# Beachy Head: with Other Poems/Notes

NOTES.
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NOTES.
BEACHY HEAD.
Page 1. Line 3.
"The mariner at early morning hails."
In crossing the Channel from the coast of France, Beachy-Head is the first land made.
Page 1. Line 6.
Alluding to an idea that this Island was once joined to the continent of Europe, and torn from it by some ​convulsion of Nature. I confess I never could trace the resemblance between the two countries. Yet the cliffs about Dieppe, resemble the chalk cliffs on the Southern coast. But Normandy has no likeness whatever to the part of England opposite to it.
Page 2. Line 15.
Terns.—Sterna hirundo, or Sea Swallow. Gulls.—Larus canus. Tarrocks.—Larus tridactylus.
Page 3. Line 1.
Gray Choughs.—Corvus Graculus, Cornish Choughs, or, as these birds are called by the Sussex people, Saddle-backed Crows, build in great numbers on this coast.
Page 4. Line 10.
"Bursts from its pod the vegetable down."
Cotton. (Gossypium herbaceum.)
Line 14.
"The beamy adamant." Diamonds, the hardest and most valuable of precious stones.
For the extraordinary exertions of the Indians in diving for the pearl oysters, see the account of the Pearl Fisheries in Percival's View of Ceylon.
Page 8. Line 14. "——But now and then the Sea Snipe's cry," &c.
In crossing the channel this bird is heard at night, uttering a short cry, and flitting along near the surface of the waves. The sailors call it the Sea Snipe; ​but I can find no species of sea bird of which this is the vulgar name. A bird so called inhabits the lake of Geneva.
Page 9.
"The period, when from Neustria's hostile shore The Norman launch'd his galleys, and the bay O'er which that mass of ruin frowns even now In vain and sullen menace, then received The new invaders," &c.
The Scandinavians, and other inhabitants of the north, began towards the end of the 8th century, to leave their inhospitable climate in search of the produce of more fortunate countries.
​The North-men made inroads on the coasts of France; and carrying back immense booty, excited their compatriots to engage in the same piratical voyages: and they were afterwards joined by numbers of necessitous and daring adventurers from the coasts of Provence and Sicily.
In 844, these wandering innovators had a great number of vessels at sea; and again visiting the coasts of France, Spain, and England, the following year they penetrated even to Paris: and the unfortunate Charles the Bald, king of France, purchased at a high price, the retreat of the banditti he had no other means of repelling.
These successful expeditions continued for some time; till Rollo, otherwise Raoul, assembled a number of followers, and after a descent on England, ​crossed the channel, and made himself master of Rouen, which he fortified. Charles the Simple, unable to contend with Rollo, offered to resign to him some of the northern provinces, and to give him his daughter in marriage. Neustria, since called Normandy, was granted to him, and afterwards Brittany. He added the more solid virtues of the legislator to the fierce valour of the conqueror—converted to Christianity, he established justice, and repressed the excesses of his Danish subjects, till then accustomed to live only by plunder. His name became the signal for pursuing those who violated the laws; as well as the cry of Haro, still so usual in Normandy. The Danes and Francs produced a race of men celebrated for their valour; and it was a small party of these that in 983, having been on a ​age to Jerusalem, arrived on their return at Salerno, and found the town surrounded by Mahometans, whom the Salernians were bribing to leave their coast. The Normans represented to them the baseness and cowardice of such submission; and notwithstanding the inequality of their numbers, they boldly attacked the Saracen camp, and drove the infidels to their ships. The prince of Salerno, astonished at their successful audacity, would have loaded them with the marks of his gratitude; but refusing every reward, they returned to their own country, from whence, however, other bodies of Normans passed into Sicily; and many of them entered into the service of the emperor of the East, others of the Pope, ​and the duke of Naples was happy to engage a small party of them in defence of his newly founded dutchy. Soon afterwards three brothers of Coutance, the sons of Tancred de Hauteville, Guillaume Fier-a-bras, Drogon, and Humfroi, joining the Normans established at Aversa, became masters of the fertile island of Sicily; and Robert Guiscard joining them, the Normans became sovereigns both of Sicily and Naples. How William, the natural son of Robert, duke of Normandy, possessed himself of England, is too well known to be repeated here. William sailing from St. Valori, landed in the bay of Pevensey; and at the place now called Battle, met the English forces under Harold: an esquire (ecuyer) called Taillefer, ​mounted on an armed horse, led on the Normans, singing in a thundering tone the war song of Rollo. He threw himself among the English, and was killed on the first onset. In a marsh not far from Hastings, the skeletons of an armed man and horse were found a few years since, which are believed to have belonged to the Normans, as a party of their horse, deceived in the nature of the ground, perished in the morass.
Page 10. Line 10.
"Then the holy pile," &c.
Battle Abbey was raised by the Conqueror, and endowed with an ample revenue, that masses might be said night and day for the souls of those who perished in battle.
Page 11. Last line.
"Thou, leagued with the Batavian—"
In 1690, king William being then in Ireland, Tourville, the French admiral, arrived on the coast of England. His fleet consisted of seventy-eight large ships, and twenty-two fire-ships. Lord Torrington, the English admiral, lay at St. Helens, with only forty English and a few Dutch ships; and conscious of the disadvantage under which he should give battle, he ran up between the enemy's fleet and the coast, to protect it. The queen's council, dictated to by Russel, persuaded her to order Torrington to venture a battle. The orders Torrington appears to have obeyed reluctantly: his fleet now consisted of twenty-two Dutch and thirty-four English ships. Evertson, the Dutch admiral, was eager to obtain glory; ​Torrington, more cautious, reflected on the importance of the stake. The consequence was, that the Dutch rashly sailing on were surrounded, and Torrington, solicitous to recover this false step, placed himself with difficulty between the Dutch and French;—but three Dutch ships were burnt, two of their admirals killed, and almost all their ships disabled. The English and Dutch declining a second engagement, retired towards the mouth of the Thames. The French, from ignorance of the coast, and misunderstanding among each other, failed to take all the advantage they might have done of this victory.
Page 13.
"—————the humble home Of one, who sometimes watches on the heights," &c.
​The shepherds and labourers of this tract of country, a hardy and athletic race of men, are almost universally engaged in the contraband trade, carried on for the coarsest and most destructive spirits, with the opposite coast. When no other vessel will venture to sea, these men hazard their lives to elude the watchfulness of the Revenue officers, and to secure their cargoes.
Page 14. Line 15.
"Where the gemm'd sun-dew grows, or fring'd buck-bean, They scare the plover——"
Sun-dew.—Drosera rotundifolia Buck-bean.—Menyanthes trifoliatum. Plover.—Tringa vanellus.
Page 15. Line 9.
"By crouding osiers, and the black coot hides—"
Coot.—Fulica aterrima.
Line 16.
Page 16. Line 7.
"Hostile war-fires."The Beacons formerly lighted up on the hills to give notice of the approach of an enemy. These signals would still be used in case of alarm, if the Telegraph now substituted could not be distinguished on account of fog or darkness.
Line 11.
"Where clamouring loud, the evening curlew runs."
Curlew.—Charadrius œdicnemus.
Page 20.
"—————where Vecta breaks With her white rocks, the strong imperious tide."
Vecta.—The Isle of Wight, which breaks the force of the waves when they are driven by south-west winds against this long and open coast. It is somewhere described as "Vecta shouldering the Western Waves."
Page 22. Line 3.
"By the rude arms of trees, lovely in spring."
Every cottage in this country has its orchard; and I imagine that not even those of Herefordshire, or Worcestershire, exhibit a more beautiful prospect, when the trees are in bloom, and the "Primavera candida e vermiglia," is every where so enchanting.
Page 24. Line 10.
"Where purple tassels of the tangling vetch—"
Vetch.—Vicia sylvatica.
Line 11.
"With bittersweet, and bryony inweave."
Bittersweet—Solanum dulcamara.
Bryony.—Bryonia alba.
Line 12.
"And the dew fills the silver bindweed's cups—"
Bindweed.—Convolvulus sepium.
Line 14.
"Nourish the harebell, and the freckled pagil."
Harebell.—Hyacinthus non scriptus.
Pagil.—Primula veris.
Page 25. Line 5.
"Plucks the wood sorrel—"
Oxalis acetosella.
Line 8.
"Gathers, the copse's pride, anémones."
Anemóne nemorosa.—It appears to be settled on late and excellent authorities, that this word should not be accented on the second syllable, but on the penultima. I have however ventured the more known accentuation, as more generally used, and suiting better the nature of my verse.
Page 26. Line 3.
"Of sea-shells; with the pale calcareous soil Mingled, and seeming of resembling substance."
Among the crumbling chalk I have often found shells, some quite in a fossil state and hardly ​distinguishable from chalk. Others appeared more recent; cockles, muscles, and periwinkles, I well remember, were among the number; and some whose names I do not know. A great number were like those of small land snails. It is now many years since I made these observations. The appearance of sea-shells so far from the sea excited my surprise, though I then knew nothing of natural history. I have never read any of the late theories of the earth, nor was I ever satisfied with the attempts to explain many of the phenomena which call forth conjecture in those books I happened to have had access to on this subject.
Page 26. Line 11.
"Or did this range of chalky mountains," &c.
​The theory here slightly hinted at, is taken from an idea started by Mr. White.
Page 27. Last line.
"Rest the remains of men, of whom is left—"
These Downs are not only marked with traces of encampments, which from their forms are called Roman or Danish; but there are numerous tumuli among them. Some of which having been opened a few years ago, were supposed by a learned antiquary to contain the remains of the original natives of the country.
Page 28. Line 8
"Where the mail'd legions, under Claudius," &c.
That the legions of Claudius were in this part of Britain appears certain. Since this emperor ​received the submission of Cantii, Atrebates, Irenobates, and Regni, in which latter denomination were included the people of Sussex.
Page 28.
"What time the huge unwieldy elephant Auxiliary reluctant, hither led—"
In the year 1740, some workmen digging in the park at Burton in Sussex, discovered, nine feet below the surface, the teeth and bones of an elephant; two of the former were seven feet eight inches in length. There were besides these, tusks, one of which broke in removing it, a grinder not at all decayed, and a part of the jaw-bone, with bones of the knee and thigh, and several others. Some of them remained very lately at Burton House, the seat of John Biddulph, Esq. Others were in possession of the Rev. Dr. ​Langrish, minister of Petworth at that period, who was present when some of these bones were taken up, and gave it as his opinion, that they had remained there since the universal deluge. The Romans under the Emperor Claudius probably brought elephants into Britain. Milton, in the Second Book of his History, in speaking of the expedition, says that "He like a great eastern king, with armed elephants, marched through Gallia." This is given on the authority of Dion Cassius, in his Life of the Emperor Claudius. It has therefore been conjectured, that the bones found at Burton might have been those of one of these elephants, who perished there soon after its landing; or dying on the high downs, one of which, called Duncton Hill, rises immediately above Burton Park, the bones might have been washed down by the torrents ​of rain, and buried deep in the soil. They were not found together, but scattered at some distance from each other. The two tusks were twenty feet apart. I had often heard of the elephant's bones at Burton, but never saw them; and I have no books to refer to. I think I saw, in what is now called the National Museum at Paris, the very large bones of an elephant, which were found in North America: though it is certain that this enormous animal is never seen in its natural state, but in the countries under the torrid zone of the old world. I have, since making this note, been told that the bones of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus have been found in America.
Page 28. Line 16.
"—and in giants dwelling on the hills—"
​The peasants believe that the large bones sometimes found belonged to giants, who formerly lived on the hills. The devil also has a great deal to do with the remarkable forms of hill and vale: the Devil's Punch Bowl, the Devil's Leaps, and the Devil's Dyke, are names given to deep hollows, or high and abrupt ridges, in this and the neighbouring county.
Page 29. Line 8.
"The pirate Dane, who from his circular camp—"
The incursions of the Danes were for many ages the scourge of this island.
Line 12.
"The savage native, who his acorn meal—"
The Aborigines of this country lived in woods, unsheltered but by trees and caves; and were probably ​as truly savage as any of those who are now termed so.
Page 30. Line 10.
"Will from among the fescue bring him flowers—"
The grass called Sheep's Fescue, (Festuca ovina,) clothes these Downs with the softest turf.
"————————some resembling bees In velvet vest intent on their sweet toil—"
Ophrys apifera, Bee Ophrys, or Orchis, found plentifully on the hills, as well as the next.
Line 13.
"While others mimic flies, that lightly sport—"
Ophrys muscifera.—Fly Orchis. Linnæus, misled by the variations to which some of this tribe are really subject, has perhaps too rashly esteemed all ​those which resemble insects, as forming only one species, which he terms Ophrys insectifera. See English Botany.
Page 31. Line 3.
"Blue bells wave tremulous.—" (Campanula rotundifolia.) "————————————The mountain thyme Purples the hassock of the heaving mole."
Thymus serpyllum. "It is a common notion, that the flesh of sheep which feed upon aromatic plants, particularly wild thyme, is superior in flavour to other mutton. The truth is, that sheep do not crop these aromatic plants, unless now and then by accident, or when they are first turned on hungry to downs, heaths, or commons; but the soil and situations ​favourable to aromatic plants, produce a short sweet pasturage, best adapted to feeding sheep, whom nature designed for mountains, and not for turnip grounds and rich meadows. The attachment of bees to this, and other aromatic plants, is well known." Martyn's Miller.
Line 5.
"And the short turf is gay with tormentil."
Tormentilla reptans.
"And bird's foot trefoil, and the lesser tribes Of hawkweed; spangling it with fringed stars.—"
Bird's foot trefoil.—Trifolium ornithopoides.
Hawkweed.—Hieracium, many sorts.
Line 11.
"The guardian of the flock, with watchful care,—"
​The downs, especially to the south, where they are less abrupt, are in many places under the plough; and the attention of the shepherds is there particularly required to keep the flocks from trespassing.
Page 31. Line 13.
"While his boy visits every wired trap—"
Square holes cut in the turf, into which a wire noose is fixed, to catch Wheatears. Mr. White says, that these birds (Motacilla œnanthe) are never taken beyond the river Adur, and Beding Hill; but this is certainly a mistake.
Line 15.
"The timid migrants, who from distant wilds,—"
These birds are extremely fearful, and on the ​slightest appearance of a cloud, run for shelter to the first rut, or heap of stones, that they see.
Page 32.
"————————the Shepherd still protects The social bird, who from his native haunts—"
The Yellow Wagtail.—Motacilla flava. It frequents the banks of rivulets in winter, making its nest in meadows and corn-fields. But after the breeding season is over, it haunts downs and sheepwalks, and is seen constantly among the flocks, probably for the sake of the insects it picks up. In France the shepherds call it La Bergeronette, and say it often gives them, by its cry, notice of approaching danger.
Page 33.
"——————— a gnarled thorn, Bent by the sea blast,—"
The strong winds from the south-west occasion almost all the trees, which on these hills are exposed to it, to grow the other way.
Line 3.
"—————— how wide the view!"
So extensive are some of the views from these hills, that only the want of power in the human eye to travel so far, prevents London itself being discerned. Description falls so infinitely short of the reality, that only here and there, distinct features can be given.
Line 9.
"Of Kentish hills,——"
A scar of chalk in a hill beyond Sevenoaks in Kent, is very distinctly seen of a clear day.}}
Line 11.
"And airy summits,——"
The hills about Dorking in Surry; over almost the whole extent of which county the prospect extends.
Line 13.
"Of Black-down shagg'd with heath,—"
This is an high ridge, extending between Sussex and Surry. It is covered with heath, and has almost always a dark appearance. On it is a telegraph.
Page 34. Line 2.
"The portal and the ruin'd battlements—"
In this country there are several of the fortresses or castles built by Stephen of Blois, in his contention for the kingdom, with the daughter of Henry the First, the empress Matilda. Some of these are now converted into farm houses.
Page 35. Line 5.
"Or night-jar, chasing fern-flies.——"
Dr. Aikin remarks, I believe, in his essay "On the Application of Natural History to the Purposes of Poetry," how many of our best poets have noticed the same circumstance, the hum of the Dor Beetle (Scarabœus stercorarius,) among the sounds heard by the evening wanderer. I remember only ​one instance in which the more remarkable, though by no means uncommon noise, of the Fern Owl, or Goatsucker, is mentioned. It is called the Night Hawk, the Jar Bird, the Churn Owl, and the Fern Owl, from its feeding on the Scarabœus solstitialis, or Fern Chafer, which it catches while on the wing with its claws, the middle toe of which is long and curiously serrated, on purpose to hold them. It was this bird that was intended to be described in the Forty-second Sonnet (Smith's Sonnets). I was mistaken in supposing it as visible in November; it is a migrant, and leaves this country in August. I had often seen and heard it, but I did not then know its name or history. It is called Goatsucker (Caprimulgus), from a strange prejudice taken against it by the Italians, who assert that it sucks their goats; ​and the peasants of England still believe that a disease in the backs of their cattle, occasioned by a fly, which deposits its egg under the skin, and raises a boil, sometimes fatal to calves, is the work of this bird, which they call a Puckeridge. Nothing can convince them that their beasts are not injured by this bird, which they therefore hold in abhorrence.
Page 39. Line 2.
The Barkmen.—As soon as the sap begins to rise, the trees intended for felling are cut and barked. At which time the men who are employed in that business pass whole days in the woods.
Line 3.
The Wedgecutters.—The wedges used in ​ship-building are made of beech wood, and great numbers are cut every year in the woods near the Downs.
Line 5.
"The shaggy dog following the truffle hunter."
Truffles are found under the beech woods, by means of small dogs trained to hunt them by the scent.
Page 41. Line 3.
"The banks with cuckoo-flowers are strewn."
Lychnis dioica.
Line 4.
"The woodwalks blue with columbines."
Aquilegia vulgaris.
Shakspeare describes the Cuckoo buds as being yellow. He probably meant the numerous Ranunculi, or March marigolds (Caltha palustris,) which so gild the meadows in Spring; but poets have never been ​botanists. The Cuckoo flower is the Lychnis floscuculi.
Page 41. Line 6.
Flag-flower.—Iris pseudacorus.
Page 42. Line 9.
Yaffils.—Woodpeckers (Picus); three or four species in Britain.
Page 43. Line 5.
"And gales that close—" "And liquid notes that close the eye of day." Milton.
The idea here meant to be conveyed is of the evening wind, so welcome after a hot day of Summer, and which appears to sooth and lull all nature into tranquillity.
Page 44. Line 3.
"But the gay bird of blushing breast."
The Robin, (Motacilla rubecula,) which is always heard after other songsters have ceased to sing.
Line 4.
"And Woodlarks still will haunt the shade."
The Woodlark, (Alauda nemorosa,) sings very late.
Line 6.
Reed-wrens, (Motacilla arundinacea,) sing all the summer and autumn, and are often heard during the night.
Page 47. Line 3.
"May haply build," &c.
An allusion to the visionary delights of the new ​discovered islands, where it was at first believed men lived in a state of simplicity and happiness; but where, as later enquiries have ascertained, that exemption from toil, which the fertility of their country gives them, produces the grossest vices; and a degree of corruption that late navigators think will end in the extirpation of the whole people in a few years.
Line 14.
"Dwelt one," &c.
In a cavern almost immediately under the cliff called Beachy Head, there lived, as the people of the country believed, a man of the name of Darby, who for many years had no other abode than this cave, and subsisted almost entirely on shell-fish. He had ​often administered assistance to ship-wrecked mariners; but venturing into the sea on this charitable mission during a violent equinoctial storm, he himself perished. As it is above thirty years since I heard this tradition of Parson Darby (for so I think he was called): it may now perhaps be forgotten.
Page 48. Line 9.
"Betrayed not then the little careless sheep."
Sometimes in thick weather the sheep feeding on the summit of the cliff, miss their footing, and are killed by the fall.
Page 49. Line 5.
"Or the dark porpoises."
Delphinus phocœna.
NOTES TO THE FABLES.
These are old stories, which I have endeavoured to tell with such a degree of novelty, as natural history can lend them. They have been so often repeated, that probably the original inventors have been long since forgotten. La Fontaine, whose graceful simplicity in such light narrative has been universally allowed, is the most usually referred to.
La Fontaine, in his manner of telling the story of Les deux Pigeons, calls them Friends. But the proverbial conjugal fidelity of this race of birds, makes it seem more natural to describe them as the pigeon and his mate. If it be objected, that the Truant Dove is represented as repeating the apology of Henry the Fourth of France—"Toujours perdrix, toujours Chapon bouilli ne vaut rien;" and that his partner talks ​from Shakspeare; I must take refuge under the authority of Chaucer; or rather his polisher Dryden; who makes his Dame Partlet quote Galen and Cato, while Chanticleer explains Latin sentences:
"For in the days of yore the birds of parts, Were bred to speak and sing; and learn the liberal arts."
In fact, if the mind momentarily acquiesces in the absurdity of animals having the passions and the faculties of man, every thing else may be granted.
It might be necessary to apologize for inserting these fables; but that which Prior and Cowper, and so many other of the most eminent writers have not disdained, can never need any defence.
La Fontaine begins the second Fable here inserted thus:
"L'Alouette et ses Petits, avec le Maître d'un Champ.
Ne t'attends qu'à toi seul, c'est un commun proverbe;
Voici comme Esope le mit En credit."
There is nothing I am more desirous of avoiding, even in a trifle like this, than the charge of plagiarism. I must in the present instance defend myself by stating, that so long since as April 1805, Mr. Johnson was in possession of the MS. copy of this Fable. In July 1806, a friend brought with her from London, a volume called "The Birds of Scotland, with other Poems," in which I read, what, if my fable had been first published, I might perhaps have thought very like an imitation. My lines of the Lark are:
Mr. Graham, in a more lengthened description, says of the Lark:
I cannot help remarking another coincidence. My lines on the female Lark sitting, are:
"She leaves her nest reluctant and in haste, And scarce allows herself to taste A dew drop and a few small seeds—"
Mr. Graham says of the Wren:
"—————————never flitting off, Save when the morning Sun is high, to drink A dew drop from the nearest flower cup—"
ADDITIONAL NOTES TO THE FABLES.
The varieties of pigeons here named, as Fantail, Carrier, Pouter, Almond Tumbler, and Nun, with many others, are varieties produced by art from the common pigeon. Societies exist in which prizes are given to those who produce birds nearest to the standard of imaginary perfection. A Pouter is a bird of which the crop is capable of being so much distended with wind, that the animal appears to be without a head. On this enlargement of the crop depends the beauty and value of the bird.
These Fanciers are to Ornithologists, what Flower Fanciers are to Botanists.
NOTES ON THE SWALLOW.
Page 79. Line 1.
The Gorse-Furze.—Ulex Europæus. Called so in many counties of England.
Line 2.
"The banks with speedwell flowers are gay."
Veronica chamœdrys.—This elegant flower, though not celebrated like the Primrose, Cowslip, and Daisy, is in all its varieties one of the most beautiful of indigenous plants.
Page 80. Line 6.
"As fables tell, an Indian Sage—"
There are two or three fables that relate the knowledge acquired by some Indian recluse, of the language of birds.
Page 81. Line 8.
The Cuckoo, the Rail, and many species of Doves, are all emigrants.
"Were you in Asia? O relate, If there your fabled sister's woes She seem'd in sorrow to relate, Or sings she but to celebrate Her nuptials with the Rose?"
Alluding to the Ovidian fable of the Metamorphosis of Procne and Philomela into the Swallow and the Nightingale; and to the oriental story of the Loves of the Nightingale and the Rose; which is told with such elegant extravagance in the Botanic Garden.
Page 82. Line 4.
"And come to build anew among—"
Accurate observers have remarked, that an equal ​number of these birds return every year to build in the places they frequented before; and that each pair set immediately about repairing a particular nest.
Page 82.
"You hide, tho' none know where or how, In the cliff's excavated brow," &c.
Many persons have supported the idea, that the Hirundines linger concealed among rocks and hollows in a torpid state, and that all do not emigrate.}}
Page 83.
"Or if, by instinct taught to know Approaching dearth of insect food, To isles and willowy aits you go."
Another opinion is, that the Swallows, at the time they disappear, assemble about rivers and ponds, and ​a number of them settling on the pliant boughs of willow and osier, sink by their weight into the water; at the bottom of which they remain torpid till the ensuing spring. For the foundation of these various theories, see "White's History of Selbourne."
NOTES TO FLORA.
Page 85. Line 5.
"Whose first prerogative," &c.V. Cowper.
"The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns— The lowering eye, the petulance, the frown, And sullen sadness, that do shade, distort, And mar the face of Beauty, when no cause For such immeasurable grief appears, These Flora banishes."
Page 86. Line 9.
Saxifraga hypnoides.—Moss Saxifrage, commonly called Ladies' Cushion.
Line 13.
"The tufted rush," &c.
Eriophorum angustifolium.
Page 87. Line 3.
"And wild convolvuli," &c.
Convolvulus arvensis.—A remarkably pretty plant, but no favourite with the husbandman.
Line 7.
"The rest were by the Scandix' points confin'd—"
Scandix pecten.—Venus' comb or Shepherd's needle.
Line 10.
"She waved the Anthoxanthum in her hand."
Anthoxanthum odoratum.—Vernal Meadow Grass.
It is to this grass that hay owes its fine odour.
Page 88. Line 8.
"And brush the aphis,"&c.
Aphis, or Aphides.—These are the "myriads brushed from Russian wilds;" the blights, cankers, lice, or vermin, to use common phrases, that so often disfigure, and destroy the fairest vegetable productions.
Line 11.
"Of Lichen tough."
Lichen.—Of these many have forms of shields, when in fructification.
Page 88. Line 12.
"Lunaria's pearly circlet."
Lunaria annua.—Moonwort, usually called Honesty.
Line 13.
"——the crimson foxglove glows."
Digitalis purpurea.
Line 14.
"Or Scutellaria guards," &c.
Scutellaria galericulata.—Small skull-cap.
Page 89. Line 1.
"While the Leontodon," &c.
Leontodon officinalis.—Common Dent-de-lion.
Page 89. Line 4.
"—from Arum's blood-dropt leaf."
Arum maculatum—Vulgarly Cuckoo pint, or Lords and Ladies.
Line 5.
"This, with the Burdock's hooks," &c.
Arctium lappa.
Line 9.
"Fearless the scaled libellula," &c.
The Dragon-fly, or as it is called in the southern countries, the Horse-stinger, though it preys only on other insects. Several sorts of these are seen about water; but its introduction here is a poetical licence, as it does not feed on, or injure flowers.
Page 90. Line 2.
"Spun of the tufts the Tradescantia bore."
Tradescantia virginica.—The silk-like tuft within this plant appears to the eye composed of very fine filaments; but on examining one of these small silky threads through a microscope, it looks like a string of Amethysts.
Line 3.
"The Cistus' flowers," &c.
Cistus helianthemum. Dwarf Cistus.
Line 4.
"And threads of Yucca," &c.
Yucca filamentosa.
Page 90. Line 5.
"From the wild bee," &c.
Apis centuncularis. This insect weaves, or rather cements rose leaves together, to form its cell.
Line 8.
"And the Hypericum," &c.
An elegant shrub, of which Cowper thus speaks:
"Hypericum all bloom, so thick a swarm Of flowers, like flies clothing her slender rods, That scarce a leaf appears."
It seems admirably adapted to a fairy garland.
Line 13.
"So did the Passiflora's radii shed."
Passiflora cerulea.
Page 91. Line 4.
"A brown transparent spatha," &c.
The sheath from which many flowers spring, such as the Narcissus, &c.
Line 6.
"Xeranthemum's unfading calyx bear."
The scales of one species of the Xeranthemum are particularly elegant.
Line 7.
"———of spiral Ophrys," &c.
Ophrys spiralis.—Ladies traces.
The following lines describing well known flowers, notes would be superfluous.
Page 94. Line 6.
"With female fern,"——
Polypodium filix fœmina.
Page 94. Line 6.
"And glossy adder's-tongue."
Asplenium scolopendrium.
Line 10.
"The reed-bird whispers."
Motacilla salicaria. The Reed Sparrow, or Willow Wren. A bird that in a low and sweet note imitates several others, and sings all night.
"And the Halcyon hides."
Alcedo hispida.—The Kingsfisher, or Halcyon, one of the most beautiful of English birds.
Line 14.
"The Water-lily lends," &c.
Nymphæa alba.
Page 95. Line 1.
"While Galium there," &c.
Galium palustre.—White Ladies' bedstraw.
Line 2.
Epilobiums.—Willow herbs—various species.
Line 7.
"The Iris towers."
Iris patustris.—Yellow Iris.
"——and here the Arrowhead," &c.
Sagittaria sagittifolia.
Line 8.
"And water Crowfoot," &c.
Ranunculus aquaticus.
Line 11.
"Her rosy umbels rears the flow'ring Rush."
​Butomus umbellatus. The only native of England of the class Enneandria.
Page 96. Line 2.
"The Chelidonium blows."
Chelidonium glaucium. The horned or sea Poppy.
Line 3.
"——the thorn'd Eryngium," &c.
Eryngium maritimum.—Sea Holly.
Line 7.
"Springs the light Tamarisk."
Tamarix gallica. This elegant plant is not very uncommon on cliffs in the West of England, and was in 1800 to be found on an high rock to the eastward of the town of Hastings in Sussex.
Page 96. Line 8.
"Is tufted by the Statice."
Statice armeria.—Sea Pink, Sea Lavender, commonly called Thrift, is frequently used for borders of flower-beds. It covers some of the most sterile cliffs.
Line 11.
"The Saltwort's starry stalks."
Salsola kali. This plant when burnt affords a fossile alkali, and is used in the manufacture of glass. The best is brought from the Mediterranean, and forms a considerable article of commerce. It is very frequent on the cliffs on the Sussex coast.
Page 97. Line 1.
"Where Algæ stream," &c.
​The Algæ include all the sea plants, and some other aquatics.
Page 97. Line 2.
"——the Polyp hides," &c.
The Polypus or Sea Anemone. Coralline is, if I do not misunderstand the only book I have to consult, a shelly substance, the work of sea insects, adhering to stones and to sea-weeds.
Line 9.
"Green Byssus," &c.
Flos aquæ.—Paper byssus; a semitransparent substance floating on the waves.
Line 12.
"Of silken Pinna," &c.
The Pinna, or Sea Wing, is contained in a two-​valved shell. It consists of fine long silk-like fibres. The Pinna on the coast of Provence, and Italy, is called the Silk-worm of the Sea. Stockings and gloves of exquisite fineness have been made of it. See note 27, to the Economy of Vegetation.
The subsequent lines attempt a description of Sea Plants, without any correct classification.
NOTES TO STUDIES BY THE SEA.
Page 104. Line 6.
"And murmuring seems in Fancy's ear."
Whoever has listened on a still summer or autumnal evening, to the murmurs of the small waves, just ​breaking on the shingles, and remarked the low sounds reechoed by the distant rocks, will understand this.
Page 105. Line 1.
"And bid them know the annual tide."
The course of those wonderful swarms of fishes that take their annual journey is, I believe, less understood than the emigration of birds. I suppose them, without having any particular ground for my conjecture, to begin their voyage from beyond the extreme point of the southern continent of America. Many of the northern nations live almost entirely on fish. Their light, during the long night of an arctic winter, is supplied by the oil of marine animals.
Page 105. Line 11.
"The Highland native marks the flood."
In the countries where the produce of the sea is so necessary to human life, the arrival of shoals of fish is most eagerly waited for by the hardy inhabitant. Thrown on the summit of an high cliff, overlooking the sea, the native watches for the approach of the expected good, and sees with pleasure the numerous sea-birds, who by an instinct superior to his own, perceive it at a far greater distance, and follow to take their share of the swarming multitude.
Page 106. Line 7.
"Yet every mountain, clothed with ling."
Ling.—A name given in many parts of England to the Erica vulgaris, or Common Heath.
Page 107. Line 6.
"The Eider's downy cradle."
Anas mollissima. While many sea-birds deposit their eggs on the bare rocks, the Eider duck lines her nest most carefully with the feathers from her own breast, which are particularly fine and light: the nest is robbed, and she a second time unplumes herself for the accommodation of her young. If the lining be again taken away, the drake lends his breast feathers; but if after that, their unreasonable persecutors deprive it of its lining, they abandon the nest in despair, the master of the domicile wisely judging, that any further sacrifice would be useless.
Page 108. Line 2.
"Scale the loose cliff where Gannets hide."
Pelicanus bassanus. The Gannet builds on the highest rocks.
Line 3.
"Or scarce suspended, in the air Hang perilous."
Suspended by a slight rope, the adventurous native of the north of Scotland is let down from the highest cliffs that hang over the sea, while with little or no support, he collects the eggs of the sea fowl, in a basket tied round his waist. The feathers also of these birds gathered from the rocks are a great object to these poor industrious people.
Line 11.
"Rav'd to the Walrus' hollow roar."
​Trichecus rosmarus.—The Walrus or Morse; a creature of the Seal kind, now said to be no longer found on the coast of Scotland, but still inhabiting other northern countries. They are sometimes eighteen or twenty feet long, and they roar like bulls.
Line 12.
"Or have by currents," &c.
Gulph currents are supposed to throw the remains of fruits of the tropical regions on the most northern coast of America; and it is asserted that the same fruits are also found on the coast of Norway. See "Les Etudes de la Nature."
NOTES ON THE HOROLOGE OF THE FIELDS.
The sleep of plants has been frequently the subject of inquiry and admiration.
"Vigiliæ Plantarum.—Botanists, under this term, comprehend the precise time of the day in which the flowers of different plants open, expand, and shut. As all plants do not flower in the same season, or month; in like manner, those which flower the same day in the same place, do not open and shut precisely at the same hour. Some open in the morning, as the lipped flowers, and compound flowers with flat spreading petals; others at noon, as the mallows; and a third set in the evening, or after sun-set, as some Geraniums and Opuntias. The hour of shutting is equally determined. Of those which open in the morning, ​some shut soon after, while others remain expanded till night." For further information on this subject, see Milne's Botanical Dictionary.
Page 112. Line 4.
Nymphæa alba.—The flower of this beautiful aquatic opens about seven in the morning, closes about four in the afternoon, and then lies down upon the surface of the water.Linnæus.
Page 113. Line 1.
"Hieracium's various tribe."
All I believe of the solar tribe; the two mentioned by Withering are the sabaudum and murorum. The first opens at seven, and shuts between one and two; the other expands at six in the morning, and closes between two and three in the afternoon.
Page 113. Line 6.
"The Goat'sbeard," &c.
Tragopogon pratense.—A most unfortunate name for poetry. The yellow sort, which is the most common, opens about three in the morning, and closes between nine and ten.Withering.
Line 10.
"The Bethlem-star," &c.
Ornithogalum umbellatum.
Page 114. Line. 2.
Arenaria marina.—Flowers open at nine o'clock in the morning, and shut between two and three in the afternoon.Lightfoot's Flora Scotica.
Page 114. Line 6.
"And those small bells so lightly ray'd With young Aurora's rosy hue—"
Convolvulus arvensis.—The flowers close in the evening.
Line 11.
Cichorium intybus.—Wild Succory, Cichory, or Endive. The flowers open at eight o'clock in the morning, and close at four in the afternoon.
Withering.
Page 115. Line 1.
"And thou 'Wee crimson-tipped flower.'"
Quoted from Burn's address to the mountain daisy. The flowers close at night.
Page 115. Line 5.
Silene noctiflora.—"Flowers opening in the night, sweet-scented in the summer, not so in the autumn."
Withering's Botany.
NOTES ON SAINT MONICA.
Page 119. Line 7.
"Just trickling thro' a deep and hollow gill."
Gill is a word understood in many parts of England, and more particularly in the North, to mean an hollow watercourse, or an hollow overshadowed with coppice and brush wood, such as frequently occur in hilly countries. It has the same meaning as Gully, a deep trench in the earth, so frequent in the West Indies, ​where the tropic rains tear away the earth and make hollows, which in process of time become overgrown with trees, and the resort of monkeys and other animals.
Page 120.
"—————The Ivy green Whose matted tods," &c.
A judicious friend objected to this expression as obscure; but it has the authority of Spencer.
"At length within an Ivy tod There shrouded was the little God." Shepherd's Calendar. Ecl. 3.
And I think I could quote other poets as having used it.
Page 121. Line 1.
Conium maculatum.
Line 3.
Atropa belladonna.
Line 10.
"Gibbers and shrieks," &c.
The word Gibber has been also objected to; but besides that it appears to me very expressive, I have for its use the example of Shakspeare:}}
"—————————— the sheeted dead Did squeal and gibber in the streets of Rome." Hamlet.
Page 123. Line 2.
"The Wall-creeper that hunts the burnish'd fly."
​Certhia muraria.—This bird frequents old towers, castles, and walls; feeding on insects.
Page 123. Line 3.
"Sees the newt basking," &c.
Lacerta vulgaris.—This reptile in its complete state lives among rubbish and old walls. It is the Wall Newt of Shakspeare, as part of the food of poor Tom:
"The wall newt and the water newt, With rats and mice and such small deer, Have been Tom's food for many a year."
And is commonly known by the name of Evett or Eft; and from its ugliness is held in abhorrence, and is supposed to be venomous, though perfectly harmless.
NOTES TO A WALK IN THE SHRUBBERY.
The extravagant fondness for the cultivation of those flowers which the art of the gardener can improve, such as Tulips, Auriculas, and Carnations, has excited laughter and contempt; and was, I think, sometimes confounded with the Science of Botany, with which it has little to do. A Florist, however, has very different pursuits and purposes from a Botanist.
Cistus ladaniferus.—Gum cistus. This plant took its trivial name from its having been supposed to produce the ladanum of the shops, and ought to have been changed when the mistake was detected.
Page 127. Line 4.
Cytisus laburnum. This beautiful tree, of which there are many sorts, attains great perfection in this country. The wood is black, of a fine grain, and takes a polish like Ebony. The French call it from thence, L'Ebene; the Ebony tree.
Line 7.
"And snow-globes form'd of elfin roses.
Viburnum, commonly called Guelder Rose.—A shrub of great beauty, of which the globular groups are composed of single monopetalous flowers: it is a cultivated variety of the Viburnum opulus, Water-elder of the hedges, sometimes called The Wayfaring Tree.
NOTES ON LOVE AND FOLLY.
This is called the most elegant of the Fables of La Fontaine, though it is perhaps told with less simplicity than is generally his perfection. But the close is admirable.
"Quand on eut bien considéré
L'interêt du public, celui de la patrie,
Le résultat enfin de la suprême cour
Fut, de condamner la Folie
A servir de guide à l'Amour."
Page 136. Line 9. "And stake against Love's bow his bauble."
When kings and great men, to divert the tedious ​hours of those who have nothing to do, kept about them a fool, one who either really was deficient in understanding, or abject enough to pretend to a degree of idiotism for the amusement of his patron; the insignia of the office were, a cap with feathers, or sometimes a cock's head fastened to the top, and with bells round it, while in their hands was carried a short wooden truncheon, on which was rudely carved a human head with asses ears. There are several passages describing this in Johnson's or Stevens' Notes on Shakspeare.
ERRATA.
Page 41, line 12, for bows read boughs. —— 46,——6, insert Amanda.
THE END.
* ↑ Pevensey Castle.
* ↑ Scandinavia—Modern Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Lapland, &c.
* ↑ Anciently called Trinacria.
* ↑ Parthenope.