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Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club.

APRIL 10TH, 1890.

THE Annual Meeting of this Club took place in the Woolhope Club Room, on Thursday, April 10th, and was well attended. The Volume of Transactions for 1883, 1884, 1885, illustrated with a speaking likeness of the late Dr. Bull as a frontispiece, was distributed. The thanks of the Club were accorded to the Editorial Committee, and to Mr. Robert Clarke for his valuable help in preparing so many of the Illustrations, especially those of the numerous ancient camps which had been so systematically examined and treated of by the late Dr. Bull.

A letter was read from the President elect, Sir Herbert Croft, Bart., placing his resignation of the office of President in the hands of the Club, due to his having accepted an unexpected "retainer" which required his services in Queensland and New South Wales, whence he did not expect to return home until July 25th. His resignation was not accepted, Mr. Southall having agreed, by invitation, to act for Sir Herbert during his absence.

The days and places of Field Meetings were fixed as follows:-Friday, May 30th, Stokesay, in conjunction with the Caradoc Club. Tuesday, June 24th, Kingsland, Eardisland, and Monkland. Thursday, July 31st (Ladies' Day), Berkeley Castle. Tuesday, August 26th, Brecon Beacons.

Mr. H. C. Beddoe was elected Honorary Treasurer, vice Mr. Cam, deceased. The Rev. H. A. Barker was elected a member of the Club, and nine names were given in to be balloted for at the next meeting.

A guarantee of £16 was given to assist Dr. T. A. Chapman in the illustration of subjects on Entomology, to which he has devoted much attention, on the stipulation that the grant was not to be included in the expenses of the present

year.

In reply to a circular from "The British Association for the Advancement of Science" it was considered that some assistance could be given by some members of the Club whose attention was devoted to Photography towards the "Collection, Preservation, and Systematic Registration of Photographs of Geological Interest in the United Kingdom."

The following books received since the last Annual Meeting, were laid upon the table:-Smithsonian Report, Part 1 of 1886; North American Fauna, Nos. 1 and 2, United States Department of Agriculture; The English Sparrow in North America, Bulletin 1, United States Department of Agriculture; Report of Professor Joseph Henry, Secretary of Smithsonian Institution, for 1867, 1869, 1870, 1876, four reports altogether; British Uredinem and Ustilagineæ, by Chas. B. Plowright; 33rd Annual Report of Proceedings Warwickshire Naturalists and Archæologists Field Club, 1888; Proceedings of Bristol Naturalists'

Society, new series, Vol. 6, part 1, 1888; The Origin of the Cotteswold Club from its formation to May, 1889; Cardiff Naturalists' Society, Vol. 20, part 2, and Vol. 21, part 1; Proceedings of Geologists' Association, Vol. 10, number 9, Vol. 11, numbers, 2, 3, 4, and 5; Essex Naturalist, or Journal of the Essex Field Club, Vol. 3, numbers 1 to 6, and Vol. 2, numbers 7 to 9; President's Address and Sectional Address of British Association for the Advancement of Science at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1889; and a collection of minerals from Mount Vesuvius presented by the Rev. J. O. Bevan.

The question of providing without delay a suitable repository for the Herbarium including, besides the Flora of our county, the Lichens and Mosses given to the Club by the Trustees of the late Rev. J. F. Crouch, and that of placing the books belonging to the Woolhope Club within access of the members, was relegated to the Central Committee to negotiate with the Free Library Committee. The minutes of the meeting of the Central Committee on February 15th, 1889, having been read over, this negotiation was considered now a matter of paramount urgency, since the Club, and consequently the County, have, owing to the absence of suitable cabinets, lost many objects of natural history, and also some valuable geological specimens which have been found worthy of a position in the Natural History Department of the British Museum at South Kensington. The retiring President, at the conclusion of his address, notified his willingness to contribute to a special fund for making the Museum worthy of our County, and there are now hopes that the long needed subsidy will be obtained which the Free Library Committee requires.

When the ordinary business of the day had been transacted, Mr. H. Southall delivered his retiring address, and in the evening Mr. Alfred Watkins, by means of the oxy-hydrogen lantern, reproduced upon the screen a series of photographs, the results of many years' observations, representing the Pigeon Houses of Herefordshire. His treatment of the subject gave evidence of careful observation in his travels over the county. The remains of what he considered the earliest Norman Columbarium were to be found at Cowarne Court, similar in construction to that now to be seen at Garway, which, as is known by an inscription over the door, was built in 1326 by Brother Richard, one of the Knights Templars, which body founded a preceptory at Garway. Mr. Watkins traced these buildings in chronological order down to the picturesque dovecots of the present day. One of the most conclusive facts in favour of the value placed upon pigeons as a source of food supply was that, as was shown by inscriptions, the pigeon house was built before the mansion itself, the occupiers of which depended upon it partly for their daily food, was finished.

The following members attended the meeting :-Mr. H. Southall (President), the Revs. J. Barker, W. Bowell, Preb. W. Elliot, E. J. Holloway, Augustin Ley, H. B. D. Marshall, M. G. Watkins, H. T. Williamson, Dr. T. A. Chapman, Messrs. F. Bainbridge, H. C. Beddoe, R. Clarke, James Davies, T. Hutchinson, O. Shellard, H. J. Southall, H. Vevers, Alfred Watkins, James B. Pilley (Assistant Secretary), and H. C. Moore (Honorary Secretary).

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[Of the President, Mr. H. SOUTHALL, F.R., Met. Soc.]

GENTLEMEN of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club: My term of office has now nearly expired, and the one remaining duty, in accordance with rule and custom, is to deliver my retiring address. Before however vacating the chair, permit me to thank you one and all for the uniform and constant consideration and kindness, I may say indulgence, you have shown me during the last year, as well as for the distinguished honour you conferred upon me when you elected me President of our renowned Club. In comparing our mode of annual election, with that in force in some other societies where the same President continues in office for many years in succession, we have at any rate the advantage of freshness and variety; and if the words of the poet are true, "that some are and must be greater than the rest;" still, those who are less distinguished may at least serve as a setting to their more brilliant compeers, and help if only by way of contrast to bring them out in better and brighter relief. I think that there can be no question that the gentleman you have chosen as my successor is one well qualified for the post. He has been present with us at most of our Field Meetings of late, and has taken a great interest in our proceedings, and he will, I am satisfied, spare no pains or trouble to make the coming year a successful and agreeable one. His knowledge of the county, and the very long period during which members of his family have been prominently connected with it, may also enable him to contribute some valuable additions to our records. I am sure you will excuse his enforced absence for two or three months, and join with me in wishing him a safe and pleasant journey to the Antipodes, as well as a speedy return. I understand he proposes to be with us at the Ladies' Day excursion in July next. I regret to have to record the death, during the past year, of one honorary, and three ordinary members. The former, the Rev. Miles Joseph Berkeley, of Market Harboro', was a distinguished member of the Linnean Society. He appears to have paid us a visit for the first time on the occasion of the Fungus Foray in 1873, when he was introduced as "A veteran botanist and horticulturist." In the address of the President in 1875, he was described as "A Nestor of Mycologists." He was unanimously elected an honorary member in 1874, and presented no less than 97 apple grafts to different members of the Club, some of which, I have no doubt, have already produced much good fruit. He appears to have been with us at several subsequent forays, and to have been of much assistance in naming some of the more difficult species collected. One or two papers of his are printed in our Transactions. We have also this year to mourn the loss of one of our oldest members, Richard Hereford, Esq., late of Sufton Court. His name is mentioned as a member in our Transactions of 1866, but he probably joined the Club some years previously. He ever took a warm interest in our doings, and although he was not prominent in any special branch of science or natural history, yet his genial presence at our

meetings was always acceptable. His energy even when an octogenarian was remarkable, and he was a fine example of the Old English gentleman. By the death of Mr. Thomas Cam, J.P., the Club has also lost one who rendered good service for many rears. His name occurs as far back as 1851. He was President in 1871, and filled the office of Treasurer from 1876 down to the date of his death. At the Annual Meeting in April, 1878, he presented to us a complete set of Nature-printed plates of the English ferns, which were then laid out for the inspection of the members, and excited much interest. For many years the soirées given by him at his residence in Hereford, during the Fungus Meeting, were largely attended, and were often times of pleasant and lively intercourse, as those who enjoyed his hospitality in October last can abundantly testify. I have also to mention the decease of Mr. J. H. Knight, who was President during 1880, the same year that he was Mayor of Hereford. In view of the gaps thus made in our ranks I would urge the necessity of endeavouring to secure an accession of useful members to take the places thus left vacant. I am happy, however, to state that so far there is no sign of decay or languishing, and that our numbers are well maintained. We must bear in mind, nevertheless, that our character as a club, gained as it has been by steady, hard work in the past, can only be preserved by real work in the future; and that we should be far more than a mere picnic club, enjoyable as our excursions may be, and I think they were never more so than last year. As our indefatigable Hon. Sec,, Mr. Moore, has furnished very full accounts of our five meetings, I need do no more than summarize briefly the work accomplished. We were favoured with fine weather throughout, had no broiling or soaking experiences, as in some former years, and we had without exception pleasant and interesting gatherings. All were well attended, unless some exception be made for the Fungus Foray, which did not prove so successful as sometimes, or so productive to the collectors. The last two or three seasons, for some reason not very clearly known, have been unfavourable for fungus growth. There are but few of our members who take much interest in Mycology, and had it not been that our illustrious visitors from a distance again favoured us by their presence, as well as by reading some excellent papers, I fear we should not have had much to record this year. With respect to our other meetings; you will remember that our first excursion was to Titley, Eywood, and Presteign, a part of the county but little previously explored. The well marked portion of Offa's Dyke near Titley station was interesting to some of us, who knew it in the extreme south of the county, as presenting a slightly different appearance. Whether it was originally intended as a boundary, or a fortification, it could have possessed but little value as a military earthwork. It probably marked a border line which was jealously guarded on both sides, and may have been a considerable protection against cattle marauders. Several rare plants were found in a boggy wood close by. The Buckbean, Marsh cinquefoil, and Marsh violet are all of them scarce in Herefordshire, probably on account of the few real bogs still left undrained. A new station for one of our scarcest plants has lately been found in this neighbourhood, Teesdalia nudicaulis. Though the botanists had a fairly good day, still the principal honours may be probably due to the archæologists. The paper read,

containing notes on the Harley family, was a good sequel and supplement to that contributed on the same subject at Brampton Bryan. Those describing Knill Church and Court took us back to the time of the Crusades, an inscription, on the arch of the front door of the Court, cut in Early English characters at the recent restoration of the building, having the date of 1187. The Parish Registers of Presteign commence in 1561. We were allowed to inspect them, and they furnish much valuable information. The detailed accounts of the ravages of the Plague are very striking. They appear at Presteigu to have had three separate violent outbreaks. That in 1593 was specially severe. But in 1610, and again in 1637, it was excessively fatal in its effects, so much so that in one month alone one hundred and forty-eight deaths occurred in a population probably numbering not more than two thousand persons. At any rate the usual mortality was only about fifty per annum. And in 1593 considerably more than three hundred deaths were attributed to plague. They had thus three visitations in 44 years. At Chester, where in 1637 the grass is said to have grown knee-deep in the streets, and where there is now remaining an inscription on an old house recording its occurrence, it is said, that no less than seven separate outbreaks occurred in 93 years. I find no notice of the plague in 1593 in other places in Herefordshire, but in 1610 the Assizes were moved to Leominster because of the prevalence of the plague in Hereford. At Ross, the plague in 1637 appears to have been as bad as that in Presteign, for on a stone cross in the Churchyard the deaths from plague are recorded as numbering three hundred and fifteen, and to the present time there is a considerable area of adjacent ground still unused for burial. The same thing occurs in Leominster Churchyard. As far as I know, however, there is no written record, and the memory of it is only preserved by tradition. It would be interesting to inquire whether there are any further accounts of plagues preserved, either in parish registers, or other historical documents. Whitecross, near Hereford, is reported, I believe on good authority, to be a monument of perhaps the greatest pestilence recorded in history-the black death of 1347-8. A good deal of evidence has been obtained in Norfolk of its extraordinary prevalence and remarkable ravages in that county; but I have only seen slight allusions to its effects in this neighbourhood, nor have I read any account of the plague visiting Herefordshire since 1637, although what is called the great plague in London occurred in 1665, twenty-eight years later-the last time I believe it has attacked any part of Great Britain. Amongst other places of interest at Presteign, the Pinetum at Silia is specially remarkable as showing how many choice firs can be well grown if properly planted and sheltered. They are, however, rather too thickly planted in places, and there is a danger before long of some of the best specimens being spoilt by overcrowding, as the beauty of a tree is soon spoilt by any deformity. The richcoloured Japanese maples were of unusual size and luxuriance.

The Ladies' Day at Newland and Monmouth was another successful meeting. At Monmouth, you will remember, we were kindly ciceroned by Dr. Willis, who showed us the lions of the place, and at Newland we were not only hospitably entertained by Mrs. Bagnall-Oakeley who contributed a paper on the neighbourhood of Newland, but we also listened to an excellent paper descriptive

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