We aboiffld frith poor; many of whom are fober in d induf-
trious, and live comfortably in good Hone or brick cottages, which
are glazed, and have chambers above flairs: mud buildings we
have none. Befides the employment from hulbandry, the men
work in hop gardens, of which we have many; and fell and bark
timber. In the fpring and fummer the women weed the corn;
and enjoy a fecond harveft in September by hop picking. Formerly,
in the dead months they availed them’felves greatly by
fpinning wool, for making of bdrragcms, a genteel corded-fluff,
much in vogue at that time for 'fummer wear; and chiefly manu-
fa&ured at Alton, a neighbouring town, by fome of the people
called Quakers : but from circumftances this traders at an end'.
The inhabitants enjoy a good fhare of health and longevity; and
the pariih fwarms with children.
L E T T E R VI.
TO THE SAME.
S hould I omit to defcribe with fome exaxflnefs the fcrejl of Wol-
mer, of which three fifths perhaps lie in this pariih, my account of
Selborne would be very imperfeft, as it is a diftrict abounding
with many curious produ&ions, both animal and vegetable; and
has often afforded me much entertainment both is a fportfman
and as a naturalift.
5 Since the paflhge above was written, I am happy in being able to fay that the ipin*
ning employment is a little revived, to the no fnrrll comfort o f the induftrious houfe-
wife.
, The
/ * r StC». tp
The royal foreft of tVolmer is a traft of land o f about feven miles
in length, hy two and a half in breadth, running nearly from
North to South, and is abutted on, to begin to the South, and
fo to proceed eaftwurd, by the parilhesof Greatham, Lyjfe, Rogate,
and T <vtton, in the county of Suffete; by Bramjbot, Hedleigh, and
Kingjlty. This royalty confifts entirely of f&nd covered with heath
and fern; but is fomewhat diverfified with hills and dales, without
having one Sanding tree in the whole extent. In the bottoms,
where the waters fiagnate, are many bogs, which formerly abounded
with Subterraneous trees; though Dr. Plot fays pofitivelyk,
that “ there never were any fallen trees hidden in the modes of the
fouthern counties.” But he was miftaken: for I myfelf have feen
cottages oh the verge of this wild diftri&, whofe timbers confifted
of a black hard wood, looking like oak,"which the ownersaffured
pie they procured from the bogs by probing the foil with fpits, or " " j *
fome.fuch inftfumehts: but. the peat is £b much cutout, and the* '*“
moors have been fo Well, examined, that none has heen found of
late k Befides the oak, I have alfo been Ihewn pieces of foffil-wood
of a paler colour, and fofter nature, which the inhabitants called /
fir:
fc See his Hift. o f Staffordjbire.
1 Old people have affured me, that on a winter’ s morning they have difcovered thefe
trees, in the bogs, b y thé hoar froft, which lay longer over the fpace where they were concealed,
than on the furrounding morafs. Nor does this feem to be a fanciful notion, but
confiftent with true philofophy. Dr. Hales faith, “ That the warmth o f the earth, at
£t fome depth under ground, has an influence in promoting a thaw, as well as the change
ft 0f the weather from a freezing to a thawing ftate, is manifeft, from this obfervation*
« v iz . Nov. 29, 1731, a .littlefnow having fallen in the night, it was, by eleven th!e next
«t morning, moftly melted a^§jjr>on the furface o f the earth, except in feveral places hi
If, BuJhy-park, where there were drains dug and covered with earth, on which the fnow
\t continued to lie* whether thofe drains were full o f water or dry ; as alfo where ehn-pipes
“ lay under g round; a plain proof this, that thofe drains intercepted the warmth of the
earth
M