call that a foolish bird which knows the times ami 
 the seasons, and conducts its migrations over seas and conti- 
 nents with such accuracy and success, and, impelled by all 
 the feelings of aropyrj and affection, is ready to repell intru- 
 ders, and by menaces to defend to the best of its power its 
 callow and helpless young! 
 
 I have told you sometimes of an old physician at Southton, 
 Dr. Speed, who used to go over once every year, in May, to 
 the Isle of Wight, for which period the people used to reserve 
 their ails. For these last two winters my coughs have been 
 kept till y r arrival, and then became so bad that without your 
 kind assistance I could not have continued my duty. When 
 you left me I had some dread about the ensuing Sunday ; but, 
 thanks be to God, my infirmity ceased on the Saturday, and 
 has not been bad since. As soon as y r letter came we turned 
 to my peerage book, but could find no traces respecting Lord 
 Malmsbury; so I conclude that his creation was subsequent*. 
 Possibly before now you may have recovered y r stray idea, 
 that has wandered away, or lay snug in some corner of y r 
 memory. 
 
 Mrs. J. Wh. joins in best respects and wishes to you and 
 
 all friends. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 (ill, WHITE. 
 
 Sad work in France ! ! 
 
 * ["The Earl's ancestor, James Harris, Esq., oi die Close, in Salisbury, 
 married Gertrude, d r of Robert Townson, Bisbop of Salisbury, and died 
 1679, aged TL^—Debrett. The creation dates only from 1788.— T. B.] 
 
230 CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE REV. R. CHURTON. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 FROM MR. CHURTON TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Braseu-Nose, Mar. 15, 179:'. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Dr. Loveday has robbed me of the pleasure of making you 
 a present of a book lately published here, to which we are 
 jointly in different ways contributors. I hope you will have 
 received your copy from Fleet Street, attended with one from 
 Dr. Chandler, before this reaches you. And now let me can- 
 vass you for the author of the Village Curate. Mount your 
 steed — not immediately though, but next Michaelmas — and 
 assist in putting the Professorship of Poetry in hands worthy 
 to be employed where Lowth and Warton have appeared be- 
 fore. At the same time, please to inform Dr. Chandler thai 
 he owes me a letter, and that he must get Dr. Bingham and 
 every vote he can for a gentleman of his own college. The 
 Trinity gentlemen, Mr. Clarke and Kett, have each secured 
 some votes in our college and elsewhere by starting so early ; 
 but we are at least two to one in Br .-Nose friends to Mr. 
 Hurdis (or his merits rather, for we were not acquainted with 
 him), and several active in his cause. 
 
 I am very glad you are so well pleased with your neice. 
 Mr. Armetriding is just married to a Lancashire lady, about 
 the size of her you mention ; but there is not one of our 
 Northamptonshire rectors married, nor, I fear, going to be. 
 The house at Middleton has begun, or is about to begin, to 
 rise, after having stood still during the winter. 
 
 Best respects to all friends. 
 
 I am ever, with truest esteem, dear Sir, 
 
 Your most obliged servant, 
 
 R. CHURTON. 
 
23] 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 FROM THE REV. JOHN LIGHTFOOT * TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Uxbridge, Jan. 27, 177.']. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I know not bow to excuse myself for not answering your kind 
 letter before, wben I tell you tbat I returned to Uxbridge from 
 my northern tour tbe 24 th of Octob., now a quarter of a year 
 ago. I bad a most agreeable journey, and experienced all the 
 varieties from venison down to barley bannocks, and from 
 claret down to whisky, and from a good feather bed to one of 
 heath with a plaid for a covering. We visited sixteen of the 
 Western Islands, and the greatest part of the continent on the 
 western coast from Annandale to the borders of Strathnavern 
 in Sutherland, which is 58' %)" north, where the snow was 
 lying on the mountains in August. The red deer inhabited 
 the summits of these mountains, and the roebucks the birch 
 
 * [The Rev. John Lightfoot was a well-known botanist. He accom- 
 panied Pennant in his second tour in Scotland in 1772, and afterwards 
 published his 'Flora Scotica,' in 2 volumes 8vo, in 178~>. lie was a 
 Fellow of the Royal Society and one of the founders of the Linnean 
 Societv. He officiated at Uxbridge for many years, and died there in 
 1788.— T. B. 
 
 Lightfoot is also known as the first who clearly distinguished the Reed- 
 Wren, which he described (Phil. Trans, lxxv. p. 1 1) by the name of Mo- 
 tacilla arundinacea. This epithet, having been already applied by Lin- 
 naeus to a species strictly congeneric, has had to be dropped, and the bird 
 now bears the name of Acrocephalus streperus. — A. N.J 
 
232 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 woods ;it their base. The ptarmigans arc seen as tame as 
 pigeons among the grey barren rocks, and the blaek and red 
 name swarm upon the heaths, and the eagles descend from 
 the precipices and prey upon them all. The Saadfraga nivalis, 
 stellaris, aizoides, and oppositifolia, with the Arlitttus <!l]>i>/>i, 
 Hieracum alpinum, Cucubalus acaulis, Sibbaldia jn'ocumbens, 
 and Azalea proeumbens, Cherleria, and some others are the 
 herbage of the Scottish Alps. The Arbutus uva-ursi covers 
 the inferior rocks, and the Narihecium ossifragum with the 
 Juncus and heath tribe cover the low grounds. This may 
 serve to give you a faint idea of the country of Scotland to- 
 wards the northern extremity. In many parts of the Low- 
 lands, especially near Edinburgh, great improvements are 
 made in agriculture, and in many places, as in the Lothians 
 and the Carse of Gowrie, the country is as fertile as in Eng- 
 land. In other places, where the soil will permit, the inhabi- 
 tants are making large strides towards improvements. The 
 people every where, from the duke to the peasant, are ex- 
 tremely hospitable and kind to strangers ; so that a recom- 
 mendation to one gentleman will frank a traveller all through 
 Scotland. I am now employed in making out a Scotch Flora, 
 to be annexed to a Fauna of the country by my companion, 
 Mr. Pennant. I shall be glad to have it in my power to comply 
 w th v r obliging invitation to Selborne : but I cannot now sav 
 when I shall be able to enjoy that happiness. 
 
 The bee which frequents the Stachys, from the account Mr. 
 Yalden has given me of it, must be the Apis manicata, from 
 the spines at its tail. 
 
 I am S r w ,h great respect, 
 
 Your most obed 1 hble serv\ 
 
 JOHN LIGHTFOOT. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 233 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 FROM THE KEY. JOHN LIGHTFOOT TO GILBERT WIIITK. 
 
 Uxbridge, Sept. L3, L773. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have this summer, in company with Mr. Banks, beeu 
 
 making the tour of North and South Wales. I sel out in 
 June, and am but lately returned ; this will apologize for my 
 not acknowledging your obliging letter sooner. I owe you 
 many thanks for your repeated and most friendly invitations ; 
 but I know not how we have affronted the Fates that they 
 will not suffer us to have an interview. This summer I June 
 no chance of seeing Hampshire, having enough to tye me by 
 the leg for many months to come. I natter myself, however, 
 that I shall yet have it in my power to visit Selborne again, 
 and bilk these troublesome Fates, that have so often come be- 
 tween us, which I shall be heartily glad to do, as I hate to be 
 cheated by such jilts. I hope you are of the same mind as 
 myself, and will endeavour to return them the compliment by 
 trying your luck at Uxbridge. I met with our friend Skin- 
 ner at Brecnock in the beginning of August, He talked of 
 paying a visit to his brother at Purley near Reading, about 
 Michaelmas. He uses little exercise, and suffers much from 
 the gout. 
 
 The Dodeeatheon meadia is an elegant plant, and singular 
 in its appearance ; it is a native of Virginia and Carolina, and 
 was first named meadia by Mr. Catesby in compliment to Dr. 
 Mead; but Linnfieus, finding afterwards the old name of Do- 
 deeatheon made use of by Pliny for a plant agreeing in de- 
 scription very nearly with this, chose to adopt the ancieni 
 name for the generic, and retain the known received name for 
 the trivial, according to a rule laid down in the ' Critica L>o- 
 tanica.' 
 
 Wales in general behaved to us with great politeness. Wo 
 had fine weather through <he whole journey : we found the 
 
234 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 greatest hospitality, a multitude of plants, and five or six not 
 before discovered in South Britain, though I had before seen 
 them in Scotland. Snowdon was very complaisant; three 
 times we scaled his highest top, once enveloped so in clouds 
 that we could not discern each other at twenty yards' dis- 
 tance ; but no sooner had we refreshed ourselves with our 
 necessary viaticum than the clouds withdrew, and gradually 
 discovered to our wondering eyes the most glorious prospects 
 we ever beheld. The clouds all settled about the midway on 
 one side of the hill, appearing like great volumes of snow in 
 various grotescpie figures, one behind another. The sun 
 tinged their edges with silver, and darting his rays now and 
 then between them discovered the rugged precipices, the lim- 
 pid lakes, the trembling cascades, and distant vallies beneath 
 us. Over them appeared the British Alps, the Irish Sea, and 
 coast of Ireland, almost all North Wales ; the coasts of Lan- 
 cashire and Cumberland, with the Islands of Anglesea and 
 Man, appeared at one view, like a great map spread beneath 
 us. In short, we seemed as if we had been snatched up into 
 the clouds, and were taking a peep on the little world below. 
 I am, with great respect, 
 
 Y r most obliged and h bIe sen', 
 
 JOHN LIGHTFOOT. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 FROM MR. SKINNER TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 (Extract.) 
 
 Parley, Berks, Oct. J 7, 1773. 
 Dear Sir, 
 * * In July last I spent an evening with Mr. Banks * 
 
 and Mr. Lightfoot at Brecknock. They had been botanizing 
 from Bristol through the counties of Glamorgan, Carmarthen, 
 
 * [This was a year after Banks's visit to Iceland with blunder, Lind. 
 and Von Troil.— T. B.] 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 i'.;.p 
 
 and Pembroke, and had been very successful. En the envi- 
 rons of St. Vincent's Rock only (visited by every botanist ) 
 they found three new British plants (one of these the Arbutus 
 uva-ursi), and afterwards several others that were either new 
 or very dubious, as not having been found by the botanists of 
 the present age. Among the former Sison vertkillatum, a 
 common plant in the meadows of Carmarthenshire: amona 
 the latter Cheiranthus sinuatus, Adiantum capillus-veneris, and 
 a species of Festuca unknown to Linnaeus, but figured in 
 Ray's ' Synopsis,' tab. 17. fig. 2, vide p. 403, with several 
 others I do not immediately recollect. They were bound to 
 Snowdon, in the neighbourhood of which they proposed to 
 spend five or six weeks. I have not heard of their success : 
 but as Light foot had with great accuracy collected the names 
 and places of the curious plants they hoped to find from Ka\ 
 and others, I presume the journey, which was new to both of 
 them, has not been thrown away. You have, I believe, seen 
 Lio-htfoot since his Scotch tour with Mr. Pennant, and of 
 course have heard that he discovered many plants that had 
 escaped the Scottish botanists. * * * 
 
 The last advice I had of Linnaeus was from Mr. Banks, 
 to whom he had written but a little before, with a good deal 
 of chagrin, for not having sent him the specimens of the South 
 Sea plants he had promised him. He said " He was an old 
 man, and that if it was intended he should ever see them, the 
 sooner they were sent the better." Mr. Banks thought he 
 was well. 
 
 I am, with great esteem, 
 
 Your obliged friend, &c, 
 
 Et. SKINNER. 
 
236 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 FROM LIEUT.-COL. MONTAGU* TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Eastern Grey, near Tedbury, 
 
 Gloucestershire, May 21, 1789. 
 
 Sir, 
 Although I have not the pleasure of being personally ac- 
 quainted with you, yet I flatter myself you will pardon this 
 intrusion of an enthusiastic naturalist. 
 
 I have been greatly entertained by your ' Natural History 
 of Selborne,' in the ornithological part of which I find 
 mention made of three distinct species of willow-wren. Can 
 you inform me if they are (besides the common) the larger 
 and lesser pettychaps of Latham, neither of which is de- 
 scribed by Pennant in his ' Brit. Zool.' ? He describes a 
 species with the inside of the mouth red, which I cannot 
 make out in this country ; those two of Latham's I believe I 
 have got, as far as I can judge from the description that 
 gentleman favoured me with; but his sedge-wren I am at a loss 
 for, as he describes the sedge-bird besides of the ' Brit. Zool.' 
 I should esteem it a particular favour, if you have it in your 
 power, if you will favour me with the weight and description 
 of the two uncommon willow-wrens. 
 
 I was induced to take this liberty as you say you are a 
 field-naturalist, and perhaps may have it in your power to 
 assist me in my present pursuit. I am collecting and pre- 
 serving the birds and their eggs of these parts, a provincial 
 
 * [George Montagu was born in 1755, and died June 20, 1815. At the 
 time of his writing this letter he must have been collecting the infor- 
 mation which lie afterwards published in his ' Ornithological Dictionary.' 
 The Lad}- Jane Courtney (or Oourtenay) subsequently mentioned in the 
 letter was his mother-in-law, whose daughter he married when he had 
 completed his eighteenth year. Lady Jane was sister to Lord Bute, First 
 Lord of the Treasury on the accession of King George III. See the 
 memoir of Montagu, by Mr. Cunnington, in the ' Wiltshire Magazine ' 
 for 1857 (vol. iii. pp. 87-94).— A. N.] 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. l<:;: 
 
 undertaking, in which I am got forward; and as those of 
 
 Hampshire and Wiltshire are nearly congenial (the coasl 
 excepted), some species, I presume, are more frequently mel 
 with about you than with us: will you excuse my mentioning 
 a few that, should they fall in your way, you will confer a 
 considerable obligation on me by favouring me with them? 
 The hawks and owls are difficult to get: of the former I want 
 all except the sparrow, kestrel, and common buzzard ; of the 
 latter all the eared and the little owl. The great butcher-bird 
 and wood-chat, goat-sucker, cross-bill, aberdevine or siskin. 
 and spotted gallinule, with many cloven and web-footed water- 
 birds, together with any of their eggs; and as you mention 
 snipes and teals having bred near you, their eggs would be 
 highly acceptable, with others not common which you may be 
 able to obtain. And in return, Sir, if there is anything i n my 
 former or future researches that can afford you any satis- 
 faction, I shall with the greatest pleasure communicate. 
 
 That amiable and excellent naturalist, Mr. Pennant, has 
 done me the honour to say T have discovered some things to 
 him he was not before acquainted with ; and I flatter myself 
 I have other notes in store when I have more time to write to 
 him more largely upon the subject: this you know is the 
 busy season for a naturalist, and the days are not half long 
 enough for me. 
 
 A fine morning called me from this, and in my walk my 
 ears discovered a note I had never before heard. I pursued 
 it into the thick of a wood, and after much difficulty killed 
 the bird as it was delivering its song (if I may so call it) 
 from the branch of an oak tree. It proved to be a willow- 
 wren; its note was very different from any I had ever heard 
 before, somewhat resembling a note of the blue titmouse. It 
 was continued without variety, like the grasshopper-lark, but 
 not quite so quick or shrill, nor of so long duration ; between 
 each song the pause was considerable. The note I confess 
 has staggered me; but its appearance, size, &c. discover 
 nothing new. The common willow-wren, I well know, has 
 two very distinct songs. The first after their arrival, before 
 they are paired, I considered as their love-call; the other their 
 
■j: ;s MISCELLANEOUS L ETTERS . 
 
 -oft courting or amatory song. As to shades of colour or 
 size, this species varies considerably: that of the male is 
 
 much brighter and stronger than the female, and is consider- 
 ably larger, and even in the same sex there is frequently a 
 visible difference. I last year killed a male and female 
 together when the former was in pursuit of the latter, on her 
 first arrival in the spring (as I suppose you know all our male 
 migrating birds precede the female in their vernal visit) : in 
 these the great disparity in weight and difference in colour 
 would have puzzled exceedingly, had I not, some time before 
 the barbarous act was committed, paid attention to the ad- 
 dresses of the male. I confess I am not acquainted with the 
 one you describe with the primaries and secondaries tip't with 
 white ; and if you are still of opinion that it is a distinct 
 species, I should be obliged to you for it. If you should 
 favour me with any small bird at this season, it will be 
 advisable to wrap it up in soft paper sprinkled or damp'd 
 with vinegar, first laying the feathers smooth, and then 
 covered with thicker paper wetted with the same ; this will 
 preserve the bird moist, and defy putrifaction. Larger birds 
 should be carefully opened with a sharp knife from the vent 
 upwards, laying the feathers back with damp paper to prevent 
 their being blooded in taking out the intestines ; a little alum 
 or nitre should be thrown in, and the incision stopped with 
 Tow : and if a little of the alum and tow were put into the 
 mouth it would ensure its coming to me in good order. If 
 you have any conveyance to Bath, and you will take the 
 trouble of directing either a box or basket for me to the care 
 of the Right Hon. Lady Jane Courtney, Milsom Street, Bath, 
 1 shall get it the day after it arrives there. Notwithstanding 
 my post town is in Gloucestershire, I live in Wiltshire, where 
 I shall be happy to obey any commands from you, and 
 remain, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 G. MONTAGU. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 2W 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 FROM LIEUT.-COL. MONTAGU TO GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 Easton Grey, June 29, 17-'.'. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I am exceedingly obliged to you for y r polite favor, and hope 
 you will excuse the mistake in my address. 
 
 I am not able to boast of being an ornithologist so long ;is 
 you, tho' I have delighted in it from infancy, and. was I not 
 bound by conjugal attachment, should like to ride mv hobby 
 to distant parts; yet I agree with you that naturalists in 
 general attempt to explore too wide a field, their researches 
 are too extensive ; whereas if persons well qualified were to 
 confine themselves to particular districts, the natural history 
 compiled from provincial authors would no doubt throw much 
 light on the subject. 
 
 I confess myself greatly obliged to your work for the dis- 
 covery of the third species of vrillow-wren, and for the first 
 determined separation of the other two species, with whom ] 
 was perfectly well acquainted as to their notes, but suspected 
 that the same bird might produce both notes promiscuously. 
 Your work produced in me fresh ardour, and with that degree 
 of enthusiasm necessary to such investigations; I pervaded 
 the interior recesses of the thickest woods, and spread my re- 
 searches to every place within my reach that seemed likely. 
 I was soon convinced of two distinct species, not only in their 
 song, but in size, colour, eggs, and materials which w h the\ 
 build their nests. The third species, which yon seem to think 
 peculiar to your beech-wood, I flatter myself 1 have at last 
 discovered to be an inhabitant of this part; but they are \<t\ 
 scarce and partial. Three only have I discovered: two of 
 which I brought down with my gun from the top of tall oak- 
 trees in a thick grove interspersed with brambles. From the 
 reiterated note, somewhat resembling the bine titmouse, and 
 their colour being more vivid than (he other species, I d<> not 
 
240 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 hesitate to pronounce it that discovered by you, tho' mine did 
 not possess any white on the tips of the cpuills or secondary 
 feathers ; but the belly was of a pure white, and the action of 
 its wings agrees with your description: besides the note it 
 commonly uses, which is somewhat grasshopper-like, it pro- 
 duces a shrill note five or six times repeated, something like 
 the marsh titmouse. One pair of these birds I only know of 
 about this neighbourhood now, the nest of which I have not 
 been fortunate enough to discover ; if one should come across 
 you it would be an acquisition to me. You are perfectly 
 right in saying the name of tvilloiv wren is very inadequate. 
 I wish you had given them distinct names, as I believe you 
 have the merit of the original discovery. I am surprized 
 Pennant makes no mention of these acquisitions to ornitho- 
 logy, as your letter of the 17 th of Aug 1 1768 long preceded 
 his last edition. Do you know if Latham has adopted them 
 in his • Systema Ornithologise,' which is to come before the 
 publick next winter? I am at a loss for your blue pigeon- 
 Jiawk, especially as you say its female is brown ; from its place 
 of resort I should conceive it to be the hen harrier, and that 
 vou had not corrected the mistake of other ornithologists, and 
 which Pennant fell into in his first ed", where he gave the 
 ring tall for its female. Their habits and manners are nearly 
 the same, only the latter perch on trees occasionally ; its white 
 rump at once distinguishes it from all others when skimming 
 over the surface of the earth like the hen harrier : it makes 
 irs nest on the ground. Both these species we have, but not 
 preserved, not having been able to procure them, being scarce 
 and shy. Perhaps I may be favoured with them from you, as 
 well as their eggs, another season, if not this. If y r pigeon- 
 hawk should be different, I should be obliged to you for further 
 explanation, as I am not acquainted with it by that name. 
 
 The Hobby which I want has been called the blue hawk by 
 some : its eggs I should be glad of, and are no doubt to be 
 found in y r extensive woodlands ; they are scarce with us. 
 
 You were surprized at my requesting of you the Goat- 
 sucker. 'Tis true many parts of this county produce them, 
 but they are not to be commanded ; and one bird in the spring 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 241 
 
 or before Aug 1 is worth twenty after that time, as most birds 
 are then out of feather, and the young ones are seldom in full 
 or proper plumage till the winter, and many till the ensuing 
 spring. In the latter end of October birds have mostly done 
 moulting and are again fit for preservation ; however, scarce 
 birds are at all times acceptable, till a better supplies its place. 
 Since I wrote I have killed the male Goatsucker ; and as I 
 have seen a female, it is probable I may get it, but the egg I 
 despair of in this part. 
 I remain, d r Sir, 
 Your much obliged and faithful humble servant, 
 
 G. MONTAGU. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 FROM GILBERT WHITE TO JOSEPH BANKS, ESQ. 
 
 Selborne, April 21, 1708. 
 
 Sir, 
 Lest you should suspect that I forget my promise, I take the 
 liberty to acquaint you that either the unusual dryness of last 
 month, or some unknown cause, has retarded the blowing of 
 the Latlircea squammaria* ; it does not yet appear above ground 
 as usual. When it had appeared I should not have failed to 
 have sent you a specimen in a pot, with the Coleoptera its 
 constant attendants ; but now I find last night, by a letter of 
 Mr. Pennant, dated from Chester, that you are going to leave 
 the kingdom again in pursuit of natural knowledge. 
 
 I was greatly in hopes once that both you gentlemen would 
 have honoured me with your company this spring ; but now 
 it seems that unless Mr. Skinner of C.C.C. should happen to 
 come (as he has partly promised), I must plod on by myself, 
 with few books and no soul to communicate my doubts or 
 discoveries to. 
 
 * [This plant has grown in a garden in the village within the last few 
 years, and appears to have been parasitic upon the roots of plum-trees. — 
 T. B.] 
 
 VOL. II. R 
 
24 2 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 
 
 The district round this village is, I believe, a fine field for 
 botany ; we have great variety of aspects and soils, and many 
 rocky lanes for capillaries ; not to mention chalky hills, sands, 
 bogs, clays, and vast woods. Here are moors that have 
 hardly been trodden by the foot of a real botanist, where I 
 should suspect some rare matters may be discovered. As to 
 summer birds of passage, we have a good variety. I think 
 I can shew 16 or 17 species round the village, among which 
 are three species of the Motacillce trochili. The vast large 
 bats are beginning to appear, some of which I shall endeavour 
 to procure. 
 
 After wishing you all health and a great deal of success and 
 satisfaction in your laudable pursuits, a prosperous voyage 
 and safe return, 
 
 I remain, &c, &c. 
 
 [This letter is printed rom a copy in Gilbert's writing, but without 
 signature. — T. B.] 
 
L>4."> 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE OF ROBERT MARSHA M, 
 
 OF STRATTON-STRAWLESS, IN THK COUNTY OF NORFOLK, 
 
 AND GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 [Among the numerous letters to and from Gilbert White 
 kindly communicated to me by Algernon Holt White, Esq., 
 were ten from Mr. Marsham ; and it happened that exactly 
 the same number of autograph letters from Gilbert White to 
 Marsham, constituting together very nearly the complete cor- 
 respondence, were in the possession of the Rev. H. P. Mar- 
 sham, of Rippon Hall, near Norwich, the great-grandson of 
 White's correspondent. The interchange of copies of the re- 
 spective letters enabled the Council of an excellent local 
 natural-history society at Norwich * to publish the correspon- 
 dence entire. I have selected the following brief notice of 
 Mr. Marsham from some account of his life by Thomas South- 
 well, Esq., the secretary of the society. — T. B. 
 
 " Though far less celebrated than his contemporary and 
 correspondent, Robert Marsham is already known to most 
 readers of White's posthumously published writings as one to 
 whose opinions the latter often referred in terms of respect. 
 Born the 27th of January, 1708, Marsham began to show 
 early in life a fondness for arboriculture. On the 8th of 
 Februaiy, 1728, he entered as Fellow-commoner of Claro 
 Hall in the University of Cambridge, but it does not appear 
 that he ever proceeded to a degree. He subsequently went 
 abroad (in 1737 and 1738) and travelled through France, 
 Switzerland, and Italy, amassing much knowledge, which 
 * [The Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society.] 
 
 R 2 
 
244 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 he was able to apply in various ways in after time. He 
 succeeded to his father's estate of Stratton-Strawless, some 
 seven miles north of Norwich, in 1751, and from that period 
 he seems to have travelled much in England, particularly 
 where any remarkable trees were to be seen, and, as these 
 letters prove, he became acquainted with many of the most 
 eminent men of his day. Arboriculture was evidently his 
 ruling passion, and he delighted in making experiments in 
 the growth of trees, the results of which he communicated 
 from time to time to the ' Philosophical Transactions ' of the 
 Royal Society, of which he was elected a Fellow on the 9th 
 of June, 1780, and admitted on the 31st of May, 1781. He 
 died on September 4th, 1797. 
 
 " The ' Indications of Spring,' of which he left such a 
 remarkable register, afforded him annually recurring topics 
 for remark; and the value of his observations on rural subjects 
 may be well estimated by White's exclamation : — ' 0, that I 
 had known you forty years ago ! "' *] 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton, near Norwich, July 24, 1790. 
 
 Sir, 
 I have received so much pleasure and information from your 
 ingenious Nat. Hist, of Selborne, that i cannot deny myself 
 the honest satisfaction of offering you my thanks : & i hope 
 you will excuse the liberty that i have taken. — I have kept a 
 poor imperfect journal above 50 years ; but it has been 
 chiefly confined to the leafing and growth of Trees ; & was 
 undertaken by the advice of my most estimable friend the late 
 D r Hales. By that i find that Linnasus's Disciples, & their 
 followers, are mistaken in their supposed rule of Nature, that 
 all plants must follow in order. For you see by the Indica- 
 
 * [With the permission of Professor Newton, I have selected many of 
 his notes from the copy published by the Society. — T. B.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. L>45 
 
 tions of Spring in the last Vol. of the Phil. Trans, which, very 
 imperfect as it is, the R. S. did me the honour to print, there 
 are reverses of many days. 
 
 Sir, i was much pleased with your Poetry in the Sum' 
 Evening walk. — I hope you will excuse my asking you some 
 questions for my information. The copulation of Frogs as 
 you describe *, is the manner of Toads with us : & i never saw 
 Frogs so engaged. 
 
 By your account of the Swallows on the 29 of Sep. 1768, i 
 presume that you believe in their migrating : & there are very 
 strong reasons to believe so of some other Birds. Many 
 Woodcocks are found by the Light-houses in Norfolke in the 
 Autumn, that are kill'd by flying against the Lights : and the 
 Earl of Orford f informed me, that the Landgrave of Hesse 
 sent him a ring taken from the leg of an Heron, with Ld. 0. 
 name upon it. This is certain proof of the Heron's going 
 from England : & myself have seen (coming from Holland) a 
 Wagtail (Motacilla alba) flying about the Ship, seemingly at 
 ease, when out of sight of Land. These, without Admiral 
 Wager's $, Adanson's §, & Smith's || (the earliest account that 
 i can recollect in print), are sufficient for migration : & the 
 proofs for torpidity are also undoubted. So we may conclude 
 
 * [See Letter XVII. to Pennant, Vol. I. p. 50, and note.] 
 
 t [George Walpole, grandson of the great Sir Robert, succeeded his 
 father as third Earl of Orford in 1751, and died in 1791. He was a cele- 
 brated falconer, but is perhaps better remembered from having sold the 
 valuable collection of pictures at Houghton to the Czarina. At his death 
 the title passed to his uncle, the well-known Horace Walpole. — A. X.] 
 
 X [The evidence of Admiral Sir Charles Wager, some time First Lord 
 of the Admiralty, was first published by Oollinson in 1760 (Phil. Trans, 
 li. p. 461), and has been often reprinted. — A. N.] 
 
 § [' Histoire Naturelle de Senegal &c.' Par M. Adanson. Paris: 1757, 
 pp. 67 and 90. Reference is again made to his observations further on. 
 They have been frequently quoted. — A. N.] 
 
 || [The reference here is probably to a passage in ' A Natural History 
 of Nevis, and the rest of the English Leeward Charibee Islands in America, 
 &c. In Eleven Letters from the Rev d Mr. [William] Smith, &c. Cam- 
 bridge : 1745.' Writing of Nevis and St. Christopher's, llic author says 
 (p. 51) " at the Sun's declension towards the Tropick of Capricorn from 
 the Equator, we are visited by a few Swallows." — A. N.] 
 
246 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 they are both true. But the annual increase in the Swallow 
 tribe, which are lost in Winter, affords unaccountable difficul- 
 ties to be cleared. I have had 4 pair attending my house 
 as many years as i can remember. If these produce two 
 broods of 5 young, you see, Sir, one pair only will in 7 years 
 produce above half a million, 559870 birds : yet the number 
 every Spring appears the same. If both broods are destroyed, 
 surely the old birds would be lessened by accidents, so as to 
 be perceptible. If the early or the latter brood is preserved, 
 you see the next Spring Birds will be as 5 to 2, if all the old 
 Birds are lost : and i never heard that Swallows are increased 
 in any part of the Globe. We know that all the carnivorous 
 Birds drive off their young as soon as they are able to provide 
 for themselves ; & i conclude that fish-eating Birds do the 
 same : for when i was on the charming Lake of Killarny, i 
 was told that was the case of a pair of Ospreys *, that yearly 
 nested on an Island of Hock in that Lake. But we cannot 
 suppose the Swallow tribe can fear the want of provision. 
 S r , you know the Fern Owl is one of the Spring Birds, and ap- 
 pears here as the latest comer. I used to have many in my 
 Woods ; but since the long and severe Winter of SS i have 
 had very few. Is not this a presumptive proof of their tor- 
 pidity? & that they were destroyed by the severity of that 
 Season? — Your account of the 26 & 27 of March in 1777 was 
 felt here in Lat. 52*45°, but no Swallows appeared. The 27 th 
 was insufferably hot, with a S.W. Wind ; which changed in 
 the afternoon to N.E. with a thick Sea-hase, and my Therm 1 " 
 sunk above 20 degrees in 3 or 4 hours. The greatest change 
 I have ever observed. — I find in 1776 Jan. 31. your Therm 1 " 
 sunk to 0. mine of Farenh' was at 16. & in 1784 Dec. 10. 
 when your Dollands was 1. below 0, mine was but at 10. The 
 coldest Air I have measured was Jan. 19. in 1767. when it 
 
 * [The name " Osprey " seems to have been formerly applied to the 
 Sea-Eagle (Haliaetus albkilla) as well as to what is now known as the 
 Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Thompson states (Nat. Hist. Ireland, i. 
 p. 29, note ) that no proof of the latter's building - either at Killarney or 
 elsewhere in Ireland had to his knowledge yet been recorded, and it is 
 therefore likely that the species spoken of in the text was the former. — 
 A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSH AM. 217 
 
 was down to 1. I take the liberty to tell you this, as it pos- 
 sibly may be entertaining to you to see the difference of less 
 than 2 Degrees of Lat. 
 
 Sir, when you print a 2 d Edition, (which the merit of your 
 Book will certainly soon demand) i hope in your description 
 of the Holt Forest, you will pay a compliment, justly due, to 
 the Oak by Ld Stawel's Lodge : as I suppose it is the largest 
 in this Island. I went from London on purpose to see it 
 in 1759, and again occasionally in 1778. 'Tis at 7 feet full 
 34 feet in circumf. & had not gained half an inch in 19 years; 
 yet i could not see it was hollow. If i measure right i make 
 14 feet length of the Holt Oak to contain above 1000 feet, 
 viz. above 320 feet more than the Cowthorpe Oak, which D r 
 Hunter, in his Edition of Evelyn's Silva*, calls the largest in 
 England. I early begun planting, & an Oakef which i 
 planted in 1720 is at one foot from the earth 12 feet. 6. inches. 
 round; and at 14 feet (the half of the timber length) is 
 8.2.0. So measuring the bark as timber, gives 116F. \, buyers 
 measure. Perhaps you never heard of a larger Oake & the 
 planter living. I flatter myself, that i increased the growth 
 by washing the stem, & digging a circle as far as i supposed 
 the roots to extend, & spreading saw-dust, etc. as related in 
 the Phil. Trans J. — I wish I had begun planting with beeches 
 (my favourite Trees as well as your's), & i might have seen 
 large trees of my own raising. But i did not begin Beeches 
 'till 1741, & then by seed ; & my largest is now, at 5 feet, 
 6.3.0 round, & spreads a circle of + 20 yards diam*. But 
 
 this has been digged round & washed, &c. The last Winter 
 
 was so very mild with us, that the leaves of many of my very 
 young Oaks preserved their green into April, & a large Haw- 
 thorn (headed the proceeding year) has its old leaves now : 
 which i never observed before, in any deciduous trees : tho 1 
 
 * ['Silva: or, a Discourse of Forest-trees, &c. By John Evelyn. With 
 notes by A.Hunter.' New Ed., 2 vols. 4to, York: 1780; vol. ii. p. 197. 
 The Cowthorpe Oak grew on an estate belonging to Lady Stourton, and 
 an engraving of it is given by Hunter, who introduces his notice of it by 
 a reference to "My ingenious friend Mr. Maraham." — A. N. 
 
 t [See Vol. I. p. 407.] 
 
 J [Vol. lxvii. p. 12.— A. N.'J 
 
248 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 I once had a second leafing of a Hawthorn about Xmass. 
 But those leaves faded before Spring. I sent the account to 
 S r J. Pringle when P.R.S.*, but he thought it not strange. 
 Sir, if you do not take the Ph. Trans, if you please i will send 
 you a copy of my Indica" 8 of Spring, as it may be an amuse- 
 ment to you, to see how much later we are in Norfolk than 
 you are in Hampshire. I am, with great esteem, 
 Sir, your most obedient, 
 
 humble servant, 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 P.S. I have now in a Stack of Blocks a young Cuckow fed 
 by a water- Wagtail. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selborne: near Alton: Hants, 
 
 Aug: 13th: 1790. 
 
 Good Sir, 
 As an author I have derived much satisfaction from your 
 kind & communicative letter ; and am glad to hear that my 
 book has found it's way into Norfolk, & that it has fallen into 
 the hands of so intelligent and candid a reader as Yourself, 
 whose good word may contribute to make it better known in 
 those parts. I am glad that You happened to mention your 
 most estimable friend the late Dr. Steven Hales ; because he 
 was also my most valuable friend, and in former days near 
 neighbour during the summer months. For tho' his usual 
 abode was at Teddingtou ; yet did he for many years reside 
 for about two months at his rectory of Faringdon, which is 
 only two miles from hence ; & was well known to my Grand- 
 father and Father, as well as to myself. If I might presume 
 to say that what you see respecting the copulation of toads is, 
 1 think, a mistake, you will pardon my boldness : because the 
 
 * 'Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society, 1772-1778.— 
 A. N.] 
 
AND KOBERT MARSHAM. 249 
 
 amours carryed on in pools and wet ditches in the spring time 
 are performed by frogs, which are more black and bloated at 
 that season than afterwards. As to toads they seem to bo 
 more reserved in their intrigues. 
 
 With regard to the annual encrease of swallows, & that those 
 that return bear no manner of proportion to those that depart ; 
 it is a subject so strange, that it will be best for me to say 
 little. I suppose that nature, ever provident, intends the vast 
 encrease as a balance to some great devastations to which they 
 may be liable either in their emigrations or winter retreats. 
 Our swifts have been gone about a week ! but the other hi- 
 rundines have sent forth their first broods in vast abundance ; 
 & are now busied in the rearing of a second family. Myself 
 & visitors have often paid due attention to the oak in the Holt, 
 which ought indeed to have been noticed in my book, and 
 especially as it contains some account of that forest. You 
 have been an early planter indeed ! & may safely say, I should 
 think, that no man living can boast of so large an oak of his 
 own planting! As I had reason to suppose that actual mea- 
 surement would give me the best Idea of y r tree, I first took 
 the girth of my biggest oak, a single tree, age not known, in 
 the midst of my meadow : when tho' it carries a head that 
 measures 24 yards three ways in diameter, yet is the circum- 
 ference of the stem only 10 ft. 6 in. I then measured an oak, 
 standing singly in a Gent's outlet at about two miles distance, 
 & found it exactly the dimensions of your's. After such suc- 
 cess you may well say with Virgil, 
 
 " Et dubitant homines serere, atque impendere curas ? " 
 
 In an humble way I have been an early planter myself. 
 The time of planting, and growth of my trees are as follows. 
 Oak in 1731—4 ft. 5 in. Ash in 1731—4 ft. 6£ in. Spruce 
 fir in 1751—5 ft. in. Beech in 1751—4 ft. in. Elm in 
 1750—5 ft. 3 in. Lime in 1756, 5 ft. 5 in.* Beeches with 
 
 * [A more particular account of these trees, with a note on their 
 present condition, will be found at p. 4G8 of Vol. I. I am sorry to have 
 to add that the fine spruce was, on the 20th of February of this year 
 (1877), blown down, being uprooted inconsequence of the softening of the 
 soil by the long-continued rains. — T. B.] 
 
250 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 us, the most lovely of all forest trees, thrive wonderfully on 
 steep, sloping grounds, whether they be chalk, or free stone. 
 I am in possession myself of a beechen steep grove on the 
 free stone, that I am persuaded would please your judicious 
 eye ; in which there is a tree that measures 50 feet without 
 bough or fork, and 24 feet beyond the fork : there are many 
 as tall. I speak from long observation when I assert, that 
 beechen groves to a warm aspect grow one-third faster than 
 those that face to the N. & N.E., and the bark is much more 
 clean and smooth. About thirty or forty years ago the 
 oaks in this neighbourhood were much admired, viz., in Hart- 
 ley wood, at Temple, & Blackmoor *. At the last place, the 
 owner, a very ancient Yeoman, thro' a blameable partiality, 
 let his trees stand till they were red-hearted & white-hearted 3 
 or 4 feet up the stem. We have some old edible chest-nut- 
 trees in this neighbourhood ; but they make vile timber, being 
 always shakey, & sometimes cup-shakey f. 
 
 As you seem to know the Fern-owl, or Churn-owl, or Eve- 
 jar ; I shall send you, for your amusement, the following ac- 
 count of that curious, nocturnal, migratory bird J. The country 
 people here have a notion that the Fern-owl, which they also 
 call Puckeridge, is very injurious to weanling calves by in- 
 flicting, as it strikes at them, the fatal distemper known to 
 cow-leeches by the name of puckeridge. Thus does this harm- 
 less, illfated bird fall under a double imputation, which it by 
 no means deserves ; — in Italy of sucking the teats of goats, 
 where it is called Caprimulgus ; & with us, of communicating 
 a deadly disorder to cattle. But the truth of the matter is, 
 the malady above mentioned is occasioned by a dipterous in- 
 sect called the oestrus bovis, which lays it's eggs along the 
 backs of kine, where the maggots, when hatched, eat their 
 way thro' the hide of the beast into it's flesh, & grow to a large 
 size. I have just talked with a man, who says, he has been 
 employed, more than once, in stripping calves that had dyed 
 
 * [See Letter I. to Pennant, Vol. I. p. 4.] 
 
 t [See the observations on chestnut timber, Vol. I. p. 471. — T. B.] 
 % [This subject is fully treated of in the '• Observations on Birds, 
 Vol. I. p. 430, and in a letter to Mr. Churton, Vol. II. p. 213.— T. B.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. 251 
 
 of the puckeridge : that the ail, or complaint, lay along the 
 chine, where the flesh was much swelled, & filled with puru- 
 lent matter. Once myself I saw a large, rough maggot of 
 this sort squeezed out of the back of a cow. An intelligent 
 friend informs me that the disease along the chines of calves, 
 or rather the maggots that cause them, are called by the gra- 
 ziers in Cheshire worry brees, & a single one worry bree. No 
 doubt they mean a breese, or breeze, the name for the gad-fly, or 
 oestrus, the parent of these maggots, which lays it's eggs along 
 the backs of kine. 
 
 But to return to the fern-owl. The least attention & ob- 
 servation would convince men that these poor birds neither 
 injure the goat-herd nor the grazier ; but that they are per- 
 fectly harmless, & subsist alone on night-moths & beetles ; 
 & thro' the month of July mostly on the scarabceus solstitialis, 
 the small tree-beetle, which in many districts flies and abounds 
 at that season. Those that we have opened have always had 
 their craws stuffed with large night-moths & pieces of chafers : 
 nor does it any wise appear, how they can, weak & unarmed 
 as they are, inflict any malady on kine, unless they possess 
 the powers of animal magnetism, & can affect them by flutter- 
 ing over them. Upon recollection it must have been at your 
 house that the amiable Mr. Stillingfleet kept his Calendar of 
 Flora in 1755. Similar pursuits make intimate & lasting 
 friendship. As I do not take in the R. S. T. I will with 
 pleasure accept of your present of a copy of y r Indications of 
 Spring. Hoping that your benevolence will pardon the un- 
 reasonable length of this letter, on which I look back with some 
 contrition, I remain, with true esteem, Your most humble 
 servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Any farther correspondence will be deemed an honour. 
 
252 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE 
 
 Stratton near Norwich. 
 
 Aug. 31.-90. 
 
 Sir, 
 I am much obliged to you for your entertaining & instruct- 
 ing letter ; & pleased to find that you was acquainted 
 with D r Hales : and i believe all men that knew him es- 
 teemed him. I have had the good fortune to know most of 
 his family. 
 
 Sir, i conclude that you are right, & that i was mistaken 
 about the amours of the toad : but so are my acquaintance 
 also. Frogs, you know, generally leap or jump ; now the 
 people we talk of, only walk or creep ; and i thought that i 
 had particularly observed their swelled bellies. But if i 
 should live to another Spring, i will examine them with more 
 care. — With respect to the measures of your Trees, i hope we 
 take them at the same height from the Earth, viz. 5 feet, and 
 then your's and my Trees are nearly equal. Your Oak, I see, 
 gains about 9 tenths of an inch yearly for 58 years, and mine 
 the same in the Grove: but one transplanted from that Grove 
 (which was sowed Acorns in 1719,) gains above 14 tenths, as 
 it was last Autumn 8 F. 3 I. when the largest in y Grove is 
 but 5 F. 3 I. Such is the benefit of transplanting ! or 
 perhaps, to speak honestly, the giving as much room as the 
 Tree requires. — I am surprised that your Trees can increase 
 so fast in chalky or stony soil. But perhaps your charming 
 Beech of 50 feet to the head was not of your own planting. 
 I wish i could get a peep at it, & make my bow to you ; but 
 all the pleasure of rambling is ended with me ; I having 
 been lame now near two years, & not once out of the Village 
 in that time. For i have a stony complaint also, which keeps 
 me from a carriage. — Mr. Drake has a charming Grove of 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 253 
 
 Beech in Buckinghamshire*, where the handsomest Tree (aa i 
 was informed by a friend to be depended on) runs 75 feet 
 clear, & then about 35 feet more in the head. I went on 
 purpose to see it. 'Tis only 6 F. 6 I. round, but straight us 
 possible. Some Beeches in my late worthy friend Mr. 
 Naylor'sf Park of Hurstmonceaux in Sussex, ran taller & 
 much larger ; but none so handsome. — Norfolk is too flat a 
 Country to try the difference of the growth of Trees on y e 
 cold or warm sides of hills ; but i entirely agree with you in 
 the great advantage of warmth. This County is very un- 
 genial to Elms, which are generally hollow before they are a 
 foot square, & Ash does not thrive with me. I have left off 
 planting Chesnuts ; but they grow quick, and, i conclude, to 
 the largest size of any Tree in this Island. I have one i 
 raised from the nut, which was 2 feet round at 55 high in 
 1781. 'Tis a very handsome plant, & holds clear above eleven 
 yards, with a fair head. I have seen several Chesnut-trees 
 above ten yards round ; & Lord Ducie's X i measured above 
 15 yards ; which i conclude is the greatest. But i find they 
 
 * [Probably at Shardeloes, near Amershani. — A. N.] 
 t [Francis Hare (son of a Bishop of Chichester) was born in 1713, and 
 assumed the name of Naylor in 1734, on succeeding to the estate of his 
 uncle George Naylor, who had bought Hurstmonceaux. In his youth he 
 is said to have been guilty of extravagance and dissipation of every 
 description, joining the notorious "Medmenham Brotherhood." He died 
 in 1775, when the estates passed to his half-brother, Robert Hare, whose 
 grandsons were the accomplished Francis, Augustus, Julius, and Marcus 
 Hare. Hurstmonceaux Castle was destroyed by Wyatt in 1777, and now 
 remains a ruin. — A. N.] 
 
 \ [This magnificent Spanish chestnut at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, 
 has been mentioned by nearly all writers on trees from Evelyn's time to 
 our own. The particulars of it given in the text a few lines lower down 
 seem to be taken from Ducarel's paper (' Phil. Trans.' 1771, p. 168), 
 where they are quoted from the 'London Magazine' for 1758 (p. 482). 
 A very fair representation of it, taken in 1824, is given by Strutt (' Sylva 
 Britannica,' pi. xxix.), and Loudon says ('Arboretum Britannicum,' 
 p. 1988) that " it may, indeed, possibly have been one of those planted by 
 the Romans." I saw it in August, 1875, and Lord Ducie kindly informs 
 me that its " present girth is about 17 yards ; but each measurement will 
 vary, as the trunk is covered with ligneous warts, and a tape may either 
 cover or miss one of these, thus altering its dimensions."— A. N.] 
 
254 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 cannot hear the severe frosts. ] had one of this sort, in the 
 <t'\i>vf> Winter of 39—40, split very near half an inch wide, 
 where i could run a table-knife it's length into the crack: but 
 this is quite closed ; & covered with bark. To show you the 
 growth of this kind of Tree, i have a memorandum of a 
 former Rector of an adjoining Village, " that he planted a 
 Chesnut Tree by his Church in 1610," which was in Autumn 
 1788, 19 F. 4 I, or 184 inches in 178 years. I suppose Ld 
 Ducie's Tree may be 1100 years old, if it increased in the 
 proportion reasonable for such a vast Tree ; & might be about 
 eleven yards round in King John's time, as tradition calls 
 it the great Chesnut at that time. — Stillingfleet was a 
 very estimable man. I knew him from his first leaving 
 College. Fortune frowned on him from his birth, 'till near 
 his end. He used for many years to visit me. His father, 
 after the Bishop's displeasure, lived on his little Rectory in 
 Norfolk. 
 
 Sir, in your 39 th letter to Pennant you ask where the 
 Stock-dove breeds? In Norfolk in hollow Trees*. The Fern- 
 Owl lays its eggs on the plain Land. I think your Country- 
 men should be punished for laying so heavy a charge against 
 an innocent Bird. I find a memorandum of mine of so old a 
 date as Sep. 14. 1722. i shot a ring-Ouzel. This was the first 
 my father had seen. This shows they are strangers in 
 Norfolk. But i have seen of them twice since, in severe 
 frost. You do me honour to accept my Indications of 
 Spring. To explain to you, i mark leaf, as soon as the 
 smallest leaf appears ; and i name the County (if not in 
 Norfolk), as i have observed so near as Hertfordshire, they 
 are sometimes a week earlier than here. You see 'tis shame- 
 fully imperfect. — The equal number of the returning Swallows 
 seems the greatest Mystery, amongst the many Mysteries that 
 attend them. — Sir, as i live in hopes of sometimes having the 
 favour of hearing from you, pray never again make an 
 apology for length ; every Article is pleasing to me : but I 
 
 * [Its breeding at Selborne is fully stated in a note on the passage 
 referred to, Vol. I. p. 96.— T. B.J 
 
AND ROBERT MARSH A.M. 255 
 
 am unreasonable to wish for so much of your time. I am, 
 with true esteem, Sir, 
 
 your most humble 
 
 & obliged servant, 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 P.S. I have had the pleasure of recommending your Work 
 to all my correspondents. — I know no man in your County, 
 but M r Chute, the father of your new Member. I con- 
 gratulate you that Election bustle is over; as i suppose, 
 during the contest, ye were as inimical as young Cuckows. 
 I presume you have read Mr Jenner's account of the Cuckow 
 in the Ph. Trans. Vol. 78*; he handsomely disculpates the 
 Cuckow of the want of crropyr). — There is a gentleman in this 
 County of the name of Gurdon of good fortune f. The 
 family, i suppose for some centuries, has been owners of a 
 Village called Letton. They have lately changed the name 
 for Dillingham. — We have the greatest flight of Swallows i 
 think i have ever seen at this time. I heard the flying note of 
 the Fern-Owl on Aug. 20. 
 
 * [See note to Letter IV. to Barrington, Vol. I. p. 123.— T. B.] 
 t [This remark doubtless has reference to the notice of Sir Adam 
 Gurdon in the ' Antiquities of Selbome ' (Letters VIII. and IX.). Mr 
 Gurdon of Letton, High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1789, added to his own 
 surname that of his mother, daughter and heiress of Theophilus Dilling- 
 ham, of Shelton, Beds., and died in 1820. He was succeeded by his son, 
 who dropped the second surname. According to Sir Bernard Burke 
 (' Landed Gentry '), the Gurdons of Letton are descended from Robert 
 Gurdon (who died in 1343), the second and disinherited son of the above- 
 named Sir Adam by his second wife Almeria or Ameria. — A. N. 
 
 Gilbert White states positively and repeatedly that Gurdon had no 
 son, and that Ameria's sons were by her second husband (Vol. I. p. 308). 
 — T. B.] 
 
256 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton near Norwich. Dec. 29. 90. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 It was not for want of inclination, but want of matter, that i 
 did not offer you my hearty thanks for the favour of your 
 very entertaining letter of the 12 th of October*. I have very 
 lately met with some intelligence that may afford you some 
 amusement, so wish to lay it before you. 
 
 As i knew nothing of Mr Jennor's character, & as some of 
 his history of the Cuckow is extraordinary, i desired my 
 very estimable friend Lord Suffieldf to enquire that of Mr 
 Hunter ; he is perfectly satisfied of Jennor's accuracy. He 
 was his Pupil & lived in his house upwards of four years. 
 Jennor sent parts of the account of the Cuckow to Mr Hunter 
 18 months, or more, before they were published. Hunter 
 has himself repeated some of the experiments, & found them 
 correct : & this last Summer, he put a Blackbird's egg into a 
 hedge Sparrow's nest, & left three of her own eggs; & the 
 Sparrow hatched them & brought them all up. Mr Hunter 
 was not perfectly satisfied, that the ejecting the young spar- 
 rows from the nest was the act of the young Cuckow only, 
 but suspected some aid of the foster-mother : however she & 
 the Blackbird let the young Sparrows enjoy their nest quietly. 
 — Hunter told his Ldp. that he was now making repeated 
 observations upon a species of the Nightingale sent to him 
 from Germany, as a song Bird. Accident led him to suspect 
 that this Bird could (if one may so speak) see clearly in the 
 dark. His time of frolic is after midnight : he then hops 
 about the Cage from perch to perch, & from the wires of one 
 
 * [This letter is missing. — T. S.] 
 
 t [Sir Harbord Harbord, created Lord Suffield 1786, died 1810.— 
 A N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 257 
 
 side to the other side. Hunter has changed the Cage, & 
 altered the places of the perches, & taken every precaution to 
 exclude every particle of Light; & being shut up in the closet 
 with the Bird, says, he hears him hop from perch to perch, & 
 so on without ever seeming to blunder or mistake. He is 
 almost certain of the fact*. I have transcribed Lord Suf- 
 field's words that he wrote. — From my own knowledge i can 
 6ay but little, only, that on the tenth of last November, a 
 Swallow laid dead just under the window of the room i live 
 in ; so we must see it the day it fell : & as the last of my 
 Swallows appearing, was on the 30 of Sep. this Bird was most 
 likely in it's torpid state, when some accident removed it. 
 The tail was short, so i conclude it was of the latter brood. 
 But although i have had the eaves & roof of my house 
 searched, no bird can be found. Yet it seems unlikely that 
 a single Swallow should hide for the winter when they are so 
 companionable in the Summer, that you very seldom then see 
 a single bird. So i must conclude others are hid near it. 
 On the 17 th of this month i had Turnip-flowers; which i find 
 are earlier than i had seen before. Violets have been in 
 flower weeks ago. But i have not marked them in my Indi- 
 cations of Spring. You see, Sir, that i began my work very 
 lazily with very few articles. I believe the Elm leaves that 
 you saw at Sunbury on the 20 of Feb. in 1750, were earlier 
 than any i had seen. I find in my journal in 1738. the Elms 
 had leaves on the 23 of March N.S. at Genoa; & on my 
 landing at Antibes the 3 d of April, the Bye was in ear. — If it 
 had been my good fortune to know you 50 years ago, i am 
 sure i should have been a wiser, & better man : & i hope 'tis 
 not too late now. — On y e 24 th i found a dark Butterfly in my 
 keeping-room, which led me to my Indications : & find the 
 earliest (yellow) Jan. 14 last year. The Season points to me 
 
 * [I am not aware of any record of these observations (though doubt- 
 less made at the time, according to Hunter's practice) having been 
 published. From the expression used in the text the bird seem- imi t.. 
 have been the common species of Nightingale (Daulias lust-in in) ; and if 
 not, it was doubtless the " Sprosser " (D. philomela), which is common in 
 Eastern Germany. — A. N.] 
 
 VOL. II. S 
 
258 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 to wish you many more years of health, to enjoy the honest 
 pleasure resulting from your instructing mankind. 
 
 I remain, with great esteem, dear Sir, your obedient 
 
 & obliged servant, 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 P.S. I think you was poorly paid in 100 shillings for 100 
 feet of good Elm. The Beeches you mention (tho' hollow) of 
 30 feet round, are above ten feet larger than i have ever seen. 
 — I had last week an account that there is now in Stonleigh 
 Park* (amongst abundance of fine Oaks) an Oak 23 F. 11 
 Inches round at 5 feet. The Tree is sound & in health. 
 
 [Franked by «W. Fellowes;" endorsed by White, "M r Marsham."] 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selborne: Jan. 18th. 1791. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 As your long silence gave me some uneasiness lest it should 
 have been occasioned by indisposition ; so the sight of your 
 last obliging letter afforded me much satisfaction in pro- 
 portion. 
 
 I was not a little pleased to find that your friend Lord 
 Suffield corroborated the account of the Cuckoo given by Mr. 
 Jennor, whose relation of the proceedings of that peculiar bird 
 is very curious, new, & extraordinary. — It does not appear 
 from y r letter that you endeavoured to revive the Swallow, 
 which fell down before y r parlor-window. — I have not' yet 
 done with trees, & shall therefore add, that my tall 74 f. beech 
 measures 6 feet in the girth at two feet above the ground. 
 Beeches seem to me to thrive best on stoney, or chalkey cliffs, 
 where there seems to be little or no soil. Thus about a mile 
 
 * [Stoneleigh near Kenilworth, now the seat of Lord Leigh. — A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHA M 259 
 
 & an half from me to the S.E. in an abrupt field, stand four 
 noble beech-trees on the edge of a steep, rocky ravin, or 
 water-gulley, the biggest of which measures !» feel ."> inches al 
 four feet from the ground. Their noble branching head- A 
 smooth rind show that they arc in the highest vigour & 
 preservation. Again the vast bloated, pollard, hollow beeches, 
 mentioned before, stood on the bare, naked end of a chalky 
 promontory, many of which measured from 20 to 30 feet in 
 circumference! they were the admiration of all strangers. 
 How has prevailed the notion that all. old London was built 
 with chestnut? It is with us now vile timber, porous, shakey, 
 and fragil, & only fit for the meanest coopery purposes. Yet 
 have I known it smuggled into Portsmouth dock as good 
 ship-building oak ! * 
 
 The more I observe & take notice of the best oaks now 
 remaining in this neighbourhood, the more I am astonished at 
 the oak which you planted yourself. For there is amost noble 
 tree of that kind near Hartely house, which I caused to lie 
 measured last week ; when behold, at four feet above the 
 ground the girth proved to be only 14- feet, when yours 
 measured 12 ft. 6 in. ! Why this fine shafted tree, with it's 
 majestic head escaped the ax (sic) thirty years ago, when Sr. 
 Simeon Stuart felled all it's contemporaries, I cannot pretend 
 to say. If you ever happen to see the Hamadryad of y r 
 favourite Oak, pray give my respects to her. She must be a 
 fine venerable old lady. For a diverting story respecting an 
 Hamadryad, see the Spectator, vol. 8, p. 12s. 
 
 Behind my house I have got an outlet of seven acres laid 
 out in walks by my father. As the soil is strong, the bed;, 
 which are cut-up, are prodigious. The maples about 35 feet 
 in height, & the hasles & whitethorns 20, which, when 
 feathered to the ground, were beautiful : but they now, being 
 50 years old, have rather over-stood their time; & besides, the 
 severity of Decem r 1784 has occasioned irreparable damages 
 among the branches. Thus much for trees. Lord St a we 1 1 t 
 
 * See note, p. 266. 
 
 t [Henry Stawell Bilson Legge, Lord Stawell. succeeded in L780 tu 
 the barony conferred upon his mother, and died in 1820.- A. Y 
 
 S 2 
 
200 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 has lately sent me such a bird, sprung & shot in his coverts, 
 as I never saw before, or shall again. I pronounced it to be 
 a mule, bred between a cock pheasant & a pea-hen *. 
 
 You say wood-cocks in their passage strike against light- 
 houses on y r coast : a Gent, tells me, that at Penzance sea- 
 fowls frequently dash in the night against windows where 
 they see a light. — My well is 63 feet in depth ; yet in very 
 dry seasons, as last autumn, it is nearly exhausted : yet you 
 would be surprised to see how few inches of rain falling will 
 replenish it again. How do rains insinuate themselves to 
 such depths ? The rains this winter have been prodigious I 
 In Novem r last 7 inches ; in December 6 inches. The whole 
 rain at Selborne in 1790 was 32 inches. Sure such thunder, 
 & lightening & winds have never fallen out within your 
 observation in one winter ! Had I known You 30 years ago, 
 I should have been much pleased; because I would have gone 
 to have seen you ; and perhaps You might have been pre- 
 vailed on, when all our timber was standing, to have returned 
 the visit. In the year 1746 I lived for six months at Thorney 
 in the Isle of Ely, to settle an executorship, & dispose of live 
 stock : there I lost nine oxen by their eating yew, as men- 
 tioned in my book f. I hope you will write not long hence. 
 With the truest respect & esteem I remain, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 The dark butterfly which you saw was the papilio itrticce: 
 it is often more early than the yellow papilio rhamni. At 
 this moment the Barometer stands somewhat below 28 inches 
 5 tens! the rain this day has been very great from the S.E.! 
 
 * [See " Observations on Birds," Vol. I. p. 430 and note.— T. B.] 
 t [Vol. I. p. 292 and note.— T. B.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 261 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selborne: Feb. 25th : 1791. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 It was elegantly remarked on our common friend, & my 
 quondam neighbour Doctor Stephen Hales, by one who has 
 written his character in Latin, that — "scientiam philosophi- 
 cam usibus humanis famulari jussit." The observation was 
 just, & the assertion no inconsiderable compliment : for un- 
 doubtedly speculative enquiries can bear no competition with 
 practical ones, where the latter profess never to lose sight of 
 utility. 
 
 As I perceive You loved the good old man, I do not know 
 how I can amuse You better, than by sending you the follow- 
 ing anecdotes respecting him, some of which may not have 
 fallen within your observation. His attention to the inside 
 of Ladies tea-kettles, to observe how far they were incrusted 
 with stone (tophus lebetinus Linnaei) that from thence he 
 might judge of the salubrity of the water of their wells: — 
 his advising water to be showered down suspicious wells from 
 the nozle of a garden watering-pot in order to discharge 
 damps, before men ventured to descend; — his directing air- 
 holes to be left in the out-walls of ground rooms, to prevent 
 the rotting of floors & joists ; — his earnest dissuasive to young 
 people, not to drink their tea scalding hot; his advice to 
 water-men at a ferry, how they might best preserve & keep 
 sound the bottoms or floors of their boats; — his teaching the 
 house-wife to place an inverted tea-cup at the bottom of her 
 pies & tarts to prevent the syrop from boiling over, & to pre- 
 serve the juice; — his many tho' unsuccessful attempts to find 
 an adequate succedaneum for yeast or barm, so difficult to be 
 
262 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 procured in severe winters, & in many lonely situations ; — 
 his endeavour to destroy insects on wall-fruit-trees by quick- 
 silver poured into holes bored in their stems ; — & his experi- 
 ments to dissolve the stone in human bodies, by, as I think, 
 the juice of onions; — are a few, among many, of those bene- 
 volent & useful pursuits on which his mind was constantly 
 bent. Tho' a man of a Baronet's family, & of one of the best 
 houses in Kent, yet was his Humility so prevalent, that he 
 did not disdain the lowest offices, provided the-y tended to the 
 good of his fellow creatures. The last act of benevolence in 
 which I saw him employed was, at his rectory of Faringdon, 
 the next parish to this, where I found him in the street with 
 his paint-pot before him, & much busied in painting white, 
 with his own hands the tops of the foot-path posts, that his 
 neighbours might not be injured by running against them 
 in the dark. His whole mind seemed replete with experi- 
 ment, which of course gave a tincture & turn to his conver- 
 sation, often somewhat peculiar, but always interesting. He 
 used to lament to my Father, how tedious a task it was to 
 convince men, that sweet air was better than foul, alluding to 
 his ventilators : and once told him, with some degree of emo- 
 tion, that the first time he went on board a ship in harbour at 
 Portsmouth, the officers were rude to him ; & that he verily 
 believed he should never have prevailed to have seen his ven- 
 tilators in use in the royal navy, had not Lord Sandwich*, 
 then first Lord of the Admiralty, abetted his pursuits in a 
 liberal manner, and sent him down to the Commissioners of 
 the dock with letters of recommendation. It should not be 
 forgotten that our friend, under the patronage of Sir Joseph 
 Jekyll f, was instrumental in procuring the Gin-act, & stop- 
 
 * [John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, born 1718, three times First Lord 
 of the Admiralty, and holder of that office during the very eventful 
 period of Lord North's administration. In his lifetime he was popularly 
 known by the nickname of " Jemmy Twitcher," from a character in 
 (Jray's ' Beggar's Opera,' but is now best remembered by the group of 
 islands which Cook (whom he greatly encouraged) named after him. 
 He died in 1792.— A. N.] 
 
 t [Sir Joseph Jekyll, born 1664. An eminent Whig statesman, and 
 Master of the Rolls to George I. Died 1738.— A. N.J 
 
AND ROBERT MA RSI I a.m. 
 
 ping that profusion of spirituous liquors whirl, foreat'ned ... 
 ruin the morals & constitutions of our - common people ,l 
 once He used to say, that the hogs of distill,,. W ere more 
 brutal than the hogs of other men; & that, when drunk thej 
 used to bite pieces out of each other's backs & sides ! With 
 due respects I remain, 
 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 I did myself the honour of writing to you very lately 
 about trees, & other matters. This winter continues wet & 
 mild: wet springs are bad for Selborne. My crocus's make 
 a fine show. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton, March 1, 1791. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 I was intending to write you my thanks for the favour of 
 your pleasing letter of the 18 th of Jan : but waited for some- 
 thing to arise that might afford you some pleasure ; when this 
 day's post brought me the honour of your letter of the 25 of 
 Feb. Every article relating to that excellent man the late 
 Dr. Hales, cannot fail of being pleasing to me. I never saw 
 him towards being angry, but when he talked againsi ( Jin. 
 I think it was first from him that i heard Onions were good 
 for people suffering with the Stone. I then thought but 
 little about it : but as i have, for two years past, felt some 
 painful symptoms of that malady, i often sup on roasted Por- 
 tugal Onions, and hope i receive benefit from them. — M3 
 good Friend, when you touch upon Trees, you touch my mad 
 string. My favourite Oak is 12 F. I! [., bid tin.- Is at one 
 
264 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 foot from the Earth, and S r Simeon Stuart's* Oak is 14 feet 
 at 4 feet from the Earth. The best Oak i have, is 14 F. 2 L& 
 
 • [That Sir Simeon Stuart, who owned and occupied the parish of 
 Hartley Maudit, and who at one time represented the county in Parliament, 
 was closely associated with the contiguous parish of Selborne, is shown 
 by the following letter, which was addressed by him " To Mr. White, at 
 Selebourn ;" to which is added, in another hand, " To be given to the next 
 vicar." It is remarkable that Gilbert White, the vicar, the grandfather 
 of the naturalist, had died in February of the same year; and, although 
 the letter is dated eight mouths later, Sir Simeon could not even then 
 have been aware that he had lost his neighbour. — T. B. 
 
 " Harteley, Nov. 22, 1727. 
 
 " Sib, 
 " In the last will of my Lady Stuart my Grandmother, there is a 
 clause hisce verbis. ' I give & devise to y e L d of y e mann r & the Church 
 Wardens & Overseers of y e poor of Harteley Maudytt Com. Southton, 
 fifty pounds to be laid out by them on the purchase of some land or house 
 for"y e use & intent following, that is to say y* they the then L d of y e 
 Mann r Ch Ward ns & Overseers of y e poor shall procure an able minister 
 out of the neighbourhood of y e s d Parish of Harteley every year on y e day 
 of my Death, to preach a Sermon in y' parish Church on Death, future 
 Judgement or on the Resurrection from Death. And for the Ministers 
 pains in so doing to give unto y e s d Minister for so doing 20 s , & y* they, 
 y e s d L d of the Mann r Ch War & Overseers of y e Poor shall distribute 
 "amongst y e poor people of y e parish of Selebourn and y e poor people of 
 Harteley that shall then & there be present at Divine Service y e residue 
 of ye Rent of y e s d Land &c. without any mann r of Favour & Affection.' 
 My Lady died Sep. 1699 & there has been an annuall Sermon, & y e 
 Interest of y e s d money, y l is 50 s yearly, distributed according to y e s d 
 Will. This present year some considerable time before y e B d Day of my 
 s d Lady's obit I, as L d of y e mann r of Harteley, y c Ch: W & Over, did, by 
 writing under our hands, appoint M r Long Curate of Greathamto preach 
 y e s a Sermon on one of y e above texts— w eh when he acquainted M r 
 Avery therewith, he (Avery) did with some warmth refuse him, that he, 
 nor no other w* ever should preach in his pulpitt, and y l he would doe it 
 notwithstanding any appointment of any one— upon w ch notice being 
 given me by y e s d M r Long I caused y e poor to be made acquainted that 
 there would be no such Sermon on y l day in Harteley Church as appointed 
 by y e Testatrix & of the true reason thereof, as well to save y e poor 
 people coming so far in vain as also to preserve my poor Grandmother's 
 intention as far as may be— but they were then acquainted that y e s d 
 money should be distributed in y e s d 2 parishes nevertheless— I was from 
 home at y 6 time but on consideration of y e size of y c parishes and of y e 
 proportions y 1 used to be had in giving y e s d money, I think it may be as 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 265 
 
 at 5 feet, which is above 19 feet at one foot, and 16 F. 9 I. 
 at 3 feet. But i lately was told that M r Archer of Hale near 
 Downton in Wiltshire has eight Oakes in his park or pastures, 
 for which he has been offered eight hundred pounds. This 
 account is so extraordinary that i wish i knew any man that 
 lived near the place, that i might enquire the measures of 
 them. I forget whether i told you of M r Leigh's Oakes at 
 Stonleigh Abbey in Warwickshire? The largest is at 5 feet, 
 23 F. 11 I. in circumfer e . 
 
 As the following relates to our favourite Trees (Beech) i 
 will intrude on your patience with a memorandum of mine 
 dated May 26. 1752, when i was with my worthy friend M r 
 Naylor at his Castle of Hurstmonceux in Sussex, viz. : — " The 
 " finest Grove of Beeches in the park that i ever saw. One 
 " felled two years ago ran 81 feet before it headed. I felled 
 " one an underling very small in the Grove merely to guess 
 " the height of its neighbours, which was + 62 feet to the 
 " head. I believe some are above 100 f. high, and run 80, or 
 " very near, before they head, and i think some are 70 without 
 " a branch. Some are large & spreading. I measured one 
 " + 16 F. round at 5 f . a very handsome one +13 f. & an 
 " extreme handsome one 11 F. 5 I. & |- the handsomest is 
 "but 10 F. 6 I. an Arm of one standing single extended 
 " +20 paces from the trunk." Again in 1767. Some 
 " Beeches laid felled in the park, one was + 72 feet long as 
 " cut for timber, squared above 2 feet at 24 f. length ; & 
 " marked 222 feet: a Grove of tall Chesnuts near the 
 " Beeches from 10 to 12 feet in circumf. at 5 feet." I do not 
 love the Chestnuts no more than you : they have nothing of 
 the obedience towards their masters which Beeches show : if 
 
 near to Truth and Justice as can be found out, to allott 20 9 to y e poor of 
 Selebourn & 10 s to y e poor of Harteley, and y* is y e reason y l herewith I 
 send y° 20 s begging y e favour it may be distributed to such & so many 
 of y r poor as y° shall think fitt & y l were capable & likely to have 
 edified by y e Sermon had such been preached. * * * I beg y r pardon 
 for y r trouble and am S r 
 
 " Y r obedient Serv 1 . 
 
 " Simeon Stuabt."] 
 
266 CORRESPONDENCE OE GILBERT WHITE 
 
 you cut off an Arm of Beech, they seldom produce another ; 
 but an Oak will give you 2 for one, & a Chesnut (in de- 
 fyance) 5 or more for one. I have this winter had several 
 favourite Beeches digged round, two spades deep, as far as 
 the roots extend, in hopes it may promote their growth. But 
 i do not recommend this as oeconomy. If i can thus gain 
 half an inch extra, i reckon myself paid the 3 half crowns ex- 
 pended on the Tree. 
 
 My eyes water so much that i am forced to write by in- 
 stalments, as Bankrupts pay their debts. — The Swallow was 
 dead, & a wing torn off. — I. certainly never remember so much 
 thunder in a winter as in this, & perhaps not so much wind & 
 rain. But as i do not measure the rain, i am not certain. — 
 Tho' the Season has been uncommonly mild, i do not find the 
 Indications of Spring so early, e.g Snowdrop F. Jan. 16. 
 Thrush sings Feb. 14. Rooks build Mar. 2 & i have not 
 heard a Ring-dove coo yet ; but stockdoves on the 23 of Feb. 
 
 In my favourite Book, the Nat. Hist, of Selborne, i am 
 perplexed to find C. Taylor Vicar in 1784, as i thought you 
 had the Vicarage : and i suppose that your namesake, in 
 1691, the charitable Vicar was an Ancestor of your's. 
 
 I should have gone on with last Winter, & as a strong 
 proof of its mildness have told you that i have a Hawthorn & 
 a Hornbeam both headed last year, y e first full leafed & green, 
 the last, some leaves green. — I forget the authority, but i am 
 confident i have heard that old London was built of Chest- 
 nut *. Tho' 'tis apt to be split with frost, 'tis certainly last- 
 ing Timber, although it grows quick. Perhaps i may have 
 
 * [The statement is made by Ducarel (Phil. Trans, lxi. p. 137, for 1771), 
 but, as appears by Marsham's next letter, he had not seen it there. — 
 —A. N.] 
 
 [The question to what extent chestnut timber formerly took the place 
 of oak, and how far the material of the roofs of churches, &c, long 
 supposed to haTe been constructed of the latter, proves upon more careful 
 inspection to be of chestnut, has of late years excited considerable 
 interest. One of the oldest remaining churches in this country, that of 
 Greenstead in Essex, still retains its wooden walls entire, and is con- 
 structed, if I am rightly informed, of this timber. It is believed on good 
 grounds that it was originally erected as a shrine or resting-place for the- 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 267 
 
 told you before now, that a Chestnut which i raised from the 
 nut, measures Timber at 55 f. high, & is a very handsome 
 Tree. I wish i could view your Beech of 74 feet, & your 
 pleasing outlet: alas! all round me is as Hat as round Thor- 
 ney. I am, with true esteem, my dear Sir, your most humble, 
 
 & obliged servant, 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 Ld Stawell's bird must be a great curiosity. Mar. 4. 
 
 P.S. In 1748 i enclosed above 20 acres of my Waste, & 
 planted it. The poorest Land with Scotch Firs, & the best 
 with Beeches, & another part chiefly with Oaks. 1 wish i 
 could walk with you about this Wood, as i believe you would 
 find more variety than you expected. One part of the Beech 
 are tall Grove, & near that they are short and spreading. The 
 Oaks also are part tall & part pollards &c. Although i walk 
 in it most days, yet i am never weary of it ; but when alone 
 can look, & admire the different beauties of y e different shapes 
 of y e trees. One Beech already extends its Branches ten 
 yards from the trunk. I have a Lingstack in it for rest & 
 shelter, (not half so pretty as your Hermitage), but it takes 
 the Cathedral of Norwich & 2 Country Churches into view. 
 — Mar. 5. i have just heard a Ringdove coo, & seen a Haw- 
 thorn 1. my first Crocus F. was Feb. 10. 
 
 [This letter is endorsed by White: — '"'Did you see any beeches in 
 Italy? Lombardy Poplars? Chestnuts? Claphani Common. - ' — Me- 
 moranda of his answer, which is missing, as will be seen by Marsham"s 
 reply.— T. S.] 
 
 body of S' Edmund, the King of the East Angles, on its transportation 
 from the scene of his murder to the place of bis sepulture at Bury St. 
 Edmunds in the year 870.— T. B.J 
 
268 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton: July 8. 91. 
 
 1791. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 My thanks are justly due to you for the favour of your pleas- 
 ing letter of the 8 th of June *. If i am not the wiser for every 
 letter of yours, 'tis my own fault, or want of memory. In 
 not seeing Hurstmonceux, you lost not only the sight of the 
 tall Beeches &c. in the park, but also one of the most entire 
 old Castles in England. I find by my notes, 'tis 77 of my 
 steps (suppose yards) long, & 72 deep. & the moat 20 yards 
 broad. The great staircase 40 feet square, and 22 back stairs, 
 so like each other, that i chalked my door, to prevent my 
 going into rooms that i should not ; they being 48 on a floor 
 as my friend told me. Your letter made me look over my old 
 journal, which i believe i had not done of 50 years, & i find 
 no mention of Beeches in Italy; nor does my memory supply 
 me with any. I remember some in Switzerland near Bern, 
 that were mixed with Firs, that i think were very tall but not 
 large. The poplars in Lombardy, are lost to my memory, & 
 are not mentioned in my journal : but in the public walks by 
 Florence a part was felled, & i find some were above 100 feet 
 long, & very slender. I greatly dislike the Tree in England. 
 I noticed a wood of Oakes betwixt Rome & Naples, being 
 very tall but not large, and the leaf more indented than ours. 
 So i send you a leaf. 
 
 I am obliged to you for engaging your Nephew at Salis- 
 bury to gain intelligence of M r Archer's Oakes: but i believe 
 'tis unnecessary. A friend was with me lately, to whom i 
 told the account. He said he had been at M r Archer's, & 
 " remembers some Trees by his house, which appeared nothing 
 "extraordinary; like some of your best." Now my best was 
 
 * [This letter is missing.— T. B.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. 209 
 
 but 25 guineas.— I got a peep at M r Rook's sketches of the 
 Duke of Portland's Oaks*. But i fear he is a bad calculator 
 of the age of Trees from their size. I have not seen Daines 
 Barrington's controversy with D r Ducarrel f. But although 
 I respect M 1 ' Barrington, yet i must see he is too partial to 
 any opinion that he has adopted, to allow the weight of any 
 evidence that makes against him. You may remember his 
 zeal against birds migrating }. The latest bird that i have 
 noticed appearing here, I mean its first appearance, is the 
 Fern Owle. I saw one this Spring, May 2. but did not hear 
 one sing 'till June 14 th . I wonder Willoughby says nothing 
 of their migrating. — I have been much entertained with M r 
 Townsend's travels in Spain §. But i must conclude that he 
 was misinformed when he savs that " Nightum-ales sino- all 
 the year," Vol. 3. p. 45. Your friend that lived in Andalusia, 
 i doubt not, knew it is not so. With us the song of that 
 bird is confined to as short a time as any. By the bye, i was 
 as careful as in my power towards the love-making of the 
 
 * [A plate giving " A North West View of the Green Dale Oak near 
 Welbeck," no doubt one of those to which reference is intended, is given 
 in Hunter's edition of Evelyn's work (vol. ii. to face p. 200) and bears in 
 the corner " A. Rooker Sculpsit." — A. N.] 
 
 t [In the 'Philosophical Transactions' for 17G9 (vol. lix.)is a commu- 
 nication from Barrington " On Trees which are supposed to be indigenous 
 to Great Britain," in the course of which he maintained that the Spanish 
 Chestnut was not one of them, and controverted the opinion of Ducarel 
 previously published {Anglo-Norman Antiquities, p. 90) that not only 
 was old London built of Chestnut-timber, but that there still existed a 
 large tract of Chestnut Woods near Sittingbourne in Kent. The con- 
 troversy was continued by Ducarel and others in 1771 (Phil. Trans, vol. 
 lxi. pp. 130-100), and Barrington replied on the whole case (torn. cit. 
 pp. 107-109). Barrington seems on the whole to have been right (see 
 Loudon, Arb. Brit. p. 1987).— A. N.] 
 
 % [Barrington contributed to the ' Philosophical Transactions ' for 1772 
 (vol. lxii. pp. 205-320), "An Essay on the periodical Appearance and 
 Disappearance of certain Birds at different times of the year." — A. N.] 
 
 § [' A Journey through Spain in the years 1780 and 1787.' By Joseph 
 Townsend, A.M., Rector of Pewsey, Wilts; and late of Clare-Hall, Cam- 
 bridge. Second Edition, 3 vols. London : 1792. The author being of 
 the same college as Marsham was very likely personally known to him. 
 —A. N.] 
 
270 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 frogs last Spring, and the gentlewoman seemed to be a toad. 
 She walked not jumped, her belly was the ash colour with 
 black spots, & the colour of her back like the toad. I am ig- 
 norant of the characteristic marks of either of y r gentry. I 
 was pleased long ago with the rows of Oakes by Odiham, 
 as growing well upon unpromising Land. But i have seen 
 great Oakes upon absolute sand, viz Ld Thanet's in "West- 
 moreland* was 31 F. 9 I. round in 1765 & M r Lemon's at 
 Northaw Herts, whose top was the largest i ever saw : some 
 arms extended full 60 feet from the trunk, which was 19. feet 
 7 In. round: i could not omit this in y e paper on y e increase 
 of Trees in y e Ph. Trans. 1759. We have only the Oak with 
 the long stalk to the acorn, & the leaf without stalk. I thought 
 the Oaks in Sussex, & many other Counties more pleasing 
 trees than in Norfolk; but i did not observe the leaves. I re- 
 member near Ucfield, in the road from London to Herstmon- 
 ceux, an Oak with yellow leaves ; which struck me as very 
 curious, & my good friend Naylor got me some of the acorns, 
 but none grew. I presume you have noticed this Oak, as i 
 have heard of another with leaves as yellow as the Elm in 
 autumn. 
 
 In answer to your last Article, i was a young fellow in 
 1733 when many Counties were inflamed with contested Elec- 
 tions (when S 1 ' S. Stuart lost his Election by 2 in your 
 County) & engaged warmly in that new amusement: & drank 
 & smoked for the Cause, although i relished neither. But old 
 age, that blunts the edge of all passions & my seeing, accord- 
 ing to Pope "how like, Whig ministers to Tory," has 
 
 cooled my party zeal : & i feel myself satisfied with giving my 
 vote for a friend, without enquiring about his party. So if 
 you had asked me my party, i can hardly tell you. But i 
 will add, that i love the King, & the Constitution, & am dis- 
 liked by both parties. 
 
 Two articles of your letter vex me, viz. that your infirmities 
 
 deprive me of the pleasure of seeing you in Norfolk ; the 
 
 other, that in naming me, you have struck out the wordfriend, 
 
 & put correspondent. I should have been proud, to be called 
 
 * [At Whinfield Park (Loudon, ut mpra, p. 1771).— A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHA M. 271 
 
 friend by the Author of the Hist, of Selborne : for i am with 
 great esteem, dear Sir, your most humble 
 
 & obliged servant, 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 P.S. Although last Winter & the fore-part of Spring were 
 (i think) the mildest that i remember (except the Earthquake 
 year 1750), yet I find many articles of Spring later than in 
 several colder Seasons. I find snow on y e 5 th of May. We 
 have had some drying E. wind, but hardly to be called hot. 
 The begining of June 2 or 3 days the air was thick, in small 
 degree like what you noticed in 1783. Letter 64. On the last of 
 June i found my best Oak & best Beech had each increasi d 
 an inch, which i find is more than my Trees had done in the 
 two years measurement, which are in the Ph. Tr. in 1758. so 
 i hope for a good year's growth : as they have two months 
 more to grow. The lateral shoots of healthy Beeches are 2 
 feet; & one of the Copper coloured Beech is near 21 inches. 
 
 I am with great esteem 
 
 Dear Sir your most humble 
 
 & obliged servant 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 P.S. when i wrote this i hoped for a friend to direct it; but 
 no neighbours are come down: & i am ashamed to make you 
 pay for a leaf. I did not see i had. concluded my letter before, 
 but am too lazy to write it over again ; & hope you will par- 
 don this, & the many other blunders in an old fellow of 84. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selborne near Alton : 
 
 Uec r . 19. 1791. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Your letter, which met me so punctually in London, was so 
 
272 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 intelligent, & so entertaining, as to have merited a better 
 treatment, & not to have been permitted to have lain so long 
 unnoticed ! 
 
 That there is no rule without an exception is an observa- 
 tion that holds good in Nat. History : for tho' you & I have 
 often remarked that Sivifts leave us in general by the first 
 week in August: yet I see by my journal of this year, that a 
 relation of mine had under the eaves of his dwelling house in 
 a nest a young squab swift, which the dam attended with great 
 assiduity till September 6th*, — & on Octob r 22. I discovered 
 here at Selborne three young martins in a nest, which the 
 dams fed & attended with great affection on to Novem 1- 1st, 
 a severe frosty day; when they disappeared; & one was found 
 dead in a neighbour's garden. The middle of last Septem r 
 was a sweet season ! during this lovely weather the congrega- 
 ting flocks of house martins on the Church & tower were very 
 beautiful & amusing ! When they flew off all together from 
 the roof, on any alarm, they quite swarmed in the air. But 
 they soon settled again in heaps on the shingles ; where preen- 
 ing their feathers, & lifting up their wings to admit the rays of 
 the sun, they seemed highly to enjoy the warm situation. Thus 
 did they spend the heat of the day, preparing for their Mi- 
 gration, & as it were consulting when & where they are to 
 go ! The flight about the church consisted chiefly of h. mar- 
 tins, about 400 in number : but there were other places of 
 rendezvous about the village, frequented at the same time. 
 The swallows seem to delight more in holding their assemblies 
 on trees. Such sights as these fill me with enthusiasm ! & 
 make me cry out involuntarily, 
 
 u Amusive birds ! say where your hid retreat, 
 When the frost rages, & the tempests beat ! " 
 
 We have very great oaks here also on absolute sand. For 
 over Wolmer forest, at Bramshot place where I visit, I mea- 
 sur'd last summer three great hollow oaks, which made a very 
 
 * [Occasional instances are recorded of the retarded departure of the 
 swift, such as that mentioned by Gilbert White in this letter ; but they 
 are quite exceptional. See Vol. I. pp. 94, 175, 417. — T. B.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARS! I A.M. 273 
 
 grotesque appearance at the entrance of the avenue, & found 
 the largest 21 feet in girth at five feet from the ground. The 
 largest Sycamore in my friend's court measures L3 feet. His 
 edible chestnuts grow amazingly, hut make (for some have 
 been felled) vile shaky, cupshaky timber. I think the oat 
 on sands is shaky, as it is also on our rocks, as I know by Bad 
 experience the last time I built.— The indented oaken leaf 
 which you gather'd between Home & Naples was the quercus 
 cerris of Linmeus. The yellow oak which you saw in Sussex 
 escaped my notice. 
 
 Richard Muliman Trench Chiswell Esq. of Portland Place, 
 & M.P. tells a friend of mine in town that he has an Elm 
 in Essex for which he has been bid £100. It is lone enough 
 he says, to make a keel ungrafted for a man-of-war of the 
 largest dimensions. As he expressed a desire of correspond- 
 ing with me, I have written to him, & desired some particu- 
 lars respecting this amazing tree. 
 
 You seerti to wonder that Mr. Willughby should not be 
 aware that the Fern-owl is a summer bird of passage. But 
 you must remember that those excellent men, Willughby & 
 Ray, wrote when the ornithology of England, & indeed the 
 Nat: History was quite in it's infancy. But their efforts were 
 prodigious; & indeed they were the Fathers of that delight- 
 ful study in this kingdom. I have thoughts of sending a paper 
 to the R. S. respecting the fern-owl ; & seem to think that I 
 can advance some particulars concerning that peculiar, mi- 
 gratory, nocturnal bird, that have never been noticed before. 
 The rain of Octo r last was great, but of Nov r still more. The 
 former month produced 6 in. 49 hund. but the latter upwards 
 of 8 in.: five & ^ of which fell in one week, viz. from Nov. 
 13th to the 19th both inclusive! You will, I hope, pardon mv 
 neglect, & write soon. 0, that I had known you forty years ago ! 
 I remain, with great esteem, 
 
 Y r most humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 VOL.11. 
 
274 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 My tortoise was very backward this year in preparing his 
 1 1 vbernaculum ; & did not retire till towards the beginning 
 of Decern'. The late great snow hardly reached us, ct was 
 "•one at once. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton, Feb. 12, 1792. 
 Dear Sir, 
 Many thanks are due to you for your very pleasing & instruct- 
 ing letter of the 19 th of Dec r but procrastination has prevented 
 your receiving them. This failing which afflicted me in my 
 younger days, increases in aet. 85 ; & as i have nothing worth 
 communicating to you, it might safely have continued longer. 
 Our Winter began early, & was uncommonly severe before 
 Xmass. From the 8 of Dec r , to the 23 d was constant frost, 
 with little snow. The 12 tb was the coldest, viz. near 10 
 below friezing point. We here, like you in Hampshire, had 
 but little snow. 1 had a Woodcock in my house the first of 
 October. 
 
 Your new correspondent's Elm seems to me extraordinary. 
 You know the keel of a first-rate ship of War is 147 feet 
 long. This cannot be less than 8 feet round. As Elm is 
 generally slender in proportion to the height, Mr. Chiswell's 
 Elm should be at least 200 feet high : viz. near double the 
 height of the tall Trees of this Island ; credat &c. The tallest 
 Elms i can recollect are by S l John's Coll. Camb. which i 
 should think are not much above 100 feet. You know i traced 
 Mr. Archer's Oakes near Downton, 'till they contracted into 
 sticks. You may remember, that D r Hunter in his notes in 
 his edition of Evelyn's Silva, says that an hundred of S r Row- 
 land Wynn's Oakes sold for 5000£ *. This i investigated, by 
 
 [Hunter (op. at. ii. p. 288), however, says fifty tons for £2500. — 
 A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. 275 
 
 my good friend Lord Suffield, & find it is true. Two of the 
 Trees called the Lord & the Lady were valued at 70 Guineas 
 each. In another note, he says without good authority, 
 that the Earl of Hertford* fell'd a Wych Elm in his park 
 in Lisburn (Ireland) that contained 99 tun of timber f. 
 Being known to his Lordship when abroad, i wrote to him ; 
 and his Ldp tells me, it was an Oak not Elm, that he did not 
 fell it, but it fell of itself, in a calm summer day, to his 
 sorrow. It was sound, the trunk or body was 29 feet long, 
 &J56 in circumference, which sold for 48£. one piece of the 
 head for 5£. 10£. for Bark, and 58£. for the rest of the head. 
 Tot. 121£. As we do not know where the circ. was taken, 
 you see we are left in ignorance: if at 14 f. J which should 
 be, then his Ldp was abominably cheated. Hunter also men- 
 tions an ash at Leg or Leix in Queens County in Ireland 39 
 f. round near the ground, and 28 f. at six f. I try'd for an ac- 
 count of this Tree from my great neighbour the Earl of Bucks J 
 when he was Lieu', which not receiving so early as i wished, i 
 wrote to my old friend D 1 ' Man Bp of Corke. But all i have 
 gained is, that a print of it was engraving in London. This 
 i have not seen: & a print without a scale would certainly not 
 satisfy my curiosity. — Your friends Sycamore is a little larger 
 than I have seen, and his pollard Oaks are respectable. 
 
 I observed nothing remarkable in this Winter but a greater 
 number of the red-wing Thrush than usual, & have as yet but 
 Two articles for my Indications of Spring for 92. viz. Snow- 
 drop F. Jan. 25. & yellow Butterfly this day. Your Rela- 
 tions Swifts delay was extraordinary. My Swallows left me 
 Sep. 27. but one was seen within 5 miles on y e last of Octo- 
 ber. — I shall long for your account of the fern Owl in the Ph. 
 Trans., as i conclude you can give a better account of that 
 
 * [Francis Seymour succeeded his father as Lord Conway in L782, 
 was created Earl of Hertford in 1750, and Marquess in 1793. Died in 
 1796.— A. N.] 
 
 t [I have not been able to find Hunter's reference to this tree or to the 
 Ash presently mentioned. — A. N.] 
 
 X [John Hobart, succeeded his father as Earl of Buckinghamshire and 
 owner of Blickling in Norfolk, in 1750, Ambassador at St. Petersburg)) in 
 1762, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1777, died in 1793.— A. N.] 
 
 T 2 
 
276 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 harmless pleasing bird than i have seen. We used to have 
 more of them formerly than of late years. I have never heard 
 one sing on the wing. I love the Swallows and H. Martins 
 so well, that i lament the want of their company in Autumn 
 as heartily & as much as i do the warm weather. I should 
 have concluded from your Tortoise's late hiding that the winter 
 would be mild. 
 
 I conclude that you have read Boswell's life of D r Johnson. 
 A friend of D' Home's (late Bp of Norwich) told me, that 
 his Ldp had read it twice, & was going the 3 d time thro' it ; 
 & said it was the most entertaining Book he ever read. It 
 made me laugh several times ; but the banter upon it, 
 in the new Lady's Magazine for Sep r last, made me laugh 
 more heartily. If you love a laugh (which you must do, 
 as you are a wise man) you cannot fail of it by that 
 sketch. 'Tis supposed to be by the Author of the Bath 
 guide*. I took the trouble of transcribing it, in order to 
 bind it with Boswell, as a Supplement. I presume you have 
 seen Gilpin's Book of the views in the new Forest f, & no- 
 ticed his false quotation of Bryden's letter $: where he says 
 the Chesnut on M. iEtna is 204 f. in circumf. which he un- 
 luckily writes Diameter: as if the Tree was not large enough ! 
 Townsend says in his travels in Spain, at Valez, Nightin- 
 gales sing all the year. I wish you would ask your Friend 
 in Spain, if that is true ? 
 
 I know that vou do not love Chesnut-trees, but as a good 
 man you are not averse to hearing of some merit in them. 
 The great Land-stuard Mr. Kent §, told me 'tother day, that 
 
 * [This piece, however, is not included among- the poetical works of 
 Anstey, who wrote 'The New Bath Guide,' as collected and published by 
 his son in 1808.— A. N.] 
 
 t ['Remarks on Forest Scenery, &c.,' bv William Gilpin,' 2 vols. 
 London: 1701 (vol. i. p. 130).— A. N.] 
 
 J ['A Tour through Sicily and Malta. In a series of letters to W. 
 Beckford, Esq., from P. Brydone, F.R.S.' New Edition. 2 vols. Lon- 
 don : 1700 (vol. i. p. 110).— A. N.] 
 
 § [Nathaniel Kent, " A well-known and highly respectable laud and 
 timber surveyor " (Loudon, op. cit. p. 1003). The details given in the text 
 are included by him in a paper (Traus. Soc. Arts, vol. x. p. 31). — A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIA.M. L>77 
 
 at Mr. Windham's*, removing the {.lace of a gateway, one 
 post was Oak, the other Chesnut only a foot square, & by the 
 date on it had stood 50 years. This was sound. & set down 
 again ; & the Oak was quite rotten. & some years ago, some 
 railing was done at Mr. Windham's with posts of Oak & 
 Chesnut (the same size); these being moved this year, all those 
 of Oak were rotten, & all of Chesnut served again. But this 
 Tree certainly splits more with frost, than Oak ; but must be 
 excellent for paling. Had Fortune given me your acquaint- 
 ance 40 years ago, i should have been a great gainer, & you but 
 little. Be assured dear Sir, that your letters are always a Feast 
 to me,& thati remain with true esteem your most humble servant 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 P.S. As long as i have measured Trees, by way of calcu- 
 lating their age by their size, i did not attend to the height 
 from the earth, when i took the circumference : & i find my 
 friends have been as careless as myself. Whereas an Oak 
 mostly increases one third more at one foot from the earth, 
 than it does at 5 feet. Thus, e. g. the Oak i planted in 1720, 
 is at 5 f. 9 F. 5 I. 7 10'. & at 1 f. is 13 f. & my best Oak at 
 5 f. is but 14 F. 3 L, which at 1 f. is 19 F. 3 L Now, tho' i 
 saw my Trees were larger near the earth, i never considered 
 that they must increase more yearly to make that bulk: & yet 
 i think when Willoughby was writing on the fern-Owl, he 
 should have recollected that he did not see that bird in 
 Winter. But i acknowledge he has done a great deal ; A 1 
 am often obliged to him, for the trouble he has taken. 
 
 [This letter is franked by " II. Ilobart,'' and is endorsed 
 by White, " Mr. Marsham, Feb. 17, 1792."] 
 
 * [William Windham of Felbrigg (born 17o0, died 1810), tor many 
 years M.P. for Norwich and subsequently for Higham Ferrers, Chief 
 Secretary for Ireland (1783), Secretary at" War (1794H801), and Secre- 
 tary of State for War and the Colonies (1806-1807). T) vidence 
 
 afforded bythe next of Marsham's letters shows that lie was recommended 
 to White's book by Windham, who possibly became acquainted with it 
 through Daines Barrington, like himself a member of " The i Hub." In 
 connexion with the text may also be mentioned Loudon's statement 
 {op. cit. p. 1990) that one of Windham's ancestors was n considerable 
 planter of Chestnuts. — A. N.] 
 
278 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 WHITE TO MAKSHAM. 
 
 Selborne : Mar. 20th, 1792. 
 
 Deak Sir, 
 You, in a mild way, complain a little of Procrastination : bat 
 I, who have suffered all my life long by that evil power, call 
 her the Dcemon of Procrastination ; & wish that Fuseli, the 
 grotesque painter in London, who excells in drawing witches, 
 daemons, incubus's & incantations, was employed in delineating 
 this ugly hag, which fascinates in some measure the most 
 determined & resolute of men. 
 
 You do not, I find, seem to assent to my story respecting 
 Mr. ChiswelPs elm. There may be probably some misappre- 
 hension on my side. I will therefore allow Mr. Ch. that 
 priviledge which every Englishman demands as his right, the 
 liberty of speaking for himself. " In regard to my tree," 
 says he, " it is a Wych Elm, perfectly strait, & fit for the keel 
 of the largest man of war. The purveyor of the navy offered 
 my late Uncle £50 for it, altho' it would have cost as much 
 more to have conveyed it to Portsmouth ; & he would have 
 run all risque of soundness. It grows about eleven miles 
 from Safron Walden, in a deep soil, & near 30 from Cam- 
 bridge, the nearest place for water-carriage. I will measure 
 it next summer." — He adds, " I have been, & am a consider- 
 able planter ; & have been honoured with three gold medals 
 from the Society of Arts," &c. Thus far Mr. Ch. 
 
 As I begin to look upon You as a Selborne man, at least as 
 one somewhat interested in the concerns of this place; I wish 
 that You could see " The sixth Report of the Commissioners 
 appointed to enquire into the state & condition of the Woods, 
 Forests, &c. of the Crown," &c. This Report was printed 
 February, 1790; tho' never published: but distributed among 
 fche members of the house of commons from some of whom 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHA. M. 279 
 
 You may borrow it, as I have done. This curious survey will 
 inform you, from the best authority, of ;.ll the circumstances 
 respecting the advantages, usages, abuses, &c. of our Forest 
 of Alice Holt, & Wolmer. Here you will sec, thai the Foresi 
 now consists of 8694 acres, 107 of which are in ponds : thai 
 the present timber is estimated at £60,000 ; thai it is almosi 
 all of a size, & about 100 years old; that it is shamefully 
 abused by the neighbouring poor, who lop it, & top it as they 
 please; that there is no succession because all the bushes are 
 destroyed by the commoners around ; that y r old favourite 
 Oak, the Grindstone Oak, is estimated at 27 loads of timber ; 
 that the peat cut in Wolmer is prodigious; in the year L788 
 in one walk 942 loads; & in another walk the same year 123 
 loads, besides heath, & fern; & in the same year 935,000 
 turves; &c. &c. &c. Lord Stawell is the Lieutenant, or 
 Grantee, whose lease expires in 1811, as I have said in my 
 book. That Nobleman did me the honour to call on me a 
 morning or two ago, & sat with me two hours : he brought 
 me a white wood-cock, milk white all over except a few spots. 
 
 My friend at Bramshot place, where I measured the great 
 pollard oaks, & Sycamore last summer, has got a great range 
 of chesnut-paling ; I shall tell him what Mr. Kent says 
 respecting timber of that sort. The rain with us in 1791 
 was 44 in. 93 bund. : upwards of 8 inches of which fell in 
 November! the rain of the present year has been consider- 
 able. Our indications of spring this year are thus : Jan. 19. 
 winter-aconite blows : Jan. 21. Hepatieas blow. Jan. 29. 
 Snoivdrop blows: 31. Hasels : Feb. 4. Crocus b. : 13. brim- 
 stone butter-fly ; 21. yellow wagtail appears. 2(5. Humble bee: 
 March 16. daffodil blows, and Apricot: 19. peaches, & necta- 
 rines. I have read BoswelVs Johnson with pleasure. As to 
 Bishop Home 1 knew him well for near 40 years: he has 
 often been at my House. Stillingfleet, I sec, wrote his 
 Calendar of Flora at your house: He speaks in high terms of 
 the hospitable treatment that he experienced at Stratton. 
 
 Wonderful is the regularity observed by nature! I have 
 often remarked that the smallest irilloic wren, (see my Book) 
 called here the Chif-chaf from it's two loud sharp notes, is 
 
_m, CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 always the first spring bird of passage, & thai it is heard 
 usually on March 20: when behold, as I was writing this 
 very page, my servant looked in at the parlour door, & said 
 that a neighbour had heard the Chif-chaf this morning ! ! 
 These are incidents that must make the most indifferent look 
 on the works of the Creation with wonder ! 
 
 My old tortoise lies under my laurel-hedge, & seems as yet 
 to be sunk in profound slumbers. You surprise me, when 
 You mention y r age : y r neat hand, & accurate language 
 would make one suppose you were not 50. I remain, with 
 true esteem, 
 
 Y r most obliged servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 When Mr. Townsend avers that the Nightingales at Valez 
 sing the winter thro', I should conclude that he took up that 
 notion on meer report; because I had a brother who lived 18 
 vears at Gibraltar, & who has written an accurate Nat. Hist, 
 of that rock & it's environs. Now he says, that Nightingales 
 leave Andalusia as regularly towards autumn as other Summer 
 birds of passage. A pair always breeds in the Govern" 
 garden at the Convent. This Hist, has never been published, 
 & probably now never will, because the poor author has been 
 dead some years. There is in his journals such ocular de- 
 monstration of swallow emigration to & from Barbary at 
 Spring and fall, as, I know, would delight you much. 
 There is an Hirundo hiberna, that comes to Gibraltar in Oct r , 
 & departs in March ; and abounds in & about the Garrison 
 the winter thro'. 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. L>81 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton : July 14. 92. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 After many attempts on my part, at length our inveterate 
 enemy, Madam Procrastination, has permitted me to offer my 
 thanks to you for your very pleasing letter of the 20 th of 
 March. As one of 85 years i acknowledge her haggard form : 
 but half a century ago, she sometimes appeared as a Siren. 
 So Fuseli may be puzzled, whether he should paint her young 
 or old. 
 
 You oblige me, & i heartily thank you, for looking on me 
 as a Selborne man. I am certainly a well-wisher wherever 
 your interest or pleasure is concerned. All the compliment i 
 can make you in return, is to call a favourite Beech by the 
 name of Mr White's Beech. You know Linnaeus compli- 
 mented his friends, by calling new plants after their names. 
 This is not in my power to do, as i know but few old ones. 
 But you should know some particulars of your Tree. 'Tis 
 about 50 years old, & runs clear about 25 feet, then about as 
 much in handsome head, preserving its stem straight to the 
 top, & spreads a circle of about 50 feet diameter. This i 
 reckon the handsomest proportion for an out-side Grove Tree. 
 For an inside Grove Tree, i should wish the stem longer, 
 about 2 thirds of the height, & the spread of the head less : & 
 for the Lawn or single pasture Tree, i wish the branches 
 should hang so low as only to suffer a man to ride on horse- 
 back under them; & the Tree to appear at a little distance 
 like a green hill. These are my proportions for the beauty of 
 Trees in different situations. But i will quarrel with no man, 
 if he likes other proportions better. I presume that Grove of 
 Oaks called Losels, mentioned in my favourite Book, p. "». ran 
 
282 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 clear stems 4, 5 ths of their height: which runs them too like to 
 hop-poles. And perhaps the venerable Oak which stood in 
 the Plestor, was the very shape i wish a single Tree to be ! I 
 remember an Oak of Mr Leman's at North hall in Hertford- 
 shire, that spread a circle of about 130 feet diameter. And 
 the Bp of Bath & Wells * informed me, that the Bp of 
 Salisbury's Oak spread 115 feet in the longest diameter, & 
 112 in the shortest ; & appeared at a distance a perfect semi- 
 globe. Although i am much pleas'd with your view of 
 Selborne, & the description you give of it, yet the great 
 quantity of rain that falls there, is a strong drawback to the 
 pleasure of living, above 50 inches in 1782, & last year 
 almost 45, seems to me very extraordinary; as 'tis above 
 double what D r Arbuthnot supposes falls upon the Grlobe viz. 
 22 inches. Essay on Air. p. 88. where you find but 19 inches 
 at Paris. Indeed, when i was last in Scotland (about fi 
 weeks) it was every day rain, more or less. We had a good 
 deal of rain last Winter, tho' little laying snow, whilst the 
 papers spoke of much, both in the North & West. — The 
 Spring has been very watery, and still continues, to the grief 
 of the Farmers, for their Hay: & notwithstanding these rains, 
 i find the season has not been kind to my Trees. All sorts 
 appear not in good health. My favourite Beeches appear 
 brown rather than green, from the abundance of Mast, & 
 very few have as yet increased an inch in circumf. A Cedar 
 had gained an inch & half on y e 5 th but my best Oaks not 
 above half an inch. For Indications of Spring. Jan. 25 
 Snowdrop F. y e 29 th at Selburne. Jan. 30 th Hepatica F. 21* 
 at Selburne, — Feb. 11 Crocus F. at Selburne. Feb. 4 Crocus 
 b. Feb. 12 brimston Butterfly, at Selburne Feb. 13. Mar. 21. 
 Daffodil F. at Selburne Mar. 1G. Perhaps my deafness 
 might deprive my hearing of Spring Birds, but i have heard 
 hardly any Thrushes this year; & i heard not the Fern Owl, 
 'till June 26. Here i must observe with mortification that 
 
 * [Charles Moss, Bishop of St. David's, 1700, Bishop of Bath and 
 Wells, 1770, died 1802. Marsham's communication, before mentioned, 
 to the Royal Society, on washing trees was in the form of a letter to him. 
 —A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. 288 
 
 my Phil. Trans, brought me no account of the fern-Owl, 
 which i expected from a former letter of your's. — Beech I. 
 Ap. 11.— Oak 1. Ap. 13. Swallow Ap. 13. Cuckow Ap. 22. 
 I put down articles in my Indications of Spring, only from 
 my own knowledge. But i have often accounts that i fully 
 believe, e. g. a Swallow this Spring on the first of April. I 
 should have been glad to have seen the white Woodcock Ld 
 Stawell gave you ; & i will try to borrow the sixth report of 
 the Corn" for enquiry &c. I can easily believe great abuses 
 are practised upon them. I have an old Park (long dis- 
 parked) formerly belonging to the Crown, & after to the Bp. 
 of Norwich, & the neighbours steal as much wood from it, as i 
 
 gain. — I never heard of a Winter Swallow until you n: d 
 
 it. I should rejoice to read your Brothers Nat. Hist, of the 
 Rock &c. Pray Sir why do you not publish it? I should 
 think it would sell well, as curiosity seems to increase amongst 
 mankind. — I do not know the Bird you call the Chif-chaf. 
 But i am filled with wonder by the Harmony and Beauty of 
 all the Works in the Creation. I remain with true esteem 
 dear Sir your obedient 
 
 & obliged servant, 
 
 R: MARSHAM. 
 
 A gentleman of my acquaintance in this County had a 
 tortoise of above 100 years old, from the family account, which 
 was unluckilly killed by the Gardener. As i find by your 
 Book, you was formerly a Sportsman, i conclude you love 
 dogs, so i may tell you an history of a favourite bitch of 
 mine. I destroyed her first litter of whelps ; her 2 d litter she 
 laid in a secret place. These i also destroyed ; her 3 d she 
 layed in a large cony-burrow over a furlong from the house, 
 & quite out of sight: could human wisdom do more? — She 
 went a hunting with a partner dog, & i chastised them, the 
 partner first: for every lash i gave it, she cried, as if suffering 
 herself. When i whipped her, she did not cry once. Was 
 not this feeling more for her friend than herself? & is no! 
 this a proof of more exalted friendship than you have ever 
 known in the human race? D r Leigh says he knew ;i dog 
 
284 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 starved himself on the death of his Master. See his History 
 of Cheshire *. 
 
 P.S. in j friend who recommended to me the Nat. Hist, of 
 Selborne calld on me this morning & directed my letter. 
 
 [Franked by " W. Windham."] 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selborne: Aug st 7. 1792. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 While all the young people of this neighbourhood are gone 
 madding this morning to the great last day's review at Bag- 
 shot f; I am sitting soberly down to write to my friend in 
 Norfolk ; almost forgetting, now I am old, the impulse that 
 young men feel to run after new sights ; & that I myself, in 
 the year 1756, set-off with a party at two o' the clock in the 
 morning to see the Hessian troops reviewed on a down near 
 Winchester J. While I was writing the sentence above, my 
 
 * ['The Natural History of Lancashire, Cheshire, &c.' By Charles 
 Leigh. Oxford : 1700. Folio. Book ii. pp. 8, 9.— A. N.] 
 
 t [' The Diary or Woodfall's Register ' for Wednesday, August 8th, 
 1792, contains the following paragraphs : — 
 
 " Bagshot Camp. Tuesday, Four o'Clock — P.M. 
 
 "The spectacle of this day exceeded any public exhibition in this 
 kingdom. At six at least a hundred thousand persons were upon the 
 ground. At eight the King and Queen, with the Prince, the Dukes of 
 York, Richmond, [Commander-in-Chief], &c, and their attendants. At 
 nine the Review began in the hollow, below Ctesar's Camp. ' * At 
 
 one the concourse was so immense, that at least one hundred and fifty 
 thousand horsemen, (exclusive of the army) were upon the field. The 
 
 Pedestrians were innumerable." 
 
 ******** 
 
 " Yesterday being the grand Review of the troops encamped on Bag- 
 shot Heath, the King went from Windsor in his Post-chaise soon after 
 Eight o'Clock. * * The manoeuvres began soon after the King's 
 arrival, at half-past nine." — A. N.] 
 
 t [These were doubtless the forces who have left so ill a name in the 
 
AND ROBERT MARSH AM. 285 
 
 servant, & some neighbours came down from the hill, & told 
 me that they could not only hear the discharges of tin- 
 ordnance & small arms, & see the volumes of smoke from the 
 guns; but that they could also, they thought, smell the seem 1 
 of the gun-powder, the wind being N.E. & blowing directty 
 from the scene of action at Wickham bushes, tho' they are in 
 a direct line more than twenty miles from hence. 
 
 As I had written to you as long ago as March, I began to 
 fear that our correspondence was interrupted by indisposition; 
 — when your agreeable letter of July 14th came in, & relieved 
 me from my suspence. You do me much honour by calling 
 one of your beeches after my name. Linnaeus himself was 
 complimented with the Linncea borealis by one of his friends, 
 a mean, trailing, humble plant, growing in the steril, mossy, 
 shady wilds of Siberia, Sweden, & Russia; while I am 
 dignified by the title of a stately Beech, the most beautiful & 
 ornamental of all forest trees. The reason, I should suppose, 
 why your trees have not encreased in growth & girth this 
 summer is the want of heat to expand them. I have not this 
 year measured my firs in circumference; but the}- have, I see, 
 many of them, made surprising leading shoots. My account 
 of the Fern-owl, or Eve-jarr was prevented by Madam Pro- 
 crastination, who, a jade, lulled me in security all the spring, 
 & told me 1 had time enough, & to spare, till at last I found 
 that the R. S. meetings were prorogued till the autumn ; 
 against which I hope to be ready : & as I have got my 
 materials, trust that when I do set about the business " verba 
 haud invita sequentur." By all means get a sight of the 
 
 United States of America. They landed at Southampton on the 16th 
 May, 1756 (Gentleman's Magazine, 1756, p. 259), and went under canvas. 
 Towards autumn, when it was time to move them into winter quarters, 
 there was a strong feeling on the part of the licensed victuallers against 
 receiving them into their houses, and it was doubtful how fat the Law 
 allowed the billetting of foreign troops. Accordingly on the 5th No- 
 vember huts were ordered for them {torn. cit. p. 544) ; but an Act of 
 Parliament being passed compelling the same treatment to be shown to 
 them as to British troops, the Hessian camp began to break up on the 
 23rd December, and officers and men were distributed amongst the 
 various towns in the south of England (torn. cit. p. 592).— A. N.] 
 
286 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 sixth Report of the Commissi" &c, it will entertain You, & 
 furnish You with much matter, & many anecdotes respecting 
 Selborne, of which I could have availed myself greatly had 
 they been printed before I published my work. My book is 
 gone to Madras, & several to France, & one to Switzerland, & 
 one copy is going to China with Lord Macartney : but 
 whether some Mandareen will read it, I know not. We have 
 a young Gent, here now on a visit, the son of our late Vicar 
 Etty, who assures me, that at Canton he has seen the Chinese 
 reading English books ; & has heard them converse sensibly 
 on the manners & police of this kingdom. The Chif-Chaf of 
 this village is the smallest willow wren of my History. 
 Once I had a spaniel that was pupped in a rabbit burrough 
 on the verge of Wolmer forest. Tho' I have long ceased to 
 be a sportsman, yet I still love a dog; & am attended daily by 
 a beautiful spaniel with long ears & a spotted nose & legs, 
 who amuses me in my walks by sometimes springing a 
 pheasant, or partridge, & seldom by flushing a woodcock, of 
 late become with us a very rare bird. Remember the story of 
 Py lades & Orestes; & do not say that exalted friendship never 
 existed among men. Chif-Chaf, the first bird of passage, 
 was heard here March 20 : — swallow was seen March 26 : — 
 nightingale and cuckoo Apr. 9 : — House-martins April 12 : — 
 Redstart April 19: — Swift April 14: — Fernowl heard May 19: 
 — Fig-catcher, the latest summer bird, May 20. We have 
 experienced a very black wet summer & solstice; but none of 
 those floods & devastations mentioned in the newspapers ! 
 Indeed we know no floods here, but frequent rains. Yet in 
 warm summers we have as fine melons, & grapes, & wall-fruit 
 as I have ever seen. July at an average produces the most 
 rain of any English month. This last measured 5 in. & 15 h. 
 — Pray, good Sir, procure better ink : your's is so pale, that 
 it often renders y r neat hand scarcely legible ! I am now 
 offering my intelligent young neighbours sixpence for every 
 authentic anecdote that they can bring me respecting Fern- 
 owls; & will give you the same sum for the same information. 
 As I was coming over our down after sun-set lately, a cock 
 bird amused us much by flying round & settling often on the 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 287 
 
 turf. As he passed us, he often gave a short squeak, or 
 rather whistle. We were near his nest. These, like other 
 birds of passage, frequent the same spots. There are always 
 three pairs on our hill every year. Did you know S r John 
 Cullum* of your part of the world? He was an agreeable, 
 worthy man, & a good antiquary. I was also well acquainted 
 with your late good Bishop Hornef: he has often been at my 
 house. I concur with you most heartily in y r admiration of 
 the harmony and beauty of the works of the creation ! 
 Physico-theology is a noble study, worthy the attention of 
 the wisest man! Pray write. Our swifts have behaved 
 strangely this summer: for the most part there were but 
 three round the church, except now and then of a fine 
 evening, when there were 13. They seem to be all gone. 
 House-martins leave Gibraltar by the end of July ! I con- 
 clude with all due regard. 
 
 Y r Humble S. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 * [Sir John Cullum, born 1733, Fellow of St. Catharine's Hall, Cam- 
 bridge ; Rector of Hawstead (1762) and Vicar of Great Thurlow (1774), 
 both in Suffolk. His History of the former parish and of Hard wick Hall 
 forms No. xxiii. of the ' Bibliographia Topographica Britannica,' and was 
 republished in 1813. He wrote also ' Observations on Cedars ' and on 
 Yew-trees in churchyards. Died 1785. (Rose, ' Biographical Dictionary,' 
 vi. pp. 507, 508.)— A. N.] 
 
 t [George Home, born 1730, at Otham, near Maidstone, scholar of 
 University, Fellow and afterwards (1768) President of Magdalen College, 
 Oxford; Dean of Canterbury, 1781 ; Bishop of Norwich, 1790 (Le Neve, 
 Fasti Eccles. Angl. Ed. Hardy, ii. p. 474) ; died 17th Jan. 1792. A 
 distinguished Hebraist, author of many critical and controversial works, 
 but chiefly known for his ' Commentary on the Book of Psalms.' His 
 life was written by his friend Jones of Nayland. (Rose, ut supra, viii. 
 p. 372.)— A. N.] 
 
288 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton : Oct r 20. 1792. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 Ever since i received your very entertaining letter of the 7 th 
 of August, i have had intentions of offering my thanks ; but 
 added to the Demon, i have suffered other delays from infir- 
 mities of old age, such as Rheumatism, &c &c, which make 
 me abhor the sight of a pen & paper. But i am resolved to 
 tell you a piece of Stratton history, viz. my wife has a Turkey 
 that layed 15 eggs, & reared her brood ; then she layed 63 
 eggs, & ceased ; & then layed 20, then ceased, & has now laid 
 8, one on this day. She was of Spring twelvemonth. The 
 old women round us think this extraordinary. Of the Swal- 
 lows i can only say they left us on y e 18 h of Sep r & on y e 25 th 
 we had a large flight appeared & off then a large flight on y e 
 14 & 15 of Oct r & one Bird on y e 16. One of my men told 
 me yesterday, that he saw a young Cuckow. This for tor- 
 pidity ! Perhaps it was a fern Owl : but that will answer the 
 same purpose, only, you should owe me sixpence for it. I 
 long for your account of that pleasing & harmless bird. — 
 Except the first ten days of August, our Summer has seemed 
 to me very cold & watery. 
 
 Sir, as my old friend (for as such i esteem you) you must 
 have been troubled with my Tryals to increase the common 
 ordinary growth of Trees. I have plagued the R. S. more 
 than once on this subject, so i will hope for your pardon for 
 this my half madness. My last tryal has been digging round 
 my Trees. This is a circle as far as the small roots extend 
 from the trunk; & this is done two spades deep. In Beeches 
 about 50 years old, this circle will be about 20 yards diameter. 
 Last Winter i enlarged the circle digged the year before, 8 or 
 9 yards in diameter, as i found the small roots required it. <t 
 
AXD ROBERT MARSHAM. 
 
 the increase of the Beech (at 5 feet) was 3 inches <S 2 tenths. 
 Sixteen Beeches of the same age, viz. all i had measured 
 except some i had digged round before, produced \<r\ little 
 above one inch a Tree. Therefore about 3 to one gained. 
 Now tho' the expense of digging cost much more than the 
 worth of the timber gained, yet it affords me much more 
 pleasure, than i could have felt, if i had not digged them, as i 
 do not feel the want of the digging money. You see 'tis like 
 Dean Swift in Gulliver of propagating a brood of Sheep with 
 hair instead of wool. But here is no injury, but to self. By 
 the bye i received a letter last post, informing me of a hollow 
 Oak within a few miles of Warwick 55 feet round at 3 feet. 
 I tell you honestly i do not believe it. — I know there is a 
 Baronet of the name of Cullum in Suffulk, but i have never 
 seen him. I have been to very few of the public meetings of 
 Suffolk, & none in these last 50 years. 
 
 Oct r 30. My infirmities force me to write by instalments, & 
 Madam Procrastination will command the use of my pen. 
 My man has just now shot me a bird, which was flying about 
 my house : i am confident i have never seen its likeness 
 before. But on application to Willughby, i conclude it is the 
 Wall-creeper, or Spider-catcher. I find he had not seen it in 
 England*. It is very beautifully coloured, 'tho' the chief i- 
 cinereous ; but the shades of red on the wings, & the large 
 spots of white & yellow on the quil feathers, are uncommonly 
 pleasingf. You see Willughby does not mention them. 
 
 I have asked several members for the Report, &c, but yei 
 without success : however, i have a few more in store. — I am 
 surprised that M r Etty should hear the English language al 
 Canton. If the Chinese can read English, it will be their 
 fault as well as misfortune, if they <lo not read tho Hist, of 
 Selborne. I had the pleasure of recommending a Vol. t<> 
 
 * [Willughby 's words are: — "In Anglia nostra earn invenire aiunt, 
 quamvis nobis nondum fuerit conspecta " (Ornithologia, 1676, p. 99). 
 Ray Englishes them:—" They say it is found in England; but uh ham not 
 as yet had the hap to meet with it " (p. 143). Who the authors were who 
 made such an assertion I do not know. — A. N 
 
 t [An exquisite drawing of two wing-feathers of the bird accompanied 
 a subsequent letter from Marsham (see pp. 204 and 297).— T. B. 
 
 VOL. II. ' 
 
290 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 Northumberland.— I will not say i am glad you are older, but 
 i may say, i am a gainer, that you had lost the furor which 
 you had in 1756. I believe your people might smell the 
 powder from Bagshot ; for i think i have smelt the smoke of 
 I .on. Ion at Windsor; & Gunpowder is more pungent than 
 culinary smoke. 
 
 My dear Sir, pray pardon me for saying you ought to love 
 your Spaniel as well as if you still was a sportsman. Dogs 
 deserve to be loved for their Virtue, more than their useful- 
 ness ; — You say your Firs have made surprising leading 
 shoots. I last Autumn removed some large Hornbeams & 
 Beeches viz. about a yard round, & they grow well ; one ot 
 the Beeches has shot 38 inches. I remain, with great esteem, 
 dear Sir, your obliged servant, R: MARSHAM. 
 
 Nov. 1 st yesterday my Turkey laid her 15 th egg. so 113 
 this year. — I have measured an Oak this day (at 5 feet) which 
 i planted an Acorn in 1719, 8 feet & 6 inches round. I shall 
 be glad to know if the Wall-creeper lives near you. 
 
 [Franked by " W. Fellowes," 3d November.] 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selborne : Novem 1 3. 1792. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 An extract from the Natural History of Gibraltar by the late 
 Reverend John White. 
 
 " In the first year of my residence at Gibraltar which was 
 1756, it appeared extraordinary to me to see birds of the 
 Swallow kind very frequent in the streets all the winter thro'. 
 Upon enquiry I was told that they were Bank Martins : & 
 having at that time been but little conversant in Nat. Hist., 
 they passed with me as such for some years without any far- 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 
 
 ther regard. At length, when I had taken a more attentive 
 survey of the physical productions of this climate, J soon dis- 
 covered these birds to be none of the common British species 
 described by authors ; & I farther found that they were never 
 seen in Gr. thro' the whole course of the summer ; but con- 
 stantly & invariably made their first appearance about the 18 
 & 20th, & once as early as the 12th of Octoh* & remained in 
 great abundance until the beginning of March. 
 
 " These phenomena awakened & alarmed my curiosity as 
 events entirely new & unheard of among the body of Ornitho- 
 logists, & induced me to be particularly exact k attentive in 
 my observations on every part of their conduct. Early in the 
 autumn vast multitudes of these martins congregate in all 
 parts of the town of Castillar, which is situate on the summit 
 of aprecipice most singularly lofty & romantic, about 20 miles 
 north of Gibraltar. Hence it may be inferred that they build 
 & breed on the inland mountains of Andalusia & Grenada. 
 But on the approach of winter, when their summer habita- 
 tions become bleak & inhospitable, (for all those mountains 
 are then usually covered with snow) they retreat to these 
 shores, & remain there 'till the snow is gone next spring. A 
 few are always to be seen about our hill by the middle of Oc- 
 tob r , shifting round to all sides of the rock at times to avoid 
 the wind. Novem r ?, 1771, I saw several, with some young 
 ones among them sitting in groupes, on the cliffs, where the 
 old ones came & fed them." 
 
 Thus have I, for y r amusement, according to promise, sen! 
 You an extract concerning this new & unnoticed swallow, 
 which my Brother, with great propriety, in lii> work baa 
 called Hirundo hyemalis; & has given several particulars 
 concerning it, & a description of it, too long for tlie compass 
 of a letter. 
 
 Permit me just to hint to You, that 1 wrote to you some 
 time ago in answer to your last letter, which gave me much 
 
 satisfaction. 
 
 I forgot to mention in the extract, tlia i these winter v »'-<</- 
 
 loivs usually leave Gib. about the beginning of March, inn 
 deep snow (as is sometimes the case, and was particularly so 
 
 i 2 
 
292 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 in 1770 & 1772) fall in Spain about that time ; & then they 
 linger there till the latter end of the month. 
 
 Surely my dear Sir, we live in a very eventful time, that 
 must cut-out much work for Historians & Biographers! but 
 whether all these strange commotions will turn out to the 
 benefit or disadvantage of old England, God only knows! We 
 have experienced a sad spring, summer, & autumn : & now the 
 fallows are so wet, & the land-springs break forth so fre- 
 quently, that men cannot sow their wheat in any comfort. 
 Our barlev is much damaged ; & malt will be bad. 
 
 Have you read Mr. Arthur Young's " travels thro' 
 France"? He says p. 543, when speaking of the French 
 clergy — " One did not find among them poachers, or fox- 
 hunters, who having spent the morning in scampering after 
 hounds, dedicate the evening to the bottle, & reel from ine- 
 briety to the pulpit." Now, pray, w r ho is Mr. Young ; is he 
 a man of fortune, or one that writes for a livelihood? He 
 seems to reside in Suffolk, near Bury St. Edmund ; so pro- 
 bably You can tell me somewhat about him. 
 
 Pray do wood-peckers ever damage & bore your timber- 
 trees ? not those, I imagine, of your own planting, but only 
 those that are tending to decay. I had a brood this year in 
 my outlet hatched, I suspect, in the bodies of some old wil- 
 lows. My dissertation on the Ccqwimulgus is almost finished. 
 
 I remain, with all due respect, & esteem, 
 
 Your most obedient & obliged servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 Our two last letters seem as if they had crossed each other on 
 the road ; but whether they conversed when they met, does 
 not appear. 
 
AND ROBERT M VRSHAM. 293 
 
 ''• 
 
 If you have got the Certhia muraria, or true WaH-creepi 
 you are in possession of a very rare <& curious bird. For in 
 all my researches here at home for 50 years past, & in all the 
 vast collections that I have seen in London, 1 have never met 
 with it. No wonder that the great Mr. AVillughby is not very 
 copious on the subject, for he acknowledges fairly thai he had 
 not seen it; tho' he supposes it may be found in this island. 
 The best person I can refer you to is U r John Antony Scopoli, 
 a modern, elegant, foreign Naturalist, born in the Tyrol, bul 
 late deceased in Pavia, where he was professor of Botany. 
 This curious & accurate writer was in possession of one in his 
 own Museum, & gives the following description of his speci- 
 men in his "Annus primus historico-naturalis : " — "thai it's 
 bill is somewhat longer than it's shanks, slender, & somewhat 
 bent ; the tongue is bifid; & the feet consisting of three toes 
 forward and one behind." Again he adds, " that the upper 
 part is cinereous, the throat whitish ; the abdomen, wings in 
 part, tail, & feet, black: the wings at their base, & the quill 
 feathers at their base on one side reddish." "It was taken 
 in Carniola." " It is the size of the common Creeper*, or 
 Certhia familiaris : it's nostrils oblong ; tail cinereous at the 
 point ; the first four quill feathers distinguished on the inner 
 side by two white spots." He concludes thus, — " Migrat so- 
 litario sub finem autumni ; turres & muros sedium altiorum 
 adit ; araneas venatur ; saltitando scandit ; volatu vago & in- 
 certo fertur volucris muta." — You are sure, 1 trust, that your 
 bird is not the Sitta Europcea, or Nut-hatch. 
 
 I have written so soon, that you may examine \' bird well 
 again, before the specimen decays. Y r Lady's Turkey-hen is 
 a most prolific dame; & must, I think, lay herself to death. 
 You persist very laudably in y r curious experiments on trees. 
 Whenever You recommend my book, which begins to be bet- 
 ter known, you lay me under fresh obligations. 1 am \\ riting 
 my account of the Fern- owl, & endeavouring to vindicate it 
 from the foul imputation of being a Caprimulgus. My letter 
 
 * [This is a slip of White's pen. Scopoli's words (op. cit. p. 51) 
 '• Statura sittce," that is, the size of the Nuthatch, which is nearly true. 
 
 —A. N.] 
 
294 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 will make a fierce appearance with a quotation from Aristotle, 
 & another from Pliny : but whether the K, S. will read it : or 
 whether afterwards they will print it, I know not. 
 
 AVith all good wishes for your health and prosperity, I re- 
 main 
 
 Your obliged & humble servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 Selborne : Nov 1 ' 20th, 1792. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 MARSH AM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stvatton : Dec. 10. 92. 
 Dear Sir, 
 My thanks are justly due to you for the favour of your 
 obliging letter of the 20 th of Nov r & for Scopoli's description 
 of the Wall-creeper. Although several articles answer ex- 
 actly, yet i must think him a careless describer. e. g. the Bill 
 is somewhat longer than its shanks ; but he does not say the 
 length of either, leaving the reader to suppose what he likes. 
 I tell vou the Bill is above an inch, about one tenth. He does 
 not name the hind-claw being above double the length of the 
 fore-claws. Colour has a large share in the beauty of Birds ! 
 He says the four quil-feathers are distinguished on the inner 
 side with two white spots. These spots are on the upper side, 
 & in the two quils next the body ; the upper spots are white 
 & the lower are yellow ; which he ought not to have over- 
 looked. You will judge better by the enclosed painting *, than 
 my poor description. A young Lady drew them for me, & they 
 appear to me to be very exact copies, & charmingly executed. 
 
 * [This painting in water-colours has been kindly lent to me by Prof. 
 Bell. It represents with much accuracy two of the primary quill- 
 feathers, the fifth and seventh, I believe, from the left wing of a female 
 or \ oung male Certhia, or, as it is now more commonly called, Tichodroma 
 murana, leaving no doubt as to the correctness of the determination of 
 the specimen by Marsham and "White. — A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 296 
 
 I had occasion to write to the Duke of Portland ' ; and i 
 ventured to recommend the Nat. Hisst. of Selborne to his 
 Grace. 
 
 I think there is no doubt, but the R. S. will print your ac- 
 count of the Fern-Owl. If they do not, i (for one) shall be 
 ashamed of F. R. S. to my name. It has been matter of 
 wonder to me, that (since my Indications of Spring were 
 printed) many people have asked me, what is the Fern-0\\ I ? 
 'Tisa strong proof of the shameful ignorance of a sel of people 
 that live a great part of the year in the Country! — As you 
 have left off sporting I hope you will not think me too cynical, 
 if i wonder that a rational creature can make the chief plea- 
 sure of his life to consist in causing, and seeing harmless 
 creatures in the agonies of death. The poulterer's killing- 
 boy & the Lamb-butcher, follow their trade, & perhaps w ith 
 pity; the Nobleman's and gentleman's, is clear pleasure: from 
 causing pain & death, I am sorry to find by the Meeting 
 advertised that you have scoundrels & rascals in Hampshire, 
 as we have in Norfolk. Besides the real danger of these vil- 
 lains they confirm the bad opinion i am forced to have of 
 human nature. I may say every man in the village is obliged 
 to me; yet 13 of them are of these Clubs. But they do me 
 one service, viz. they mortify my vanity, as i thought i could 
 have led them all. One man in particular, to whom A his 
 family i had been very kind, i believe to hundreds of pounds ; 
 & saved his father from hanging: & this is the grateful re- 
 turn ! 
 
 But no more on this vile subject. I have just begun a new 
 Wood of some acres, now i am near 85 years old; which i 
 attend twice a day; & i feel great pleasure in the work. You 
 remember Evelyn's f story of the Emperor Maximilian II. 
 asking an old man, why he planted Dates, which would re- 
 quire an hundred years'to make them produce fruit? Be 
 answered i have children, and i hope they will have children. 
 But having children or none, the work to me is pleasing. 
 
 * [William Henry Cavendish Bent i m-K. Dake of Portland, born 1738, 
 and twice First Lord of the Treasury, died 1800.— A. N. I 
 t [Vol. ii. p. 20G. Hunter's edition (td supra), - A. V 
 
29G CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 Dec. 21. I am interrupted by the friend that directs this, & 
 can only add that i am always, with great esteem, your 
 obliged & obedient servant, R: MARSH AM. 
 
 [This letter was franked by " Suffield."— 21st December.] 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 WHITE TO MAESHAM. 
 
 Selborne. Jan. 2. 
 
 1793. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 rain in My best thanks are due for your kind letter 
 
 1 'Sch.Hund. of Decem r 21, to which I shall pay proper 
 Jan. ... 6-7 attention presently. But I shall first speak 
 Feb. ... 1-68 of the margin of this, which contains the rain 
 Mar. ... 6-70 of last year, which was so remarkably wet, 
 Apr. ... 4-8 that You maybe perhaps glad to see what 
 May ... 3-0 proportion the fall of water bears to that of 
 Ju. ... 2-78 other uncomfortable, unkindly years. The 
 July ... 5-16 rain in 1782, as you see in my book, was 
 Aug. ... 4-25 52 inches ; in 1789,42 inches; & in 1791, 
 Sep. ... 5-53 44 inches: yet these wet seasons had not the 
 Oct. ... 5-55 bad influence of last year, which much in- 
 Nov. ... 1-65 jured our harvest; damaged our fallows; pre- 
 Dec. ... 2-11 vented the poor from getting in their peat & 
 
 turf, which lies rotting in the Forest; washed 
 
 48-56 & soaked my cleft beechen wood, so that it 
 will not burn ; it prevented our fruits from 
 
 ripening. The truth is, we have had as wet years, but more 
 intervals of warmth and sunshine. 
 
 1 am now perswaded that your bird is a great curiosity, the 
 very Certhia muralis, or Wall-creeper, which neither Wil- 
 lughby nor Ray ever saw; nor have I, in 50 years attention 
 to the winged creation, ever met with it either wild, or among 
 the vast collections that I have examined in London. It seems 
 to be a South Europe bird, frequenting towns, <fc towers, & 
 
AND ROBERT MARSH A.M. 297 
 
 castles: but has been found, but very seldem indeed, in Eng- 
 land. So that you will have the satisfaction of introducing 
 a new bird of which future Ornithologists will Bay,- -" found 
 at Stratton in Norfolk by that painful, & accurate Naturalist, 
 Robert Marsham, Esq." • You observe that Scopoli d...- 
 not take notice that the hind-claw is about double the length 
 of the fore-claws: but Linnaeus corroborates your remark by 
 saying " Ungues validi, prsesertim posticus." You seem a 
 little to misunderstand Scopoli respecting the spots on the 
 inner-side of the quill feathers: by the inner side he does n«»t 
 mean the under side of the wing next the body ; but only the 
 inner or broader web of the quills, on which those remarkable 
 spots are found, as appear by the drawing. I am much de- 
 lighted with the exact copies sent me in the frank, & so 
 charmingly executed by the fair unknown, whose soft bam I has 
 directed her pencil in a most elegant manner, & given the 
 specimen sa truly delicate & feathery appearance. Had she 
 condescended to have drawn the whole bird, I should have 
 been doubly gratified! It is natural to young Ladies to wish 
 to captivate men: but she will smile to find that her present 
 conquest is a very old man. 
 
 My best thanks are due for all your good offices respecting 
 my work, & in particular for your late recommendation to the 
 Duke of Portland. 
 
 You did not in y r last, take any notice of my enquiries 
 concerning wood-peckers, whether they ever pierce a sou in I 
 tree, or only those that are tending to decay. I have ob- 
 served that with us they love to bore the edible chest-nuts ; 
 perhaps because the wood is softer than that of oak. They 
 breed in my outlet, I think in old willows. You have wa\ 
 told me anything about Arthur Young. You cannot abhor 
 the dangerous doctrines of levellers & republicans more than 
 I do! I was born & bred a Gentleman, & hope 1 shall be al- 
 lowed to die such. The reason you having so manj had 
 neighbours is your nearness to a great factious, manufacturing 
 town. Our common people are more simple-minded & know 
 nothing, of Jacobin clubs. 
 
 I admire your fortitude & resolution; & wonder thai you 
 
293 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 have the spirit to engage in new woods & plantations ! Our 
 winter, as yet, has been mild, & open, & favourable to your 
 pursuits. Pray present my respects to your Lady, & desire 
 her to accept of my best wishes, & all the compliments of the 
 season, jointly with yourself. I have now squirrels in my 
 outlet: but if the wicked boys should hear of them, they will 
 worry them to death. There is too strong a propensity in 
 human nature towards persecuting & destroying ! 
 
 I remain, with much esteem, Your's, &c. 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 MARSHAM TO WHITE. 
 
 Stratton. Feb. 20. 
 
 93. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 After offering you my hearty thanks for the favour of your 
 pleasing & instructive letter of the 2 d of Jan. i must beg your 
 pardon, for omitting the two articles you had mentioned to 
 me. Indeed i thought i had answered them. — I suppose the 
 wood-peckers do not attack the sound part of a tree ; but 
 where a bough has been broke off, & the stump died, & re- 
 mained some years on the tree before it was broken off; then 
 when the bark skins over the rotten part, these birds attack 
 the skin over those false parts, where they find the holes 
 almost ready made for their use. Several of the edible chest- 
 nuts that i have planted, have the woodpeckers holes in them ; 
 which i think i remember to have been dead stumps. But i 
 am not certain. — As to Arthur Young, i never saw the man ; 
 but by the accounts of others, & from what i have read of his 
 works, i conclude him an abominable coxcomb. We have a 
 story of him, that a foreigner a Russian curious in husbandry, 
 went to see him in Suffolk. He not being at home, the stranger 
 enquired of his wife, how many acres of potatos he had that 
 year, to fatten his swine i think 500? She answered none! 
 
AND ROBERT MARSIIAM. 299 
 
 They did not use potatos.— He, you know, gives some de- 
 scriptions of Noblemen's & Gentlemen's houses, & places. 
 Several of which i have seen, where he is very erroneous. — I 
 had minuted down some articles of his observations, & a friend 
 told me, that no dependence could be had on his veracity. 
 Lies in a pettyfoging writer, such as Farmer Young, do not 
 signify much (tho' he is a voluminous man). But when you 
 find men of fame dealing in lies, or false quotations (which 
 are the worst of lies) they are shocking to an honest mind. 
 Evelyn, e.g. who had perhaps a larger share of it than he de- 
 served, abounded with both. But Addison's false quotation 
 from Bp Burnet's travels * offends me most, as it gave occa- 
 sion to others to abuse the Bp for lying. I conclude Addison 
 was drunk in the evenings when he wrote his Travels; but 
 as they passed several Editions both he & Evelyn, should have 
 had the honesty to have corrected their errors as a duty the) 
 owed to the public. — I wish your friend Daines Barrington 
 was not sometimes inaccurate, e. g. in his zeal against the 
 migration of birds, he urges an instance which makes directly 
 against his opinion, viz if Woodcocks crost the Sea, they 
 would beat themselves against the Lighthouses. This, i am 
 well informed, they do, every Autumn in Norfolk. And he is 
 unlucky when he names the yellow-hammer in Hasselquisfs 
 ship f ; one is left to suppose the only bird; when you may 
 
 * [It would seem that Marsham's memory bad deceived him, ami that 
 he must have been thinkiug of some other author than Addison, whose 
 character cannot be affected by what is above said of him. I have ex- 
 amined his ' Travels' without being able to find therein any reflexion on 
 • Burnet, to whom, indeed, as the Rev. W. Elwin has kindly pointed out 
 to me, a high compliment is paid in the preface. " Among the authors of 
 our own country we are obliged to the Bishop of Salisbury [Burnet] for 
 his masterly and uncommon observations on the religion and governments 
 of Italy." Mr. Elwin, and there can be no better authority, is fully per- 
 suaded of the groundlessness of the charge against Addison. Not can 
 that against Evelyn be maintained. Marsham's advanced age mu-t be 
 his excuse. — A. N.] 
 
 t [Hasselquist, born 1722, died at Smyrna in L752. Bis journal and 
 other literary remains were published by Linnseus, and afterwards trans- 
 lated into English, ' Voyages and Travels in the Levant, &c.' (London: 
 17G6). The bird Barrington (Phil. Trans. 1772. y. 276) referred to as B 
 
300 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 remember Hasselquist mentions many different birds, on dif- 
 ferent days, but forgets the poor yellow-hammer. — M r Bar- 
 rington concludes Mons r Adanson's birds to be martins, be- 
 cause they roosted on the Sea-sJtore. — But Adanson says after, 
 when he lived by the Gambia, great numbers of European 
 Swallows came every evening into his hut, 4" past the night upon 
 the rafters. Now if these birds roosting on the sands proved 
 them martins, does not their roosting on the rafters prove 
 them swallows ? From pieces of quotations you may prove 
 blasphemy from the Bible, as you may remember finely proved 
 by Pulteny (afterwards E. of, Bath) against Thomson in the 
 H. of Commons *. — I honour & love M r Barrington ; but i 
 wish every man i love would be careful of what he commits 
 to the public notice. Your friend Pennant has been too 
 careless. 
 
 I thank you for your account of the rain of last year, as i 
 do not measure it, i could only observe there has fallen a 
 great deal. If the Squirrels did you as much harm as they 
 do me, you would think your self obliged to the boys that 
 destroy them. I paid for above 80 one year. They bite off 
 the young shoots of my Trees. — Indications of Spring in 
 1793. Snowdrop Jan 15. Thrush sings Feb. 15. Hawth. 
 1. Mar. 2. Ringdoves coo Feb. 22. Rooks build & stock 
 doves coo Mar. 4. Hepatica F. Feb. 16. Yellow butterfly 
 Feb. 24. Larch 1. Mar. 9. 
 
 I hope you have presented your account of the fern-owl to 
 the R.S. I am hungry for it. I am glad you liked the 
 drawing of the two feathers. I hinted my wish for the whole 
 bird ; but she lent a deaf ear : & in that manner, all young- 
 Women have treated me (when i ask favours) since i was 
 turned of 40. 
 
 I congratulate you upon the cheque given to the cruel 
 
 Yellow Hammer was most likely that which Hasselquist himself called 
 Emberiza africana (pp. 14 and 200 of the English translation) and iden- 
 tified by Linnaeus with his Loxia chloris (Syst. Nat. ed. 10, i. p. 174, no. 
 20), i.e. our Greenfinch. — A. N.] 
 
 ["This allusion is quite beyond me, nor can Mr. Elwin throw any 
 light upon it.— A. N.] 
 
AND ROBERT MARSHAM. 30] 
 
 french*, & remain with great esteem my dear Sir, your mosl 
 humble & obliged servant, 
 
 R. MARSHAM. 
 
 N.B. you see the mournful power the Hag has over mo. 
 Feeling my hand not very shaking, i begin a letter & vmte 
 'till i am weary ; lay it by, and wait 'till i feel myself willing 
 to write again. So i have sometimes found more than a 
 month slide away, before i seize my pen again. My strong 
 comfort is that nobody suffers by my infirmity but myself. 
 'Tis like drinking; which 'tho' not my weakness, i think very 
 pardonable in those under its influence. Mar. 15. this day 
 Toads sing. I cannot remember a Winter having passed 
 more mildly than the last. 
 
 In the Gent. Magazine of last Feb. is a letter against the 
 torpidity of Swallows. Symptoms point as if it might be 
 written by you. I had the lie about the toad in the block of 
 stone in the Phil. Trans, fairly detected f. But i have also a 
 proof of torpidity of Swallows in Yorkshire, that i cannot 
 doubt. If you wish for the particulars, i will transcribe them 
 for you. Again Adieu. 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 WHITE TO MARSHAM. 
 
 Selbome : June 15. 
 
 1793. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 From my long silence You will conclude that Procrastination 
 has been at work, & perhaps not without reason. But that is 
 not all the cause: for I have been annoyed this spring with a 
 
 * [Towards the end of the preceding year Frankfurt had been retaken 
 by the Germans, and the French compelled to recross the Rhiue.— A. N.] 
 
 t [I am unable to find any reference to this circumstance, nor can Mr. 
 White, the Assistant-Secretary of the Royal Society, who has kindU 
 made search for me, throw any light upon it.— A. N. | 
 
302 CORRESPONDENCE OF GILBERT WHITE 
 
 bad nervous cough, & a wandering gout, that have pulled me 
 down very much, & rendered me very languid & indolent. 
 
 As you love trees, & to hear about trees, You will not be 
 displeased, when You are told that Your old friend the great 
 Oak in the Holt forest is, at this very instant, under parti- 
 cular circumstances. For a brother of mine*, a Man of Virtu, 
 who rents Lord Stawell's beautiful seat near the Holt, called 
 Morelands, is at this very juncture employing a draughts-man, 
 a French Refugee, to take two or three views of this extra- 
 ordinary tree on folio paper, with an intent to have them 
 engraved. Of this artist I have seen some performances; & 
 think him capable of doing justice to the subject. These 
 views my Brother proposes to have engraved, & will probably 
 send a set to You, who deserve so well of all lovers of trees, 
 as You have made them so much your study, & have taught 
 men so much how to cultivate & improve themf. — I have told 
 You, I believe, before, that the great Holt Oak has long been 
 known in these parts by the name of the grindstone Oak, 
 because an implement of that sort was in old days set up 
 near it, while a great fall of timber was felled in it's neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 After a mild, wet winter we have experienced a very harsh, 
 backward spring with nothing but N. & N.E. winds. All the 
 Hirundines except the sand-martins were very tardy ; & do 
 not seem even yet to make any advances towards breeding. 
 As to the sand-martins they were seen playing in & out of 
 their holes in a sand-cliff as early as April 9th. Hence I am 
 confirmed in what I have long suspected, that they are the 
 most early species. I did not write the letter in the Gent. 
 Mag. against the torpidity of swallows : nor would it be con- 
 sistent with what I have sometimes asserted, so to do. As to 
 your recent proof of their torpidity in Yorkshire, I long to 
 see it. But as much writing is sometimes irksome, cannot 
 
 * [His brother Benjamin, who, on leaving his business in Fleet Street, 
 resided at Marelands, where he died. See memoir. — T. B.] 
 
 t [Whether these drawings were ever engraved or not I have no infor- 
 mation. The artist could not have been Grimm, who was not a French 
 refugee.— T. B.] 
 
AND ROBERT MAKSHAM. 303 
 
 You call in occasionally some young person to he your 
 Amanuensis ? 
 
 There has been no such summer as this, so cold & so dry, I 
 can roundly assert, since the year 17(55. We have bad no 
 rain since the last week in April, & the two first days in May. 
 Hence our grass is short, & our spring-corn languishes. Our 
 wheat, which is not easily injured in strong ground bj 
 drought, looks well. The hop-planters begin to be solicitous 
 about their plantations. Here I shall presume to correct 
 (with all due deference) an expression of the great Philo- 
 sopher Dr. Derham. He say in his Physico-theology, " that 
 all cold summers are wet:" whereas he should have said most. 
 Have You seen Arthur Young's " Example of France a 
 warning to England V it is a spirited performance. The 
 season with us is unhealthy. 
 
 With true esteem 
 
 I remain, Y r obliged servant, 
 
 GIL. WHITE. 
 
 [At the head of this letter is the following note in the handwriting of 
 Mr. Marsham: — 
 
 "This worthy man died this month."— T. 8.] 
 
304 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SENSE OF HEARING IN FISHES. 
 
 [The following letter was evidently intended for publication, but whe- 
 ther in the series addressed to Pennant or in that to Barrington cannot be 
 ascertained. It is headed, as all the others are, " To the same," and with 
 a number affixed written in pencil, but so worn as to be illegible. There 
 is no date, and the words " Hints but not finished " are prefixed. It is a 
 rough copy, with many verbal corrections. — T. B.] 
 
 It has long been a question among naturalists whether 
 Fishes hear or not. This subject I should make no scruple to 
 take in the negative ; and without being biassed, or indeed 
 without knowing what has been said before, shall proceed to 
 give you my thoughts in my own way. And here J would be 
 understood to mean Fishes strictly so called', for it is well 
 known that cetaceous Fishes, the Belluce marinw, are furnished 
 with ears, like quadrupeds, though the perforations are very 
 small. 
 
 When people advance that Fishes do hear, I would answer 
 that after the strictest examination, the best modern Ichthy- 
 ologists assure us they are destitute of any kind of organs for 
 that purpose. " Pisces destituumtur auribus auriculisque," 
 says Linnaeus. 
 
 But then if Fishes do not hear, some will say how do tame 
 fishes in stews and canals come to be fed at the sound of a 
 whistle? That fishes used to be fed will come when their 
 
ON THE SENSE OF HEARING IN PISHES. 
 
 owners whistle cannot be disputed ; but they ma\ have mam 
 intimations that their masters are not aware of; in the firs! 
 place from their eyes, which are wonderfully quick and 
 curiously adapted to all the various refractions of their ele- 
 ment; and then from their feeling, which is very delicate and 
 can from a distance discern the footsteps of those thai approach; 
 and moreover the sound of the whistle possibly may make a 
 sensible impression on the water and awaken their attention. 
 That water is very pervious to sound is known by many ex- 
 periments; for noises made under water are distinctly heard 
 above, and so vice versa; and moreover sounds raised under 
 water may be heard to an almost incredible distance bj an 
 ear placed under water. Now these noises cannot pervade 
 any medium without occasioning a sensible vibration in it. 
 and therefore they may become the object of feeling. Where 
 one sense is wanting or impaired by any decay, the others 
 are more alert and their attention is more alive. Thus blind 
 people avail themselves of many little intimations that escape 
 the attention of those who can see; they can remember men- 
 voices as we distinguish their persons, and discriminate each 
 friend as he enters the room by his step or his manner of 
 opening or shutting the door. Hearing and feeling in parti- 
 cular are kindred senses, and the latter often performs the 
 function of the former, as I shall endeavour to prove before 
 I close this letter. On the morning of the 1 st of Xov', 1 7 .").">, 
 some people that were busied about the pen-stocls of a pond 
 saw the fish agitated in a very unusual manner, and express- 
 ing uncommon terror and dismay ; but were unable to form 
 the least judgment concerning this novel commotion "til the 
 next mail from Portugal brought advice of the sad fate of the 
 city of Lisbon, which was destroyed in that most awful mo- 
 ment by a tremendous earthquake. 
 
 A deaf person with whom I am very well acquainted, as 
 he sits with his back to the door, can feel people enter the 
 room though he cannot hear them; and some summers past, 
 during the royal review at Spithead, could distinguish ever) 
 salute by the vibrating of the floor and walls of his parlor and 
 the chair in which he sat, though his hearing was too. dull tu 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
306 ON THE SENSE OF HEARING IN FISHES. 
 
 be affected by the report of the cannons, which were at 30 
 miles distance. 
 
 When the ' Edgar ' man-of-war was blown up at Spithead 
 in Queen Anne's time, the concussion and crash, which were 
 rather felt than heard at this place, were so horrible that a 
 team at plow ran away with such fury as to tear the share out 
 of the ground, and to drive it through the body of one of the 
 horses. In a dead calm, with the weather-cock pointing to 
 the N.E., we rather felt than heard the guns of the Tower of 
 London, though at fifty miles' distance. 
 
 The following story, which was well authenticated at the 
 time, is much to our purpose. While the French were be- 
 sieging Bergen-op-Zoom in a late war, it happened that a 
 young gentleman of some college in Cambridge was so affected 
 by the loss of a dear friend that he shunned all society, and 
 indulged his melancholy in lonely and sequestered places. One 
 day, as he was lying at length on the grass in some retired spot, 
 he felt, or thought he felt, a concussion like the discharge of 
 ordnance. When he stood up the sensation ceased, but 
 was repeated again as soon as he returned to his former 
 posture. Struck with the oddity of the occurrence, he ran 
 and called some of his acquaintance, who all declared that 
 while they were on their legs they perceived nothing, but that 
 as soon as they were stretched on the turf they plainly felt a 
 shaking like that from the firing of great guns. These young 
 people examined their watches and attended to the time of 
 day, and were surprised to find by the next Dutch mail that 
 it was the very juncture in which the assailants made a most 
 vigorous attack on the town with a shower of bombs and all 
 the thunder of their heaviest artillery. 
 
 (A w r onderful effect that a cannonade had in N. America 
 this war by scaring away all the lobsters from a large river 
 where before they remarkably abounded. — Mentioned by Cap- 
 tain Duke of Sarson, who was on the spot at the time. — To 
 enquire what river. It was at Hell-gate near the Island of 
 New York. Hell-oate is a road or arm of the sea in the 
 mouth of the Hudson river. 
 
 Sound conveyed along a mast in a dock-yard.— To examine 
 
ON THE SENSE OF HEARING' IN FISHES. 307 
 
 what Dr. Franklin says concerning sounds made under 
 water (See Derham on sounds made under water 1-nt heard 
 above) *. 
 
 * [The passage here referred to is in a note near the close of the third 
 chapter of Derham's ' Physico-Theology,' and is as follows:— "Bu1 'tie 
 not the air alone that is capable of the impressions of sound, but the water 
 also, as is manifest by striking a bell under water, the sound of which 
 may plainly enough be heard, but is much duller, and not so loud ; and it 
 is also a fourth deeper, by the ear of some great judges in musical n 
 who gave me their j udgment in the matter. PutMersenne saith, a Bound 
 made under water, is of the same tone or note, if heard under water ; ae 
 are also sounds made in the air, when heard under water. Vide Meesen . 
 Hydraul. Having mentioned the hearing of sounds under water, there 
 is another curiosity worth mentioning, that also further proves water to 
 be susceptible of the impressions of sound, viz. Divers at the bottom of 
 the sea can hear the noises made above only confusedly ; but on the con- 
 trary those above cannot hear the Divers below." The most elaborate 
 and interesting investigations which had at this time been made on this 
 subject were those of Anderon, recorded in the Phil. Trans, for 1748, with 
 which Gilbert White does not appear to have been acquainted. Hecame 
 to the conclusion that fishes are devoid of the sense of hearing, which, 
 however, is scarcely proved by his facts. Franklin's experiments, inter- 
 esting and conclusive as they are, do not appear to bear upon the question 
 of the hearing of fishes. They show the extent to which sound is c< >n- 
 veyed through water, but go no further. — T. 13.] 
 
 X -1 
 
303 
 
 SERMON* 
 
 [I have selected the following sermon of Gilbert White's out of three 
 in my possession, as a fair illustration of the general tone of his paro- 
 chial instruction, and as an example of the ordinary character of the best 
 village sermons of the period. The list, in his own hand, of the numerous 
 occasions on which it was delivered is prefixed to this and to each of his 
 other sermons ; and I find attached to a sermon of his uncle Charles 
 White, the Eector of Bradley and Swarraton, under whom he held his 
 first curacy, a similar list, partly in the handwriting of the uncle, and 
 afterwards in that of Gilbert White, who appears thus to have utilized 
 his uncle's compositions, as heir not only to his secular property, but to 
 his pastoral teaching. — T. B.] 
 
 Selborn : Aug. 6, 1758. 
 Selborn : May 13, 1759. 
 Farringdon : Septem. 7, 1760. 
 Farringdon : July 13, 1761. 
 Chute : May 9, 1762. 
 Fy field : May 23, 1762. 
 Farringdon : July 4, 1762. 
 Farringdon : Nov. 11, 1764. 
 Faringdon : Jan. 24, 1768. 
 Faringdon, & Chawton: Dec. 3, 1769. 
 
 Faringdon 
 
 Jan. '26, 1772. 
 
 Faringdon : May 1, 1774. 
 Faringdon : April 28, 1776. 
 Fyfield : May 19, 1776. 
 Faringdon : Jan. 23, 1779. 
 Faringdon : April 22, 1781. 
 Faringdon : Nov. 24, 1782. 
 Selborne : Nov. 7, 1784. 
 Selborne : Dec. 1786. 
 Selborne : Aug. 24, 1788. 
 Selborne : Aug. 15, 1790. 
 Selborne : August 19, 1792. 
 
 Math: 25: 30. Cast the unprofitable servant into utter darkness: there 
 shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 These words are the conclusion of the parable of the talents ; 
 and designed by our Saviour to stir up all Xtians to faithful- 
 ness, and zeal in the exercise of all those powers, and means, 
 whether outward or inward, natural or supernatural (for by 
 every one of these is meant the talents) which God blesses 
 
 [For this sermon I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. M. G. 
 W.'itkins, Rector of Barnoldbv-le-beck, Lincolnshire. — T. B.] 
 
SERMON. 309 
 
 them with: least by failing in the due use of thein, the) 
 should fall under the sentence of the unprofitable servant ; 
 and be ejected out of God's Kingdom into most inexpressible 
 miseries. By whatsoever endowments and gifts we may (by 
 a due use of them) bring honour to God, and promote his 
 Kingdom ; by neglecting so to manage the same we become 
 unprofitable; that is, do not answer the ends for which ( rod hath 
 fitted us; nor bring him those fruits and profits which he justly 
 expects from those opportunities and means with which he hatli 
 so furnished us. It is true that.none, even the best of men, do 
 or can help or profit God. He reaps no gain or advantage by 
 any of our doings: and therefore how great proficients soever 
 we are in virtue, and holiness, we are still but unprofitable 
 servants : according to that of our Saviour (Luke xvii. 10) 
 "When ye have done all those things that are commanded 
 you, say, we are unprofitable servants." And doubtless our 
 Lord would not teach us to tell an untruth; and to say we are 
 unprofitable, if we were not really so. It is therefore certain, 
 that we can not be profitable to God: but withall it is as 
 certain that he is pleased to accept us as such, when we are 
 faithful, and do our true endeavour to serve his interests, and 
 glory. When therefore we neglect these ends, and do not use 
 the talents wherewith he has entrusted us, to such purposes ; 
 we are unprofitable in y e sense of the text, and fall under the 
 condemnation of it. Such are the bounties and liberalities of 
 God, that he is continually filling all things living with his 
 blessings; especially man whom he hath made in his own 
 image; and upon whom he poureth down the most plentiful 
 effusions of his riches and grace. So that he among them, 
 that partakes least of his favours, hath no less than a talent, a 
 very considerable sum, committed to him; and hath therefore 
 no small obligation to answer for. And the encreasing tin's 
 talent, which is the return God expects for every benefit 
 which he has conferred, is the using it in the best manner we 
 can, to his honour, and the good of men. And by casting the 
 unprofitable servant, him that did not so improve his talent, 
 into utter darkness, is not meant only the depriving him of 
 this present life: tho' darkness he frequent!) sei in the II. S. 
 
310 SERMON. 
 
 in opposition to the light of y' living, and signifies no more 
 than natural death. But the word darkness here hath a 
 further meaning; and signifies a much worse thing, viz. Hell, 
 or the place appointed by God to be the prison of damned 
 Angels, and men. And in this sense Darkness is made use of 
 in other parts of S. as Jude v. 13 : "To whom is reserved y c 
 blackness of darkness for ever : " and 2 Pet. 2, " To whom is 
 reserved the mist of darkness for ever." 
 
 Having thus explained the terms of the text, and thereby 
 shewed what will subject people to the dreadful doom of it: I 
 shall in the next place make it my business to shew more 
 particularly what those talents are by the due use of which we 
 may escape that sentence. And the Talents in general are 
 all advantages and means, endowments, gifts, and faculties, 
 whereby we may glorify God, or be beneficial to men. And 
 these are twofold, either external, or internal. The external, 
 or gifts of fortune, as some call y m are riches, honour, and 
 power. The internal, or endowments of Nature, are likewise 
 double ; either those seated in the body, as strength, and 
 beauty : or those in the mind ; as reason, and it's several 
 branches, and faculties, viz. memory, understanding, and 
 judgment. By every one of these we are put into a capacity 
 (if we will but take care rightly to apply them) of doing 
 service to God, and men ; and so of becoming profitable 
 servants. 
 
 I begin with external gifts, or those of fortune, as some call 
 them; viz: riches, honour, and power. These, if rightly 
 understood, are all of them very considerable helps towards 
 doing good, and gaining God's love : because there are no 
 duties with which he is more pleased than with humility, con- 
 descension, charity, and mercy. But to think these talents 
 bestowed upon us only to pamper, and puff us up, and nourish 
 us to a prodigious bulk, that we may be as it were alone on 
 y e earth; such overgrown trees as eclipse all the blessings of 
 Heaven from every thing around them; and suffer nothing to 
 prosper or thrive near or under them ; is to forget that there 
 is an over-ruling power above, an higher than y e highest on 
 earth, that considers all things done here, and will call them 
 
SERMON. 311 
 
 into judgment. It would be strange indeed, if y 1 Lord of the 
 Vineyard should long bear such unprofitable loads, and do! 
 pronounce the just sentence upon them; "Cut them down, 
 why cumber they the Ground." But if men, more than 
 ordinary favoured with these bounties of God, seriously con- 
 sidering why He should commit five or ten talents to \ when 
 the generality of their Brethren have but one or two ; and 
 perceiving that to whom muchis given, from them the more 
 is required, — shall provide to answer the donor's expecta- 
 tions in the case; and employ their wealth, influence, and 
 dignity to such ends as it may reasonably be presumed He 
 gave them for: if they relieve and comfort the needy and 
 distressed, and assist all people, as far as they can, according 
 to their several exigencies ; then do they thereby lay up for 
 themselves treasures which may profit in the day of wrath; 
 and bespeak Grace to help in the time of their own necessities; 
 and shall have their talents, their riches, honour, and authority 
 increased, and be called to nearer advances to the Divine 
 presence. 
 
 The next talents, whereby we may be profitable, are the 
 endowments of Nature, which, as I said before, are twofold, 
 those of the body, and those of the mind. Those of the body 
 are strength, and comliness of parts ; by a right use of which 
 we may do honour and service to the ever-blessed Giver. 
 
 And 1 st our bodily strength we may employ, as Samson did 
 his, in the behalf of God's friends, and subduing his enemies : 
 or as Moses (tho' the meekest man on earth) did his, in 
 vindicating those that are wronged, and delivering them from 
 the injuries and oppressions of such, as being stronger than 
 thev, would trample them under their feet. The wise man 
 tells us (Prov.20: 29) "That the Glory of young men is their 
 strength;" what they chiefly delight in. But for the mosi 
 part, as they use it, it is only the occasion of evil and mischief 
 to them: because they suffer themselves to be exalted thereby 
 to pride, and into contentions and quarrels; only upon pre- 
 sumption that they shall have the advantage in such engage- 
 ments, as being y e strongest: or else they show their strength 
 in wicked and immoral practices; as excessive drinking, and 
 
312 SERMON. 
 
 fulfilling the lusts of the flesh ; and glorying to out-do and 
 conquer others in such vile and irrational emulations : never 
 considering that all such glory is the height of their shame, 
 and proves them only the more degenerate and brutish. 
 They ought to be mindful how contrary all such uses of it 
 are to the intents for which God gave it them; viz: that they 
 should exert it in undergoing more abundant labours, and 
 enduring more hardships for his sake : and so much as they 
 excell others in strength, be the so much more mighty in 
 resisting temptations, and overcoming the wicked one; and in 
 fulfilling God's commandments, and exalting his praise, as the 
 H: Angeis, which excell in strength, we read, are: and in acts 
 of piety, faith, devotion, and zeal ; that they may have power 
 with God, and be able to prevail with him for blessings, on 
 themselves and friends. If thus we use our strength ; then 
 out of the strong will come forth sweetness : for we shall 
 thereby confirm and increase our inward powers and spiritual 
 graces, and likewise our everlasting reward. 
 
 And then 2 ly as for beauty, or the comliness of our outward 
 parts ; we may thereby serve God acceptably, and endear 
 ourselves to the Gracious Donor of them; as Esther did her's, 
 to the benefit of the true Religion and welfare of God's faithful 
 people. But if our hearts be lifted up within us because of it, 
 and we are inclined to grow vain, and to despise others upon 
 that account ; if we use it only as an incitement to leudness, 
 and wicked purposes, and to multiply iniquity in ourselves 
 and others, as is the practice with too many : if this be the 
 best use we make of our fair proportions and beautiful frame; 
 it would have been much better for us that we had been born 
 the most ugly and deformed creatures in the world : since no 
 outward deformity would render us hateful to God : but 
 beauty, so abused, will be of all things the most odious, and 
 abhorred in his sight : if we serve only Satan, and our own 
 vile affections by our gracefulness of person, and not God and 
 virtue; we shall certainly be esteemed unprofitable; and be 
 sentenced, how splendid and gay soever we may have been 
 here, to utter darkness, and weeping, and wailing, and gnash- 
 ing of teeth. 
 
SERMON. 313 
 
 But 3 d15 ' the next talent whereby we may profit, and in- 
 gratiate ourselves with our Aim: Lord, and Master, are the 
 endowments of the mind, viz. Reason, with all its branches, 
 and faculties; as Memory, Understanding, and Judgment. 
 And these are more noble Instruments than the former, of 
 serving God, and doing good; as those by which we maj 
 attain to the knowledge of the adorable perfections and will 
 of the most High, in all needful instances; and he affected 
 with the wonders and efficacy thereof in ourselves, and com- 
 municate them to others: and may thereby learn many useful 
 arts and sciences; and thereby improve and help ourselves 
 and neighbours. And therefore sure[ly,] to bury so beneficial 
 a talent in Sloth, Intemperance, or Luxury; or to stifle it with 
 the cares of this World, is most grievous Ingratitude, and un- 
 profitableness, and must be exceedingly displeasing to the 
 Giver. Such is the bounty, and generosity of God, the best 
 and supreme of Masters, that tho' his family be numberless, 
 and comprehending the whole race of mankind ; yet is there 
 no one servant, or dependant of his, (let the place or office, 
 which he is employed in, be ever so mean and low) but hath 
 at least one, or two, or more talents committed to him to 
 trade and profit withall. And the most universal oik; is that 
 of Reason, which God, as a common badge, bestowes on all 
 his domestics in general, and without distinction, even the 
 most inferior retainers to Him. This, notwithstanding its 
 commonness, is so rich a gift, and carries with it such an air 
 of divinity, and similitude of the All-perfect Donor, that there 
 is nothing in nature of price enough to compare with it. It 
 is this which distinguishes angels and men from beasts : and 
 the eternal and surviving part of the Creation from the 
 temporary and perishing: that which, like a celestial flame, 
 sparkles, and shines, and spreads out its lustre every wa\ ; 
 and extends itself to all parts of the Universe; and attracts to 
 it not only present, but also past, and future objects, those in 
 Heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and eveu under it. 
 This is the principle of all Knowledge, both of things in the 
 world, and those above it: that light which God has set up in 
 the breast of every partaker of Humane Nature, wherebj (a- 
 
314 SERMON. 
 
 refiners do by fire) to try and find out, from among y e gross 
 heap of dross and rubbish, good from evil, and truth from 
 falsehood. A talent, which tho' but one, is capable of heing 
 multiplyed into manifold, and innumerable treasures. When 
 reason is first sowed in infants, it is a very small seed indeed, 
 the least of all seeds, scarcely perceptible ; but wonderfully 
 vigorous and apt to encrease ; and by degrees, if rightly 
 cultivated, shoots up into a mighty tree, the tree of know- 
 ledge, blossoming into arts and sciences, and speculations ; 
 and fructifying, first into moral actions, and practices ; and 
 then, as it advances to maturity, into divine habits, and 
 graces. For " first is that which is natural, and afterwards 
 that which is spiritual." And he that is faithful in little will 
 be faithful in more : and, because he hath, shall have more 
 given him, and have abundance, and grow from natural (if he 
 be not wanting to make a due improvement with them) to 
 supernatural and spiritual attainments. 
 
 This was the highest and brightest talent of natural light 
 and conscience (before y e coming of Xt) which God com- 
 mitted to y e world; except to the Jews, who alone of all 
 nations were acquainted with divine revelation, and some 
 degrees of spiritual light : and by a due use of this, viz. of 
 their rational faculties, and natural conscience might have 
 been happy, and known the eternal power and goodness of 
 God, and demeaned themselves acceptably towards him. But 
 while they neglected strictly to follow the direction of this 
 Heavenly Guide, and sought out to themselves many inven- 
 tions in their religious services, which they could not justifv 
 by reason; and thought themselves wise therein, they became 
 fools ; and by dishonouring God with their will-worship, that 
 is, with human inventions, instead of that which their own 
 light and judgment, if not perverted, would have led them to, 
 
 became unprofitable servants : and, for darkening their 
 
 own hearts, and acting against their own innate knowledge, 
 worthy to be delivered up to a reprobate mind, and cast into 
 praeternatural, and utter darkness. Rom. i. 20, 21, 22, & 28. 
 
 The excellence, or highest improvement of this talent, reason, 
 is to attain thereby to true wisdom ; an ability to direct our- 
 
SERMON. 315 
 
 selves and others in the choice and pursuit of our proper end, 
 everlasting happiness. For surely, of all advantages, this will 
 be found the greatest to ourselves; and God will esteem ii so 
 too; because thereby our own, and probably other's souls will 
 be gained to Him; which is the only gain that he accounts of. 
 The wisdom of directing our own ways aright, viz. being wise 
 for ourselves is doubtless the prime point of all wisdom : 
 according to that of Solomon : (Prov. 14: 8) "The wisdom of 
 the prudent is to direct his way." And whoso is wise will 
 make the knowing and securing of his own eternal happiness 
 his ?nain business : and being sensible, (as he presently must, 
 that at all considers this matter) that without a truly religious 
 life, and a pure and holy conversation no man can be accept- 
 able to God, or admitted into his joys ; - - will labour above 
 all things after sanctification, to please God both in body and 
 soul: that if he cannot do any further service to his maker, he 
 may be sure however to glorify him in working out his own 
 salvation. But withal knowing that such a private spirit is 
 very short of that of Xtianity (which would have all men to 
 be saved) will find himself obliged moreover to become exem- 
 plaky in goodness, that he may by the loveliness of his ways 
 win others to the like, and y c service of God, and righteousness. 
 
316 
 
 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 [The following transcript from one of Gilbert White's account-hooks 
 affords so many interesting traits of his character at the period to which 
 it belongs, that I have been induced, at the wish of many friends to 
 whom I showed the original, to print it literatim. It has always struck 
 me as exhibiting in its simplicity that combination of genial kindliness 
 and generous hospitality with habitual prudence, punctilious formality, 
 and methodical habits which was so characteristic of the whole of his 
 after life. As an indication of some phases of ordinary college life of the 
 time it is not without some amusing interest. — T. B.] 
 
 Expences preparatory to § during my year of Proctorship in 
 the University of Oxon, 1752. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 March On the road from Selborn to Oxon: & hire of Boy, & 
 
 20. 21. Horse 01 01 11 
 
 Coffee-house 00 00 07 
 
 Two Quire of paper, & this Book 00 03 00 
 
 25. Subscription to the Concert 00 10 06 
 
 Provost's, & Mrs. Croke's Man 00 02 00 
 
 Pair of Norway-Doe Gloves 00 01 08 
 
 Pound of Candles 00 00 06 
 
 Cook's shop 00 00 05 
 
 28. Tin-Boiler; & Chocolate pot, & mill 00 04 06 
 
 31. Going to the Concert, choral night 00 01 00 
 
 A feather-top'd grizzle wig f m London 02 05 00 
 
 Half pound of Hyson-tea f m Har: Woods 00 08 00 
 
 Half pound of Congo from Do 00 04 00 
 
 31. 3 pounds of Chocolate from Do 00 10 06 
 
 Pr of Norway-Doe Gloves 00 01 08 
 
 Cook's-shop 00 00 06 
 
 April 2. M r Smith, Sen r Proct rs Man 00 01 00 
 
 Large washing Bason 00 01 00 
 
 4. Six large polished tea spoons 01 06 00 
 
 Carried forward 07 03 09 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-ROOK. 317 
 
 „ Li: s: d: 
 
 17o2. Brought forward 07 03 09 
 
 April 4. Engraving my Crest on Do 00 03 00 
 
 4. Car: of two Hampers of Mountain from Southampton 00 L6 00 
 
 Porterage to Coll: 00 01 00 
 
 Cinder-sifter, & hearth-brush 00 02 04 
 
 Jun r Proctor, M r Dickens's Man 00 01 00 
 
 4. 6 doz: of Mountain-wine, half pints, half quarts, fri >m 
 
 M'Atherley of Southampton: very old, & good. . 04 10 00 
 
 Bottles, Corks, & Hampers for Do 01 12 06 
 
 6. President of Trinity's Man 00 01 00 
 
 7. Sen 1 ' Proct rs Man 00 01 00 
 
 8. An 100 p d weight of biscuit to treat the Masters of 
 
 Art in Oriel Hall 05 00 00 
 
 entered on my office then. 
 
 Paid the Porter for two weeks waiting 00 02 00 
 
 9. Ringers, & Musick 00 10 00 
 
 Alms-men of St. Barthol ws 00 02 0(5 
 
 4 p ds of Candles 00 02 00 
 
 Washing-pan, & wainscot-brush 00 00 08 
 
 Tobacco, & pipes 00 01 01 
 
 A Plate of Olives 00 01 06 
 
 A bowl of rum Punch from Horsmans 00 02 06 
 
 Two Sevil-Oranges 00 00 03 
 
 A Sallad from Mason's Garden 00 01 00 
 
 Taylor's man 00 01 00 
 
 10. P d my Predecess r M r Dickens 03 12 00 
 
 To be repaid by my success 1 " 
 
 11. Took a Commons in port-mead 00 07 06 
 
 Sallad from Mason's 00 00 06 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 08 
 
 13. Extraordinary Choral night 00 01 00 
 
 For reading the 3 rd & 4 th Vol: of Amelia 00 00 06 
 
 14. M rs Croke's man 00 01 00 
 
 1 6. Large Pier-Glass, second-hand, from London, bought 
 
 by Jenny Croke 03 10 00 
 
 Packing, & Carriage 00 06 00 
 
 Porterage 00 00 06 
 
 3 Eggs from Cook's shop 00 00 03 
 
 18. Sallad from Mason's 00 00 06 
 
 Gave M r Parker's man of Trin: Coll: 00 01 00 
 
 18. 3 pairof black ribbed-stockings 00 1- 00 
 
 19. Spent at Engham 0<l "I 00 
 
 Mouse-trap, & two Oranges 00 00 09 
 
 Carried forward 30 02 03 
 
318 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1752. Brought forward 30 02 03 
 
 Apr. 20. Present to the Vice-Chan: a loaf of Double Refin: 
 
 Sugar 7 lbs. at 13d 00 07 07 
 
 With six bottles of Wine. 
 
 20. Brother Chapman's Man 00 01 00 
 
 Quire of whited-brown paper 00 00 04 
 
 Plate of Olives 00 01 00 
 
 Radishes 00 00 02 
 
 Bottle of Ink 00 00 03 
 
 2 Sevil Oranges 00 00 02 
 
 A riding Cane 00 00 00 
 
 25. Going to Bensington to meet Sister Becky*, & M r 
 
 Snooke 00 03 00^ 
 
 20. M rs Croke's man 00 01 00 
 
 President of Trinity's man 00 01 00 
 
 27. Choral night 00 01 00 
 
 Raisins & almonds 00 00 06 
 
 Plate of Olives 00 02 06 
 
 M r Dike's man of Ch: Ch: 00 01 00 
 
 Shewing Sister Becky Radclif's Library 00 01 00 
 
 29. A Sallad from Mason 00 00 09 
 
 Loaf of Single refined Sugar 9 lbs. at 9d 00 07 01 
 
 Gave Brother Barker's Coachman for his care of 
 
 Mouse, while he wintered in Rutland 00 02 06 
 
 Mrs. Croke's Man 00 01 00 
 
 Shewing Sister Becky great Tom 00 00 06 
 
 30. Going to Woodstock with Sister Becky in her way 
 
 to Rutland 00 05 00 
 
 Shewing my Sister the Picture Gallery 00 01 00 
 
 2 doz. of Corks ' 00 00 04 
 
 May 1. M r Dickens's Man 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-House 00 00 06 
 
 2. Odd matters 00 00 04 
 
 3. Provost's man 00 01 00 
 
 Spent in journey to London to settle M r Holt's Ex- 
 ecutorship -matters with M r Butcher, & to Sun- 
 bury, & Selborn, from May 4 to May 26 04 19 09 
 
 Cast Sheffield Razor of Will: Yalden 00 01 06 
 
 2 Tea Canisters 00 00 08 
 
 9. P d Share of the expence for M 1 ' Butcher's release 
 
 when we settled accounts 00 10 0<> 
 
 Carried forward 37 17 08± 
 
 * [His sister Rebecca, who married Henry Woods, Esq., of Shopwyke 
 House, near Chichester. — T. B.] 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACC0UNT-13CX >k. 319 
 
 Li: b: d: 
 
 1752. Brouglit forward .",7 17 08 
 
 May 9. Gratuity, my Share to I) os Clerks 00 1 :; 0] 
 
 21. P r of Shoes of Geo. Tanner 00 < >•"> « N ! 
 
 27. Coffee-house, & M rs Croke's Man 00 0] 06 
 
 28. Gardener at the Physick-Garden 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee house 00 00 04 
 
 Gave Black Jack 00 01 00 
 
 4 Lettuce from Mason's 00 00 or, 
 
 June 1. Large Iron-Chafmgdish 00 02 06 
 
 Going to the Concert 00 01 00 
 
 6 Bottles of Olives bought by Benj" in London at 
 
 2s. 6d. p r bot. & pack: 6d 00 15 0(5 
 
 Seeds by Do 00 00 09 
 
 2. Ray's History of y e Rebell: in 1745 00 0*5 < m; 
 
 Pot of Coffee, & Br: & Butter 00 01 02 
 
 Coffee-House 00 00 00 
 
 Shewing Nanny Yalden, Benj" & Will: Yalden * the 
 
 Museum, & Magd. Coll: 00 01 06 
 
 4. Shewing N: Yalden Monday's Organ 00 02 00 
 
 Charcoal 00 02 02 
 
 Odd matters paid for by Joe 00 03 01 
 
 5, 6. Expences in going to Stow Gardens, S r 01: Cotterels, 
 
 & Blenheim with Nan: Yalden, Benj" &c 00 15 00 
 
 Pair of Woodstock Gloves 00 02 00 
 
 9. Vice-Chanc 19 man 00 01 00 
 
 Basket of Strawberries 00 00 04 
 
 Coffee-House, & Strawberries 00 00 10 
 
 2 Lettuce, & oatmeal 00 00 1 
 
 14. The President of Trinity's man 00 01 00 
 
 A Lobster 00 01 02 
 
 Lettuce, & Cream 00 00 06 
 
 15. The Concert, choral night 00 01 o<» 
 
 A Tart 00 00 (.:: 
 
 16. M r Chapman, Broth r Procf 9 man 00 01 I 10 
 
 17. Nash of Worcester's man 00 01 or, 
 
 Cherries, & Strawberries 00 00 10 
 
 19. Strawberries, & Lettuce ,)() <H) (,s 
 
 Gardener at the Physic-Garden 00 00 06 
 
 19. Carriage of Olives, & porter 00 01 02 
 
 Carried forward '- ' ,:; ' " 
 
 * [Children of the Vicar of Newton Valence and his own brothei 
 Benjamin. — T. B.] 
 
320 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1752. Brought forward 42 03 10| 
 
 June 19. Shewing M r & M™ Whiston All: Souls Library* . . 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-House * 00 00 08 
 
 19. Punch for Bappy Isaact 00 02 00 
 
 Coffee, Candles, & milk 00 01 02| 
 
 Coffee 00 00 05 
 
 29. Gave y e Drawer at y e Blue Boar at y° Barbers Feast 00 01 00 
 
 30. Gave an old man 00 00 00 
 
 Hogshead of Cyder from the Southams of Devon ; 
 
 brought in April 27 04 00 00 
 
 Car: in London to the Carrier 00 02 00 
 
 Car: from London to Oxon by the waggon 00 15 00 
 
 Porterage into the Cellar . .. 00 02 00 
 
 30. A Crab, Lettuce, & Milk 00 01 OH 
 
 July 1. Coffee-House, & raspberries 00 01 03^ 
 
 2. Vice-Chan: Man at Commemoration-Dinner 00 01 00 
 
 Tom Warton's Commem: Ode 00 00 06 
 
 3. Gave at Phvsick-Garden 00 01 00 
 
 Fruit 00 00 0C 
 
 Bell & wire 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-House: tooth-powder 00 01 00 
 
 5. Gave at St. Ebbe's Church at the Sacrament which 
 
 I received to qualify me for my office 00 01 00 
 
 Stamped parchment instrument 00 01 04 
 
 Gave the Clerk, & other Witness 00 02 00 
 
 Fee at the sitting when I took the oaths 00 04 00 
 
 6. Provost's man : & weekly concert 00 02 00 
 
 Coffee-House 00 00 09 
 
 8. D 1 Wanley, the Compound 1 - of Worcester's Servant 00 01 00 
 
 9. Gave D r Goddard's man when I sold my mare .... 00 01 00 
 9. Gave the Judges' servants 00 02 00 
 
 Gave Barret's man 00 02 00 
 
 10. Gave Bat Piegley's man 00 01 00 
 
 Punch for M r Mulso, & Tom J 00 01 06 
 
 13. Gave Black Jack, who broke his leg 00 01 00 
 
 Odd matters bought by Joe 00 01 05 
 
 14. Gave Vice-Chan: man 00 01 00 
 
 15. Black leathern- breeches with linings 00 12 00 
 
 Carried forward 49 12 07 
 
 * [Mr. Whiston was a descendant of the celebrated William Whiston, 
 who was uncle to Mr. Barker. See memoir.— T. B.] 
 t [His cousin. — T. B.] 
 } [The father and brother of Mis. Chapone. See memoir. — T. B.] 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-HOOK. -j, 
 
 l-i: 8i d: 
 
 Lto2. Brought forward l<i ] •> 97 
 
 July 16. PJ for 6 fan-back'd chairs, with leathern bottoms . . OS L2 00 
 
 For two great-armed Ditto 01 16 00 
 
 Butter print for my Un: White 00 02 00 
 
 17. P d Common-room bill for Port, & Madeira to July 
 
 r 4th 03 14 07 
 
 18. P u Barret's Bill for keeping y e Mare, & Black 
 
 Horse ; & some Hire: to June 23 rd 04 10 00 
 
 17. Punch for Bappy Isaac 00 02 00 
 
 Quire of paper 00 oi 00 
 
 Odd matters bought by Joe 00 00 06 
 
 20. Farrier's Bill for shoing to that time 00 09 04 
 
 20. Barret's Bill for keeping Horse to that time 01 02 06 
 
 20. 200 of Broccoli plants, & basket 00 02 1 
 
 Elder Rob, & conserve of Hips 00 00 08 
 
 20. 21. Expenses from Oxon, to Selborn 00 09 06 
 
 Barret's portmanteau-Horse 00 10 00 
 
 22. Joe's Expenses back to Oxon 00 03 02 
 
 Selborn. 
 
 23. D r Bristow's man 00 01 00 
 
 23. Bleeding Mouse 00 00 06 
 
 Sending Jack Wells to Alton, & Bradley 00 00 09 
 
 John Carpenter's Horse to Bradley 00 00 00 
 
 25. Robin Tull in the Garden 00 03 0G 
 
 27. Two loads of Hay laid up in my Father's rick 02 00 00 
 
 A Quarter of Oats from D 1 Bristow 00 10 00 
 
 28. 29. Going to meet 1>' Bentham, & M 1 ' Barners at Alton ; 
 
 and going with y ra to Farnham 00 14 06 
 
 30. M r Hinton's man of Chawton 00 0] 00 
 
 Aug 1 1. M r Battin's man 00 01 00 
 
 Jack Wells, an errand 00 00 02 
 
 3. Pair of Shoes from George Tanner 00 06 06 
 
 4. Mouse, two shoes before, remove behind 00 01 0:; 
 
 4. Gave my Un: White's servants 00 02 00 
 
 Oxon. 
 5. 0. Spent in Journey thither without a Serv nt to meet 
 
 theMulsos 00 07 01 
 
 7. Fruit <*> ( «» 08 
 
 8. Horse at Woodstock : y e Mulsos treated 00 00 06 
 
 Punch for the Mulsos IKI 06 <h> 
 
 Shewing Wadham Chappel to D° 00 00 08 
 
 Weekly Concert ,K > °> 00 
 
 11. 12. Expenses to Stow Gardens with y e Mulsos 00 14 01 
 
 Carried forward 72 10 06 
 
 VOL. IJ. v 
 
322 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1752. Brought forward 72 10 06£ 
 
 Aug* Fruit 00 00 0(5 
 
 11. 12. Oxon Butter Print, a present for M ra Batten 00 02 00 
 
 13. A square Cap, at my going into Office 00 07 00 
 
 Hat for myself, at D° 00 15 00 
 
 Two Hats for my men at D° 01 00 00 
 
 Hat box 00 00 06 
 
 Fruit 00 00 03 
 
 15. Pair of Shoes of Remmet's man 00 07 00 
 
 15. Parson's bill, for Glasses, and stoneware 01 19 00 
 
 16. M™ Croke's man 00 01 00 
 
 Gardener at y e Physic Garden for two melons .... 00 01 00 
 Spinage-seed, garlick, & half a Gallon of Mazagon 
 
 Beans from Mason y e Garden 1 ' 00 01 04 
 
 Keeping Horse at Barret's, & shoing 00 09 10 
 
 1 7. M rs Witherington for painting my room, & a Hearth 
 
 Cloth 01 16 00 
 
 Gave Bet Bull 00 01 00 
 
 17. Barret's Boy 00 00 06 
 
 Odd matters bought by Joe 00 01 05| 
 
 Quire of wrapping-paper 00 00 04 
 
 Gave the porter 00 00 06 
 
 1 7. 18. Spent in Journey to Selborn 00 12 02 
 
 Portmanteau Horse to 1)° 00 10 00 
 
 Joes expences back 00 03 06 
 
 Selborn. 
 
 20. John Neal mending Cloaths 00 00 11 
 
 Six pounds of shot 00 01 00 
 
 22. Jack Wells to Bradley 00 00 0(3 
 
 Tanner's Horse to D° 00 01 00 
 
 Goody Tolvery for washing 00 00 08 
 
 Robin Tull for 300 Savoy plants 00 01 00 
 
 27. John Lasham bringing S r : Becky's Letter 00 01 06 
 
 28. M r Batten's Butler 00 01 00 
 
 31. Meeting Jenny Croke, & Sister Becky at Basingstoke 00 18 06 
 
 Septem r P d then my Sister Becky what my Brother Barker 
 14 N.S. expended for Mouse's winter's run, farriering, & 
 
 shoeing in Rutland 02 14 02^ 
 
 Half pound of Gunpowder 00 00 08 
 
 Mending breeches 00 00 04 
 
 10. Mouse remov'd all round at Bradley 00 00 06 
 
 William for cleaning my Gun 00 00 0(5 
 
 22. M r Batten's Butler 00 01 00 
 
 ( !arried forward 85 04 08* 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 t-~o t, Lu s: d: 
 
 1 /oJ. Brought forward 85 04 < 
 
 Sepf 22. Gave Tom Ruffel for shewing me some quails ... 00 OO 00 
 
 Bill Cosens to hold up her head 00 00 06 
 
 26. Servants at Bradley 00 02 00 
 
 Corn at Alton, & chamhering saddle 00 O] oo 
 
 Mending Girth '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. 00 00 00 
 
 29. Gave towards my Br: John's Ziczac up the Arbour 
 
 Hl11 00 01 00 
 
 Octob'' 1. Sent R: Tolvery with my Father's mare from Selbom 
 
 to Bradley qq 01 ()() 
 
 Two 100 of tacking nails 00 00 < (8 
 
 6. M rs Yalden's maid 00 01 00 
 
 7. A petticoat for Tull's naked wench 00 02 06 
 
 13. M r Batten's Servants 00 02 < x > 
 
 14. Beckkurst, 4 days & half in y e Garden 00 04 06 
 
 13. Set of Shoes for Mouse, one bar 00 02 06 
 
 15. Gave the old man at M r Henley's Gate 00 00 1 16 
 
 Second Subscript 11 to the Ziczac 00 01 00 
 
 Sending Boy to Alton 00 00 03 
 
 18. Gave D r Bristow's Servant 00 01 00 
 
 Lost at Commerce 00 01 00 
 
 19. Mending Cloaths 00 01 00 
 
 20. Gave among the poor of Selborn 00 13 00 
 
 Ned Aldred for shaving 00 00 06 
 
 Jenny Baker for mending shirts 00 01 03 
 
 Dame Turner for washing <&c 00 01 OO 
 
 Oxon. 
 
 25. 26. Spent in Journey from Selborn to Oxon in a post- 
 chaise with Jenny Croke 01 03 11 
 
 25. Gave Jenny Croke a round China-turene, being pre- 
 vented paying for y e post-chaise 01 16 <W 
 
 The post-boy 00 02 06 
 
 29. Hire of Horse to Glimton 00 02 00 
 
 President of Trinity's man, & Ostler 00 01 06 
 
 30. As Jun r Proctor, to the Savilian Profess' 9 04 10 00 
 
 30. The Concert, choral night 00 0] 00 
 
 Coffee House 00 0] OS 
 
 31. Pair of Norway-Doe Gloves 00 <>! 08 
 
 81. M r Nash's Servant, & Coffee house 00 o 1 1 1 1 
 
 Novem'4 Coffee-House 00 00 08 
 
 5. Sacrament at St. Maries Is. M rs Croke 's man Is 00 02 00 
 
 Bottle of ink (,<l IMI 03 
 
 6. Lost at Cards in the Common-room OO 01 00 
 
 Carried forward 95 10 03 
 
 v 1 
 
324 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 I 752. Brought forward 95 10 03| 
 
 Nov r 8. Coffee-House 00 00 00 
 
 8. Vice-Chan: man 00 01 00 
 
 Pair of yarn Gloves 00 01 00 
 
 10. Gave Black Jack, who broke his leg 00 01 00 
 
 11. 4 bottles of French-Olives from London 00 15 00 
 
 Quart of fine oyl, & stone bottle 00 02 10 
 
 Quart of vinegar, bottle, & basket 00 01 02 
 
 2 Westmoreland Hams, w l 35 lbs. at 7" 01 00 05 
 
 6 p d of Sturgeon, pan, & basket 00 08 00 
 
 13. Choral-night, & Coffee-house 00 02 00 
 
 14. A door-mat 00 00 04 
 
 Two pounds of common Caudles 00 00 11 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 04 1 
 
 15. Horse-hire to Woodstock 00 02 00 
 
 Spent there 00 02 07 
 
 16. Shewing M™ Lort Radclifs Library 00 01 00 
 
 A small lanthorn 00 01 04 
 
 17. Car: & porterage of the above things f™ London. ... 00 03 04 
 
 Taylor y e Carpenter's bill for Jobs' 00 14 00 
 
 Dumb bell in my mens room 00 05 00 
 
 17. 2 cut-top'd Cruets 00 03 00 
 
 17. Mason's Bill for Hearth-stone, &c 01 15 06 
 
 17. Bought from Woodstock turn-pike, a small beautiful 
 liver-coloured Spaniel-Bitch * of the Blenheim- 
 breed, one year old 00 07 06 
 
 10. Gave at the Sacrament 00 01 00 
 
 21. Horse-hire for an airing 00 02 00 
 
 22. Gave the printer, who brought my present of six 
 
 Oxon-Almanacks 00 01 00 
 
 23. M r Biesley's man 00 01 00, 
 
 24. Sadler's Bill for Horse-cloth, &c 01 00 Oo' 
 
 25. Half pound of Souchong from H: Woods 00 04 00 
 
 Car: & port: of Turene, & tea 00 01 01 
 
 Box for the Turene, & Canister 00 00 10 
 
 26. M r9 Croke's Servant 00 01 00 
 
 27. Pair of ribbed yarn stockings 00 02 00 
 
 27. Concert, Choral night 00 01 00 
 
 28. Provost's man 00 01 00 
 
 30. Coffee-house 00 00 08 
 
 Dec' 1. Plaisterer's bill for white-washing, &c 00 04 06 
 
 Carried forward 104 01 08 
 
 * [Fairey Queen.] 
 
GILBERT WHITES ACCOUNT-HOOK. 325 
 
 I.i: -: d: 
 
 1752. Brought forward 104 01 08 
 
 Dec r 2. Taylor's BUI for Proctor's Gown, Cass< ,ck, mens suits, 
 
 mens Cloaks, &c: 03 08 00 
 
 2. D r Durnfort's, Gr: Comp r of Wadham Coll: man .. 00 01 00 
 
 3. President of Trinity's man 00 01 00 
 
 Candles 00 02 n I 
 
 4. Paid Boswell in part for altering Br: Harry's study 
 
 into a Servants room 01 01 00 
 
 5. Iron-monger's Bill, for cleaning Grate, &c: 00 II 00 
 
 A trivet, & fork from D° 00 05 00 
 
 5. Lost at Cards 00 0100 
 
 6. Com: room wine-bill from July 7 th to Dec 1 ' G 01 L8 05 
 
 6. Battles* in Lady-Day Quart' 01 Lfi 1 1 
 
 „ in Midsum 1 Quart' 12 14 08 
 
 „ in Mick: Quart 1 ' 07 L5 02 
 
 Odd matters ». 00 00 03 
 
 7. Cofi'ee House 00 00 08 
 
 8. Coffee-Houae 00 00 04 
 
 10. M rs Croke's man 00 01 00 
 
 11. M r Nash's man 00 01 00 
 
 14. Oxon Almanack & 3 explanations 00 01 01| 
 
 D° & 1 D° 00 01 001 
 
 14. Provost's man 00 01 00 
 
 Lost at Cards 00 01 00 
 
 15. President of Trinity's man 00 01 00 
 
 16. Mending Barret's saddle which I borrowed 00 01 04 
 
 18. 1 Quart of white Butch kidney-beans 00 01 00 
 
 18. Bet Bull's bill for cream, bread, & butter, making 
 
 towels, &c: to Decem r 13 th 00 10 11 
 
 M rs Croke's Bill for 20 yards of blue check'd-linen 
 
 for window-curtains at 20 d 01 13 04 
 
 18. P J M r Ward for putting-up draw-Curtains 01 11 09 
 
 „ to D° for a Cushion 00 03 03 
 
 M ,s Croke's bill, for two cloth-frocks, one D° waist- 
 coat, p r of sheets, 3 table cloths, &c: 10 10 08 
 
 Her Bill for Proctor's Velvet-sleeves, silk grogram 
 
 cassock, silk sash, &c: 10 1 '"' ' ' ' 
 
 Her bill for two mens broad-cloth suits, & cloaks. \ 
 
 p r of stockings each 13 08 05 
 
 18. 5 doz: of Corks to bottle out the bottom of my hogs- 
 head of Cyder 0{) "" l0 
 
 18. Men, pair of Shoes each 00 10 (X) 
 
 Carried forward I7 "' l; ' <KI 
 
 [The name for College bills. Usually spelt battels.— T. B 
 
,'120 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK, 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1752. Brought forward 173 19 00 
 
 Dec 1 19. Flask of Ink for my Father 00 01 03 
 
 18. 19. Bay, & Horses at Barret's 00 03 10 
 
 Barber Xmas Box 00 01 00 
 
 Barret's man 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee House 00 00 08 
 
 17. 18. Boy's expences from Selborn to Oxon 00 01 07 
 
 Bull's maid 00 01 00 
 
 Bradley and Selborn. 
 
 19. 20. Expences on the road f m Oxon to Bradley 00 10 00 
 
 Boy's Hire 00 03 06 
 
 24. Gave John Appleton at Bradley 00 01 00 
 
 25. „ Goodman Townsend at Swarraton 00 01 00 
 
 27. Third subscription to the Zigzag 00 03 00 
 
 Trimming little Jack, given me by my Uncle White 00 00 06 
 
 29. M r Johnson'n maid, & lost at Cards 00 01 02 
 
 Velvet for Cape to a Frock 00 01 00 
 
 Mending a frock 00 00 06 
 
 Advertising, & crying Fairey 00 03 06 
 
 Reward to Bernard Bailey at Swallowfield, whether 
 
 she was strolled 00 07 00 
 
 News-man for bringing her to Selborn 00 01 00 
 
 1753. 
 Jan: Letters about her, & sending y e Oxon news- man out 
 
 of his way 00 01 08 
 
 1. Mending powder-horn, & girth 00 00 03 
 
 2. Mouse remove, & second-hand shoe 00 00 07| 
 
 2. Ten yards of Irish from Lee, at .3 s p 1 ' y d 01 10 00 
 
 Two thirds of Lawn at 6 s p r yard 00 04 00 
 
 Thread, tape, & buttons . . . . 00 00 07 
 
 Jenny Baker making three shirts 00 03 00 
 
 Making three stocks 00 00 06 
 
 2. Lost at Cards 00 01 06 
 
 4. 4 pounds of shot, & quart 1 ' p (I of powder 00 01 00 
 
 Will: Carpenter two Days, & half in Garden 00 02 06 
 
 Lost at Cards 00 00 06 
 
 Lost at Cards 00 00 06 
 
 10. Gave my Un: White's maid 00 01 00 
 
 Washing at Bradley, & Selborn 00 01 01 
 
 Boy to Oakhanger 00 00 02 
 
 10. Tanner for soling, &c: a pair of thick shoes 00 01 03 
 
 12. Lost at Goose 00 00 06 
 
 13. 2 Quarts of early-pease, & an ounce X' half of Carrot- 
 
 seed f m Farnham 00 01 04^ 
 
 Carried forward 178 15 00 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 I.i: b: d: 
 
 I 753 - Brought forward ] ;s | .-, oo 
 
 Jau: 13. Half gallon of broad-beans on QO 08 
 
 13. A small .saddle bought of Tanner 00 06 00 
 
 15. Will: Carpenter in the Garden on ol 00 
 
 Peck of Barley-meal for Fairey 00 00 06 
 
 17. Gave M r Newlin's maid 00 1 1 1 00 
 
 Lost at Cards 00 01 00 
 
 18. Sent Boy to Oakhanger oo < h > 02 
 
 19. Leek, radish, and parsley-seed f ' Farnham (H) (X) 08 
 
 19. Removing little Jack's shoes (K) 00 00 
 
 24. Will: Carpenter in the Garden 0(1 III 00 
 
 24. Tanner soling thick shoes oo 01 02 
 
 „ Chrystal to a watch 00 ol 00 
 
 „ mending Fairey Queen's Collar 00 00 1 1 1 
 
 26. Sent boy to Hawkley about Grass for Jack 00 00 03 
 
 Lost at Cards (K) 00 05 
 
 27. Gave Tanner for putting Mouse to winter 00 ol oo 
 
 28. Gave my Un: White's Servants 00 02 00 
 
 28. Gave M r Batten's D°: lay at his house 00 03 00 
 
 20. Hire of Tanner's mare to Reading 00 02 06 
 
 Hire of Jack Wells to IJ° 00 1 06 
 
 Pint of ale, & turnpike 00 00 03 '. 
 
 30. Boy's expences back 00 0104 
 
 30. Expences at Reading 00 10 07 
 
 30. Post-chaise to Bensington. & Boy I s 00 L2 03 
 
 Spent at B° 00 00 I >o 
 
 Return post-chaise from D" to Uxon 00 04 00 
 
 Boy 00 (JO oo 
 
 Oxon. Cook's shop 00 00 oo 
 
 31. Bed at Blue Boar, & Chamber-maid 00 01 oo 
 
 Feb: 3. Plate of cold veal from Cook's shop 00 00 04 
 
 4. Gave M M Croke's man 00 01 (in 
 
 5. Gave little Xtian oo ol oo 
 
 6. „ M r Nash's Man of Worcester Coll: oo o 1 00 
 
 Odd matters oo oo 04 
 
 7. Gave Barret for the use of his Saddle 00 ol 00 
 
 9. M r Chapman's man oo ol (Hi 
 
 10. Gave old Bull for Xmass-box 00 02 06 
 
 Washing-bason I oo 
 
 14. Paid M 1S Barnes's Bill for wood and coal to Feb: 6. . 03 II 06 
 13. Bowl of Punch for the Master, Wardens, &c: of the 
 
 Barber's Company 00 "" " i; 
 
 Pipes, & tobacco for I)" 00 0007 
 
 < 'arried forward ' "" ■ 15 00 
 
828 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1753. Brought forward 185 15 09| 
 
 Feb: 13. Pound of Candles; & oatmeal 00 00 07 
 
 15. Spent at the King's Head ; being obliged to be much 
 
 in y c High-street on account of an Election-treat 00 04 0G 
 
 17. Coffee-House 00 00 05 
 
 19. Paid for the paper of M r Kennicott's dissertation on 
 
 1st Chron: ii. Chap 00 01 02 
 
 Binding D° 00 00 06 
 
 2 sticks of sealing-wax 00 00 06 
 
 19. Concert, common night 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-house 00 00 04| 
 
 22. Gave Craddock's maid, who brought me M r Nowell's 
 
 present of 2 brace of woodcocks 00 01 00 
 
 Gave a sick man 00 00 06 
 
 26. Concert, Choral-night ; & Coffee-house 00 02 00 
 
 .March 1. Lowth's Lectures stitched in paper, a present to M r 
 
 Scrope of Castle-comb 00 12 06 
 
 Car: of D' 00 00 06 
 
 Oysters 00 00 02 
 
 3. Coffee-House 00 00 04£ 
 
 4. Provost's man 00 01 00 
 
 5. Oysters 00 00 03 
 
 6. Gave a poor Frank from Constantinople 00 00 06 
 
 7. Coffee-House, an evening 00 01 06 
 
 8. P r of strong shoes from Remmet's man 00 07 00 
 
 8. Gave Judge's Servants 00 02 00 
 
 9. „ the Girl at M r Mulso's Lodgings 00 01 00 
 
 10. Coffee-house 00 00 06 
 
 11. Gave the Printer who brought the lent-scheme .... 00 01 00 
 
 11. M rs Croke's man 00 01 00 
 
 12. A Sallad from Mason's 00 00 06 
 
 12. Subscription to the Concert for 1753 00 10 06 
 
 12. Common-night 00 01 00 
 
 For Candles, & brown-paper 00 01 02 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 06 1 
 
 13. Gave M r Bosworth's Servant 00 01 00 
 
 16. M r Nash's Servant 00 01 00 
 
 17. Coffee-house 00 00 05 
 
 17. Pair of large silver-buckles 00 17 00 
 
 19. Paid for the paper of Lowth's Poet 1 lectures 00 02 02 
 
 For D° of Holloway's Letter & spirit 00 01 01 
 
 19. Binding both 00 01 06 
 
 Quire of paper 00 01 00 
 
 Carried f« .rward 189 16 06 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 829 
 
 Li: b: <i: 
 
 1753. Brought forward 189 L6 06 
 
 Mar: 19. The Concert oo oi <m» 
 
 21. A Commons on Port -mead (id 07 06 
 
 Coffee-house On 00 04 
 
 24. Oysters for M r Nash 00 < x i 1 ( > 
 
 26. Common Concert ; & a negus 00 < ) I < 1 1 
 
 Putting piece of flannel in riding breech 8 (hi 00 06 
 
 28. Gave M r Burrough's man of Trim 00 01 <K> 
 
 30. Paid M 1 Benj n Burrough, Jun r of the Act, for 64 
 
 Regent A:M: at I s 3 d p r man 01 on ( >i • 
 
 30. Gave M r Gearing's man of Trinity 00 01 00 
 
 Tooth-powder 00 00 04 
 
 Apr: 1. Gave M rs Croke's man 00 01 00 
 
 Quarter of a pound of Bohea 00 02 I H I 
 
 Carpenter's Job 00 00 1 13 
 
 4. P r of thick shoes 00 07 00 
 
 Sausages ; & gave away 00 01 00 
 
 5. Shewing Broth 1- Tho s Physick-Garden 00 01 00 
 
 6. Shewing D° the Theatre 00 01 00 
 
 Sallad, & fruit 00 00 08 
 
 9. Horse hire to Chalgrave, & M rs D: Servant 00 03 00 
 
 10. Candles, & odd matters b* by Joe 00 03 1 13| 
 
 2 Quarts of marrow-fat pease 00 01 00 
 
 Ink, & quills 00 00 07 
 
 11. M r Nash's man, & Coffee-House 00 01 04 
 
 Gave Cook the Gardener 00 00 1 16 
 
 12. Horse-hire to Woodstock w th Br: Tho: 00 02 00 
 
 Spent there 00 05 08 
 
 13. Spent at y c 3 Goats in a party 00 02 I 10 
 
 12. 13. Will: Deweys expences with Mouse, & John Carpen- 
 ter's Horse to Oxon 00 or, do 
 
 Odd matters bought by Joe 00 00 07 
 
 14. Mouse 2 new shoes before, 1 bar 00 0] 02 
 
 Expences for Boy, & horses at Barret's 00 02 "11 
 
 Gave Barret's man 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-house m 00 "- 
 
 14. P r of tan-leather boot-straps 00 0] ,,,; 
 
 Paid more at Barret's 00 01 In 
 
 14. 15. Expences from Oxon to Selborn < ,( > 00 0! » 
 
 Boy's hire, and little Horse (l() 06 06 
 
 Selborn. 
 
 Removing Mouse before his Journey on 00 06 
 
 Br: Tho: seeds f m London °0 04 00 
 
 Carried forward 197 |:i M| 
 
:;:;<> GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1753. Brought forward 197 19 01± 
 
 Apr: 20. -Men in the Garden 00 07 06 
 
 Gave my Father's man 00 02 00 
 
 Jenny Baker mending shirts 00 01 00 
 
 Sending Boy to Hawkley, & Newton 00 00 05 
 
 Paper,& oil for Hot-hed 00 00 03 
 
 Mending Cloaths 00 00 03 
 
 Mouse 20 weeks run in M r Butler's Grounds at d p r 
 
 week 00 10 00 
 
 Little Jack 10 weeks, at Merchants at Hawkley at 
 
 D° 00 05 00 
 
 Gave Merchant's boy 00 00 06 
 
 20. 2 Silver, & 1 Scotch fir, planted in the upper end of 
 
 the Ewel-Close 00 01 06 
 
 23. 24. Spent in Journey from Bradley to Oxon 00 09 06 
 
 Gave Timothy Pound at Speenham 00 01 00 
 
 Oxon. 
 
 25. The Provost's, & M rs Croke's Servant 00 02 00 
 
 26. Gave at Charity Sermon 00 00 06 
 
 27. Gave Barber 00 00 03 
 
 28. Gave Xtian Motley for making Bro: Tho: Bed in 
 
 Harry's room 00 02 06 
 
 29. Gave M r Carne's servant 00 01 00 
 
 30. „ at the Sacrament at St. Mary's 00 01 00 
 
 30. Paid Boswel for altering Harry's study into a ser- 
 vant's room ; which with £T I s d paid before is in 
 
 full 00 12 00 
 
 Half pound of Sugar 00 00 06 
 
 30. Concert, choral night 00 01 00 
 
 May 1. Gave at the Physick-Garden 00 00 06 
 
 Provost's man 00 01 00 
 
 2. M r Twvnehoe's man. Went out of my office 00 01 00 
 
 4. Gave M r Jennings's servant 00 01 00 
 
 Battles* in S l Tho: Quart 1 1752 04 18 11 
 
 „ in Lady-Day Quart 1 " 1753 04 13 02 
 
 P d M r Diesley of Trin: my S r Fro: for bis assistance 
 
 being defrauded of the Logic-Lectureship 21 00 00 
 
 4. Bowl of Punch for the Proctors 00 02 06 
 
 Quart 1 " of p d of Bohea 00 01 09 
 
 4. Half Hogshead of Southam-Cyder as a present to my 
 
 Father 01 17 00 
 
 Half Hogsh: of D° to my Uncle White 01 17 06 
 
 Carried for ward 235 15 09^ 
 
 * [See note. p. 325.] 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. .;.;! 
 
 1753. Brought forward # 236 L5 09 1 
 
 May 4. Cartage in London to the Waggon ' 00 02 02 
 
 Biscuits at the Vice-Chan: at settling accounts 00 01 02 
 
 To M r Beaver, & Freeman for chanting 01 0] 00 
 
 Bet: Bull bed-making for the year 01 00 00 
 
 M r Benj n Burrough 3 Begents-fees 00 03 09 
 
 Keeping & breeding-up two of Mab's puppies 00 I I 04 
 
 Xtian Motley 3 quart™ washing Q3 < ».; (id 
 
 Taylor's Bill (l() } .j 0!) 
 
 Keeping Horse one week 00 Oi ; <k i 
 
 Shaving in Proct rs year 01 02 <n; 
 
 Wood, & coals L > ( )() o | 
 
 Exceedings in S* Tho: Quarf 01 06 II 
 
 „ in L: Day 01 00 02 
 
 £248 04 08± 
 
 Money received from my Fellowship, fyc: 1754. 
 
 Li: s: (I: 
 
 Oct r 18. Of M* Frewen Dividend due Nov: 1753 04 02 
 
 22. Of M r Nowel, 1 Year's room rent to Midsum 1 ' 1754. . 08 08 
 
 1 Year's rent of 2 nd room to Mich: 1754 05 00 
 
 By fines from Mander, S r Treas 1 ' 26 05 8 
 
 By Dividend from D° 23 02 
 
 By Bal: from Mander in 1752: 1753 05 08 (5 
 
 Savings in 1754 02 14 4 
 
 Dirge 00 01 
 
 Nov: 24. Surplice-fees at Durley 00 08 4 
 
 Decern 1- For supplying Durley-Church an year from Septem T 
 
 28. 9. 1753. to D° 1754 24 00 
 
 1755. 
 
 Mar: 9. For supplying D° half an year to y l time 12 00 
 
 £11] Oil 10 
 
 Money received. 1753. 1754. 
 
 June 3. From M 1 ' Fyler for presenting him to y Degree of 
 
 A:B: 01 "1 00 
 
 From M 1 ' Musgrave on his putting-on a Law-Gown. 01 01 <H> 
 
 From M r Edgehill on D° OI 06 00 
 
 Library-fee from M r Musgrave OO O.') OO 
 
 Carried forward 03 L8 00 
 
382 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1753. Brought forward 03 13 00 
 
 June 3. From M r Nowel for A:M: Degree 01 01 00 
 
 Presenting Wickham, and Vaughan 02 02 00 
 
 Wicfcham's Library fee 00 05 00 
 
 Vaughan's D° 00 05 00 
 
 Fyler's D> 00 05 00 
 
 Oct r 18. By 7 fines from Sen r Treas r 38 4 00 
 
 Dividend from D° 21 00 
 
 Dean's Stipend 02 00 
 
 Livery 02 10 00 
 
 M r De Chair's fee for presentation to Degree of M:A: 
 
 in Mich: term 1753 01 01 00 
 
 1754. 
 
 Feb: 25. Wedding at Durley 00 05 00 
 
 May 4. M r Taylor's present: fee for A:M: Degree 
 
 Nov: 6. Wedding at Durley 00 05 00 
 
 12. Sold M r Nowel 2 doz: of Mountain wine 02 02 00 
 
 £74 18 00 
 
 Money received arising from my Fellowship, Deanship, fyc, in 
 
 1752 Sf 1753. 
 
 Mar: 20. Brought with me from Selborn 19 17 6 
 
 July 9. Sold Flora, my little bay Mare 15 15 
 
 11. Received of M r Bosworth Sen r Treasurer 14 15 2 
 
 18. Bal: from M r Davies late Treasurer 05 10 11 
 
 Nov r 25. Sold Basil Cane a second-hand Saddle 00 10 06 
 
 Dec: 6. By Fines, & S 1 Luke's dividend of J: Bosworth .... 39 07 11 
 
 18. Salary as Collect 1, Redit m 02 00 00 
 
 March. From M r Bower for presenting to determine 00 10 06 
 
 1753. From M r Wyat for D° 00 10 06 
 
 From M r Still for present: to degree, & determ: .... 01 1 1 06 
 
 From D° as Librarian 00 06 06 
 
 24. A dirge from S r Treas r 00 00 10 
 
 26. M r Cane Law-gown, & Library fee 01 06 00 
 
 May 5. Presenting M r Smith, & Library fee 01 06 00 
 
 22. From my Father; lent him in 1750 12 03 06 
 
 £115 12 04 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-HOOK 
 
 Money received arising from my Proctorship, 1 752. 
 
 Easter-term. 
 
 May 27. From a petty Compounder (hi 02 00 
 
 28. From Proceed 1 * in Divinity in Easter-term 02 L6 00 
 
 28. At examining the Musaeum 00 [q qq 
 
 June 4. From a petty Compounder on Q2 00 
 
 25. From a petty Compounder 00 02 mi 
 
 July 1. From a petty Compounder 00 < il' 00 
 
 6. From three petty Comp rs 00 0G00 
 
 Act term : Mr. Eyton. 
 
 1 Med: Bac: Grand: Comp: 01 L8 08 
 
 M:D: 2 D rs act fee3 , 01 06 08 
 
 64 Regents fees 40 00 00 
 
 Act term : Mr. Beaver. 
 
 D:D:LL: non resid: 2 01 04 00 
 
 D:D: act fees 2 01 06 08 
 
 B:LL: pet: Comp:. .1 00 11' 00 
 
 B:B:LL: ord: 5 02 10 00 
 
 Act term : Mr. Walker. 
 
 1 B:D: G: C: 01 18 08 
 
 1B:D:P:C: 00 L2 00 
 
 3 B:D: Ordin: each ten shill: 01 LO 00 
 
 1 D.D: G: C: 01 IS 08 
 
 2 D:D: Pet: C: each 12 s 01 04 00 
 
 1 D:D: Gr: Comp: act fees 01 06 08 
 
 7 D:D: act fees: each 13 9 4 d 04 18 04 
 
 Michaelmass-term. 
 
 Nov r 4. From a petty Compounder 00 02 00 
 
 8. For visiting at the Bodlean Library 02 LO 00 
 
 Dec: 1. From a petty Compounder 00 02 00 
 
 18. From a petty Comp r 00 02 00 
 
 Michaelmass-term: Mr. Walker. 
 
 2 B:D: G: C: each Li:l 18s. 8d <>:! 17 04 
 
 2D:D: G: C: each Li: 1 18s. 8d 03 17 "I 
 
 1B:D: Ordin: <H » >" ,H > 
 
 1D:D: Ordin: 00 L200 
 
 Carried forward 77 11 ( " I 
 
334 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Mich. Term : Mr. Beaver. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 Brought forward 77 14 06 
 
 1 B:L:L: Ord: 00 10 00 
 
 1 B:L:L: Non Comp: 00 12 00 
 
 2 0:L:L: 01 04 00 
 
 Mich. Term : Mr. Eyton. 
 
 1 D r Phys: Grand Comp: 01 18 08 
 
 Act-fees for D° 01 06 08 
 
 Lent-term. 
 
 Mar: 13. From Determiners 00 02 00 
 
 16. From D° & 1 petty Comp'" 00 04 00 
 
 20. From D° 00 02 00 
 
 20. From 80 Determ: Batch" 5 at 4 s p r man 10 00 00 
 
 21. From Determ 1 ' 8 00 02 00 
 
 23. From D° 00 02 00 
 
 20. 2 Gracious-days, & pet: Comp: 00 06 00 
 
 Apr: 3. Gracious Day 00 02 00 
 
 5. Gracious Day „ 00 02 00 
 
 6. Gracious Day 00 02 00 
 
 Mr. Beaver. 
 1 B:LL: 00 12 00 
 
 Mr. Walker. 
 
 3 B:D: Pet: Comp: each 12 01 16 00 
 
 1 D :D: 00 12 00 
 
 Mr. Eyton. 
 
 I D:M: 00 12 00 
 
 15 Determ: A:B: 03 00 00 
 
 May 14. Of the Vice-Chan: at settling our accounts at his 
 
 Lodgings 14 00 08 
 
 II Determ: A:B: omitted before 02 04 00 
 
 3 Regents fees D° 01 17 06 
 
 Out of a pract: Phys: licence 00 01 00 
 
 125 05 00 
 
 1 Regent's fee still due p d April: 1755 00 12 06 
 
 £125 17 06 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 The Reverend Mr. White to James Gibson Dr. 
 
 Li: -: (1: 
 
 To 1 years Board due the 8 th of September 1 754 20 <> 
 serving his Church 3 Sundays at 9« 3 d p Sunday, 
 
 which is in proportion to ~£2± a year . 1 7 9 
 
 2 horse hires, to 2 Burials, when my horse was 
 
 lame 2 ( ) 
 
 21 9 9 
 
 Rec d in part II ( ( , > 
 
 paid. Remains due 17 '.i !i 
 
 Expencesfrom May 2, 1753. 
 The day I went out of my Proctor sh i p. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 May 5. Gave M r Jennings's Servant 00 01 00 
 
 0. Spent at Woodstock 00 01 03 
 
 Coffee-house 00 00 08 
 
 7. A Lobster for Cowper, & Skeeler &c: 00 00 1 1 
 
 9. M r Proct 1 ' Robinson's man 00 01 00 
 
 11. Soling pair of Shoes 00 01 06 
 
 13. Gave Farm 1 " Howel's man, it a poor woman at 
 
 Wolvercot : & Coffee-House 00 01 10| 
 
 13. 3 Coss-lettuce for y e President of Trin: &c 00 00 06 
 
 14. Concert, Choral-night 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-house 00 00 06| 
 
 15. Vice-Chan rs Man 00 01 on 
 
 18. M r Nash's man 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-house twice : & Eynshani-ferry 00 01 07 
 
 20. Coffee-house 00 00 06 
 
 21. Coffee-house 00 00 I '- 
 
 22. M™ Darling's Boy ; & Cook's shop 00 00 09 
 
 23. Ferry, & Turnpike to Eynsham 00 '00 03 
 
 26. Provost's man <»<> "I 00 
 
 Shearing Copper '•<) "° (,,; 
 
 27. President of Trin: man 00 01 <h» 
 
 28. Barret's man, & Porter 00 01 00 
 
 27. Candles, & odd matters by Joe 00 04 02J 
 
 Spent in Journey to London, Sunbury, & Selborn 
 from May 28 to June 28 05 00 08 
 
 Carried forward 06 "I "I 
 
•:•:•. GILBERT WHITES ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1 753. Brought forward 06 04 04i 
 
 May 27. Cut-grizzle- wig in London 02 00 00 
 
 Offices of Burial &c: .. 00 01 00 
 
 June 29. Gave Will: Kelsey for coming up to carry down my 
 
 Dogs 00 14 00 
 
 Allowed to feed the Dogs 00 00 06 
 
 100 of Broccoli plants to send into y e country .... 00 01 00 
 
 P r of dog-couples 00 01 00 
 
 29. Gave Mason for walking in his Garden this spring, 
 
 & last 00 05 00 
 
 Coffee-House, & tart &c 00 01 07 
 
 July 2. Concert, Choral night 00 01 00 
 
 Coffee-house 00 00 09 
 
 Bet Bull for Cream &c: 00 04 03 
 
 D° Quarter's Bed-making to Midsum 1 1753 00 05 00 
 
 Gave D° 00 02 06 
 
 Coffee-House 00 00 08 
 
 Gave Knight the Shoemaker for describing Mr. 
 
 Holt's arms 00 01 00 
 
 Odd matters laid out by Joe 00 03 00± 
 
 6 weeks waiting by D° 00 06 00 
 
 5. Xtian Motley 1 quart rs washing in full to Midsum 1 
 
 1753 01 01 00 
 
 Taylor's Bill till D° 00 08 03 
 
 7. Going to Wallingford to see M™ Gifford 00 01 11 
 
 Coffee-house 00 00 10 
 
 Keeping Horse at Barrets to Midsum 1 ' 01 18 00 
 
 Coffee House 00 00 04 
 
 9. Odd matters bought by Joe 00 01 00 
 
 Barret's man 00 01 00 
 
 Seeing D r Bacon's Gardens 00 01 00 
 
 Carr: of a trunk to Winton 00 02 06 
 
 9. Castle's portmanteau — Horse to Malford 00 14 00 
 
 Car: of Box from Winton 00 01 00 
 
 Expences in Journey to Malford; & a 5 weeks 
 season at the Hot well at Bristol from July 9: to 
 
 Aug: 30 th * 16 12 00 
 
 Aug: 31. Powder-horn spring 00 01 00 
 
 Cleaning Gun 00 00 06 
 
 ■*& 
 
 Carried forward 31 17 01 
 
 [I find no intimation of any attack of illness which could have 
 necessitated this visit to these once celebrated waters. It is, however, 
 nut improbable that his health might have been injured by the attack of 
 -mall-pox in 1747. — T. B.] 
 
GILBERT WHITES ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 T7KQ t, '' : " : '' : 
 
 Ii0 °- Brought forward 31 17 0] 
 
 Aug: 31. Gun-powder ". " ". " ! 00 00 06 
 
 Expences at Petersfield ,„, ,,.; |o 
 
 Sept: 10. A set of Shoes for Mouse 00 02 00 
 
 Tea at Waltham 00 00 06 
 
 Su 8' ar 00 00 
 
 M 1 ' Batten's Servant 00 0] 
 
 Mending Cloaths hi i 00 I >7 
 
 Powder & shot 00 01 o-- 
 
 Washing at Bradley, & Selborn 00 o:; oo 
 
 4 pecks of Barley-meal for Dogs OD 02 06 
 
 Savoys, & spinage-seed 00 1 < 1 1 
 
 17. Horse & Boy to Bradley 00 01 I H I 
 
 Beckhurst for watering firs 00 01 00 
 
 Keeping Horse at Waltham 00 06 07 
 
 Gallon of small beans from Oxon 00 02 00 
 
 3 p d of Shot 00 00 
 
 20. P r of Ram-skin breeches from Newbolt 00 08 00 
 
 Washing at Selborn 00 01 Oi\; 
 
 Set of Shoes from Scrub 00 01 04 
 
 22. Boy to Waltham, & his expences 00 00 08 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 II 
 
 Washing 00 00 1 1 
 
 Hyson-tea, & sugar 00 01 07 
 
 Powder, & shot 00 01 no- 
 
 Gave Goody Fig 00 01 Oo" 
 
 Oct r 3. Days shooting, & Boy 00 01 OO 
 
 Car: of Game to M r Muiso 00 01 00 
 
 Mending of Linnen 00 (X) LO 
 
 0. Gave Thomas 00 01 00 
 
 6. Gave M r Gibson's Masons 00 0] 00 
 
 Congo tea 00 00 0$ 
 
 Keeping Horse to the 6»" 00 04 08 
 
 Sep: 18. Six Gallons of Wine from Fareham at 5 s 6<» p r Gall. 01 L3 00 
 
 Car: to Waltham 00 01 06 
 
 Oct r 8. Peck of Nonparels, & D° of Gold" rennets 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 06 
 
 Gave Baines's Ostler 00 01 00 
 
 Dog-chain » 1" 
 
 10.11.12. Journey to Southton with Sis* Becny, Ham. & 
 
 Will: Yalden oo I 7 01 
 
 13. Set of Shoes for Mouse 00 02 00 
 
 13. Quart' of a pound of Congo 00 02 03 
 
 Pound of Gun-powder 00 01 02 
 
 Carried forward •"•" " '" 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
338 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1753. Brought forward 37 11 10 
 
 Oct' 13. Washing at Waltham 00 01 01£ 
 
 10. 19. Post-chaises to & from Basingstoke to Oxon when I 
 
 went to resign my Dean ship 03 00 00 
 
 Drivers, ostlers, & turnpikes 00 08 01 
 
 Expences on the road 00 02 03 
 
 Horse left at Basingstoke, & bill there 00 08 07 
 
 17. Barber, washing, & Bedmak 1 at Oxon 00 03 00 
 
 Joe, & porter 00 02 00 
 
 18. M rs Croke's bill for Mast 1 ' 8 Gown, satten wastecoat, 
 
 Great-coat &c 07 03 00 
 
 Gave a sick man 00 01 00 
 
 M™ Costard's bill for shaving 00 12 06 
 
 Wood, & coal in spring 00 04 02 
 
 Taylor's Bill reckoned elsewhere 00 00 00 
 
 Common room wine 00 00 00 
 
 Battles* in Midsurn* Quart 1 ' 1753 05 19 04 
 
 in Mich D° 00 18 11 
 
 Midsurn 1 ' Exceedings 01 00 00 
 
 18. M r Frewen reading in Chappel 00 04 00 
 
 Letter 00 00 04 
 
 18. Wood. & coal to air my room 
 
 21. Gave the Clark of Durley 00 01 00 
 
 Miller's Gardener's Diction 1 ? new edit: half bound in 
 
 exchange from Br: Benj: 01 14 06 
 
 Butler's Sermon's & analogy 00 11 00 
 
 Raij Methodus 00 03 06 
 
 25. From Lee at Alton 4 Yards | fine diaper 00 09 00 
 
 40 Y" s fine Irish for Shirts at 3 s 06 00 00 
 
 1 Y d superfine d" 00 04 00 
 
 2^ Y ds Long Lawn at 4 s for stocks 00 10 00 
 
 1 Y<> of D° for Bosoms 00 05 00 
 
 Keeping Horse at Waltham, &c 00 09 03 
 
 A monthly Grass for Scrub in Hartley ground .... 00 03 06 
 
 20. Set of Shoes for D° 00 01 06 
 
 Black leathern Breeches from Newbolt 00 12 00 
 
 Beckhust in the Garden 00 03 00 
 
 Mending Cloaths, & watch-string 00 01 08| 
 
 Barley-meal 00 00 08^ 
 
 Gave O: Dotterel, & Tull 00 03 06 
 
 27 Bov to Waltham 00 00 06 
 
 29. Washing at Bradley 00 01 03 
 
 Carried forward 70 07 00^ 
 
 * [See nut,- p. 325.] 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-B< >0K. 
 
 Li: b: <1: 
 
 1753. Brought forward 70 07 I 
 
 Oct 1 ' 29. M r Batten's man 00 01 00 
 
 31. Sending Ruftel to Selborn for the spaniels 00 01 00 
 
 Pollard Bran for Bogs 00 00 I 
 
 Nov: 3. Servants at Bradley 00 02 I 
 
 5. M r Hampton's servant 00 01 00 
 
 Gave away Q0 00 06 
 
 Powder & shot & paper 00 01 03 
 
 Half p d of Sugar no QO 04 
 
 7. M r Allanson's man at Upham 00 01 00 
 
 9. M r Hale's man, & spent at Hambledon 00 0] 06 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 I Y? 
 
 12. Baines's ostler, M r Yalden's Man 00 02 00 
 
 Gave Goodman Hammond ()() 01 < H » 
 
 13. Soling Boots 00 01 08 
 
 Mending Shirts, & stocks 00 01 06 
 
 14. Piece of fine colour'd Cambrick of M w Oroke for 6 
 
 Handk: at 4 s each 01 04 00 
 
 Mending my Frock 00 00 09 
 
 P d of Gun-powder from Johnson 00 o I 04 
 
 Sending Girl to Oakhanger 00 00 03 
 
 Making 12 Shirts, & 12 Stocks 00 17 06 
 
 6 Handk: & 6 Caps 00 0] 06 
 
 17. Spring to powder Horn, & gun-scrue 00 00 < 18 
 
 New webbing my Saddle-girths 00 01 < >< ; 
 
 Currier for suppling thick boots 00 01 00 
 
 19. Pint, & Quart Decanter a present to Bradley 00 02 06 
 
 24. Keeping Horse to that time 00 1 5 04 
 
 Boy spent at Waltham 00 00 ('7 
 
 Meat, & meal for Dogs 00 <>] 06 
 
 19. Set of Shoes for Mouse ; & nailing &c 00 02 02 
 
 Yarn Gloves 01 08 
 
 24. Odd matters 00 00 02 
 
 Washing at Waltham 00 03 II 
 
 26. Lost at Cards I s & ink 00 01 03 
 
 Dec: 2. Gave a man, & woman at Waltham 00 02 00 
 
 5. Soling a pair of Shoes 00 01 04 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 I 
 
 2 Ounces of Con^o 00 01 
 
 >. 
 
 5. 6. M r Kent's, & M r Clewefs servant.-, 00 02 
 
 8. P d Barber to that time 00 03 
 
 9. Horse to Durley : Mouse's heel bruise 00 01 
 
 10. P 1 of yarn stockings, & yam to lengthen them 00 01 - 
 
 Half Quire of paper ' ' ' "' 
 
 Carried forward ••' •'-' 
 
 / 2 
 
340 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: 
 
 1 753. Brought forward 75 12 8£ 
 
 I tec: 10. Thread, tape, & shirt buttons for Shirts &c: 00 03 1 
 
 Beckhurst, & TuU's girl 00 00 9 
 
 Boy to Bradley 00 01 
 
 Sermon Case from Oxon 00 01 
 
 Quart of French beans from D° 00 00 9 
 
 Peck barley-meal ; & mending breeches 00 01 2| 
 
 1 4. Gave Sarah Xmass 00 05 
 
 15. Gave Thomas 00 01 
 
 16. Gave a sick woman at Durley 00 01 
 
 18. Peck of pollard at Bradley ; & odd matters '0 00 5 
 
 22. P<* of Breakfast-sugar 00 00 8 
 
 26. Bohea, & Green-tea . 00 02 2 
 
 20. Set of Shoes for Mouse 00 02 
 
 Spent at Alresford 00 01 
 
 1754. Washing at Bradley 00 00 9 
 
 Jan: 5. Gave Servants at Bradley 00 05 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 4 
 
 8. Gave M rs Hammond's maid ; & lost at Cards 00 02 1| 
 
 11. P r of yarn rib'd stockings 00 02 
 
 16. Letter from Bro: John 00 00 4 
 
 1 7. Quart 1 of a pound of Bohea 00 01 4 
 
 \S. M r Hampton's Servant : & letter f m B: Isaac 00 01 7 
 
 21. Quire of paper 00 00 9 
 
 22. M r Yalden's servant 00 01 
 
 Beckhurst 00 01 6 
 
 Tanner's Jobs ; & shot 00 01 3 
 
 Mending Cloaths 00 01 5 
 
 Deal-plank of Edm: Yalden 00 03 6 
 
 John Carpenter making two frames for Cucumber- 
 lights 00 03 
 
 22:± square feet of Glass for Glazing D° 00 13 1 
 
 Mending an old one 00 01 2 
 
 26. Keeping Horse to that time 02 02 
 
 28. Washing to that time 00 03 4£ 
 
 Bushel of Barley-meal for Dogs 00 02 6 
 
 Quarter of an Horse f or D° 00 00 6 
 
 Feb: 4. 2 P ds of Shot 00 00 5 
 
 (J. Barber to that time 00 02 
 
 6. Gave a poor woman 00 01 
 
 Letters sent by the post 00 00 4 
 
 12 6 pounds of Sturgeon from London 00 08 
 
 ( !ar: to Wickham, & Waltham '. . . 00 01 4 
 
 Garden-seeds 00 01 5* 
 
 Carried forward 81 16 9| 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BCX »K .; 1 1 
 
 -i — < Li: "• ''• 
 
 1 ' ° 4 - Brought forward 81 L6 9 
 
 Feb: 14. Sugar, & tea 00 03 I 
 
 Dog-pan, & string <„, , H , 
 
 14. Letter from B r Tho: . 00 00 I 
 
 15. Entertaining y e Waltha.ni Gentry 00 17 I 
 
 18. 23. Spent at Alresford to & from Bradley 00 00 I" 
 
 21. M r Stockwel's Servant 00 0] 
 
 Quire of wkited-brown paper < i< ) i n ) :;.', 
 
 Gave a poor old-man ( n M ) I < ) 
 
 25. Set of shoes ; & frost nails o< ) ( 12 2 
 
 Gave Baines's Ostler 00 02 
 
 Mending Cloaths; & errants 00 00 <"> 
 
 Mar. 1. Going with Ladies to puppet-shew 00 0] <"> 
 
 Letter from Brother Barker 00 00 7 
 
 4. P d keeping horse to that time 01 1:2 
 
 Half Bushel of Barley meal 00 01 •'! 
 
 5. Mending Cloaths, & odd matters 00 00 6 
 
 7. Half Bush: of B: meal at Selborn for dogs 00 01 :: 
 
 8 pots for hot-beds 8 d : & 4 cramps for frames 00 01 « 
 
 8. Work done in the Garden 00 00 6 
 
 9. Gave Sarah Xmass 00 02 6 
 
 11. Gave old John at Bradley; & washing 00 01 
 
 Powder, & shot I s & seeds 5 d 00 01 r, 
 
 14. M r Lisset's servant 00 01 
 
 15. Cleaning watch 00 01 6 
 
 19. M™ Yalden's maid 00 01 
 
 25. Car: of Box of Cloaths from Oxon to Winton, & 
 
 Walthani 00 02 7 
 
 Hat from Evans Oxon 00 L5 O 
 
 Gave old Edgehill 00 0] 
 
 Wristbanding shirts 00 00 9 
 
 Tull in the Garden 00 02 
 
 Pease-haulni for screen to Cucumbers 00 Hi 4 
 
 Paper >fc oil for melon lights 00 01 
 
 Gave Will: Wells for cockshootiug 00 01 
 
 Strengthening Cucmn: frames 00 01 '■'< 
 
 W r ashiug at Selborn « ' LI 
 
 Webbing Girths at Alton ,l( > • 
 
 Half bush: of Barley meal 00 01 2 
 
 April 7. Poor Woman at Durley 00 02 6 
 
 8. Keeping Horse to that time 00 09 < > 
 
 Cucum r mats of Johnson 00 00 1 
 
 11. Boy & expences to Northwamboro' 00 00 10 
 
 2 firs, 2 larches, 6 laurels from D° < •< ' ' ,;; ■ '■ 
 
 Carried forward 88 09 1 
 
342 GILBERT WHITES ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1 754 Brought forward 88 09 4 
 
 Apr: 11. Lost at Cards towards cleaning zigzag 00 01 
 
 Beckkust for work in Garden 00 04 
 
 New frame for a Cucum r Light 00 02 
 
 Odd matters 00 01 2 
 
 Seeds 00 00 
 
 21. Sunday; spent at Alresford ; Allenson's man mes- 
 senger to Durley 00 02 
 
 22. Barber to that time 00 01 
 
 q 
 o 
 
 24. 11 foot & half of Glass for Cucum* light 00 06 8 
 
 Spent at Botley 00 00 4 
 
 26. Sack of oats at Selborn 00 07 6 
 
 Half quire of paper 00 00 5 
 
 27. Boy to Waltham 00 00 6 
 
 29. Fitting-out, & sending little Horse to Mulso 00 04 10 
 
 8 Weeks grass for D° at Butlers 00 04 G 
 
 .May 6. Set of shoes for Mouse 00 02 
 
 0. Ribband for watch ; & spent at Soberton 00 00 9 
 
 Gave old Lee 00 00 
 
 10. Work in the Garden 00 04 3 
 
 Half Bush: of Barley-meal 00 01 3 
 
 Small watering-pot 00 02 
 
 7 large flower-pots for Cockscombs 00 02 2 
 
 11. Little Horse returning from Sunbury 00 02 9 
 
 15. Gave M 1 Dacres's Gardener 00 01 
 
 Barber 00 00 6 
 
 17. Tooth powder 00 01 
 
 18. Entertaining Ladies at the pond 00 00 8 
 
 lit. Cauliflowers from Soberton 00 01 1^ 
 
 18. Ounce of tea 00 01 2 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 
 
 ( t: Tanner helping about y e Cockscombs 00 01 
 
 Washing " 00 01 
 
 24. M r Newlin's Maid 00 01 
 
 2.1 Work in Garden 00 05 1 
 
 27. Keeping Horse, & dogs to that time 00 19 11^ 
 
 Wine at Baines's 00 01 6 
 
 Apothecary's bill for Rhubarb, tooth-powd 1 ' 00 04 6 
 
 27. Spent at Alresford 00 00 6 
 
 28. M r Batten's servant 00 01 
 
 .;<). Spent at Visitation at Alton 00 04 6 
 
 :; 1 . Servants at Bradley 00 02 
 
 Cabbadge plants 00 01 3 
 
 Carried forward 93 11 11 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 343 
 
 Li: b: d: 
 
 1754. Brought forward 93 II II 
 
 May 31. Two pots on on , 
 
 June 3. Hund: of Savoys at Waltham 00 00 6 
 
 3. Keeping Horse to that time 00 02 
 
 3. Boy to Waltham, & Horse 00 02 
 
 Letter oil 00 I 
 
 5. Trimming Mouse 00 01 
 
 Gave Will: Marshal 00 0] 
 
 Painting bench, & Gate in Father's field 00 04 1 
 
 6. Working in Garden < i< i < 12 6 
 
 Letter, & Soap 00 00 I 
 
 7. Barley meal 00 1 1 1 2 
 
 Journey to London, & Sunbury from June 7 th to 
 
 y e 28 04 04 5 
 
 Large Mahogany table from London % present to 
 
 Un: White 03 03 
 
 Packing D° 00 01 6 
 
 A Bonnet & tippet from D° for Polly Gibson 00 07 6 
 
 Sending a puppy to Bradley, &c 00 01 6 
 
 July 1. Set of Shoes, remove, & oiling II s shoulder 00 03 
 
 Sending to Hill pound 00 0] 
 
 Black leathern breeches begin: of June "0 1 2 
 
 Half Bushel of Barley-meal 00 01 1 \ 
 
 5. P'' of Boots of Tanner 00 L6 
 
 6. Work in Garden 00 0] 
 
 Washing at Selborn 00 0J 11 
 
 8. M r Hampton's Servant 00 01 
 
 9. Spent at the Milberries 00 00 M»_. 
 
 10. 2 ounces of Congo 00 0] 
 
 11. M r Missen's Servant (,,) 0] 
 
 13. P d M rs De la rose washing to that time 00 06 2 
 
 Odd matters ' 00 00 6 
 
 13. Spent at forest-green 00 01 
 
 14. M r Allanson's Man °° ° ] ° 
 
 15. Sending to Hill-pound ,,(l ,,(l 8 
 
 15. 20. Spent at Alresford °0 00 - 
 
 Washing at Bradley °° °° ( ; 
 
 18. 19. Spent at Basingstoke race (,,) p| 
 
 Work in the field °° 0] 
 
 Soling p* of shoes ( 
 
 Car: of Broccoli to Alton ( 
 
 20. Gave Goodman Grant at Swarraton « 
 
 27. Servants at Bradley °° {)7> 
 
 Carried forward l " ; ' M " 
 
• > 
 
 44 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1 754. Brought forward 105 00 11 
 
 July 27. Gave away 00 00 G 
 
 Spent at Alresford 00 00 4 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 G 
 
 Jul: 30 to 
 
 Aug: 3. Servants at Ckilgrove & Chichester 00 06 
 
 Gave at seeing needle-making at D" 00 01 
 
 6. Removing Mouse's shoes 00 00 6 
 
 Odd matters 00 00 9 
 
 Gave away 00 01 
 
 12. M r Cutler's Servants 00 02 
 
 2 ounces of Spinach-seed 00 00 3 
 
 13. Gave Thomas for cutting first Melon 00 02 6 
 
 Barley meal 00 01 H 
 
 Mending Cloaths 00 01 
 
 17. Tea, sugar, & letter 00 01 10 
 
 19. Gave old Lee 00 01 
 
 1!). Set of Shoes for Mouse 00 02 
 
 19. Keeping Horse to that time 01 09 
 
 Gave Ostler 00 01 
 
 21. Bov & Horse to Bradley to carry a melon 00 01 G 
 
 Odd matters 00 01 1 J 
 
 29. Gave old John at Bradley 00 01 
 
 30. Gave M 1 " Batten's man at returning Gun 00 01 
 
 Car: of Cloaths from Oxon 00 01 6 
 
 Sepf 2. Tea, & letter 00 01 2 
 
 G p ds of shot 00 01 3 
 
 6. M r Hampton's man 00 01 
 
 Gave away 00 01 
 
 Altering Cloaths 00 01 2 
 
 7. Going to Southampton 00 03 9 
 
 9. Powder, & shot ; & odd matters 00 03 
 
 13. Gave Sarah Xmass 00 02 G 
 
 21. Gave to sufferers by fire 00 01 
 
 26. Tun of Hay laid up in my Father's rick 01 12 G 
 
 15 Loads of melon-earth from Dorton 00 08 
 
 27. Odd matters to Octob r 14 01 01 11 
 
 Oct: 14. Post-chaises from Bradlev to Oxon on M 1 ' Whiting's 
 
 Death 02 06 3 
 
 M r Nourse for attending on my Knee 00 10 6 
 
 M 1 Malbon Apoth: bill in 1753 00 12 
 
 Taylor's Bill 01 09 
 
 Wine Bill in 1753 04 00 
 
 Carried forward 121 01 4 
 
■2 
 
 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK 
 
 Li: s: il: 
 
 1754. Brought forward ] 2 1 01 I 
 
 Oct: 14. Poundage to Mander, & Beaver 01 05 6 
 
 Exceedings in Midsum 1 ' 1754 00 II ( > 
 
 Reading in Cliappel supply 'd 02 02 
 
 25. M™ Croke's bill to that time 06 II 
 
 Barber, washing, waiting 00 L6 
 
 Common room wine 00 II II 
 
 Coals, & wood, 6 s G d : & gave Bet: Bull 6 s 00 11 6 
 
 P r of Indian Doe breeches from Haines 00 HI <» 
 
 Odd necessary Expences at Oxon from Octob r 14: to 
 
 Novem r 15 02 06 7 
 
 Nov: 15. Expences in post-chaises from Oxon to Bradley the 
 Day after Harry's Election to Bp Robinson's Ex- 
 hibition 02 05 10 
 
 P r of Boot-straps 00 01 6 
 
 Odd matters 00 01 '.' ' 
 
 18. Set of Shoes for Mouse, by Boxall 00 02 o" 
 
 18. Keeping Horse before Journey 01 08 
 
 Wine at Baines's 00 01 9 
 
 Barley-meal 00 01 2 
 
 22. Altering & partly throwing open y c little Garden & 
 
 plot behind 00 07 
 
 23. Gave Thomas for looking after horse 00 02 
 
 Odd matters 00 05 6 
 
 24. Clark at Durley for collecting surplice fees 00 02 4 
 
 Allanson's, & Hampton's men 00 02 
 
 Odd matters 00 02 1 
 
 Tea, & sugar 00 02 - 
 
 29. Washing to that time 00 08 2£ 
 
 29. P d Gibson for a Year's board from Septeni 1- 8 th 1753: 
 
 D° 1754 20 00 
 
 D° for supplying my Church 3 Sund: 01 07 !» 
 
 His Horse hire to Burials 00 02 
 
 30. P d M r Futcher for 55 dinners from Septem r 8 th 1753: 
 
 to Septeni r 8. 1754 02 L5 
 
 Dec. 1. A warm wastecoat for old Lee 00 02 
 
 3. Two large pullets 00 01 6 
 
 3. M r Guernier's Gardener for melon-seeds 00 02 6 
 
 Odd matters °° 02 
 
 9. Shoes, & removes, & cleaning Gun 00 02 
 
 12. Expences to Waverley, & Farnham " ( » " I 
 
 Gave Sarah Xmass °° 02 6 
 
 10. Farmer Turner for bringing fairey <*> ° 2 <! 
 
 Carried forward . ., in; lr - 
 
346 GILBERT WHITE'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. 
 
 Li: s: d: 
 
 1 7-54. Brought forward 160 17 2 
 
 Dec 1 ' 16. Odd matters 00 02 8 
 
 Piece of Brawn, & pot of Sausages from Oxon .... 00 17 IO5 
 
 Gave Tom Ruffell, & M r Batten's man 00 03 00 
 
 26. Entertaining the Gentry of Waltham exclusive of 
 
 Port wine 00 13 3^ 
 
 1755. Several odd matters 00 11 11 
 
 Jan: 13. Keeping Horse to that time 02 01 
 
 Barley-meal, & gave Ostler 00 03 10 
 
 Altering necessary House, & throwing open the 
 
 little Garden at Selborn 00 06 
 
 Servants, & lost at Cards 00 03 9 
 
 24. Set of Shoes, & remove 00 02 3 
 
 Several odd matters 00 12 11 
 
 4 planks for new frames, & car: 00 16 
 
 Garden seeds 00 03 11 
 
 Feb: 2. Gave D r Durnford's Servant at Harting 00 03 
 
 Mending lights, & altering frames 00 05 1 
 
 11. Making my new melon-frame 00 10 
 
 10 Iron tenons for D° 00 01 8 
 
 18. 23 feet & half of tiled Glass hot -house fashion for 
 
 D° at 8 d p r foot 00 15 6 
 
 21. 3 large mats for melon frames 00 03 
 
 Lost at Cards 00 03 9 
 
 March 1. Gave M 1 ' Missing's servants 00 12 
 
 Odd matters 00 05 6 
 
 5: 8: Expences with Edm: Yalden down to Dene in Wilts 00 11 1 
 
 Shoing 2 s 6 d & washing 5 s 10 d 00 08 4 
 
 9. P d Futcher for 25 Sunday's dinners 01 05 
 
 11. Keeping Horse at Waltham 01 02 
 
 Half year's board to Gibson 10 00 
 
 P d him for serving my Church 01 07 9 
 
 Wine of D° 01 02 3 
 
 Joints of meat for Harry & Cane in Feb: 00 05 9 
 
 Gave his Maid 00 10 6 
 
 11. Boy & Horse at leaving Waltham 00 05 1 
 
 Hire of screen 00 02 
 
 Odd matters 00 07 3 
 
 15. Two p r of Shoes of Tanner 11 s : & mending 00 12 2 
 
 21. Shrubs from Waverley 00 11 11 
 
 Odd matters 00 06 2 
 
 22. 5 more Hot-bed-mats 00 05 
 
 Total £195 17 4 
 
:;i; 
 
 GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN KALENDAK. 
 
 [The anxiety with which Gilbert White watched every phase of hij 
 horticultural operations, and the methodical manner iu which he details 
 the daily work of his garden, is so minutely described in hia "Garden 
 Kalendar," and is so characteristic of his habits, that I have though! it 
 would not be uninteresting to the reader to have a portion of these notes 
 in their primitive form. It is therefore printed verbatim from hia MS 
 One of the most amusing features of this record is the interest with 
 which he watches the growth of his Cantaloupe melons, then a novelty 
 to him, his alternate hopes and fears as they advanced, aud the disgust 
 with which he contemplates their ultimate failure. A letter from l'hilip 
 Miller*, the author of the celebrated ' Gardener's Dictionary,' is not only 
 interesting in itself, but as showing the source whence he obtained 
 those precious seeds, and I have therefore thought it worth while to 
 prefix Miller's letter to the Kalendar. — T. B.] 
 
 Sir, 
 I am much obliged to you for your favourable opinion of mj 
 performance! : if what I have published has been of public 
 utility I shall think myself happy. 
 
 The Cantaleupe Melon seeds here inclosed, are from Ar- 
 menia, which is the country from whence the seeds were first 
 brought to Cantaleupe. I have had the seeds from thence 
 several years, and have found them much better than :m\ of 
 those Avhich were sent me from Cantaleupe. 
 
 * [Philip Miller was born in 1691, and succeeded his father as gar- 
 dener to the Chelsea Gardens in 1722. !!-■ was an excellent botanist, 
 and became a correspondent of Linnaeus. He was a Fellow of the Royal 
 Society, and a member of some of the scientific societies on the Con- 
 tinent. He died in 1771.— T. B.] 
 
 t [It appears by an entry in his account-book of L749 thai in thai year 
 he purchased his copy of Miller's 'Gardener's Dictionan ' for eight 
 shillings.— T. I 1 .. 
 
348 GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 I have made trials several times of Tanners bark for raising 
 of Melons, and sometimes have had good success with it, but 
 I have found in hot dry seasons the plants of Cantaleupe have 
 hung their leaves, and sometimes their roots have perished 
 before all the fruit were ripe : so that I prefer good dung for 
 the heat and a proper depth of Loam for the roots to strike 
 into, but this, in my situation, is very difficult to procure ; for 
 we have very little Loam within a reasonable distance. 
 
 I do not know if you have seen the last edition of the 
 Gardeners Dictionary, which has been published in weekly 
 numbers and is now almost finished ; in which there are all 
 the improvements that have come to my knowledge in the 
 culture of the Cantaleupe Melon ; there is also a plan of a 
 small stove for Pines, which is not very expensive to erect, 
 and where Tan and Fuel are cheap, may be maintained for a 
 small annual sum. 
 
 If in any thing I can contribute to your laudable pleasure 
 you may freely command, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 PHILIP MILLER. 
 
 Chelsea, Feb. 14, 1759. 
 
 P.S. Your letter did not come to Chelsea till yesterday. 
 
 GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 May 1st, 1759. 
 
 May l Bt . Pulled away the hedge round the fir-quincunx, 
 and hoed the ground clean. 
 
 2. The Hanger out in full leaf; but much banged about by 
 the continual strong east wind that has blown for many days. 
 The buds and blossoms of all trees much injured by the wind. 
 The ground parch'd and bound very hard. The cold air 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN CALENDAR. 849 
 
 keeps the nightingales very silent. No vegetation seems to 
 stir at present.— Disbudded some of the vines. The buds are 
 about an inch long. 
 
 © 
 
 May 3 rd . Made second annual bed with six barrows of grass 
 and weeds only ; no dung. 
 
 Planted out the five hand-glasses with the great white 
 Dutch Cucumbers 4 plants in a hill. The plants are pretty 
 much drawn. This evening the vehement east wind Beems to 
 be abated; and the air is soft and cloudy. Ground bound 
 like a stone. 
 
 4. Sowed a pint, four rows, of small dwarf white kidney- 
 beans in the lower field-garden. 
 
 © 
 
 Earthed the Cantaleupes* the third time: found all the 
 plants in a very flourishing way, and the fibres extended 
 to the very outsides of the hills. Cut away the plants to one 
 in some of the hills; and left two in some, stopping down the 
 worst plant very short towards the bottom of the runners, for 
 experiment's sake, to see what the small wood about the stems 
 will do. Some of the plants offer for male bloom. 
 
 Saw the first Redstart and Cherrysucker f. Sowed about 
 two doz. of the large white Dutch cucumber seeds for j ' 
 latter hand-glasses: the first sowing got full tall and big. 
 
 Delicate soft rain all the afternoon and all night, which 
 soaked the ground well to the roots of all vegetables. 
 
 5. Fine growing weather. 
 
 © © 
 
 Several of the Cantaleupes have male blossoms fully ex- 
 panded. 
 
 7. Disbudded all the vines according to Ifitt. Almosl 
 every shoot shows bloom. Housed 21 barrows of the lasi 
 prepared Cantaleupe loam : by means of the late rain- it i- in 
 the most delicate order and crumbles into dust. 
 
 9. Berriman sowed Baker's Hill with Barley, and after it 
 8 pounds of clover, and two bushels of white ^eol or Rye 
 Grass. The ground cold and cloddy, and pretty full of daisej 
 roots and grass, and not in very hue order. Added Bince 
 8 p d5 more of clover. 
 
 * [See the Letter from Philip Miller.— T. B.] 
 
 t [Spotted fly-catcher.] 
 
350 GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 May 10. Several Cantaloupe plants shew fruit aud grow 
 away at a great rate. Pricked out the annuals into the second 
 hot-bed. Fine showery growing weather. 
 
 12. Gave the Cantaleupe hills a full barrow of loam each : 
 the fourth time of earthing. Cut away the plants to one on 
 a hill. 
 
 14. One Cantaleupe fruit in full bloom. Made three hills 
 for large white cucumbers in Turner's garden. 
 
 15. Sowed the second pint of french-beans, large white 
 Dutch ; soaked them in water over night. 
 
 18. Sowed a crop of white, green and black Coss-lettuce. 
 All my Savoy seed and Boor Cole fails this year : not one 
 plant appears. 
 
 20. Strong sunshine for many days, and a sharp east wind. 
 Cold white dews in the mornings. Our clay ground as hard 
 as a stone. This burning sun, as usual, makes the Canta- 
 loupes look not quite right. Most of the fruit as soon as it 
 appears turns yellow. The single fruit that is out of bloom 
 not likely to stand. 
 
 The dwarf french beans are come up pretty well. 
 The lettuce that stood the winter are finely leaved. This 
 unkind weather stops the setting of the Cucumbers. 
 
 21. Earthed the Cantaloupes the last time within their 
 boxes. Finding the Cantaleupes much exhausted and dryed 
 by the fierce heat of the Sun, and the dry air, I watered them 
 all over, leaves and all, with one small pot of water. The 
 leaves all hang down, and have a dry paper-like feel, and look 
 woolly ; and the fruit all turns yellow : I remember they had 
 all just the same appearance at this time last year ; the sun- 
 shine and east wind being as vehement. 
 
 Planted 100 of late cabbages. 
 
 26. The burning sunny weather continues. The gardens 
 suffer much by the drought. 
 
 29. Frequent showers. The watering the Cantaleupes twice 
 over the leaves seemed to refresh them very much ; but has 
 occasioned one of Mr. Hunter's plants to grow a little mouldy 
 at a joint on one of the leaders near the stem. So that water, 
 though never so much wanted, is dangerous near the stem. 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN CALENDAR. 361 
 
 ^ The Armenian plants in general have small leaves and 
 vines: and one in particular so tine and wire-drawn thai one 
 would imagine it would never be able to carrj any ln.it to 
 perfection. The rest are healthy, and are disposed \<tv regu- 
 larly in their frames, and are full of fruit. No fruii sei 5 ei . 
 
 Took off the glasses from the early cucumbers and annuals 
 to give them y e benefit of the showers. 
 
 May 28: 29. Housed four loads of peat in mosi excelled 
 dry order. The uncommon dryness occasions some waste h\ 
 making the bats crumble. 
 
 Gathered two scarlet strawberries. The early beans have 
 large pods. The early pease are well blown. 
 
 30. The rain on the 29 th very heavy for some hours ; so as 
 to make the cart way run. Raked all the rough-due around 
 that was, 'till moistened, like an heap of stones. Pricked a 
 pot of Celeri. 
 
 31. Sowed a pint more of large French beans. The firsi 
 sowing strangely devoured by snails. Tull gathered a bowl 
 dish three quarters full in one evening: and still the plants 
 were almost covered with them the next. Cold winds and 
 frosty nights since the rain. 
 
 Hoed the strawberries that were planted last autumn, and 
 filled up the vast cracks in their beds. At least half the 
 autumn planted pine-strawberries are dead. The scarier will 
 have some fruit; and so will the few plants of Collison's. 
 The Nova-Scotia will not bear this year. — Stringed (lie bear- 
 ing pine-strawberries, which are full of bloom. The Autumn 
 sown and Capuchin and brown-Lettuce, now in high per- 
 fection. I have a very poor crop of Coss lettuce tin- -pring. 
 
 June 1. Distant thunder and fine showers all the evening 
 and part of the night. 
 
 May 31: June 1 st : 2 nd . John tacked all the vines for the 
 first time this year according to Hitt. Those vines thai were 
 dressed in that method last year, are now full of trail : those 
 that have been trained only this year have little or none. 
 Frequent good showers. The ground is now finely soaked. 
 Continued picking vast quantities of slugs from the french 
 beans, which are in a poor way. 
 
352 GILBERT WHITER GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 June 3. Continued heavy showers all night and all day. 
 The ground is now well soaked. 
 
 5. Lined out the Cantaleupe bed with twelve dung-carts 
 of hot dune;. The bed is now 12 feet broad and 40 feet 
 long. Continued showers all day ; so that no loam could be 
 laid on y e bed but what was already housed in the earth- 
 houses. The fig tree has plenty of fruit which grows apace. 
 
 Such a violent rain and wind all the evening and most part 
 of the night that they broke down and displaced the pease 
 and beans and most of the flowers ; and tore the hedges and 
 trees and beat down several of the shrubs. 
 
 6. Continual rain all day. The lining of the Cantaleupe 
 bed, which is not yet earthed, in danger of losing its Heat by 
 being so thoro'ly soaked. 
 
 8. Earthed the lining of the Cantaleupe bed, and raised the 
 frames to the top of the earth. The Waverley plants had 
 filled the frames with their roots ; the fibres of y e Armenian 
 sort had not extended themselves so much. 
 
 Sowed a pint more of dwarf kidney-beans in the room of 
 those that were devoured by snails. Fine summer weather. 
 Turned down the three forward basons of cucumbers from out 
 their hand-glasses. 
 
 9. Gathered first beans, a large mess. 
 
 10. Fine soft weather for some days ; now a soaking 
 rain. 
 
 11. Finished off the borders in the new garden, by cleansing 
 raising and laying a good coat of fine peat dust, finely sifted 
 in order to make them light and dry. Sowed the first plot of 
 Endive, and a plot of Lettuce, green and white Coss. 
 
 12. In the evening began a vast storm which continued all 
 the night, and tore and destroyed the things in the Garden 
 worse than the former: it broke down vast boughs in the 
 Hedges, and had like to have overturned the Limes in the 
 Butcher's yard. If the Annuals had been planted out, they 
 must have been quite whipped to pieces. The hedges look 
 bare and unsightly by being lashed and banged by the wind ; 
 and the ground is strawed with leaves. 
 
 13. The middle Waverley Cantaleupe has some decayed 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN K \I.I.XI»\|;. 
 
 rotten runners; Quae: if occasioned l>v those two waf.-rin-- 
 all over their leaves in that scorching weather in May. 
 
 The leaves of the Armenian Cantaleupea have a much 
 blacker aspect than those of the Waverley. 
 
 June 14. Planted the empty basons in the field, and two 
 borders in the new Garden with annuals, French and AtV: 
 Marrygolds, Sunflowers, Nasturtiums, pendulous Amaranths, 
 and China Asters. Hot growing weather; vast showers about. 
 
 15. Planted 150 Savoys from Alton. 
 
 16: 18. Lined out the Cantaleupe bed with loam very deep 
 quite down to y e Ground on each side: the fibres may uow, if 
 they please, extend themselves 16 feet. The plants look in a 
 most thriving way, and are loaded with fruit; but they hold 
 off from setting strangely : no one set yet. Cut off a greai 
 branch of one of the Waverley Cantaloupes that was quite 
 rotten. 
 
 19. Planted out crop of leeks and some late Coss Lettuce. 
 Furious hot summer weather. 
 
 20. To be planted pint of french beans, and an early row of 
 Celeri to be trenched. All the former crops of trench beans 
 like to come to nothing. 
 
 23. Called in upon Mr. Miller at Chelsea, and found thai 
 he had 18 lights of Armenian Melons in excellent order. 
 There were about two brace and half of fruit to a light, full- 
 grown, and very rough and black. He pushes his lights, it 
 seems, quite down in dry weather: and says the defect of 
 male bloom is owing to the seeds bein£ of some age. 
 
 30. On my return from Sunbury I found my Cantaleupes 
 in very bad plight indeed : two of the Waverley plants were 
 quite rotten, and corrupted at the stem, and one of the 
 Armenians, the day after I came home, withered away, ih«>* 
 perfectly sound; and dyed as if eaten off at the root : fcho' 
 upon search no grub could be found in the mould. And whal 
 is stranger, no one fruit was set upon any plant, fcho' hun- 
 dreds have dropp'd away. There certainly is a want of male 
 bloom in the Armenians to a degree: but then the Waverley 
 plants over abounded and yet cast all their fruit. 
 
 I found a vast crop of pease thro' the dripping season; and 
 vol. it. - A 
 
354 GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 (had) green pease soup every day. The first hand-glass 
 cucumbers are in full bearing : I intend to save 4 more (the 
 large white Dutch) for seed. The small forward beans have 
 an unusual crop. The fourth and fifth crop of french beans 
 like to come to good. 
 
 July 2. Planted out a vast bed of Holy-oaks. 
 
 6. Not one Cantaleupe set yet. Planted out about 50 
 Polyanths raised this Spring from seed given me by Mr. 
 Hale. 
 
 7. Finished my Hayrick in most excellent order. The 
 weather has been so perfectly hot and bright, for these five 
 days past, that my Hay was all cut and made in that time. 
 The crop was so great that Kelsey's people made 8 carryings 
 of it ; and the burden in the great mead was supposed to be 
 considerably greater than was ever known. To my own stock 
 I added two tons from Farmer Lassam, which in all made a 
 considerable rick. 
 
 Finished cutting the hedges round Baker's Hill. 
 
 21. On my return from Dene on this day I found I 
 had but one Cantaleupe set and that a fig-shaped one not 
 likely to come to good. The plants are in uncommon vigour; 
 °nd grow unaccountably, and are full of fruit still ; but 
 strangely deficient in male bloom. The void spaces in the 
 frames are quite filled out -with the remaining plants. Mr. 
 Cane's Cantaleupes were all burned up, with a noble crop on 
 them, about ten days before the fruit would have been ripe. 
 He had a fine crop : but the intense heats scorch'd off all the 
 fibres thro' his light dusty earth. Tull planted out Endives 
 and lettuce in abundance during my absence ; he pronged up 
 the bulbous roots against Parsons's, planting annuals in their 
 room. John trimmed and nailed the vines in a very hand- 
 some manner according to Hitt. Those vines that have been 
 managed in that manner for two years, have a noble crop of 
 fruit very forward. My crops of beans and pease are very 
 extraordinary this year. The annuals against the broad walk 
 in the new Garden are uncommonly large. 
 
 23. Gathered 3(5 cucumbers. Earthed up the chinks round 
 the hand glasses with melon loam. 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S GAR] >EN KALENDAR :;:,.-, 
 
 Unusual hot summer weather for three weeks past. Wheai 
 harvest has begun in some places. 
 
 July 26. Pulled up another of the Armenian Cantaloupes 
 which was rotten at stem. So now I have lost four plante oui 
 of nine. The fruit begins to set now at a v.-.-t rate on the 
 remaining plants, as fast as ever they fell offbefoiv. 
 
 The hot vehement season continues: the ground is wonder- 
 fully burnt. 
 
 31. Now a great rain after several weeks drought. 
 Aug. 1. On examination I found above 20 brace of Canta- 
 leupes set: about 10 brace on one of the Armenian plants; 
 about 3 brace on another Armenian ; 2 brace (one a full- 
 grown fruit) on another : and one Armenian is quite barren. 
 The Waverley plant is infected with the rot that destroyed 
 the rest, which I endeavour to stop by wiping and dust. It 
 is observable that those plants that bear so prodigiously are 
 those which (their fellows being rotten) have the space of 
 two or three lights to run in. Had the fruit set in this 
 manner a month or six weeks ago (when it all dropp'd off) 
 there had been a noble early crop. 
 
 10. The first set Cantaleupe, tho: unpromising at first, now 
 a fine beautiful large fruit, just like Miller's. The rest of 
 later date come on apace. Prodigious hot sunny weather. 
 Sowed half pound of Spinage, mixed with Capuchin and 
 Dutch Lettuce, and white turnep-Radishes. Trenched four 
 rows more of Celeri: and planted out about 150 more Savo\ s. 
 Tyed about 20 of the Endives. 
 Sowed a little more Endive seed. 
 
 14. Lost the third and last Waverley Cantaleupe with a 
 crop of 4 brace of fruit on it. I have now lost five plants out 
 of nine. The four Armenians now remaining have L0 brace 
 of fruit likely to come to good. Pulled off two brace and half 
 of fruit, some of a considerable size. Dry, hot weather still. 
 16. Sowed a crop of Coss Lettuce and Endive to stand the 
 winter. Trimm'd the side shoots of the vines for the last 
 time. The clusters are unusually large and forward. Perfect 
 Summer weather but cooler. 
 
 27. Cut a vast quantity of white Dutch cucumbers. One 
 
 ■1 \ -1 
 
356 GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 thai was young and eatable weighed 2 pounds 5 ounces, and 
 measured 12 inch: and half in length. The Canker continues 
 to spread among the Cantaleupes, and is likely to destroy 
 plants full of beautiful fruit within a fortnight of being in 
 perfection. 
 
 Aug. 28. Planted on the bank several large white Lilly roots, 
 Crown Imperials, and double white rockets. Cut the first 
 Endive. 
 
 Septem 1 ' 4. Planted some tree primroses on the bank. It 
 has been very wet, blowing weather, for several days past. 
 
 8. Tyed up about two doz. of the best bunches of Grapes 
 in Crape-bags. 
 
 11. Cut y e first Cantaleupe: it was finely emboss'd, and 
 weigh'd 3 p ds 11 ounc: but when it came to be cut up it had 
 hardly any flesh, and was rank and filthy. 
 
 Tyed up more Endive. — Uncommon sunny sultry day. 
 
 1"). Tyed on 18 more Crape-bags on the best bunches of 
 Grapes. Fine dry weather with pretty cold dews. 
 
 29. All the Cantaleupes cut. Not one in perfection ; tho' 
 many were finely embossed and looked wonderfully pro- 
 mising. The canker I suppose had prevented their drawing 
 any nourishment, and getting any thickness of flesh. Fine 
 dry weather for a long time past, and the roads perfectly 
 good. The small bunches of Grapes are very good: the large 
 ones not yet ripe against the wall. 
 
 Octob. 1. Tyed up last crop of Endive. 
 
 The largest Cantaleupe was finely embossed, and tho' 
 almost all rind, weigh'd 4 pounds 2 ounces. 
 
 3. Now a vast rain after many weeks fine Autumn weather. 
 
 5. Gathered the two first bunches of bag'd Grapes : they 
 were a little mouldy ; but the sound part of the bunches were 
 perfectly ripe, and sweet. 
 
 8. Now perfect summer weather again, after one wet day. 
 The Grapes in the bags unusually fine; and both bunches and 
 single Grapes are as large again as usual. It is to be 
 observed that this new culture swells the berries so much ; 
 they are apt in this cluster-sort to press too hard on each 
 other, and prevent ripening, and occasion mouldiness : there- 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN CALENDAR. 
 
 fore if the Grapes were thinn'd-out the beginning of the 
 summer with the points of a pair of scissars, ii won], I cer- 
 tainly prove an advantage. 
 
 Oct. 10. Planted two rows of Crocuss along the borders under 
 
 the dining-room windows ; both borders, especially thai ihat 
 hath the vines in it, were made very light and mellow with an 
 abundance of sand and blacksmith's cinder-. Weeded and 
 cut down the leaves of the strawberries and mended oul those 
 beds that failed with the pine sort. Now very dry, and 
 warm : but there are great tokens of rain. 
 
 11. Now great rains and wind. 
 
 Tunn'd three quarters of an Hogsh: of raisin wine. The 
 quantity of raisins in the mash vat were 1 hund: and half of 
 Smyrnas, and 3 quarters of an hundred of Malagas. The 
 quantity of water put up was 18 3 gallon buckets; which 
 made sufficient quantity without any squeesing. The colour- 
 ing was 14 quarts of Elder syrop. The weather was SO hoi 
 that it stood but eleven days to ferment in the vat. The 
 Elder juice was boiled up with 14 pounds of sugar. 
 
 16. Finished off the bank in the new Garden and planted 
 the front row of the additional part with pinks both red and 
 pheasant-eyed : laid it with turf some days agon. On mea- 
 suring the great oak in the meadow which was measured in y' 
 spring, I found it to be encreased in girth about one inch. 
 
 18. The mornings begin to be frosty, jei the Grapes con- 
 tinue in high perfection. 
 
 19. Finished a broad brick walk thro' y" new wicket at the 
 end of the dining room; and earned a narrow one up b\ the 
 side of y e pitching to the orchard walk : rectifyed the broken 
 pitching and turned the gutter at the brewhouse door, so a- to 
 get a 12 inch border four feet long for a white muscadine rine. 
 
 22. Planted a row of Coss Lettuce touching the wall along 
 the vine-border under the dining-room window to stand the 
 winter. Planted a row of Holyoaks againsl the boards of the 
 
 woodhouse. 
 
 24. Planted the irregular slip without the ii<-\\ wicket in 
 the Garden with first two rows of Crocuss; a roM of pink-: 
 several sorts of roses; Persian Jasmine and yello\i D°, several 
 
■;■> GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN KALENDAR. 
 
 sorts of Asters, French- Willows ; a curious sort of bloody 
 wall-flowers ; double Campanulas, white and blue ; double 
 Daisies; and a row against the hedge of good rooted Laurus- 
 tines. Planted the back row of the part of the bank newly 
 length'ned-out with blue and white Double Campanulas ; and 
 the border under the dining-room window with the bloody 
 Double wall-flowers. Planted a bason in the field withfrench 
 willows. Planted many dozens more of Coss Lettuce against 
 the buttery wall, and down the wall against the yard. 
 
 Oct. 25. Planted a large layer of the musk-rose from Mr. 
 Budd against the boards of the old barn. 
 
 Wet season after very dry weather. 
 
 26. Trimm'd and tack'd the bottoms of the vines according 
 to Hitt : the lower parts of those under the Dining-room 
 window are deficient in wood, 'till more can be got from y e 
 stems. Began curving two shoots in order to reduce two of 
 the vines to regular shapes from the bottom by degrees. 
 
 Novem r 5. Planted my Hyacinths, Narcissus's, Ranuncu- 
 lus's, Tulips, Crown Imperials, and Anemonies in the border 
 against Parsons's. It had been trenched very deep with a 
 good quantity of rotten tan, and was in perfect dry order 
 when the roots were put in. 
 
 Planted a small thriving larch at the east corner of Baker's 
 Hill ; two well-grown Provence-roses in the field shrubbery 
 and two monthly roses in the Orchard walk ; all from North 
 Warnboro'. Fine, dry, sunny weather. Planted two rows of 
 hardy lettuce under the filbert hedge against Parsons's. 
 
 6. Trimmed and tack'd the fig tree, leaving a leading 
 bough in the middle to fill the wall by degrees quite up to the 
 eaves. This tree is full of young wood and fills the wall well; 
 and may be carry'd by a second stage according to Hitt, up to 
 the tiles. Planted a number of Gooseberries and Currans 
 from Mr. Johnson, good plants, in the Orchard-walk and 
 among the rasps. The grapes lasted in good perfection 'till 
 the beginning of Novem 1 : those that were hung up in the 
 study are very sweet but shrivelled up like raisins, notwith- 
 standing a grape was stuck on the stem of each Cluster. 
 
 12. Plunged the seven pots of Pyram: Camp: in the border 
 
GILBERT WHITE'S GAIi MA KALKXDAR. 350 
 
 against Parsons's under y e Filbert hedge. Planted ;i nursery 
 border of small bulbous roots. Duo- up a decaying Cluster 
 pine, and parsley-elder in the shrubbery, and put in a two- 
 thorned Acacia and Judas tree in their room. A mosi deli- 
 cate summer-like day. 
 
 Nov. 14. Transplanted the striped Epilobium into ;I fresh 
 bason. Planted about 20 fraxinellas, seedlings iVum Mr. Budd 
 in a nursery. Planted several Laurels in the gaps of Hedges 
 round Baker's Hill. 
 
 The potatoes raised from about 14 large ones cut in pieces 
 turned out a fine crop of about 3 Bushels: several single ones 
 weigh'd about a pound. Put by about 30 of the finr-t us u 
 supply for a crop next year. 
 
 Planted some cuttings of parsley-elder, with sonic cuttings 
 of fine white Currant. 
 
 15. Planted in the new Garden two standard Duke's 
 Cherries; an espalier Orleans plumb; an espalier green-gage 
 plumb; a duke cherry against the north-west wall of the 
 brewhouse; and a standard muscle plumb in the orchard. 
 These trees came from Forster of North Warnboro' and 
 seemed to be good in their kind; were planted the day they 
 were taken out of the nursery, in basons, which being pre- 
 pared before, were in excellent crumbling order. 
 
 16. Planted 3 pints, 7 rows of small early beans in the 
 lower field garden. 
 
360 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF DUFOUR'S FIRE-ESCAPE. 
 
 [That the interest of Gilbert White was not confined to the investiga- 
 tion of the objects of nature and the ordinary pursuits of a man of scien- 
 tific and literary taste, but that be was fully alive to any improvement in 
 the useful arts of life, is shown by the following account of Dufour's Fire- 
 escape, which I have found among his papers. It is in his own hand- 
 writing, but without date or any indication of its having been intended 
 for any especial object beyond that of a personal memorandum. The 
 description of the apparatus is in the same clear and simple language 
 which constituted much of the special charm of his writings. Previous 
 to Dufour's invention, the " Fire-escape " seems to have been limited to 
 " a pole, a rope, and a basket.' " It appears from the records of the Patent 
 Office that Dufour's patent is dated 1788, and the experiment described 
 in the following paper was probablv the first public test of its efficiency. 
 — T. B.] 
 
 A patent machine, known by the name of the Fire escape 
 was brought along fleet street. It consisted of a ladder, 
 perhaps 38 feet in length, which turned on a pivot, so as to 
 be elevated or depressed at will, and was supported on framed 
 work, drawn on wheels. A groove on each side of this ladder- 
 like construction admitted a box or hutch to be drawn up or 
 let down by a pulley at the top and a windlass at the bottom. 
 When the ladder is set up against a window the person in 
 danger is to escape into the hutch, and so to be let down. 
 That the ladder may not catch fire from any flames breaking 
 out below, it is defended with a sheathing of tin. 
 
 Several people, it seems, had illiberally refused the patentee 
 the privilege of trying his machine against their houses; but 
 my brother*, on application, immediately consented, when 
 the ladder was applied to a sash on the second story and a 
 
 ' Benjamin White, of Fleet Street. — T. B.] 
 
DESCRIPTION OF DUFOUR'S FIRE-ESCAPE. 86] 
 
 man was immediately hoisted up, and let down with groat ex- 
 pedition and safety, and then a couple of 1><>\ - together. 
 
 Some spectators were of opinion thai the hutch or bos was 
 too scanty and shallow, and that for security it ought to be 
 raised with a treillis of strong wire, or Iron work. Les1 people 
 in terror and confusion should miss of their aim and fall over 
 to the ground. This machine was easily drawn by four men 
 only. The inventor's name is Mr. Du Four. The ladder, the 
 owner told us, would reach to the third story, when more 
 elevated. 
 
302 
 
 LISTS OF THE MORE NOTEAVORTHY 
 
 ANIMALS AND PLANTS 
 
 OBSERVED IN SELBORNE AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
 
 MAMMALIA. 
 
 Noctule bat. 
 Pipistrelle. 
 Reddish-grey bat. 
 Dauben ton's bat. 
 Long-eared bat. 
 
 Cheiroptera. 
 
 Scotophilia noctula. 
 
 pipistrellus. 
 
 Yespertilio Nattereri. 
 
 Daubentonii. 
 
 Plecotus auritus. 
 
 In the Park and Lithe. 
 Cottage and barn roof's. 
 Cottage roofs. 
 In my cellar. 
 Very rare. 
 
 Hedgehog. 
 Mole. 
 
 Common shrew. 
 Water shrew. 
 Oared shrew. 
 
 Insectivora. 
 
 Erinaceus enropa;ns. 
 Talpa europsea. 
 Sorex vulgaris. 
 Crossopus fodiens. 
 . var. remifer. 
 
 Stream by the Grange. 
 In my garden. 
 
 Badger. 
 
 Common otter. 
 
 Ermine or Stoat. 
 Common weasel. 
 Polecat. 
 Common marten. 
 
 ( lommon fox. 
 
 Caenivora. 
 
 Meles taxus. 
 
 Lutra vulgaris. 
 
 Mustela erminea. 
 
 vulgaris. 
 
 putorius. 
 
 Martes foina. 
 
 Vulpes vulgaris. 
 
 Great wood near Alton 
 
 and Theddon. 
 Stream at Priory, and at 
 
 Froyle. 
 Often partially white. 
 
 Monkswood ; very rare. 
 Stated to have been found 
 at Woolmer by Geo. 
 
 < .'IIMKHIS. 
 
BIRDS FOUND AT SELBORN] 
 
 
 Common squirrel. 
 Dormouse. 
 Harvest mouse. 
 Field mouse. 
 Common mouse. 
 Brown rat. 
 Water vole. 
 Common field vole. 
 Bank vole. 
 Hare. 
 Rabbit. 
 
 RoDENTIA. 
 
 Sciurus vulgaris. 
 Myoxus avellanarius. 
 Mus minutus. 
 
 sylvaticus. 
 
 musculus. 
 
 decumanus. 
 
 Arvicola amphibiuB. 
 
 agrestis. 
 
 glareolus. 
 
 Lepus timidus. 
 cunieulus. 
 
 Senilis. &C. 
 
 In wheal rick-. 
 
 Enters bouses in winter. 
 
 Stream at Dorton. 
 Bani at Temple. 
 
 BIRDS. 
 
 [In the following list of the birds which have been seen in Selborn.' and the 
 neighbourhood, I have included a large number which were observed in or 
 Alton by the late Dr. John Curtis, many of which are in the Alton Museum. 
 The letters W., B., C. indicate those attested by Gilbert White, by myself, ami by 
 Dr. Curtis. The comparative rarity of their occurrence is indicate! by the Letters 
 r, rr ; rrr. The nomenclature is principally that of Yarrell's ' British Birds." — T. B 
 
 Peregrine falcon. 
 Hobby. 
 Kestrel. 
 Sparrow-hawk. 
 Kite. 
 Osprey. 
 
 Common buzzard. 
 Honey buzzard. 
 Hen harrier. 
 Montagu's harrier. 
 Long-eared owl. 
 Short-eared owl. 
 Barn-owl. 
 Brown owl. 
 Great grey shrike. 
 Red-backed shrike. 
 Woodchat. 
 Spotted flycatcher. 
 Missel thrush. 
 Fieldfare. 
 Song-thrush. 
 Redwing. 
 Blackbird. 
 Ring- ousel. 
 Hedge accentor. 
 Redbreast. 
 Redstart. 
 Black redstart. 
 Stonechat. 
 
 Falco peregrinus. 
 
 subbuteo. 
 
 tinnunculus. 
 
 Accipiter nisus. 
 Milvus ictinus. 
 
 Buteo vulgaris. 
 Pernix apivorus. 
 Circus cyaneus. 
 
 cinereus. 
 
 Asio otus. 
 
 accipitrinus. 
 
 Aluco flammea. 
 Stris aluco. 
 Lanius excubitor. 
 
 collurio. 
 
 auriculatus. 
 
 Muscicapa grisola. 
 Turdus viscivorus. 
 
 pilaris. 
 
 musicus. 
 
 iliacus. 
 
 merula. 
 
 torquatus. 
 
 Accentor modularis. 
 Eritlmcus rubecnla. 
 Ruticiha phcenicura. 
 
 thins. 
 
 Saxicola rubicola. 
 
 B., C. 
 B.,C. 
 
 C. 
 
 C. 
 
 W. 
 
 W..B..C. 
 
 B., C. 
 
 B., C. 
 
 B., C. 
 
 C. 
 
 W.,B.,C 
 
 AY. 
 
 W. 
 W.,B.,C. 
 
 \v..i:..( 
 0. 
 
 w i: I 
 
 rrr 
 rrr 
 
 rrr 
 
 IT 
 
 rrr 
 rr 
 rrr 
 rr 
 
 rr 
 
 rrr 
 
 rrr 
 
 rr 
 
 r 
 
 rrr 
 
 Empshott. Altuii. 
 
 Sa 
 
 Formerly. 
 
 Lash am. 
 
 Medstead. 
 
 Selborne. 
 
 Paringdon. Alton. 
 
 Faringdon. 
 
 Disted, 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Selborne and All >n. 
 Selborne (<i 
 
 Selbon e and Alton. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 Alton I -|' 
 Selborne and Ulon. 
 
364 
 
 BIRDS FOUND AT SELBORNE. 
 
 Whinchat. 
 Wheatear. 
 
 Grasshopper warbler. 
 
 Sedge warbler. 
 
 Eeecl warbler. 
 
 Nightingale. 
 
 Blackcap. 
 
 Whitethroat. 
 
 Lesser whitethroat. 
 
 Dartford warbler. 
 
 Golden-crested regains. 
 
 Fire-crested reguius. 
 
 Willow wren. 
 
 Chiff chaff. 
 
 Wood wren. 
 
 Great tit. 
 
 Blue tit. 
 
 Coal tit, 
 
 Marsh tit. 
 
 Long-tailed tit. 
 
 Bohemian waxwing. 
 
 Pied wagtail. 
 
 Grey wagtail. 
 
 Yellow 7 wagtail. 
 
 Tree pipit. 
 
 Meadow pipit. 
 
 .Skylark. 
 
 Wood lark. 
 
 Snowbunting. 
 
 Yellow bunting. 
 
 Common bunting. 
 
 Cirl bunting. 
 
 Chaffinch. 
 
 Bramble finch 
 
 Greenfinch. 
 
 Hawfinch. 
 
 Goldfinch. 
 
 House sparrow. 
 
 Siskin. 
 
 Common linnet. 
 
 Mealy redpole. 
 
 Lesser redpole. 
 
 Bullfinch. 
 
 Common crossbill. 
 
 Starling. 
 
 Haven. 
 
 Carrion crow. 
 
 Hooded crow. 
 
 Rook. 
 
 Jackdaw. 
 
 Magpie. 
 
 Jay. 
 
 Green woodpecker. 
 
 Great spotted Do. 
 
 Lesser Do. Do. 
 
 Wryneck. 
 
 Saxicola rubetra. 
 
 cenanthe. 
 
 Acrocephalus nrevius. 
 
 schcenobicnus. 
 
 streperus. 
 
 Daulias lusuinia. 
 Sylvia atricapilla. 
 
 ■ rufa. 
 
 curruca. 
 
 Melizophilus undatus. 
 Reguius cristatus. 
 
 ignicapillus. 
 
 Phylloscopus trochilus. 
 
 collybita. 
 
 sibilatrix. 
 
 Par us major. 
 
 creruleus. 
 
 ater. 
 
 palustris. 
 
 Acredula caudata. 
 Ampelis garrulus. 
 Motacilla lugubris. 
 
 sulphurea. 
 
 flava, 
 
 Anthus trivialis. 
 
 pratensis. 
 
 Alauda arvensis. 
 
 arborea. 
 
 Emberiza nivalis. 
 
 citrinella. 
 
 miliaris. 
 
 cirlus. 
 
 Fringilla ccelebs. 
 - montifringilla. 
 
 Coccothraustes chloris. 
 
 vulgaris. 
 
 Carduelis elegans. 
 Pyrgita domestica. 
 Carduelis spinus. 
 Linota cannabina, 
 
 canescens. 
 linaria. 
 
 Pyrrhula vulgaris. 
 Loxia curvi rostra. 
 Sturnus vulgaris. 
 Corvus corax. 
 corone. 
 
 comix. 
 
 frugilegus. 
 
 monedula. 
 
 Pica caudata. 
 Garrulus glandarius. 
 Picus viridis. 
 
 major. 
 
 minor. 
 
 Yunx torquilla. 
 
 W 
 
 W..B..C. 
 W.,B.,C. 
 
 W., C. 
 
 W.,C. 
 
 W., C. 
 
 \Y,B.,C. 
 
 B. 
 
 B. 
 
 B. 
 
 ,B-,C. 
 
 C. 
 
 W., B.,C. 
 
 W.,B.,C. 
 
 W., B. 
 
 B.,C. 
 
 W. 
 
 W.,B.,C 
 
 C. 
 
 B., C. 
 
 B., C. 
 
 W.,B.,C 
 C. 
 
 B.,0 
 
 B., C 
 W.,B.,C. 
 
 C. 
 C. 
 
 c. 
 w., c. 
 
 W.,B.,C. 
 C. 
 
 r 
 rrr 
 
 r 
 
 rr 
 rr 
 r 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 c. 
 c. 
 
 rrr 
 
 r 
 rrr 
 
 rr 
 r 
 rr 
 
 rrr 
 
 rr 
 rr 
 
 rr 
 
 r 
 
 rr 
 
 rr 
 
 rrr 
 
 r 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Selborne and Worldliam. 
 
 Selborne aud Alton. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 
 Selborne. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Woolmer. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Selborne. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 Selborne. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 Holyboume (once). 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 Hawkley Mill. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 Faringdon. 
 
 Selborne, 
 
 Selborne and Newton. 
 
 Selborne and Newton. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Alton. 
 Same. 
 
 Newton and Alton *. 
 
 Selborne Common. 
 
 Shalden and Binswood. 
 
 3 or 4 at Alton. 
 1 at Binsted. 
 Alton. 
 
 * Has bred at All on. 
 
BIRDS FOUND AT SKLRORNE. 
 
 Creeper. 
 Wren. 
 Hoopoe. 
 Nuthatch. 
 
 Cuckoo. 
 
 Kingfisher. 
 
 Chimney-swallow. 
 
 Martin. 
 
 Sand-martin. 
 
 Swift. 
 
 Nightjar. 
 
 Turtledove. 
 
 Stockdove. 
 
 Ringdove. 
 
 Pheasant. 
 
 Black grouse. 
 
 Common partridge. 
 
 Red-legged partridge. 
 
 Quail. 
 
 Golden plover. 
 
 Dotterel. 
 
 Stone curlew. 
 
 Peewit. 
 
 Sanderling. 
 
 Heron. 
 
 Bittern. 
 
 Common Curlew. 
 
 Common redshank. 
 
 Spotted redshank. 
 
 Common sandpiper. 
 
 Bar-tailed godwit. 
 
 Woodcock. 
 
 Snipe. 
 
 Jack snipe. 
 
 Little stint. 
 
 Land rail. 
 
 Spotted crake. 
 
 Water rail. 
 
 Moorhen. 
 
 Coot. 
 
 Grey phalarope. 
 
 Avocet. 
 
 White-fronted goose. 
 
 Egyptian goose. 
 
 Hooper Swan. 
 
 Common Sheldrake. 
 
 Shoveller. 
 
 Teal. 
 
 Wild duck. 
 
 Wigeon. 
 
 Pochard. 
 
 Scaup duck. 
 
 Tufted duck. 
 
 Red-breasted merganser 
 
 Goosander. 
 
 Little grebe. 
 
 Certhia familiaris. 
 
 Troglodytes parvulus. 
 Upupa epops. 
 Sii ta europsea. 
 Cuculus canorus. 
 Alcedo ispida. 
 Hirundo rustica. 
 urbica. 
 
 lpana. 
 
 Cypselus apus. 
 Caprimulgus europanis. 
 Columba turtur. 
 
 oenas. 
 
 palumbus. 
 
 Phasianus colchicus. 
 Tetrao tetrix. 
 Perdix cinerea. 
 
 rubra. 
 
 Coturnix vulgaris. 
 Charadrius pluvialis, 
 
 ■ morinellus. 
 
 GMicneinus crepitans. 
 Vanellus eristatus. 
 Calidris arenaria. 
 Ardea cinerea. 
 Botaurus stellaris. 
 Numenius arquatus. 
 Totanus calidris. 
 
 fuscus. 
 
 hypoleucos. 
 
 Limosa rufa. 
 
 Scolopax rusticola. 
 
 gallinago. 
 
 gallinula. 
 
 Tringa minuta. 
 
 Crex pratensis. 
 
 porzana. 
 
 Rnllus aquaticus. 
 
 Gallimda chloropus. 
 
 Fulica atra. 
 
 Phalaropus lobatus. 
 
 Anser albifrons. 
 
 a?gyptiacus. 
 
 Cygnus ferus. 
 Tadoma Bellonii. 
 Anas clypeata. 
 
 crecca. 
 
 boschas. 
 
 Mareca penelope. 
 Fuligula ferina. 
 
 marila. 
 
 cristata. 
 
 Mergus Berrator. 
 
 ■ merganser. 
 
 Podiceps minor. 
 
 B.,C. 
 
 W..B..C 
 
 \\..i: ,0 
 
 W..B..0 
 
 W.,B.,C. 
 B. 
 
 w.. i; 
 
 W,B.,C. 
 
 C. 
 
 B..C. 
 
 C. 
 
 W.,B,C 
 
 B.,C. 
 B.,C. 
 
 B. 
 
 C. 
 
 B. 
 W., C. 
 
 c. 
 
 c. 
 
 c. 
 
 W.,B,C. 
 
 C. 
 
 B.,C. 
 
 W.,B-,C. 
 
 c. 
 
 c. 
 c. 
 c. 
 c. 
 c. 
 
 W.,B.,C 
 W.,B.,C 
 
 I i.e. 
 C. 
 C. 
 
 c. 
 c. 
 
 0. 
 
 c. 
 
 Selborne and Alton. 
 
 ■ Selborne, Newton V 
 
 & Iborne and Ah. ph. 
 
 Selborne. 
 
 r 
 
 r I Selborne. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Woolmer and Shortheath. 
 
 Eolybourne. 
 ( !hawton. 
 Eartley. 
 rlingsley. 
 Selborne. 
 Woolmer, &c. 
 
 9 
 
 rr Selborne ami Uton. 
 
 rr Selborne and Woolmer. 
 
 rr Selborne. 
 
 rr Alton. 
 
 rrr Selborne. 
 
 rr Selborne and Alton. 
 
 rrr Faringdon. 
 
 rr 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 rrr 
 
 r 
 r 
 
 rrr 
 
 IT 
 
 rr 
 
 rrr 
 
 r 
 
 rrr 
 r 
 r 
 r 
 rr 
 rrr 
 rr 
 rrr 
 rr 
 rr 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Selborne. 
 
 Kingslej , 1 Bp. 
 
 Priorj and Alton. 
 
 Combe pond. Sell' 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Selborne. 
 
 2 kilK'd at Frencham. 
 
 Holybourne. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 lleaill. \ 
 Alton. ' 
 
 ( Ireywell. 
 
 Woolmer and Alton. 
 
 Woolmer. &C. 
 
 \\ ,.,,1, [i | | .n 
 
 Alton. - ^|>. 
 Same. 1 -|>. 
 Ileadlev. '■'• ~|>. 
 
 l\itiL''~ pond, Alton. 
 Froj le. '1 Bp. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 * Seeno'eat p 31 Vol. I 
 
36G 
 
 BIRDS ETC. FOUND AT SELBORNE. 
 
 Great northern diver. 
 Little auk. 
 Razorbill. 
 Green cormorant. 
 Black tern. 
 Common tern. 
 Lesser tern. 
 Black-headed gull. 
 Great black-backed gull. 
 Kittiwake. 
 Fork-tailed petrel. 
 
 Colynibus glacialis. 
 Mergulus melanoleucos. 
 Alca torda. 
 
 Phalacrocorax cristatus. 
 Sterna nigra. 
 
 hirundo. 
 
 minuta. 
 
 Larus ridibundus. 
 
 maxmius. 
 
 triclactylus. 
 
 Thallassidroma Leachii 
 
 W..B..C 
 
 rr 
 
 B. 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 rr 
 
 C. 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 r 
 
 C. 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 rrr 
 
 C. 
 
 r 
 
 C. 
 
 rrr 
 
 Woolmer and Medstead. 
 
 Selborne by Lecourt. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Hartley. 1 sp. 
 
 Alton. 
 
 Same. 1 sp. 
 
 Worldham. 1 
 
 Alton. 1 sp. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Same. 1. 
 
 sp. 
 
 [The greater number of the aquatic birds in this list mentioned by Dr. John 
 Curtis as having occurred at Alton were occasional visitors which were observed 
 from time to time on the River Wey as it passes by the town. — T. B.] 
 
 REPTILIA AND AMPHIBIA FOUND AT SELBORNE. 
 
 Viviparous lizard. 
 Slowworm. 
 Ringed snake. 
 Common viper. 
 
 Reftilia*. 
 
 Zootoca vivipara. 
 Anguis fragilis. 
 Natrix torquata. 
 Pelias berus. 
 
 Woolmer, common. 
 In coppices, common. 
 Common near water. 
 On dry heaths. 
 
 Common frog. 
 Common toad. 
 Natter-jack toadt. 
 Warty newt. 
 Common smooth newt. 
 Palmated smooth newt. 
 
 Amphibia. 
 
 Rana teraporaria. 
 Bufo vulgaris. 
 
 calamita, 
 
 Triton cristatus. 
 Lissotriton vulgaris. 
 palmipes. 
 
 At Woolmer and in my grounds. 
 Pond in Hartley wood. 
 Common in ponds. 
 In the pond on Selborne Common. 
 
 FISHES. 
 
 For the Fishes see Vol. I. pp. 32, 56, 57. 
 
 * [The green lizard mentioned by Gilbert White as having been found in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Farnham (Vol. I. p. 64) has not, as far as I know, been found near Sel- 
 borne ; but it is not improbable that the species may, in the course of years, have made 
 its way across the Holt to Woolmer. — T. B.] 
 
 t See Vol. I. p. 55. 
 
MOLLUSCA FOUND AT SELBORNE. 
 MOLLUSCA. 
 
 Conciiifeua (Bivalves). 
 
 Cyclua cornea Pond at Short Heath. 
 
 Auodonta cyguea Same. 
 
 Gasteropoda (Univalves). 
 
 Neritina flnviatilis The stream at Dorton. 
 
 Bithinia tentaculata Same. 
 
 Valvata piscinalis Same. 
 
 Planorbis spirorbis Pond at Short Heath . 
 
 marginatus Same. 
 
 Physa fontinalis Stream at Dorl i >n and Prion . 
 
 Limnaea peregra Pond at Short Heath. 
 
 auricularia Same. 
 
 stagnalis Oakhanger (Dr. J. Curtis). 
 
 Ancylus fluviatilis On leaves of iris, Dorton meadow. 
 
 Anon empiricorum Garden. 
 
 — — hortensis On the lawn. 
 
 Limax flavus Cellar. 
 
 agrestis Garden. 
 
 — — maxinius Same. 
 
 arborum Beeches in the Hanger. 
 
 Testacella haliotoidea In my kitchen -garden. 
 
 Succinea putris Meadow by Combe Wood. 
 
 elegans Same. 
 
 Vitrina pellucida Under moss on the Hanger. 
 
 Zonites cellarius Under stones. 
 
 alliarius High Wood on shrubs and trees. 
 
 crystallinus Among moss at the foot of (he Hanger. 
 
 fulvus Same, rare. 
 
 Helix aspersa Everywhere. 
 
 nemoralis Scrubs, Hanger, &c. 
 
 hortensis Same. 
 
 , var. hybrida (Dr. John Curtis.) 
 
 arbustorum Scrubs and Hanger. 
 
 Cantiana* S.E. end of Common. 
 
 rufescens Hanger, &c, very numerous. 
 
 hispida Under stones in Rocky Lane. 
 
 virgatat Selborne Common. Nore hill, &c. 
 
 caperata S.E. end of the Common and Dorton. 
 
 ericetorum The Park, Nore hill, &c. 
 
 pulchella Among moss, decayed Leaves, &c. 
 
 rotundata Hanger, &c. 
 
 lapicida Scrubs and Hanger. 
 
 * [At the S.E. end of Selborne Common Helix Cantiana and //. cam rata are 
 both tolerably abundant, but each species occupies its own ground without 
 encroaching on the portion appropriated by the other. There is no apparent 
 cause, either as regards soil or food, to account fur this selection. T. B. | 
 
 t [On the "Hog's-back," between Guildford and Earnham, Helix vkgata is 
 found of a very large size. I have taken manj specimens there , of an inch 
 in diameter. — T. B.] 
 
308 
 
 BUTTERFLIES ETC. FOUND AT SELBORXU 
 
 Bulimus rnontanus On beeches in the Hanger. 
 
 obseurus Same ; very numerous. 
 
 Pupa edentula On a wall among moss. 
 
 muscorum Among moss. 
 
 Balia perversa On beech trees in the Ilanger. 
 
 Clausilia nigricans On beeches in the Hanger, &c. 
 
 laminata Same. 
 
 , white var Same (a single specimen). 
 
 Azeca tridens Among clamp moss, in Hanger, &c. 
 
 Zua lubrica Same. 
 
 Achatina aeicula Among the roots of moss and grass. 
 
 Carychium minimum Among dead and decaying oak-leaves. 
 
 Cyclostoma elegans Foot of the Hanger, plentiful. 
 
 [I am indebted to Earl Waldegrave for the following list of soma rare Lepido- 
 ptera taken by himself at or near Blackmoor, in the parish of Selborns. — T. B.] 
 
 Butterflies. 
 
 Clouded yellow. 
 
 Pale yellow. 
 Marbled white. 
 
 White Admiral. 
 Duke of Burgundy. 
 Greasy fritillary. 
 Small blue. 
 Silver studded blue. 
 The grayling. 
 
 Colias Edusa. 
 Hyale. 
 
 Melanagria Galathea. 
 
 Limenitis Sibylla. 
 Nemeobius Lucina. 
 Melitsea Artemis. 
 Lycasua Alsus. 
 
 iEgon. 
 
 Hipparchia Semele. 
 
 Many taken between August and Oc- 
 tober, 1875. All males but two. 
 
 Blackmoor. 
 
 Not uncommon at Blackmoor (plen- 
 tiful on Selbome bill, T. B.). 
 
 Common in Blackmoor wood. 
 
 Wheatham Hill and Coldhayes. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Same. 
 
 Woolmer forest. 
 
 Woolmer and Blackmoor. 
 
 SriIINXES AND MoTIIS. 
 
 Death's-head sphinx. 
 
 Convolvulus sphinx. 
 
 Six-spot Burnett. 
 
 Cream-spotted tiger. 
 
 Ruby tiger. 
 
 Grass emerald. 
 
 The streak. 
 
 Broad-bordered yellow 
 underwing. 
 
 Grey rustic. 
 
 Double kidney. 
 
 Black rustic. 
 
 Grey shoulder-knot. 
 
 Beautiful yellow under- 
 wing. _ 
 
 Dark crimson underwing 
 
 Acherontia Atropos. 
 Sphinx Convolvuli. 
 Zygaena Filipendula?. 
 Chelonia villica. 
 Arctia fuliginosa. 
 Hemithea cythisaria. 
 Chsesias spartiata. 
 Triphaena fimbria. 
 
 Noctua neglecta. 
 Tethea retuaa. 
 Epunda nigra. 
 Xylina rhizolitha. 
 Anarta Myrtilli. 
 
 Catocala sponsa. 
 
 (The Wakes, Selbome, T. B.) 
 Blackmoor (Selborne, T. B.). 
 Same, early in August 1875. 
 One, on June 29, 1875. 
 One in August 1875. 
 August 1875. 
 October 6, 1875. 
 September 1875, 2 specimens. 
 
 Several. September 1875. 
 
 August 16, 1875. 
 
 Six specimens. Sept. and Oct. 1875. 
 
 October 1875. 
 
 Tolerably abundant, Woolmer. August 
 
 1875. 
 One specimen, August 9, 1875. 
 
 [Vanessa Antiopa was seen by the Rev. Horsley Palmer at Coldhayes, near 
 Petersfield, and a female of this species was taken by Captain Chawner, of Newton 
 Manor House, in June 1877.— T. B.] 
 
PLANTS FOUND AT SELBORNE. 
 
 PLANTS*. 
 
 Adoxa moschatellina Nore Hill. " Lanes and coppices." <; W 
 
 Allium oleraceum P ark at the Wake8 
 
 ursinum "Bradshotl Wood," Ld. S. 
 
 Anagalhs tenella " Short Heath and Woolmer." \\ W 
 
 Antirrhinimi orontium Short Heath and Temp 
 
 Aqmlegia vulgaris « Below S. side of Nore Hill." Mrs ,1 .1 
 
 Astragalus glyeyphyllus W. W. 
 
 Bartsia viscosa Between Short and Long Lithe. 
 
 Betula alba , Boggy ground, Woolmer. 
 
 Bronius secalinus " Poundfield and Temple." G \V 
 
 Bryonia dioica Hanger and hedgi - 
 
 Callitriche autumnalis Ditch between Temple and Wo ,1m r . rather 
 
 rare. 
 
 Campanula glomerata Selborne Hill. " Lanes." ( I . W. 
 
 patula Woolmer. " Bradshott." W. W 
 
 -trachelium Scrubs. " Temple, &c." Ld. S. 
 
 Oarduus nutans Selborne Hill, plentiful. 
 
 Carlina vidgaris " Selborne Down." G. W. 
 
 Caucalis arvensis " Own fields." G. W. 
 
 Centunculus minimus Short Heath. 
 
 Chenopodium bonus Henricus . Blackmoor and the Wakes. 
 
 Chlora perfoliata Kingsfield. "The same." G. W. 
 
 Chrysanthemum segetum Short Heath. 
 
 Cnicus acaulis Selborne Common, plentiful. 
 
 Comarum palustre "Woolmer." W. W. 
 
 Conium macnlatum " Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 Convallaria multiflora "Lane leading to Bradshott Mill." Ld S 
 
 "Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 Conyza squarrosa Week-Hill hanger. "Sutton." W. W. 
 
 Crocus vernus " Holj-water near the brook." Ld - 
 
 Cuscuta europaea "Bean's bog." G. W. 
 
 Cynoglossum officinale Oakhanger. 
 
 Daphne laureola Scrubs, Park and High Wood, &c 
 
 mezereon Scrubs, rare. 
 
 Dianthus armeria " Near Bentley." W. W. 
 
 Dipsacus pilosus Dorton and Short Lithe. B Wj 
 
 W. W. "Lythe." G. W. 
 
 Drosera longifolia Woolmer and Short Heath. 
 
 rotundifolia Same places. " Bean's bog" (i . \V . 
 
 Eleocharis acicularis Holy water and Woolmer. 
 
 Epilobium angustifolium Hedges at Dorton. A:e. "Forest." Q W 
 
 palustre Short Heath and Oakhanger. 
 
 roseum Dorton and Oakhanger. 
 
 * I have already stated in the Preface that the majority of the plants in tin- 
 list have been found by my relative Dr. Bell Salter, by the late Dr, Bromfleld, 
 the botanist of Hampshire, and by myself. I also possess a e in the 
 
 handwriting of Gilbert White, including a few which are not contained in the 
 XLIst letter to Barrington. lam greatly indebted to Lord Selborne and to 
 William Wickham, Esq., of Binsted Wyck, for considerable additions, and to 
 Mrs. de Jersey, of Empshott Vicarage, for notices of sei era! rare and interesl - 
 ing species. These additions are respectively distinguished bj the initials 
 G. W., Ld. S., W. W., and Mrs. de J. 
 
 VOL. IT. - B 
 
370 PLANTS FOUND AT SELBORNE. 
 
 Erigeron acre " Road near Norton." W. W. 
 
 canadense " Once at Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 Euonymus europreus Hedge near the Grange. 
 
 Eupatorium cannabinum " Bradshott Wood." Ld. S. " Binsted Wyck." 
 
 W. W. 
 
 Fedia dentata Nore Hill, 
 
 Filago minima Short Heath and Oakhanger. 
 
 Fumaria capreolata Oakhanger. 
 
 Galanthns nivalis " Holywater ; long copse. Wickhill." Ld. S. 
 
 "Between E. and W. Worldham." W. W. 
 
 Galeobdolon luteum Park, plentiful. 
 
 Galeopsis ladanum " About Selborne." Dr. Bromfield. 
 
 Gentiana amarella Zigzag. " Same place." G. W. 
 
 Geranium pratense Priory, near the end of the Lithe. 
 
 Helleborus fcetidus High Wood. 
 
 viridis " Norton Lane." G. W. 
 
 Helosciadmm inundatiun Woolmer and Short Heath. 
 
 Hieracium sylvaticnm Woolmer and rocky lanes. 
 
 umbellatum Rocky lanes by the Grange. 
 
 Hydrocotyle vulgaris " Forest." G. W. 
 
 Hypericum androsasnium " Temple Wood." Ld. S. " E. Worldham." 
 
 W. W. " Hollow lanes." G. W. 
 
 elodes " Oakhanger and Woolmer pond." Ld. S. 
 
 humifusum " Between Selborne and Liss." W. W. 
 
 Hypochceris glabra Short Heath and Oakhanger. 
 
 Jasione montana Lithe, Woolmer, and Short Heath. 
 
 Juncus squarrosus Woolmer and Short Heath. 
 
 Lathraea squamaria In a garden in the village. "Church Litton 
 
 coppice." G. W. 
 
 Lathyrus nissolia " Once. Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 sylvestris Dorton, &c. "Lythe." G. W. 
 
 Leonurus cardiaca " Forest side." G. W. 
 
 Linaria elatine "Own closes." G. W. 
 
 minor " Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 spuria " Binsted, in cornfields." W. W. 
 
 vulgaris Hedges below Temple. 
 
 Linum angustifolium " Holybourne." W. W. 
 
 Lithospermum arvense " Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 officinale Lithe. "Street." G. W. 
 
 Littorella lacustris Short Heath and Woolmer. 
 
 Luzula sylvatica Winchester Wood. 
 
 Lycopus europaeus Temple. 
 
 Lysimachia nummularia Dorton and rocky lanes. 
 
 vulgaris " Bean's bog." G. W. 
 
 M alva moschata * On banks, common. 
 
 Melica eserulea Woolmer. 
 
 uniflora Cbawton Park. 
 
 Melissa officinalis Dorton, by the stream. 
 
 Mentha sylvestris The Lithe. 
 
 Menyanthes trifoliata " Bean's bog." G. W. 
 
 Milium effusum Selborne Common and elsewhere. 
 
 Mcenchia erecta "Woolmer." W. W. 
 
 Monotropa hypopitys The hanger, abundant. 
 
 Myosotis palustris Stream from Dorton to Oakhanger. 
 
 * Doubtless White means his species when he mentions in his MS. list 
 "Malta alccea" as occurring in t lie "long lithe," Alcea vulgaris being the 
 name given to it by Dillenius and Ray. 
 
PLANTS FOUND AT SELBORNE. 371 
 
 Myosurus minimus Hollow lane at Norton. 
 
 Narcissus biflorus " Kingsley." Miss Lushington. " Krapshott.' 
 
 Mrs. de J. " Coldhayes." Ld. 8. 
 
 pseudo-narcissus " Blackmoor Wood, &c." Ld. S. 
 
 Nartbecium ossifragum " Oakbanger and Hogmer." Ld. S. 
 
 Nasturtium terrestre Short Heath. 
 
 Nepeta cataria " Northfield." G. W. 
 
 OEnantbe fistulosa "Same." G. W. 
 
 Origanum vulgare Scrubs. " Floribus albis. Kingsfield." G. \V. 
 
 Oruithopus perpusillus " Woolmer." W. W. 
 
 Orobus tuberosus Own beeclien grove. 
 
 Paris quadrifblia Combe Wood. "Temple and Snapwood 
 
 Ld. S. " Coppices." G. W. 
 
 Parnassia palustris " Oakbanger." Ld. S. 
 
 Peplis portula Short Heath and Woolmer. 
 
 Picris hieracioides " Own fields." G. W. 
 
 Pinguicula vulgaris "Woolmer." Ld. S. 
 
 Poa nemoralis Bank at Week Hill. 
 
 Polygonum minus Short Heath. 
 
 Popidus tremula " Woods at Selborne." Dr. Bromfield. 
 
 Potamogeton lucens " Woolmer and Holywater." Ld. S. 
 
 natans " Combe pond." G. W. 
 
 Poterium sanguisorba Scrubs. 
 
 Prenanthes muralis Rocky lanes, common. 
 
 Primula elatior Park, rare. " Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 Pulmonaria angustifolia " Hollow lanes." G. W. 
 
 Pyretbrum partbenium Oakhanger. 
 
 Pyrus aria Scrubs. "Hanger." G. W. 
 
 aucuparia Scrubs. 
 
 Radiola millegrana Woolmer and Short Heath. 
 
 Ranunculus aquatibs Short Heath, &c. 
 
 hederaceus Same. 
 
 Rhamnus catharticus Hedge near the Grange. 
 
 Rhynchospora alba Short Heath. 
 
 Ribes grossularia " Stubb's farm, Binsted." W. W. 
 
 Rubus affinis (rosaceus) * Lithe. 
 
 Babingtonii Week Hill. 
 
 carpinifolius Oakbanger. 
 
 discolor Various places. 
 
 — — Koehleri Wood below Week Hill. 
 
 Lejeunii Between Temple and Woolmer. 
 
 leucostachys Various places. 
 
 — nitidus Priory. 
 
 rudis On the road to Alton. 
 
 Scbleicheri Temple. 
 
 tenuis (macropbyllus) ... Various places. 
 
 cassius Various places. 
 
 Ruscus aculeatus " Forest side." G. W. " Alice Holt." W. W. 
 
 "Harting Combe." Ld. S. 
 
 Sambucus ebulus Park and scrubs. " Own fields." G. W. 
 
 Saponaria officinalis Priory. "Street." G. W. 
 
 Scirpus sylvaticus Oakbanger, &c. 
 
 Sclerochloa rigida " Selborne." Dr. Bromfield. 
 
 * I give the names and habitats of the genus Rubus as they were communi- 
 cated by Dr. Bell Salter, who, as is well known, made the genus a special 
 study. 
 
 2b 2 
 
372 PLANTS FOUND AT SELBORNK. 
 
 Scutellaria galericulata Short Heath. 
 
 — — minor Peaty bogs, Woolmer. 
 
 Sibt horpia europfea Short Lithe. 
 
 Silaus pratensis Between Priory and Oakhanger. 
 
 Sison amomum Bocky lanes. " Prredio meo." G. W. 
 
 Tamus communis Scrubs and elsewhere. 
 
 Teesdalia nudicaulis " Kingsley." W. W. 
 
 Trifolium arvense Blackmoor. 
 
 Tulipa sylvestris Park. 
 
 Ulex nanus Woolmer. 
 
 Ulmus montana " Woods at Selborne." Dr. Brom field. 
 
 Vaccinium myrtillus Woolmer. " The forest." G. W. 
 
 oxycoccos " Forest bogs." G. W. 
 
 Valeriana dioica Scrubs. " Own fields." G. W. 
 
 Verbascum nigrum Common on banks. 
 
 Thapsus Bank on the road to Newton. 
 
 Veronica anagallis Short Heath. 
 
 montana Chawton Park. 
 
 officinalis " Hollow lane." G. W. 
 
 scutellata Short Heath. 
 
 Vinca minor Hanger. " Temple woods." Ld. S. 
 
 Viscum album On Apple, Hawthorn, Maple, and Lime at 
 
 the Wakes. 
 
 Orchids. 
 
 Aceras anthropophora " Nore Hill." Mrs. de J. 
 
 Epipactis ensifolia Under beeches in the Park, rare. 
 
 grandiflora Same and the Hanger, plentiful. 
 
 latifolia Hanger. " Binsted Wyck." W. W. "High 
 
 Wood." G. W. 
 
 media, Bab Park and Hanger. 
 
 purpurata Hanger. 
 
 Gymnadenia conopsea Kmgsfield. " Empshott." Mrs. de J. 
 
 Habenaria bifolia Park, plentiful. 
 
 — — chlorantha Same, rare. " Binsted Wyck." W. W. 
 
 Listera ovata Park and Hanger. 
 
 Neottia spiralis Selborne Common. " Pastures below Temple." 
 
 Ld. S. " Dorton." G. W. 
 nidus-avis Hanger and High Wood. " Long Lithe and 
 
 Dorton." G. W. 
 
 Ophrys apifera Park, High Wood, and Nore Hill. 
 
 muscifera Same localities. 
 
 Orchis maculata Priory meadow, &c, common. 
 
 mascula Park,' &c. 
 
 morio Same. 
 
 pyramidalis Kingsfield, rare. 
 
 Ferns. 
 
 Asplenium adiantum-nigrum ... Lane leading to Empshott. 
 
 ruta-muraria Church wall (formerly). 
 
 trichomanes Temple Lane. 
 
 Athyrium filix-fcemina Lane leading to Temple. 
 
 Blechnum boreale Coppice on Temple Hill. 
 
PLANTS FOUND AT SELBOENE. 373 
 
 Botrychiuin lunare S. end of common, very rare. 
 
 Ceterach officinarum Church wall (formerly). 
 
 Lastrea dilatata Temple Lane. 
 
 filix-mas Rocky lanes. 
 
 oreopteris Dorton Wood towards Priory. 
 
 Lycopodium inundatum Short Heath and Woohuer. 
 
 Ophioglossuni vulgare Pai-k. "In meadows." G-. W. 
 
 Osmunda regalis " Ditch at Oakhanger, on Woolmer Forest." 
 
 Ld. S. 
 
 Polypodiutn vulgare Rocky lanes. 
 
 Polystichum aculeatum Same. 
 
 angidare Honey Lane. 
 
 lobatum Rocky lanes. 
 
 lonchitis " Kingsfield coppice." Ld. S. 
 
 Pteris aquilina Selborne hill, <Su-. 
 
 Scolopendrium vulgare Rocky lanes. 
 
374 
 
 THE GEOLOGY OF SELBORNE. 
 
 By WILLIAM CURTIS, Esq. 
 
 The village of Selborne stands just upon the junction of the 
 Chalk Marl with the Upper Greensand. The bed of Chloritic 
 Marl, probably not ten feet thick, though rarely distinctly 
 visible, exactly marks the line of junction. It may be seen 
 at each extremity of the village where the road leaves it for 
 Newton Valence at one end, and Empshott at the other. It 
 passes through the village, giving a darker appearance to the 
 soil in some of the gardens, and is called by Gilbert White the 
 " Black Malm," in contradistinction to " White Malm," the 
 term applied to the soil generally over the Upper Greensand. 
 
 The springs mentioned by Gilbert White as arising at the 
 extremities of the village issue from the Chloritic Marl, or 
 sand, as it might more appropriately be called. That to the 
 south-east, called Well Head, works a small flour-mill, with 
 an overshot-Avheel eighteen feet in diameter. The mill stands 
 in a little deep gully, excavated by the action of water in the 
 Malm rock; and, opening into the Priory valley at Dort on, the 
 rivulet meets the little stream from the north-west end of the 
 village. 
 
 The high Chalk ridge coming off from Newton Valence 
 terminates abruptly on the south-west side of the village, and 
 there forms the beautiful beech-covered " hano-er " known as 
 Selborne Hill. From this one may look clown upon the quiet 
 village, its church and great yew tree, the parsonage-house 
 and plestor, and in the foreground, just at the foot of the hill, 
 the unpretending residence and pretty garden and grounds 
 formerly of Gilbert White, now of his worthy admirer Mr. 
 Bell. May this sweet spot never be spoiled by improvements ! 
 
 The narrow strip of land between the foot of the hill and 
 the village street consists of the Chalk Marl. The north- 
 
GEOLOGY OF SELBORNE. 375 
 
 eastern side of the village stands upon the Malm rock, the 
 provincial name of the Upper GreensanJ. This formation is 
 cut into deeply by the Priory valley, so that the Gault is ex- 
 posed in the bottom of it some distance up towards the church. 
 The Gault everywhere underlies the Upper Greensand, and 
 separates it from the Lower. Gilbert White states that the 
 wells in Selborne average a depth of sixty-three feet. This 
 appears to represent the thickness of the Upper Greensand, 
 which having been pierced, the water retained by the Gault- 
 clay basin is reached. Descending towards the Priory, the 
 Malm rock rises on the left hand into the Lytke, Week Hill, 
 and Hartley " hanger," and the valley opens out on the Gault 
 flat towards Oakhanger. On the right it stretches away for 
 about a mile, gradually rising until it ends in an abrupt 
 " hanger," clothed with oak timber, upon the extremity of 
 which stands Temple farm. 
 
 At an average distance of about half a mile the Gault is 
 succeeded by the Lower Greensand of Blackmoor, Woolmer 
 Forest, Oakhanger, and Short Heath in the parish of Sel- 
 borne, and of the adjoining parishes of Greatham and Kings- 
 ley. Over the comparatively level district which it here pre- 
 sents there are numerous ponds, such as Woolmer Pond 
 (about sixty acres in extent), and Oakhanger Pond in the 
 parish of Selborne, besides many others at a greater distance. 
 Bin's or Bean's Pond, described by Gilbert White in Letter 
 VIII. to Pennant, is, I believe, now cpiite dry. These sheets 
 of water appear to express a general water-level in the sandy 
 strata. 
 
 In regard to the land-slips caused by the undermining of 
 the Upper Greensand and softening of the Gault by the 
 agency of the springs, Gilbert White has described the best 
 example of the kind, which occurred at Hawkley in the year 
 1774. Nothing like it appears to have happened in the parish 
 of Selborne ; but there are spots close to the emergence of 
 the Gault from beneath the Malm rock where the clay appears 
 to have been thrust forward by the superincumbent pressure. 
 A considerable slip of one of the Binsted hangers took place 
 about forty years ago. 
 
376 GEOLOGY OF SELBORNE. 
 
 It may he here observed that the hollow lane between 
 Hartley and Selborne, in some parts nearly twenty feet deep, 
 with almost perpendicular sides, is cut by the joint action of 
 water and the wear of traffic through some of the upper beds 
 of the Malm rock. These beds consist of alternations of hard 
 blue argillaceous ragstone, one or two feet thick, and of softer 
 ones of sandstone, called Firestone, four or five feet thick. 
 The lower beds of the Upper Greensand are of a marly 
 character. 
 
 A few general observations on the fossils from the beds in 
 question may here be added. The Chalk in the vicinity of 
 Selborne is so little exposed that I have obtained few fossils 
 from it. Gilbert White speaks of large " Cornua Ammonis " 
 being found when cutting an inclined path up the Hanger. 
 These must have been in the Lower Chalk, and in a bed cor- 
 responding with one near Alton, in -which 1 have found large 
 Ammonites of several species, the largest, in the museum of 
 that town, measuring 27 inches in diameter. With these 
 occur smaller Ammonites and small Nautili. The large 
 Nautili mentioned by Gilbert White as occurring at the north- 
 west end of the Hanger belong to the Chalk marl. 
 
 These Nautili of the marl (N. elegans) are the largest species 
 found above the chloritic bed. The most abundant fossil in 
 the Chalk marl is the ^4. varians, and the most characteristic, 
 as it is small and scarce in the other beds. In the side of the 
 lane turning up the hill from Fisher's Buildings I procured 
 two species of Turrilite, costatus and tuberculatus, and one of 
 Micraster. I have several specimens of the " Mytilus Crista- 
 gallV (Ostrea carinata), figured in the 'Natural History of 
 Selborne,' which I did not find in situ; but I believe they be- 
 long to the Chalk marl. 
 
 The chloritic marl is a sandy slightly coherent bed, clearly 
 distinguished by its black and green particles. After heavy 
 rains these may be seen spread over the bottom of the little 
 stream flowing from Well Head. This bed may still be seen 
 in the " lane above Well Head in the way to Emshot," 
 where Gilbert White describes it as a " darkish sort of marl." 
 He speaks of the soil it produces — the " black malm " as a 
 
GEOLOGY OF SELBORNE. 377 
 
 "warm, forward, crumbling mould," and of the "white 
 malm " as "becoming a manure to itself." The qualities here 
 alluded to and the general fertility of these particular soils 
 depend on the existence, in addition to lime, of a large per- 
 centage of soluble silica and minute quantities of the alkalies 
 and phosphates in the rocks which produce them. 
 
 In this bed are found ramose Sponges, Ventriculites, Choa- 
 nites, and many traces of other species of the lower organisms, 
 a Micraster, Pecten orbicularis and quinquecostata, several 
 Lamellibranchiates, Pleurotomaria, and Cephalopoda ; the 
 last rare (the Alton Museum contains but oue specimen, an 
 imperfect Am. varians). 
 
 In the Upper Greensand a few traces of plants and bored 
 wood are met with. It contains several species of Sea-urchins, 
 and I have a single specimen of the Starfish from the Sel- 
 borne Firestone. Brachiopoda are rare, the Mollusca nume- 
 rous. The Alton Museum possesses about twenty species of 
 Lamellibranchiata, five of Gasteropoda, and ten or twelve of 
 Cephalopoda. The Pecten orbicularis is the only species ot 
 which the individuals are abundant. The Cephalopoda form 
 the most conspicuous feature amongst the organic remains of 
 the Upper Greensand of Selborne. Baculites and Hamites 
 are rare, Ammonites numerous (the species rhotomagensis, 
 varians, rostratus, catillus, and probably three or four others). 
 Nautilus pseudo-elegans and a larger one (probably a distinct 
 species, sometimes fourteen inches in diameter) are not un- 
 common. 
 
 The Am. rostratus presents three forms of the rostrum, 
 which may indicate specific differences. The shells of the 
 Cephalopoda are mostly found pressed more or less out of 
 their natural form. 
 
 The Belemnitella are rare ; they present a delicate na- 
 creous covering. Some imperfect remains of Crustaceans, a 
 few fish-scales and teeth of fishes and saurians have been ob- 
 tained from the Malm rock. 
 
 The Gault is so little exposed that I have obtained very few 
 fossils from it, and none from the Lower Greensand, within 
 the bounds of Selborne parish. 
 
 W. C. 
 
378 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ROMAN-BRITISH ANTIQUITIES 
 
 OP 
 
 SELBOUNE. 
 
 Hv LORD SELBORNE. 
 
 The conclusion drawn by White, from the discovery of Roman 
 coins during the first half of the last century in the bed of 
 Woolmer Pond, that Selborne was not unknown to the 
 Romans (" Antiquities," Letter I.), has been abundantly con- 
 firmed by other and more recent discoveries. 
 
 About the year 1774 (as appears by a letter, dated in August 
 1777, from Mr. Sewell, then residing at Headley, to Mr. 
 White, for the communication of which I am indebted to the 
 kindness of Professor Bell) a large pot of coins or medals 
 was also found in Woolmer Pond, from which Mr. Sewell 
 obtained a complete series of all the Roman Emperors, from 
 Claudius the First to Commodus (both inclusive), and the two 
 Faustinas, and Crispina, the wife of Commodus, extending 
 over nearly 150 years, from a.d. 43 to a.d. 194. There 
 were none, he says, later than Commodus. And I learn from 
 Mr. Prettejohn (now residing at Yanston,in Devonshire), who 
 lived for more than thirty years near Woolmer Pond, and was 
 " foreman " of the Forest for a period including the reign of 
 Greoro-e the Fourth, that in his time Roman coins were occa- 
 sionally found in the gravel and sand of Woolmer Pond, on 
 the Blackmoor side, and sometimes also in the old roads and 
 paths in the open Forest, and within the present grounds of 
 
ROMAN-BRITISH ANTIQUITIES. 879 
 
 Blackmoor House. He himself and other members of his 
 family have found more than twenty among the sittings of 
 gravel dug to repair the turnpike-road by the side of the 
 pond, four of which (being all that he has retained) he has 
 had the goodness to show me. They are much defaced, and 
 the legends are wholly obliterated ; but one can be recognized 
 as of the younger Faustina, and one as of Crispina, the Em- 
 press of Commodus. 
 
 In 1865, having purchased the Temple and Blackmoor 
 estates, I chose for my residence the spot then occupied by 
 Blackmoor Farm House. The name " Blackmoor " properly 
 belongs to the western and northern parts of the sandy ridges 
 (raised considerably above the lower level of Woolmer Forest, 
 and themselves overlooked from the west by the escarpments 
 of the Upper Greensand and the still loftier chalk summits 
 behind them) by which the basin of Woolmer Forest, where 
 it is crossed by the main road between Petersfield and Farn- 
 ham, is enclosed. To the north-east and east the ridges of 
 Blackmoor connect themselves with those of Hoffmoor, 
 White Hill, and Wall Down, between which and the south- 
 eastern and southern ridges, dividing this forest-basin from 
 the valley traversed by the road between Greatham and Lip- 
 hook (on which stand fir-plantations belonging to the crown), 
 rises the conspicuous landmark of Holy- Water (or Holly- 
 Water) Clump. The intermediate low ground, covered with 
 rough heather, and interspersed here and there with pools of 
 water at certain seasons, is in breadth about a mile and a half 
 from north to south by about two miles in length from east to 
 west. In a depression at the narrowest point between the 
 government plantations to the south-east and the most southerly 
 part of the Blackmoor ridges lies Woolmer Pond, a shallow 
 lake, nearly always fordable by man or horse in every part, 
 and varying with the seasons from a large and broad sheet of 
 water to a bed of sand, almost entirely dry in times of pro- 
 longed drought. 
 
 All these ridges, and the basins below them, are upon the 
 formation called by geologists the Lower Greensand, which 
 is naturally barren or covered only with furze and heath, 
 
•• I >( » APPENDIX— ROMAN-BRITISH 
 
 though now planted in many places, chiefly with Scotch fir. 
 But the westerly ridge of Blackmoor extends back as far as 
 the Gault clay, on which there is abundance of oak and other 
 wood. At the exact point of junction between these two for- 
 mations, at the east end of Blackmoor Wood, and within the 
 limits of the present gardens of Blackmoor House, is a small 
 square island, surrounded by a moat of water ; and behind, 
 and higher than Blackmoor House, to the north (also included 
 within the present gardens) is a piece of land formerly called 
 the " Chapel Field." Here, while the foundations were being 
 dug in 1867 for a kitchen-garden wall, the first discovery of 
 Roman or Roman-British remains was made. A large sepul- 
 chral earthenware vase was dug up, much broken in the upper 
 part, in which were contained a small bronze cup, enamelled 
 in various colours, nearly perfect, and the remains of a bronze 
 patera of extreme thinness ; also one large bronze coin, much 
 worn, which is pronounced by competent authority to be of 
 Lucius Verus. There were in this vase some small remains 
 of bones. 
 
 In other parts of the garden and grounds, and in digging 
 the foundations for the house and offices, there were found 
 many fragments of various articles of Roman pottery, inclu- 
 ding some of Samian or imitated from Samian ware; some 
 Roman tiles (probably roof-tiles), many of which were in the 
 island already mentioned ; a bronze celt or axe-head ; a large 
 leaden ring, such as might have been run through a staple 
 fixed into a post or wall ; and two iron axe-heads, an iron 
 socket for receiving the head of an axe or other weapon, a 
 large iron cattle-bell, and fragments of iron nails, &c. The 
 dates of these leaden and iron articles (all which were much 
 oxidated) I do not profess to determine. 
 
 In 1868 the moat round the small island was cleaned out, 
 and at the bottom of it were found a large earthenware water- 
 vessel and a small earthenware drinking-cup, both in excellent 
 preservation. 
 
 A reservoir for the storage of water was constructed under 
 the Temple " Hanger" in 1869-70; and in digging-out this 
 reservoir some further fragments of Roman pottery were found. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 38] 
 
 In the spring of 1870, in the garden of a cottage on the 
 western side of the road ascending from Eveley corner to 
 Hogmoor, a number of bronze weapons, or parts of weapons 
 (Roman or Roman-British), were found under peat, free 
 from rust or oxidation. They consisted of twenty-seven frag- 
 ments of sword-blades, some of which, when put together, 
 made complete swords ; two fragments of sword-sheaths ; one 
 grooved socket for connecting a spear-head, or perhaps a 
 standard, with the shaft ; eighteen large and six small spear- 
 heads ; two spear-points ; three rings ; and two fragments of 
 uncertain use. Most of the sword-handles had bronze nails 
 (evidently intended to fasten the iron part of the handle to 
 some covering material) remaining perfect in their holes; and 
 in the cavities of several of the spear-heads the wooden points 
 which had been inserted to fix them in sockets connecting the 
 head with the shaft of the spear were still remaining. Some 
 of the edges of these weapons were hacked and notched in a 
 manner which could hardly have resulted from use ; and of 
 the sword-blades, some had been forcibly bent before being- 
 broken, proving that those who buried them had first taken 
 pains to render them useless. 
 
 In the same cottage garden there have also since been 
 found, in a fragment of a small earthenware pot, nearly 100 
 copper coins, much defaced, chiefly of the elder Tetricus, but 
 including a few of his son, and of Gallienus and Victorinus. 
 
 The next discovery was that of two large earthenware vases, 
 which, when perfect, must have contained considerably more 
 than 30,000 Roman and Roman-British coins, the number of 
 those which still remained in them when found, or which were 
 recovered by myself from the surrounding earth, having been 
 counted at 29,802. They were buried at a spot rather less 
 than halfway between Blackmoor House and Woolmer Pond, 
 where they were found, covered by about two feet of soil, on 
 the 30th of October, 1873, by some workmen employed in 
 trenching ground for a plantation. The upper parts of both 
 vases were much broken, probably by agricultural operations 
 at some distant date. The coins in them were closely caked 
 together, and completely filled what was left of the vase-. 
 
382 APPENDIX— ROMAN-BRITISH 
 
 They were all coated, more or less, with green oxide of copper. 
 Some fragments of the broken parts of the vases and a small 
 piece of the bottom of a Roman mortar were soon afterwards 
 found near the same spot, but nothing else was there dis- 
 covered. 
 
 The coins, on examination, were found to be chiefly bronze, 
 varying from a size rather larger than a shilling to less than 
 sixpence, those of the same size being often of very unequal 
 thickness and weight. There were also a large number, prin- 
 cipally denarii, of or plated with the base metal called by 
 numismatologists "billon." Of the whole quantity, about 
 one third only have been cleaned ; the whole have now been 
 sorted (an operation which was not complete when this paper 
 was first prepared), and the result is as follows * : — 
 
 Gordian the younger (emperor a.d. 238-244) 2 
 
 Philip the Arabian (emperor a.d. 244-249) 1 
 
 Otacilia (wife of Philip) 1 
 
 Gallus (emperor a.d. 252-254) 1 
 
 Volusian (son and associate of Gallus) 1 
 
 Valerian (emperor a.d. 254-200) 25 
 
 Valerian the younger (son of Valerian) 2 
 
 Gallienus (son and associate of Valerian, and sole emperor from "1 qj^k 
 
 a.d. 200 to 208) J 
 
 Salonina (wife of Gallienus) 331 
 
 Saloninus (son of Gallienus) 7 
 
 Julius Gallienus (son of Gallienus), doubtful 2 
 
 Postumus (tyrant in Britain and Gaul, a.d. 258-205) 831 
 
 Laelianus (ditto, a.d. 205) 8 
 
 Marius (ditto, a.d. 205) 60 
 
 Victorinus (ditto, a.d. 265-208) 5450 
 
 Tetricus Augustus (ditto, a.d. 208-271) 10195 
 
 Tetricus Csesar (son of Tetricus Augustus) 3833 
 
 Claudius Gothicus (emperor a.d. 208-270) 4213 
 
 Quintillus (brother of Claudius, emperor a.d. 270) 188 
 
 Aurelian (emperor a.d. 270-275) 175 
 
 Severina (wife of Aurelian) 14 
 
 Tacitus (emperor a.d. 275, 270) 200 
 
 Florian (brother of Tacitus, emperor a.d. 270) 18 
 
 Carried forward 28,539 
 
 •» 
 
 A catalogue of these coins will be found in the ' Numismatic Chroni- 
 
 - 
 
 cle,' new ser. vol. xvii. pp. 90 156. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 383 
 
 Brought forward 28.539 
 
 Probus (emperor a.d. 276-282) 431 
 
 Carus (emperor a.d. 282, 283) 12 
 
 Carinus (Caesar a.d. 282; emperor a.d. 283-285) 24 
 
 Numerian (brother and colleague of Carinus) 14 
 
 Magnia Urbica (wife of Carinus) 2 
 
 Diocletian (emperor a.d. 285-305) 75 
 
 Maximian (colleague of Diocletian, a.d. 286-305) 53 
 
 Constantius Chlorus (Caesar a.d. 292 ; became emperor a.d. 305) 1 
 
 Carausius (emperor in Britain a.d. 286-294) 545 
 
 Allectus (ditto, a.d. 294-296) 90 
 
 Total .... 29,788 
 The remaining fourteen cannot be distinguished. 
 
 Among these coins there are many which must have come 
 from the mint in an imperfect state, some of them having 
 either no heads or no reverses, one having the same head on both 
 sides, some twice struck, either with the head of the same 
 prince or with the head of one prince on a coin previously 
 bearing that of another. 
 
 With respect to the condition of these coins, it is worth 
 observation that those of Valerian, Gallienus, Salonina, Clau- 
 dius, Victorinus, the two Tetrici, and Carausius are generally 
 the most worn and defaced — a fact which, as to those of Ca- 
 rausius (almost the latest in the whole series), seems remark- 
 able. All the imperial coins of later date than Aurelian (as 
 also those of Severina and many of Aurelian himself) and the 
 coins of Allectus are comparatively unworn and in fine con- 
 dition, except when (as has happened in a few cases) they 
 have sustained accidental damage, from excessive oxidation or 
 adhesion while underground, or in the processes of separation 
 and cleaning. In the legends and reverses there is great 
 variety. They include 726 varieties which have, and 367 
 which have not, been described in Cohen's ' Catalogue of the 
 known Imperial Roman Coins.' 
 
 This is understood to be the largest deposit of Roman or 
 Roman-British coins ever yet found at one time in Great 
 Britain; and it is rendered still more remarkable by the fact 
 (already referred to) that in the last century other large quan- 
 tities (the number has not been recorded) were found within 
 
384 APPENDIX— ROMAN-BRITISH 
 
 a quarter of a mile of the same spot, in the bed of Woolmer 
 Pond, some in a large pot, probably similar to the vases 
 above mentioned, and others (being those mentioned by White) 
 not enclosed in any vessel, but appearing to have been hastily 
 thrown or poured into the water in a large heap or heaps. 
 These appear to have been, if not wholly, in part at all events, 
 of earlier date ; and they were probably (at least in part) of 
 greater size and value than those found at Blackmoor; for Mr. 
 Sewell speaks of medals and White of medallions as well as 
 coins ; and White describes those which he saw as having been 
 in very good condition. 
 
 This account of the antiquities discovered in the parish of 
 Seiborne would be imperfect without adding that, on the 
 ridges surrounding the forest basin, of which a description has 
 been given, there are thirty-five or more circular tumuli, or 
 sepulchral mounds, some larger than others, but none of very 
 large size, of which eleven are at or near Hogmoor, to the 
 north-east (seven together in one place, three near together 
 in another, and one by itself apart) ; four are on White Hill, 
 to the east (three together, close to the high road, and one at 
 a little distance apart) ; one is by itself on the south-easterly 
 projection of the northern Blackmoor ridge (the ridge on which 
 the church and vicarage-house now stand); five are in a line 
 together at the southern extremity of the western Blackmoor 
 ridge (close by the high road, overlooking Woolmer Pond) ; 
 six, close together, are at the top of the opposite hill, on the 
 other side of Woolmer Pond ; four, close together, are in the 
 government fir-plantations, about a quarter of a mile eastward 
 from the east end of Woolmer Pond ; three are in the highest 
 part of the same plantations, to the north-west of the high 
 road from Greatham to Liphook (one apart from the others, 
 to the south-west, the other two close together) ; and one, 
 remote from all the rest, is on the summit of Weaver's Down, 
 close to the extreme southern boundary of Seiborne parish. 
 Some of them appear to have been much, and all or almost 
 all of them more or less disturbed — with what results I have 
 no information, except what I have obtained from Mr. Prette- 
 john, who was present at the opening of five of them in 1829. 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 
 
 He states that Mrs. Barlow, a lady then residirtg at. Midhur-t, 
 by the permission of the proper authorities, carise'd that exami- 
 nation to be made. The first four mounds appeared to have 
 been previously explored ; and nothing was found in them 
 except pieces of charcoal, ashes, calcined bones, and (in one of 
 them within the Brintetone-L/odga enclosure) some small 
 fragments of an urn, "old, rotten, decayed, crookey," and 
 seeming to have been sun-dried, and not regularly burnt in a 
 potter's kiln. In the fifth (being the smaller of the two upon 
 "Cold-down hill, not far from' Hogmoor Pond and Binn's 
 Fond ") an urn was found, placed on the original level of the' 
 ground, covered by a flat stone, and containing (as I infer) 
 calcined human bories or ashes. Mr. Prettejolm describes it as 
 " of a bilged shape, something between a pitcher arid a flower- 
 pot," about eleven or twelve inches high, and capable of con- 
 taining two or three quarts. It was " in appearance, weak;" 
 but it was, with care, sent off " by two men to Midhurst " 
 (a distance of twelve miles), " carrying it ori a sling on a pole." 
 Mrs. Barlow supposed it to be not only a relic of much in- 
 terest and value, but of antiquity far greater than Roman- 
 British times ; but a friend, learned in these subjects, whom I 
 have consulted, is led by the description given to doubt the 
 Soundness of that opinion. No coins were found in any of 
 the tumuli thus examined. 
 
 With respect to earlier explorations', all that I cari gather, 
 through the recollections of old inhabitants, is, that some of the 
 tumuli on the Forest were opened by a gentleman named 
 Butler, certainly not less than sixty years ago. I have myself 
 lately opened the largest of those not covered by plantations 
 on my own property ; nothing, however, was found there, 
 except trace's of former disturbance of the ground down to the 
 natural level, arid a cavity which might, not improbably, have 
 once contained a sepulchral urn. 
 
 It occurs to me also to mentiori in this place (though their 
 origin, nature, and purpose is obscure) that, immediately to 
 the south-west of the five tumuli on the Blackmoor Ridge, 
 overlooking Woolmer Pond, are a series of ancient parallel 
 trenches (six or seven in number) of some depth, running 
 
 vol. it. -' C 
 
386 APPENDIX— R< (MAN-BRITISH 
 
 nearly north and south from the top of the ridge down to the 
 present high road. They can hardly be the result of natural 
 or artificial drainage ; and from their number and proximity 
 to each other they are not likely to represent ancient tracks 
 Or wars. AVhether they could, under any circumstances, have 
 been intended for military defence, I do not know. 
 
 From the pottery and other remains found at and near 
 Blackmoor House, it may be concluded with certainty that, 
 on or close to that site, there once stood Roman or Roman- 
 British buildings of some importance ; and the name of the 
 adjoining parish, Greatham, may perhaps indicate the situation 
 (at least as early as Saxon times) of a hamlet or village more 
 considerable than others in that neighbourhood. Mr. Sewell, 
 in his letter of 1777, already referred to, speaks of Roman 
 and British entrenchments as visible at that time on Headley 
 Heath and Common ; and he also describes, as a known 
 historical event (I know not on what authority), a march by 
 Vespasian, as general under Claudius, about a.d. 47, from 
 the neighbourhood of London towards Porehester, South- 
 ampton, and the Isle of Wight, by way of Headley and 
 Woolmer ; adding that he (Vespasian) then fixed, at or near 
 Woolmer Pond, " an abiding station or city, which remained 
 near 150 years, when they seem to have been expelled thence 
 by the Britons, or perhaps by an earthquake, or some other 
 cause." I have not myself met with any mention of what 
 Mr. Sewell calls " the Roman station or city of Wuhnere in 
 Hants " in any writer, ancient or modern, with whose works 
 I am acquainted ; and it is possible (as the end of the period 
 of "near 150 years," which he assigns for its continuance, 
 coincides with the time of Commodus, whose coins were the 
 latest which had been found in Woolmer Pond) that his 
 statements, however historical in form, may have been founded 
 upon conjecture. 
 
 From the condition of the fragments of weapons found at 
 Hogmoor, and from the circular tumuli on the ridges sur- 
 rounding the forest basin, it seems, further, to be a probable 
 conjecture that this part of the parish of Selborne was a 
 battle-field in Roman-British times; and the burial of so large 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 387 
 
 a quantity of money in one spot, and the burying and casting 
 away of another quantity (perhaps more valuable) in the 
 water within a quarter of a mile of the same spot (on both 
 sides of which water tumuli now appear), seems to tell a tale 
 of panic and flight. If we ask how so large a number and 
 variety of coins, thus hidden and cast away, came to be 
 brought together (including, as they do, some so imperfectly 
 minted that they can hardly have been issued for circulation), 
 it occurs to me, as a not improbable supposition, that they 
 may have been hastily collected and carried off from some 
 station in which there was a military chest, and perhaps also 
 a mint, either to provide for the pay of a retreating army, or 
 to prevent them from falling into the hands of an approaching 
 enemy. The Roman Clausen turn (now Bittern^ near Soutli- 
 ampton) was a garrison town, in which there was also a mint, 
 in the times of Carausius and Allectus, some of whose coins, 
 found at Blackmoor, bear the letter C on the exergue, which 
 I understand to be the minfcmark of that place. The latest in 
 date of all the coins found (if one, which may have become 
 casually mixed with those of this hoard, and which is at least 
 seventy years later, is excluded) are ninety of Allectus and a 
 •single coin of Constantius Chlorus — of which the legend is 
 " FL. VAL. CONSTANTIUS NOB. C." (Flavius Valerius 
 Constantius Nobilis Caesar), and on the reverse, " VIRTUS 
 AUGrGr." (Virtus Augustorum), with the device of Hercules 
 leaning on his club and holding a bow, with the lion's skin 
 over his arm — plainly one of his early coins, before his 
 accession to the empire. The date, therefore, of their deposit 
 cannot have been earlier than the reign of Allectus ; and if it, 
 had been later than the reconque'st of Britain by Constantius, 
 it is not probable that only one coin of that prince would have 
 been found. 
 
 On the other hand, there would be nothing in the occur- 
 rence among this treasure even of several coins of Con- 
 stantius, while only Caesar, inconsistent with the hypothesis 
 that it may have belonged to Allectus himself, and may have 
 been buried and cast away at the time when his retreat from 
 the coast was intercepted by Asclepiodotus, the Praetorian 
 
 2 c -1 
 
388 APPENDIX— ROMAN-BRITISH 
 
 prefect of Constantius, and when the engagement took place 
 in which Allectus lost his life. Constantius was made Caesar 
 by the Emperor Diocletian a.d. 292, four years before his 
 invasion of Britain, while Carausius was living ; and nothing- 
 is more probable than that during that interval coins struck 
 with the effigy of Constantius might obtain currency in 
 Britain. 
 
 My own conclusion is, that in the basin of Woolmer 
 Forest, and in the neighbouring ridges and hills, we have 
 probably the scene of important events, of which a narrative, 
 strictly contemporaneous, has been preserved to us in the 
 panegyric of the orator Eumenius, pronounced in honour of 
 Constantius Caesar on his recovery of Britain. 
 
 Carausius, a native of the country between the Meuse and 
 the Scheldt, of the same Belgic race by which, as early as the 
 time of Julius Caesar, Hampshire and the adjoining maritime 
 parts of England were peopled, and a man of high reputation 
 in naval warfare, was intrusted by Diocletian, soon after his 
 succession to the empire, with the defence of the northern 
 coast of Gaul from the incursions, then already frequent, of 
 Saxon and Scandinavian corsairs. This he did successfully ; 
 but being accused of permitting the corsairs to commit de- 
 predations, with the view of appropriating the spoil when re- 
 captured to his own use, Maximian ordered him to be put to 
 death. Carausius then (a.d. 286) declared himself inde- 
 pendent, and established an empire of his own in Britain, 
 retaining also Boulogne and other neighbouring places in 
 Gaul. To Britain he carried over with him the fleet under 
 his command, which had been equipped for the defence of the 
 opposite coast; and he built other ships of war in British 
 ports, manning them with merchant seamen from various 
 parts of Gaul, and with fighting men, attracted to his service 
 from different barbarous nations, whom he instructed in naval 
 as well as military warfare. The Roman legion, or legions, 
 stationed in Britain acknowledged his sovereiffntv, which 
 seems, from traces still remaining in various parts of the 
 island, north as well as south, to have extended throuo-hout 
 Great Britain. The condition of this island, improved by two 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SEEBORNE. 380 
 
 centuries and a half of Roman civilization, was at that time 
 highly prosperous. " Non mediocris," says Eumenius, "jac- 
 tura erat reipublica3 terra, tanto frugum ubere, tanto laeta 
 munere pastionum, tot metallorum fluens rivis, tot vectigali- 
 bus qusestuosa, tot accincta portubus, tanto hnmensa circuitu." 
 Carausius became a considerable potentate — in naval power, 
 especially, superior to the Romans, who, since their conquest 
 of all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, had 
 neglected maritime warfare. Maximian in vain attempted an 
 expedition against him ; and in a.d. 289 terms of peace were 
 agreed to, by which that prince and Diocletian recognized 
 him as (in Britain) their partner in the empire. 
 
 When, however (a.d. 292), Constantius and Galerius were 
 created " Cassars " (or presumptive successors to the empire), 
 Constantius, to whom the government of Gaul, Spain, and 
 Britain was assigned, lost no time in attacking Boulogne, and 
 reuniting to the empire that and the other continental posses- 
 sions which Carausius still held. But no invasion of Britain 
 appears to have been then apprehended. 
 
 In a.d. 294 Carausius was assassinated by his friend and 
 minister Allectus, who himself assumed the purple in Britain. 
 Preparations were now made by the Roman emperors for an 
 invasion ; and in the third year of Allectus (a.d. 296), Con- 
 stantius, having collected two fleets of transports, one at 
 Boulogne and the other at the mouth of the Seine, set sail 
 with a considerable force from both ports simultaneously 
 (himself embarking at Boulogne), with contrary winds, and 
 in thick, foggy weather. Part of the expedition lost its way, 
 and eventually sailed up the Thames to London ; the main 
 body, with Constantius himself and his Praetorian prelect 
 Asclepiodotus, made for the British coast opposite the Isle of 
 Wight, near which the navy of Allectus was on the look-out 
 for them. Under cover of the fog, that part of the force 
 which was under the command of Asclepiodotus passed un- 
 seen by the British fleet, and effected a landing, setting tire 
 immediately afterwards to their ships. Allectus, who was in 
 possession of the neighbouring port (doubtless Portsmouth), 
 and encamped upon the shore, hastily abandoned hi.- position, 
 
31K) APPENDIX— ROMAN-BRITISH 
 
 and retreated inland as soon as the sails of the ships which 
 followed with Constantius came in sight. His retreat was 
 cut off, and his army surprised, after it had advanced some 
 distance into the interior, by the force under Asclepioclotus. 
 The British troops were totally routed, and Allectus and 
 many of his followers were slain, whose bodies, distinguished 
 by their long fair hair and gay barbaric apparel, were found 
 dispersed over hill and plain in various directions, while 
 scarcely one Roman soldier perished. The remnant of the 
 British army made its way to London, intending first to 
 pillage, and then to abandon that city ; but, meeting there 
 with those troops of Constantius who had sailed up the 
 Thames, it was put to the sword. And thus Britain was 
 recovered to the Roman empire. 
 
 Such (supplying only from other sources some of the 
 introductory facts, with the names of Asclepiodotus and of 
 Carausius, whom the orator calls the " arch-pirate," and 
 Allectus, whom he styles a " satellite " of Carausius and the 
 * : standard-bearer '" of the rebel party) is the substance of 
 what we learn from Eumenius. The passages most material 
 to the question of the identity of the battle-field with Woolmer 
 Forest are subjoined, in the original Latin. 
 
 " Ad tempus ipsum tantse se dorso maris nebulas miscuerunt, 
 " ut inimica classis, apud Vectam insulam in speculis atque 
 " insidiis collocata, ignorantibus omnino hostibus praeteriretur. 
 "... Jam vero idem ille vestro auspicio invictus exercitus, 
 " statim atque Britannia? litus invaserat, universis navibus 
 " suis injecit ignes. . . . Ipse autem Signifer nefarias fac- 
 " tionis, cur ab eo litore, quod tenebat, abscessit, cur classem 
 " portumque deseruit, nisi quod te, Caesar invicte, cujus im- 
 " minentia vela conspexerat, timuit jam jamque venturum ? 
 " . . . Te tamen ille fugiens, incidit in tuorum maims ; a te 
 " vietus, a tnis exercitibus oppressus est. Denique adeo trer 
 " pidus, et te post terga respiciens, et in modum amentis 
 " attoniti properavit in mortem, ut nee explicaret aciem, nee 
 " omnes copias quas trahebat instruxerit, sed cum veteribus 
 '• illis conjurationis anctoribns, et mercenariis cuneis bar- 
 • baronnn, tanti apparatus oblitus, irruerit. Adeo, Caesar, 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBOKNE. 391 
 
 " hoc etiam reipublicse tribuit vestra felicitas, ut nemo fere 
 " Romanus occiderit, Imperio vincente Romano. Omnes enim 
 " illos, ut audio, campos atque colles non nisi fceterrimorum 
 " hostium corpora fusa texerunt. Ilia barbara, aut imitatione 
 " barbarian olim cultu vestis et prolixo crine rutilantia, tunc 
 " vero pulvere et cruore foedata, et in diversos situs tracta, 
 " sicuti dolorem vulnerum fuerant secuta, jacuerunt. Atque 
 " inter hos ipse Vexillarius latrocinii, cultu illo (juem vivus 
 " violaverat sponte deposito, et vix unius velaminis repertus 
 " indicio. Adeo verum, ubi dixerat, morte vicina, ut inter- 
 " fectum se nollet agnosci. 
 
 " Enimvero, Caesar invicte, tanto Deorurn Immortalium tibi 
 " est addicta consensu, omnium quidem quos adortus fueris 
 " hostium, sed praecipue internecio Francorum, ut illi quoque 
 " milites vestri, qui, per errorem nebulosi (ut paulo ante dixi) 
 " maris abjuncti, ad oppidum Londiniense pervenerant, quid- 
 " quid ex mercenaria ilia multitudine barbarorum proelio 
 u superfuerunt, cum direpta civitate fugam capessere cogi- 
 " tarent, passim tota urbe confecerint, et non solum pro- 
 " vincialibus vestris in ca^de hostium dederint salutem, sed 
 " etiam in spectaculo voluptatem." 
 
 The inferences to be drawn from this narrative appear to 
 me to correspond with those which I derive from the evidence 
 of the buried weapons and coins, and the tumuli upon the 
 ridges surrounding the basin of Woolmer Forest. If, as is 
 manifestly probable, Asclepiodotus landed between Ports- 
 mouth and Chichester, and if Portsmouth was the harbour 
 near which Allectus took up the position which he so hastily 
 abandoned, he would naturally fall back upon Clausentum 
 (Southampton) and Venta (Winchester) by the ordinary 
 Roman "iter;" and, after collecting whatever treasure he 
 found in those places, the more southerly road, corresponding 
 with that which now goes by way of Alresford* and Alton f 
 
 * A writer on the antiquities of the neighbourhood of Bicester, Oxon., 
 in Kennett's ' Parochial Antiquities,' supposes (somewhat fancifully ) that 
 the first syllable of the name of Alresford and of some other places was 
 derived from Allectus. 
 
 f Farnham was a military station ; whether identical with " Vindomis " 
 
£1 6 A i 'PEN DIX— ROMAN-BRITISH 
 
 towards Farnham and London, would probably be that which 
 lie would take, as offering the best chance of escape, if he 
 were closely pursued. From Alton, if he heard that Con- 
 stantius was following him, by turning a few miles to the 
 southward, to the station or settlement which (as has been 
 seen) existed at pr near Blackmoor, he would obtain the pro- 
 tection of a country, probably then more difficult of access, in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of the great Forest (Sylva 
 Anderida), which certainly extended as far north-west as a 
 part of Rogate, near the southern boundary of Selborne 
 parish, and possibly further. In order to account for his 
 meeting there with the Roman army under Asclepiodotus, 
 nothing more is required than that we should suppose Con- 
 stantius, soon after landing, to have ordered his Praetorian 
 prefect to cross the hills, through the country of the Meanvari, 
 in the direction of Alton or Farnham, for the purpose of 
 cutting off the communication between Allectus and the 
 military stations to the east and north-east of Winchester. 
 The route which Asclepiodotus would follow in the execution 
 of such orders would naturally take him, by Porchester and 
 West Meon * (bpth Roman stations), either to the valley of 
 
 or not is a matter of controversy. Alton was certainly a Roman town, 
 About thirty or forty years ago some interesting remains were found 
 there, in ground now occupied as a timber-yard by Messrs. Dyer, some of 
 which are still in the possession of the Messrs. Dyer and others are in the 
 British Museum. They consisted of several sepulchral vases, set in dishes 
 or saucers; two lachrymatories; a small wooden dice-box; a small lamp ; 
 and a signet-ring of onyx set in gold, which was still (when found) on 
 the calcined bone of the wearer's finger. On this seal are engraved four 
 small figures, set upright, parallel to each other, those in the centre 
 representing an amphora and an ear of bearded corn, between an axe with 
 fascgs on one side and a quiver with arrows on the other. There were 
 also some small pieces of Samian, or British Samian, ware. 
 
 * There is an earthwork on Old Winchester Hill, at West Meon, 
 supposed to have been the castra estiva of a Roman garrison in the 
 country of the Meanvari, a tribe whose appellation is still preserved in 
 the names of East and West Meon and Meonstoke. At the meeting of 
 the Archa-t (logical Association held at Winchester in 1845, Colonel 
 Greenwood exhibited a Roman terra-cotta lamp found within this en- 
 pampment, and some fragments of Roman pottery found in a barrow near 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 393 
 
 Petersfield, up which he would move to Woolmer Forest 
 (reversing what Mr. Sewell describes as Vespasian's march), or 
 along the upper level of the chalk hills to Selborne or some 
 point near it, from which he might descend suddenly upon 
 the enemy in Woolmer Forest, unprepared for his approach. 
 The expressions of the orator, " te fugiens," "te post terga 
 respiciens," " incidit in tuorum manus," favour the hypo- 
 thesis of such a countermarch by Asclepiodotus; and nothing 
 can better agree with the character of the ground on which I 
 suppose the two armies to have met than the words " omnes 
 illos campos atque colles," which " teterrimorum hostium 
 corpora fusa texerunt." The dispersion of the bodies of the 
 fallen " in diversos situs tracta " agrees also with the positions 
 of the tumuli (some in groups and some isolated), which, if 
 my identification of the battle-field is correct, may perhaps 
 now cover, or formerly have covered, some of their remains. 
 
 S. 
 
 Blackmoor, November 1874. 
 
 [The following is the letter from Mr. Sewell to Gilbert White referred 
 to by Lord Selborne in his Lordship's paper. The original letter was 
 communicated to me by Algernon Holt White, Esq. — T. B.] 
 
 Rev. Sir, 
 Out of a large pot of Medals (about 3 years since) which 
 were found in Wulmere Pond, I collected a series from 
 Claudius Drusus to Commodus included; that is medals of all 
 the Rom 11 Emp™ from An Dom 1 43 to 194 with those of the 
 two Faustinas and Crispina Empress of Commodus; and after 
 Commodus I found no more. Also among the rest I found 
 that of Trajan's famous stone Bridge over the Danube, below 
 Belgrade; which, if it had been found when the three Bridges 
 at London were first plann'd (viz: Westminster, London and 
 Blackfriars Bridges) would then have been of very great 
 
 it, together with some remains of Roman weapon- found at Ihamdean, a 
 few miles further north, in the same high chalky district. 
 
394 APPENDIX— ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE. 
 
 value. Vespasian a general under Claudius Drusus, about 
 a.d. 47, marched down with a Roman army this way from 
 the Parts where London now is, towards Porchester, S. 
 Hampton and the Isle of Wight. It is beautiful on Headley 
 Heath and Common to observe the Entrenchments of the 
 Romans and Britons, over against each other, the first ad- 
 vancing the other retreating. The Romans crossed Headley 
 River at Hanford and advanced to the place where now is 
 Wulmere Pond ; and there fixed an abiding station or City, 
 which remained near an 150 years ; when they seem to have 
 been expelled thence by the Britons, or perhaps by an Earth- 
 quake, or some other cause. Great treasures lie buried even 
 now in that Pond of Roman Antiquities, of Coins and medals, 
 of Instruments of War and Husbandry, and various Utensils 
 for various uses. Of the vast quantity of Medals found there, 
 as you mention, about 40 years since, no kind of historical 
 use was ever made that I ever heard of; when this plain, and 
 obvious Historical Truth might easily from thence have been 
 deduced — the commencement, continuance or duration of the 
 Roman Station or City of Wulmere in Hants. I believe 
 from thence may be traced vestiges of Rom: roads to Por- 
 chester, Winton &c. The R l Hon ble M. Legg got a great 
 Quantity of these Coins ; and with him they lye dormant : as 
 also a great Quantity with — Whitehead of Liphook, and 
 with M r Hugonen. And this is the misfortune of most 
 Antiquities that they frequently fall into hands that can 
 collect nothing from them ; in whose coffers they are more 
 buried than if they were to lye in the depth of a Mine or of 
 Wulmere Pond. The greatest curiosity hereabouts is, as I 
 said, the advancement of the Roman Army to the S.W. over 
 Hindhead and over Headley Heath and Common. What 
 may be observed of this kind by way of Liphook over Hind- 
 head, I have not yet searched and examined. 
 I am, Sir, most respectfully, 
 
 Your obed* Serv 
 
 WM. SEWELL. 
 
 Headley, Aug. 7, 1777. 
 
395 
 
 NOTE 
 
 ON SOME 
 
 RECENT DISCOVERIES IN SELBORNE CHURCH, 
 
 AND 
 
 THEIR BEARING ON THE HISTORY OF THE SUDINGTON 
 PRECEPTORY OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. 
 
 Some very interesting discoveries have been made in Selborne 
 Church in the course of its restoration, which has taken place 
 during the progress of the second volume of this work 
 through the press. These, while generally confirming the 
 views which I ventured to express in a note at p. 287 of the 
 first volume*, have thrown new light upon the history of 
 some parts of the building, and particularly as affording 
 important illustrations of the relation which existed between 
 the parish church and the Knights Templars of Southington 
 (Sudington) Preceptory. 
 
 The introduction of this celebrated military order into 
 England took place early in the reign of Stephen, about the 
 middle of the twelfth century. On their establishment in 
 London, their first home was in the district of Oldbourne (the 
 site of the present Southampton Buildings), which, in the 
 reign of Henry II., was exchanged for the piece of ground to 
 which the name of the order has become permanently at- 
 tached, and which constituted the headquarters of the order 
 in England until its dissolution. It is not necessary here to 
 
 to 
 
 * I must here correct a mistake which I made in the note referred to. 
 I stated that there is no piscina in the chancel or the nave. On removing 
 the wainscot, however, which had for ages covered this part of the wall, ;i 
 good piscina of the early English style was exposed, which had been 
 entirely concealed. 
 
396 APPENDIX. 
 
 enter into the general history of the Knights Templars*. As 
 regards their connexion with Selborne, all that was known 
 with any certainty is told by Gilbert White in his usual full 
 and interesting manner f. But still further illustrations of 
 this connexion have been brought to light in the course of 
 the recent explorations. 
 
 It is to the east end of the south aisle of the church that 
 the principal interest attaches with reference to this subject. 
 I have, in the note already alluded to, mentioned that in this 
 part exist all the essentials of sacramental furniture. Gilbert 
 White states that the east end of this aisle was called the 
 South Chantry, and adds that, " till within these thirty years " 
 (therefore within his recollection), it was " divided off by an 
 old carved Gothic framework of timber, having been a private 
 chantry." I have also stated that its boundary was still 
 further defined by its being raised above the general level of 
 the church floor by a stone step about 4 or 5 inches high, not 
 only across the aisle from north to south, but also enclosing 
 the area of the chapel by a similar step from west to east. 
 We have then full evidence that the east portion of the south 
 aisle formed a distinct chapel or chantry, separated by being 
 on a higher level, and by a carved wooden screen, and 
 furnished with an altar, a piscina, and a niche. The question 
 then arises, to whose use was this separate place of worship 
 appropriated ? The question I believe to be solved by the 
 recent researches. 
 
 Gilbert White states X that " two narrow stone coffin-lids 
 composed part of the floor ' of the north transept. At 
 present, he says, " they have no coffins under them ;" and 
 from this circumstance he very naturally concludes that this 
 was not the position which they originally occupied, but that 
 
 * Of the atrocious persecutions, the tortures, and slaughter to which 
 the Knights Templars were undeservedly subjected on the demolition of 
 their order, mainly from the avarice and through the machinations of 
 Philip the Fair of France and Pope Clement V., I need only refer to the 
 full and interesting accouut in Mill's ' History of the Crusades,' vol. ii. 
 p. 366 &c. (4th edit.). 
 
 t Vol. 1. p. 316 &c. 
 
 1 Vol. I. p. 28t. 
 
' I 
 
 . Setbon , 
 
 .'.i ' . . i I ■ '< . 
 
SELBORNE CHURCH. 397 
 
 they were brought hither from some part of a former church. 
 On one of these lids, he tells us, " is to be discerned a discus, 
 with a cross on it, at the end of a staff or rod, tin- well-known 
 symbol of a Knight Templar." 
 
 The discovery of no less than five stoue coffin-lids in this 
 transept, not one of which had a coffin under it, confirms the 
 opinion that this was not their original situation, but lint 
 they were brought to this spot by some graceless restorer to 
 serve as paving-stones. At what period this was done it is 
 impossible to say. There were no stone coffins found in the 
 transept, but a grave lined with stone, containing the decayed 
 remains of a wooden coffin and the bones of a man. 
 
 It is to the south chantry that we have to turn for the pro- 
 bable solution of the question. Here were found two stone 
 coffins, each covered with a lid. One of the coffins was about 
 two feet below the floor, exactly at the northern boundary of 
 the chantry ; the other partly built into the south wall. Each 
 is formed of a solid block of Sussex stone, and each con- 
 tained the skeleton of a man ; the workmanship was through- 
 out that of a skilled stonemason. There is in each, as is usual 
 in stone coffins of that period, a hollow for the head, and in 
 each case the skull occupied its original position within it. 
 There was also in each of them the usual hole at the bottom 
 of the coffin to drain off the moisture produced by the decay 
 of the body. The coffins are somewhat narrower at the foot 
 than at the head *, which is also the case with most of the lids 
 of which the coffins have not been found. In both the ske- 
 letons were perfect ; in the larger of them the tibia had been 
 broken and badly set, the two broken portions overlapping 
 each other. The other coffin is somewhat smaller and more 
 tapering. 
 
 I have now to describe those lids which are ornamented with 
 crosses. The most perfect of these covered one of the coffins 
 
 * The dimensions of this coffin are as follows:— Total outside length • '. 
 feet 10 inches, breadth at the head 1 foot 10 inches, at the foot 1 foot 4 
 inches, the thickness of the stone parietes averaging- about 3| inches : the 
 horseshoe-shaped cavity for the head is 9| inches in diameter and 7 inches 
 deep, being 1 inch above the floor of the coffin. The length of the in- 
 terior is 6 feet 3 inches. The other coffin is a little smaller. 
 
398 APPENDIX— SELBORNE CHURCH. 
 
 which was found within the precincts of the south chantry. 
 The cross (see Plate facing p. 397) is of the form designated in 
 the language of heraldry the cross flory, and is so circular in its 
 outline as to give the impression that it is figured on the discus 
 of the Templars' symbol. There is a ring on the staff imme- 
 diately under the cross, which is also seen on another of the 
 crosses. On this cross is an element which I have never before 
 seen: at the intersections of its four angles are four hearts, 
 with the apices towards the centre. On one of the lids is a 
 simple cross jidte'e (Maltese), without staff or any other adjunct ; 
 the sides of the lid are broadly and deeply moulded. Nearly a 
 hundred tiles were found at a short distance below the sur- 
 face, evidently belonging to the thirteenth century ; almost 
 the whole of them are of the usual size, about 5^ inches ; six 
 examples of these are figured in the opposite Plate. There is 
 one of a most extraordinary pattern, fully 6^ inches square, 
 which is also figured. These tiles undoubtedly paved the space 
 in front of the altar. All these relics appear to me to point 
 conclusively to the adaptation of this chantry or chapel to the 
 service of the Knights Templars. T. B. 
 
. 
 
 Wt/vte's' Skiborne, 
 
 wMJmm^^^ 1 ' 
 

INDEX. 
 
 Account-book, Gilbert White's, ii. 
 
 316. 
 Adanson, M., ii. 245. 
 Addison's ' Travels,' ii. 299. 
 Air, humming in the, i. 452. 
 Albinism in birds, i. 45. 
 Alfred, king, chapel founded by, i. 
 
 .318. 
 Allectus, battle between Constantius 
 
 and, ii. 389. 
 Alton, Koman remains found at, ii. 
 
 392. 
 
 , stag-hunt at, i. 449. 
 
 Ameria, wife of Adam Gurdon, i. 307. 
 America, Seneca on the discovery of, 
 
 ii. 43. 
 Ampelis garrulus, i. 37- 
 Amphibia, breeding of, i. 5. 
 and reptilia found at Selborne, 
 
 i. 53 and note, ii. 366. 
 Andalusia, climate of, ii. 7. 
 Anderson, Rev. James, ii. 175. 
 Anecdote of a field-mouse, i. 146. 
 
 of Mr. Pink, ii. 156. 
 
 of Gilbert White, i. 369. 
 
 Animal productions of Southern 
 
 Europe, ii. 67-94. 
 Animals, aropyi] of, i. 145. 
 , influence of food on the colour 
 
 of, i. 45, 481. 
 and plants, Mr. Banks's collec- 
 tion of, ii. 99. 
 Anne, Queen, visit to Woliner forest 
 
 to see the red deer, i. 18. 
 Antiquities, i. 275, ii. 378. 
 Ants, migration of, i. 462. 
 Aphides, shower of, i. 245, 462. 
 Arcbitecture of Church, i. 287 note, 
 
 ii. 395. 
 Aristotle, extract from, on the Capri- 
 
 mulgus, ii. 224. 
 
 Armament, on the late (poem), i. 
 
 506. 
 Amo, the river, frozen over, ii. 121. 
 Arnold, Miles, Selborne parsonage 
 
 leased to, i. 364. 
 Ash trees, i. 470. 
 Ashford, Thomas, elected prior, i. 352. 
 
 , pension granted to, i. 360. 
 
 Attachment of animals of different 
 
 kinds to each other, i. 200. 
 Aurora australis, ii. 140. 
 
 borealis, i. 479. 
 
 Auk, little, i. 99 and note. 
 Ayles or Alice Holt, i. 25. 
 
 Badeisley, preceptory at, i. 317, ii. 
 
 131. 
 Bagshot, review at, ii. 284. 
 Balloon, Mr. Blanchard's, ii. 154. 
 Banks, Joseph, account of a visit to, 
 
 ii. 97. 
 , letter from Gilbert White to, ii. 
 
 241. 
 Barker, Miss Mary, letter from Gilbert 
 
 White to, ii. 176. 
 , Mrs., letters from Gilbert 
 
 White to, ii. 107, 109, 117, 135, 154, 
 
 165, 178. 
 , Samuel, letters from Gilbert 
 
 White to, ii. 96, 100, 105, 110-116, 
 
 118, 124-129, 133, 136, 138-142, 
 
 161, 163, 168, 173, 180. 
 , , letter from John White 
 
 to, ii. 103. 
 -, Thomas, letters from Gilbert 
 
 White to, ii. 95, 101, 119, 123, 166, 
 
 171. 
 Barometers at Selborne and Newton 
 
 compared, i. 259. 
 Barragons manufactured af Alton, i. 
 
 15. 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Barriugton, Hon. Dairies, letters from 
 
 Gilbert White to, i. 113-274. 
 — -, controversy with Dr. Dncarel, 
 
 ii. 269. 
 Bat, great, if reallv a distinct species, 
 
 i. 92. 
 
 , , description of, i. 93. 
 
 , , method of feeding, i. 77. 
 
 Batrachia at Selborne, i. 50. 
 
 , breeding of, i. 50, 53, 55, 58. 
 
 Bats, habits of, 34 and note. 
 
 species of, at Selborne, i. 33 and 
 
 note. 
 
 , tame, 34. 
 
 Battle of Woolmer forest, ii. 390. 
 Beachy Head, Cornish choughs found 
 
 at, i. 96. 
 
 Beans sown by birds, i. 473. 
 
 Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, i. 
 qq i 
 
 Beeches, remarks on, i. 470, ii. 247, 
 
 249, 252, 258, 2(55, 268, 271, 281. 
 Bees, cucumbers set by, i. 474. 
 , fondness of an idiot boy for, i. 
 
 189. 
 Benefactors to Selborne priory, mass 
 
 ordered to be celebrated for, i. 
 
 361. 
 Bernes, Peter, appointed prior, i. 341, 
 
 348. 
 , indenture of certain things put 
 
 into the custody of, i. 340, 399. 
 , reduced to poverty, i. 35] . 
 
 — , resignation of, i. 343, 349. 
 Binn's or Bean's pond, i. 22, ii. 375. 
 Birds, albinism in, i. 45. 
 
 — , beans sown by, i. 473. 
 , change of colour in, cause of, i. 
 
 1 2S. 
 
 — , choosing fresh mate after losing 
 the first, i. 82. 
 — , different voices of, i. 222. 
 
 — dusting themselves, i. 130. 
 
 - found at Selborne, ii. 363. 
 hard-billed, more easily im- 
 
 ported than soft-billed, i. 84. 
 , migration of, i. 87. 
 
 — , non-migrating, food of, i. 104, 
 
 KI6. 
 
 — , numerous species at Selborne, 
 
 i. 103. 
 
 — , observations on. i. 423. 
 
 of passage, list of, i. 48. 
 
 - of prey, boldness and rapacity 
 
 of, i. 434. 
 
 — , soft-billed, which remain, i. 
 
 114. 
 — , summer, i. 1 1.'!. 
 
 Birds that sing as they fly, i. 118. 
 
 — , their various kinds of flight, i. 
 
 221 1. 
 which are silent at midsummer, 
 
 i. 117. 
 
 ■ which sing in the night, i. 116. 
 
 which sing till past midsummer. 
 
 i. 117. 
 which sing only in early spring, 
 
 i. 117. 
 — — , winter, i. 115. 
 with some note but no true song. 
 
 i. 118. 
 Black game, i. 18. 
 spring, severe season known by 
 
 the name of, i. 479. 
 Blackcap, i. 29. 
 
 , bird of passage, i. 29, 480. 
 
 , its song, i. 102, 120. 
 
 Blackmoor, i. 22. 
 
 , Roman remains found at, ii. 
 
 379. 
 Blackthorn, i. 472. 
 Bog-moss used for brooms, i. 188. 
 Bog-oak at Wolmer, i. 17, note, 256. 
 Bohemian chatterer, i. 37. 
 BomJjylius medius, i. 460. 
 Botanizing excursion through Wales 
 
 ii. 234. 
 Botany, on the study of, i. 215. 
 Botetourt, Lord, on civility, ii. 210. 
 Bourn well head, ii. 207. 
 Brambling, migration of, i. 75. 
 Bridge over the rivulet at Oakhanger, 
 
 i. 364. 
 Brimstone Lodge, Wolmer, i. 21. 
 Brydone, P., ii. 276. 
 Bull issued by Pope Innocent VIII. , 
 
 i. 35!). 
 
 - issued by Pope Martin, i. 337. 
 Bullfinch, change of colour in a, i. 
 
 45, 98, ii. 101. 
 Bunting, cirl, i. 40, note. 
 
 — , common, rare at Selborne, i. 40. 
 Bustard, habits of the, i. 89, 482. 
 Butcher-bird. i. 96. 
 
 , red-backed, i. 60. 
 
 Butt-wood close, i. 363. 
 
 Butterflies found at Selborne, ii. 368. 
 
 Calendar, Gilbert White's garden, ii. 
 347. 
 
 , naturalist's, comparative view 
 
 of the, kept at Selborne and Cats- 
 field, i. 405. 
 
 Cancers, toads irsed for curing, i. 57- 
 
 Cane or Kine, a small variety of 
 weasel, i. 44. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 401 
 
 Canons of Selborne fond of hunting 
 
 i. 328. 
 Caprimulgus, extract from Aristotle 
 
 on the, ii. 224. 
 Carausius establishes an empire in 
 
 Britain, ii. 388. 
 Carnivora found at Selborne, ii. 362. 
 Carp retire in winter, i. 102. 
 Carpenter, Eichard, preceptor of 
 
 Sudington, i. 320. 
 Castration, its effects, i. 198. 
 Cat, young squirrels suckled by a, i. 
 
 449. 
 Catalogue of animals sent to Linnoeus 
 
 by John White, ii. 85. 
 Catsfield, naturalist's calendar kept 
 
 at, i. 405. 
 Cattle resorting to water, i. 23. 
 
 , fatal effects on, from eating 
 
 leaves and twigs of the yew-tree, i. 
 292, ii. 260. 
 Chaffinch, separation of the sexes in 
 
 their migration, i. 39, 46. 
 Chaffinches, flocks of female, i. 98, 132. 
 Chalk of Selborne, fossils found in the, 
 
 ii. 376. 
 Chandler, Dr., ii. 61. 
 
 , letter from, ii. 132. 
 
 Chantry, Selborne priory reduced to 
 
 a, i. 362. 
 Chapel of Whaddon, i. 364. 
 Chapone, Mrs., ii. 108. 
 Charter for the foundation of Selborne 
 priory, i. 375. 
 
 respecting the choosing of a 
 
 prior, i. 323, 377. 
 Chaucer, the clergy ridiculed by, i. 
 
 338. 
 Cheiroptera found at Selborne, ii. 
 
 362. 
 Chestnut, magnificent Spanish, at 
 Tortworth, ii. 253. 
 
 , old London built of, ii. 266, 
 
 269. 
 
 timber, i. 471. 
 
 Chif-chaf, remarks on the, ii. 280, 286. 
 Cliloritic marl of Selborne, fossils 
 
 found in the, ii. 376. 
 marl, springs issuing from the, 
 
 ii. 374. 
 Church, recent discoveries in Selborne, 
 
 ii. 395. 
 
 bells, i. 288. 
 
 yard, i. 289. 
 
 Churton, Rev. R., correspondence 
 
 between Gilbert White and, ii. 186- 
 
 230. 
 Cicada, chirping note of the, ii. 42. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 Cimex linearis, breetling-habits of. i. 
 4. V». 
 
 Clausentum, the Roman, ii. 387. 
 Cleanliness in sacred matters, i. 331. 
 
 Cobwebs covering the ground, i. 180. 
 
 , shower of, i. 180. 
 
 Coccus of the vine, i. :_'4:>. 
 
 , its history, i. 244. 
 
 Cockcbaffers, damage done by, i. 452. 
 Cockroaches, swarms of, i. 454. 
 Coffin-lids, stone, found in Selborne 
 
 church, i. 2*4, ii. 397. 
 Coins found in Woolmer pond, i. 24, 
 
 277, 278, ii. 378. 
 Colour of animals, influence of food 
 
 on the, i. 45, 481. 
 Conchifera found at Selborne, ii. 367. 
 Condensation, test of, ii. 115. 
 Conduit wood, spring of water in, i. 
 
 363. 
 Congregating of birds, causes of, i. 
 
 133, 140. 
 Constantius, battle between Allectus 
 
 and, ii. 389. 
 Conveniences enjoyed by the priory, 
 
 Copulation of frogs, i. 51, ii. 245, 
 
 248, 252, 270. 
 Corn-mill at Selborne priory, i. 365. 
 Cornish choughs at Beachy Head, i. 
 
 96. 
 Cornua Ammonis, localities where 
 
 found, i. 8, 480. 
 Cornwallis, the Hon. E., ii. 47. 
 Court-leet held at the Grange, i. 371. 
 Courtnev, Peter, Bishop of Winches- 
 ter, i.360. 
 Cowthorpe oak, ii. 247. 
 Cricket, field, i. 230. 
 
 , house, i. 233. 
 
 , mole, i. 235. 
 
 Crickets, supposed rumination of, i. 
 
 236 and note. 
 Crocus, on the blowing of the (poem), 
 
 i. 504, ii. 195. 
 Crossbill, i. 32 and note, 480. 
 
 at Ringmer. i. 131. 
 
 Cuckoo, its habits, i. 122, 123, 125, 
 
 130, 483, ii. 255, 256. 
 , supposed anatomical cause of 
 
 its not incubating, i. L95. 
 
 — , ditto, refuted, i. 197. 
 
 and fern-owl, resemblance be- 
 
 tween, i. 112. 
 Cucumbers set by bees, i. 474. 
 Cullum, Sir John. ii. 287. 
 Cundyth wood, i. 363. 
 Curlew stone, migration of the, i. 438. 
 
 2d 
 
402 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Curtis, William, on the geology of 
 
 Selborne, ii. 374. 
 Cypselus melba in England, i. 88, note. 
 
 Daw, power of flighl of a, ii. 130. 
 Deer, fallow, in the Holt forest, i. 26. 
 
 , red, in Wolmer forest, i. 18, 19. 
 
 ■ , suborbital glands of, i. 43, 44. 
 
 stealers, i. 19 tt seq. 
 
 Derhain on sounds made under water, 
 
 ii. 307. 
 Dew condensed by ponds, i. 194. 
 Discovery of the harvest-mouse, i. 30. 
 
 ii. 2G. ' 
 Dissensions between religious orders, 
 
 i. 317. 
 Diver, great speckled, observations 
 
 ou, i. 435. 
 Dodecatheon media, ii. 233. 
 Dog. Chinese, i. 254. 
 Dogs, anecdotes of. ii- 2S3. 2S0. 
 
 — , peculiar habits of, i. 255. 
 Drought, dripping weather after, i. 
 
 478. 
 Drvden and Pope. ii. 100, 111. 
 Ducarel, Dr.. ii. 268, 269. 
 Duck with arms of tbe king of Den- 
 mark on its collar, i. 130. 
 Dufour's fire-escape, description of, 
 
 ii. 300. 
 
 Earthenware vases found at Selborne, 
 
 ii. 381. 
 Earthworms, i.404. 
 
 , beneficial, i. 201, 202, note. 
 
 Ecclesiastical tiles found in Selborne 
 
 church, ii. 398. 
 Echoes, i. 209. 
 . Lucretius's description of, i. 
 
 212, 213. 
 
 of firing cannon, i. 258. 
 
 Eels, breeding of, i. 100. 
 
 Ela Longspee, i. 321. 
 
 Election of a prior, mode of, i. 334. 
 
 , dispute about the, i. .*14.">. 
 
 Elm, extraordinary large, ii. 273, 274, 
 
 278. 
 Empedes, swarms of, i. 402. 
 Emperors, coins of Roman, found at 
 
 Selborne, ii. 382. 
 Empshott, etymology of,i. 1, note. 
 England, floods in, ii. 105. 
 English and a Norman ship, quarrel 
 
 between the crews of an, i. 314. 
 poetrv, sentiments on, ii. 100, 
 
 111. 
 Epitaph of Rev. Andrew Ettv. i. 280. 
 of Mr. Ray, ii. 223. 
 
 Epitaph of Gilbert White, i. 286. 
 Estates, tenure of the Selborne, i. 
 
 372. _ 
 Eumenius on the battle of Woolmer 
 
 forest, ii. 390. 
 Europe, Southern, animal productions 
 
 of, ii. 07-94. 
 
 Fair held at Selborne, i. 372. 
 Fail-wise, Thomas, appointed prior, i. 
 
 345. 
 Fairy rings, i. 475. 
 Falcon, peregrine, i. 35, 253, 480. 
 Fauna Calpensis, Gilbert White's 
 
 sentiments on the, ii. 45, 49. 
 Fern-chafer, i. 102. 
 Fern-owl, habits of the, i. 439, ii. 251. 
 
 , migration of the, ii. 273. 
 
 , torpidity of the, ii. 240. 
 
 Ferns found at Selborne, ii. 372. 
 Field-cricket,i.230. 
 Field-fare. i. 79. 
 
 breeds in Sweden, i. 134. 
 
 Field-mouse, anecdote of, i. 140. 
 Fire-escape, description of Dufour's, 
 
 ii. 300. 
 Fish, gold and silver, i. 246. 
 
 , sense of hearing in, ii. 304. 
 
 ■ , sleep of. ii. 139. 
 
 , species of, at Selborne, i. 32 and 
 
 note, 56, 57. 
 Flea of sand-martin, i. 109 and note. 
 Flies, observations on, i. 401. 
 Flight of birds, various kinds of, i. 
 
 220. 
 Floods in England, ii. 105. 
 Flora of Selborne, i. 217, ii. 309. 
 Flowing of sap, i. 409. 
 Fly-catcher, i. 29, 48. 
 
 , its habits, i. 103. 
 
 Fog, reflection of, i. 477. 
 Food, influence of. on the colour of 
 animals, i. 45, 481. 
 
 of the ring-dove, i. 433. 
 
 — of the cuckoo, ii. 113. 
 Forest-fly, i. 151 and note. 
 Forms respecting the choosing of a 
 
 prior, i. 323, 377. 
 Forster on the aurora australis, ii. 
 
 14(1. 
 Fossil wood of Woolmer forest, i. 
 
 256. 
 Fossils found at Selborne, i. 7, ii. 370. 
 Foundation of the priory of Selborne, 
 
 charter for the, i. 37- r >. 
 Franklin, Dr., on sounds made under 
 
 water, ii. 307. 
 Freestone, i.8. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 403 
 
 Frog, green, i. 53 and note. 
 
 Frogs coming out in rainy weather, 
 
 reason for, i. 52, 481. 
 , eopidation of, i. 51, ii. 245, 248, 
 
 252, 270. 
 Frost, partial, i. 476. 
 
 , remarkable, in 1776, i. 263. 
 
 , remarkable, in 1784, i. 2(57. 
 
 Frozen sleet, i. 477, ii. 40. 
 
 Galls of Lombardy poplar, i. 470. 
 
 Garden kalendar, Gilbert White's, 
 ii. 347. 
 
 Gardens for the poor, importance of, 
 i. 207. 
 
 Gassendi, effects of music, i. 251, ii. 
 145, 193. 
 
 Gasteropoda found at Selborne, ii. 367. 
 
 Geology of Selborne, ii. 374. 
 
 Gibbon, Mr., ii. 120. 
 
 Gibraltar, on the natural history of, 
 ii. 290. 
 
 quail, ii. 6, note. 
 
 Gilpin, William, ii. 276. 
 
 Glowworms, i. 464. 
 
 Goatsucker, habits of the, i. 439. 
 
 , Pennant's mistake about its 
 
 noise, i. 65, note, 07, 93. 
 
 Godesfleld, preceptory at, i. 317, ii. 
 131. 
 
 Gold and silver fish, i. 246. 
 
 Gossamer, i. 180, 182 and note, ii. 116, 
 142. 
 
 Gough,Mr., ii. 211. 
 
 Gracious-street, a term not under- 
 stood, i. 371. 
 
 Grange, the priory, i. 371. 
 
 Grasses, a knowledge of, useful, ii. 127. 
 
 Grasshopper-lark, i. 48, 50 note. 
 
 Graves, supposed, of Knights Temp- 
 lars, i. 284, ii. 396. 
 
 Great speckled diver, observations on, 
 i. 435. 
 
 Grebes, erroneous ideas respecting, i. 
 438. 
 
 Grimm, S. E., ii. 48. 
 
 Gross-beaks, i. 32 and note. 
 
 , food of, i. 446. 
 
 Growth and size of trees, i. 467, ii. 
 247, 249, 252, 257, 258, 2(54, 270, 
 273, 275, 277, 278, 281, 288. 
 
 Gurdon, Sir Adam, i. 306. 
 
 , made warden of Woliuer forest, 
 
 i. 312. 
 
 Gypsies, i. 184. 
 
 Habits of the old family tortoise, i. 
 373. 
 
 Habits of thrushes, i. 426. 
 Hales, Dr., ii. 244, 248, 261, 263. 
 
 , on dew, i. 195. 
 
 Hanger, the, i. 2. 
 
 Hare, Francis, ii. 253. 
 
 Hare, white or Scottish, i. 75 and 
 
 note. 
 Hartley Mauditt, orthography of, i. 2, 
 
 note. 
 Harvest-bug, i. 89, note. 
 Harvest-mouse, i. 29, 35, 36 and note, 
 
 42. 
 
 ■ , discovery of the, i. 36, ii. 26. 
 
 Harvest scene (poem), i. 503, ii. 197. 
 Harwood, Sir liusick, ii. 211. 
 Hawfinch, i. 32 and note. 
 Hawk killed by poultry, i. 225. 
 Havvklev, landslip at," i. 227, ii. 27, 
 
 103, 375. 
 Hawks, nesting-places of, i. 100. 
 Headley Heath, Roman and British 
 
 entrenchments on, ii. 380, 394. 
 Hearing in fishes, on the sense of, ii. 
 
 304. 
 Heat, extraordinary, in 1781 andl783, 
 
 i. 270. 
 Heath-fires, why lighted, i. 2J, 480. 
 Hedgehogs, their habits, i. 78. 
 Hedge-sparrow, habits and food of, i. 
 
 105. 
 Heliotrope, suggestions for a, i. 22."). 
 Hen harrier, boldness of a, i. 434. 
 Heronry at Cressi Hall, i. 04 07. 
 Hesiod on the note of the Cicada, ii. 42. 
 Hibernation of swallows, i. 142. 
 Himantopus, i. 237, 238 note. 
 Hijypobosea hirundinis, i. 151. 
 Hirundines, on various, ii. (i, 22, 'M), 
 
 33, 35, 127, 240, 249. 257, 272, 291, 
 
 302, 443. 
 Hirundo rupestris of Scopoli identical 
 
 with H. hyhcrna, i. 86. 
 Hobart, John, ii. 275. 
 Hobby on Nore hill, i. 254, note. 
 Hogmoor, fragments of weapons found 
 
 at, ii. 386. 
 Hollow lanes, i. 11. 
 Holt, Ayles, account of, i. 25. 
 Holt forest, i. 25, 26. 
 forest, large oak in, ii. 247, 
 
 302. 
 Honey-buzzard, i. 1<>S. 
 Honey-dew, origin of, i. 478, 485. 
 
 , cause and effect of, i. 27". 
 
 Hoopoe, i. 31 and note. 
 
 Hop-fly, i. 245. 
 
 Hop-gardens, humming sound beard 
 
 in, 114, 121. 
 
404 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hops, culture of, i. 472. 
 
 Home, George, ii. 287. 
 
 Horse, instinct shown by a, i. 449. 
 
 House-cricket, i. 233, 445. 
 
 House-martins, flocks of, ii. 272. 
 
 , nidification of, i. 152. 
 
 House-pigeon, origin of, i. 109. 
 
 House-swallows partial to water, i. 
 252. 
 
 Humming in the air, i. 452. 
 
 Hunter, Mr., on the sight of the night- 
 ingale, ii. 256. 
 
 Hunting, canons of Selborne fond of, 
 i. 328. 
 
 Hurtsmonceux castle, ii. 268. 
 
 park, beeches in, ii. 265. 
 
 Huxham's remarks on rain, i. 258. 
 
 Hybrid pheasant, description of a, 
 i. 430. 
 
 Hyde abbey, i. 318, 355. 
 
 Hyla viridis, i. 53 and note. 
 
 Ichneumon fly, spider attacked by a, 
 
 i. 459. 
 Idiot boy, his fondness for bees and 
 
 immunity from their stings, i. 189. 
 Immunities and privileges enjoyed by 
 
 Selborne priory, i. 366. 
 Impropriation of Selborne priory, i. 
 
 355. 
 Indenture of certain tilings put into 
 
 the custody of Peter Bernes, sacrist 
 
 of Selborne priory, i. 340, 399. 
 Indians, South - Sea, instruments &c. 
 
 used by, ii. 98. 
 Insectivora found at Selborne, ii. 
 
 302. 
 Insects, birds of prey occasionally feed 
 
 on, i. 424, 485. 
 
 , noxious, i. 89, 91 notes. 
 
 , on various, ii. 4, 8, 37. 
 
 and Vermes, observations on, i. 
 
 451. 
 Instinct, modifications of, i. 250. 
 Invitation to Selborne (poem), i. 499, 
 
 ii. 36. 
 Ireland, natural history of, i. 106. 
 Iron-stone, remarkable forms of, i. 
 
 10, note. 
 Italy, on a tour through, ii. 224. 
 Ivy, insects supported by, i. 451. 
 Ivy-berries, i. 472. 
 
 Jackdaws, nesting-places of, i. 62, ii. 
 
 217, 218. 
 Japan plants thriving in our climate, 
 
 i. 484. 
 .lekyll, Sir Joseph, ii. 263. 
 
 Kalendar, Gilbert White's garden, ii. 
 
 347. 
 Kent, Nathaniel, ii. 276. 
 King John's hill, i. 22. 
 Kite's hill, tumulus known as, i. 371. 
 Knights Templars, i. 31(5. 
 , supposed graves of, i. 
 
 284, ii. 396. 
 
 Lakes in Wolmer, names of, i. 21, 23. 
 
 in Wolmer forest, wild fowl fre- 
 quenting, i. 33. 
 
 Land-rail, observations on a, i. 431 . 
 
 Lands and manors pertaining to Sel- 
 borne priory, value of the, i. 401. 
 
 Landslip at Hawkley, i. 227, ii. 27, 
 103, 375. 
 
 Langelande, Robert, the clergy ridi- 
 culed by, i. 338. 
 
 Langrish, Nicholas, pension granted 
 to, i. 362. 
 
 Lathrcsa sguammaria, ii. 241. 
 
 Lav ants, i. 166. 
 
 Leaves, renovation of, i. 470. 
 
 Leigh, Dr., ii. 283. 
 
 Leprosy, case of, i. 205. 
 
 Leveret nursed by a cat, i. 200. 
 
 Leverian museum, i. 1(54 andnotc. 
 
 Licentiousness of religious societies, i. 
 338. 
 
 Lightfoot, Rev. John, letters from, to 
 Gilbert White, ii. 231, 233. 
 
 Lime-blossoms, i. 471. 
 
 Linnaeus, correspondence between the 
 Rev. John White and, ii. 67-94. 
 
 List of the priors of Selborne Priory, 
 i. 353. 
 
 Living of Selborne, i. 294. 
 
 Lizard, green, i. 64, 67. 
 
 Loach, description of, i. 57. 
 
 Lombardy poplar, galls of, i. 470. 
 
 London, old, built of chestnut, ii. 266, 
 269. 
 
 smoke, i. 477. 
 
 Longevity at Selborne, i. 15 and note. 
 
 Lucomb's oak, ii. 54. 
 
 Madagascar, tridactyl quail from, 
 ii. 6. 
 
 Magdalen College, grants to, i. 311, 
 355. 
 
 Malm, black, i. 3. 
 
 , white, i. 4, ii. 37(5. 
 
 rock, hollow lane cut through 
 
 the, ii. 37(5. 
 
 Mammalia found at Selborne, ii. 362. 
 
 Manors and lands pertaining to Sel- 
 borne priory, value of the, i. 401. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 40." 
 
 Markwick, W., naturalist's calendar 
 kept by, i. 405. 
 
 , observations on various parts of 
 
 nature, i. 421. 
 
 Marskam, Robert, correspondence be- 
 tween Gilbert White and, ii. 243- 
 303. 
 
 Martins, house-, search for hibernation 
 of, i. 241, 248. 
 
 , second broods of, i. 154. 
 
 Mass ordered to be celebrated for be- 
 nefactors to Selborne priory, i. 361. 
 
 Mayflies, myriads of, i. 457. 
 
 Medals and coins found in Woolmer 
 pond, ii. 378. 
 
 Meteorological diary, i. 476, ii. 143. 
 
 Middleton on modern Eome, ii. 181. 
 
 Migration discussed, i. 135, 136, 137. 
 
 disputed by Barrington, i. 135. 
 
 not wholly on account of food, 
 
 i. 133. 
 
 of birds, i. 39, 41, 42, 481, ii. 
 
 245. 
 
 of frogs, i. 52. 
 
 of swallows, i. 67, 68. 
 
 of the Gralhe, i. 139. 
 
 Military orders of the religious, i. 316. 
 Miller, Philip, letter from, to Gilbert 
 
 White, ii. 347. 
 Miscellaneous letters, ii. 231. 
 Missel-thrush breeds near houses, i. 
 
 179 and note. 
 Mist, called London smoke, i. 477. 
 Mole-cricket, i. 235. 
 Mollusca found at Selborne, ii. 367. 
 Monastic societies, licentiousness of, i. 
 
 338. 
 Montagu, Lieut.-Col., letters from, to 
 
 Gilbert White, ii. 236, 239. 
 Monument to the Bev. A. Etty, i. 
 
 286. 
 
 to Mr. Eay, ii. 223. 
 
 to Gilbert White, i. 286. 
 
 Moose-deer, description of, i. 79, 83. 
 Morning clouds, i. 478. 
 Morion, John, elected prior, i. 343. 
 Moss, Charles, ii. 282. 
 Mosses, sexuality of, ii. 124. 
 Motacilla Jicediila, ii. 16. 
 Moths found at Selborne, ii. 368. 
 Mulso, Miss Hecky, Timothy the Tor- 
 toise to, ii. 183. 
 Munificence of Bishop Wykeham, i. 
 
 332. 
 Music, its effect on the mind, i. 251, 
 
 ii. 145, 193. 
 Musical keys of the voices of birds, 
 
 i. 139. 
 
 Mustelinum, supposed species of the 
 genus, i. 44, 481. 
 
 Natter-jack, i. 55. 
 
 Naturalist's calendar kept at Sel- 
 borne and (Jatsfield, comparative 
 view of the, i. 405. 
 
 summer-evening walk (poem), i. 
 
 70. 
 
 Nature, on various parts of, i. 421 . 
 
 Nephew, letters from Gilbert White 
 to his, ii. 143, 170. 
 
 New Forest, German boars in the, 
 ii. 480. 
 
 New-Zealanders, customs of the, ii. 98. 
 
 Newton Valence, origin of name, i. 2, 
 note. 
 
 Nidification modified by circum- 
 stances, i. 250. 
 
 of the osprey, ii. 246. 
 
 of rooks, i. 425. 
 
 of swallows, i. 152, 161. 
 
 Nightingales, different sounds of, i. 
 100. 
 
 , limits of their visit, i. 137. 
 
 , sight of, ii. 256. 
 
 Norman ship, quarrel between the 
 crews of an English and a, i. 314. 
 
 Nose-fly, torture caused to horses by 
 the, i. 459. 
 
 Notitia Monastica, extracts from 
 Bishop Tanner's, i. 366. 
 
 Nuthatch, i. 50 and note. 
 
 Oak on the Plestor, i. 5. 
 
 Oaks at Blackmoor and Temple, i. 6. 
 
 , remarks on, ii. 247, 249, 2.">l', 
 
 258, 264, 268, 270, 273, 274, 277, 
 
 282, 289. 
 Oakhanger, rivulet at, i. 364. 
 CEdicncmus crepitans, i. 45 and note. 
 (Estrus curvicauda, i. 459. 
 Omens, on deriving, from accidental 
 
 events, ii. 152. 
 Orchids found at Selborne, ii. 372. 
 Osprey at Frinaham pond, i. 96. 
 , nesting of the, at the lake of Kil - 
 
 larney, ii. 24(i. 
 Ostrea carinata, i. 8, note. 
 Otter found at Selborne, i. 83. 
 Owl, barn or white, i. 33. 
 
 , barn, occasionally hoots, i. 148. 
 
 , brown, i. 33. 
 
 , eagle-, i. 7l>. 
 
 Owls hoot in various keys, i. 138. 
 , pigeons attacked by, i. 82. 
 
 — , species of, in the neighbourhood 
 
 of Selborne, i. 14',t, rtoU 
 
406 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Owls, structure of wing-feathers of, i. 
 
 149, note. 
 , their habits of feeding, &c., i. 
 
 148, 484. 
 Oxen, fatal effects on, from eating 
 
 leaves and twigs of the yew-tree, i. 
 
 292, ii. 260. 
 
 Paradyss mede, i. 362. 
 Parliamentary acts respecting Wolmer 
 
 forest, i. 312. 
 Parsonage of Selborue leased, i. 364. 
 Partial frost, i. 476. 
 Partridge, solicitude for its young, i. 
 
 429. 
 Passus Decimus of Piers Plowman, 
 
 extract from, i. 339. 
 Peacock, tail of, its true position, i. 
 
 92. 
 Peat cut in Wolmer forest, ii. 279. 
 Pennant, Thomas, letters from Gilbert 
 
 "White to, i. 1-112. 
 Peregrine falcon shot near Wolmer 
 
 forest, i. 253. 
 Pettichaps, remarks on the, i. 252. 
 Phaltena qitercus, damage done to oaks 
 
 by, i. 456. 
 Pheasant, description of a hybrid, i. 
 
 430. 485. 
 Phenomena in 1783, i. 271, 485. 
 Philip the Hardy, i. 314. 
 Piers Plowman, the clergy ridiculed 
 
 by. i. 338. 
 Pigeon, house-, origin of, i. 109. 
 Pigeon-hnwk, ii. 240. 
 Pigeons attacked by owls, i. 82. 
 Pink. Mr., anecdote of, ii. 156. 
 Plants found at Selborne, i. 217. ii. 
 
 369. 
 , various times of flowering, i. 
 
 219. 
 
 and animals. Mr. Banks's collec- 
 
 tion of, ii. 99. 
 
 Plestor, the, i. 5, 310. 
 
 Poems, i. 499. 
 
 Ponds in Wolmer forest named after 
 extinct animals, i..23, note. 
 
 Pope Innocent VIII., bull issued by, 
 i. 359. 
 
 Pope Martin, bull issued by, i. 337. 
 
 Population of Selborne, i. 13, 14. 
 
 Portland, Duke of, ii. 295. 
 
 Position of the church, i. 290. 
 
 Pottery. Eoman, found at Blackmoor, 
 ii. 380. 
 
 Poultry, sagacity shown by, i. 427. 
 
 Preceptores and preceptorium, mean- 
 ing of, i. 320. 
 
 Preceptories in Southampton, i. 317. 
 
 Prediction, remarkable, concerning re- 
 ligious houses, i. 339. 
 
 Prettejohn, Mr., on Roman - British 
 remains found at Selborne, ii. 378, 
 385. 
 
 Prior, dispute about the election of a, 
 i. 345. 
 
 , forms respecting the choosing 
 
 of a, i. 323, 377. 
 
 Priors, list of the, of Selborne priory 
 i. 353. 
 
 Priory of Selborne, i. 299, 375. 
 
 , impropriation of the, i. 355. 
 
 ■ lands leased out, i. 362. 
 
 , privileges and immunities en- 
 joyed by the, i. 366. 
 
 , the, a source of prosperity to 
 
 Selborne, i. 373. 
 
 Wavneflete endeavours to re- 
 
 form the, i. 354. 
 1'thiKs pectinicornis, damage done to 
 
 furniture by, i. 453. 
 Puckeridge, cause of, i. 439, ii. 213, 
 
 216, 250. 
 
 Quadrupeds, observations on, i. 448. 
 Quail, tridactyl, from Madagascar, 
 ii. 6. 
 
 Rabbits, finest turf made by, i. 448. 
 
 Rain, measurement of, i. 12, 488, 
 ii. 1<>7, 173, 176, 178, 194. I'm;. 
 
 Rainbow, on the (poem), i. 502, ii. 
 147. 149. 
 
 Rapacity of birds of prey, i. 434. 
 
 Raven-tree, the, i. 6. 
 
 Ray. Mr., epitaph of. ii. 223. 
 
 Redbreast, song of. i. 101. 
 
 Redshank, spotted, i. 59, note. 
 
 Redstart, its song and habits, i. 103. 
 
 Redwings breed in Sweden, i. 134. 
 
 Reed-thrush of Latham, ii. ( J,note. 
 
 Reflection of fog, i. 477. 
 
 Register, Beaufort's, i. 334, 336. 
 
 , Waynflete's, extracts from, i. 
 
 341-349! 
 
 Registers of Gilbert White's family, 
 ii. 95. 
 
 Relics of Selborne priory, i. 3711. 
 
 Religious, military orders of the, i. 316. 
 
 — — houses embarrassed, i. 333. 
 
 , i-emarkable prediction con- 
 cerning, i. 339. 
 
 orders,dissensionsbetween,i.317. 
 
 Renovation of leaves, i. 470. 
 
 Reptilia, species of, at Selborne, i. 53. 
 ii. 366. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 407 
 
 Reservoir in Conduit wood, i. 303. 
 
 Revenues of Selborne priory, i. 337, 
 342. 
 
 Rhodian children, as they go a swal- 
 lowing (poem), i. 505. 
 
 Ring-dove breeding near house, i. 179, 
 note. 
 
 , food of the, i. 433. 
 
 Ring-ouzel, i. 37. 
 
 , migration of, i. 60, 63, 69, 72, 
 
 75, 84, 95. 
 
 — in Sussex, i. 131, 159. 
 shot in Norfolk, ii. 254. 
 
 Ringmer, crossbills at, i. 131. 
 Rivulet at Oakhanger, i. 364. 
 Road, on a bad, ill-mended (poem), 
 
 i. 506. 
 Rock-dove, origin of house-pigeon, i. 
 
 109, 110. 
 Roman-British antiquities of Selborne, 
 
 ii. 378. 
 Rome, difficulties started at, respecting 
 
 Selborne priory, i. 359. 
 , information sent to, respecting 
 
 the priory, i. 336. 
 Rookery at Ringmer, i. 160. 
 Rooks, nidification of, i. 425. 
 
 , their evening voices, i. 257. 
 
 accompanied by other birds, i. 
 
 141, 483. 
 Ruins of Selborne priory, i. 369. 
 Rushes used for candles, i. 186, 188, 
 
 note. 
 
 Sagacity of a willow-wren, i. 146. 
 
 shown by poultry, i. 427. 
 
 Salicaria, i. 69, 73, 7<i. 
 
 Samford, Robert, grants made by, to 
 Selborne priory, i. 319, ii. 133. 
 
 Sand-martin, its history, i. 167, &c. 
 
 , nidification of, i. 442. 
 
 Sandpiper, three species of, found at 
 Selborne, i. 59, note. 
 
 Sandwich, Lord, ii. 2(52. 
 
 Sap, flowing of, i. 469. 
 
 Satire, fragment of a, i. 506. 
 
 Sear abceus full o, i. 69. 
 
 Scheik Sefi, interview between Tamer- 
 lane and, ii. 153. 
 
 Scopoli's ' Annus Primus,' mistakes in, 
 i. 85. 
 
 Scotland, a visit to, ii. 231. 
 
 , its natural history and geogra- 
 phy, i. 107. 
 
 Scrutiny, mode of electing a prior by, 
 i. 340. 
 
 Sedge-bird, i. 99, ii. 12. 
 
 Seed lying dormant, i. 473. 
 
 Selborne a Saxon village, proof of, 
 i. 279, note. 
 
 , extent of parish, i. 1 1. 
 
 , its extent and boundaries, i. 
 
 1-4. 
 
 , its streams, i. 3. 
 
 , Lord, on Roman-British an- 
 tiquities, ii. 378. 
 
 , naturalist's calendar kept at, i. 
 
 405. 
 
 , variously spelt and etymology 
 of, i. 279, note. 
 — church, description of, i. 282. 
 
 church, recent discoveries in, ii. 
 
 395. 
 
 — fair, i. 372. 
 
 — hanger (poem), i. 501. 
 parsonage leased, i. 364. 
 
 — priory, charter for the founda- 
 tion of, i. 375. 
 
 - priory granted to Magdalen col- 
 lege, i. 355. 
 
 priory, list of the priors, i. 353. 
 
 priory, privileges and immunities 
 
 enjoyed by, i. 36(5. 
 
 priory, value of the manors and 
 
 lands pretaining to, i. 401. 
 
 priory, sequestration of, i. 342. 
 
 priory, Wayneflete endeavours 
 
 to reform, i. 354. 
 Self-defence, early instinct of, i. 197. 
 Sermon by Gilbert White, ii. 308. 
 Serpents, three species of, at Selborne, 
 
 their different habits and food, i. 55, 
 
 note. 
 Sewell, W., on Roman remains found 
 
 in Woolmer pond, ii. 393. 
 Seymour, Francis, ii. 275. 
 Sharp, John, elected prior, i. 350. 
 
 , priory lands leased to, i. 362. 
 
 Sheep, embarassinent shown by, i. 
 
 448. 
 -, different breeds of, i. 158. 
 
 Sheffield's, Mr., account of a visit to 
 
 Mr. Banks, ii. 97. 
 Shivering wren, ii. 12. 
 Short-winged birds, migration of, i. 
 
 158. 
 Shrew-ash, i. 191. 
 Silbury hill, ii. 159. 
 Silk, electricity from, ii. 201. 
 Silver and gold fish, i. 240. 
 Size and growth of trees, i. 4f>7, ii. 
 
 247, 249,252, 2f>7, 258, 264, 268, 
 
 270, 273, 275, 277, 27s, 281,288. 
 Skinner, Mr., letter from, to Gilbert 
 
 White, ii. 234. 
 Sleet, rooks frozen by, i. 477, ii. 40. 
 
408 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Smith, W., on the migration of swal- 
 lows, ii. 24."). 
 
 Snails and slugs, i. 465. 
 
 Snake, its odour when irritated, i. 74. 
 
 Snake's slough, i. 4(55. 
 
 Snipes, sound produced by, in descend- 
 ing, i. 98 and note. 
 
 , voice of, i. 50. 
 
 Sociality of animals, i. 183. 
 
 Soil, effect of, on thermometers, i. '271. 
 
 Song, influence of the male bird's, i. 
 482. 
 
 Sounds made under water, ii. 307. 
 
 South-Sea Indians, instruments &c. 
 used by, ii. 98. 
 
 Southington, preceptory at, i. 317, ii. 
 131. 
 
 Southwell, T., on some incidents in 
 the life of T. Marsham, ii. 243. 
 
 Sow, remarkably prolific, i. 199. 
 
 Spanish chestnut, magnificent, at 
 Tortworth, ii. 253. 
 
 Sparrow-hawk, i. 108. 
 
 Sparrows, building-places of, i. 101. 
 
 Sphinxes found at Selborne, ii. 308. 
 
 Sph//nx occllafa, habits of, i. 4f>7. 
 
 Sponge, experiment with, ii. 115. 
 
 Sponsors and their god-children, re- 
 lationship between, i. 330. 
 
 Spoonbills, flock of, ii. 43. 
 
 Spring of water in Conduit wood, i. 
 363. 
 
 Sprout-cale, i. 207, 484. 
 
 Squirrels, young, suckled by a cat, i. 
 449. 
 
 Stag-hunt at Alton, i. 449. 
 
 Star-sluch, ii. 193. 196. 
 
 Stawell, Lord, ii. 260. 
 
 Stepe, prior of Selborne, i. 340, 341. 
 
 Sticklebacks, i. 32, 56. 
 
 Stilt-plover, i. 237, 238, note. 
 
 Stoat, pied specimens of, i. 450. 
 
 Stockdove, i. 96, 109. 
 
 breeds at Selborne, 97 note, ii. 
 
 254. 
 
 Stone coffin-lids found in Selborne 
 church, i. 284, ii. 397. 
 
 Stone-curlew, i. 46, 61, 88. 
 
 -. , nocturnal flight of the, i. 2f>7. 
 
 , migration of the, i. 438. 
 
 Stoneleigh park, fine oaks in, ii. 258. 
 
 Storm of wind, ii. 141. 
 
 Strangers appointed priors, i. 344, 346, 
 
 Stratford, bishop of Winchester, i. 
 
 324. 
 Stuart, Sir S., letter from, to Gilbert 
 
 White, ii. 264. 
 
 Sudington preceptory, relation be- 
 tween Selborne church and, ii. 395. 
 
 Summer birds, migration interrupted, 
 i. 81. 
 
 Superstitions at Selborne, i. 190, 192, 
 note. 
 
 Sussex downs described, i. 157. 
 
 Swallow, chimney, early arrival of, i. 
 160. 
 
 , , habits of the, 162, 163, et 
 
 seq. 
 
 — , , its nest-places, i. 161 and 
 
 note. 
 
 — , its second brood, i. 162. 
 
 -, remarkable situation of the nest 
 
 of a, i. 104. 
 ■ tribe, on the annual increase in 
 
 the, ii. 246, 249. 
 
 washing, i. 97. 
 
 Swallows congregate before leaving, i. 
 
 37,444. 
 , difference in the tails of the 
 
 different sexes, i. 1<>(). 
 , migration of, i. 67, 68. 
 
 — , reappearance of, i. 28, 204. 
 -, their history, i. 150, 158, 169- 
 
 172. 
 
 — , their supposed torpidity, i. 27, 
 28, 38, 95. 
 -, time of arrival at different places, 
 
 i. 178, 483. 
 Swift, delayed departure of, i. 242. 
 
 , Gibraltar, found occurring in 
 
 England, i. 88, note. 
 — drinks on the wing, i. 99. 
 
 -, its history, i. 171, &c, 175 note, 
 
 213. 
 
 — , number of eggs laid by, ii. 33, 
 35. 
 
 of a different genus from swal- 
 lows, i. 176, note. 
 
 — , time of its arrival, i. 98. 
 
 -, time of departure, i. 94, 175, ii. 
 
 272. 
 
 Swine, various names for, ii. 158. 
 Sycamores, i. 470. 
 Sylvester, Thomas, Selborne parsonage 
 
 leased to, i. 304. 
 Systema Naturae, proposed new edition 
 
 of, ii. 66, 77, 89. 
 
 Tabanus bovintts, ii. 116, 142. 
 Tamerlane, interview between Scheik 
 
 Sefi and, ii. 152. 
 Tan-house garden, i. 363. 
 Teals taken at Oakhanger ponds, ii. 
 
 12, 15. 
 - taken at Wolmer, i. 99. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 400 
 
 Tempest near London, ii. 102. 
 Tenure of the Selborne estates, i. 372. 
 Test of condensation, ii. 115. 
 Tiles, ecclesiastical, found in Selborne 
 
 church, ii. 398. 
 Timber, large fall of, in the Holt, i. 
 
 26. 
 , value of, in Wolmer forest, ii. 
 
 279. 
 Titmouse, habits of different species, 
 
 i. 105, 106. 
 
 , notes of different species, i. 101. 
 
 Thaws, observations on, i. 476. 
 Thrushes, habits of, i. 426. 
 Thunderstorm, account of, i. 272. 
 Toad, a tame one, i. 52. 
 , poisonous exudation from skin, 
 
 i. 51, note. 
 Toads used for curing cancers, i. 57. 
 Torpidity of swallows, i. 204, 443. 
 Tortoise (Timothy), i. 131, ii. 182. 
 ( ) become Gilbert White's 
 
 property, i. 239. 
 
 ( ), its habits, i. 143, 144, 
 
 484- 
 
 — ( ), letter from, to Miss H. 
 
 Mulso, ii. 183. 
 
 more particulars respecting the 
 
 old family, i. 373. 
 at Eingmer, i. 159. 
 
 Tortoises, various forms of sternum in, 
 i. 241, note. 
 
 Tortworth, magnificent Spanish chest- 
 nut at, ii. 253. 
 
 Townsend, Joseph, ii. 269. 
 
 Townson, Dr., ii. 209, 224. 
 
 Trees act as "alembics," i. 192. 
 
 , on the size and growth of, i. 
 
 467, ii. 247, 249, 252, 257, 258, 264, 
 268, 270, 273, 275, 277, 278, 281, 
 288. 
 -, order of losing their leaves, i. 
 
 467. 
 
 Tremella nostoc, i. 475. 
 Truffles, i. 474. 
 Tumuli at Selborne, ii. 384. 
 Turkey, fertility of a, ii. 288, 290. 
 Turtle-dove at Selborne, i. 97, note. 
 Tylehouse grove, i. 363. 
 
 Ulmus montana, i. b,nofe. 
 Upper Greensand of Selborne, fossils 
 found in the, ii. 377. 
 
 Value of the manors and lands per- 
 taining to Selborne priory, i. 401. 
 
 Vase discovered in the priorv ruins, i. 
 370. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 Vases, earthenware, found at Selborne, 
 
 ii. 381. 
 Vegetable food, value and increase of, 
 
 i. 207. 
 Vegetables, observations on, i. 467. 
 Vegetation, influence of south-west 
 
 exposure on, ii. 120. 122. 
 Vermes and insects, observations on, 
 
 i. 451. 
 Versification, the art of, ii. 106, 111. 
 Vespasian, station of, at Woolmer 
 
 pond, ii. 386, 394. 
 Vicars, list of, i. 294. 
 Viper, early instinct of self-defence, i. 
 
 197. 
 Vipers swallowing their young, i. 54 
 
 and note. 
 Virgil's allusion to the swallow, i. 165, 
 
 166. 
 Visitation beld at Selborne priory by 
 
 Wykeham, i. 326, 381. 
 Voices of birds, i. 222. 
 
 Wager, Admiral Sir C, ii. 245. 
 Wagtail, food of the, i. 44(5. 
 
 , yellow, i. 98, vote. 
 
 , young cuckoo fed by a, ii. 24S. 
 
 Walden lodge, i. 21. 
 
 Wales, a visit to, ii. 233, 234. 
 
 Wallcreeper, remarks on the, ii. 289, 
 
 293, 294, 296. 
 Walpole, George, ii. 245. 
 Warm weather in early spring, its 
 
 effects, i. 203. 
 Wasps, damage done by, i. 270. 
 
 — , nidification of, i. 458. 
 Water-rat, i. 30 and note. 
 — — , its stores, i. 76. 
 Water-shrew, i. 76, note. 
 Water-snails, buoyancy of, ii. 125. 
 Wayneflete, bishop of Winchester, i. 
 
 339. 
 
 — , death of, i. 360. 
 
 — , intercedes for Peter Berne, i. 
 
 351. 
 Weapons, fragments of. found at Hog- 
 moor, ii. 386. 
 Weather, full account of. i. 260, 487. 
 Well-head, i. 3. 
 Wells, average depth of, at Selborne, 
 
 ii. 375. 
 Whaddon chapel, i. 364. 
 Whale3 in the Mediterranean, ii. 58. 
 Wheat, effect of heat on, i. 474. 
 Wheatear, i. 41, 153. 
 — , localities when' taken, i. 159, 
 
 484, ii. 10. 
 YYhinehat, winter food of, i. L06. 
 
 2 E 
 
410 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 White, Gilbert, aocount book of, ii. 
 
 316. 
 , correspondence between the Rev. 
 
 E. Churton and, ii. 186-230. 
 -, correspondence between Robert 
 
 Marsham and, ii. 243-303. 
 — , correspondence with his family, 
 
 ii. 95-185. 
 
 — , garden kalendar of, ii. 347. 
 -, letter from Rev. J. White to, ii. 
 
 64. 
 
 letters from, to Hon. Daines 
 Barrington, i. 113-274. 
 -. letters from, to T. Pennant, i. 
 
 L-112. 
 
 miscellaneous letters to, ii. 231- 
 
 241. 
 
 — ■, naturalist's kalendar kept bv, i. 
 405. 
 -, sermon by, ii. 308. 
 
 White, Miss, letters to, from Gilbert 
 White, ii. 137, 145-148. 
 
 White, Rev. Edmund, letter to, from 
 Gilbert White, ii. 150. 
 
 White, Rev. John, correspondence be- 
 tween Linnajus and, ii. 67-94. 
 
 , letters from Gilbert White to 
 
 the, ii. 1-64. 
 -, letter from, to Samuel Barker, ii. 
 
 103. 
 
 White, Thomas, letter to, ii. 131. 
 White-throat, habits of, i. 102. 
 Wickliffe, doctrines of, i. 338. 
 Wild bee, i. 457. 
 
 boars in Holt forest, i. 26. 
 
 Willow-wren, notes on a, ii. 237, 239. 
 
 , sagacity of a, i. 14(i. 
 
 , the smallest uncrested, i. 439. 
 
 , three species of, i. 47, 58. 
 
 Winchester, bishop of, summoned to 
 
 parliament, i. 314. 
 Wind, storm of, ii. 141. 
 Windham, William, ii. 277. 
 
 Winter, swarms of insects observed in, 
 
 i. 452. 
 , warm weather happening in 
 
 (poem), i. 504. 
 Winter-martin, doubt respecting the, 
 
 ii. 5. 
 Wolmer forest, i. 16, 22. 
 — , formerly frequented by 
 
 deer, black game, &c.,i. 24. 
 — , limits of, i. 22. 
 -, parliamentary acts respect- 
 
 ing, i. 312. 
 
 Sir Adam Gurdon made 
 warden of, i. 312. 
 
 -, visited by Ed. III., i. 281. 
 
 ■ pond, i. 24. 
 
 Woodcock carrying its young with its 
 
 beak, i. 85 and note. 
 Woodcocks breed in England, i. 133. 
 
 breed in Tirol, i. 134. 
 
 , their migration, i. 134. 
 
 Woodpeckers, damage done by, ii. 292, 
 
 297, 298. 
 Wood-pigeons, flocks of, i. 110. 
 
 -food of, i. 110. 
 Worldhara, etymology of, i. 2, note. 
 Wren, golden-crested, migration of, i. 
 
 104. 
 
 , shivering, ii. 12. 
 
 Wryneck, food of the, i. 44. 
 
 Wych-elm, i. 5 and note. 
 
 Wykeham, bishop, munificence of, i. 
 
 332. 
 , visitation held at Selborne 
 
 priory by, i. 326, 381, ii. 136. 
 Wynchestre, John, elected prior, i. 334. 
 Wvndesor, William, elected prior, i. 
 
 345. 
 
 Yew-tree in churchyard, i. 291. 
 , fatal effects on cattle from eating 
 
 leaves and twigs of the, i. 292, ii. 
 
 2^0 
 
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