NATURAL HISTORY
OR animal life, though abundant, there is little or nothing special to
record, besides the list of birds.
Polecats and martens only exist in the old rating book, but weasels and
stoats remain, as well as a profusion of their prey—hares and rabbits.
Squirrels haunt the trees, and otters are occasionally found in the
river. Trout, grayling, now and then a pike, as well as the smaller fry
of minnows and sticklebacks, are of course found in the streams. Eels
used to be caught there on the moonlight nights by old labourers with a
taste for sport, and the quaint little river cray-fish may be picked out
of the banks of the “water-carriages.”
Toads and frogs are a matter of course. Sometimes a procession of tiny,
but perfectly formed “Charley Frogs,” as the village boys call them, just
emerged from their tadpole state, may be seen making their way up from
their native pools.
The pretty crested newt, dark brown and orange, with a gold crest along
its back like an iguana, is found in shallow ponds, also the smooth newt.
These efts, or evvets, as the people call them, are regarded with horror
by the peasantry. The children speak of having seen one as if it were a
crocodile; and an abscess in the arm has been ascribed to having picked
up an “evvet in a bundle of grass.”
The slow-worm, in silvery coat, is too often slaughtered as a snake.
Vipers come to light in the woods, also the harmless brown snake. One of
these has been seen swimming across a pond, his head just out of the
water, another climbing an oak tree, and one, upon the lawn, was induced
to disgorge a frog, which gathered up its legs and hopped away as if
nothing had happened.
Of rats and mice and such small deer there are only too many, though it
is worth while to watch rats at play round a hay-rick on Sunday evenings,
when they know they will not be persecuted, and sit up like little
kangaroos. The vole, which is not a rat, is a goodly sight, and the
smooth round dormouse (or sleep-mouse, as the children call it) is a
favourite gift imprisoned in an old tea-pot.
The beautiful nest of a field-mouse has been found in a cypress’s thick
foliage, and dead shrews bestrew the paths; though the magic effects of
having a “sherry mouse” die in one’s hand, and thus being enabled to
stroke cattle and cure them, have never been experienced.
The _anodon_ or fresh water mussel used to be found in Fisher’s Pond on
Colden Common, bordering on Otterbourne, and the green banks were strewn
with shells left by the herons, but the pond is fast drying up and the
herons have been driven away by guns.
The delicate _paludina_, of brown, horn-coloured, gracefully-formed
shell, creeps on the water weeds, and hosts of snails may be studied.
Of insects less can be said here, but it is worth noting that one live
purple emperor has been captured in Ampfield wood, two dead dilapidated
ones picked up at Otterbourne.
The forest fly, so called, does not often come here; but it is observable
that while strange horses are maddened by it, the native ones do not seem
disturbed, knowing that it only creeps and does not bite. It is small
and brown, not so formidable looking as the large fly, popularly called a
stout, as big as a hornet, which lays eggs under the skin of cows.
But with the blue, green, and orange dragonflies of summer, this list
must conclude, and turn to the birds and botany of the place, mostly well
known, and verified by Mr. Townsend’s _Flora of Hampshire_.
BIRDS
THE KITE (_Milvus ictinus_).—Sometimes hovering over heathlands or
farmyards, but not very common.
SPARROW-HAWK (_Accipiter fringillarius_).—Taken in a trap set for rats at
Otterbourne House.
PEREGRINE FALCON (_Falco peregrinus_), Hursley, 1857.—As a pair for many
years had a nest on Salisbury spire, this one may have flown thus far.
KESTREL (_Falco tinnunculus_)—Otterbourne, 1856.
SHORT-EARED OWL (_Otus brachyotus_).—Baddesley Common, 5th March 1861.
WHITE OWL (_Strix flammea_).—Nested in a barn, another year in a
pigeon-loft, and again in an old tub at Otterbourne. To be seen skimming
softly along on summer evenings.
BROWN OWL (_Ulula stridula_).—Glides over the fields like a huge moth,
and on moonlight nights in August may be heard the curious hunting note.
As the eggs are hatched, not all at once, but in succession, a family
taken out of a loft and put into a sea-kale pot were of various ages, the
eldest nearly fledged, standing up as if to guard the nest, the second
hissing and snapping, as if a naughty boy, and two downy infants who
died. One brown owl was kept tame, and lived 14 years. The village
people call this bird Screech Owl, and after a sudden death always
mention having heard it.
CHIMNEY SWALLOW (_Hirundo rustica_).—They chase the flies under the
bridges on the Itchen, and display their red throats.
HOUSE-MARTIN (_Hirundo urbica_).—Twittering everywhere ’neath the
straw-built shed.
SAND-MARTIN (_Hirundo riparia_).—Swarms sit in rows along the electric
wires, and bore deeply into every sand-pit.
SWIFT (_Cypselus murarius_).—First to come and first to go. Their
peculiar screech and floating flight are one of the charms of the summer
evenings.
NIGHTJAR (_Caprimulgus europæus_).—All through the twilight of the long
days his purr-purr comes down from the heathery summit of Otterbourne
Hill, where he earns his other name of Fern Owl, and may be seen flitting
on silent wing in search of moths.
KINGFISHER (_Alcedo ispida_).—This beautiful creature darts out of the
reeds bordering the Itchen, and it used to be at Chandler’s Ford before
the place was so populated. It seems also to haunt ponds or marshy
places in woods, for a young full-fledged one was brought into
Otterbourne House by a cat, alive and apparently unhurt. Another took a
fancy to the gold-fish in a stone basin at Cranbury, and was shot, as the
poor fish could not escape.
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (_Muscicapa grisola_).—Late in summer these dainty
little birds come whisking about the garden, perching on a rail, darting
off after a fly, returning to the same post, or else feeding their young
in nests on the side of the house. A pair built in 1897 in a flower-pot
close to the window of Otterbourne House.
BUTCHER-BIRD (_Lanius collurio_).—Said to have been seen at Otterbourne.
A slug has been found impaled on a thorn, but whether this was the
shrike’s larder, or as a charm for removing warts, is uncertain.
MISSEL-THRUSH (_Merula viscivora_).—This handsome bird is frequent, and
commonly called House Screech. A story told by Warden Barter may be
worth preserving. A pair of Missel Thrush seeing a peacock too near
their nest, charged full at him, and actually knocked him down.
SONG-THRUSH (_Merula musica_).—Happily everywhere warbling on warm days
in autumn and winter with a sweet, powerful song, some notes more liquid
than even the nightingale’s. The shells of the snails he has devoured
bestrew the garden-walks.
BLACKBIRD (_Merula vulgaris_).—Out, with angry scream and chatter at the
approach of an enemy, darts the “ousel cock so black of hue, with
orange-tawny bill.” How dull a lawn would be without his pert movements
when he comes down alternately with his russet wife. One blackbird with
a broad white feather on each side of his tail haunted Elderfield for two
years, but, alas! one spring day a spruce sable rival descended and
captivated the faithless dame. They united, chased poor Mr. Whitetail
over the high garden hedge, and he was seen no more.
REDWING (_Merula iliaca_).—Not common, but noted by J. B. Y.
RING-OUZEL (_Merula torquata_).—Rare, but observed by J. B. Yonge in
Otterbourne Park, 14th September 1865, and it has been seen several times
later.
FIELDFARE (_Merula pilaris_).—In flocks in winter.
WHEATEAR (_Sylvia ænanthe_).—Comes to the downs.
STONECHAT (_Saxicola rubicola_).—Hops about on stones.
WHINCHAT (_Saxicola rubetra_).—On furze bushes on Otterbourne Hill.
REDBREAST (_Sylvia rubecula_).—A whole brood, two old and four young,
used to disport themselves on the quilt of an old bedridden woman on
Otterbourne Hill. It is the popular belief that robins kill their
fathers in October, and the widow of a woodman declared that her husband
had seen deadly battles, also that he had seen a white robin, but she
possibly romanced.
REDSTART (_Phænicura ruticilla_).—Sometimes seen, but not often.
GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER (_Salicaria locustella_).—Well named, for it chirps
exactly like a grasshopper in the laurels all through a summer evening.
SEDGE-WARBLER (_Salicaria fragilis_).—Whoever has heard it scolding and
chattering in a ridiculous rage at a strange footstep will not wonder at
the Scotch name of Blethering Jock. A pair nested in Dell Copse for some
years, and the curious nest has been found among the reeds on the banks
of the Itchen.
NIGHTINGALE (_Sylvia luscinia_).—Every year about the 18th of April the
notes may be heard by the gate of Cranbury, in a larch wood on
Otterbourne Hill, in the copse wood of Otterbourne House, at Oakwood, and
elsewhere. For about a week there is constant song, but after nesting
begins, it is less frequent. One year there was a nest in the laurels at
Otterbourne House (since taken away), and at eight in the morning and
seven at night the nightingale came on the lawn to feed, and was every
morning chased by a surly John Bull of a robin. When the young are
coming out of the nest the parents chide them, or strangers, in a
peculiarly harsh chirp.
BLACKCAP (_Sylvia atricapilla_).—Fair and sweet, but not very frequent;
nested in Dell Copse.
WHITETHROAT (_Sylvia cinerea_).—Darts about gardens, and is locally
called Nettle-creeper.
LESSER WHITETHROAT (_S. curruca_).—Eggs in Dell Copse.
WOOD-WARBLER (_Sylvia sylvicola_).—Eggs taken at Cranbury.
WILLOW-WARBLER (_Sylvia trochilus_).—Eggs taken at Baddesley.
CHIEFCHAFF (_Sylvia hippolaïs_).—Common in spring.
GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN (_Sylvia auricapilla_).—A happy little inhabitant of
the fir-trees, where it nests, and it is often to be seen darting in and
out of a quickset hedge.
SKYLARK (_Alauda arvensis_).—The joy of eyes and ears in every open
field. True to the kindred points of heaven and home.
WOODLARK (_Alauda arborea_).—Otterbourne Park and Cranbury.
YELLOW-BUNTING or YELLOW-HAMMER (_Emberiza citrinella_).—A great
ornament, especially in autumn, when it sits on rails, crying, “A little
bit of bread and no che-e-ese!”
BLACKHEADED or REED BUNTING (_Emberiza schænidus_).—Brambridge, April
1896.
SPARROW (_Passer domesticus_).—One curious fact about this despised
animal is that the retired farmer, after whom Elderfield is named, made
it his business to exterminate the village sparrows. He often brought
them down to one, but always by the next morning that sparrow had
provided himself with a mate to share his Castle Dangerous. Sparrows’
(or sprows’) heads make a figure in many church ratebooks.
CHAFFINCH (_Fringilla cælebs_).—Chink is the Hampshire name. The hens do
not here migrate in winter, but a whole flight of them has been seen in
the autumn on the Winchester road, evidently on their way; and once,
after an early severe frost, about a hundred were found dead in a
haystack near Basingstoke. Thomas Chamberlayne, Esq., who had a singular
attraction for birds, used to have them coming to eat grain from his
pocket. It has the perfection of a nest.
GOLDFINCH (_Carduelis elegans_).—This exquisite little bird is frequent
on the borders of the chalk hills, where there is plenty of thistledown.
HAWFINCH (_Coccothraustes vulgaris_).—Sometimes seen, but not common.
LINNET (_Linota cannabina_).—Fairly frequent.
GREEN LINNET (_Coccothraustes chloris_).—Greenfinch, or Beanbird as they
call it in Devonshire, is a pleasant visitor, though it has a great turn
for pease.
WREN (_Sylvia troglodytes_).—This brisk little being Kitty Wren is to be
seen everywhere. Whether Kingsley’s theory is right that the little
birds roll themselves into a ball in a hole in the winter, I know not.
Single ones are certainly to be seen on a bank on a frosty, sunshiny day.
Have they come out to view the world and report on it? Those very odd,
unused nests are often to be found hanging from the thatch within
outhouses. May it be recorded here that a wren once came to peck the
sprigs on Miss Keble’s gown?
GREAT TITMOUSE (_Parus major_)—or Ox-eye, as he is here called, bold and
bright, crying “Peter” in early spring, and beautiful with his white
cheek, and the black bar down his yellow waistcoat.
BLUE TIT (_Parus cæruleus_).—Bolder and prettier is the little blue-cap,
a true sprite and acrobat as Wordsworth calls him.
MARSH-TIT (_Parus palustris_).—Known by less bright colouring and white
breast.
COLE-TIT (_Parus ater_).—More grey, and very graceful. All these four
will gladly come to a window in winter for a little fat hung to a string,
and will put themselves into wonderful inverse positions.
LONG-TAILED TIT (_Parus caudatus_).—Long-tailed Caper, as is his local
name, is more shy, and will not come to be fed; but the antics of a
family after they have left their domed nest are delightful to watch, as
they play in the boughs of a fir-tree.
HEDGE-SPARROW (_Accentur modularis_).—Quiet, mottled bird, to be seen
everywhere.
PIED WAGTAIL (_Motacilla lutor_).—Most of these stay with us all winter,
but one March evening at least forty-three descended on the lawn at
Elderfield, doubtless halting in their flight from southern lands. Most
winning birds they are, with their lively hop and jerking tails.
Dish-washer is their Hampshire name.
GREY WAGTAIL (_Motacilla boarula_).—This pretty bird is really partly
yellow. It is not very frequent here, but is sometimes found on the
Itchen bank; likewise the nest in a reedy meadow.
RAY’S WAGTAIL (_Motacilla Rayi_).—Ray’s Wagtail was catching flies on a
window at Otterbourne House in 1890.
TREE PITT (_Anthus arboreus_), MEADOW PIPIT (_Anthus pratensis_).—Small
brown birds, not easy to distinguish; but the eggs differ, and both have
been found.
BULLFINCH (_Pyrrhula vulgaris_).—It is charming to greet the black head
and red waistcoat in the tops of the laurels or apple-trees, and surely
this destroyer of insect devourers does more good than harm, if he does
pick the buds to pieces in the search. He is a delightful pet, of
exclusive and jealous attachments, hating every one except his own
peculiar favourite; and his sober-coloured lady has quite as much
character as he. One which was devoted to her own mistress would assail
another of the family with such spite as sometimes to drive her out of
the room.
STARLING (_Sturnus vulgaris_).—Green bedropped with gold when seen
closely, but at a distance looking more like a rusty blackbird, though
its gait on the lawn always distinguishes it, being a walk instead of a
hop. Though not tuneful, no bird has such a variety of notes, and the
clatter on the root the call-note, the impatient summons of the brood
about to be fed, make it a most amusing neighbour, when it returns to the
same tree year after year.
RAVEN (_Corvus corax_).—He has flown over the village several times. One
lived for many years in the yard of the George Inn at Winchester.
CROW (_Corvus coronæ_).—Game-preserving has nearly put an end to him, but
he is seen round the folds on the downs in lambing time.
ROOK (_Corvus frugilegus_).—Shining and black the great birds come down
on the fields. There is a rookery at Cranbury, another at Hams Farm at
Allbrook, and a considerable one in the beeches near Merdon, for which
the rooks deserted some oak-trees nearer the House. While these trees
were still inhabited, Mr. G. W. Heathcote observed a number of walnuts
under them, and found that the rooks brought them from the walnut
avenues. A parliament of these wise birds is sometimes held on the
downs, and there are woods where they assemble in great numbers in the
autumn, contingents from all lesser rookeries pouring in to spend the
winter, and whirling round and round in clouds before roosting.
JACKDAW (_Corvus monedula_).—A very amusing, though very wicked pet.
There used to be throngs of them in the tower of the old church at
Hursley, and their droll voices might be heard conversing in the evening.
Mr. Chamberlayne had one which, after being freed, always came down to
greet him when he walked in the garden.
MAGPIE (_Corvus pica_).—Pages might be filled with the merry mischief of
this handsome creature. Perhaps the most observable characteristic of
the three tame ones closely observed was their exclusive and devoted
attachment to one person, whom they singled out for no cause that could
be known, and followed about from place to place.
JAY (_Garrulus glandarius_).—May be heard calling in the pine plantations
on Hursley Common. It would be as amusing as the magpie if tamed.
GREEN WOODPECKER (_Picus viridis_).—The laugh and the tap may be heard
all through the Spring days. In 1890 _Picus major_, a small, black, and
spotted French Magpie, as Devonians call it, was found, but we have no
other right to claim it.
WRYNECK (_Yunx torquilla_), or Cuckoo’s mate, squeaks all round the woods
with his head on one side just as the cuckoo comes.
NUTHATCH (_Sitta europæa_).—This pretty creature will come and be fed on
nuts at windows in the winter. These nuts he thrusts into crevices of
bark to hold them fast while he hammers the shell. The remains may often
be found. For many years a pair built in a hole half-way down an old
apple-tree covered with ivy at Otterbourne House, and the exertions of
the magpie with clipped wing to swing himself on a trail of ivy into the
hole were comical, as well as his wrath when he fell off, as he uniformly
did.
TREE-CREEPER (_Certhia familiaris_), winds round and round the trees like
a little mouse.
HOOPOE (_Upupa vulgaris_).—Once in a frost caught alive by a shepherd on
the downs, but it soon died.
CUCKOO (_Cuculus canorus_).—They cuckoo till “in June he altereth his
tune.” Probably the stammer is the effort of the young ones to sing.
One grew up in a wagtail’s nest in the flints that were built into the
wall of Otterbourne Churchyard. Another, carried to the other side of
the road and caged, was still fed by its foster-parents till it was ready
to fly.
WOOD-PIGEON (_Columba palumbus_)—
Take two cows, Taffy,
Taffy, take two-o-o.
Plenty of this immoral exhortation may be heard in the trees. One young
pigeon taken from the nest proved incorrigibly wild and ready to flutter
to death whenever any one came near it.
TURTLE-DOVE (_Columba turtur_).—This pretty delicate creature with
speckled neck builds in bushes lower than the wood-pigeon, and the
mournful note resounds in the trees.
PHEASANT (_Phasianus colchicus_).—Not a real native, but cultivated to
any extent. A cock pheasant with the evening sun gilding his back is a
rare picture of beauty.
PARTRIDGE (_Tetrao perdix_).—Numerous.
HERON (_Ardea cinerea_).—Sometimes flies far overhead, the long legs
projecting behind.
SANDPIPER (_Totanus hypoleucus_).—Seen walking over a mass of weeds in
the Itchen canal.
SNIPE (_Scolopax gallinago_).—Brought in by sportsmen from the water
meadows.
WOODCOCK (_Scolopax rusticola_).—Not common, but sometimes shot.
JACK-SNIPE (_Scolopax gallinula_).—Not common, but sometimes shot.
LAND-RAIL (_Crex pratensis_).—Corn-Crake. May be heard “craking” in the
long grass in early morning before the hay is cut.
WATER-RAIL (_Rallus aquaticus_).—In a meadow at Otterbourne, 22nd January
1855.
LITTLE GREBE (_Podiceps minor_).—Dabchick, as it is commonly called,
swims in the Itchen and in Fisher’s Pond (on Colden Common), dipping down
suddenly without a trace of the least alarm.
MOOR-HEN (_Gallinula chloropus_).—Very similar are the ways of the
moor-hen, with its brilliant beak. But once, by some extraordinary
chance, a moor-hen fell down a cottage chimney, and was brought alive for
inspection by a boy, who, ignorant of natural objects, as was always the
case in villages forty years ago, thought it a rare foreign specimen. It
was a thatched cottage, but if it had been slated the moor-hen might have
taken the roof for a sheet of water by moonlight, as the Great
Water-Beetle has been known to do, and come down the chimney in like
manner. A brood comes constantly to be fed on a lawn at Bishopstoke.
PEEWIT (_Vanellus cristatus_).—Otherwise the Crested Lapwing. It floats
along in numbers when migrating, the whole flock turning at the same time
and displaying either the dark or the white side of their wings with a
startling effect. They seem effaced for a moment, the next the white
sails are shown, then gone again. When paired, and nesting in the
meadows, their cry causes their local name, as their other English title
is derived from their characteristic manœuvres to lead the enemy from
their young. Did they learn the habit when their so-called plovers’ eggs
became a dainty?
GOLDEN PLOVER (_Charadrius pluvialis_).—Noted at Otterbourne meadows by
J. B. Yonge.
WILD DUCK (_Anas boschas_).—The mallard is splendid in plumage, and in
shape is far more graceful than his domesticated brother. In early
winter the wild ducks fly overhead in a wedge-shaped phalanx, and by and
by they pair, and if disturbed start up with a sudden quack, quack from
the copse-wood pond. Broods of downy wild ducks have been brought in by
boys, but it has almost always proved impossible to rear them.
TEAL (_Querquedula anas_).—This very pretty little duck used to build on
Cranbury Common, but may have been frightened away by increasing
population.
GULL (_Larus canus_).—Flocks of those white-breasted birds sometimes
alight on ploughed fields round Otterbourne, and even some miles farther
from the sea. They are sometimes kept in gardens to destroy the slugs.
* * * * *
These birds have all been actually seen and noted down by members of the
Yonge family.
FLOWERS
TRAVELLER’S JOY (_Clematis Vitalba_).—Locally called Old Man’s Beard,
most appropriately, as its curling, silvery masses of seeds hang in
wreaths over the hedges. There is a giant trunk growing up from the moat
of Merdon Castle.
MEADOW RUE (_Thalictrum flavum_).—Handsome foliage and blossoms, showing
much of anthers, growing on the banks of the Itchen canal.
WINDFLOWER (_Anemone nemorosa_).—Smellfoxes, as the villagers’ children
inelegantly term this elegant flower, spreading its pearl-white blossom,
by means of its creeping root, all over the copses, and blushing purple
as the season advances.
WATER CROWFOOT (_Ranunculus aquatilis_).—The white flowers, with yellow
eyes, make quite a sheet over the ponds of Cranbury Common, etc.
Ivy-leaved (_R. hederaceus_).—Not so frequent. The ivy-shaped leaves
float above, the long fibrous ones go below. When there is lack of
moisture, leaves and flower are sometimes so small that it has been
supposed to be a different species. It was once in a stagnant pond in
Boyatt Lane, but is extinct again.
BUTTERCUP or CROWFOOT—
(_R. sceleratus_) Highly-polished petals, which spangle
(_R. acris_) the fields and hedges with gold.
(_R. repens_) All much alike; all haunting
(_R. bulbosus_) kitchen-gardens and pastures, where the cattle, disliking
their taste, leave the stems standing up alone.
SPEARWORT (_R. flammula_).—Flower like the others, but with narrow
leaves.
GOLDILOCKS (_R. auricomus_).—More delicate, upper leaves spear-shaped,
lower pinnate. In the borders of the copse wood of Otterbourne House.
CORN CROWFOOT (_R. Ficaria_).—Small, growing between the corn with hooked
capsules.
SMALL CELANDINE (_R. Bcaria_).—The real buttercup of childhood, with its
crown of numerous shining petals, making stars along the banks at the
first breath of spring. One of the most welcome of flowers.
KING CUPS (_Caltha palustris_).—Large, gorgeous flowers, in every wet
place, making a golden river in a dell at Cranbury.
GREEN HELLEBORE (_Helleborus viridis_).—Under an oak-tree, in a hedgerow
leading from King’s Lane, Standon, and in Hursley.
FUMITORY (_Fumaria officinalis_).—The pretty purple blossoms and graceful
bluish foliage often spring up in gardens where they are treated as
weeds.
YELLOW F. (_F. lutea_).—An old wall at Hursley.
CLIMBING F. (_Corydalis claviculata_).—Cuckoo bushes. Standon, and in
Hursley.
COLUMBINE (_Aquilegia vulgaris_).—This group of purple doves, or of
Turkish slippers, does not here merit the term _vulgaris_, though,
wherever it occurs, it is too far from a garden to be a stray. Ampfield
Wood, Lincoln’s Copse, King’s Lane, and Crabwood have each furnished a
specimen.
BARBERRY (_Berberis vulgaris_).—This handsome shrub of yellow wood,
delicate clusters of yellow flowers, and crimson fruit in long oval
bunches has been sedulously banished from an idea that it poisons grass
in its vicinity. There used to be a bush in Otterbourne House grounds,
but it has disappeared, and only one now remains in the hedge of Pitt
Downs.
POPPY (_Papaver Rhæas_).—Making neglected fields glorious with a crimson
mantle, visible for miles in the sun.
GREATER CELANDINE (_Chelidonium majus_).—Yellow flowers, very frail,
handsome pinnate leaf—lane at Brambridge, Standon, and in Hursley.
CRUCIFERA
ROCKET (_Diplotaxis tenuifolia_).—Seen at Brambridge.
CHARLOCK (_Sinapis arvensis_).—Making fields golden.
WHITE C. (_S. alba_).—Standon, Hursley.
JACK-BY-THE-HEDGE (_Sisymbrium alliaria_).—Seen at Brambridge.
LADY’S SMOCK (_Cardamine pratensis_).—No doubt named because the pearly
flowers look on a moist meadow like linen bleaching. Sometimes double in
rich ground.
HAIRY CARDAMINE (_C. hirsuta_).—Hursley.
YELLOW ROCKET (_Barbarea vulgaris_).—Road near Chandler’s Ford. Near
bridge over Itchen.
WATERCRESS (_Nasturtium officinale_).—Everywhere in running water, and
now Poolhole is made into a nursery for it.
SHEPHERD’S PURSE (_Thlaspi Bursa-pastoris_).—Even the purses are to be
seen before we well know the tiny white flowers to be in blossom.
PENNYCRESS (_T. arvense_).—Larger, and uplifting a spike of rounded,
fan-shaped capsules.
WILD MIGNONETTE (_Reseda lutea_).—Mignonette all but the
perfume—chalk-pits.
DYER’S ROCKET (_R. luteola_).—Slenderer and more spiked; more common.
ROCK ROSE (_Helianthemum vulgare_).—There is an elegance and delicacy of
colour about this little cistus which renders it one of the most charming
of the many stars of the wayside, as it grows on Compton Hill.
SWEET VIOLET (_Viola odorata_).—The colour, purple or white or pink,
seems to depend on the soil. White are the most common on the chalky
side, blue on the gravel.
MARSH V. (_V. palustris_).—Small and pale, with round leaves. Seen at a
spring in Otterbourne Park. (_V. permixta_).—Pinky—Kiln-yard,
Otterbourne.
DOG V. (_V. canina_).—In every wood, rich and handsome.
SNAKE V. (_V. hirta_).—More delicate and small, growing in turf—Pleasure
Grounds, Cranbury.
(_V. Riviniana_).—Hursley Park.
(_V. Reichenbachiana_).—Dane Lane. The three last are very probably only
sports of _canina_.
CREAM-COLOURED V. (_V. lactea_).—More skim-milk coloured, but known by
lanceolate leaves—cuckoo bushes.
PANSY (V. tricolor).—Everywhere in fallow fields. In rich soil the upper
petals become purple.
SUNDEW—
(_Drosera rotundifolia_) The curious, hairy, dewy leaves
(_D. intermedia_) and flowers that never open in full day are to be found
in the marshes near Hiltingbury.
MILKWORT (_Polygala vulgaris_).—Small and blue on Otterbourne Hill, as a
stitch in the embroidery of the turf; but larger, blue, pink, or white in
the water-meadows beside the Itchen, deserving the American name of
May-wings.
CARYOPHYLLEÆ
DEPTFORD PINK (_Dianthus Armeria_).—This used to grow in a field near
Highbridge, but has been destroyed, either purposely or by fencing.
BLADDER CAMPION (_Silene inflata_).—Showing its white flowers and
swelling calyxes everywhere.
COMMON CATCHFLY (_S. anglica_).—Small and insignificant among corn.
RED CAMPION (_Lychnis diurna_).—Robins, as children call it, with the
bright pink in every hedge and the undergrowth in every copse.
WHITE C. (_L. vespertina_).—The white flowers make a feature in fallow
fields.
RAGGED ROBIN (_L. Flos-cuculi_).—The curiously slashed and divided pink
flowers flourish in the water-meadows by the Itchen.
CORN COCKLE (_Agrostemma githago_).—The beautiful purple blossoms, set in
long graceful calyxes, adorn the paths through wheat and barley fields
everywhere.
LESSER STITCHWORT (_Mænchia erecta_).—
CHICKWEED—
(_Cerastiurn vulgatum_) Early plant. Uninteresting
(_C. arvense_) tiny white flowers.
STARWORT (_Stellaria Holostea_).—The bright stitches of white embroidery
on our banks.
CHICKWEED (_S. media._)—The chickweed dear to bird-keepers.
(_S graminea_).—Cobweb-like, almost invisible stems, and blossom with a
fairy brightness over the heaths.
(_S. uliginosa_).—The same adapted to marshes—Cuckoo Bushes, Helmsley.
SANDWORT (_Arenaria Rubra_).—The little pink flowers crop up through the
gravel paths.
CORN SPURREY (_Spergula arvensis_).—Very long-spurred, with white small
blossoms.
(_Alsine tenuifolia_).—_Roman_ road between Hursley and Sparsholt.
KNAWEL (_Scleranthus annuus_).—Hursley.
ST. JOHN’S-WORT TRIBE
TUTSAN (_Hypericum Androsæmum_).—Handsome flower, and seeds—Cranbury and
Allbrook.
ST. JOHN’S-WORT (_H. perforatum_).
(_H. dubium_).
(_H. hirsutum_).—All frequent in the hedges.
(_H. humifusum_).
(_H. pulchrum_).
(_H. Elodes_).—Bogs near Cuckoo Bushes.
(_H. quadrangulum_).
MALLOW (_Malva sylvestris_).—Everywhere by roadsides, used to be esteemed
by old women as a healing “yarb.”
MUSK M. (_M. moschata_).—A beautiful pink or white flower, grows all over
the park at Cranbury.
DWARF M. (_M. rotundifolia_).—Flower white, with purple streaks, almost
stemless, grows under a wall in Otterbourne Street.
SMALL-LEAVED LIME (_Tilia parvifolia_).—Hursley Park; avenue at
Brambridge, where four rows form three magnificent aisles.
CRANESBILL TRIBE
DOVE’S-FOOT CRANE’S-BILL (_Geranium Columbinum_).—Roadsides.
SHINING C. (_G. lucidum_).—Heap of stones, Hursley.
(_G. dissectum_).—Everywhere.
(_G. Molle_).—Otterbourne
HERB ROBERT C. (_G. Robertianum_).—Very common, and the crimson leaves a
great winter ornament.
BLOODY C. (_G. phæum_).—Ladwell Hill, where it may be a remnant of a
cottage garden.
STORK’S-BILL (_Erodium moschatum_).—Otterbourne Hill.
(_E. cicutarium_).—Farley Mount.
WOOD-SORREL (_Oxalis Acetosella_).—This exquisite plant with delicate
flower and trefoil leaves grows on many mossy banks, especially on one on
the Ampfield Road.
HOLLY (_Ilex Aquifolium_).—The glory of the peaty woods. The people
distinguish the berried shrubs as holly, _i.e._ holy, those without
berries being holm.
SPINDLE-TREE (_Euonymus europæus_).—Also called skewer wood. “A tree
that grows on purpose,” as an old woman said of the material of her pegs.
The charming berries with their crimson hearts are plentiful in King’s
Lane.
BUCKTHORN (_Rhamnus Frangula_).—Otterbourne Hill.
(_R. catharticus_).—Hursley.
SYCAMORE (_Acer Pseudo-platanus_).—Road by Oakwood.
MAPLE (_A. campestre_).—Painting the hedges in autumn with its yellow
leaves.
LEGUMINOSE
FURZE (_Ulex europæus_).—Brilliant on all the commons on gravel or peat.
DWARF FURZE (_U. nanus_).—Rather less frequent.
BROOM (_Genista scoparia_).—Exquisite golden spires on the peat.
NEEDLE BROOM (_G. anglica_).—Cuckoo Bushes.
DYER’S GREENWEED (_G. tinctoria_).—In a ditch in a meadow on the Ampfield
Road.
REST HARROW (_Ononis arvensis_).—Pretty pink and white blossoms like
miniature lady-peas on a troublesome weed.
KIDNEY VETCH (_Anthyllis Vulneraria_).—Borders of down.
BLACK MEDICK (_Medicago lupulina_).—Chalk-pit.
(_M. denticulata_).—Ampfield.
MELILOT (_Melilotus officinalis_).—Kiln Lane, Otterbourne.
BIRDSFOOT (_Ornithopus perpusillus_).—Otterbourne Hill.
(_Trigonella ornithopodioides_).—Otterbourne.
TREFOIL (_Trifulium subterraneum_).
(_T. pratense_).
DUTCH CLOVER (_T. repens_).
HOPDOWN (_T. procumbens_).
(_T. minus_).
(_T. hybridum_).
STRAWBERRY TREFOIL (_T. fragiferum_).—Once on canal bank.
MILK VETCH (_Hippocrepis comosa_).—Hursley.
BIRD’S-FOOT TREFOIL (_Lotus corniculatus_).—This golden or ruddy part of
the embroidery of the down is known to children as Ladies’ Slippers or
Ladies’ Fingers.
(_L. major_).—A taller variety.
TARE (_Ervum hirsutum_).—Tiny grey flowers.
(_E. tetraspermum_).
PURPLE VETCH (_Vicia Cracca_).—Throwing royal purple garlands over every
hedge in the lanes.
COMMON V. (_V. sativa_).—Very common, varying from crimson to dark red.
WOOD V. (_V. sepium_).—A brilliant little red flower.
GRASS VETCHLING (_Lathyrus Nissolia_).—Found once in a bank near
Chandler’s Ford; once at Silkstede.
WOOD V. (_L. sylvestris_).—Doubtful, but something like it grows in
Sparrow Grove near the waterworks.
YELLOW V. (_L. pratensis_).—Common, mixed with grass.
HEATH PEA (_Orobus tuberosus_).—On the peat soil.
ROSE TRIBE
BLACKTHORN (_Prunus spinosa_).—It is believed that no hurt is so hard of
healing as from a blackthorn. Also blackthorn winter is supposed to
bring fresh cold in spring, when the bushes almost look as if clothed by
hoar-frost.
WILD CHERRY (_P. Avium_).—The fine, tall, shapely trees put on their
bridal show in the woods of Cranbury and Ampfield.
BIRD-CHERRY (_P. Padus_).—Not very common. There is one in the grounds
at Otterbourne House, but it is not certainly wild.
MEADOW-SWEET (_Spiræa Ulmaria_).—Raising its creamy cymes of blossoms in
every ditch where there is a little moisture.
DROPWORT (_S. Filipendula_).—On the borders of Pitt Down and Crab Wood.
AGRIMONY (_Agrimonia Eupatoria_).—Long yellow spikes in all dry hedges.
BURNET (_Sanguisorba officinalis_).—Chalk-pit by Sparrow Grove, also Dane
Lane, where the green balls with tiny red blossoms may be found, and
sometimes the green and crimson burnet moth.
BARREN STRAWBERRY (_Potentilla Fragariastrum_).—How often has “mustn’t
pick the strawberry blossom” been quoted to this delusive little white
cinquefoil in early spring, when it peeps out among leaves very like
strawberry-leaves in the hedge.
TORMENTIL (_P. Tormentilla_).—This is now ranged among the cinquefoils,
though it has only four petals, owing perhaps to the very dry barren
heathy soil it brightens with its stars.
CINQUEFOIL (_P. repens_).—A smiling pentagon star by the wayside.
SILVER-WEED or GOOSE-GRASS (_P. anserina_).—Why dedicated to geese, even
in Latin, it is hard to say. Silver-weed is more appropriate to the
silver-grey leaves that border road-sides, sometimes with golden flowers.
MARSH CINQUEFOIL (_Comarum palustre_).—A prize in Baddesley bog, unless
drains have banished its pure flower.
WOOD STRAWBERRY (_Fragaria vesca_).—Profuse in Cranbury and on banks of
railway at Sparrow Grove.
WILD RASPBERRY (_Rubus Idæus_).—Cranbury, near the road.
WILD BLACKBERRY (_R. fruticosus_).—Brambles, of course, everywhere, but
it is impossible to pass them without a tribute to their beauty, in
flower, in fruit, and, above all, in autumn foliage.
DEWBERRY (_R. cæsius_).—What is probably dewberry grows by the roadway
through Mallibar Copse.
(_R. leucostratus_).—Roman Road and Cranbury Common.
HERB BENNET (_Geum urbanum_).—Insignificant yellow flower.
WATER AVENS (_G. rivale_).—Quaint little ruddy half-expanded blossoms,
called by the villagers Granny’s Night-caps.
(_G. intermedium_).—Really intermediate—probably hybrid. Found once in a
copse between Boyatt Lane and the Southampton Road.
LADY’S MANTLE (_Alchemilla arvensis_).—Crabwood.
SWEET-BRIAR (_Rosa rubiginosa_).—Copse by pond, Cranbury.
DOG-ROSE (_R. canina_).—With handsomer hips.
WHITE DOG-ROSE (_R. arvensis_).
HAWTHORN (_Cratægus monogyna_).—Who does not love when the blossoms cover
them like snow-drift? Well are they called May.
MOUNTAIN ASH (_Pyrus Aucuparia_).—This rowan-tree of Scotland has no
weird horrors here, but it is the ornament of the woods, with white
cymes, red berries, and feathery leaves.
CRAB-TREE (_P. Malus_).—Romsey Road, where the pinky blossoms show
opposite Cranbury Gate.
WHITEBEAM (_P. Aria_).—Grey or white leaves shine out in Ampfield Wood.
PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE (_Lythrum salicaria_).—Ophelia’s long purples adorn
the water-courses in the Itchen mead.
WILLOW-HERB TRIBE
ROSEBAY WILLOW-HERB (_Epilobium angustifolium_).—This splendid flower,
rose-coloured, white-pistilled and red-leaved, spreads in sheets in
Cranbury Copse and on railway cuttings, at Cuckoo Bushes, and in Ampfield
Wood.
CODLINS-AND-CREAM (_E. hirsutum_).—Adorning wet places.
SMALL WILLOW-HERB—
(_E. parviflorum_) Troublesome though pretty weeds in the garden.
(_E. tetragonum_)
(_E. roseum_)
(_E. montanum_).—Found at Ampfield.
ENCHANTER’S NIGHTSHADE (_Circæa lutetiana_).—A graceful, delicate-looking
plant of universal occurrence.
WATER STARWORT (_Callitriche verna_).—Ponds.
MARESTAIL (_Hippuris vulgaris_).—Waves with the current of the stream in
the Itchen.
WHITE BRYONY (_Bryonia dioica_).—Vine-like leaves wreathe round in the
hedges, and the pale, whitish flowers give place to graceful clusters of
red berries.
GOOSEBERRY (_Ribes Grossularia_).—Lane towards Brambridge.
SAXIFRAGEA
ORPINE (_Sedum Telephium_).—Also called Midsummer May; grows in
Otterbourne Park, and a large bunch on the Romsey Road. An old woman
described having tried the augury, having laid the plants in pairs on
Midsummer Eve, naming them after pairs of sweethearts. Those that
twisted away from each other showed inconstancy!
STONECROP (_S. anglicum_).—Otterbourne Hill.
(_S. acre_).—Hursley.
HOUSELEEK (_Sempervivum tectorum_).—Also called Sin-green, or some word
so sounding. It is not permitted to blow upon the roof on which it
grows, for fear of ill-luck, which is strange, as it has been Jupiter’s
beard, Thor’s beard, and St. George’s beard, and in Germany is thought to
preserve from thunder.
SAXIFRAGE (_Saxifraga tridactylites_).—Hursley.
GOLDEN S. (_Chrysosplenium oppositifolium_).—Wet places in Lincoln’s
Copse.
MARSH PENNYWORT (_Hydrocotyle vulgaris_).—Bogs at Cuckoo Bushes.
WOOD SANICLE (_Sanicula vulgaris_).—In all the copses.
UMBELLIFERA
GOUTWEED (_Ægopodium Podagra_).—Handsome leaves, but a troublesome weed.
PIGNUT (_Bunium flexuosum_).—The delicate, lace-like, umbellate flowers
in all the woods.
WATER DROPWORT (_Œnanthe fistulosa_).—Banks of Itchen.
WATER HEMLOCK (_Œ. crocata_).—Itchen banks.
WILD CARROT (_Daucus Carota_).
BURNET SAXIFRAGE (_Pimpinella Sax Jraga_).—Hursley.
COW PARSLEY (_Chærophyllum sylvestre_).—Boys may be seen bearing home
bundles for their rabbits.
SHEPHERD’S NEEDLE (_Scandix Pecten Veneis_).—In cornfields.
HEDGE PARSLEY (_Torilis infesta_).—Hursley.
HEMLOCK (_Conium maculatum_).
IVY (_Hedera Helix_).—Everywhere.
DOGWOOD (_Cornus sanguinea_).—The red and purple of the fading leaves
mixed with the yellow of the maples make every hedge a study.
MISTLETOE (_Viscum album_).—Grows on hawthorns in Hursley Park, and on
apple-trees at Otterbourne.
MOSCATEL (_Adoxa Moschatellina_).—This dainty little green-headed plant
is one of the harbingers of spring.
ELDER (_Sambucus nigra_).—In most hedges, though its honours are gone as
the staple of elder-wine, and still better of elder-flower water, which
village sages used to brew, and which was really an excellent remedy for
weak eyes.
GUELDER-ROSE (_Viburnum Opulus_).—Equally handsome whether
white-garlanded cymes of blossoms or scarlet berries, waxen when partly
ripe.
WAYFARING-TREE (_V. Lantana_).—Not quite so common, but handsome, with
white flowers and woolly leaves.
HONEYSUCKLE (_Lonicera Periclymenum_).—To be seen in full glory waving on
the top of a holly-tree, and when the stem has become amalgamated with a
bough, circling it like the staff of Esculapius, it is precious to boys.
(_L. Caprifolium_).—Noted as once found, but not lately.
MADDER TRIBE
MADDER (_Rubia peregrina_).—Tiny flowers—Otterbourne Hill.
CROSSWORT or MUGWORT (_Galium Cruciatum_).—Roadside, Allbrook.
YELLOW LADY’S BEDSTRAW (_G. verum_).—Everywhere.
MARSH B. (_G. palustre_).—Cuckoo Bushes.
(_G. uliginosum_).—Gravel-pit, Otterbourne.
WHITE BEDSTRAW (_G. erectum_).—Winchester Road.
CLEAVERS or CLIDERS (_G. Aparine_).—Everywhere.
ROUGH (_G. Mollugo_).—Cornfields.
WOODRUFF (_Asperula odorata_).—Sparrow Grove.
(_A. cynanchica_).—Chalk downs.
FIELD MADDER (_Sherardia arvensis_).—Otterbourne Hill.
VALERIAN (_Valeriana dioica_).—Itchen meadows.
LESSER V. (_V. officinalis_).—Itchen meadows.
LAMB’S LETTUCE (_Valerianella olitorium_).—Downs and stubble-fields.
TEASEL (_Dipsacus sylvestris_).—Grand ornament to the hedges. On a
fallow field it came up in quantities, as if sown.
DEVIL’S-BIT SCABIOUS (_Scabiosa succisa_).—Makes grey clouds all over
Cranbury Park.
COMMON S. (_S. arvensis_).—Everywhere.
LESSER S. (_S. Columbaria_).—Malabar wayside.
HARE BELL (_Campanula rotundifolia_).—Otterbourne Hill.
NETTLE-LEAVED BELLFLOWER (_C. Trachelium_).—Road-sides.
CLUSTERED B. (_C. glomerata_).—Pitt Down.
COMPOSITÆ
THISTLES (_Carduus nutans_).
(_C. tenuifolia_).
MILK THISTLE (_Silybum marianum_).—Once in Boyatt Lane.
(_S crispus_).
(_Cnicus lanceolatus_).
(_C. palustris_).
(_C. arvensis_).
STEMLESS T. (_C. acaulis_).—Little purple stars on the downs.
CARLINE (_Carlina vulgaris_).
BURDOCK (_Arctium Lappa_).—Everywhere.
(_A. tomentosa_).
SAW-WORT (_Serratula tinctoria_).—Copses round King’s Lane.
KNAPWEED (_Centaurea nigra_).—Everywhere.
(_C. Cyanea_).—In fields about Hursley occasionally.
(_C. Scabiosa_).—Hursley.
CORN MARIGOLD (_Chrysanthemum segetum_).—Sometimes plentiful, but
dependent on crops.
OX-EYE DAISY (_C. Leucanthemum_).—Everywhere.
CAMOMILE (_Pyrethrum inodorum_).—Everywhere.
TANSY (_Tanacetum vulgaris_).—King’s Lane.
COMMON CHAMOMILE (_Anthemis nobilis_).
(_A. arvensis_).
(_A. Cotula_).
YARROW (_Achillea Millefolium_).
SNEEZEWORT (_A. Ptarmica_).—Southampton Road sides.
WORMWOOD (_Artemisia vulgaris_).—Kiln Lane turns to Moat House.
CUDWEED (_Gnaphalium minimum_).
(_G. germanium_).
(_G. sylvaticum_).
GROUNDSEL (_Senecio vulgaris_).
(_S. sylvaticus_).
RAGWORT (_S. Jacobæa_).—Often covered with black and yellow caterpillars.
(_S. viscosus_).—Marked as found at Hursley.
(_S. aquaticus_).
FLEABANE (_Inula Conyza_).—Southampton Road.
(_I. Pulicaria_).
DAISY (_Bellis perennis_).
BLUE FLEABANE (_Erigeron acris_).
GOLDENROD (_Solidago Virga-aurea_).—Wood-paths and road-sides.
COLTSFOOT (_Tussilago Farfara_).—In all chalky fields.
BUTTERBUR (_Petasites vulgaris_).—Banks of Itchen.
BUR-MARIGOLD (_Bidens cernua_).—It used to be in a marsh on the Romsey
Road, but has not been seen lately.
HEMP AGRIMONY (_Eupatorium cannabinum_).—In all hedges near moisture.
CHICORY (_Cichorium Intybus_).—Now and then showing its pretty blue
flower on the roadside.
NIPPLEWORT (_Lapsana communis_).—Too frequent weed.
DANDELION (_Leontodon Taraxacum_).—How can its praise for glorious
brilliant flowers and stems fit for chains be passed by, or for the
“clocks” that furnish auguries!
(_L. autumnalis_).—Is this a separate species, or the dandelion blowing
in autumn?
GO-TO-BED AT NOON (_Tragopogon pratensis_).—Beautiful when open early in
the day, beautiful when the long calyx is closed, and most beautiful with
its handsome winged pappus—King’s Lane, Otterbourne Churchyard.
WILD LETTUCE (_Lactuca muralis_).—On heaps of flints.
MOUSEAR (_Thrincia hirta_).—Sulphur-coloured, small, and held to be an
excellent remedy for whooping-cough.
OX-TONGUE (_Helminthia echioides_).—The rough leaf is well named.
HAWKBIT (_Hieracium autumnale_).
(_Apargia hispida_).—In cornfields.
SHEEP’S-BIT (_Jasione montana_).—Cranbury Common.
SOW THISTLE (_Sonchus arvensis_).
(_S. palustris_).
WHORTLEBERRY (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_).—Ampfield Wood.
CROSS-LEAVED HEATH (_Erica Tetralix_) Otterbourne Hill, the glory of
early autumn.
BELL HEATHER (_E. cinerea_).
LING (_Calluna vulgaris_).
BIRD’S NEST (_Monotropa Hypopitys_).—South Lynch Wood.
ASH (_Fraxinus excelsior_).
PRIVET (_Ligustrum vulgare_).—Lane leading to the Itchen.
GENTIAN TRIBE
THE PERIWINKLE (_Vinca minor_).—Curiously irregular in blossoming. One
spring the ground is covered with blue stars, another only with evergreen
trails. Its only habitat here is Lincoln’s Copse.
YELLOWWORT (_Chlora perfoliata_).—Ampfield Wood.
CENTAURY (_Erythræa Centaurea_).—Cranbury.
GENTIAN (_Gentiana Pneunomanthe_).—Baddesley bog, Cranbury.
(_G. Amarella_).—Pitt Down.
BOGBEAN (_Menyanthes trifolium_).—This lovely flower abides in the wet
banks of the Itchen.
BINDWEED (_Convolvulus sepium_).—Pure and white.
(_C. minor_).—In shades of pink. Called lilies by the country-folk.
DODDER (_Cuscuta Epithymum_).—Red threads forming a beaded network over
the furze.
(_C. Trifolii_).—Coarser fibres, smaller balls of blossom, in some years
strangling the clover.
WOODY NIGHTSHADE (_Solanum Dulcamara_).—Purple flowers, red berries,
beautiful everywhere.
(_S. nigrum_).—White-flowered, black-berried. At Cranbury, and
occasionally elsewhere.
DEADLY NIGHTSHADE (_Atropa belladonna_).—Used to be near the front door
at Hursley Park.
HENBANE (_Hyoscyamus niger_).—Formerly on the top of Compton Hill, and at
the angle of the lane leading to Bunstead.
BORAGE TRIBE
MULLEIN (_Verbascum nigrum_). The handsome spikes
(_V. Thapsus_) everywhere.
(_V. Blattaria_).—Formerly in hedge of cottage at Silkstede.
GROMWELL (_Lithospermum officinale_).—Beside Winchester Road on way to
Twyford.
FORGET-ME-NOT (_Myosotis palustris_).—Itchen meadows.
MOUSE-EAR, SCORPION GRASS (_M. versicolor_).—Stubblefields.
(_M. sylvatica_).—Ampfield.
(_M. arvensis_).—Everywhere.
COMFREY (_Symphytum officinale_).—Itchen banks.
HOUND’S TONGUE (_Cynoglossum officinale_).—Merdon Hill, but it has
disappeared from Otterbourne.
PRIMROSE (_Primula vulgaris_).—Has any one observed the tiny blossoms of
seedlings of the first year? Now and then there are stalked heads like
oxlips, white or red varieties.
COWSLIP (_P. veris_).—Covering some few fields, and delightful for
cowslip balls. Sweetest of scents.
YELLOW LOOSESTRIFE (_Lysimachia vulgaris_).—A beautiful shrub by the
water-side.
MONEYWORT (_L. Nummularia_).—The Creeping-Jenny of rock-work, etc.
YELLOW PIMPERNEL (_L. nemorum_).—Covering the ground in woods with its
delicate pentagon stars.
PIMPERNEL (_Anagallis arvensis_).—A beautiful blue variety once came up
in the kitchen-garden at Otterbourne House, and prevailed for several
years.
(_A. tenella_).—In the bogs towards Cuckoo Bushes.
LABIATÆ
WATER FIGWORT—
(_Scrophularia Balbisii_). (_S. nodosa_) } Both common and not
beautiful.
FOXGLOVE (_Digitalis purpurea_).—All over the gravelly and peaty woods in
splendid congregations of spires—called by the children poppies.
LESSER SNAPDRAGON (_Antirrhinum Orontium_).—Occasionally in gardens.
WILD SAGE (_Salvia Verbenaca_).—Ampfield.
SELF-HEAL (_Prunella vulgaris_).—Called Lady’s Slipper.
SKULLCAP (_Scutellaria galericulata_).—Itchen bank.
(_S. minor_).—Cranbury hedge on Romsey Road.
BLACK HOREHOUND (_Bellota fætida_).—Hursley hedges.
BASTARD BALM (_Melittis Melissophyllum_).—Ampfield Wood.
BETONY (_Stachys Betonica_).
(_S. palustris_).
(_S. sylvatica_).
(_S. arvensis_).
RED ARCHANGEL (_Galeopsis Tetrahit_).—Near Chandler’s Ford.
MOTHERWORT (_Leonurus Cardiaca_).—Alas, a dried specimen only remains of
this handsome flower, which was sacrificed to a pig-stye on Otterbourne
Hill.
WEASEL SNOUT or YELLOW NETTLE (_Galeobdolon luteum_).
WHITE ARCHANGEL, or BLIND NETTLE (_Lamium album_).—sometimes with a
purple flower.
(_L. purpureum_).—Everywhere.
BUGLE (_Ajuga reptans_).—All over the woods.
GERMANDER, WOOD-SAGE (_Teucrium Scorodonia_).—Cranbury Wood.
BUGLOSS (_Lycopsis arvensis_).—Sand-pit, Boyatt Lane.
VIPER’S BUGLOSS (_Echium vulgare_).—Chalk-pits.
GREAT YELLOW TOADFLAX (_Linaria vulgaris_).—In most hedges.
IVY-LEAVED T. (_L. Cymbalaria_).—Old wall of Merdon Castle.
FLUELLEN (_L. Elatine_).—In stubble-fields.
(_L. spuria_).—In the same locality.
CREEPING T. (_L. repens_).—Chandler’s Ford, and hedge of Romsey Road by
Pot Kiln.
LESSER T. (_L. minor_).—Hursley.
SPEEDWELL (_Veronica hederifolia_).—Hursley, Ampfield.
(_V. polita_).
(_V. Buxbaumii_).—In fallow fields all the winter and spring.
(_V. arvensis_).
(_V. officinalis_).—Cranbury.
BIRD’S EYE (_V. Chamvdrys_).—Exquisite blue along the hedges on the chalk
and clay.
(_V. montana_).—Ampfield.
(_V. scutellata_).
BROOKLIME (_V. Beccabunga_).—Esteemed a sovereign remedy for an old
woman’s bad leg.
(_V. Anagallis_).—Less common, but both frequent the river and the
marshes.
EYEBRIGHT (_Euphrasia officinalis_).—Downs and heaths.
RED EYEBRIGHT (_Bartsia Odontites_).—woods.
RED RATTLE (_Pedicularis palustris_).—Itchen meadows.
(_P. sylvatica_).—Otterbourne Hill.
YELLOW RATTLE (_Rhinanthus Crista-galli_).—Itchen meadows.
YELLOW COW-WHEAT (_Melampyrum pratense_).—Otterbourne Park.
TOOTHWORT (_Lathræa squamaria_).—South Lynch Wood.
BROOMRAPE (_Orobanche repens_).—Mallibar roadway.
(_O. elatior_).—Sparrow Grove.
(_O. minor_).—Clover-fields, Otterbourne. Wonderful brown parasites, all
three.
VERVEIN (_Verbena officinalis_).—Road-sides.
GIPSYWORT (_Lycopus europærus_).—Dell Copse and all bogs.
HORSE MINT (_Mentha sylvestris_).
(_M. hirsuta_).
(_M. sativa_).
(_M. arvensis_).
THYME (_Thymus Serpyllum_).—On many a bank does the wild thyme grow, with
its perfume delicious.
MARJORAM (_Origanum vulgare_).—Banks of Winchester Road.
MONKEY FLOWER (_Mimulus Luteus_)._—_Bank of Itchen Canal, where it has
spread considerably, though probably a stray.
BASIL THYME (_Calamintha vulgaris_).—Stubble-fields show this lovely
little blue flower with a white crescent on the lip.
(_C. menthifolia_).—Merdon Castle.
BASIL (_C. Clinopodium_).—Itchen.
CAT MINT (_Nepeta Cataria_).—Hedge towards Stoneham.
GROUND IVY (_N. Glechoma_).—Everywhere in woods.
PLANTAIN TRIBE
KNOCKHEADS (_Plantago major_).
LESSER PLANTAIN (_P. media_).
(_P. lanceolata_).
STAGSHORN (_P. Coronopus_).—Otterbourne Hill.
GOOD KING HENRY (_Chenopodium Bonus-Henricus_).
GOOSEFOOT (_C. album_).
(_C. urbicum_).
DOCK (_Rumex sanguineus_).
(_R. obtusfolius_).
(_R. pratensis_).
WATER DOCK (_R. Hydrolapathum_).—Fit table-cloth for the butterfly’s
table.
SORREL (_R. Acetosa_).
LESSER SORREL (_R. Acetosella_).—Elegant and slender, making red clouds
all over Cranbury.
BUCKWHEAT (_Polygonum fagopyrum_).—For several seasons in a meadow by
Brooklyn. Now vanished.
KNOTGRASS (_P. Convolvulus_).
BLACK BINDWEED (_P. aviculare_).
WATER PEPPER (_P. Hydropiper_).
PERSICARIA (_P. Persicaria_).
(_P. dumetorum_).—Ampfield.
BASTARD TOADFLAX (_Thesium linophyllum_).—Crab Wood.
SUN SPURGE (_Euphorbia Helioscopia_).—Corn-fields.
WOOD S. (_E. amygdaloides_).—Cranbury and Otterbourne Park.
SMALL S. (_E. Peplus_).
(_E. exigua_).
DOG’S MERCURY (_Mercurialis perennis_).—First to clothe the banks with
fresh vernal green.
NETTLE (_Urtica dioica_).
SMALL NETTLE (_U. nana_).
HOD (_Humulus Lupulus_).—If not native, it has taken well to the hedges,
and clothes them with graceful wreaths.
ELM (_Ulmus campestris_).—Largest of spreading trees.
OAK (_Quercus Robur_).—Acorns differ on many trees. Five varieties of
Cynips produce different oak-apples. Oak is still worn on the 29th of
May, and it is called Shik-shak Day. Why?
BEECH (_Fagus sylvatica_).—Beautiful at Ampfield and South Lynch, and
permitting only a select few plants to grow under its shade.
HAZEL (_Corylus Avellana_).
ALDER (_Alnus glutinosa_).
BIRCH (_Betula alba_).—Silver-leaved and white-barked, making fairy
groves.
ASPEN (_Populus tremula_).—Aps, the people call it. The catkins are like
caterpillars.
WILLOW or WITHY (_Salix Caprea_).—Our yellow goslings in spring, as they
shoot from their silver rabbit-tail catkins, and our palms on Palm
Sunday, though it is unlucky to bring one home earlier.
(_S. triandra_).—Near the old church, Otterbourne.
(_S. rubra_).
ROUND-LEAVED W. (_S. aurita_).
SALLOW W. (_S. cinerea_).
WHITE W. (_S. alba_).
(_S. fragilis_).
DWARF W. (_S. repens_).—Bogs towards Baddesley.
OSIER W. (_S. viminalis_).—Ampfield.
JUNIPER (_Juniperus communis_).—Above Standon on Down.
YEW (_Taxus baccata_).—Scattered in hedges, or singly all over the chalk
district.
REEDMACE (_Typha latifolia_).—Itchen. Noble plant, commonly, but
incorrectly, called bulrush.
BUR-REED (_Sparganium ramosum_).—With fertile flowers like prickly balls.
LORDS-AND-LADIES or CUCKOO-PINT (_Arum maculatum_).—Showing their heads
under every hedge. The lords have a red column, the ladies a white.
DUCKWEED (_Lemna trisulca_).
GREAT WATER PLANTAIN (_Alisma Plantago_).—Stately ornament of bogs.
THE LILY TRIBE
GARLIC (_Allium ursinum_).—On road to Baddesley.
CROW G. (_A. vineale_).—Chalk ridges, if not destroyed by waterworks.
FLAG (_Iris pseudacorus_).—Itchen banks.
STINKING F. (_I. fætidissima_).—Not common, but in two copses, one at
Cranbury and the other on the north of King’s Lane.
DAFFODIL (_Narcissus Pseudonarcissus_).—Dell Copse, which it covers with
the glory of the “dancing daffodil”; also plantation near Romsey Road.
BLACK BRYONY (_Tamus communis_).—Wreaths of shiny leaves.
SOLOMON’S SEAL (_Polygonatum multiflorum_).—Cranbury Wood.
BUTCHER’S BROOM (_Ruscus aculeatus_).—Otterbourne Hill.
BLUEBELL (_Hyacinthus nonscriptus_).—Masses in the woods.
WOODRUSH (_Luzula sylvatica_).—Graceful brown blossoms.
PYRAMIDAL ORCHIS (_Orchis pyramidalis_).—Chalk-pit by Sparrow Grove.
FOOL’S O. (_O. Morio_).—Cranbury.
PURPLE O. (_O. mascula_).—Local name, Dead Man’s Fingers.
ROMSEY O. (_O. incarnata_).—Itchen meadows.
BROAD-LEAVED O. (_O. latifolia_).—Itchen meadows.
SPOTTED O. (_O maculata_).
DWARF O. (_O. ustulata_).—Downs by South Lynch.
SWEET O. (_Gymnadenia conopsea_).—Itchen meadows.
BUTTERFLY O. (_Habenaria bifolia_).—Sparrow Grove.
BEE O. (_Ophrys apifera_).—Railway banks and South Lynch.
FLY O. (_O. muscifera_).—South Lynch Down.
LADY’S TRESSES (_Spiranthes autumnalis_).—Cranbury lawn, but fitful in
appearing.
TWAYBLADE (_Listera ovata_).—In hedges and woods.
BIRD’S-NEST ORCHIS (_L. Nidus-avis_).—Only under beeches.
HELLEBORINE (_Epipactis latifolia_).—Here and there in hedges.
(_E. grandiflora_).—Under beeches.
(_E. palustris_).—Chalk-pit.
REEDS
BOGRUSH (_L. campestris_).—Little rush.
(_L. pilosa_).—Ampfield Wood.
RUSH (_Juncus conglomeratus_).—The days of rush-lights are gone by, but
rush-baskets for flowers and helmets are made by the children, and the
white pith, when pressed, is made up into devices.
(_F. effusus_)
(_F. glaucus_) All in Itchen meadows.
(_F. acutiflorus_)
(_F. squamosus_)
BEAKRUSH (_Rhynchospora fusca_).
SINGLE BULRUSH (_Scirpus lacustris_).
(_S. sylvatica_).—Marsh near Baddesley Road.
(_S. setaceus_).
COTTON GRASS (_Eriophorum angustifolium_).—The soft cottony or silky
heads are beautiful on the Itchen roads.
SEDGES (_Carex pulicaris_).
(_C. acuta_).—Copses.
(_C. paniculata_).—Itchen Canal.
(_C. riparia_).—Dell Copse.
STAR SEDGE (_C. stellulata_).—Copses.
(_C. verna_).
(_C. acuta_).—A lovely black and yellow fringe to the Itchen Canal.
(_C. pallescens_).—Damp places.
(_C. paludosa_).—Banks of Itchen Canal.
(_C. sylvatica_).—Cranbury.
(_C. remota_).—Boyatt Lane.
GRASSES
SWEET MEADOW GRASS (_Anthoxanthum odoratum_).
CANARY G. (_Phalaris canariensis_).—A stray.
FOXTAIL G. (_Alopecurus pratensis_).
(_A. agrestis_).
(_A. geniculatus_).
CAT-TAIL G. (_Phleum pratense_).
DOG’S G. (_Agrostis canina_).
(_A. alba_).
(_A. vulgaris_).
REED (_Arundo Phragmites_).—Waving brown tassels, beautiful for
adornments—Itchen banks, and hedge of allotments on Otterbourne Hill.
MILLET GRASS (_Milium effusum_).
HAIR G. (_Aira flexuosa_).
(_A. æspitosa_).—Tufts on the hill, Otterbourne.
WILD OATS (_Avena fatua_).—Grown far more common than formerly.
(_A. strigosa_).
(_A. pratensis_).
(_A. flavescens_).
SOFT GRASS (_Holcus mollis_).
MELICK (_Melica cærulea_).—Cranbury.
(_M. uniflora_).—Dell Copse.
WHORL GRASS (_Catabrosa aquatica_).—The moat, Otterbourne.
(_Glyceria nutans_).—The moat.
MEADOW G. (_Poa rigida_).
(_P. annua_).
(_P. nemoralis_).
(_P. pratensis_).
(_P. trivialis_).
QUAKER’S G. (_Briza media_).
(_B. minor_).
DOG’S-TAIL G. (_Cynosurus cristatus_).
COCK’S-FOOT G. (_Dactylis glomerata_).
FESCUE (_Festuca ovina_).
(_F. pratensis_).
(_F. lolacea_).
BROME GRASS (_Bromus giganteus_).—Cranbury.
(_B. asper_).
(_B. sterilis_).
(_B. racemosus_).
(_B. mollis_).
(_B. arvensis_).
COUCH G. (_Triticum caninum_).
(_T. repens_).
RYE G. or MOUSE BARLEY (_Lolium perenne_).—Also Darnel.
FERNS, ETC.
BRACKEN (_Pteris aquilina_).—All over Cranbury.
HARD FERN (_Blechnum boreale_).—Mallibar Road between Albrook and
Highbridge.
WALL-RUE (_Asplenium Ruta-muraria_).
BLACK MAIDENHAIR (_A. Trichomanes_).—Used to be on tombstones in old
churchyard, Otterbourne.
LADY FERN (_Athyrium Filix fæmina_).—Cranbury.
(_Ceterach officinale_).—Merdon Castle.
HART’S TONGUE (_Scolopendrium officinale_).
(_Polystichum angulare_).—Cranbury.
MALE FERN (_Lastrea Filix-mas_).
(_L. spinulosa_).
(_L. dilatata_).—Otterbourne Park.
(_L. thalipteris_).—Cranbury.
HAY F. (_L. Oreopteris_).—Road to Baddesley.
POLYPODY (_Polypodium vulgare_).
ADDER’S TONGUE (_Ophioglossum vulgare_).—Field called Pleasure Grounds,
Otterbourne.
HORSETAILS (_Equisetum arvense_).
(_E. maximum_).
FOOTNOTES
{17} Hursley ceased to be a Peculiar about the year 1840.
{25} Hurstleigh, as it was originally spelt, is derived from Hurst, a
wood, Legh or Lea, a meadow or open place in a wood.
{28} The _General Biographer’s Dictionary_ says 51 in all.
{32} So says the Register, but I suspect _erroneously_. _Ardington_ was
the place in which the family of Clarkes was settled. Sir Edward Clarke,
probably the son of Sir Thomas, was High Sheriff of Berks in 1626
(_Marsh_).
{34} Halliwell’s dictionary gives _haydiggle_ (Somerset) as meaning high
spirits, and once a country dance.
{36} From Father Gasquet’s essay on the Recusants in _The Old English
Bible_.
{53} _Commentaries_, vol. ii. p. 83, 8vo.
{54} See _Commentaries_, as before. N.B. Among the Garrows, a people of
Hindostan, the youngest _daughter_ inherits the property of her family.
See _Asiatic Researches_, vol. iii. p. 34, 8vo.
{56} Blackstone’s _Commentaries_, vol. ii. chap. v.
{57a} Blackstone’s _Commentaries_, vol. ii. pp. 81, 85.
{57b} Sir Martin Wright is of opinion that Domesday-Book was made soon
after our ancestors had agreed to tenures, _i.e._ the feodal system of
tenure, for the purpose of ascertaining each man’s fee; and he supposes
that as soon as the survey was completed, the great landholders of the
kingdom were summoned to London and Sarum to do homage to the king for
their landed possessions. Now it may be presumed, that if Merdon had
been then surrendered to the king, and any alteration made in the nature
of the tenure of the lands in the manor, it would have been reported and
registered in the book. But it certainly is not to be found there. May
it not then be justly concluded that it was passed over, and that the
customs now prevailing are the same as were in use previous to the
Conquest?
{58} See _Commentaries_, vol. ii. pp. 48, 81.
{67} This word cannot be understood. It probably may be the name of a
holding, or of a family.
{154} Robin Hood’s butt, no doubt used for archery practice, lay on this
down, called Rough Borrow.