foft and pliant, is very proper for the dulling of beds, curtains,
carpets, hangings, &c. I f thefe befoms were known to the brulh-
makers in town, it is probable they might come much in ufe for
the purpofe above-mentioned h
I am, &c.
L E T T E R XXVII.
TO T H S S AM E .
D E A R Si r , Selborne, Dec. M, 177$; w e had in this village more than twenty years ago an idib't-boy,
whom I well remember, who, from a child, Ihewed a llrong
propenfity to bees; they were his food, his amuferilent, his foie
objedl. And as people of this call: have feldom more than oh’e
point in view, fo this lad exerted all his feW facilities on this ohfe
purfuit. In the winter he dofed away his time, within his father’s
houfe, by the fire fide, in a kind of torpid Hate, feldom departing
from the chimney-corner; but in the fummer he was all alert, and
in quell of his game in the fields, and oh funny hanks. Honeybees,
humble-bees, and wafps, were his prey wherever be found
them : he had no apprehenfions from their flings’, but would feize
> A befom of this fort is to be feen in Sir AJhton leve r 's Rtuftum.
feize them nudis manibus, and at once difarm them of their weapons,
and fuck their bodies for the fake of their honey-bags. Sometimes
he would fill his bofom between his Ihirt and his Ikin with a number
of diefe captives; and fometimes would confine them in bottles.
He was a Very merops apiafier, or bee-bird; and very injurious to
men that kept bees j for he would Hide into their bee-gardens,
and, fitting down before the llools, would rap with his finger on
the hives, and fo take the bees as they came out. He has been
known to overturn hives for the fake of honey, of which he was
paffionately fond. Where metheglin was making he would linger
round the tubs and vellels, begging a draught of what he called
bee-wine. As he ran about he ufed to make a humming noife with
his lips, refembling the buzzing of bees. This lad was lean and
fallow, and of a cadaverous complexion; and, except in his favourite
purfuit, in which he was wonderfully adroit, difcovered no manner
of underltanding. Had his capacity been better, and diredled to
the fame objedl, he had perhaps abated much of our wonder at
the feats of a more modern exhibiter of bees : and we may jullly
fay o f him now,
— — — — — Thou,
“ Had thy preiiding ftar propitious (hone,
tf Should’ft Wildman be — —• — —
When a tall youth he was removed from hence to a diftant
•Village, where he died, as I underltand, before he arrived at manhood.
I am, &c.