Remarkable instances of the mildness of January, 1825, are recorded in
the provincial and London journals. In the first week a man planting a
hedge near Mansfield, in Yorkshire, found a blackbird’s nest with four
young ones in it. The Westmoreland Gazette states, that on the 13th a
fine ripe strawberry was gathered in the garden of Mr. W. Whitehead,
Storth End, near End-Moor, and about the same time a present of the same
fruit was made by Thomas Wilson, Esq. Thorns, Underbarrow, to Mr.
Alderman Smith Wilson, some of them larger in bulk than the common
hazel-nut. Indeed the forwardness of the season in the north appears
wonderful. It is stated in the Glasgow Chronicle of the 11th, that on
the 7th, bees were flying about in the garden of Rose-mount; on the 9th,
the sky was without a cloud; there was scarcely a breath of wind, the
blackbirds were singing as if welcoming the spring; pastures wore a
fine, fresh, and healthy appearance; the wheat-braird was strong, thick
in the ground, and nearly covering the soil; vegetation going on in the
gardens; the usual spring flowers making their appearance; the Christmas
rose, the snowdrop, the polyanthea, the single or border anemone, the
hepatica in its varieties, and the mazerion were in full bloom; the
Narcissus making its appearance, and the crocusses showing colour. On
the 11th, at six o’clock, the thermometer in Nelson-street, Glasgow,
indicated 44 degrees; on the 9th, the barometer gained the extraordinary
height of 31·01; on the 11th, it was at 30·8. The Sheffield Mercury
represents, that within six or seven weeks preceding the middle of the
month, the barometer had been lower and higher than had been remarked by
any living individual in that town. On the 23d of November it was so low
as 27·5; and on the 9th of January at 11 P. M. it stood at 30·65. In the
same place the following meteorological observations were made: