other Brimstone Lodge: these the keepers renew annually on the feast of St. Barnabas, taking the old materials for a perquisite. The farm called

Blackmoor, in this parish, is obliged to find the posts and brushwood for the former; while the farms at Greatham, in rotation, furnish for the latter; and are all enjoined to cut and deliver the materials at the spot. This custom I mention, because I look upon it to be of very remote antiquity.

LETTER VIII.

ON the verge of the forest, as it is now circumscribed, are three considerable lakes: two in Oakhanger, of which I have nothing particular to say; and one called Bin's or Bean's Pond, which is worthy the attention of a naturalist or a sportsman; for, being crowded at the upper end with willows, and with the carex cespitosa,1 it affords a safe and pleasant shelter to wild ducks, teals, snipes, &c. In the winter this covert is also frequented by foxes, and sometimes by pheasants; and the bogs produce many curious plants.

By a perambulation of Wolmer Forest and the Holt, made in 1635, and in the eleventh year of

1 I mean that sort which, rising into tall hassocks," is called by the foresters torrets; a corruption, I suppose, of turrets.

In the beginning of the summer, 1787, the royal forests of Wolmer and Holt were measured by persons sent down by Government. T. B.

a Or Tussocks. The tussock grass is in some parts used as hassocks for churches; being taken up in the natural form and condition of the mass, dried, and merely covered with carpet or other cloth.

Charles the First, (which now lies before me,) it appears that the limits of the former are much circumscribed. For, to say nothing of the farther side, with which I am not so well acquainted, the bounds on this side, in old times, came into Binswood, and extended to the ditch of Ward-le-ham Park, in which stands the curious mount called King John's Hill and Lodge Hill, and to the verge of Hartley Mauduit, called Mauduit-hatch: comprehending also Shortheath, Oakhanger, and Oakwoods; a large district, now private property, though once belonging to the royal domain.

It is remarkable, that the term purlieu is never once mentioned in this long roll of parchment. It contains, besides the perambulation, a rough estimate of the value of the timbers, which were considerable, growing at that time in the district of the Holt; and enumerates the officers, superior and inferior, of those joint forests, for the time being, and their ostensible fees and perquisites. In those days, as at present, there were hardly any trees in Wolmer Forest.

Within the present limits of the forest are three considerable lakes, Hogmer, Cranmer, and Wolmer; 1 all of which are stocked with carp, tench, eels, and perch: but the fish do not thrive well, because the water is hungry, and the bottoms are a naked sand.

1 It is very remarkable that these three ponds are named respectively after three animals, which, formerly indigenous in this country, are now extinct. Hogmer, after the Hog, a wild boar; Cranmer, from the Crane, which formerly frequented this part, and Wolmer, anciently spelt Wolvemere, after the Wolves, which in all probability formerly haunted this wild district. The fish mentioned by the author are now nearly or quite extinct in these ponds; and the largest, WOLMER, has been repeatedly dry within the last few years.-T. B.

A circumstance respecting these ponds, though by no means peculiar to them, I cannot pass over in silence; and that is, that instinct by which in summer all the kine, whether oxen, cows, calves, or heifers, retire constantly to the water during the hotter hours; where, being more exempt from flies, and inhaling the coolness of that element, some belly-deep, and some only to mid-leg, they ruminate and solace themselves from about ten in the morning till four in the afternoon, and then return to their feeding. During this great proportion of the day, they drop much dung, in which insects nestle, and so supply food for the fish, which would be poorly subsisted but for this contingency. Thus Nature, who is a great economist, converts the recreation of one animal to the support of another! Thomson, who was a nice observer of natural occurrences, did not let this pleasing circumstance escape him. He says, in his Summer:

"A various group the herds and flocks compose:
on the grassy bank

Some ruminating lie; while others stand,
Half in the flood, and, often bending, sip
The circling surface."

Wolmer Pond, so called, I suppose, for eminence sake, is a vast lake for this part of the world, containing, in its whole circumference, two thousand six hundred and forty-six yards, or very near a mile and a half. The length of the north-west and opposite side is about seven hundred and four yards, and the breadth of the south-west end about four hundred and fifty-six yards. This measurement, which I caused to be made with good exactness, gives an

area of about sixty-six acres, exclusive of a large irregular arm at the north-east corner, which we did not take into the reckoning.

On the face of this expanse of waters, and perfectly secure from fowlers, lie all day long, in the winter season, vast flocks of ducks, teals, and widgeons, of various denominations; where they preen, and solace, and rest themselves, till towards sunset, when they issue forth in little parties (for in their natural state they are all birds of the night) to feed in the brooks and meadows; returning again with the dawn of the morning. Had this lake an arm or two more, and were it planted round with thick covert, (for now it is perfectly naked,) it might make a valuable decoy.

Yet neither its extent, nor the clearness of its water, nor the resort of various and curious fowls, nor its picturesque groups of cattle, can render this mere so remarkable, as the great quantity of coins that were found in its bed about forty years ago.1

1 Old people remember to have heard their fathers and grandfathers say, that, in dry summers and windy weather, pieces of money were sometimes found round the verge of Wolmer Pond; and tradition had inspired the foresters with a notion that the bottom of the lake contained great stores of treasure. During the spring and summer of 1740 there was little rain; and the following summer, also, 1741, was so uncommonly dry, that many springs and ponds failed, and this lake in particular, whose bed became as dusty as the surrounding heaths and wastes. This favourable juncture induced some of the forest cottagers to begin a search, which was attended with such success, that all the labourers in the neighbourhood flocked to the spot, and with spades and hoes turned up great part of that large area. Instead of pots of coin, as they expected, they found great heaps, the one lying on the other as if shot out of a bag; many of which were in good preservation. Silver and gold these inquirers expected to find; but their discoveries consisted solely of many hundreds of Roman copper coins, and some medallions, all of the lower empire. There was not much vertu stirring at that time in this neighbourhood; however, some of the gentry and clergy around bought what pleased them best; and some dozens fell to the share of the author.

The owners at first held their commodity at a high price; but finding that they were not likely to meet with dealers at such a rate, they soon lowered their terms, and sold the fairest as they could. The coins that were rejected became current, and passed for farthings at the petty shops. Of those that we saw, the greater part were of Marcus Aurelius, and the Empress Faustina, his wife, the father and mother of Commodus. Some of Faustina were in high relief, and exhibited an agreeable set of features, which probably resembled that lady, who was more celebrated for her beauty than for her virtues. The medallions in general were of a paler colour than the coins.-WHITE'S Antiquities of Selborne.