Abstract
AT the meeting of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturausts' Society, held on the 28th inst., the secretary read an interesting series of ten unpublished letters, written by Gilbert White, of Selborne, to Robert Marsham, F.R.S., of Stratton Strawless, Norfolk, and communicated by the Rev. H. P. Marsham, great-grandson of the latter. The letters, which are dated between August 13, 1790, and June 15, 1793, are excellent examples of Gilbert White's delightfully discursive style, their contents being of a very varied nature. Mr. Marsham, to whom they were addressed, was a great planter, and communicated his experiments on growing trees to the Royal Society; the beauty and great size of the timber at Stratton bear testimony at the present day to his judgment and successful treatment. As might be expected, under these circumstances, a large portion of the correspondence is devoted to iorest-trees, the love for which was shared in an almost equal. degree by both correspondents. The “Indications of Spring,” of which Mr. Marsham left such a remarkable register, and which have been continued by his family, with one slight interruption, from the year 1736 to the present time (see “Philosophical Transactions” for 1789, and the “Transactions” of this Society for 1874–5), of course form an annual topic, as well as the rainfall; but perhaps the most valuable part of the correspondence is the gossip about birds, some of which is of very great interest. On the 30th October, 1792, Marsham writes to White: “My man has just shot me a bird which was flying about my house; I am confident I have never seen its likeness before.” On reference to his Willoughby, he declares it to be “the Wall-creeper, or Spider-catcher,” and a description, endorsed by him on one of White's letters, as well as a manuscript note in his copy of Willoughby's “Ornithology,” still in the possession of the Marsham family, places it beyond doubt that the bird was a veritable Tichodroma muraria, White, after saying he is persuaded that the bird is the “very Certhia muraria,” continues: “You will have the satisfaction of introducing a new bird of which future ornithologists will say, ‘Found at Stratton, in Norfolk, by that painful and accurate naturalist, Robert Marsham, Esq.,’”—a prophesy which, after an interval of eighty-two years, will at length be fulfilled. Nearly a whole letter is devoted to an extract from an unpublished “Natural History of Gibraltar,” by Gilbert White's brother, the Rev. John White, who resided many years on the “Rock.” By this it is shown that John White, who went to reside there in 1756, soon discovered the Crag Swallow (Cotyle rupestris) to be distinct from the Sand Martin, for which it was then mistaken. He gives an interesting account of its habits, and names it Hirundo hyemalis, from its great abundance at Gibraltar in the winter months. The last letter of the series, dated June 15, 1793, has a special interest attached to it from the fact that it was written only eleven days before the death of this estimable man and ardent naturalist. The whole of this interesting series will be published in the Transactions of the Society, and it is hoped, through the kindness of Prof. Bell, in whose hands they now are, that Marsham's letters to White may be added.
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Unpublished Letters of Gilbert White . Nature 12, 481–482 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012481b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012481b0